Nicki Minaj Captures The Agony And Irony Of Trump's Immigration Ban

Nicki Minaj is the latest celebrity to speak out against President Donald Trump’s executive orders regarding immigration with a tweet that echoes beyond its 140 characters. 

The singer, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, posted the tweet Monday in response to Trump’s recent legislation regarding immigration and refugees about how he is dashing the hopes and dreams of those seeking a better life in America, noting that she’s a proud immigrant who pays taxes but still can’t vote. 

Minaj, who was born in Trinidad, has been vocal about her disapproval of Trump’s treatment of immigrants. She slammed POTUS in her track “Black Barbies” with the lyrics: “Island girl, Donald Trump want me go home” and “Now prayin’ all my foreigns don’t get deported.” 

The rapper spoke about the struggles she and her family faced immigrating in the 2010 MTV documentary “My Time Now.” She immigrated to Queens, New York, as a young child after her mom had settled in the U.S. 

“A lot of times, when you’re from the islands, your parents leave and then send for you because it’s easier when they have established themselves; when they have a place to stay, when they have a job. I thought it was gonna be for a few days, it turned into two years without my mother,” she said. 

The move was a shock to her. 

“I thought it was gonna be like a castle. Like white picket fence, like a fairy tale. I got off the plane and it was cold. I remember the smell. I could always remember the smell when I got out of the airport of the snow, and I had never seen snow,” she said. “I remember the house. I remember that the furniture wasn’t put down. It was, like, piled up on each other, and I didn’t understand why, ‘cause I thought it was gonna look like a big castle.”

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

Obama Spent His First Week In Office Championing Women's Rights To Equal Pay

During President Donald Trump’s first weeks in office, the newly-launched Obama Foundation is looking back on the former president’s legacy through storytelling. This week, eight years after the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the foundation is featuring a story from Lilly Ledbetter herself. 

The post, “Lilly Ledbetter Remembers,” was created in collaboration with Story Corps and is part of the Obama Foundation’s “Our Story” timeline. It features Ledbetter speaking about the moment she realized she was making 40 percent less than her male counterparts at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company plant in Alabama.

“I was humiliated. I was embarrassed…I just wanted to go and hide,” she says. 

But instead of hiding, she took her employer to court. Eventually, her case reached the Supreme Court. In May 2007, the Supreme Court did not rule in her favor, saying that she could not take action against Goodyear for pay discrimination due to the 180-day statute of limitations (as per the Civil Rights Act of 1964). But in 2009, after his historic presidential win, then-President Barack Obama acted to fulfill what the Supreme Court did not ― he amended the Civil Rights Act with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.

Obama signed the act on January 29, 2009 ― his first act  president. Then, in April of 2014, Obama signed an Executive Order preventing workplace discrimination against employees who openly discuss compensation ― thus protecting women for inquiring about their employer’s pay practices.  

“So many people have benefitted after that bill passed,” Ledbetter says in the interview. “I’m so grateful and so very proud of it.”

Head over to the Obama Foundation to hear her whole story.

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Viola Davis: Telling Our Stories Should Be The Norm, Not A 'Trend'

Viola Davis wants to make it clear that the year’s black Oscar nominees have been recognized because “they deserve to be there,” and not necessarily as a result of last year’s #OscarSoWhite backlash.

After winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for “Fences” on Sunday night, Davis told Variety that she hopes the Oscar’s recognition will prompt additional action that will lead to more films that represent people of color for years to come.

“Is it just going to be a trend to talk about inclusion — and I’d rather say inclusion than diversity — or is it going to be a norm that we’re all part of the narrative, that all of our stories deserve to be told, and that art indeed has to reflect life and our culture,” she said.

Davis, who is nominated for a “Best Supporting Actress” Academy Award for her role in “Fences,” added that film and television are realizing the need to reflect an increasingly diverse American audience.

“We’re not ‘The Brady Bunch’ anymore. We’re ‘Black-ish.’ We’re ‘Fresh Off the Boat.’ We’re ‘Jane the Virgin.’ We’re ‘Stranger Things.’ We’re a hodgepodge of races and sexes and sexualities.”

To highlight one example of elevating the black narrative, Davis thanked “Fences” writer-playwright, August Wilson during her acceptance speech for inserting a man of color into the center of his 1983 play.

“Sometimes we don’t have to shake the world and move the world and create anything that is going to be in the history book,” she said. “The fact that we breathe and live a life and was a god to our children. Just that means that we have a story and it deserves to be told.”

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Celebrities Want You To Know The Obamacare Enrollment Deadline Is Jan. 31

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It’s been a tumultuous few days for the Affordable Care Act. Last week, the Trump administration ordered staffers at the Department of Health and Human Services to cease all outreach efforts for the program ― despite it being open to enrollment through the end of January ― and then reversed that order.

Given the confusion coming from President Donald Trump, celebrities and advocates have taken to social media to spread the message that the deadline to register for the ACA, aka Obamacare, is Tuesday, Jan. 31. 

(See the video above for the difference between the ACA and Obamacare.)

Comedian and actor Colton Dunn made several advertisements of his own, the first of which went out on Friday. He’s posted one homemade ad every day since:

Actress and writer Lena Dunham followed Dunn’s lead with a less-clothed iteration.

Director Ava DuVernay also sent out a message of her own.

Comedian Billy Eichner took to the streets with actress Olivia Wilde in a healthcare-centered video for Funny or Die.

Singer John Legend and actor Nathan Fillion told their followers where they could sign up, too.

Politicians also joined in.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and more reminded their constituents to #GetCovered.

If you want to sign up for the ACA (aka Obamacare), you can do so on HealthCare.gov.

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Transitional Justice: DOJ in the Era of Trump

Janai Nelson, Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., argued Veasey v. Abbott, the pending challenge to Texas’s voter ID law, before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc.

Amid inauguration events and march preparations on January 20th, a federal court quietly issued an important decision that cannot and should not go unnoticed. In an opinion authored by conservative Supreme Court shortlister Judge William Pryor, the three-judge court ruled that Alabama engaged in racial gerrymandering when drawing twelve of its legislative districts.

Judge Pryor is just one of dozens of federal judges around the country who have ruled that states or municipalities have diluted, disenfranchised, or otherwise devised illegal, unconstitutional schemes to deny minorities their rightful electoral power. Just weeks before the Alabama decision, George W. Bush appointee Judge Lee Rosenthal issued a decision finding that Pasadena, Texas implemented a voting plan for city council seats that ensured that “Latino voters do not have the same right to vote as their Anglo neighbors.”

These rulings are both disturbing reminders that discrimination in voting is alive and well and heartening evidence of the role our courts serve as an impartial bulwark of our democracy. That role is not reserved for the courts alone, however. It is also the responsibility of the Department of Justice. In a climate where unfounded allegations of voter fraud or vote-rigging go unchallenged, the country cannot afford to let stand laws enacted on such falsehoods, many of which are palpably intended to disenfranchise ripening political power by historically marginalized racial and ethnic minority groups. Thus, DOJ’s conviction to its mission “to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans” is critical to its continued legitimacy.

However, in another quiet decision that Friday, a magistrate judge delayed at the DOJ’s request a long-calendared hearing on whether Texas’s stringent voter ID law was enacted with the intent to discriminate against black and Latino voters. DOJ’s requests for and receipt of continuances on a range of issues and cases, including hearings on the Baltimore policing consent decree and the challenge to Texas’ outlier voter ID law, have set off alarm bells. It may be too soon for such fatalism, however. Once new teams get up to speed, they then must stay the course in pursuit of justice, a course charted by clear records, thoughtful judicial opinions, and the Department’s own findings.

This is especially true in the case of SB 14, Texas’ hyper-restrictive voter ID law. Four courts, including the deeply conservative en banc Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, found that the law has a discriminatory effect on minority voters. A federal trial court also found in 147-page opinion that the law was passed with unlawful intent to discriminate based on race. The Fifth Circuit asked the district court to revisit its holding in accordance with new legal guidance on how to find intent. It was this long-awaited hearing, scheduled for this week, that DOJ successfully postponed.

On February 28th, when the court is now set to hear this matter, the facts and the evidence will be unchanged. The voluminous record showing the radical procedures Texas took to pass the law and the deliberate choices it made in selecting forms of photo ID that blacks and Latinos were less likely to possess will be the same as it was on Friday. The powerful and well-substantiated arguments that the DOJ made in its briefs establishing Texas’s discriminatory intent will be as resonant as ever. And, the threat to our democracy posed by suborning the Constitution to voter suppression will continue to be pressing.

The only difference will be the administration under which the DOJ is operating–which should be of no substantive import–and whether the DOJ will choose to upend justice and its own credibility in the transition. I hope, for the integrity of our justice system which undoubtedly will be tested and scrutinized in incalculable ways in the coming years, that it will remain steadfast to its mission and name, even in the midst of transition.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

'Hidden Figures' Is Already Inspiring More Girls To Go Into STEM

At a pre-SAG Awards celebration for “Hidden Figures,” actor Aldis Hodge told The Cut that the film seems to have already gotten more young girls interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields.

“We’ve already seen that effect happen nationally,” he said, at a brunch on Sunday. “We’re constantly doing panels for STEM and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Design, and Mathematics) all over.” He also said that he’s currently working on Image of STEM, an initiative that started in the White House during the Obama Administration that seeks to expand STEM education to students of all backgrounds. 

Hodge also worked with the Girls Build LA program to screen “Hidden Figures for 2,000 young women in the Los Angeles area. “I love the fact that a lot of these girls are now getting support for their interest. It’s fantastic,” he said. “I hope that it just keeps going.”

Women ― particularly women of color ― are seriously underrepresented in STEM careers. But Hodge hopes that “Hidden Figures,” which tells the story of three black women who worked for NASA in the 1960s, will help pave the way for a more diverse workplace. 

H/T The Cut

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This Trump Protest Sign Reminds Us The Resistance Is Just Beginning

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Millions of people have gathered to protest President Donald Trump’s policies across the globe, armed with determination for justice and some seriously amazing signs. But the one held up by this recent protestor really says it all.

BuzzFeed News posted a photo taken at an undisclosed location showing a protestor joining a march against Trump’s executive order banning refugees and entrants from Muslim-majority countries. Instead of a cardboard poster, the protestor used a whiteboard. 

Why? Because there are just too many things to protest.

It’d be funnier if it weren’t also so sad.

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Sage Steele Gets Justifiably Roasted For Complaining About Airport Protests

Social media users blasted ESPN commentator Sage Steele for being a bad sport after she complained that Sunday’s LAX protest against Donald Trump’s travel ban inconvenienced her.

Steele was attempting to catch a flight from Los Angeles to Houston, the site of the Super Bowl. She wrote that the demonstration made her and other passengers miss the flight, and said she was sad because protesters wore joyful expressions knowing that they had interrupted everyone’s plans.

While she attempted to temper her remarks by emphasizing peoples’ right to protest, Twitter users continued to criticize Steele on Monday.

At one point, Steele did appear to address at least one negative tweet, but that didn’t stop the backlash.

The Huffington Post has reached out to Steele for a comment.

 

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A Reminder That There's Fecal Matter On Practically Everything

The Question: I keep seeing scary articles and videos about how many germs we come into contact with every day, including particles of poop (gross!). Is this true?

Answer: Boy, have we got some crappy news for you.

It may come as no surprise that public objects like subway poles and door handles are potential germ castles, but it goes even further than that. Many surfaces ― from your phone to potentially even your beard ― are likely adorned with fecal matter (that’s poop).

“Given that we all produce and excrete feces, fecal matter in the environment is pretty common,” Kelly Reynolds, an associate professor at the University of Arizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health, told The Huffington Post.

Fecal matter can survive for days or sometimes even weeks on surfaces, according to Reynolds. A body of research has found that either the coliform bacteria, which is found in feces, or small traces of fecal matter itself exist on innocuous, everyday items like coffee mugs, keyboards, kitchen sponges and even your bag or purse.

This obviously transfers to your hands and fingers, which then touch other parts of your body (who hasn’t rested their face on their hand?). This likely means you ― shudder ― are at risk for ingesting the bacteria.

But there’s a simple solution to this problem: Basic hygiene. Reynolds recommends washing your hands thoroughly and often with hot water and soap, particularly after you visit the restroom (about 20 seconds of scrubbing should do the trick). It’s also a good idea to regularly wipe down surfaces in your house and personal workspaces.

As with anything bacteria-related, you could experience some side effects if you ingest some, Reynolds says. This can include diarrhea, stomach pain, vomiting or fever.

“In healthy individuals, gastrointestinal infections are generally self-limiting, meaning they go away on their own ― usually within a few days ―  without treatment,” she said. “Some infections can last weeks, however, and lead to more severe health complications.”

More often than not, it isn’t something to worry about, but you should always see a doctor if you’re experiencing alarming changes in your health. Just make sure to keep yourself and your living space clean where you can. Otherwise you can proceed as normal with opening those doors, scrolling through your phone or growing your beard.

You’ve managed to survive thus far, haven’t you?

Got a question? Email healthyliving@huffingtonpost.com. “Ask Healthy Living” is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult a qualified health care professional for personalized medical advice.

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President Trump's Immigration Plans

The current national political controversy over Immigration is a direct result of the failure of both Republican and Democratic party leadership to deal forthrightly with a decade smoldering problem. The consequences of this failure are reflected in the efforts of President Trump to address this problem by a series of Executive Orders.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress for decades just kicked the can down the road, hoping somehow, someday, a solution would be found, even if “not on their watch”.

Meanwhile, millions of American were trying to understand and adjust to the changing debate about illegal immigration. Principally opportunists’ Democratic leaders in Congress reframed the definition of the problem from “illegal immigration” to “undocumented” persons entitled to special protection in “sanctuary cities”.

However, millions of those same concerned Americans, still regarded “undocumented” persons to be illegal immigrants, whom they believed, rightly or wrongly, were in some ways responsible for their loss of jobs, rising crime, and drug trafficking occurring in their communities. Add to this, incendiary series of acts of terror, that occurred in several States across our nation, directly or indirectly tied or attributed to “Muslim extremists” living or who recently entered our country.

The candidacy of Donald Trump to become POTUS directly tapped into this growing fear and frustration and enabled him to be successfully elected. During his campaign, he told us exactly what he planned to do if elected. So, one of the first Executive Orders during his first week was to impose a 90-day freeze or ban on immigration from certain designated countries he believes have been most associated with acts or potential acts of terror within or against our country.

In an editorial in this past Saturday’s New York Times, The Times noted that:
“Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, no one has been killed in the United States in a terrorist attack by anyone who emigrated from or whose parents emigrated from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, the seven countries targeted in the order’s 120-day visa ban, according to Charles Kurzman, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina.”

The report continued:

“There was a random quality to the list of countries: It excluded Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where the founders of Al Qaeda and many other jihadist groups have originated. Also excluded are Pakistan and Afghanistan, where persistent extremism and decades of war have produced militants who have occasionally reached the United States. Notably, perhaps, the list avoided Muslim countries where Mr. Trump has major business ventures.”

President Trump’s flawed Executive Order does not address the fundamentals of the illegal immigration issue recited above. Court challenges will eventually to go to our United States Supreme Court. Trump appointees to the Court are more likely than not to sustain his actions.

The only force capable of potentially restraining the President and his appointees to the Court is massive nationwide protest demonstrations,24.7 that say to the President, Congress and the Court: “NO, NO, NO! NOT ON OUR WATCH! NOT IN OUR LIFETIME!!”

“IF THERE IS NO FAIR, COMPASSIONATE, AND JUST RESOLUTION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, THERE WILL BE NO PEACE!”

As we have repeatedly said in earlier blogs, quoting Toni Morrison, “We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For”!

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