National Association of Black & White Men Together: Recent Episodes
National Association of Black & White Men Together
Deeds not words. In a podcast reviewing the 2024 election loss for Democrats, the focus shifts to countering potential attacks on their values by the new government. Voters seek change due to government ineffectiveness, prompting a need for humility and attentiveness. Anticipating an authoritarian-leaning Congress, the party plans to resist potential fascist tendencies with historical lessons and unity against vilification. Suggestions are made to build alliances and oppose extreme views within the new government’s cabinet nominations, such as Marco Rubio, Matt Gaetz, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While criticising these picks based on issues like lack of experience or extreme views, Democrats choose to wait and observe actions that align with their values, particularly in areas like inflation and tax policies. Vigilance is key to ensuring the new government serves the interests of disillusioned voters.
Inflation A surging stock market, low unemployment and robust growth — by just about every measure, the economy stood poised to deliver victory for Vice President Kamala Harris. The exception, of course, was inflation, and it appears to have overshadowed other indicators. More than two-thirds of voters say the economy is in bad shape, according […]
Racism and Misogyny From the moment Kamala Harris entered the presidential race, Black women could see the mountaintop. Across the country, they led an outpouring of Democratic elation when the vice president took over the top of the presidential ticket. But underneath their hope and determination was a persistent worry: Was America ready, they asked, […]
Podcast Show Notes: Episode [Number] - "Revitalizing Our Voice: Navigating Challenges Ahead"Host: Ken Baron Organization: National Association of Black and White Men Together (NABWMT) Release Date: [Date]---In this episode, Ken Baron returns to the podcast after a hiatus, focusing on the recent election results and the implications they hold for our communities and the political landscape. The outcomes, unfortunately, did not align with the hopes of Ken and the NABWMT, particularly with a concerning trend of Democratic candidates transitioning to the Republican party. This pivot highlights the necessity for continued activism and engagement in the fight against extremism, racism, and homophobia.Ken outlines his renewed podcasting mission as he sets the stage for a series of episodes that will delve into the reasons behind the Democratic party's underwhelming performance in the elections. He will explore critical issues facing our society and the obstacles that lie ahead. Yet, amidst these challenges, there remains a beacon of hope. Ken aims to share constructive and optimistic strategies to empower listeners, encouraging collective action and fostering a resilient community dedicated to positive change.Throughout the episode, Ken underscores the importance of dialogue and community engagement in resisting the current political climate. He invites listeners to follow him on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, where he plans to share uplifting content and resources for those feeling disheartened by recent events. Join Ken in this pivotal conversation as he embarks on a journey to inspire hope, action, and unity in facing the trials ahead.---Follow Ken on Social Media: - Instagram: [handle] - Facebook: [handle] - Twitter: [handle] Tune in for more episodes that inform, inspire, and empower!
Today, January 15th, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born. He is remembered as a courageous and loving leader of the civil and human rights movement whose words and wisdom empowered masses globally at a time when polarization, discrimination and oppression due to race, gender, class, and otherwise marginalized identities plagued the nation. 56 years […]
Some news came Friday that gave an unexpected jolt of hope. Much of the year saw an unrelenting legal assault on queer and trans people. Around 20 states have passed laws restricting access to gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary people, and several have barred transgender and nonbinary people from using bathrooms that align with their […]
MAGA was on trial in a courtroom — its methods, its morality and the means it uses to escape the consequences of its dreadful acts. That’s because a “MAGA MAN” Rudy Giuliani was found guilty of terrible lies that election workers committed voter fraud. Giuliani’s lies had profoundly damaged her life. The jury gave its […]
Republicans have shown some consistency on issues of economic and fiscal policy. These may be of consequence to our listeners at the NABWMT. Republicans seem exceptionally explicit in calling for an increase in the age at which Americans become eligible for Social Security — a bad idea that seems to be experiencing a revival. But […]
We’ve gotten a good idea of what Donald Trump would do if given a second chance in the White House. It looks a lot like he means to give himself the power and unchecked authority of a strongman. Trump would purge the federal government of as many civil servants as possible and install political and […]
New House Speaker Johnson is a clear rebuttal to the overall liberal societal drift that’s happening in the United States. His views are far out of step with the average American and even with a significant number of Republicans. White evangelicals still have a very strong hold on the modern Republican Party. They are losing […]
Defending Democracy Young and Old Voters Should Republicans be worrying? Yes because turnout among MAGA supporters may be less important than how many MAGA voters there are in the 2024 election and in which states they are.” Over 56 percent of self-identified MAGA voters are over the age of 65 as of 2020. By 2024, […]
New Mexican voters should feel safe and supported as they cast their votes. This year, Common Cause New Mexico is ramping up efforts and beginning to train volunteers over the summer in advance of early voting. What follows could be a template for action in any state. In 2008, Common Cause New Mexico created a […]
We are looking at a full-on attack on our hard-fought, hard-won freedoms including our very democracy. Much of this is thwarted by Congress or the courts. The stakes of the election are stark as the GOP is trying to reverse generations of racial progress in America. We have the lowest Black unemployment rate on record […]
Politicians are trying to use a distorted idea of patriotism and a distorted definition of nationalism to whitewash white nationalists and white nationalism. White supremacy, white nationalism and white terror were fundamental to the creation of America. Those facts don’t change because they make some uncomfortable or others angry. No one has the power to […]
The Supreme Court rules against people at the margins in three cases. These are harsh measures that deal blows to students and LGBT people. We live in two countries now: one in which basic civil and human rights are recognized and enshrined in law, and another in which ideological extremists can decide how everyone else […]
The Supreme Court, surprised us deciding that Alabama had diluted the power of Black voters by drawing a congressional voting map with a single district in which they made up a majority. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion in the 5-to-4 ruling. He was joined by Kavanaugh and the court’s three liberal members, Sotomayor, […]
America’s regular mass shootings leads to the hand-wringing that our politics is so polarized that there’s no way to move forward. AR-15-style rifles may be here to stay, so which have some bipartisan consensus. There is substantial progress, but now we need more. The F.B.I.’s Background Check System, stitches together three databases of state […]
Uganda’s Parliament passed a sweeping anti-gay bill in late March that threatens punishment as severe as death for some perceived offenses, and calls for life in prison for anyone engaging in same-sex relations. The authorities kept saying, ‘We will hunt you. You gays should be killed. We will slaughter you,’” he said. “There was no […]
Women were instrumental in helping during the AIDS crisis, and so I am always an ally in the fight for women’s rights. Since a federal judge in Texas last week invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, states led by Democrats have been scrambling to adjust to a possible […]
Two victories important to progressives occurred this week. Wisconsin Supreme Court, and Chicago Mayoral campaign. Wisconsin voters on Tuesday chose to upend the political direction of their state by electing a liberal candidate Judge Janet Protasiewicz to the State Supreme Court, flipping majority control from conservatives. The result means that in the next year, the […]
The nominations for the 2023 Academy Awards were announced early Tuesday morning. Best in class Netflix’s German war movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” and the Irish dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” with 9 and “Elvis” with 8 My husband and I always take time in each winner to see the potential nominees […]
Anti-Black redefined as pro-equality, anti-gay as pro-family and anti-immigrant as pro-American. In Tallahassee a march happened protesting DeSantis’s crusade against everything “woke,” a concept defined as “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” DeSantis’s obsession has led him from attacking critical race theory to, now, restricting the […]
The killing of Tyree Nichols, a Black man in Memphis, at the hands of Black police should prompt outrage and condemnation from racial justice activists, police reform advocates and law enforcement officials. Problems of race and policing are a function of an entrenched police culture of aggression and dehumanization of Black people. It is the […]
In my last blog I talked abut rural resentment which has become a central fact of American politics and supported for the rise of right-wing extremism. I attributed this rural resentment to perceptions that rural areas are ignored by policymakers, don’t get their fair share of resources and are disrespected by “city folks.” And then, […]
Republicans now control the House will soon try to slash Social Security and Medicare, threatening to create a financial crisis by refusing to raise the federal debt ceiling. This could erode the world’s faith that the United States will always pay its bills. Lifting the debt limit allows the government to pay the bills it […]
As we approach the end of 2022, the NABWMT Board of Directors continues to work diligently to carry out our responsibilities to our members. We are all working together to make our organization stronger. During the past three months, the Board of Directors has been focused on several initiatives for the upcoming year. First, the […]
Anti-LGBTQ hate thrives onlineIn the days after a gunman killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado last month, much of social media lighted up with the now familiar expressions of grief, mourning and disbelief. The hate isn’t limited to fringe sites. On Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, researchers and LGBTQ advocates have tracked an […]
The NABWMT fights homophobia and racism. and now needs to be aware that books by LGBTQ and Black are under attack. In my opinion, book banning is a violation of our First Amendment rights. When the government bans a book, it sends a clear message that certain ideas are not acceptable in society. Sounds familiar in […]
At this years NABWMT’s Convention Speakers Mack and Ken Scott Baron predicted that the Democrats would win a majority of 51-49 Senate seats.This came true as Warnock beat Walker in Georgia, giving Democrats this 51st Senate seat. We thank the team for helping to point out candidates policies that align with the values of the […]
Voter suppression – a poll tax paid in time. Georgia voters have defied efforts to suppress them. On Tuesday afternoon, they waited over an hour and a half to vote in Atlanta in the Georgia Senate runoff between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.
Unhoused Black gay and bisexual men are disproportionately impacted by HIV and severe cases of (MPV) Monkeypox. In 2019, Black people accounted for 13% of the U.S. population but 40% (479,300) of people with HIV. According to the CDC, Black gay and bisexual men accounted for 82% of HIV acquisitions. Black gay and bisexual men also account for […]
Until we see antisemitism as a toxic species of the white supremacy that threatens Black security and democracy’s future, none of us are truly safe.Martin Luther King in 1968 asked when will the Black community take against the vicious antisemitism. Nearly 55 years later, the actions of two Black figures will ask us that question […]
Thank you all for the work you did on getting out the vote in the Midterms. We sent 43,400 texts20,000 Social Media Posts, 895 letters 200 postcards, worked on 10 Phone Banks, and canvassed in key districts. Your efforts allowed the Democrats to retain control of the Senate, and choke the so called “Red Wave” […]
The Red Wave is just a trickle In the latest results from the pivotal midterm elections, Democrats appeared to defy historical odds in critical midterm elections as an anticipated “red wave” did not materialize. The President’s party has averaged a loss of 28 House seats and four Senate seats. Turnout smashed all records. That might […]
The word “gay” is increasingly being substituted by queer or, more broadly, L.G.B.T.Q.,which are about gender as much as sexual orientation. The word “queer” is climbing in frequency and can be used interchangeably with gay, which itself not so long ago replaced the dour and faintly judgmental homosexual. Only 10 years ago, for example, queer […]
I have blogged on white racism and colorism but one subject that is also of concern is a form of “lite” supremacy, in which fairer-skin people perpetuate a modified anti-Blackness rather than eliminating. Without doubt, America is experiencing a browning of America, white supremacy could simply be replaced by — or buffeted by — lite […]
Here in Los Angeles there has always been a wide range of ethnic and racial diversity and politics. Over the weekend a secret audio recording in which the Los Angeles City Council president, two of her colleagues and the county’s top labor official discussed race and power in coarse and at times racist terms behind […]
SCOTUS (the Supreme Court} starts again on Monday and will feature major disputes on affirmative action, voting, religion, free speech and gay rights.As we approach the midterms get ready for a lot of 6-3 right wing judgments. So, SCOTUS will be another reason to vote to protect your rights The last SCOTUS term ended with […]
This book is really well worth reading, not just for white folks but for anyone that wants an accurate account of US racial history.The author, Roland Martin, doesn’t hold back on the truth of this country….from the past to the present. His Daily Digital Show, “Roland Martin Unfiltered”, does the same. “White Fear” explains and […]
About 40 days to go for the midterms and Texas Governor is using immigration as a wedge issue. Meanwhile, few months ago, the wind appeared to be at O’Rourke’s back, as he fought to make that happen, to become the first Democratic governor of the state since Ann Richards over a quarter century ago. He […]
Why is it always on the Democrats to compromise? On Thursday, the bipartisan group of senators behind the Respect for Marriage Act, which would have enshrined federal protections for same-sex marriage, announced a delay on putting the measure to a vote, which had been expected to take place this week. The bill’s lead sponsor, Senator […]
What do you do if you are an activist? A Los Angeles Times article is a great story to inspires folks to stand up against homophobia and misinformation. Olivia is a 19-year-old Texan is a “queer, plus-size, disabled Latina.” She’s the kind of person whom Trump thugs love to target and troll. But she can […]
Happy Labor Day and after the celebration lets return to the fight! The unofficial Labor Day kickoff of the fall campaign season could push anxiety levels higher as the parties scramble to game out and shape where the electoral circus is headed. Here at the NABWMT we vote our values, freedom, inclusivity and support for […]
Relief for Black Student Student Loans I was excited with the news that President Biden has announced Student Loan Relief for borrowers who need It Most Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and private college has nearly tripled, even after accounting for inflation. Federal support has not kept up: Pell Grants once […]
The NABWMT fights for people at the margins, and should do more to help women struggling after the overturning of Roe. And so, we find that Republicans have moved slowly and have struggled to speak with a unified voice on what comes next. We know what comes next, states should move aggressively to protect women. […]
Democrats need to find a balance between a coherent strategy by talking about the state of the Republican field as a whole, rather than singling out a few bad apples and spending millions of dollars to boost them. Republicans have unfit candidates and Democrats cannot remain fully neutral during Republican primaries. The GOP has reorganized […]
With President Biden’s approval rating mired in the 30s and with nearly 80 percent of voters saying the country is heading in the wrong direction, all the ingredients seem to be in place for a Republican sweep in the November midterm elections. But Democrats and Republicans begin the campaign in a surprisingly close race for […]
Roe overturned, LGBTQ rights at risk The reversal of Roe vs. Wade is likely to be the first step in a campaign to rescind legal rights and protections that the Christian right in America finds objectionable. They want to turn constitutionally protected rights into political questions at the state level. Two decades of gains in […]
In 2020, there were more than 45,000 gun deaths in the United States. But there was no major push for gun safety legislation. Last year, there were nearly 700 mass shootings in America — and again, there was no major push for gun legislation. Is the disturbing truth of “psychic numbing” and the feeling of […]
The reversal of Roe vs. Wade is likely to be the first step in a campaign to rescind legal rights and protections that the Christian right in America finds objectionable. They want to turn constitutionally protected rights into political questions at the state level. Two decades of gains in federal protections for LGBTQ Americans have […]
In Buffalo this past weekend — as in El Paso, Pittsburgh, Charleston and Christchurch, New Zealand, before it — the “great replacement” conspiracy theory appears to have inspired another mass shooting. The theory says that elites are using government policy to replace white people with nonwhite and non-Christian ones. This has prompted concerns about the […]
The Supreme Court has become politicized, and this is to say at the least, disappointing and perhaps dangerous. So, a lecture by Justice Clarence Thomas, of all people, bemoaning the horrors of extreme income inequality. Does he really not realize that by giving partisan political speeches in partisan political environments, he is precisely what is […]
As a member of an organization that is mostly gay men, we forget the work women did in the AIDS crisis, so we should move to help the women who value reproductive rights. If you listen to my podcasts or read my blogs, you will know I report on activism that works, and what does […]
First, I want to acknowledge what a grave and scary moment this is. On Monday, a Supreme Court draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked to the press, suggesting that a majority of justices are prepared to overrule Roe vs Wade, the Reproductive Rights Act. If (and when) Roe vs Wade is overturned, […]
I am always a little cautious when writing on racism. As a white man who’s formative years were molded in the UK, a notable, one time colonial power, there should be a check on my “white ‘splaining.” But surely human beings are capable of empathizing with those whose ethnicity or country of origin differ from […]
Police pull over more than 50,000 drivers on a typical day, more than 20 million motorists every year. Yet the most common police interaction — the traffic stop — has not been tracked, at least not in any systematic way. The Open Policing Project has collected over 200 million records of traffic stop and search […]
We thought the battles over L.G.B.T. rights were to fading from the American political scene. The Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, and most Americans supported the decision. But in more than a dozen states, Republicans have recently passed laws restricting those rights. In the Senate, Republicans used Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing to […]
In a 53-47 vote Ketanji was elevated the first Black woman to the pinnacle of the judicial branch as senators erupted in cheers. Three Republicans joined Democrats in supporting President Biden’s nominee. But no Black woman had the opportunity to vote for the barrier-breaking nominee: None is currently a member of the 100-person chamber, which […]
California’s Reparations Task Force prepares to answer the pivotal question of who should receive reparations for slavery. Questions underscore the complexity of California’s quest to become the first state in the nation to approve statewide reparations for slavery. State law directs the group to prioritize those who trace their lineage to African Americans enslaved in […]
Several racist slurs allegedly were directed at Black workers at Tesla’s California plant, according to a lawsuit filed against the company. A single mother was excited to land a job at Tesla. About three years in, she was fired, she said, after complaining that Black workers were frequently called the N-word on the assembly line. […]
If we think that here in the US LGBT rights are under attack note that queer refugees fleeing Ukraine fight to find allies for housing, medical care. For example, Edward Reese, a queer activist who works with Kyiv Pride, decided to flee Ukraine on March 8, he knew it was going to be a long […]
If we think that here in the US LGBT rights are under attack note that queer refugees fleeing Ukraine fight to find allies for housing, medical care. For example, Edward Reese, a queer activist who works with Kyiv Pride, decided to flee Ukraine on March 8, he knew it was going to be a long […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson is an eminent Judge is President Biden’s pick to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer. And so, the backlash from the right has emerged, some subtle and not. If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman to be a part of the land’s highest court. Some history is appropriate here. President Kennedy […]
Progress toward racial equality in the United States is real based on changes in racial attitudes across time. However, a rigid belief that progress is automatic lends itself to the denial of the persistence of racial inequality in the funding gaps between public schools serving white students versus those serving children of color, the disproportionate […]
The number of Latino-majority districts in California has grown to 16 from 10. Although the state lost a congressional seat, the independent redistricting commission’s maps approved last month give Latinos more power. The 16 majority-Latino districts make up nearly a third of the state’s now 52 congressional seats. Can Democrats take advantage of those new […]
Republicans are jockeying for advantage in next year’s elections and beyond, Democrats are trying to squeeze everything they can out of their limited leverage, marginalized groups are lobbying state officials to maximize their voting power and lawsuits are looming. Redistricting is happening in every state, even those with only one congressional district, because state legislative […]
Dr. Fauci, President Biden’s top medical adviser for the coronavirus — is under attack in Pennsylvania, where Mehmet Oz, a television doctor who has entered the Republican Senate primary there, calls him a “petty tyrant.” In Nebraska, an ad shows Jim Pillen, a Republican running for governor, dressed in hunting gear and cocking his gun […]
So now, it is fascinating to watch as people work themselves up about Joe Biden committing to choosing a Supreme Court nominee from a group that has long been overlooked: Black women. It is identity politics and affirmative action, they scream. The irony here is that Ronald Reagan, the Republicans’ patron saint before the rise […]
Freedom of speech and thought — has long been a key element of the American idea. This is despite all the ways in which we have failed to live up to our self-image, above all the vast injustices that sprang from the original sin of slavery, Everyone knows about the Big Lie, the refusal by […]
Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema made it clear that they were not in favor of altering the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation. Activists have been fighting this battle for nearly a year without much support from the White House. Biden gave a big voting rights speech in Philadelphia calling the Republican assault on […]
Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Biden’s Covid plan. Welcome all of you and especially those suffering and have suffered from COVID. You may be fortunate like myself, and have been fully vaccinated or survived the Covid infection. And so, you may be wish we all would be vaccinated. And you are irritated that many are […]
Biden needs to change I am a big fan of President Biden, but his poll numbers keep sliding. Americans, including many of the people who voted for him, are not happy with him. They want him to someone different. I am activist and impatient for change in the US. Change in equality, in vouting and […]
Democrats seem to be always hungering for criticism of their fellow legislators. It seems that Kamela Harris’s media coverage, she’s not merely mismanaging an apparently restless, frustrated staff. She’s bursting into flames and incinerating everything in her midst, including Democrats’ hopes of holding on to the White House in 2024. And word of Joe Biden […]
Mississippi with its distinction as the state where the tide of progress is blocked and pushed back, is in the news. It is in an abortion case before the Supreme Court. But first, some history. During Reconstruction, Mississippi became a Black power center in this country. There were not only more Black people than white […]
The march of gun violence continues as Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges after testifying he acted in self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings that became a flashpoint in the debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice in the U.S. The verdict in the politically combustible case was met with anger and disappointment from […]
Charles Blow at the New York Times intrigued me by talking about this subject. That is the shift of the country from mostly white to mostly nonwhite. Many hold hope for this effect in the fight against white supremacy and oppression. The most recent United States Census officially recognized five racial categories (White, Black or […]
Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix special, “The Closer” has caused an uproar on Social Media and the press. He defended he used the acronym TERF which means trans-exclusionary radical feminist, and in this special, Chappelle defended Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has been accused of being transphobic. He said: “Gender is a fact. Every human […]
Republicans in the Texas Legislature proposed a new congressional map that would preserve the party’s advantage in the state’s delegation to Washington amid booming population growth spurred by communities of color. The new map was designed to protect Republicans hold on the 23 of the state’s 36 congressional seats. Texas was the only state in […]
A review of the 2020 election in Arizona’s Maricopa County, financed by Republicans, has failed to show that former President Trump was cheated of victory. At the NABWMT we have been keeping an eagle eye on voting rights and suppression. The draft report from Cyber Ninjas tallied 99 additional votes for President Biden and 261 […]
Redistricting influences our voting capabilities. Small changes in district lines can solidify a majority of voters for a particular party or split its opponents among multiple districts to dilute their influence. Republicans need to net just five seats to regain the U.S. House in the 2022 elections, which could determine the fate of President Biden’s […]
California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have one thing in common, they both fought recalls. Republican Walker is the only governor in American history to successfully beat back a recall. He did so in 2012 by pivoting from playing defense on his record, namely a highly polarizing measure to clamp down […]
The Anti Gay People Some straight men should stop obsessing about gay people. Why do they care about a thing that has nothing to do with them occupies so much of their time and energy? Maybe they should interrogate their own prurient interests in other people’s love, get at the root and figure out why […]
Here I am in a deep blue state California but the minority Republican voters can upset me by using the a provision of our state Constitution. Two very important things happened in the California recall election in recent weeks. First, the polls have moved closer to even, suggesting that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is suddenly […]
In 2020, young voters turned out in record numbers to help Democrats win the White House and other key races. In 2021, however, an onslaught of voter suppression measures being enacted in statehouses could have an outsized impact on those young people, according to voting rights advocates. The Brennan Center has reported that so far […]
Ken from the National Association of Black and White Men talks about the NA’s effort on Voter Rights and Voter Suppression, He outlines how the Black community votes in huge numbers on these issues but other communities need to do the same.
It is a question I get sometimes: I don’t have slaves but maybe my ancestors did, if that is the case, how to make amends? The the case of Stacie Marshall in Georgia. She was in line to inherit 300 acres, which would make her the first woman in her family to own a farm. […]