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https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2018/11/02/bitter-root-1-an-endorsement/
The Harlem Renaissance. Black life. Root work. Jazz. Diesel Funk (shout out to Tim Fielder) Monsters and monster hunting. Family. Action. Challenging of gender stereotypes. Camaraderie. Mysterious villains. A world adjacent to the world of the normals. Bitter Root delivers all this, and more. It also asks some very good questions. One of the problems […]
In a midterm election cycle marked by tight races and brutal contests, the Democrats emerged victorious in key races, capturing the majority of the House. However, history was not made in high-profile, competitive races for the governor’s mansions as Andrew Gillum in Florida and Benjamin Jealous in Maryland lost their bids to become the first African American chief executives of those states. In one of the biggest battles of the election season, Democrat Stacey Abrams refused to concede to her Republican opponent Brian Kemp in the gubernatorial race in Georgia due to the fact that the contest is still too close to call.
With an estimated votes approaching 3.8 million, Kemp was just shy of 51%, but Abrams and her campaign maintain that there were enough outstanding ballots – notably, those that were absentee and mail-in ballots in heavily Democratic metro Atlanta counties, — to bring him below the majority threshold required for victory. In that scenario, it could trigger a runoff between the two. Throughout the Georgia race, there were allegations of voter suppression leveled at Kemp, the Secretary of State who oversees voter registration regulations. However, two federal rulings last week allowed roughly 3,000 naturalized U.S. citizens to vote in Tuesday’s elections and in addition, the state has been prevented from tossing out absentee ballots placed on hold due to Georgia’s “exact-match” law stipulating that personal information on voter applications must correspond to state databases. With a significant turnout from African Americans throughout the state – including during early voting — Abrams received 93% of that vote.
With approximately 114 million votes cast in U.S. House races in 2018 versus 83 million in 2014, according to estimates by The New York Times, strong black voter turnout — along with women, Latinos, millennials and new voters — proved to be a significant factor in key Democratic victories Barack Obama, who crisscrossed the nation to campaigns for Democratic candidates vying for Congress and the statehouse released a statement today on the Midterms’ outcome: “The Democrats’ success in flipping the House of Representatives, several governorships, and state legislatures will get the most attention. But even more important than what we won is how we won; by competing in places we haven’t been competitive in a long time, and by electing record numbers of women and young veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, a surge of minority candidates, and a host of outstanding young leaders. The more Americans vote, the more our elected leaders look like America.”
And Women’s March, an organization focused on empowerment, released this statement on the power of the female vote in terms of bringing greater diversity to political representation:
The #WomensWave that just took the House is flooding our country, electing the most diverse Congress in our nation’s history, and adding millions of formerly disenfranchised voters to the rolls. Candidates like Stacey Abrams inspired the nation. She continues to inspire, fighting for democracy and working to ensure that every single vote is counted. We elected the first two Muslim women to ever serve in Congress, Black women will make history representing Massachusetts and Connecticut, and two Latinas will make history representing Texas. And voters showed up to elect two Native women to Congress, a historic first that will help reshape the future for Indigenous people on a federal level.
The loss of the House represents a huge defeat for Donald Trump in which Democrats flipped seats in key districts in such states as Virginia, Florida, Texas, Colorado and Michigan, especially in urban and suburban areas.
The party fell short, however, in their takeover of the U.S. Senate, marked by a major loss in Texas: Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke was defeated in a nail-biting campaign to unseat Texas incumbent Ted Cruz, former GOP candidate for president in 2016. The Senate’s hold on red states like Indiana and Tennessee was largely due to the embrace of Trumpism – namely, supporting Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court Justice and deriding the migrant caravan as a threat to national security. Democrat Mike Espy may still become the state’s first black U.S. Senator since Reconstruction though; Due to the fact that he and Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-White did not gain more than 50% of the vote in the special election, the two will face off in the Nov. 27 run-off.
By retaining control of the Senate, however, Trump can move forward on nomination and approval of federal judges and possibly Supreme Court justices, solidifying a conservative bench that can make rulings shaping a generation,
The African Americans Joining Congress
What does all of this mean? More partisan and ferocious political battles in a divided government. The Democrats control of the House will have a huge impact on the Trump, giving a branch of Congress oversight of an Administration that has operated unchecked. As such, Democrats will gain key chairmanships, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus like Rep. Maxine Waters and Rep. Elijah Cummings, who will take the reins of Financial Services and Oversight & Government Reform committees, respectively. With their renewed status, the Dems will most assuredly engage in investigations, use their subpoena power and very well pursue impeachment of the president if they gain an opening, possibly through the ongoing Mueller investigation.
African Americans joining the 116th Congress also plan to vigorously challenge Trump’s agenda. This group – a number of whom are young history makers and women – represent the pool of diverse candidates who beat establishment GOP politicians:
-Former Boston City Council Member Ayanna Pressley, 44, became the first African American Congresswoman in the state of Massachusetts. Now representing the 7th district – the only one in the state that’s composed of primarily minorities – Pressley paved her way to Congress with her Democratic primary victory over 10-term incumbent Michael Capuano, who has backed prominent black politicians like civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Massachusetts first black governor, Deval Patrick.
Ayanna Pressley
-Schoolteacher Jahana Hayes, 45, emerged victorious in her campaign to become the first African American woman to represent Connecticut, defeating Republican Manny Santos in the state’s hotly-contested 5th district.
Jahana Hayes
-One of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, Ilhan Omar, 35, will now assume the Minnesota seat previously held by Keith Ellison, the deputy Democratic National Committee Chair, who was elected the state’s Attorney General. Running on a platform that includes Medicare-for-all and free tuition, she handily won the seat. Rashida Tlaib was the other Muslim women who won in her bid for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District seat.
Ilhan Omar
-A former adviser to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and registered nurse who never held office, Lauren Underwood scored an upset victory by defeating four-term Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren to win a seat in Congress from Illinois’ 14th Congressional District. Gaining donors outside the state, she also beat Hultgren in raising campaign funds: $4 million to $2 million.
Lauren Underwood
After months of being attacked on his past career as a rapper, Antonio Delgado, 41, a Harvard-trained attorney and Rhodes scholar, campaigned in New York’s 19th District on expanding health care to win against GOP incumbent John Faso, who supported the Republican plan that discarded provisions for pre-existing conditions.
Antonio Delgado
-Former NFL player and civil rights attorney Colin Allred, 35, changed Texas’s 32nd District from blue to red by giving the Dems a major victory in a battleground state: Unseating GOP Rep. Pete Sessions, a 22-year congressional veteran and powerful chairman of the House Rules Committee.
Colin Allred
-Democrat Joe Neguse, an attorney and civic leader of Eritrean heritage, became the first black congressman from Colorado, when he defeated GOP challenger Peter Yu to represent the 2nd District that includes Boulder and Fort Collins. He won the seat vacated by Democrat Jared Polis, who was elected the first openly gay man to become governor in the nation.
Joe Neguse
-In the race for Nevada’s 4th District, Steve Horsford, 45, clinched his return engagement to Congress beating Republican Cresent Hardy. Horsford previously served as the district’s congressman from 2013 -2015, having lost his bid for a second term in 2014 and declined to run in 2016.
Steve Horsford
-The 29-year-old Bronx native and waitress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the first-time candidate who defeated Democrat Joe Crowley in the first primary challenge in 14 years. She is now the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Beyond those in congress, one who achieved a milestone in a statewide races vows to challenge Trump as well: Letitia James, now the first African American Attorney General for New York state, vows to use her position to investigate former real estate baron’s dealings.
The post Midterms Recap: The New Black Congress Members Joining the Battle Against Trump appeared first on Black Enterprise.
Back in August, Millar announced the 2nd comic to come out of the new Netflix partnership would be about a debonair black man named Edison Crane, who happened to double as the smartest man alive. They also made the decision to go against the grain and allow this hero to be uniquely suited for the most outlandish missions this planet has to offer, all while remaining the flyest guy in the room. In Prodigy, we have the most unorthodox, confidence filled, go-to man for issues that local governments are unable to handle themselves. Of course, Millar rarely makes plans this ambitious without having one of the greatest artistic talents to rival his penmanship, so he enlists Rafael Albuquerque as the man behind the ink and he blesses each page with style and bravado that is unmatched.
Young and Ambitious
Is it even a proper backstory if it doesn’t involve being placed on a sports team years before eligibility? Does it even matter if you’re not making boys 5 years older look like the kids guarding LeBron back in high school? Just when I thought Mark Millar is all out of bright ideas, he comes along and slaps me across the face with writing that is simply bar none. It’s one thing to provide simple explanations as to what made him so wise, quick thinking and adventurous, but it’s another thing to walk you through beautifully drawn instances of Edison’s childhood that provide you with the perfect context to his adult way of life.
As we’re learning about young Edison in this inaugural issue, we find out how he deals with bullying. His, “I know I’m going to get expelled for this, but I’m convinced it’s a valuable life lesson for you, Tinker.” line was phenomenal insight into the man he’d become. The supreme ass kicking of this entire scene is something you need to see to fully enjoy.
Although the info we get on young Crane left me salivating for more, Millar provides little tidbits of backstory as the present-day action and drama unfolds. We see how much he is encouraged by his mother to stay curious and never stop thinking. We see how much his father pushed him and how confident that made him. My 12 years old mans and them was finessing life or death scenarios in his room while mom and pops enjoyed the decadent, buttery, broiled lobster tails he whipped up for dinner! Being a low-key chef myself, I was inconsolable in this instance!
Watch Out World, I’m Grown Now
Now fully matured and well past the desire to become president, Edison Crane spends his time playing chess on a dozen different screens simultaneously. Not bad for a guy like him is what I initially thought, but you quickly discover he’s not simply playing multiple games to better himself. The man is an intellectual maven and would never be pleased with the handful of victories before him. He has the antithesis of a one-track mind and is constantly thinking if ways to execute his next task, save the world down the road, entertain kids fans today and blow the minds of everyone who knows the name Crane.
Rafael Albuquerque is a monster, and I’m so glad he’s the one who gets to depict the characters in this comic. The one test I always remain true to with my reviews, is an artist’s ability to draw the hair of POC, and Black people in particular. Obviously, this comic features a Black man, so Albuquerque had to be extremely confident in his capabilities. Aided by the fire coloring skills of Marcelo Maiolo, the hair textures are on point. Edison’s fresh-cut game progresses and changes as he grows. When we get to the meat and potatoes of this story, we witness a couple different looks from the foreign governments he works for and the assistants that help him throughout the day. Candice seems to be his PR/social media guru, and his Alfred-type homie keeps Edison fresh while maintaining a cool hipster look.
Prodigy #1 comes in with a full head of steam and ends with one of the wildest, yet intriguing twists you’ve seen. At this point, Mark Millar has little to prove, yet he continues to astound with every new concept he concocts. I don’t use this description often, but Rafael Albuquerque goes Picasso on the panels and it leaves me hype for issue #2. Ancient prophecies have never been this bold and government cover-ups have never been this corrupt. Sounds like a case for Edison Crane, the greatest prodigy that ever lived. Get your pre-orders in now. If Millar’s The Magic Order proved anything, it’s that issues will sell out swiftly when this one drops on December 5th.
10 Flaming Motorcycles Jumping The Grand Canyon out of 10
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The post Prodigy: Advance Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.