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Vol. 63 No. 33
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Thursday, August 17, 2023
www.sdvoice.info
Serving San Diego County’s African & African American Communities 63 Years
HOW FANI WILLIS OVERSAW THE LEGAL CASE AGAINST DONALD TRUMP By Kate Brumback ASSOCIATED PRESS
Long before the FBI began investigating Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents or Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special prosecutor to probe the former president, Fani Willis was at work.
BLACK INGENIUS SCHOLARS INDUCTION CEREMONY SEE PAGE 10
Just one month after Trump’s infamous January 2021 phone call to suggest Georgia's secretary of state could overturn his election loss, the Fulton County district attorney announced she was looking into possible illegal “attempts to influence” the results in what has become one of America's premier political battlegrounds. As she built her case, Willis called a parade of high-profile witnesses before a special grand jury, presiding over an investigation that was so public it seemed she would become the first prosecutor in U.S. history to indict a former president. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, center, speaks in the Fulton County Government Center during See WILLIS page 5
a news conference, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 in Atlanta. Donald Trump and several allies have been indicted in Georgia over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. PHOTO: John Bazemore/ AP
MOST BLACK WOMEN VOTERS ARE FINANCIALLY INSECURE By Antonio Ray Harvey CALIFORNIA BLACK MEDIA
Top among the issues Black women face are racial discrimination, lack of opportunities for career advancement, adverse mental and physical health conditions, pay inequity, and parenting challenges among other serious issues.
A study released last week by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI) presents a grim picture of the financial stability of Black women voters in the state. A total of 1,258 women participated in the poll used in the study. Their answers give insight into the web of challenges Black women across California confront daily. The survey conducted by EVITARUS, a Black-owned public opinion research and public policy consulting firm based in Los Angeles, provides an in-depth analysis of Black women’s opinions about state and federal elected officials. It also reveals Asm. Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City) said the results of the study conducted by EVITARUS CBWCEI’s top policy priorities for enhancing the well-being of for the California Black Women's Collective Empowerment Institute indicate that the women and girls in California. State Legislature must do more for Black women. PHOTO: Robert Maryland/CBM
EVITARUS Managing Partner Shakari Byerly served as the principal investigator and lead researcher on the study. She said the survey reveals the financial and economic burdens that Black women confront as they contribute to their families, communities and the state. Griffin, Byerly, Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), and Dr. Thomas A. Parham, President, California State University Dominguez Hills held a virtual media briefing on Aug. 8 to discuss the study’s results. See INSECURE page 5
RENEWED CALLS FOR
HIP HOP AND JUSTICE
JUSTICE THOMAS’ RESIGNATION By Stacy M. Brown NNPA NEWSWIRE SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT
In what activist Sherrilyn Ifill called a crisis in which everyone needs to start treating it as such, more stunning revelations have surfaced over lavish gifts accepted and not previously disclosed by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Now, Democratic lawmakers are taking to social media to demand Thomas step down. The calls for his resignation come after another shocking investigative report by ProPublica. The exposé, released on Thursday, Aug. 10, delves into undisclosed luxury vacations and gifts Thomas received from affluent individuals. The revelation has again ignited a firestorm of outrage and ethical concerns.
PHOTO: NNPA
"Got to give us what we want / Gotta give us what we need / Our freedom of speech is freedom or death / We got to fight the powers that be!" – PUBLIC ENEMY, "FIGHT THE POWER," 1990 Chuck D from the rap group Public Enemy, speaks to Columbia University students in New York in April 1998. PHOTO: Stacy Zaferes/AP
By Aaron Morrison AP NATIONAL WRITER
“Justice Thomas has brought shame upon himself and the United States Supreme Court with his acceptance of massive, repeated, and undisclosed gifts,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted on the social media platform now known as X. “No government official, elected or unelected, could ethically or legally accept gifts of that scale. He should resign immediately.”
Hip-hop has been an integral part of social and racial justice movements. It’s also been scrutinized by law enforcement and political groups because of their belief that hip-hop and its artists’ encourage violent criminality.
The damning ProPublica report exposed that Justice Thomas received a minimum of 38 destination vacations, 26 private jet flights, numerous VIP passes to sporting events, and two lavish resort stays, all financed by billionaire backers, during his tenure on the bench. The report argued that Justice Thomas may have violated legal requirements by failing to disclose these extravagant travels and luxury engagements.
Because it can threaten the concentration of power, certain forces have demonized the culture, said Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-founder and chair of the Black Music Action Coalition, a group of artists, lawyers, managers and producers unified against systemic racism in the music industry and in society.
See THOMAS page 5
See HIP HOP page 5
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