South Carolina's GOP rejects Trump's redistricting map plan. Trump's plan is blatantly unjust and illegal. You don't strip away representation by fiat and claim to be about fairness. The redistricting scheme is about racism, political oppression, and Trump's anti-democratic agenda. There are tons of Texas primary results. Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton won the primary race against Senator John Cornyn. Trump supported the scandal filled Paxton. Now, Paxton will run against James Talacrio for the Senate seat in Texas. Colin Alled won the Democratic primary runoff for the Texas 33rd Congressional District. First term Representative Christian Menefee defeated longtime Rep. Al Green in a Democratic primary runoff in Texas' 18th Congressional District. Carlos De La Cruz won the Republican primary runoff for Texas' 35th Congressional District. Johnny Garcia won the Democratic primary runoff for Texas' 35th Congressional District.
The gerrymandering in the South is not just a threat to democracy in the South. It is a threat nationwide, because no one has the right to eliminate black representation by fiat. Republican state legislatures are redrawing these congressional district lines without any justification, without any legal process, and without any respect to the voter rights of black people. The Supreme Court decision of Louisiana v. Callais crushed the Voting Rights Act. This agenda has grown in Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Florida, etc. It attacks democratic rights of all of us, because when the rights of black voters are harmed, all of our rights are indeed violated. Tennessee is carving up Memphis's black majority district into three rural anchored seats, one going more than 200 miles toward Nashville. This gives Republicans a 9-0 House sweep in a Republican dominated state of Tennessee. This agenda is part of far-right extremists' plans to have voter ID schemes, harm mail in voting, and threats to allow ICE to harass voters at the polls. The same disenfranchisement of black voters in Jim Crow South continues today in 2026 in a slicker fashion. The 1965 Voting Rights Act originally was created for federal oversight of elections in parts of America with a history of voter suppression against black Americans (in the South and in Arizona and Alaska for discrimination against Hispanic, Native Americans, and Alaska Native voters). So, we have to defend the democratic right to vote and fair representation in the legislature without voter suppression gerrymandering schemes.
On this Memorial Day time, we honor the veterans who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Military heroes have been leaders involving defeating Nazism, defeating the Confederacy, and using self-defense to defend their fellow soldiers. Also, many veterans are great civil rights heroes like Medgar Evers. There is a story of one fallen solider in my family tree, and his name was Charles Jones Jr. He was my paternal 3rd cousin who lived from October 24, 1948, in New York City, and he passed away in 1968 at Vietnam. His parents were Charlie C. Jones Sr. (b. 1905) and Elizabeth Stratton (1913-1995). The parents of Elizabeth Stratton were Alfred Stratton (1884-1951) and Virginia (aka Jennie) Burton (1883-1968). The parents of my 1st cousin Virginia Burton were James Burton (1848-1931) and Ann Eliza Brickhouse (1857-1921). The parents of my 2nd great-grandaunt Ann Eliza Brickhouse were my 3rd great-grandparents Johnson Brickhouse (b. 1826) and Julia Perkins (b. 1835). Charles Jones Jr. was in the Department of the U.S. Army. He was a Corporal, and he was part of A Company, 60th Infantry, 2nd Battalion, and was in Military Region 4-Dinh Tuong. He was involved in Light Weapons Infantry.
One important point for us to recognize is how blessed we are. We have elements, organs, and other characteristics as human beings which is very unique. From atoms, molecules, cells, organs, and to a full human body, we have complex functions in our bodies that keep us living. We have ca. 30 trillion cells as adult human beings. We have approximately 7 octillion atoms or 10 to the 27th power. Our DNA has the building blocks of life genetically. Our cells turn genetic code (found in DNA in the nucleus) to functional molecules that keep the body running via 2 steps. The first step is transcription when the DNA creates mRNA or messenger RNA. Messenger RNA is formed by the cell creating a portable, single stranded copy called mRNA (that is formed by the RNA polymerase unzipping the specific gene section of the DNA double helix). Then, the mature nRNA leaves the nucleus and travels into the cell's cytoplasm. The, there is translation or mRNA being in the ribosome via an attachment, to create proteins. Translation happens in the cytoplasm at the ribosome (or the cell's protein factory). The ribosome read the mRNA in 3 sets of bases called codons. The tRNA (or transfer RNA) has amino acids and plugs into the matching mRNA codon. The tRNA acts as delivery trucks carrying a specific amino acid and plugs into the matching mRNA codon. So, the tRNA molecules match their specific anti-codons to mRNA and drop off the exact amino acids required. When the tRNA drops off its amino acids, the ribosome links to a growing polypeptide chain (made up of amino acids). A stop codon is reached, translation stops, and the chain of amino acids detaches. This chain folds into a specific 3-D shape. That 3-D shape causes a functioning protein (as proteins are made up of amino acids) to exist. So, there is purpose in life, beauty in life, and complexity in life. Our birth itself is a product of a glorious miracle. That proves that human beings have dignity, worth, and value in the Universe.
Clarence B. Jones lived to be 95 years old. He was an icon of the Civil Rights Movement who passed away recently on May 22, 2026, at Cupertino, California. He wanted unapologetic black freedom frankly speaking. He was a lawyer and the former personal counsel, advisor, draft speech writer, and close friend of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Clarence was born in the Northern city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He later was raised in Palmyra, New Jersey. He earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1953. He earned his LLB from Boston University. Jones was a great lawyer working with Dr. King, and Clarence Jones worked with the SCLC (or the Southern Christian Leadership Conference) to advance civil rights causes. He was a friend to Wyatt Tee Walker, Stanley Levison, and Jack O'Dell. Jones helped to draft the 1963 I Have a Dream speech and was a contributing writer (with Vincent Harding and Andrew Young) to the Dr. King's Beyond Vietnam address at the New York City's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967. That speech was about Dr. King expressing complete, unequivocable opposition to the Vietnam War for legitimate, courageous reasons. Clarence Jones supported prisoner rights during the Attica rebellion in 1971, promoted nonviolence, and he loved his children. Clarence Jones lived to see many eras of black history. For example, he lived through the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the new 2026 voting rights movement (after the 2026 far right GOP gerrymandering schemes that have suppressed legitimate black political representation in numerous Southern states). Clarence Jones was an erudite, sophisticated scholar who desired justice for all being a heroic black human being.
Rest in Power Brother Clarence B. Jones.
By Timothy
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