Mediaboss Marketing

Chyna Gibson, Ciara McElveen, and JacquarriusHarris, three black trans women out of New Orleans, Louisiana, were killed within a two-week period last month. And not so much as a pin smattering has been heard from black cis men, particularly those black cis men who tout black lives matter. No outrage. No hashtag. No marches. Nothing.

What happened?

Cis black men monopolizing and narrowing the prism of black victimhood, authentic blackness and the banner of Black Lives Matter, thats what. And you know what, its getting kind of old and tiresome. FrFr.

Especially after one takes into account all the receipts pointing to the high level of violence haters have perpetrated specifically against trans women of color in the past 3 years, pretty much the extent of the existence of Black Lives Matter.

In 2014, the year former officer Darren Wilson shot 18-year-old Michael Brown and Cleveland officers murdered 12-year-old Tamir Rice, 12 trans women who identified as either Black or Latina were murdered.

In 2015, the year South Carolina ex-officer Michael Slagerkilled Walter Scott, 9 black transgender women lost their lives to a toxic cocktail of transphobia, cis privilege, abuse, and violence.

In 2016, the year an officer murderedPhilandoCastille in cold blood in front of his family, 15 trans black women became the tragic victims of a hate crime.

And since January 2017, at least 5 blacks trans women have been killed.

Yet, let cis black men tell it, cis black men and cis black men ALONE are THE priority, the only targets of violence, the only racially-victimized members of the black community that warrant attention. Let cis black men call it, theres not enough room in the black freedom struggle to be concerned about and address the dreadful circumstances and regular deaths of trans sisters. Entertaining these folks, wed be tempted to walk away with the preposterous notion that cis black men, by default, constitute the totality of black culture and single-handedly ignited the black lives matter movement.

Of course, all of this is alie.

Related: Dear Black Men: Black Womens Lives Matter, Too.

Three black women Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi founded the Black Lives Matter hashtag that would eventually evolve into a movement. Even before the popularity of this recent resurgence of the black power movement, Garza, Cullors and Tometiwere committed to advancing black issues within their own field and invested in the long-term work of organizing on behalf of ALL black people. Equally important is the fact that at least two of these women, Garza and Cullors, are visible, proud members of the LGBTQ community, a note which, said out loud, makes it all the more peculiar to endure cis black men revising contemporary history to depict the movement for black lives as a struggle started by black cis persons, but, through some form of covert manipulation and scheming, co-opted and led by faggots.

In a movement whose expressed mission is to encapsulate the specific experiences and unique struggles of a diversity of black bodies and black sexual identities, incubating this kind of perspective simply wont do. Permitting the continued spread of this mode of thinking wont do. Black transphobia, period, wont do.For nothing short of the integrity and enduring legacy of moral leadership of a group of people is on the line.

For nothing short of the integrity and enduring legacy of moral leadership of a group of people is on the line.

On this question, this issue, cis black men gotta get their shit together and do better than this. And, truthfully, the this that we shouldve been doing shouldve been done yesterday, but today and tomorrow will have to suffice.

Related: Homophobia in the Black Community and The Rise of The Hotep

One of first things I would suggest we must do is deal seriously with our own inner gender insecurities. From there, we have an obligation to conquer our homophobia and transphobia. From there, we are obligated to recognize that black transgender women are still black and just as authentically black as any other slice of the black community.

Cis black men must start organizing and showing up for protests that center black trans women and deploy their cis privilege on their behalf of trans sisters. Cis black men must start viewing their trans sisters as allies not antagonists and abnormalities, as well as empathize with and memorialize their fallen black bodies with the same depth of pain and emotion that they, we, would a Trayvon Martin, an Eric Garner or a Freddie Gray.

And if black lives matter is to mean anything anything at all it must be that the whole range of black performativity and identities cis, trans, queer, bi, etc. are welcomed with opened arms and protected with closed fists.

See more here:
Cis Black Men: If Black Lives Matter, We Need to Support Our Trans Sisters - Wear Your Voice

Democrats in Maryland may be heartened to hear this piece of news about former President Barack Obama from his close friend, Eric Holder: "He's ready to roll."

Specifically, the former president is looking into ways to support Mr. Holder's nationwide effort to end gerrymandering, the former attorney general said recently. Mr. Holder is heading the new National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which will pursue legislative action, ballot initiatives or court cases to ensure fairer drawing of congressional and legislative district lines. The rationale is that more fairly drawn districts will produce elected officials who better represent their constituents and, not so incidentally, that Democrats will have a much better chance of recapturing the House of Representatives under such a system than they do now.

But that puts Democrats in the General Assembly in a bit of an awkward position, as they again greet with skepticism Gov. Larry Hogan's proposal to end Maryland gerrymandering and vest redistricting powers in the hands of an independent, non-partisan commission. The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on the governor's proposed constitutional amendment last week, and most Democrats on the panel appraised the idea with something just short of hostility.

The issue is not that the Democrats made a pro-gerrymandering argument. On the contrary, they generally acknowledged the governor's basic point that voters should get to pick their representatives, not the other way around. Their objection, though often couched in gentler terms, was a nakedly partisan one: Why should Maryland give up the ability to draw districts to advantage Democrats when other states controlled by Republicans aren't doing the same?

The Democratic alternative to Governor Hogan's proposal is a bill calling for a multi-state, regional compact to adopt such commissions. Maryland would adopt a process more or less like the one Governor Hogan is proposing if and only if Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina do the same. It has 26 co-sponsors in the Senate. Supporters say that Maryland would be exercising leadership in passing such a bill and that it would pressure other states to follow.

In reality, that's a recipe for nothing changing here or elsewhere. Maryland was a leader in establishing a national compact to award electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. Ask Hillary Clinton how well that turned out.

Democrats in the hearing also complained that Governor Hogan has not formally supported U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen's effort to set national standards limiting gerrymandering. Fair enough; there's no reason why he shouldn't. But clearly, the governor recognizes the same thing that President Obama and Mr. Holder do, which is that the chances of national redistricting reform passing Congress are virtually nil and that any progress must be made on a state-by-state level. If Democrats aren't willing to take a principled stand in a state where, realistically, one or two seats are on the line, what makes them think Republicans in a more populous and equally gerrymandered state like North Carolina will do so?

In a recent speech at the Center for American Progress discussing his initiative, Mr. Holder couched his opposition to gerrymandering in the same terms as his efforts to fight restrictive voter ID laws, attacks on the Voting Rights Act and other attempts to limit the franchise. "Fairer maps aren't just good for the Democratic Party," he said. "They are good for our democracy. They are good for the American people." Changing the status quo is "an effort we want all 50 states involved in," he said.

To be sure, there is a partisan edge to his work. The premise of his effort is that Republicans have been more successful in drawing the lines to their advantage than Democrats have, owing largely to the resources they poured into controlling state houses and governors' mansions in the lead-up to the last round of redistricting after the 2010 census. Consequently, his immediate strategy involves getting more Democrats elected to those offices in the next few years. "Our goal is to make sure that Democrats are in a position to ensure fair and representative electoral districts," he said.

Of course, that assumes Democrats would create a system to produce such districts if given the chance. It's up to the members of his party in Annapolis to prove him right.

Visit link:
The progressive case for redistricting reform - Baltimore Sun

Of the seven senators flanking him on Monday at a news conference supporting the so-called bathroom bill, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick singled out the one Democrat for special praise.

Patrick, not usually prone to kind words about members of the opposing party, called Eddie Lucio Jr. a man who is bold and courageous and does the right thing, always.

Lucios presence bestowed bipartisan credentials on the measure championed by Patrick. He became the first and so far the only Democrat in the Legislature to support it.

Mondays news conference isnt the first time Lucio has found himself the loneDemocrat allied with the Senate'sRepublicanmajority. The Brownsville senator has bucked his party on a number of controversial topics, including abortion, gay marriage and privateschool choice programs.

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

When asked about the times he's broken with fellow Democrats, Lucio said he's never abandoned his commitment to his party. Adevout Catholic who has served in the Senate for more than two decades, Lucioalso said his religious beliefs serve as an important guide.

"I look at issues in a nonpartisan way, and Ive voted like that in my entire career," he said. "I turn to my faith for my decision making and I do that in the most sincerest of ways, always trying to do my best to be inclusive of all my stakeholders."

Here are some of Lucios most notable odd-man-out moments from the 2015 session:

1. The two-thirds rule: Lucio sided with Republicans to break the almost 70-year Senate tradition intended to encourage compromise among its 31members. The change, for which Lucio provided the crucial swing vote, had the practical effect of allowing Republicans to consider a bill without a single vote from one of the chamber's 11 Democrats. At the time, Lucio said he supported doing away with the rule because too many good bills had been killed over the years after they lacked one vote to come to the floor.

2. Tax-credit scholarships: When Patrick brought his prize school choice measure to the floor, Lucio was the only Democrat to vote in favor. Opponents decried the legislation, whichprovided state tax credits for businesses that donate money to fund private school scholarships, as a voucher program that would drain money from public schools. The bill later died in the House. Lucio cited his work with Patrick on the Senate's education panel as the reason for their current friendship.

3. Judicial bypass on abortions: Lucio was the lone Democratic vote in the Senate for a 2015 measure that tightened the requirements on judicial bypass, the legal process that allows minors to obtain court approval for an abortion if asking their parents for permission could endanger them. The senator, who reliably supports anti-abortion measures in the chamber, said those were the easiest votes for him to cast.

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

4. Anti gay-marriage resolution: A measure forbidding state or local governments from using public money to issue same-sex marriage licenses got new life when Lucio attached it to a wide-ranging county government bill that came through the intergovernmental affairs committee he chairs. When the bill came to the Senate floor, Lucio was forced to take it down after it became clear its original author would not let it pass in the House. He instead joined the chambers Republicans in passing a resolution reaffirming the states opposition to same-sex marriage.

The legislation Lucio announced his support for Monday requires transgender people to use the bathroom inpublic schools, government buildings and public universitiesthat matches their biological sex and reverses local nondiscrimination ordinances that cover the topic.It has ignited widespread opposition among LGBT advocates and members of the business community, who say it is discriminatory and could have dire consequences on the state's economy.

As he spoke at the news conference, Lucio said he would vote for Senate Bill 6 because of his sympathy for parents and children on both sides of the issue.

We can be compassionate and fair to all while working to defend human dignity, he said. Children, youth, and parents in these difficult situations deserve compassion, sensitivity, and respectwithout infringing on legitimate concerns about privacy and security from other students and parents.

The backlash against his position was swift and fierce. Liberal groups across the state, including Progress Texas and the ACLU of Texas, asked their members to call Lucios office to express their disappointment. His sonEddie Lucio III,a Democratic state representative from Brownsville, was prompted to issue a statement Monday eveningclarifying that he did not join his father in supporting the bill.

"Shortly after it was made public that my father supports SB 6 and participated in a press conference, my office started receiving negative feedback from across Texas on his position on the bill, he said. "Unfortunately, most of the people who were calling my office were mistaking me for my father. On this issue, I respectfully disagree with my father."

The elder Lucio said he had raised his son to have a mind of his own.

"My approach is a little different. I grew up in a different generation maybe, but I taught my son to always be fair, never to cheat anyone, never to take from anyone one, always to give, and he has," he said. "I love him more when he speaks his mind."

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

He said he had received "emails, texts, calls" from constituents thanking him for his support of the legislation and that he wasn't concerned about negative reaction within his district.

"At my age I don't worry about political backlash," he said. "I don't worry about the next election. I want to improve the quality of life."

Disclosure: Progress Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors is availablehere.

Continued here:
Lucio's bathroom bill support is the latest example of aisle-crossing by Valley Democrat - Texas Tribune

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - One week after the Democrat-led House Finance Committee suggested a dramatic reduction in state payments to local governments that issue school bonds, the committee voted along caucus lines to add funding back into the operating budget proposal.

The 7-4 vote happened Tuesday afternoon as the committee considered hundreds of budget amendments, nearly all from minority Republican members attempting in vain to reduce government spending.

While the move would save $48 million annually, an idea that comes as policymakers grapple with $3 billion budget gap, Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said the reversal of course came in response to intense criticism from local governments that would have picked up the tab.

In particular, Fairbanks may have been unable to cover the increased expenses because it has a hard revenue cap, Gara said.

The decision likely sets up negotiations with the GOP-controlled Senate over the K-12 budget, which takes up more money than anything else. In addition to potentially reducing bond debt reimbursement, a likely topic of conversation in coming weeks is whether or not to reduce the dollar amount school districts receive for each student enrolled.

Read the original post:
Democrat-led finance committee reverses course on proposal to cut school debt reimbursement - KTUU.com

Former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton is running for Ohio governor.(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, ASSOCIATED PRESS)

COLUMBUS - Former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton no stranger to close, bitterly fought political races may face her toughest yet in 2018: a run for Ohio governor.

Sutton, 53, plans to announce Tuesdayshe will join the Ohio Senate's top Democrat, Joe Schiavoni of greater Youngstown, in the party's primary for governor. In doing so, she instantly became the Democratic front-runner in a two-person race, although others may join the field.

What does Sutton, of Summit County's Copley Township, bring to the race?

1. Who is Sutton?

Anyone who isn't Mike DeWine, Ohio's attorney general and the likely GOP front-runner for governor,is going to face challenges with name recognition in the Ohio governor's race next year. Sutton is no exception.

Sutton's most recent position as administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation provided few opportunities to make headlines. She served in that role, which included overseeing the seaway between Montreal and Lake Erie, from 2013 until earlier this year.

Perhaps Sutton's best-known program in Congress was Cash for Clunkers, a recession-era stimulus for the auto industry thatgave drivers up to $4,500 to trade in their vehicle and buy a more fuel-efficient new one. But will Ohio voters remember she championedthe popular program in 2009? Probably not.

2. No statewide experience

If Sutton wins the Democratic primary, she would face either a Republican with years of statewide experience or U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, who ousted her from Congress in 2012. Renacci had a huge advantage in that race: Republicans had redrawn the district to their advantage. Still, you would expect the defeat to loom over any rematch.

Sutton isn't alone in her inexperience statewide. Few Democrats mulling a gubernatorial run have served all of Ohio.

A Republican opponent could harp on that missing piece on her resume, but Democrats could pitch it as an advantage. The Columbus outsider? The change candidate who isn't beholden to the establishment's status quo? That message worked well for President Donald Trump.

Take the news with you. Download the Cincinnati.com app on both theApple App StoreandGoogle Play.

For too long, Sutton told The Enquirer Monday, Ohio's politicians have focused on helping the most powerful.

"Its time to change priorities in Ohio. We need to focus on creating jobs for working families, rather thanfocusing on giving tax breaks to the most privileged in our society," she said."I will be a governor who understands that everyone across our state matters."

1. Alumna of tough races

Sutton's experience fighting against attack ads and raising money in tight races would serve her well in a statewide brawl, Democrats say.

In 2012, Sutton lost to Renacci by 4 percentage points in a district drawn to favor Republicans and remove Sutton from Congress. Trump won that district, which includes western suburbs ofCleveland, areas east of Akron and Wooster, by 16.6 percentage points last year. (That was more than double his margin of victory statewide.)

In 2010, Sutton was targeted by a Medina County GOP mailer that read: "Take Betty Sutton out of the House and put her back in the kitchen." Nevertheless, she won in a rough year for Democrats.

Sutton even faced a challenging primary in her first run for Congress to fill the seat vacated by Sherrod Brown, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006.

2. National donors know her

While the average Ohio voter might not know Sutton, Democrats on the national level do the kind of Democrats who might open their pocketbook to donate to a gubernatorial campaign.

Sutton was a favorite ofEMILY's List, the national abortion rights' group. She raised $2.5 million in her 2012 race against Renacci from groups like theLeague of Conservation Voters andUnited Steelworkers.

For comparison, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, who recently announced he wouldn't run for governor, typically raises about $1 million for his congressional races.

Chrissie Thompson contributed to this report.

Read or Share this story: http://cin.ci/2n8T6IB

Originally posted here:
Another Democrat jumps into Ohio governor's race - Cincinnati.com