The Field Negro news watch.

Here are some of my takes on a few of the most relevant news stories right now.    

I will start with the war in Iran. Mr. Trump announced last night that the Americans and Iranians are on the verge of agreeing to a truce to end the war. This is a "really big deal" says Dear Leader. So what are the terms of the deal? Well field hands, like everything else in life, the devil is in the details. 

So it seems that the Iranians will allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and they will of course charge a fee. Or, a toll. Whatever you want to call it, the bottom line is that the Iranians will now be making a lot more money by controlling this narrow strip of water than they did before. Also, and here is the big one, and this seems to be the sticking point with all of this: The Iranians will not be handing over their highly enriched uranium. Which means that they would still have the ability to produce a nuclear weapon. So Trump's war of distraction got us nothing. Zilch. Nada. In fact, it made the Iranians objectively more powerful. The deal Trump is dying to sign to get an off ramp from this fiasco, is actually worse than the one Obama brokered in 2015, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).  America, and I am serious when I ask you this. Why did you elect this man? Twice! 

In other news, I see where Jaxson Dart, the quarterback of the New York Giants, introduced Trump at a rally in New York a couple of days ago. (Shocker! A kid from Utah who played at Ole Miss, supporting MAGA)  No biggie, he is entitled to his freedom of speech. Besides,  I already hate the Giants, almost as much as I do the Cowgals. As a die hard Birds fan who bleeds green, I can only hope that the Trump sports jinx continues, and that Big Blue gets their asses kicked in a ton of games this year. 

I do think it's funny, though, how conservative commentators were quick to tell athletes to just shut up and play sports when they openly supported politicians like Obama. Now that one of their own is supporting Trump, it's crickets.  I am not sure who advises Dart, but next time it might be important for them to tell their client how to read the room.

Speaking of athletes in the SEC. Lane Kiffin , newly minted head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), recently posted in a story about the racism in Oxford, Mississippi, or lack of diversity in that city, and not surprisingly, it has the Ole Miss fans up in arms.  They claim that Baton Rouge, Louisiana is just as racist, and that the LSU Tigers were actually named after a Confederate military regiment.  All facts. 

To me, the entire debate is kind of funny. It's like Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt fans debating over who was a better sprinter.  

I also see in the news that the NAACP is finally wising up and trying to get some of these three. four, and five star athletes (playing for state schools who would want to take us back to the forties and fifties, and prevent black votes from having the power  that they should at the ballot box) to reconsider their choices and consider playing for schools in states with a more progressive record when it comes to minority voting rights. 

Young man, you will get just as much NIL money, and  date just as much pretty girls at USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Notre Dame, and Penn State, to name a few. Say no to Ole Miss, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana,  Tennessee, Arkansas...you get the picture. Trust me, they need you a lot more than you need them. Make a statement and do your ancestors a solid and spurn those schools. Just a few years ago they wouldn't let you near their campus or consider having you as a student or student athlete in their midst. Now they want to use you to raise their state's profile and allow them to push out their chest and brag about what a great [insert sport here] team they have.

Finally, it looks like the 1.8 billion dollar grift that Trump and his cronies was trying to pull on the American people is officially on life support. The fact that it got this far and MAGA was actually onboard with it tells you all you need to know about where we are as a country.  Imagine suing yourself for 10 billion dollars, and then settling with yourself for 1.8 billion, with the funds being paid for by tax payers who you are supposed to be serving. That is a hall of fame level of corruption that only Donald Trump and his MAGA base could pull off.  And it's still not over yet, with the help of his personal attorney turned Attorney General, he is still going to give it the old college try.  

Wait, I know I said finally, but there is one more bit of news. Last night some insane person tried to shoot up the White house and the Secret Service shot and killed him. Sorry, I take that back. In the age of Trump this isn't news anymore. It's more like just another distraction. 

Carry on.

Enjoy your Memorial Day.    

The death of voting rights.

 

"Neither love nor evil conquers all, but evil cheats more" ~Laurell K. Hamilton~ 

The United States Supreme court ruled recently that gerrymandering is cool if it's done for political reasons. And, if it just so happens that black voting rights are diluted or weakened, so be it. In other words, race is no longer a thing in America. Old white Southern men are not racist anymore. The court's majority argues that there must be some sign of intentional discrimination to trigger any type of civil rights protections.         

The latest ruling from Donald Trump's court stems from a court case in Louisiana, where they said that it was cool for Louisiana to dismantle a second predominantly black voting district, because it was racist. Keep in mind that a third of Louisiana's population is black, and, as of now, only two of their six congressional seats belong to an African American. This will soon change to one, as the seat created in 2024 to give blacks more voting power in Louisiana has been essentially wiped out by the court. 

Of course as soon as Mr. Trump's court struck down Louisiana's congressional map, the Louisiana state senate wasted no time in constructing a plan that would eliminate the majority black district now being represented by Cleo Fields. And just to be transparent, Cleo Fields is a friend and old classmate of mine, and he cares deeply about the people he serves in the state of Louisiana, so watching this travesty unfold really hits home.  The court is saying you can discriminate and gerrymander for political but not racial reasons, but sadly, in Southern states like Louisiana, you cannot separate the two.  

When it comes to being black in America; it's always one step forward, and two steps back.  America is still not willing to view us as equals, or allow us to exercise our hard earned right to vote in a way that benefits us. The dilemma is, of course, that the only way to change and dismantle the system in place is to vote out the folks who are in power. The folks who are at this time in our history, doing everything humanly possible to make sure that our votes are weakened. 

The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was the signature achievement of the civil rights movement. Before the VRA was passed, about 24% of blacks were registered to vote, and just a couple of years after the passing of the act, black voter registration more than tripled. But along came Mr. Trump's court, and they have been attacking and dismantling it, with one ruling after another.  Much to the delight of white Southerners, many of whom did not believe that blacks should have had the right to vote in the first place.

House Speaker, Mike Johnson, had this to say: " The Supreme Court issued a long-awaited opinion and they stated the obvious: that drawing congressional lines must be fair, you cannot draw lines on the basis of race.... This brings back fairness and certainty to the system". By "certainty", of course, he means that we are making sure that certain folks don't have a vote, and only certain people will hold that power over them.    

    

The Field Negro Power Rankings. (FNPR)

 

These are crazy times, people. But those of us who know saw it coming. It's sad to say, but there is a real possibility that in the next ten years America will no longer be a democracy. 

Anywhoo,  in order to fight the good fight, we need all the field Negroes to represent. 

Here is the latest field Negro power rankings.

10. D.L. Hughley:  He is still out here mixing comedy with social activism and honesty. Especially on the internet where he is an unapologetic critic of the modern day house Negro.   

09. Katanji Brown-Jackson: Poor Justice Jackson sits on the highest court in the land, and she has to   watch while her colleagues gut our civil rights and all the protections that we were afforded before the Fourth Reich came for us. 

08.  Don Lemon: All you need to know is that he is on Trump's radar as an agitator and someone in the media to be feared. That's a good thing.  

07. Joy Reid: See Don Lemon. She is higher on the list because the right and MAGA hates her even more.   

06. Godfrey: This dude has been fire on the internet. He is a comic with a conscience, and he always has a powerful and well reasoned message.  His "Leave Black People Alone" segment that he shares with his over two million Instagram followers is comic gold. 

05. Victor Glover: This brother was  part of a crew that traveled the farthest from the earth in human history. More importantly, he made us proud by handling himself with grace and dignity throughout the entire process.  

04. Ben Crump: As a lawyer, I really appreciate how this man goes out there and shines a light on high profile cases involving civil rights abuse.   

03. La Tosha Brown: She works behind the scenes, but her work is just as important as all the high profile folks on this list. She co-founded Black Voters Matter, and she is organizing and mobilizing black voters in states like Alabama. Alabama! Nuff said.    

02.  Justin Pearson: This young Tennessee state representative has the type of energy and oratorical skills that is needed now more than ever to get folks fired up. If we are going finally wake up  and become engaged, we are going to need young brothers like this to help spearhead the movement. 

01. Michelle Obama: Unlike her husband, the former First Lady is speaking out and making sure everyone knows that we all tried to warn you.