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Video: What does it mean to be Black?

Tavis Smiley is one of the most prominent journalists in America, and one of the most accomplished African-American journalists and commentators there has ever been. Smiley was the first African-American to host national shows on NPR as well as PBS. For years, he was the host of BET tonight, the winner of many NAACP Image Awards, and more recently he launched KBLA in Los Angeles, the only black owned political talk radio network west of the Mississippi River.

This was a sweeping conversation about what it is to be black in America that sees host John Wood Jr. and Tavis trading perspectives on many things including black conservatism and black liberalism, racial assimilation and black identity, race versus class, the work of William Julius Wilson, Bob Woodson and more.


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Presidential powers: Corporate abuses big concern after SCOTUS move

An oil production operation is shown in North Dakota. With the U.S. Supreme Court granting more presidential powers to the executive branch, environmental groups warned key agencies will have a harder time going after polluters.

(Adobe Stock)

Presidential powers: Corporate abuses big concern after SCOTUS move

A U.S. Supreme Court opinion issued last month expands presidential power over independent federal agencies, prompting warnings from environmental advocates about potential implications for states such as North Dakota.

The court’s conservative majority said President Donald Trump had the authority to fire a former Federal Trade Commission member without cause. Legal observers countered the opinion nullifies longstanding precedent involving the role of Congress in insulating certain federal agency officials from direct presidential control.

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Energy Costs Decide Power — Voters Demand Relief
selective focus photography of light bulb
Photo by ameenfahmy on Unsplash

Energy Costs Decide Power — Voters Demand Relief

Politics, for all its stagecraft and saccharine homilies, is not about "service" or "community" or any of the other treacly euphemisms politicians recite like Gregorian chants. Politics, as Christopher Hitchens might have acidly reminded us, is about power.

The taking of it.

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Composer uses music to connect Latino heritage and environmental justice

Cover Photo: Chris Oquist in Black and White.

Chris Oquist

Composer uses music to connect Latino heritage and environmental justice

CHICAGO — Climate change is often measured through scientific reports and statistics. For Chicago-based composer Chris Oquist, it is something audiences can hear.

On Saturday, Oquist performed “Derivas Liminares” as part of the Chicago Art Department’s fourth annual Contra Corriente Festival. The performance benefited the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO), a nonprofit that advocates for environmental protections in Pilsen, one of Chicago’s largest Latino neighborhoods. Oquist’s performance was one of several events held during the festival, which centers on environmental and racial justice.

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