Monday, August 23, 2021

Monday Information in Late August 2021.

 

  

As we enter the quarter-century mark of the 21st century, new events and old challenges remain. We live in a time that the Earth is rapidly heating up with an urgency to do something about climate change. We have political polarization and racial tensions. There were heroic souls from Texas who fought against unjust voter suppression in Texas. They came into Washington, D.C. These brave people wanted to inspire the U.S. Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation. We live in a time where controversies flourish, and people debate on cancel culture. Yet, there always remains a remnant of the dedicated human beings who follow justice, compassion, and integrity. Long ago, some of our ancestors stood up against the Maafa and slavery. Some sacrificed their lives for civil and voting rights. We know about the global anti-apartheid activists who fought to defeat a racist apartheid regime in South Africa. Now, we have more people desiring an end to police brutality against black human lives. Marginalized communities are having their voices despite the far right-wing backlash. The far-right movement is not omnipotent. Therefore, we have every right to reject their cruel agendas (of harming voting rights, harming the rights of women, scapegoating black people, advancing xenophobia, and loving austerity measures). Nearly being in the Fall of 2021 makes us aware of how valuable life is. Never wasting time is vital. We are certainly entitled to peace, justice, and equality. We shall see what the future holds involving the 2022 Midterms, the pandemic's future, and the economic situation in the United States of America. I will always maintain my core convictions. 

  

History is made by her is real. She led a life filled with rising above the political world. She is a part of America. Her father was an Afro-Jamaican man, and her mother is an Indian American woman. Kamala Harris has a wide-ranging cultural experience. She worshiped at a Baptist church. Harris sang music at a Hindu Temple. Also, she graduated from the prominent Historically Black University of Howard University. Afterward, Harris earned her legal degree to be a powerful lawyer. Kamala Harris has always been an expert of legal policies and political debates. This work will describe her life, her accomplishments, her errors, and her inspirational power for many women who desire their dreams to be fulfilled. Over many years, we have had massive changes in American society. No one should sugarcoat her life, and we reject the falsehoods about her life as well. From being a United States Senator to be the first black American and South Asian Vice President of the United States of America, her historical rise to power has been extremely historic. With her charisma, intellect, convictions, and activism, her story has the right to be presented to the world. Also, it is important to promote our independent thinking. We believe in reparations for black people in America, we believe in policies to address economic inequality, we believe in justice for black farmers, and we reject imperialism 100 percent. 

 

As early as May of 2019, senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed the idea of a Biden/Harris ticket. In late February of 2020, Biden won a landslide victory in the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary with the endorsement of House whip Jim Clyburn, with more victories on Super Tuesday. By early March of 2020, Clyburn suggested that Biden choose a black woman as a running mate. He said that "African American women needed to be rewarded for their loyalty." In March 2020, Biden committed to choosing a woman for his running mate. On April 17, 2020, Harris responded to media speculation; Harris mentioned that she would be honored to be Biden's running mate. In late May of 2020, concerning the murder of George Floyd and the protests plus demonstrations, Biden faced renewed calls to select a black woman to be his running mate. Many people highlighted the law enforcement credentials of Harris and Val Demings. The New York Times reported on June 12, 2020, that Kamala Harris was emerging as the frontrunner to be Biden's running mate. She was one of many African American women with the political experience typical of vice President. On June 26, CNN reported that more than a dozen people close to the Biden search process considered Harris one of Bidens top four contenders. Their names are Elizabeth Warren, Val Demings, and Keisha Lance Bottoms. Joe Biden announced that he had chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate on August 11, 2020. She was the first African American, the first Indian American, and the third woman after Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin to be picked as a Vice Presidential nominee for a major party ticket.  

 

Kamala Haris was recorded calling Biden saying, "We did it! We did it, Joe. You're going to be the next President of the United States." This was one of the top 10 tweets of 2020. After the 2020 election of Joe Biden as U.S. President, Harris assumed office as Vice President of the United States on January 20, 2021. Kamala Harris is the first woman vice President and the highest-ranking woman elected official in U.S. history. She is the first African American and the first Asian-American vice President. She is the 2nd person of color to hold that position. The first was Charles Curtis, a Native American and member of the Kaw Nation, who served under Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. She is the third person of color to get one of the highest offices of the executive branch after Curtis and former President Barack Obama. Harris resigned her Senate seat on January 18, 2021, two days before her swearing-in as vice president. Her first act as vice president was swearing-in her replacement Alex Padilla and Georgia senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who were elected in the 2021 Georgia runoff elections. Kamala Harris cast her first of two tie-breaking votes on February 5, 2021. In February and March, Harris's tie-breaking votes in her role as President of the Senate were crucial in passing the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 stimulus package proposed by President Biden since no Republicans in the Senate voted for the package. In April 2021, Harris indicated that she was the last person in the room before President Biden decided to remove all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and commented that the president has "an extraordinary amount of courage" and "make(s) decisions based on what he truly believes ... is the right thing to do." Vice President Kamala Harris conducted her first international trip as Vice President in June 2021, visiting Guatemala and Mexico in an attempt to address the root causes of an increase in migration from Central America to the United States. During her visit, in a joint press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, Harris issued an appeal to potential migrants, stating "I want to be clear to folks in the region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come. Do not come." Kamala Harris said that America is not a racist obvious. I disagree. History and just life experiences prove that America is a racist nation. In 2005, the National Black Prosecutors Association awarded Harris the Thurgood Marshall Award. That year, she was featured along with 19 other women in a Newsweek report profiling "20 of America's Most Powerful Women."


Modern gospel music has existed from 1997 to the present in 2021. For over 24 years, we witness gospel music change in many ways. Gospel now is filled with tons of younger artists. Many of these gospel musicians consist of influences from hip hop and R&B music. Also, there are many older gospel legends making songs and albums too. The Stellar Awards presents the reality of the diversity of new school artists of this generation fully. In our time, Jekayln Carr has many tons of music involving gospel. Tye Tribbett is known for dancing and having massive energy with his spiritual music. We know about the Clark Sisters and going strong after decades of being in the gospel music industry. Kierra Sheard-Kelly has sung gospel music for a while. A younger singer named Jonathan McReynolds gave shown many conscious messages in his gospel songs too. At the 2021 Stellar Awards, the Clark Sisters accepted the Lifetime Achievement Awards. Tramaine Hawkins accepted the Aretha Franklin icon award during the 2021 Stellar Awards too. Other artists who continue to inspire human beings in 2021 are: Jason Clayborn, Hezekiah Walker, Pastor Mike Jr., Yolanda Adams, CeCe Winans, Terrian, Mali Music, J.J. Hairston, Tamela Mann, Jokia, Maverick City Music, Kirk Franklin, Anthony Brown, Nia Allen, Capria McClearn, and other human beings. The group Mary Mary have made albums, and each woman have created solo projects too during the 21st century. Therefore, music is universal, and there is nothing wrong with diverse sounds in praising God legitimately. 

  

 

After the early era of American history, there was the further existence of the antebellum period and Westward expansion. We know that much of the westward expansion involved the theft of lands from Native American people. There was a violation of treaties. Also, many Native Americans were removed from the Southeast into Oklahoma. These relocations caused thousands of Native Americans to die. While this was going onward, slavery existed. Black people suffered unspeakable horrors during the 19th century. There were also abolitionists and grassroots freedom fighters who fought constantly against the evil of slavery worldwide. Harriet Tubman freed tons of people from bondage, and the Harper Ferry's raid was established by many people, including John Brown. The Western region of America was conquered by American expansionism. Under the guise of "Manifest Destiny," many settlers believed in the myth that they have the God-given right to take territories that didn't belong to them by force, even displacing innocent human beings from their lands. Also, we saw the rise of Mormonism, the growth of railroads, and the Mexican-American War that changed America forever. There was the California Gold Rush, the Oregon Trail, and the further growth of the divisions among the North and the South. These divisions would ultimately evolved into the American Civil War by 1861. Many Presidents during this time believed in the status quo. From Martin Van Buren to Franklin Pierce, massive changes existed in the young American nation. 

 

 

 


Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) was President from 1837 to 1841. He was the 8th President of the United States of America. He was once the founder of the Democratic Party. Also, he served as the 9th Governor of New York state, the 10th United States secretary of state, and the 8th Vice President of the United States of America. He won the 1836 election with the support from the outgoing President Andrew Jackson and the organizational strength of the Democratic Party. He was born in Kinderhook, New York. His father was on the Patriot side of the American Revolutionary, and he was the first President born after the existence of the American Revolution. The residents in Kinderhook, NewYork were mostly of Dutch descent and spoke Dutch as their primary language. His birthplace was about 20 miles south of Albany on the Hudson River. His father Abraham Van Buren was a descendant of the Dutch man named Cornelis Maessen (who was from Buurmalsen, Netherlands). Cornelis emigrated to New Netherlands in 1631. Abraham Van Buren was part of the Democratic-Republican Party. Martin Van Buren studied Latin and other subjects at his village schoolhouse. His first language was Dutch, but he learned English. Martin Van Buren married Hannah Hoes in Catskill, New York on February 21, 1807. They knew each other since childhood. The couple had 5 children. Van Buren was the Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson. When Van Buren ran for President, at first, he assured southern Democrats that he opposed abolitionism and wanted slavery to existed in places where it already existed. That's a shameful view. Van Buren cast the tie breaking Senate vote to prevent circulation of abolitionist mail in the South. Van Buren had the view that slavery was immoral but sanctioned by the Constitution. The truth is that any unjust law, even found in the Constitution, is no true law at all and must be rejected. 

 

 

Van Buren's Presidency was short, because of his response to the Panic of 1837. The Panic of 1837 dealt with state banks in New York running out of hard currency reserves. They refused to convert paper money into gold or silver, and other financial institutions followed suit in america. This caused a 5 year depression in which banks failed and unemployment was in record levels. Van Buren refused to allow Texas in the Union because Texas was a slave location. Van Buren blamed the crisis on the American and foreign business plus financial institutions. The Whigs blamed Andrew Jackson's economic policies like his 1836 Specie Circular. Some believed that Jackson ending the Bank of the United States caused the crisis too. The Whigs soon gained seats in the U.S. House and Senate. Van Buren wanted an independent Treasury system. He was involved in the costly Second Seminole War. Southern Democrats were angry at him, because he didn't want Texas to be a state. Andrew Jackson obviously wanted diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Texas in March of 1837. New England abolitionists believed that this was a slaveholding conspiracy to get Texas. Daniel Webster denounced the U.S. annexation of Texas. Van Buren avoided a war against Great Britian involving Canada. Van Buren was wrong to support the Spanish kidnapping black people on the Armistad. John Quincy Adams, to his credit, argued passionately for the Africans' right to freedom. The Supreme Court in 1841 said that the Africans were free people and should be allowed to return home. The case inspired more support for the abolitionist cause in America. This caused Southern Democrats to nominate James K. Polk. Van Buren promoted the newly formed Free Soil Party's system. He was a Presidential nominee in 1848. Van Buren later became one of the few leading Democratic abolitionists. That was a massive change. Van Buren lived to see the Compromise of 1850. He rejected Southern extremists, but he wanted compromise in dealing with slavery. You can't compromise with evil.When the American Civil War existed, he made public support for the Union.  He supported Abraham Lincoln's policies during the American Civil War. He passed away in his hometown of Kinderhook, NY in July of 1862. He was 79 years old. 

 

 

 

 

When I did my 23 and me DNA test, it found out that one of my relatives was a man named Je'aime Powell. It took me a long time to find out how he was related to me. He was born in Portsmouth, Virginia to be one of the great STEM experts of our generation. He was honored at the Black Engineers of the Year Awards (for Student Leadership). He graduated from Elizabeth City State University. He earned his undergraduate degree from ECSU in computer science, and he earned a Master's from ECSU in mathematics with a concentration in remote sensing. Dr. Linda Hyaen, Associate Director of Education and ECSU Operation, is the mentor for him. She has always praised his excellence in STEM research. How is he related to me? He is related to me, because we share the same common ancestor of Zilphy Claud (or my 5th great grandmother). Je'aime Henry Powell was born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1979. His brothers are Joseph Powell II (b. 1965) and Jonathan Hubert Powell (b. 1967). They are the children of Jospeh H. Powell Jr. (1938-2005) and Mary Edith Battle (1946-2015). Joseph H. Powell Jr. married Mary Edith Battle on June 21, 1964 at Nansemond, Virginia (Suffolk, VA). Joseph H. Powell Jr.'s parents are Joseph H. Powell Sr. (1913-1988) and Sadie Claud (1919-2007). Sadie Claud was my late 3rd cousin. She married Joseph H. Powell Sr. on June 28, 1937. Her parents are Peter L. Claud (1891-1969) and Nettie Rogers (1894-1924). Peter L. Claud's parents are Frank Thomas Claud (1861-1948) and Elizabeth Whitehead (b. 1868). Frank T. Claud is a descendant of Zilphy Claud. Now, Je'aime Henri Powell married Sonya Janelle Cross (b. 1979) on December 12, 2000 at Portsmouth, Virginia. Jospeh Powell III is married to Lisa Maria Robertson (b. 1965) on June 6, 1987 at Suffolk, Virginia. Jonathan Hubert Powell has a daughter named Jayla Michelle Powell (b. 1998. Her mother is Sheila Beale). Jonathan Powell's late wife was Lynette Florine Mitchell (1968-2012. She was very religious, upright, and caring woman). There are a lot of mysteries revealed about my genealogy indeed. 

 

  

By Timothy

 


 

 



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