By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

David Dinkins was the stuff of political legend in New York’s Harlem. From 1990 to 1993, Dinkins served as the 106th Mayor of the largest city in America — New York. Dinkins was a historic figure as the first African American to hold the office. He often referred to the city as “a gorgeous mosaic.”

Dinkins was part of Harlem’s Democratic Party machine that dominated politics from the late 60s and into the 1990s. He was part of a power base that was made up of businessman Percy Sutton, New York State Assemblyman Herman “Denny” Farrell, attorney Basil Paterson, and Congressman Charles Rangel. 

Dinkins won an Assembly seat, was appointed City Clerk and served as Manhattan Borough President before being elected Mayor of New York. Dinkins was one of fifty Black investors who helped Percy Sutton found Inner City Broadcasting Corporation in 1971. Sutton also invested in The Amsterdam News. 

Dinkins was viewed as a compromise candidate during a time of turmoil in New York. Elected a year after the infamous 1989 “Central Park jogger” incident that led to the wrongful convictions of five Black and Hispanic boys, Dinkins proved to be a cautious and stoic figure who was a competent caretaker of the city, including its many fiscal, social and political challenges. Dinkins’ administration followed that of one of New York City’s most storied politicians, Ed Koch.

Following violence in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn that many believed was not handled well by Dinkins, he lost his bid for re-election. 

Dinkins was a member of the 20,000 strong Montford Point Marines and served in the Marines from 1945–1946. In 1956 he earned a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. He graduated cum laude from Howard University. 

On the night of November 23^rd, David Dinkins succumbed to natural causes at his home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. His death follows the recent passing of his wife Joyce, who died at their home on October 12^th. Joyce Dinkins was 89.

The former Mayor is survived by their two children, David N. Dinkins Jr. and Donna Dinkins Hoggard. 

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

A lot of past cruelties can underscore America’s history of hate.

Today, one could capture that hate through the lens of at least some of the more than 74 million people casting a vote for President Donald Trump.

Often described as a racist, chauvinist, and one whose policies separated immigrant children from their parents and put them in cages along the Southern U.S. border, Trump supposedly embodies the very qualities that much of America — including many of its major corporations and our next-door neighbors — protested against when they stood with Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

Yet, he received the second-highest vote count of any presidential candidate in history.

Even now, Trump and his campaign have specifically sought to have officials toss out many of the votes that were legitimately cast in heavily African American-populated cities like Atlanta, Detroit, and Milwaukee. Ironically, their actions would include disenfranchising thousands of Republicans whose votes were also submitted by other means than in person at a polling place.

In the specific instance of the effect on the Black vote, seeking ways to deny African American voters our Constitutional right to make our voice known at the ballet box is a tactic used since, during, and after Reconstruction.

African Americans have not been alone on the receiving end of our nation’s history of hate-driven actions.

“The history of the United States over the past 200 years has been largely a struggle to define who might enjoy the rights and privileges of full citizenship,” offered Sarah Silkey, a professor of History at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Penn.

“Each successive gain made in broadening the definition of American citizenship was quickly followed by a backlash. Jim Crow segregation, the convict lease system, redlining, the war on drugs, and other systems created to maintain white supremacy denied access to full citizenship for generations of Americans,” Silkey wrote in an email.

“By defining personal success solely as a product of individual initiative and effort, the popular myth of the American Dream served to reinforce white privilege, perpetuate damaging racial stereotypes, and absolve white politicians from responsibility for dismantling entrenched systems of inequality,” she added.

“The crises of 2020 exposed vast inequities of health, wealth, safety, and political access to a broader cross-section of the American public. That growing public awareness of systemic inequalities has created an opportunity for the next administration to enact meaningful change,” Silkey concluded.

As American families prepare for another Thanksgiving, many are left to ponder just what they should celebrate.

“The US was built on powerful myths of equal opportunity in the pursuit of happiness and the city on a shining hill. The reality was less uplifting,” observed Nora V. Demleitner, a Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University in Lexington City, Va.

“Racism, racial exclusion of immigrants, and the vilification of ethnic and religious groups have long been an integral part of US history,” Demleitner posited.

“There has been substantial progress in the creation and enforcement of civil rights for all especially during the civil rights era, yet it has been uneven, and rising economic inequality and the impact of climate change threaten to undermine some of that progress.”

The playbooks of racial and ethnic vilification were never entirely discarded.

They are coming back as seen in the demand for “law and order,” widespread suppression of minority voters, and unwillingness to invest in infrastructure and education to support all, Demleitner offered further.

Tim Powell, a University of Chicago journalism master’s student, discards the myth of an America that welcomes labeling as a melting pot.

“Consider that the colonists left England to rebel against religion, and when they arrived here, we had a colony of rebels to some degree,” Powell relayed.

“The administrations can only do so much to counter the inherent unacceptance of races by a white, male American. It will be up to the next generations that will determine the acceptance of differences.”

“The best administrations will be those that do not stoke division.

“Look at McCarthyism as an example of the people demanding we rid America of ‘communists.’ It was not McCarthy himself, but the people demanding it. Without a market, a leader of a campaign – like Trump’s immorality – the leader has no followers.”

The 14th Amendment was meant to give slaves – only slaves – equal protection of the law, Powell added.

However, in nearly all relevant court cases since 1860 – Plessy, San Mateo v. Southern Pacific, Citizens United, Hobby Lobby – it has rarely given Amendment protections to Blacks but to corporations and other entities deemed as ‘persons.’”

Photographer Michael Freeby expressed that, “It’s not just the kids in cages, as if that weren’t bad enough.”

“Let us not forget ICE abducts perfectly law-abiding citizens in the middle of the night, performs cruel unethical unasked for surgeries on them, and that a disproportionate number of coronavirus deaths have been taking place in ICE captivity.”

“As a Mexican who lives close to ICE’s headquarters at the USA/Mexico border, it especially sends chills down my spine,” Freeby objected.

“Once people are placed in ICE captivity, they lose all rights. We are the United States of America, a country whose entire premise was based on people fleeing from elsewhere to start fresh and pursue their dreams. Picking and choosing based on skin color is not right. We are not animals – we are people.”

Terrell L. Strayhorn, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Virginia Union University, where he also serves as Professor of Education and Director of the Center for the Study of HBCUs, noted that African Americans are the only group denied access to education by law.

“No matter how uncomfortable or unpopular to admit, it was once legal to punish or kill an African American, but you could not educate them,” Strayhorn submitted.

“Teaching Blacks to read and write was prohibited by law. In the year 2020, there are over 4,300 colleges and universities in the United States, collectively enrolling over 20 million college students. Virtually 2 million are African Americans, with the vast majority (two-thirds) being Black women.

“And when African Americans enroll in college, approximately half do not graduate, accrue high amounts of educational debt, or report experiencing hostile, unwelcoming environments at predominantly white institutions.”

Strayhorn asked that the incoming Joe Biden/Kamala Harris administration do all it could to reduce, or remove, those challenges.

“A new administration, comprised of individuals who reflect the diversity of their constituents, can champion culturally-relevant initiatives, create equity, and foster racial healing,” Strayhorn proposed.

As a Black and Indian American, a plan of Kamala Harris should include equality for Black women in the workplace, opined Dr. Carey Yazeed, the editor of the anthology, “Shut ’em Down: Black Women, Racism and Corporate America.”

“Malcolm X stated it best, ‘The most disrespected person in America is the Black Woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black Woman.’ This country has done little to help uplift Black women, yet we are the ones who continuously come to its rescue,” Dr. Yazeed remarked.

“Although Black women are often the lowest paid in Corporate America, we often outwork and outperform our peers in the workplace,” she continued.

“When corporations talk about diversity and inclusion, Black women are usually excluded from those conversations, which is reflected in our salaries and how we are treated. Black women often walk away from Corporate America traumatized by the racial injustices that they endure and are left to carry that pain around for years.”

Actress and mental health advocate Samantina Zenon concluded that many white people remain disconnected, still seeing African Americans as maids or even slaves.

“History continues to rewrite itself. In every avenue, Black people consistently get mistreated,” Zenon said.

“In order for real changes to happen, the new administration needs to give more Black people a platform to be seen and heard, not just Black celebrities or politicians.

“Real people who face daily challenges for being Black in America. Part of the narrative on their campaigns was Donald Trump divided the country and has given white supremacists a platform to be racist, and they want to bring us back together. While that is true, the new administration needs to be held accountable for making those changes because Black people showed up for them at the polls, make racism wrong again.”

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

President-elect Joe Biden has announced members of his White House senior staff, including naming former Congressional Black Caucus Chair and Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond as senior advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Richmond deftly led the Biden campaign to victory, signing on with the former vice president when the Democratic field of contenders remained wide.

Richmond was a leader in helping to enact landmark criminal justice reform and ensuring that the people of Louisiana’s 2nd District were prepared for emergencies and natural disasters through his oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Richmond is a graduate of Morehouse College and Tulane University School of Law, where he earned induction into the Hall of Fame.

Biden also announced Julie Rodriguez as his Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Rodriguez served as a Deputy Campaign Manager on the Biden-Harris Campaign.

Before that, she was the National Political Director and traveling Chief of Staff for then-Senator Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Rodriguez also served as a special assistant to the President under Barack Obama.

In a news release, Biden’s campaign officials noted that “these diverse, experienced, and talented individuals demonstrate President-elect Biden’s commitment to building an administration that looks like America.”

The campaign noted further that each has deep government expertise and will be ready to help the president-elect deliver results for working families on day one.

“I am proud to announce additional members of my senior team who will help us build back better than before,” The President-Elect stated.

“America faces great challenges, and they bring diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to tackling these challenges and emerging on the other side, a stronger, more united nation.”

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain noted that ambition in which the team made the selections.

“President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris have an ambitious and urgent agenda for action. The team we have already started to assemble will enable us to meet the challenges facing our country on day one,” Klain offered.

Among the other appointees announced on Tuesday, November 17:

Anthony Bernal, Senior Advisor to Dr. Jill Biden; Mike Donilon, Senior Advisor to the President; Jen O’Malley Dillon, Deputy Chief of Staff; Dana Remus, Counsel to the President; Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden; Steve Ricchetti, Counselor to the President; and Annie Tomasini, Director of Oval Office Operations.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

President-elect Joe Biden wants to immediately erase student loan debt, a move that could prove more meaningful for African American students who, on average, owe much more than anyone.

With the freeze placed on student loan repayments set to end December 31, Biden has gotten behind the Democrat-led House’s HEROES Act, which calls on the federal government to pay off up to $10,000 in private, nonfederal student loans for economically distressed borrowers.

“People having to make choices between paying their student loan and paying the rent … debt relief should be done immediately,” Biden stated during a news conference on Monday, November 16.

NPR reported that Senate Democrats also are pushing for much more debt relief.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) co-authored a resolution in September with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) calling for the next president to cancel up to $50,000 of outstanding federal student loans per borrower.

According to data from the U.S. College Board, that would mean erasing all debt for more than three-quarters of borrowers.

Andrew Pentis, the student loan debt policy expert at Student Loan Hero, pointed to an analysis published by his company, which shows student loan portfolios now total $1.67 trillion.

Further, the data shows that debt distribution is more massive among borrowers of color, particularly Black students.

Nearly 9 in 10 Black students take out federal student loans to pay for college, compared with 7 in 10 white students.

African American students are far more likely to have large student debt than their white, Hispanic or Asian classmates, with 59.5 percent of African American students borrowing more than $29,500.

Pentis noted that the Black borrowers are more than twice as likely as white borrowers to default on their student loans, which he said is a by-product of a U.S. median household income that’s about $25,000 less for Black families than whites.

The end of the federal loan moratorium would disproportionately impact Black and brown borrowers, Pentis warned.

“Student loans have long been seen as a tool to make the wealth gap in this country better,” Pentis said.

“We are seeing that those loans are actually making the racial wealth gap worse because the loans become a burden on families that are already disadvantaged in terms of having a lower household income, having a lower net worth, and student loans can be a hindrance for families trying to achieve financial goals like buying a house instead of helping those families sort of climb the social ladder and increase their financial wherewithal.”

Student Loan Hero’s student loan debt analysis also revealed that large amounts of debt could act as a roadblock to completing college on time.

Data showed that while 42.6 percent of students in the Class of 2017 graduated in four years or less.

However, that number drops to 28.8 percent among Black students and 29.7 percent among Hispanic students.

For white and Asian students, Student Loan Hero said the rates were higher than average at 46.7 percent and 48.5 percent, respectively. Conversely, more Black students – 40.7 percent – took over six years to graduate college, compared with 35.2 percent for Hispanic students, 25.3 percent for white students, and 19.7 percent for Asian students.

“It’s proven that earning degrees allows students to earn more income,” Pentis remarked.

“So, if you have students not able to graduate, they’re carrying debt into careers that may not be able to pay for it. Black students are borrowing at higher amounts because of the racial wealth gap in this country.

“Typically, white and Hispanic students might borrow at relatively high rates, but they’re not borrowing as much.”

Click here to see the full report from Student Loan Hero.

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Contributor

It took five days for the 2020 election to be called for former Vice President Joe Biden. Five days with me peeled to the television and the internet. Five days holding my breath. Five days, meditating and praying for strength. I could not imagine four more years of Trump. I actually started going through my belongings, trying to decide which one would make the cut for my move to Ghana (yes, if the Chump had won, I was seriously considering a transcontinental move).

At 11:34 on Saturday morning, the good news trickled down. Biden won. Kamala Harris is Madame Vice President (MVP). People were sending funny and smart text messages. From one friend – ‘ladies keep your shoes on, there is glass on the floor. Exhale. Savor the feeling. Kamala’s win is a “dancing in the street” victory for Black women, for all women, for our nation.

From Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Well, on November 7, joy came in the morning, the afternoon, the evening. All around the country, people celebrated. Some of us were buoyed by the celebrations, especially their intergenerational, multicultural, masked participation. But as horns honked, people hollered, and people hoisted “you’re fired” signs outside the White House, some of us wondered how much change, exactly, we could expect from Biden-Harris. Inhale.

Inhale the fact that Donald John Trump was an extreme symptom, but not the cause, of the structural inequities that plague our nation. Inhale the fact that all the executive orders in the world can’t fix the racism that is baked in the cake we call the United States. Inhale their names, the disturbing roll of Black folks killed by white so-called “law enforcement” officers. Inhale the macro and micro aggressions that impact our lives.

I will not be pessimistic in this optimistic moment, nor will I ignore the amazing history we experienced in this election. I will simply say, as I often do, that voting is not the most, but the least we can do. This election reminds us that Black Votes Matter, that Turnout matters, that, in the words of Rev. Jesse Jackson, “the hands that picked peaches can pick presidents.”

There was no blue wave, this was a scrappy contest, with margin, in some cases, less than one percent. There was no takeover of the Senate (yet), and Democrats lost seats in the House of Representatives. And more than 70 million people affirmed Donald Trump, which reveals the stark division in our nation.

Exhale (relief). Inhale (recognition). And then just roll your sleeves up and get to work. Yes, there is much work to do. There are to elections for Senate seats in Georgia. They’ll be decided on January 5, and if Democrats can pull both off, President-elect Biden will have the Senate he needs to make policy changes.

Meanwhile, 45 has seventy days to wreak havoc on our nation. He can randomly fire folks, mismanage agencies (more so than he already has), develop harmful executive orders. As of this writing he has yet to concede the election, even though he has no possible chance of winning. His refusal to smell the coffee slows the transition process, but since this s about him, not about our nation, he really doesn’t care. Yes, we have work to do. We need to roll up our sleeves and get to it. Civic engagement is not a seasonal thing, it’s an all the time thing. We get the government that we choose to participate in.

So, kudos to the folks like Melanie Campbell (National Coalition of Black Civic Participation), LaTosha Brown (Black Voters Matter), Stacey Abrams (Fair Fight) and the many others who raised awareness, got the vote out, and then protected it. Inhale. Exhale. Get to Work!

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

According to multiple news reports, with the walls of defeat from the 2020 election closing in, lame-duck President Donald Trump may be seeking a way to avoid prosecution after he is no longer in office while still claiming victory in the election.

Numerous outlets are reporting that Trump is preparing for life after the White House, planning a major media platform that could net him billions of dollars because of his robust following.

He’s also examining a host of presidential pardons, including for his family members and himself.

One former Democrat aide even floated this wild prediction on Nov. 14:

In an editorial for The Hill, Brent Budowsky, who served as an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), said “Trump will resign the presidency, and [Vice President] Mike Pence will pardon him.”

“A presidential pardon by Pence would not offer protection from cases originating in states, but those cases will be far more manageable if they are not sunk into a morass of federal cases that only a federal pardon can protect him from,” Budowsky added. “While I suspect we will learn that he is not nearly as wealthy as he claims, Trump can reap extravagant financial rewards from the mother of all business deals which he could conclude shortly after he leaves office.”

CNN reported that current and former Trump administration officials say there’s been minimal preparation for an expected onslaught of clemencies, as Trump is still pursuing dubious legal challenges to the election.

But his Twitter feed over the past three years offers a working list of where the President might turn to wield his pardon power – primarily toward those targeted by former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

“Perhaps the biggest looming pardon question is whether Trump will consider granting himself a pardon, amid state investigations into his business and finances and the prospect of federal investigators scrutinizing him after he leaves office,” CNN’s Evan Perez noted.

Vanity Fair, Forbes, The Independent, and other news outlets are also publishing articles related to Trump’s possibility of pardoning himself.

Each outlet speculates that the President is sure to pardon Trump organization employees who might come under investigation.

Attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reportedly is under federal investigation, and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has already been indicted.

It’s believed a pardon will occur for Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, who was prosecuted by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and pleaded guilty in 2004 to tax evasion, retaliating against a witness and lying to the Federal Election Commission.

Forbes reported that President-elect Joe Biden wouldn’t pardon Trump.

“If Trump can’t pardon himself, he would likely have to preemptively resign from office so that Vice President Mike Pence could assume the presidency and pardon him,” the magazine reported, echoing the editorial by Brent Budowsky in The Hill.

Any pardon Trump potentially receives would only apply to alleged federal crimes.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance have separate state-related fraud and financial crimes cases involving Trump.

A federal pardon would not hinder prosecution in those cases.

Only the governor could offer Trump such protection.

Trump’s adversarial and sometimes volatile relationship with New York Democratic Mayor Andrew Cuomo makes such a state-level pardon challenging to imagine.

“The ‘Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment,’ is vested in the President,” the Department of Justice wrote in August 1974, days before President Richard Nixon resigned.

“This raises the question of whether the President can pardon himself. Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, it would seem that the question should be answered in the negative,” Forbes reported.