Real Issues.

Many people are saying that the new shutdown deal is coming. This is a compromise deal. Hannity has been critical of the deal. Hannity is so far right that he is too extreme ideologically. The truth is that Trump started the shutdown originally. The new deal have 1.375 billion dollars for fencing along a certain amount of miles. The reality is that undocumented migration into America are in historic lows, but Trump and his acolytes believe in the myth that millions of people are coming into America to cause mayhem and chaos in America. We shall see what the future holds. One thing that we all agree on is that we don't want another shutdown. We don't want more people to suffer financially or otherwise. In the past year alone, there has been an increase of strikers by teachers and other workers. One strike that is ongoing now in February of 2019 is the teachers' strike in Denver. Many teachers want higher wages and other things. Colorado teachers are paid the lowest out of every state in America while Denver is one of the most expensive places to live in America. In general, the costs of living have dramatically increased in the past decades. That is why you have a homelessness problem nationwide. Some students have expressed solidarity with the teachers by walking out in Denver, Colorado. We don't live in quaint times. We live in historic times and we support positive movements for social change.

Xenophobes question the value of immigrants to America and to the black community. The xenophobes are hypocrites since some of them legitimately expose racism in America, but omit the black immigrants making contributions every single day. Even Kwame Ture, Claudia Jones, and other well known black leaders weren't born in America. Many of these hypocrites don't practice what they preach by claiming to be for black solidarity, but use memes and videos to mock black people who disagree with them (or use slurs against black people. Some of them even blame black people collectively for things). Immigrants pay a large amount of taxes in America. Immigrants bring more cultural diversity in America and America is stronger by its cultural diversity too. Also, immigrants help to stabilize employment rates and immigrants are never the cause of systematic racism in America. The income inequality gap among African Americans and European Americans wasn't caused by immigration. Immigration didn't cause police brutality. These evils were caused by members of the 1% who desire division and hatred instead of black liberation and justice. More importantly, black immigrants and their cultures are integral to African-American communities — and to the US as a whole. Undocumented black immigrants are also at great risk of deportation, as they encounter the double bind of anti-black policing and racist immigration laws and policies. Most African Americans by polls want a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Trump has lied about El Paso since before barriers existed in the Texas city, crime rates were already declining. Also, the migrants aren't criminals collectively, but legal migrants seeking asylum in American soil. Therefore unity among black people from across the Earth is necessary to freedom and justice.

Howard Schultz is considering running for President. His views aren't new. He believes that centrism will improve America. We know that isn't the case. Every revolutionary movement in history to improve the lives of Americans arose by radical solutions and revolutionary policies not by centrism. For example, slavery ended by revolutionary abolitionists and other black people who wanted slavery abolished. The Civil Rights laws were created by the progressive Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other heroes who sacrificed everyday for our freedom. In fact, Dr. King criticized the white moderates as wanting the status quo. Dr. King and Malcolm X were not moderates. Dr. King wanted reparations, he praised democratic socialism,and he opposed the Vietnam War. Schultz said that he's socially liberal and fiscally conservative. That is an oxymoron since you need massive governmental investment to fight poverty and economic injustices. You need powerful financial power to end injustices in general. FDR used the New Deal not with fiscal conservativism, but with billions of dollars that grew Social Security and other laws (which were won by the labor movement). Schultz refuses to support a wealth tax, refuses to support reparations, and refuses to do anything to invest in rebuilding our infrastructure in the billions of dollars. He issues token reforms like promoting health care fixes and other things, but we live in a different time. Tokenism doesn't work. Schultz doesn't have concrete policy positions, but he wants to attack the views of progressives which is an example of his hypocrisy. We need firm change. Progressives are right to advocate an end to the detention of babies. They are right to fight for a living wage and seeking investments to help the environment.

It is always honorable to show great respect to a hero. Brother Bill Russell has his Birthday yesterday and he is now 85 years old. He was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Racism was so bad in Monroe back then, that Bill Russell's father and him (plus his family) moved into Oakland, California. Bill Russell was raised in housing projects because even back then, black people suffered oppression. Bill Russell worked hard to develop his fundamental basketball skills. He was encouraged by a coach and came into college at the University of San Francisco. He experienced racism, but he courageously stood up for himself and excelled in the game that he so loved. He played great defense and passing. He was one of the greatest college basketball players in history and later became one of the greatest NBA Players in history. He played for the Boston Celtics during his NBA career. Track and field was another sport that he performed magnificently too.

He won gold during the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, Australia. While he was in the NBA, he was a legend. He won 11 NBA Championships. He was a 12 time All-Star. He was the first black American to coach a basketball team, and he was the first black American to win a championship while coaching too. Bill Russell was a competitor. He also was an active advocate of civil rights back then and today. He supported Dr. King and Muhammad Ali in his conscientious objection to the Vietnam War. Recently, he agreed with Colin Kaepernick's protest. Bill Russell is an iconic man who has shown athletes and all people that you don't have to compromise in order to be free. You can live life, treat people right, and stand on what is right. I wish Brother Bill Russell more blessings.

By Timothy