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CNN —Harry Belafonte, the dashing singer, actor and activist who became an indispensable supporter of the civil rights movement, has died, his publicist Ken Sunshine told CNN. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte, left, plays a school principal in a scene from the film "See How They Run" in 1952. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte poses with the Emmy Award he won in 1960 for the musical special "Tonight With Belafonte." Fred Sabine/NBCU/Getty Images Belafonte and other recipients of Albert Einstein Commemorative Awards display their medallions after being honored in 1972. He is survived by his wife Pamela, his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte, David Belafonte, two stepchildren Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank and eight grandchildren.

☆ Opinion | Gun Idolatry Is Destroying the Case for Guns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

And yes, I support gun rights, not just for hunting or shooting sports, but for the purpose of self-defense. I’ve written in support of gun rights for years. In a fallen and dangerous world, a responsible, trained gun owner could help keep his or her family safe. But the gun rights movement is changing. A cheerleader accidentally tries to get in the wrong car and is pursued and shot, along with her friend.

☆ Opinion: Why expelling me from the legislature backfired on Tennessee Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Justin J. Pearson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Editor’s Note: Tennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson is a Democrat and former community activist in Memphis. And yet, calls for common sense gun reform measures fall on deaf ears in our legislature where a Republican supermajority is wildly out of step with most people’s values. People in Tennessee aren’t even required to purchase a permit to publicly carry guns in the state of Tennessee. And we are required by the Tennessee State Constitution to object to policies injurious to the well-being of our constituents. My constituents sent me to the Tennessee State House to continue this work in their name.

☆ Donald Trump isn't the first Trump to get arrested. His father Fred was arrested twice, reports say — once at a Ku Klux Klan riot, and another time over building code violations.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

His father Fred Trump was also arrested: Once in 1927 and again in 1976, per archived news reports. 1927 arrest: Ku Klux Klan riot, New York CityFred Trump was arrested in 1927 during a Ku Klux Klan riot in Queens on Memorial Day, per The New York Times. "Fred Trump of 175-24 Devonshire Road, Jamaica, was discharged," is all The Times mentioned of his name. Officials arrested Fred Trump just after he flew into Prince George's County from New York in September that year, The Post reported. Fred Trump was eventually released on a $1,000 bond and was free to return to New York, The Post reported.

☆ Adidas says dropping Kanye West could cost it more than $1 billion in sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Adidas’ breakup with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is a pricey one. The company warned Thursday that it’s expected to lose $1.3 billion (1.2 billion euro) in revenue this year because it’s unable to sell the designer’s Yeezy clothing and shoes. Adidas said selling the sneakers under its own branding would save the company about $300 million in royalty payments and marketing fees. Other options including destroying it or donating unsold Yeezy clothing. Adidas said it also expects “one-off costs” of $213 million (200 million euro) because of a “strategic review” the company is currently undergoing.

☆ After Indiana Univ. stabbing, Asian American students say they haven’t received enough support from school
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Since the incident, a sense of shock has rippled through the school’s Asian community. The students say that conversations around the incident have been active among the Asian Americans on campus. Karen Cheng, a senior at the university and the president of the school’s Asian American Association, noted a similar sense of fear. As an Asian American woman, she said, public safety concerns predate the tragedy. But the community is also flanked by some areas with white supremacist activity, something many Asian American students are aware of, Cheng said.

☆ One civil rights icon has been overlooked in history books. His family is trying to change that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Claretta-Bellamy-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Claretta Bellamy | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

This was why he believed they made such perfect activists in the civil rights movement. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. kneels in prayer with the Rev. Family photoAfter visiting the courthouse, the Reeses’ tour continues to the Brown Chapel AME. They also hold weekly discussions on a program called “The Lineage Podcast,” where they “fill in certain holes of the civil rights movement.”The Rev. “I always say that I feel honored to even be connected to a part of history that a lot of people are yearning for,” Marvin Reese said.

☆ Michael Cohen says Donald Trump 'doesn't care' that Ivanka's family is Jewish and he will not denounce Kanye West's antisemitism
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Michael Cohen said that Donald Trump won't apologize for failing to condemn Kanye West. The former president "doesn't care" that his daughter's family is Jewish, Cohen said on MSNBC. Cohen was asked about a Rolling Stone article that said Jewish Republicans are "begging" Trump to denounce Ye. Cohen responded: "He doesn't care that Ivanka married Jared, doesn't care that Ivanka converted. Cohen said Trump would not apologize for failing to condemn Ye because he "can't even acknowledge fault."

But first: The results from five counties will help tell us if Democrat Raphael Warnock is on track to win tonight’s Senate runoff in Georgia. Warnock got 56.9% of the vote in Cobb when he won the Jan. 2021 runoff, and he got just under that last November (56.8%). And in Gwinnett, Warnock got 60.6% of the vote in the 2021 runoff, compared with 58.9% last month against Walker. In rural Chattooga — one of NBC News’ “County to County” counties — Warnock got just 20.5% when he won the 2021 runoff, and he got less than that in the November general election (19.8%). Data Download: The number of the day is … $7.79 billionThat’s how much money was spent on political television, radio and digital ads this entire cycle (starting the day after the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff through today’s runoff), per AdImpact.

☆ Alito jokes about Black Santa and Ashley Madison during Supreme Court arguments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Justice Samuel Alito joked about Black Santa, children in Klan robes and dating websites as the Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case weighing a web designer's bid to avoid working on same-sex weddings because she is a conservative evangelical Christian. David Zalubowski / AP fileEric Olson, the Colorado solicitor general, said that the Black Santa wouldn’t have to follow through with the request since KKK outfits are not protected characteristics under accommodation laws. Alito quipped, “You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right? Kagan, who is Jewish, jumped in to confirm that Alito was correct, which drew laughter from those in attendance. Conservative justices on the high court appeared sympathetic toward the web designer’s bid as they heard arguments for more than two hours Monday.

☆ Justice Alito weirdly jokes that 'You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits all the time' while debating a free speech case and talking about Santa photos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Justice Samuel Alito made a weird joke during oral arguments in a free speech case Monday. "You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right? Jackson's scenario was about a photography business not wanting to take photos of a mall Santa Claus with children who are not white. "No, because Ku Klux Klan outfits are not protected characteristics under public accommodation laws," Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olsen responded. "You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right?"

☆ Mississippi man who burned cross to intimidate Black neighbors pleads guilty to hate crime
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A Mississippi man pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime after he burned a cross in his front yard to intimidate his Black neighbors. Cross-burning was used in the Jim Crow era by the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups as a form of racial intimidation of Black people. "Cox admitted that he burned the cross because of the victims’ race and because they were occupying a home next to his," the release stated. "Burning a cross invokes the long and painful history, particularly in Mississippi, of intimidation and impending physical violence against Black people," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who use racially-motivated violence to drive people away from their homes or communities."

Formal organizations like the Oath Keepers no longer define the American right-wing landscape. If Biden’s election was illegitimate, the Oath Keepers were ready to defend Trump’s legitimate one. And indeed, the trial has revealed the brazenness of the Oath Keepers, as well as some profound shifts happening in the American right. The evidence of a seditious conspiracy introduced in the Oath Keepers’ trial was damning, yet obvious. While certainly more polished, some of Masters’ talking points would not be out of place at an Oath Keepers meeting.

☆ Trump tells Ye that white supremacist Nick Fuentes 'really gets me' during Mar-a-Lago visit: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Trump dined with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, at Mar-a-Lago. At one point during their visit, Trump told Ye, "I really like this guy. The 24-year-old activist participated in the 2017 white supremacist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, during which a neo-Nazi killed a counter-protester and injured 35 others. The Justice Department has characterized Fuentes as a "white supremacist" and the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights group, has labeled him a "well-known white supremacist pundit and organizer." Reports about the meeting between Trump, Ye, and Fuentes surfaced on Wednesday, when Ye and Fuentes were seen walking through an airport together.

☆ A spiral of violence and fear is creating angst for many voters ahead of the midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Seitz-Wald-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alex Seitz-Wald | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

For many voters, a vicious spiral of violence and fear is creating angst, paranoia and an overwhelming sense of dread that the nation is on the eve of destruction, according to a growing body of public opinion research. Polls show a large portion of Republicans fear democracy is in peril because they believe that elections are rigged against them. Frustrated by the fear that democracy no longer serves them, some Americans are becoming convinced that violence is the answer. Steele, the former head of the national GOP, said the public and political leaders both bear responsibility for protecting the republic. “But it also gives space for people who want a safer country to plan ahead, too.

☆ Arizona early voting marred by ballot box intimidation. Courts needs to intervene.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Richard L. Hasen | Richard L. Hasen Is Professor At Ucla School Of Law | Where He Directs Its Safeguarding Democracy Project. He Is An Nbc News Msnbc Election Law Analyst. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

First Amendment rights do not extend to threats of violence and voter intimidation. A great deal of the attention has been on ballot drop boxes. There has been no indication of any widespread fraud through the use of ballot drop boxes. Nonetheless, conspiracy theories about the drop boxes have continued to circulate, fueled in part by a widely debunked film by Dinesh D’Souza, “2000 Mules,” which uses false and unproven claims to try to show drop boxes being used for fraud. Reporting by NBC News shows that ballot drop box conspiracies have flooded Trump’s social media website, Truth Social, and that has led to organizing on the ground, including in places like Arizona.

☆ Julia Roberts says Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King paid the hospital bill for her birth
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Ariana Brockington | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

In honor of Julia Roberts’s 55th birthday, fans are recirculating the unbelievable historical fact that connects her to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. “The King family paid for my hospital bills.”The television personality emphasized the significance and clarified, “Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. As Obsev reported, one of those children was the Kings’ daughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007 at the age of 51. Yolanda King was cast as the love interest of a white actor in one of the school’s productions and the two shared a kiss in a scene. Yolanda King said, “It was an extended family, it really was.

☆ Kanye West: What took Adidas, Gap and others so long to cut ties?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN Business —Earlier this week Adidas ended its partnership with rapper and fashion designer Ye (who previously went by Kanye West). He even called out Adidas directly during a podcast appearance in which he made antisemitic comments, bragging the company would never cut ties with him. He referenced Adidas directly: “I can say antisemitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me,” he said. Gary Gershoff/WireImage/Getty ImagesAdidas didn’t announce it was severing ties with Ye until Tuesday, October 25, over a week after the podcast was released. Adidas said it will take a big loss in the fourth quarter because its cutting ties with Ye.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Two U.S. voter-rights organizations have asked a federal judge to temporarily stop a grassroots group from monitoring voter drop boxes in Arizona for alleged voter fraud, the week after state officials asked federal prosecutors to probe the group for possible voter intimidation. Clean Elections USA describes itself as a "grassroots organization committed to election integrity." Arizona's secretary of state last week asked the U.S. Department of Justice to probe a case of possible voter intimidation after a group of people linked to Clean Elections followed and filmed a voter dropping off a ballot. Clean Elections USA is running a "coordinated campaign of vigilante voter intimidation" that violates the Voting Rights Act and the Klu Klux Klan Act, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi, a Trump appointee, to impose a temporary restraining order blocking Clean Elections' ballot-monitoring activities.

☆ Kanye West no longer a billionaire
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN Business —Rapper Ye’s falling out with corporate partners has cost him his status as a billionaire, according to Forbes. It estimated the Adidas deal accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth, but Forbes now estimates it at a mere $400 million. Forbes said that the $400 million remaining of his net worth comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog and a 5% stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims. Of course, it’s likely that Ye still considers himself a billionaire, given that he has complained for years that Forbes was underestimating his net worth. Forbes reported that in 2020 — when it first listed him as a billionaire — he texted the magazine saying, “It’s not a billion.

☆ Kanye West's antisemitic rants are the tip of a much longer spear
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tal Lavin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Recent comments by Kanye West, now known as Ye, echo ancient antisemitic tropes, writes Tal Lavin. Over on Instagram, where I'd posted a picture of me cuddling a goat, someone commented: "Kanye West was right about you people." But these sentiments are just the tip of a much longer spear. Ye's comments in particular echo a very long history of antisemitic tropes — tropes that have left a trail of blood in their wake. On "Drink Champs" Ye spit into the mic about the evils of the "Jewish media."

☆ Aaron Donald and Jaylen Brown leave Kanye West’s Donda Sports agency
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Rob Mclean | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Two high profile athletes are leaving Kanye West’s sports agency, Donda Sports, in the wake of the artist and businessman’s repeated antisemitic statements. Aaron Donald, a star football player on the Los Angeles Rams, announced Tuesday that he is leaving the agency. On Monday, Brown told the Boston Globe that he planned to stick with the agency. “A lot of people that I work with, work with their families, build love and respect for, spending time in the summer. Recently, West said “I can say antisemitic s*** and Adidas cannot drop me,” during a tirade against Jews on the Drink Champs Podcast.

☆ Adidas terminates partnership with Kanye West
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Adidas said it will take a €250 million hit ($246 million) to its fourth quarter sales. Adidas has partnered with West since 2013, when the company signed his brand away from rival Nike. In 2016, Adidas expanded its relationship with the rapper, calling it “the most significant partnership ever created between a non-athlete and an athletic brand.”But Adidas put the “partnership under review” in early October after he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt in public. “In the end, Adidas’ action sends a powerful message that antisemitism and bigotry have no place in society.”Shares of Adidas fell about 5% in Frankfurt. Adidas said it will release additional information about the financial implications of dissolving its partnership with Ye in its upcoming earnings report on November 9.

☆ Kim Kardashian condemns hate speech in midst of Kanye West controversy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Days after a fellow celebrity called her out for remaining publicly silent in the face of antisemitic comments made by her former husband Kanye West, Kim Kardashian has released a statement condemning hate speech. Kardashian posted her statement on the Instatstories portion of her Instagram account on Monday. “Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” her statement read. The Anti-Defamation League categorizes that phrase as a “hate slogan” used by White supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan. A spokesperson for the talent agency CAA confirmed to CNN on Monday that West is no longer a client.

I no longer miss the “old” Kanye West, now known as Ye. I’m tired of hearing about the new Ye, and I wish we could stop talking about him altogether. Days before that, he appeared with far-right pundit Candace Owens flaunting “White Lives Matter” T-shirts during Paris Fashion Week. This includes to stopping asking for the “old Kanye” back. Chop up the soul Kanye, set on his goals Kanye.” At first, I sang the lyrics with hope that the “old Kanye” who once had such a hopeful swagger would return, that he would get past his ego and be born again as the creative powerhouse whose every move we followed with anticipation instead of dread.

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