Georgia councilwoman tells ex-BLM mayor to stop playing 'victim' after charging Africa vacay to city card

Yahoo30-01-2025

A former Black Lives Matter organizer elected as mayor of South Fulton, Georgia, in 2021 got a rude awakening Tuesday when a city councilwoman told him to stop playing the "victim" after charging tens of thousands of dollars on his city credit card.
At Tuesday's city council meeting in the Atlanta-area, Mayor Khalid Kamau, who also goes by Mayor Kobi, lamented that news cameras were there. He accused some council members of "political posturing" amid reports that the mayor allegedly made more than $26,000 worth of unauthorized purchases on his city credit card in the final quarter of 2024. During that time period, the mayor reportedly documented a 20-day trip to Ghana on his Instagram account.
"I am so distressed and disappointed that the Blackest city in the United States of America is headed into Black History Month with this all-Black council tearing each other down," Kamau said.
After being recognized to speak, Councilwoman Helen Willis shot back.
Georgia Appeals Court Disqualifies Da Fani Willis And Her Team From Trump Election Interference Case
"Mayor, I really was going to let this go, but I can't continue to sit here and allow you to make it seem like we're the villains, and you're the victim," Willis said. "Now those cameras are in the back of the room, not because of us. We would love to come to a meeting and just go through this agenda, have a professional meeting. And do the business of the people and go home. But it was you who wanted to go sit around and call us the 'Blackest city' and say we want to tear each other down…"
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"We're not tearing you down. You took your Black behind over to Africa for 20 days and didn't tell anybody," Willis said, prompting the meeting to be called into order. "No, he called us the Blackest city, and that was disrespectful," she added. "We keep telling him that."
Kamau reportedly walked out of the meeting before the portion began to discuss his spending.
No stranger to controversy, Kamau, who's been mayor since January 2022, was arrested on burglary and trespassing charges the following year for allegedly entering a lake house he believed to be abandoned before confronting the startled homeowner. His personal website, Netroots Nations, describes Kamau as "the first #BlackLivesMatter organizer elected to public office in the country."
Among the $26,000 in authorized purchases, Kamau allegedly spent $1,800 on a table for his office that converts into a pool table, WSB-TV reported, citing bank records. In September, the mayor allegedly used his city card to purchase more than $9,000 worth of travel, including flight upgrades, which are against city policy. Reports say bank records show he also used the city card to spend $13,000 on high-tech electronics and international travel in October.
He is also accused of using his city card to buy a $1,300 drone, as well as to make several Amazon purchases, including one purchase that amounted to $1,800.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Mulling Georgia Gubernatorial Run
WSB previously reported that bank records show Kamau spent more than $5,000 on several plane tickets, including one Air Kenya flight for more than $1,500, that was charged to the city card. "I wanted to find out if taxpayers paid for this trip," one resident, Reshard Snellings, told the outlet earlier this month. "We should not be asked to go without something so that our elected officials can travel all over the globe."Willis has alleged that Kamau has 112 outstanding receipts that have not been reconciled or submitted, violating city policy requiring justification within 72 hours of purchase.
"We need more economic development here, and we don't need to go to Africa in order for the city to have a multi-business deal," Willis said earlier this month, according to WSB.
The city does not have rules on international travel, but all personal expenses on city credit cards require approval.
Before Tuesday, the council had previously voted to temporarily ban international travel for 30 to 45 days so that the policy could be reviewed.
The South Fulton City Manager announced that the firm Baker Tilly will conduct an investigation into the use of the city credit cards, WSB reported.
Fox News Digital reached out to Kamau on Wednesday seeking comment but did not immediately hear back.Original article source: Georgia councilwoman tells ex-BLM mayor to stop playing 'victim' after charging Africa vacay to city card

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President Donald Trump pushes ahead with his maximalist immigration campaign in face of LA protests

WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump made no secret of his willingness to exert a maximalist approach to enforcing immigration laws and keeping order as he campaigned to return to the White House. The fulfillment of that pledge is now on full display in Los Angeles. The president has put hundreds of National Guard troops on the streets to quell protests over his administration's immigration raids, a deployment that state and city officials say has only inflamed tensions. Trump called up the California National Guard over the objections of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom — the first time in 60 years a president has done so — and is deploying active-duty troops to support the guard. By overriding Newsom, Trump is already going beyond what he did to respond to Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, when he warned he could send troops to contain demonstrations that turned violent if governors in the states did not act to do so themselves. Trump said in September of that year that he 'can't call in the National Guard unless we're requested by a governor' and that 'we have to go by the laws.' But now, the past and current president is moving swiftly, with little internal restraint to test the bounds of his executive authority in order to deliver on his promise of mass deportations. What remains to be seen is whether Americans will stand by him once it's operationalized nationwide, as Trump looks to secure billions from Congress to dramatically expand the country's detention and deportation operations. For now, Trump is betting that they will. 'If we didn't do the job, that place would be burning down," Trump told reporters Monday, speaking about California. 'I feel we had no choice. ... I don't want to see what happened so many times in this country.' The protests began to unfold Friday as federal authorities arrested immigrants in several locations throughout the sprawling city, including in the fashion district of Los Angeles and at a Home Depot. The anger over the administration's actions quickly spread, with protests in Chicago and Boston as demonstrations in the southern California city also continued Monday. But Trump and other administration officials remained unbowed, capitalizing on the images of burning cars, graffiti and Mexican flags — which, while not dominant, started to become the defining images of the unrest — to bolster their law-and-order cause. Leaders in the country's most populous state were similarly defiant. California officials sued the Trump administration Monday, with the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, arguing that the deployment of troops 'trampled' on the state's sovereignty and pushing for a restraining order. The initial deployment of 300 National Guard troops was expected to quickly expand to the full 4,000 that has been authorized by Trump. The state's senior Democratic senator, Alex Padilla, said in an interview that 'this is absolutely a crisis of Trump's own making.' 'There are a lot of people who are passionate about speaking up for fundamental rights and respecting due process, but the deployment of National Guard only serves to escalate tensions and the situation,' Padilla told The Associated Press. 'It's exactly what Donald Trump wanted to do.' Padilla slammed the deployment as 'counterproductive' and said the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department was not advised ahead of the federalization of the National Guard. His office has also pushed the Pentagon for a justification on the deployment, and 'as far as we're told, the Department of Defense isn't sure what the mission is here," Padilla added. Much of this was predictable. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to conduct the largest domestic deportation operation in American history to expel millions of immigrants in the country without legal status. He often praised President Dwight D. Eisenhower's military-style immigration raids, and the candidate and his advisers suggested they would have broad power to deploy troops domestically to enact Trump's far-reaching immigration and public safety goals. Trump's speedy deployment in California of troops against those whom the president has alluded to as 'insurrectionists' on social media is a sharp contrast to his decision to issue no order or formal request for National Guard troops during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, despite his repeated and false assertions that he had made such an offer. Trump is now surrounded by officials who have no interest in constraining his power. In 2020, Trump's then-Pentagon chief publicly rebuked Trump's threat to send in troops using the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers the president to use the military within the U.S. and against American citizens. Current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signaled support on his personal X account for deploying troops to California, writing, 'The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,' referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Defense Department said Monday it is deploying about 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles to support National Guard troops already on the ground to respond to the protests. Protesters over the weekend blocked off a major freeway and burned self-driving cars as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades in clashes that encompassed several downtown blocks in Los Angeles and led to several dozen arrests. Much of the city saw no violence. But the protests prompted Trump to issue the directive Saturday mobilizing the California National Guard over Newsom's objections. The president and his top immigration aides accused the governor of mismanaging the protests, with border czar Tom Homan asserting in a Fox News interview Monday that Newsom stoked anti-ICE sentiments and waited two days to declare unlawful assembly in the city. Trump told Newsom in a phone call Friday evening to get the situation in Los Angeles under control, a White House official said. It was only when the administration felt Newsom was not restoring order in the city — and after Trump watched the situation escalate for 24 hours and White House officials saw imagery of federal law enforcement officers with lacerations and other injuries — that the president moved to deploy the Guard, according to the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. 'He's an incompetent governor,' Trump said Monday. 'Look at the job he's doing in California. He's destroying one of our great states.' Local law enforcement officials said Los Angeles police responded as quickly as they could once the protests erupted, and Newsom repeatedly asserted that state and city authorities had the situation under control. 'Los Angeles is no stranger to demonstrations and protests and rallies and marches,' Padilla said. 'Local law enforcement knows how to handle this and has a rapport with the community and community leaders to be able to allow for that.' The aggressive moves prompted blowback from some of Trump's erstwhile allies. Ileana Garcia, a Florida state senator who in 2016 founded the group Latinas for Trump and was hired to direct Latino outreach, called the recent escalation 'unacceptable and inhumane.' 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings — in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims — all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal," said Garcia, referring to Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff and key architect of Trump's immigration crackdown. The tactics could be just a preview to what more could come from the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. GOP lawmakers are working to pass a massive tax-and-border package that includes billions to hire thousands of new officers for Border Patrol and for ICE. The goal, under the Trump-backed plan, is to remove 1 million immigrants without status annually and house 100,000 people in immigration detention centers.

Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too [Op-Ed]

Black America Web

an hour ago

Black America Web

Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too [Op-Ed]

Source: Nick Ut / Getty As Donald Trump sparks chaos by illegally deploying troops to Los Angeles, as immigration raids intensify, and as protesters are flooding the streets to demand dignity for migrants, far too many Black folks are sitting back on social media platforms singing a tired, familiar song. It's being sung off-key with a false sense of safety and a dangerous misunderstanding of how white supremacist violence works. The chorus of retreat sounds something like this: 'Black folks need to stay home.' 'Let them handle it. This is their fight.' 'Most Latinos voted for this mess.' 'ICE don't target us. We've got citizenship.' 'I ain't marching for nobody who won't march for me .' 'Latinos don't like us anyway.' But what's really being said underneath all that deflection is this: 'If they come for Latinos, I'll be quiet, as long as they leave me and mine alone.' But if you study history, I mean really study history, then you should already know that they never leave us alone. Not for long. I get it. Black folks are tired. We've carried the weight of every major freedom movement in this country. We've bled. We've died. And we've been betrayed. We've shown up, over and over, only to be met with anti-blackness in return. But this ain't about who likes us. It's about who's next! What ICE is doing to migrants isn't just an immigration issue. It's white supremacist violence at its core. It's separating families. It's state violence. It's stalking and snatching people from homes and workplaces and making them disappear. It's caging children. And for Black folks in America, this should all feel deeply familiar. The white supremacist machine of state violence doesn't make distinctions based on citizenship status. What ICE is doing to Latinx, West Indian, and African migrants is part of the same machinery that has policed and abused Black American bodies for centuries. We know what it means to have our families torn about by the state. We know what it means to be told that we don't belong in the land we built. We know exactly what it's like to be criminalized simply for existing, to be dehumanized by everyday language, media propaganda, policies, and bureaucrats in uniform. Black folks know what it means to live under surveillance, to be chased, cuffed, caged, and disappeared. We are the descendants of people who had to run. From plantations. From the Fugitive Slave Act and slave catchers. From the KKK and lynch mobs. Even if you were born right here in America, with ancestors going all the way back to slave ships, that border violence still echoes through Black lives. The ol' 'I got my papers, I'm safe' is a delusion. That little blue passport won't stop you from getting profiled, harassed, arrested, or shot by a cop who sees your Black skin before your citizenship status or hears your command of English. Just ask the countless Black immigrants already deported, or the U.S.-born Black folks ICE illegally detained anyway. Do you think that racist ICE agents caught up in immigration hysteria and round-up quotas will stop to check birth certificates? Just ask Peter Sean Brown, who was detained in the Florida Keys when an ICE agent mistakenly detained him as an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica. He spent weeks in custody and eventually sued. Or, ask Davino Watson, a native New Yorker who was imprisoned as a 'deportable alien' for more than three years despite claiming citizenship and then denied compensation by the court system. Source: Nick Ut / Getty ICE detentions are triggered by racial profiling, flawed algorithms, and sloppy data. Skin complexion, language, and citizenship won't shield us. Think about all the Black folks walking around without real IDs to prove they're citizens. Over a quarter of Black adult citizens do not have a driver's license with their current name and/or address and 18% don't have a license at all, according to the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. If ICE can mistakenly detain Black and Brown Americans born in the U.S., even if they have documentation, then no one is immune. Some Black folks are also citing the 2024 election exit polls to justify staying home and staying silent, like the ICE protests don't concern us. 'Latinos voted for Trump.' But exit polls don't tell the whole story. They only sample registered voters who actually voted, and they never account for the millions of undocumented immigrants who can't vote. They also oversample precincts that don't match the demographic reality, skewing results toward the dominant group in those districts. Most Latinos, like Black Americans, did not vote for Trump. According to national polls, 56% of Latinos who voted cast their ballot for Kamala Harris, while 42% went for Trump. Yes, Trump made gains among Latino men, but gains don't equate to dominance. The Latino vote split along familiar gender and generational lines, just like our communities. We can't turn a sampling of voter turnout into 'most Latinos voted for Trump,' and we can't let bad math be an excuse to justify apathy. And there's this one: 'I ain't marching for nobody that won't march for me.' Or its equally tired fraternal twin: 'Latinos don't like us anyway.' This is scarcity-minded, historically illiterate nonsense that treats solidarity as some sort of tit-for-tat transaction. If that's how our ancestors thought, then there wouldn't have been an Underground Railroad, no Civil Rights Act, A Voting Rights Act, or a Montgomery Bus Boycott. Solidarity is a strategy, not some popularity contest. If you're out here claiming Latinos don't march for us, then clearly you haven't picked up a history book. Y'all must not know about Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta who led the United Farm Workers who stood with Martin Luther King Jr. Y'all must not know about the Puerto Rican Young Lords working hand-in-hand with the Black Panther Party to run free clinics, breakfast programs, and tenant organizing drives in Chicago and New York City. Or, about the Mexican students who took their cue from SNCC and Malcolm X during the 1968 East LA walkouts and launched the Chicano civil rights crusade. In recent years, Afro-Latinos have been at the forefront of Black Lives Matter chapters, organizing vigils, raising bail funding, and pushing for police accountability across the country. In Chicago's Little Village, Latino organizers launched the 'Brown Squad for Black Lives' and established a Black and Brown Unity food pantry. Martin Luther King III has been working alongside Mi Familia Vota , a national Black-Brown coalition whose mission is to combat hate crimes, anti-immigrant policies, and attacks on voting rights— together —not as separate communities. Just because these sustained interracial commitments and coalitions aren't trendy headlines or going viral on social media doesn't mean solidarity isn't unfolding in schools, community centers, neighborhoods, and politics. It's one thing to let white folks battle each other, whether it's MAGA vs. neoliberal, liberals vs. conservatives, or Karens vs. Capitol Hill. White folks battling each other is the empire fighting over who gets to steer the ship while it is already sinking. You want to sit back and watch that unfold while sipping tea or eating popcorn? Fine. Letting white folks eat each other doesn't carry the same moral weight as turning your back on another marginalized community facing the same white supremacist violence as us. Let's also remember that anti-Blackness is global. It lives in every community, including our own. Black Americans can be just as anti-immigrant, just as colorist, just as xenophobic, just as colonized in our thinking. So, if you're sitting out because of what some Latinos, West Indians, or Africans said about us, then you're not protecting yourself. You're just waiting for your turn. So, what do we do? Source: Jason Armond / Getty We organize. We show up at ICE protests so the system doesn't get to isolate people in silence. We donate to immigrant bail funds and deportation defense teams like the Haitian Bridge Alliance, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and UndocuBlack. Use your platforms to amplify the stories, organizing, resistance, and victories of undocumented folks. Build local coalitions to organize teach-ins, mutual aid drives and community safety networks that bridge Black and Brown neighborhoods. We also need to unlearn the anti-immigrant, anti-Black, and anti-Indigenous narratives this country feeds us because solidarity starts in the mind. Black folks cannot afford to pretend that citizenship or birthright assures our protection. A system built on racial profiling, quotas, and militarized tactics never stops at 'not us.' It doesn't send ICE to the border and leave us in peace. These immigration raids strengthen a culture of normalized, dehumanizing state violence against anyone who looks 'other.' Immigration will become the excuse to expand the surveillance state and militarized policing in Black communities. This is absolutely our fight! Dr. Stacey Patton is an award-winning journalist and author of 'Spare The Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America' and the forthcoming 'Strung Up: The Lynching of Black Children In Jim Crow America.' Read her Substack here . SEE ALSO: Trump's Job Corps 'Pause' Is MAGA's Plan To Eliminate Poor Youth Harvard And White America's Creepy Obsession With Hoarding Black Remains SEE ALSO Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too [Op-Ed] was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE

Cynthia Erivo crowned best actress at BET Awards

Yahoo

3 hours ago

Yahoo

Cynthia Erivo crowned best actress at BET Awards

British singer and actress Cynthia Erivo was crowned best actress at the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards in Los Angeles. Hosted by Kevin Hart, Monday's BET Awards celebrated the work of black people in music, entertainment, film, sports and philanthropy. The London-born star, who rose to worldwide prominence last year for her role in Wicked, was also nominated for the BET Her Award — which recognises empowering songs that focus on women — for her rendition of Defying Gravity. Grammy Award-winning rapper Doechii used her acceptance speech to sharply criticise US President Donald Trump's handling of protests in Los Angeles. The Swamp Princess takes her crown again! Standing ovation please for the #BETAwards Best Female Hip Hop Artist, @officialdoechii 👑 In case you couldn't tell, we're your biggest fan! — #BETAwards (@BETAwards) June 10, 2025 Collecting the award for best female hip-hop artist, she accused the president of 'creating fear and chaos' in his response to demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, which sparked days of protest across the city. 'I do want to address what's happening right now, outside the building,' she said. 'These are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities. In the name of law and order, Trump is using military forces to stop a protest, and I want you all to consider what kind of government it appears to be, when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.' Mr Trump announced plans to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to California to quell the protests, which began on Friday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was 'essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States'. The decision drew sharp criticism from Democratic politicians, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move 'purposefully inflammatory'. London-based girl-group FLO missed out after picking up nominations for best group and the Bet Her award for their track In My Bag, featuring GloRilla. Fellow UK artists Bashy and Ezra Collective earned nominations for best international artist, while multi-genre artist Odeal and R&B singer kwn were shortlisted for best new international act. Kendrick Lamar, who led the pack with 10 nominations, took home awards for album of the year and best male hip-hop artist. He also won video of the year and video director of the year for his hit Not Like Us, as well as best collaboration for Luther, his track with SZA SZA won best female R&B/pop artist, while Chris Brown took home best male R&B/pop artist. The evening featured a star-studded cast, including actor Jamie Foxx, with performances by Ashanti, Mariah Carey and GloRilla. Foxx, Carey, gospel star Kirk Franklin and Snoop Dogg were honoured with the ultimate icon award for their contributions to community, entertainment, and advocacy. Miles Canton, Luke James and Lucky Daye delivered an R&B tribute to Quincy Jones, who died in November.