News on Friday

Trump supports massive cuts in massive monuments. Obviously, he is doing this to get land and allow the oil industry to mine for resources at the expense of environmental protections and Native American land claims. He wants to cut the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah by 85 percent and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by half. The move strips away protections for 3 million acres of federal land in an area eyed by industry for rich deposits of fossil fuels and uranium. This is the most unprecedented land grab in decades. This policy harms conservation and environmental protections. We have Native American groups and other activists fighting back against these wrongheaded actions. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke followed up on the reclassification announcement a day later with a report that identified four more national monuments for downsizing, as well as changes to the management of another six. The report is the initial response to the president’s request to review 27 monuments established since 1996. Right now, lawsuits here by many Native American organizations to oppose such actions.

Lawsuits are already underway, including one by five tribes–the Hopi, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and Ute Indian–against the shrinking of Bears Ears. Shaun Chapoose, a member of the Ute Indian tribe, told the Salt Lake Tribune, “They declared war on us today. If they think we’re not prepared to protect it, they’re kidding themselves.” The Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah currently comprises 1,351,849 acres of sparsely developed land. It was created as a final act of the Obama Administration in 2016 and protects significant Native American and natural landscapes. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah is 1,880,461 acres large. It was created in 1996 by President Bill Clinton and also protects significant landscapes and archaeological and cultural sites. This news show how corporate interests desire greed and other components of exploitation.



Certainly, President Trump wants Jerusalem to be the city of the permanent U.S. Embassy in Israel. The issue with this policy is that both Israelis and Palestinians haven't negotiated fully about the issue of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city special to us. It's a city with great religious history and spiritual significance. Many people have criticized Trump from EU factions to others. Another issue is that we have to see what will result in this policy. Trump is allied with the Gulf States (and they fight ISIS forces) while many of these Gulf States are pro-Palestinian. The question is whether the Sunni Gulf States will look the other way. The Middle East has been explosive for generations. Many Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be a future capital of a Palestinian state and many Israelis want Jerusalem to be the total capital of Israel. Trump's policy has existed without a status agreement among both sides. After the 1948 war, Israel got Jerusalem except for East Jerusalem, which was annexed by Jordan. Israel occupied East Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War. To this day, the international community doesn't recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Once again, violence comes in the Middle East as a product of Trump's reckless policies. The Palestinians want their equality and freedom from Ramallah and Gaza. Therefore, we are in support of any Jewish person and Arabic person in that region who desires true peace, an end to occupation, and true fairness in that region. The history of Israel and Palestine is complicated. Out of all of the histories that I have studied, the histories of Israel and Palestine receive some of the most passionate responses among both points of view. That is why I advise anyone to study both points of view of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict (and make up their own minds as independently thinking human beings). We all agree that the long term solution is for Israelis and Palestinians to have equality, peace, and justice excluding terrorism and excluding occupation. You can't have freedom with occupation. It's as simple as that.

Yesterday was Birthday of Brother Jeffrey Wright. He is now 52 years old. He was born in Washington, D.C. He is well known as a film, stage, and television actor. He has been on commercials too. He went into Amherst College. Later, he came into acting. Back in 1996, he portrayed the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat in the film Basquiat, to critical acclaim. He was in the remake of Shaft in 2000 and the movie The Boycott in 2001 (which was about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He has played in a diversity of roles from Syriana in 2005 to Hunger Games movie series). He has worked as an activist in other nations and he continued to work in the field of acting.

Beyonce is right on sending praise to Colin Kaepernick. Tomi Lahren is a jealous far right wing hater. I will give Beyonce great credit for exposing racism for what it is. The American nation was created on the backs of our black ancestors and the genocide of Native American peoples. This journey for black liberation won't be easy, but it's the right path to take since our people not only deserve freedom. We deserve justice and the right to build and own our own tables that we control. I was certainly shocked by the news of Newsone now being cut by late December 2017. Soon, Newsone now will be gone. Roland Martin was one of the few black voices in TV that exposed the Trump agenda as repugnant and abhorrent. Trump has gone out of his way to slander women, glamorize sexual assault against women, lie habitability, and advocate massive cuts to monuments. I have no respect for Donald Trump. One of the greatest parts of the show is how he exposed the far right as not only extremists, but anti-black. He refuted white supremacist Richard Spencer and refuted Paula White (as many mega preachers are hypocrites for not standing up against the Birther lies against Obama, but support Trump unconditionally. Trump has a tendency to disrespect black women too, which is evil and wrong). The show has talked about voting rights, HBCUs, investments, black history, health care, civil rights, and other important issues in the black community. Therefore, it is always important to defend the rights of black people, refugees, immigrants, the poor, women, and the rest of the human family. Therefore, the goal of black liberation remains. We will continue to stand up and speak up for righteousness.


By Timothy