Colin Powell’s Final Salute

by with No Comment FeaturedNewsPolitics

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell passed away on October 18, 2021, at age of 84. Colin Powell was a Republican who served as the United States first African-American Secretary of State. Powell served twice in South Vietnam. He was wounded while patrolling the borders of Vietnamese- Laotian during his first tour, and he was injured in a helicopter crash during his second. He served under former President Ronald Regan as the National Security Adviser meeting with world leaders such as Soviet President Gorbachev. He later served in former President Bill Clinton’s administration as Chairman of Joint Chiefs briefly. It would be Powell who debated Clinton regarding whether or not gays should be admitted in the armed forces, which resulted in a policy known as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Powell eventually retired from the Army in 1993. 

In 2000, President George W Bush appointed Collin Powell as the 65th Secretary of State becoming the first African-American to serve in that role. Powell was strongly against the second war in Iraq. George W Bush was asked if he spoke with Powell if he should go into war. Bush responded that he did not ask because he knew Powell was strongly against the war.

There is so much that Democrats & Republicans could disagree with Collin Powell about, but what cannot be questioned was his love for country, his strong voice for the African-American community, and the rights for other communities to be treated fairly. In 2008, he shocked the nation when he decided to endorse President Barack Obama who became the first African-American President of the United States. He was very vocal against former President Donald Trump and his administration as well as standing up for many social justice issues. 

Powell was born in Harlem, New York to Jamaican immigrants, likely one of the many reasons he was very active in fighting for the people in Haiti. He also started the America’s Promise Alliance dedicating his life to the well-being of children and youth of all socioeconomic levels. Powell endorsed President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for President in 2020.

Powell was fully vaccinated, but passed away at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland (right outside of Washington DC.) COVID complications, in addition to having multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses your immune response, proved to be fatal for the 84-year-old American. He will be remembered for many things, but ultimately serving his country and her citizens, regardless of political party or ideology.

There is Joy at Night

by with One Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

History will be made on July 20, 2020. MSNBC‘s weekend host of AM Joy will officially be the first African-American woman to anchor a show during primetime on cable television. Many of her viewers and followers, many of whom have been following her for years, feel like they’re a part of this history. And as a result, many have shared their strong views in celebration of this historical moment. African-Americans specifically feel like their sister or their Aunt Joy has made history. She has recently been praised by CA Rep Maxine Waters who made it clear how huge this was for African-American women. Many women have shared that this is a great opportunity and door for all women that Joy is walking through. 

You also have a number of esteemed journalists coming forth to congratulate her on this historic accomplishment and great promotions, such as Dan Rather, former anchor of “CBS Evening News”, and iconic Carole Simpson, the first African-American woman in history to host a show on a major news network. Simpson, who anchored “NBC News” in 1975, became the first African-American woman to anchor a major network newscast.

Joy Reid’s Journey…

Many people don’t know that Joy has been working for this moment for nearly 25 years. According to Wikipedia, Reid began her journalism career in 1997, leaving New York and her job at a business consulting firm to begin working in southern Florida for a WSVN Channel 7 morning show.[10] She left journalism in 2003 to oppose the war in Iraq and President George W. Bush, but returned to broadcasting as a talk radio host, and then worked in the Barack Obama presidential campaign.[1] From 2006 to 2007, Reid was the co-host of Wake Up South Florida, a morning radio talk show broadcast from Radio One’s then-Miami affiliate WTPS, alongside “James T” Thomas.[7] She served as managing editor of The Grio[11] (2011–2014), a political columnist for Miami Herald (2003–2015), and the editor of The Reid Report political blog (2000–2014).[12] From February 2014 to February 2015, Reid hosted her own afternoon cable news show, The Reid Report.[13] The show was canceled[14] on February 19, 2015 and Reid was shifted to a new role[15] as an MSNBC national correspondent.[16] Since May 2016, Reid has hosted AM Joy, a political weekend-morning talk show on MSNBC, and is a frequent substitute for other MSNBC hosts, including Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. As of 2018, Reid’s morning show on Saturday averages nearly 1 million weekly viewers.

In June 2020, it was announced that Reid would likely be taking over “Hardball with Chris Matthews”. But in July, MSNBC announced that Reid would host “The ReidOut”, a new weeknight show at 7 p.m. EST that was once slotted to replace Hardball and Chris Matthews’s following his sudden retirement. 

Joy Reid was the one that brought us the Trayvon Martin story. She reported this horrific tragic loss of life from its conception to today, as well as countless others who’ve been unarmed and murdered by the police. She is a wife and mother and finds time for family while leading a successful career. Joy is known as the no-nonsense journalist, the one you cannot lie to. She’s quick with follow-up questions and will literally pull out receipts as they call it while live on air. She has been wrongly attacked and made to look bad in the media for previous LGBTQ comments that were taken out of context… an unsuccessful attempt to stop her successful rise. In fact, the LGBTQ community came to her rescue. Trained journalists and everyday citizens know that Reid has been a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community, as well as other marginalized communities. She is someone that everyone loves to hear from, talk to, or take a picture with while attending the annual National Association of Black Journalist Convention (NABJ), where she has held multiple nominations. So I am personally excited about this move by MSNBC to make history with Joy Reid in July 2020. I hope that we support her as she has supported us over the years.

Similar Read: Should Biden’s VP be a Black Woman?

Trump Bans Transgender People In U.S. Military

by with One Comment Uncategorized

“What the Commander in Chief did yesterday was shameful. Yes, as a servicemember I am openly rebuking the Commander in Chief. An act of bigotry and discrimination is wrong, regardless who it comes from.” 

On July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump issued a ban on all transgender people from serving in the military. Trump is known for his love of banning and placing barriers on groups of people, so this isn’t too shocking. What is shocking is an all-out ban. One of the Obama administration’s last acts regarding military policy was the allowance of transgender people in the military and persons in the military to transition into a gender other than the one they originally entered the military as.

This move done by Trump flies in the face on a couple of fronts. It goes against candidate Donald Trump who in 2016 stated he would be a strong defender of the LGBT community. It also goes against President Trump by allowing a review of transgender recruiting enrollment into the military, which was slated to end in December 2017. Instead, Trump abruptly broke his campaign promise and ended his own administration’s plans.

Until this ban, the U.S. Military for the first time in its history was truly inclusive. Women could finally serve in combat roles, sexual orientation no longer mattered – we had finally arrived. Many will still say this nation has the greatest military representing the most diverse group of people on the planet. If this ruling stands that simply will not be true. To have any reservation of any group of people entering the military not based on universal standards regarding their ability to get the job done is meaningless, shameful, and discriminating.

The main justification Trump used was “tremendous medical costs and disruption,” which could also be applied to a pregnant woman or to any veteran on disability. Just for number’s sake, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to cost taxpayers nearly a $1 trillion dollars in healthcare costs alone. If nearly $1 trillion dollars spent on healthcare as a result of two wars isn’t a tremendous medical cost and disruption, I don’t know what is. Does this mean we can expect the Trump administration to withdraw military forces worldwide? Close bases stateside? Shrink the military budget to reflect pre-Reagan numbers? This ban just doesn’t make any sense.