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Rosa Alicia Clemente

In 1993, I was a student at the State University of New York-Albany when Dr. Marta Moreno Vega came to speak on our campus. Until that evening, I had never heard the term Afro-Latina. In fact, I had just learned what it meant when someone saidAfrican descendant. See, even though I had grown up in NYC and Westchester County, respectively, and completely embraced and understood that I was Puerto Rican, it was not until I went to college that I began to get to know who I TRULY was.

The year before, I had joined the Albany State University Black Alliance and, through my involvement with peers who were racially and politically conscious, I was exposed to the true history of mi gente (my people). This awakening of my racial consciousness would lead me to become an Africana Studies major and, to this day, I have been a scholar-activist in the field of Black studies. For me, it became clear that I was an African descendant, so I began to devour anything and everything I could, not only to learn the truth of who I was but also to confront the lies I had been told by my teachers, family and TV.

Although I began to identify as an African descendant, it was not until I joined the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement in 2000 that I began to identify as Black, and identifying as such was not easy for me. In too many movement spaces, conscious gatherings and panels, I far too often was confronted and accused of selling out as a Latina. Without the mentorship of Marta and the late Richie Perez, as well as my comrades in the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and others, I could not have navigated conscious movement and personal spaces that sought to take away my Blackness. I have identified myself as a Black Puerto Rican woman since 2001 and to this day, it is not easy. Although many Latinx* people, especially younger ones, are now identifying as Afro-Latinx, I often wonder if it is easier to embrace cultural identifications as opposed to embracing Blackness not only as phenotype but also as a political signifier.

I cannot tell you how many times in the past few years I have been asked, Why are you here? You are not Black. Why are you here? You are a non-Black person of color. What many movement people, leaders, foot soldiers and woke folks fail to understand is that, in America, the binary of Black and white has always excluded Latinx people. One need only look at the media to see that, even in 2017, Blackness in America means African-American. Never are we as Black Latinx people represented in the media, and you will rarely find Africans and Black Caribbean people in dialogues and discussions about race.

Despite the growing numbers and growing racial consciousness of Afro-Latinx people, much of the prevailing discourse makes the assumption that we either have to subscribe to the dominant racial paradigm of African-American/white-American discourse or have to choose between our Black identity or our ethnic one. Going back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pan-Africanism signaled for the first time an explicit, organized identification with Africa and African descendants and, more expansively, of nonwhite peoples at a global level. With the United States occupation of Cuba and Puerto Rico and the ever-growing migratory presence of both populations in New York and other northeastern cities, the central cultural concern of Afro-Latinx became their relationship with African-Americans and, more globally, with an African diasporic world. This Pan-Africanist ideology was embodied most prominently by Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, a Black Puerto Rican who took part in anti-Spanish liberation struggles. Schomburg, a collector and bibliophile of worldwide Africana experiences, contributed greatly to the burgeoning field of Black history. Schomburg lived his life on the color line. His direct knowledge and experience of racism, both in Latin America and the United States, and his alliances with other prominent African-American historians at the time was groundbreaking, and, at the end of his life, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg would identify himself as a Black man.

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As Black History Month ends, it is incumbent that we as Afro-Latinx people in the United States heed the work of Frantz Fanon, who wrote extensively about decolonizing the mind. It also is necessary that movement organizers, organizations and those that fight for social justice affirm and acknowledge a new generation of unapologetic Afro-Latinx, Black Latinxyoung people who are taking their rightful place in the Black radical tradition. As one of my favorite groups, the Welfare Poets, said on their album Project Blues:

Who we be? Who I be? Who we be? We be Isingular I, now the essence of los Africanos and that of lo Indio run within me. So, when you call me Spanish, all my purity seems to vanish because that is not who I be. So, dont refer to me with words that blur the trueness to my identity, defining me by a colonizers language, disregarding my family lineage, my ancestral heritage. Now, I be the rhythm of the Congo, played to an internal bomba, extending from Nigeria from a culture called Yoruba.

No one will ever stop my Blackness. It is who I be.

Rosa Alicia Clemente is a doctoral candidate at the W.E.B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies at UMass-Amherst and was the 2008 Green Party vice-presidential candidate. You can read her groundbreaking article Who is Black?and much more at http://www.rosaclemente.net.

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Rosa Clemente: Can Afro-Latinas Represent Black Lives Matter? - Atlanta Black Star

Eric Holder.

Eric Holder, the former U.S. attorney general hired by Uber Technologies Inc. to investigate sexual harassment claims, pledged to act with complete independence in his review of how the company handled the situation.

Speaking for the first time since he was appointed as a lead on an examination of the company, Holder said Uber has given him carte blanche and that he has the power to determine whether management is culpable. He said he would leave no stone unturned, responding to concerns about his impartiality expressed by two Uber investors.

I will put my personal reputation behind everything that I say, Holder said. I think Ive demonstrated throughout my career the ability to be independent, to not be afraid to express contrary views, and thats what Ive told everybody here at Uber. If you are going to ask me to do this, you have to be prepared for me to simply look at the facts as they are, look at the policies as they are, look at the culture as it is and make recommendations, make findings on that basis, without any regard for anything other than that.

Uber brought in Holder and Tammy Albarran, his colleague at law firm Covington & Burling, to lead an inquiry into allegations made by Susan Fowler, a former software engineer at Uber. In a blog post published Sunday, Fowler wrote that her manager at Uber had propositioned her for sex and that the San Francisco-based companys human resources department had told her that the manager would not be punished, in part, because he was a high performer.

Mitch and Freada Kapor, early Uber investors,voiced objections Thursday to aspects of the review process, specifically questions around independence of the investigators. Holder has worked for Uber on projects in the past. Uber board member Arianna Huffington, the companys new head of human resources Liane Hornsey and Ubers associate general counsel Angela Padilla will also participate in the inquiry.

After Holder stepped down as attorney general in 2015, he was hired a year later to conduct a review of Airbnb Inc.s processes after customers complained they were being racially discriminated against when trying to book rentals. He also worked on Ubers behalf last year in an effort to defeat fingerprint background check legislation.

Holder said his previous work for Uber shouldnt disqualify him from conducting an independent investigation. What I said in letters with regard to Ubers opposition to the use of fingerprinted background checks was consistent to what I said as attorney general of the United States, he said.

Bill Gurley, a venture capitalist who sits on Ubers board, said the company chose Holder to review itsworkplace practices and culture due to his stature, demonstrated interest in these areas and reputation for independence. Uberwill take Holders findingsand translate them into action, Gurley said. David Plouffe, a non-voting member of the board, also defended the pick on Thursday, describing Holderasideal for this assignment.

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Holders investigation is in its early stages, and he declined to provide a timeline. I don't want to emphasize speed over thoroughness, but I think speed is a component of doing this the right way, he said. This is not something we want to fester.

Originally posted here:
Uber Investigator Eric Holder Asserts His Independence - Bloomberg

"Six states -- only six states have Democratic governors in (Democratic majority) state legislatures. In the last eight years -- more than 900 seats in state legislatures went from Democrat to Republican. And it's mostly the legislatures that draw the congressional districts," she said to Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota liberal who is a frontrunner in the race.

That takeover of state-level politics by Republicans didn't happen overnight. It's been part of a methodical push that has allowed the GOP to outpunch its weight in Congress. Control of state houses helps lead to safer congressional districts in most states.

One remedy, alluded to at points by each of the candidates, is the need to re-focus away from national politics.

"Donald Trump has gotten to be like a computer virus in the American political system," said South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. "He ties up our minds and our processing power with these equations that don't even have any solutions until the system overheats and breaks down."

He added later that, "Our opponents on the Republican side have patiently and cleverly built majorities at the state house level, Congress... It's not just about the White House. And when we fail to recognize that, we get into a whole lot of trouble, even when we have the White House, having our policies obstructed and trapped. And as you wind up in a situation like we are right now, where we don't have it, that's where we're really left out."

Jaime Harrison, the South Carolina Democratic Party chairman, blamed the organizing arm of former President Barack Obama's campaigns with draining resources and focus from local parties.

"State parties in this country are broken," said Harrison. "There are state parties in this country, right now, in two years, have - either they're defending one of the 25 US Senate seats or they have a governorship or they're trying to win back their state house and they barely have $35,000 cash-on-hand."

Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who was a member of Obama's administration and has the backing of many established Washington Democrats, didn't disagree.

"We're too short term all too frequently," said Perez, whose voice was hoarse from "going all over the country."

"We have got to win up and down the ballots, from the dog catcher all the way up, and that is how we're going to be ready," he said.

Idaho Democratic Party executive director Sally Boynton Brown said the national party needs to give states and state governments more leeway.

"You know, as DNC chair, yes, it's a federal position. But they have been entirely too focused on the president's position," she said.

For Republicans, it was a years-long effort built on local parties and outside groups that focused almost exclusively on state legislatures.

It also relied on grassroots activism that brought new Republicans into the political process, particularly in 2009 as Democrats, who then controlled all of Washington, were passing Obamacare and other controversial priorities.

It was a painful process for the GOP. On the way to the Congressional majority, grassroots activists targeted moderate Republicans in primaries.

Democrats, more immediately, will need to also harness the excitement and engagement they've seen at townhalls in recent weeks.

Engagement was a key message of Obama as he was on his way out of office. And now the DNC candidates are seizing on it. Buttigieg said Wednesday that people frustrated by Trump and his policies should get involved.

"Don't get mad. Get on your school board," said Buttigieg after a question about Trump's Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos.

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Powerless Democrats realize politics is local - CNN

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The FCC's Republican majority approved the change to help small providers avoid "onerous reporting obligations" included in the 2015 net neutrality order, they said.But by setting the threshold at250,000 subscribers and exempting small ISPs owned by larger companies,the FCC is effectively "exempt[ing] billion-dollar public companies" from rules that can be complied with in mere hourseach year, said Mignon Clyburn, the FCC's only Democrat.

The commission's 2015 order temporarily exempted ISPs with 100,000 or fewer subscribers from the so-called enhanced transparency requirements, but that exemption expired in December 2016. Clyburn said she would support reinstating the exemption for ISPs with 100,000 or fewer subscribers, but shedissented from today's order.

The250,000-subscriber exemption won't apply to the top broadband providers such as Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, and others. But it will exempt many ISPs owned by conglomerates, Clyburn said.

"Many of the nations largest broadband providers are actually holding companies, comprisedof many smaller operating companies," Clyburn said. "So what todays Order does is exempt these companies affiliates that have under 250,000 connections by declining to aggregate the connection count atthe holding company level."

The originalexemption for ISPs with 100,000 or fewer subscribers was applied to the aggregated total of subscribers "across all affiliates," so that small ISPs owned by big holding companies wouldn't be exempt. That changed today, according to Clyburn.

The White House's Office of Management and Budget found that complying with the transparency rule enhancements "would take each broadband provider 6.8 hoursannually," Clyburn said. The exemption will withhold important information about prices, including promotional rates, fees, and surcharges from about 9.7 million subscribers, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said today.

The enhanced transparency rules expand upon rules first implemented in 2010.To comply with the enhanced rules, home Internet providers and cellular carriers must make public disclosures that include the following:

The new rules also require ISPs to disclose more information about network performance, including packet loss statistics.

Pai said he offered a compromise to Clyburn, but he declined to say what his proposed compromise included. A spokesperson for Clyburn told Ars that the compromise would haverequired all ISPs of any size to report "commercial terms" such as prices, fees, and data caps publicly. But it also would have made ISPs with as many as 500,000 subscribers exempt from other requirements. That means many more ISPs would have been able to avoid reporting network performance statistics that can help customers assesswhether a network will be reliable.

"Commissioner Clyburn could simply not support a proposal that would have potentially left millions of additional consumers without transparency protections," the spokesperson said.

Before the vote, Clyburn made a plea to ISPs: "If you and your companies have the resources,then do the right thing, be transparent with consumers about what prices you charge, what feesyou assess, what data caps you impose, and your network performance practices. Yourcustomers, I am confident, will thank you."

Pai argued that requiring ISPs to "devote scarce resources" to filling out paperwork instead of deploying broadband is "not in the interest of the consumer."

"Ourdecision today will help the country's smaller providers... better serve their communities," Pai said. "I firmly believe that these ISPsshould spend their limited capital building out better broadband to rural America, not hiring lawyers and accountants to fill out unnecessary paperwork demanded by Washington, DC. With this action, the small businesses that are critical to injecting competition into the broadband marketplace will be better able to do just that."

Pai also supports overturningthe FCC's net neutrality order, which could wipe out the transparency requirements for providers of all sizes.

The FCC did take action to boost broadband deployment today in two bipartisan votes. One vote will provide $453 million in annual support to carriers over ten years to expand and improve 4G LTE mobile coverage in rural and tribal areas. This is a continuation of the FCC's Mobility Fund, which was created in 2011. The money will be distributed in an auction-style format to boost coverage "where the market cant sustain or extend service absent government support."

The FCC today also voted on rules for an upcoming reverse auction that will provide a total of nearly $2 billion over 10 years to expand home Internet service in rural areas.

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FCC lets billion-dollar ISPs hide fees and data caps, Democrat says - Ars Technica

Leftists are besieging Republicans town meetings across the country, mostly trying to get headlines from sympathetic newspapers. Often, their conduct has been deplorable. Yesterday afternoon, Senator Tom Cotton did a town hall in Springdale, Missouri, and the left was out in force, stacking the 2,200-seat venue. Their antics have been hailed breathlessly by such outlets as the Washington Post, Politico and CNN. In fact, the leftists efforts were rather pathetic, as one Democrat after another got up and read long statements off note cards. Senator Cotton responded masterfully to the Democrats. You can watch the whole thing, but I dont recommend it. It is, however, worth watching a few minutes to get a feel for how crazy the Democrats are:

Notwithstanding the fact that better than 1,000 of them showed up to agitate at the Springdale town hall, the Democratic Party is almost extinct in Arkansas. Yesterdays dismal showing is one more nail in the Arkansas Democrats coffin, as an overwhelming majority of Arkansans no doubt reacted with disgust.

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Democrats Make Fools of Themselves at Cotton Town Hall - Power Line (blog)