News — black american

Born in Apartheid-era South Africa to white Afrikaner parents, she developed the skin colour and facial features of a black African. By the age of ten she had been officially reclassified as 'coloured' and expelled from white society. As well as being cut off from her family and friends, Sandra suffered imprisonment and domestic abuse. However, with the end of Apartheid she tracked down her mother and enjoyed a tearful reunion. This emotional film exposes racism and questions the whole notion of racial identity.

Racism is a social construct and a system that has many layers. Therefore, when trying to determine whether someone can be racist, the individual should have the power to implement racism. So when the question is, can black people be racist, the answer gets quite complicated. In this podcast, the hosts try to answer this question. They cover race, racism, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, racial indoctrination, and structural and institutional racism as a systemic way of life. What do you think, Can black people be racist?

Jamaica was once the world's leading exporter of bauxite, which is the ore from which aluminum is made, but decades of mining have taken a toll on the land and the people. With reserves depleted, the government is now pushing to move mining operations into the most ecologically sensitive part of the island known as Cockpit Country. The people of Cockpit Country fought off the British in the 1700s, and now they're conjuring the warrior spirit of their ancestors to take that fight to the mining companies. The Jamaican government seems to be in support of this. What do you think?

In the early 16th century, around 1511, Spain colonized Cuba. Cuba produced almost a third of the world’s sugar supply by 1860 through the work of enslaved Africans and other island natives stolen from their land. By the year 1895, Cubans revolted against the Spanish colonial rule on their land, beginning the Cuban War of Independence, fought between 1895 to 1898. At first, the United States stayed neutral, but that changed on February 15, 1898.

The American Battleship USS Maine, docked off the coast of Cuba, exploded and sank, killing over 250 American sailors and soldiers. Spain was blamed for the incident, and the US government declared war against that nation, creating the Spanish-American War, in April 1898.

The U.S. military objective was to defeat Spanish colonial forces and take control of its major colonies, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Major General William Shaftner, the former Commander of the 25th Infantry Regiment, one of the four Buffalo Soldier units in the U.S. Army, was now in charge of U.S. forces in Cuba. He led an expeditionary force of approximately 17,000 men, including nearly 3,000 black soldiers to the island from Tampa, Florida. The expeditionary force also included white soldiers from the 14th Infantry Regiment and a battalion of the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment all of whom arrived in Cuba between June 7 and June 14, 1898.

On July 1, Buffalo Soldiers would engage in their first major conflict in Cuba, the Battle of El Caney. The battle was fought for the control of the Cuban town of El Caney. U.S. forces were advancing toward the Cuban city of Santiago, and a group of Spanish soldiers decided to take defensive positions at a blockhouse near El Caney to stop them. The 25th Infantry received orders to support forces advancing on Santiago by attacking El Caney. In all 6,653 American soldiers faced approximately 3,000 Spanish colonial troops and their Cuban allies.

The Battle of El Caney had begun before the Buffalo Soldiers arrived. When they did arrive, they found the 2nd Massachusetts were retreating. Someone gave a yell, and the members of the 25th and all-white 12th Infantry Regiments began heading up the hill to capture the blockhouse Spanish forces were defending. The Spanish successfully resisted the American advance for hours before their officers ordered some of them to surrender and others to retreat. Finally, Private Thomas C. Butler, Company H, 25th Infantry was first to enter the blockhouse and immediately took possession of the Spanish flag for his regiment. He was ordered by a white officer of the 12th Infantry to give it to him. Butler tore off a piece of the flag to show his superiors that he had in fact captured the flag. The soldiers of the 25th Infantry quickly regrouped to support the Battle of San Juan Hill which was going on almost simultaneously.

The Ocoee Massacre, which occurred in the town of Ocoee, Florida on November 2-3, 1920, was the largest election-related massacre in the 20th Century. Approximately 50 Blacks and two whites died in the violence and the entire Black community of Ocoee was forced to flee the town.

Ocoee, Florida, in Orange County, approximately 12 miles northwest of Orlando, had been politically dominated by conservative Democrats since the end of Reconstruction. They prided themselves on keeping Blacks, then mostly Republican, from the polls. In 1920, a number of Black organizations across Florida began conducting voter registration campaigns. Partly because of their efforts, a prosperous Black farmer, Mose Norman, who had been part of the voter registration drive in Orange County, decided to vote in the national election on November 2. When he attempted to do so, twice, he was turned away from the polls.

When Norman was driven away the second time, a white mob, then numbering over 100 men, decided to hunt him down. Concluding he had taken refuge in the home of another local Black resident, Julius “July” Perry, they rushed Perry’s home hoping to capture both men there. Norman escaped and was never found while Perry defended his home, killing two white men, Elmer McDaniels and Leo Borgard, who tried to enter through the back door. The mob called for reinforcements from Orlando and surrounding Orange County. Eventually they caught and killed Perry and hung his dead body from a telephone post by the highway from Ocoee to Orlando to intimidate other potential Black voters. Perry’s wife, Estelle Perry, and their daughter were wounded during the attack on the Perry home. They were sent to Tampa by local law enforcement officers.

The mob then turned on the Black community of Ocoee. They burned down homes and businesses and demanded that the Black residents leave Ocoee. In the face of this threatened violence, the entire African American population fled the town. Some African Americans speculated that the rioting may have been planned so that some whites could seize the property of the wealthiest Blacks in the town.

The NAACP investigated the massacre, sending Walter White, the organization’s executive director. White—who passed as a Caucasian during his visit—reported that some local whites were “still giddy with victory” when he arrived. He also said that locals reported 56 Blacks killed but he claimed 30 deaths in his official report. In 1921 the NAACP and other civil rights organizations called on the House Election Committee of the U.S. Congress to investigate the massacre and Black voter suppression in Florida, but it failed to act.

During the Spanish American War, several battles were fought that included Buffalo Soldiers. The Battle of Kettle Hill (generally known as San Juan Hill) fought on July 1, 1898, was the most significant since it was the only battle that involved all four buffalo soldier regiments, the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry.

After the Battle of El Caney on July 1, 1898, which engaged the 25th Infantry, over 8,000 American troops pressed on later that day towards San Juan Heights, where another battle was taking place. These troops included 1,250 black soldiers from the 9th and 10th Cavalry, led by Brigadier General Samuel S. Sumner as part of his Cavalry Division, and the 24th Infantry Regiment who were part of Brigadier General Jacob F. Kent’s 1st Infantry Division. Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders were also part of the assault on San Juan Heights.

San Juan Heights had two high spots along its north-south axis, one called San Juan Hill and the other later named Kettle Hill by the troops. On July 1, General William Shafter, the overall commander of U.S. forces in Cuba, ordered attacks on the Spanish blockhouse at El Caney and San Juan Heights. Generals Sumner and Kent lined up for an attack on San Juan Heights and waited for Brigadier General Henry W. Lawton’s division to arrive from El Caney which included the 25th Infantry.

The Spanish forces at San Juan Heights were well armed and well entrenched. Once American reinforcements arrived and the battle commenced, hundreds of U.S. soldiers fell under Spanish gunfire in an area known as Hell’s Pocket, before reaching the base of the hills. American forces then split into two groups to take both hills simultaneously. Sumner’s troops which included the 24th and 25th Infantry, charged up the side of San Juan Hill while Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, units of the all-white 3rd Division, and the 9th and 10th Calvary, headed up Kettle Hill. Racial segregation broke down during the battle as white and black soldiers intermingled during the charge. Sergeant George Berry of the 10th Cavalry, for example, carried the colors of 3rd Division, along with his own regiment’s flag.

By the end of day of July 1, U.S. forces had taken both San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill. Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders got most of the credit for taking Kettle Hill but the victory belonged to all of the soldiers who charged up the hill including the 9th and 10th Cavalry. Twenty-six Buffalo Soldiers died that day and several troopers from the 9th and 10th Calvary, and the 24th and 25th Infantry were later recognized and awarded for their bravery. Quarter Master Sergeant Edward L. Baker, Jr of the 10th Calvary, for example, was wounded by shrapnel and was awarded The Medal of Honor for his heroism. With control of San Juan Heights overlooking the city of Santiago, American forces began the siege of the city on July 2.

On July 3, U.S. warships destroyed the Spanish fleet off the coast of Santiago effectively trapping Spanish forces. On July 17, the Spanish Army surrendered the city, and all of Cuba, ending the Spanish-American War.

A former St. Paul police officer who assaulted a Black grandfather and allowed a service dog to also maul him during a 2016 arrest was on Friday sentenced to six years in prison after he was found guilty of using excessive force. Colleagues of former officer Brett Palkowitsch took the stand to testify against him during his 2019 trial.

According to MPR News, the brutal incident Palkowitsch has been convicted for, left the victim, Frank Baker, with several broken ribs as well as collapsed lungs. During the arrest, Palkowitsch, who had responded to a 911 report of a fight and robbery, allegedly kicked Baker and set the police dog on him. Baker was perceived to be a suspect but it later turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

During the sentencing hearing, a reportedly tearful Palkowitsch rendered an apology to Baker and his former colleagues. “I hope that today gives you a little bit of closure, but I know for the rest of your life it’s something you’re going to have to deal with. For the rest of my life, it’s something that I’m going to have to live with as well. But from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry,” he told the victim.

But though Baker said he has forgiven him, he cast doubts over Palkowitsch’s apology, saying it wasn’t genuine. “His family and friends, his mother, his wife, his kids, got to see that he has a dark side to him. He made my life a living hell,” Baker said.

The 2016 incident occurred when Baker had arrived home and was making a phone call in his car. While in his vehicle, he was confronted by officers who established he fit the description of a Black suspect a dispatcher had told them was allegedly involved in a fight. During his arrest, Baker said he obeyed orders from the officers but that did not help his case, MPR News reported.

“When the officer said ‘get out of the car and put your hands up,’ I put my hands up,” Baker  recollected. “I didn’t even have time to take two steps. He let the dog out. I’m looking like it’s in slow motion. No you didn’t!”

In the aftermath of the incident, Palkowitsch was terminated from the force and the city reached a $2 million settlement with Baker. Palkowitsch was later reinstated after the St. Paul Police Federation appealed his dismissal. He was, however, fired once again after he was found guilty in 2019. Though his prison sentence was expected to be between four and five years after striking an agreement with prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright dismissed it. Per the agreement, Palkowitsch wouldn’t have been able to appeal his conviction. But the judge handing him a longer sentence means he can now appeal. And his lawyer told the news outlet they’ll pursue that.

“You get more good policemen than bad policemen”

Though Baker is still reeling from the effects of the attack, he said he harbors no ill will towards law enforcement officers and he even wanted to become a detective during his teenage years. “One thing I want people to know is that I love the law. I really do. You get more good policemen than bad policemen,” he said.

Todd Baldwin was raised by his single mom. Now 27 years old, he is a millionaire with multiple streams of income. What’s more, Baldwin saves 80% of his earnings and does not engage in frivolous expenses.

The serial entrepreneur started working when he was only 12 years old. He would save much of what he earned as he considered it as not only a sound financial management practice but fun. “It’s actually really fun being able to buy something and then choosing not to,” he tells CNBC.

The African-American entrepreneur now brings home $615,000 annually ($305,000 after business expenses) from his multiple businesses. His mixed-income comes from rental properties, his day job working in commercial insurance sales, and the extra cash he makes as a secret shopper.

He owns six rental properties with his wife, Angela, which brings in the majority of the revenue he makes. For instance, they earn $460,000 per year in rent and keep about $150,000 of that per year after expenses such as mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, and utilities.

“Although our net worth is seven figures, we don’t do a lot of the typical things that most people envision millionaires doing. We are super frugal,” says Baldwin.

The entrepreneur says he is able to save as much as 80% of his income because he keeps his expenses so low. He does not pay for entertainment like movies or restaurants because he gets paid for that as a mystery shopper. He gets paid for dining out, grocery shopping, seeing movies, and visiting hotels and casinos.

“There are a lot of businesses out there that want to know how their employees are doing and how the market is responding to their products,” he explains. “So those companies will hire mystery shopping firms to find independent contractors like me to go pose at their establishment as a regular customer, buy the product or service and then report on it.”

Baldwin started mystery shopping while he was in college and has so far made $30,000. Since he started mystery shopping, Baldwin and his wife spend around $25 on food. Another thing Baldwin tries to avoid is spending money on needless bank account fees or credit card charges.

Despite being very conscious of what to spend his money on, the serial entrepreneur has no qualms about spending on his wife. Even that, he needs approval. He recalls spending $500 on a designer purse for his wife but she took it back and exchanged it for a $60 purse.

“My wife is more frugal than I am!” he says. “A couple of years ago, I bought her a designer purse for like 500 bucks. But when I surprised her with it, she immediately took it back, exchanged it for a $60 purse at Macy’s, and then we invested the difference.”

Shaquille O’Neal is arguably one of the best things to happen in the NBA. The 7′ 1″, 325-pound giant, grew up in a low-income household situated in the ‘Projects’ of Newark, New Jersey.

Often called “Shaq’ or “The Big Aristotle”, the NBA legend was only an infant when his father was jailed on drug charges in Kentucky. When his father was eventually released from prison, he left his son’s life. And so he grew up with his mother and stepfather Phillip Harrison.

In high school, he helped his school to win the state championship. He subsequently went to LSU to study business and play basketball under head coach Dale Brown.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Shaq was a two-time All-American, two-time SEC player of the year, and became the NCAA men’s basketball player of the year in 1991. Also, he was named the college player of the year by the AP and UPI in 1991.

By 1992, Shaq had emerged as the No 1 overall draft pick in the 1992 NBA draft class. He became the first pick by the Orlando Magic and would spend 19 years in the NBA. He was not just an ordinary NBA player, he became one of the best centers in the league.

In the year 1992-93, Shaq won Rookie of the Year and led the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. He moved to the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. At Los Angeles Lakers, he helped the team to win three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He won his fourth NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2006 and also played for the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics before retiring in 2011.

Despite being one of the best players in NBA history, at the twilight of his professional career, he had his eyes fixed on his retirement. He often recounts a meeting that changed how he handled money.

“I met a gentleman one time and he had a piece of paper,” O’Neal told the Wall Street Journal. “He said, ‘This is $100.’ He then ripped the paper in half and then said, ‘Smart people invest this $50, and then they have $50 left. But the wealthy people take half of that $50 … [and] put that away.’ So I started doing that.” 

According to him, this was after he blew $1 million within 30 minutes after signing with the Orlando Magic. He also credited his late stepfather, whom he calls “dad,” for using scare tactics to get him disciplined with money. “Even when I was making a lot of money playing basketball, I would come home and see my father,” he told CNBC in 2018.

“And [he’d] be like, ‘Yeah, but what are you doing with your money?’ “Every time an athlete would do something crazy, I would get in trouble for it. So my father did a very great job using scare tactics.”

In his 19-year-old NBA career, he accrued wealth through contracts totaling $300 million. Now Shaq earns more than he did in his playing years. He now makes $20-$25 million per year. He makes his money from endorsement deals with companies such as Icy Hot, Gold Bond, Buick, Zales, and others. Also, he is the joint owner of 155 Five Guys Burgers restaurants, 17 Auntie Annie’s Pretzels restaurants,150 car washes, 40 24-hour fitness centers, a shopping center, a movie theater, and several Las Vegas nightclubs, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

The former NBA star is reportedly worth $400 million.

One added advantage for Shaq through his NBA career and his entrepreneurial journey is his education. Despite all the fame and money he enjoyed, he ensured he pursued education to the highest level. Shaq returned to college to complete his Bachelor’s after retiring from NBA. He subsequently earned an MBA and most recently earned Ed.D.

His business degree, no doubt, helped him navigate the turbulence in the business world.

Janelle Jones, 36, was born in North Dakota and raised in Lorain, Ohio. At a very young age, she fell in love with numbers. Mathematics became part of her upbringing as her dad would usually come home with mathematics books for her to study.

Jones would later leave Ohio for Spelman College, a historically Black women’s school in Atlanta. While in school, she got encouraged by her professor to study economics. After graduation, Jones volunteered for a nonprofit organization in Sacramento for a year.

She later went to Illinois State University for her master’s in applied economics. Afterward, Jones worked with artisans to market and sell their goods, and taught English as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Lunahuaná, Peru for two years.

A new life chapter opened for her after years of volunteer service. She landed a job as a research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. In fact, she spent some 10 years in the think tank field.

Now Jones is in Washington’s circle of power, serving as President Joe Biden’s chief economist at the Department of Labour, the first African-American woman to be appointed into that position. In her new role, she would be expected to fix the U.S. labor market.

Although Jones’ position is little known, she influences the future of millions of Americans. She comes into the position at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has affected many businesses, particularly Black-led firms, in various sectors of the economy.

Also, figures from the Department of Labour show that 10 million Americans are unemployed and according to The Washington Post, the unemployment numbers are higher than the worst point of the Great Recession.

“There’s a lot of work to be done to make sure that we don’t just restore workers to where they were in January 2020 or four years ago,” Jones told Bloomberg. “We’ve seen workers take a huge hit over the past generation.”

Jones has for more than a decade focused on finding out why Black people perform poorly in the labor market during her days in government and research institutions. She came up with an economic ideology called “Black Women Best” to shed light on these issues and possible solutions while centering Black women in U.S. economic policy.

“If history has taught us anything, it’s that Black people, particularly Black women, are among the last to recover from economic recessions, and the last to reap economic benefits during periods of recovery or growth,” she writes. “In some cases, as in the early 1980s recession, Black women had an unemployment rate double that of white men.”

“Among demographic groups, Black women experienced the steepest drop in labor force participation and have had the slowest job recovery since January 2020. … We can course correct one of the worst economic downturns in U.S history for all by deliberately improving the economic outcomes of traditionally marginalized groups. We can’t resort back to business as usual.”

She tells BlackHer that if Black women are economically secure and have the dignity and space to lead their lives the way they want to, then everyone else is doing well. 

The U.S. economy is projected to make full recovery in four to five years’ time due to COVID-19. For Jones, that would mean 10 to 12 years for Black workers. “My role here will be to think about those sorts of things, to give a lens to union workers, low-wage workers, different types of workers who aren’t usually centered,” she tells Bloomberg.

A Black F-22 stealth fighter pilot and the great-nephew of a distinguished Tuskegee Airman recently revealed he had to quit the United States Air Force because of racial bias and discrimination.

In an interview with David Martin on CBS’ 60 Minutes, Major Daniel Walker said he had always felt relegated to the background because of his skin color during his 11-year service as an Air Force officer. Walker alleged his fellow White officers weren’t treated with the hostility that he received.

“The way you stand, the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you speak. In what is supposed to be an objective field, [they] are subjectively rating you to others in the sort of unofficial grapevine of evaluation,” he said.

Walker alleged he and other people of his race in the military have had to check their demeanor to mitigate the way they’re perceived by their fellow White officers, telling 60 Minutes that the unspoken perception that got into his head is: “You’re big, you’re Black, with a deep voice. You’re intimidating.”

Walker said that even before heading to pilot training after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado, he was warned by Black veterans about the reception he’ll receive once there.

“They’re going to treat you poorly. When you wash out, they’re probably not going to keep you in the Air Force,” he recalled on what the Black veterans told him.

And though Walker said he persevered and performed impressively during his time at flight school, he was still viewed in a certain way because he was lively. “I got feedback at the end of this course, however, that it was very evident that I was having a good time, and maybe I shouldn’t have been. Or [that] I talked too much…,” he said.

Walker was eventually assigned to an F-22 squadron in Virginia after graduating flight school. Initially feeling welcome, Walker said he later started experiencing an ironic but similar reception because he was a bit more reserved as compared to flight school.

“He’s too quiet. It seems like he thinks he’s too good to be here or too good for this place,” he said about his Air Force counterparts’ sentiments.

Walker decided he had had enough and quit. There are currently less than 50 Black pilots in the U.S. Air Force, according to 60 Minutes.

Bias despite integration?

The United States Armed Forces may have been integrated over 70 years ago, but allegations of racial bias by African-American officers remain strife as they claim their White counterparts climb up the promotional rank faster than them, 60 Minutes reported.

A report conducted by the U.S. Air Force Inspector General on racial disparity revealed “2 out of every 5 [African Americans in the Air Force] do not trust their chain of command to address racism, bias and unequal opportunities” and “3 out of every five [Black Air Force service members] … believe they do not… receive the same benefit of the doubt as their White peers if they get in trouble.”

Dante Brooks, the 18-year-old son of acclaimed Jamaican dancehall musician, Mavado, was on Friday sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the gruesome killing of a man he and his co-accusers were at odds with in 2018.

Brooks, who was 16 at the time of the incident, also received an additional 20-year sentence for illegal possession of a firearm and a 15-year sentence for arson, local news outlet The Gleaner reported. All the sentences will run concurrently.

Brooks was implicated alongside four others for fatally shooting Lorenzo “Israel” Thomas at his Cassava Piece residence in the Parish of St. Andrew before setting the property ablaze. Thomas’ father, a witness to the incident, managed to flee. Prior to setting the house on fire, Brooks and his co-accusers allegedly tried to behead Thomas but stopped because the machete they were using was too blunt.

Prior to his involvement in the killing of Thomas, Brooks was already out on bail for one of two pending charges, Jamaica Observer reported. When handing out his sentence, Supreme Court Judge Justice Leighton Pusey said Brooks partaking in the murder knowing very well he had to answer for two pending offenses meant he had a “scant regard for the system of justice.”

“Being before the court is supposed to be a caution, and you would need to govern yourself accordingly…whether or not the matter for which he was before the court was an act of violence it would mean he would need to behave himself; it shows his character…it is showing a pattern which is ‘It’s not my fault, I didn’t do anything and I will continue to do as I please,’” Justice Pusey said.

Though the Justice admitted Brooks was a juvenile at the time of the murder, he justified the sentence on the grounds that that is what the law prescribes. He also based the sentence on key pieces of evidence including the crime being a “gun murder”, a “deliberate act, a home invasion for the express purpose of killing” as well as a “case where not just the body but the house itself was burnt.”

Justice Pusey also pointed to Brooks not taking responsibility after he was implicated for his involvement in the killing despite one of his co-accusers, Andre Hines, apologizing for the manner by which the deceased died though he pleaded not guilty, Jamaica Observer reported.

“I note when he was asked about the impact, Mr Hinds said he was sorry. Mr Brooks said he was not guilty and the impact on the community and relatives was not a fault of his,” the justice said.

“That, for me, was a theme throughout his social enquiry report,” he continued, adding that Brooks had the privilege of attending “a very outstanding preparatory school [and] went to one of the oldest high schools, and yet in all these circumstances this is where we find him [before a court of law].

“He is not taking responsibility,” Justice Pusey reiterated, mentioning that Brooks even told his co-accusers Thomas was dead after the killing and also went ahead to remind them that “somebody want the head”.

“Even though he was not the main actor, he was crucial, not a mere bystander; he was crucial to this.”

Brooks, who was found guilty of the crime in January, will only be eligible for parole after serving 22 years of his sentence.