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Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
44 percent: Alligator Alcatraz, EssenceFest, Haiti hotel and more
The pages of Essence Magazine are etched in my brain — from the cover stories and columns to the ads and the photos. There was the AIDS/HIV issue which featured Rae Lewis-Thornton talking about her diagnosis (she shares her story again with updates in the latest issue of the magazine). And we can't forget the iconic photo with some of our Hollywood divas such as Halle Berry, Loretta Devine, Vivica Fox and many more. For little Black girls growing up, you aspired to write for the beloved Black mag or be featured in it. And of course, you couldn't wait for the day that you would one day go to Essence Music Festival, as it was once called, a three-day affair focused on 'a party with a purpose' that celebrated Black women and featured musical acts during the Fourth of July weekend in New Orleans. So, it was disheartening to read the complaints about this past weekend's affair being disorganized. Performing acts (at least three) have complained that the mismanagement of sets led to technical problems and delays. And some attendees complained that EssenceFest (as it is now called) isn't what it used to be. I'm hoping leadership behind the festival actually heeds comments from those who went and received what they considered was a subpar experience and be open to suggestions for next year's festival. INSIDE THE 305: As the jokes fly, Alligator Alcatraz evokes racist trope of 'gator bait' As jokes about alligators eating immigrant detainees made the rounds, I wrote about the racist history behind 'gator bait,' a racist practice that actually existed where Black children were used as literal bait for alligators during slavery and Jim Crow. The mocking of immigrant detainees harks back to 'the worst parts of our history' when similar jokes and tropes, such as 'gator bait,' were used to dehumanize Black people and desensitize people to the harm and violence inflicted upon them, says ACLU Florida Executive Director Bacardi Jackson. Bending the Bars: Hip-hop album showcases the talent at Broward County jails Julius Smith is hogging the phones at the Taylor Correctional Institute in Perry, northern Florida. He dials the same number on both phones, making sure he's able to hear clearly on both lines, WLRN reporter Carlton Gillespie reported. Smith, who goes by Prince Jooveh, is one of the fifteen incarcerated artists who appear on the new album Bending the Bars. The hip-hop album features sixteen tracks from different artists, most of whom are from Broward County jails. OUTSIDE THE 305: Gangs burn down Haiti's iconic Hotel Oloffson, host to stars and writers Haiti's storied Hotel Oloffson, a favorite haunt of writers and artists that survived dictatorship, coups and a devastating earthquake and was immortalized in novelist Graham Greene's 'The Comedians,' is no more, writes Haiti correspondent Jacqueline Charles. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson emerges as a leading dissenter in an era of Trump Two trends have emerged at the Supreme Court in recent weeks: President Donald Trump is on a winning streak and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court's junior-most justice, is having none of it, CNN reported. That dynamic was on full display yet again Tuesday as the court handed down a significant – if temporary – decision allowing the White House to move forward with plans to dramatically reduce the size of the federal government. Jackson penned a solo dissent and the justice, who recently took up boxing as a way to relieve stress off the bench, pulled no punches. HIGH CULTURE: Temple University course explores Kendrick Lamar's life Kendrick Lamar's life, cultural impact and music will be the subject of a new course at Temple University this fall, WHYY reported. The course, 'Kendrick Lamar and the Morale of M.A.A.D City,' will examine Lamar's life through an Afrocentric lens.
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Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
As the jokes fly, Alligator Alcatraz evokes racist trope of ‘gator bait'
On Sunday two men stood in front of Alligator Alcatraz to show support for the detention center. One held a sign that read, 'Welcome to Paradise. Don't feed the animals.' The jokes about alligators attacking immigrants while in detention have been casually tossed around by President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis and conservative and far-right influencers. The Florida GOP and Attorney General James Uthmeier are cashing in on 'Alligator Alcatraz' merchandise, some that prominently feature alligators, to fundraise for campaigns. The 'gators, in this case, are the good guys. The folks inside the detention center, no matter their story or status, are tempting treats for Florida's newly deputized reptilian law enforcement. The mocking of immigrant detainees harks back to 'the worst parts of our history' when similar jokes and tropes, such as 'gator bait,' were used to dehumanize Black people and desensitize people to the harm and violence inflicted upon them, says ACLU Florida Executive Director Bacardi Jackson. The 'gator bait' trope, which has been well-documented by the Jim Crow Museum in Big Rapids, Mich., implied that Black people don't deserve protection against the hazards of nature. In the museum's archive are articles detailing how Black babies, referred to by the slur pickaninnies, were used as bait to lure out and kill Florida alligator. The National Museum of African American History and Culture's archive features postcards depicting Black children sitting near swamps to lure alligators. And the same disregard for humanity is now being applied to detainees who will be housed in the detention center, historian Marvin Dunn told the Miami Herald. 'Basically, the same kind of anger, the same kind of resentment is now being transferred to immigrants,' he said. 'These kinds of tropes and jokes were made as a way to keep people from thinking of Black people as human. And now, when we are in this situation where what is happening to immigrant people, who are largely Black and brown people, it's the same exact thing. It's the dehumanization,' said Jackson. 'It's the desensitizing [of] folks in the hopes of not having people rise up against such cruelty and treatment of others.' Jackson said when people see political leaders make light of real danger to people, it gives others permission to be 'callous, cold and hateful,' similar to when Gov. Ron Desantis told drivers it was OK to hit protesters during the recent No Kings protests against Trump if they felt they were being endangered. 'You have a right to flee for your safety, and so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you,' DeSantis told a podcast last month. 'It's the invitation for others to see people as less than human,' Jackson said. 'That one creates the environment where a government can come up with more cruel and harmful policies.' Dunn said the term 'gator bait' never left the lexicon, particularly in the South. White nationalists use the term all the time and it is an 'inside' joke among certain groups. 'Gator bait' entered the national conversation in 2020 amid George Floyd protests nationwide when University of Florida president Kent Fuchs issued a statement saying the university would no longer do their 'Gator bait' cheer, which involved fans doing the Gator chomp with their arms to taunt opponents. Concern about the treatment and conditions the detainees were facing at the detention center caused several state officials to appear outside Alligator Alcatraz and demand entry last week. Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones was among five elected state officials who attempted to enter the facility but were shut out. He will return Saturday during a scheduled visit for state legislators. Jones said he's refusing to call the site 'Alligator Alcatraz,' and questions the treatment of immigrants who are kept at the facility. 'It's baffling to me that individuals have made this a Democrat or Republican issue when we're talking about humanity and ensuring that individuals are being treated humanely,' he said. 'It has turned so political where now individuals are justifying inhumane treatment for human beings.' Jackson said the dehumanization of one group opens the door for more harm to come to everyone. 'Silence is consent. We have to pay attention to what's happening,' she said.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pride and Black Lives Matter flags ban in Florida: What to know about SB 100
A potential ban on flags, including those depicting Pride, Palestine and Black Lives Matter, is back in the Florida Legislature. Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne is once again sponsoring legislation banning banners with a 'political viewpoint' from public buildings, seeing the bill advance in a Feb. 11 committee meeting. 'The government should not be in the business of political viewpoints,' Fine said. 'To be clear, I would never support a private individual in their private capacity not to being able to fly any flag that they so choose, (but) the idea (here) is government doing it.' Following Fine's announcement of SB 100 in December, several activist groups and politicians have criticized the legislation. The ACLU Florida, PEN America and Equality Florida have penned statements about the bill's impacts on Floridians if passed. 'This bill not only infringes on Floridians' self-expression in violation of the First Amendment but is blatantly homophobic and racist," Florida PEN Director Katie Blankenship said in a statement. "The bill is outright censorship of groups and the ban on symbols and flags being displayed by government and public schools, colleges, and universities would have a chilling effect on these communities." What does SB 100 entail? Here's what to know. SB 100, otherwise known as the "Display of Flags by Governmental Entities" bill, prohibits a governmental agency, local government, or other unit of local government from "erecting or displaying a flag thatrepresents a political viewpoint, including a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation, gender, or political ideology viewpoint." This ban would also include public schools, colleges and universities. The legislation was approved 5-2 vote by the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee chaired by Fine. According to the Florida Senate website, the bill requires any governmental entity that displays the United States flag must do so in a manner in which it is in a more prominent position than any other displayed flag. "The bill allows an active or retired member of the United States Armed Forces or National Guardto use reasonable force to prevent the desecration, destruction, or removal of the United Statesflag, or to replace it to a prominent position, except when directly ordered not to do so by a lawenforcement officer who is acting in the scope of his or her employment," the bill's analysis states. Florida Politics reported Sen. Tina Polsky further explained, 'If you're on your property burning the American flag, this bill would authorize them to exercise reasonable force to stop that behavior." See critics, supporters of flag ban: Flag ban on public buildings in Florida renewed by GOP It would not impact private citizens. This bill only impacts government entities. "The bill further provides that the prohibition on the display of a flag representing a political viewpoint by a governmental entity does not limit a private individual's expression of private speech or viewpoints, or his or her rights otherwise protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Nor does the prohibition limit a governmental entity's ability to display or erect a flag that is required or authorized by general law." As for public employees, the analysis says their speech of public concern is protected by the First Amendment as citizen speech. It adds their speech may be restricted only if the state's interest, as an employer, in promoting its efficiency of public services outweighs the employee's interests as a citizen in commenting on a matter of public concern. Yes. Fine's proposed bill has been filed for consideration by state lawmakers two years in a row and has failed to pass. While Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to address the 2025 bill, he has supported previous legislation. According to the Tampa Bay Times, he told reporters at a press conference over a year ago that he agreed with possible restrictions. 'If you take a position that, we're going to fly the American flag and the state of Florida flag, and that's it, it's not targeting anybody. It's basically saying that we're not going to get into this business of doing this. So I think that's totally fine,' the governor said in 2024. The bill doesn't include penalties for those who fly a banned flag; however, it does include the consequences for mishandling or defiling an approved flag. The bill's analysis states: "In Florida, a person commits a second-degree misdemeanor if the person improperly uses the state or the U.S. flag by marking the flag, exposing an improperly marked flag for public viewing, or if a person publicly mutilates, defaces, defiles, defies, tramples upon, or by word or act casts contempt upon any such flag." Continued, it is a first-degree misdemeanor if a person publicly "mutilates, defaces, tramples upon, or burns, with intent to insult, any flags, standards, colors, or ensigns of the U.S. or of Florida." If passed, the bill would take effect July 1, 2025. It has two more committee stops before reaching a floor vote. Florida Politics says it will go before the Senate Community Affairs Committee next. Contributing: John Kennedy, USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida flags ban bill targets political 'viewpoints.' What to know
