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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Debate honors Malcolm X's 100th birthday with Black empowerment talk
From L-R: D'Maiya Clark, Mamboge Njie, Laila Sanford-McKisic, and Kyla Canty, debaters in a program at Wayne State University honoring the 100th birthday of Malcolm X. May 19, 2025 | Photo by Jackson Coleman Detroit — On Monday, Umoja Debate League hosted a debate featuring high school students at Wayne State University's M. Roy Wilson State Hall to commemorate what would have been Malcolm X's 100th birthday. It was held in the Malcolm X Auditorium with around 75 people in attendance, the event based on the question: Should the Black community prioritize investing in local grassroots organizations over supporting Black political figures in office? Umoja Debate League is a nonprofit organization 'that uses debate as our vehicle to teach Detroit youth ages 11-18 transferable life skills, such as critical thinking, confidence, conflict resolution, increased literacy, and self-expression,' according to its website. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The event opened with remarks from Wayne State University professor Dr. Kefentse Chike, who talked about the historical importance of the room and Malcolm's evolution from Malcolm Little to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. 'His life was short, but powerfully transformative,' he said, talking about Malcolm's lasting impact on movements from the Black Panther Party to Black Lives Matter. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. He spent his youth in Michigan, living in Lansing after his family moved there in the 1920s. He spoke at Wayne State University in 1963. Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965, in New York City. The debate reflected key themes of self-determination, accountability, and collective action—values that were the most important to Malcolm X's legacy. Debaters Laila Sanford-McKisic and Kyla Canty of Renaissance High School argued in favor of grassroots investment, and Mamboge Njie of Renaissance High and D'Maiya Clark of Detroit School of Arts emphasized the importance of political power. 'I want to make it very clear that this is not an either-or conversation; this is about strategy, about timing, about balancing where the money goes,' Njie said. Canty responded that 'politicians will not save us,' emphasizing the strength of community-based work.
Mint
23-04-2025
- Health
- Mint
Self-care is more than just a hashtag
A 43-year-old female client said in one of our sessions: 'Social media is filled with ads, women at spas seeking beauty treatment—all tagged self-care. I wonder if we have oversimplified the meaning to self-care." This is a concern I share too. The way self-care has been talked about over the last few years is doing more disservice than good. Self-care has become a hashtag and marketing bait, and this affects how it is understood. It is now used largely to describe acts that don't necessarily add to our well-being. Historically 'self-care" was a term used by medical professionals and doctors to help patients invest in their own health. In the 1970s, the term was popularised in the US by the Black Panther Party, a political organisation that protested against injustice to the Black community. They expanded the lens of self-care to mean that caring for oneself and community resilience went hand in hand. Their work included starting free health clinics, breakfast programmes for children and physical movement lessons to take care of one's emotional and physical well-being. As the women's movement also started to emerge in the US around the same time—in the late 1960s, gaining momentum in the 1970s—self-care became a tool to address the discrimination, exclusion and injustice that women faced. Given how the term has evolved, self-care is not just an act of individual choice, but requires an ecosystem that can support its very existence. Very often people tell me that prioritising themselves is not something they are used to and that they feel guilt for it. We need to expand the idea of self-care to mean that the responsibility for it extends to our policies, organisations, schools and individuals. The idea of care where one can be gentle and kind towards oneself and yet pause and choose to invest in one's own well-being needs to be nourished. Self-care needs to be practised by all genders because our biased understanding of gender roles doesn't allow everyone to take care of themselves in emotional and holistic ways. I hear male clients say that during difficult life events, they struggle to be vulnerable as they feel shame. Often, women say that they address their children's or parents' needs during weekends and feel guilty if they need to schedule alone time or meet friends. Our definition of self-care needs to answer important questions about what we can do to stay centered. Self-care includes spending time to understand what calms us and evokes meaning, and keeps us aligned with our values. In a world where loneliness is a huge concern, social soothing, learning to co-regulate our emotions and working on social fitness are integral to experiencing belonging and connection. Our definition of self-care needs to include what it means to develop guardrails at work and within families. We also need to create boundaries for our availability through phones and technology. Our schools, colleges and communities need to become a place where we can talk about self-care without feeling guilt. At work, we need policies that allow grief leave or time off when family or pets are unwell. An understanding of compassion fatigue and clear well-defined frameworks that allow for family resilience are other ways in which organisations can contribute to promoting self-care. The responsibility of reclaiming self-care for the very purpose the term evolved belongs to each one of us. If we want the world to feel like a safe space, we need to build and invest in collective self-care. Sonali Gupta is a Mumbai-based psychotherapist. She is the author of the book You Will be Alright : A Guide to Navigating Grief and has a YouTube channel, Mental Health with Sonali.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Longtime California Congresswoman Barbara Lee wins Oakland mayoral race
April 20 (UPI) -- Former California Rep. Barbara Lee has won the Oakland mayoral race and vowed to work with city residents to ease racial and economic tensions. "Oakland is a deeply divided city," Lee said after being calculated as the winner, and said that she "answered the call to run" so the community could address its issues together, NBC News reported. "While I believe strongly in respecting the democratic voting process and boots will continue to be counted, the results are clear that the people of Oakland have elected me as your next mayor," she continued. "Thank you, Oakland!" Councilmember Loren Taylor conceded the race Saturday morning after it became clear that Lee's lead was insurmountable. Lee made a brief appearance at an Easter event Sunday at the Arroyo Viejo Center where she thanked interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins for his work. Lee, 78, represented Oakland in Congress for 27 years before retiring last year following an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. She was endorsed by a handful of California Democratic party stalwarts, including former Gov. Jerry Brown. Lee takes the place of former Mayor Sheng Thao after he was indicted on federal bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges in January. With about 400,000 residents, Oakland is a deeply liberal city, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and the hometown of former presidential contender Kamala Harris. The city is contending with high homelessness, public drug use, gun crime and violence that prompted the fast food chain In-N-Out Burger to close one of its locations for the first time. Oakland has about 400,000 residents and is deeply liberal and multicultural, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and claimed by former Vice President Kamala Harris as her hometown. But Oakland also is reeling from homeless tents, public drug use, illegal sideshows, gun violence and brazen robberies that prompted In-N-Out Burger to close its first location ever last year. "We have to bring people here who understand the beauty and opportunities in Oakland and who will work with us to help us move this beautiful city forward," she said Sunday, KQED reported.
Miami Herald
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Longtime California Congresswoman Barbara Lee wins Oakland mayoral race
April 20 (UPI) -- Former California Rep. Barbara Lee has won the Oakland mayoral race and vowed to work with city residents to ease racial and economic tensions. "Oakland is a deeply divided city," Lee said after being calculated as the winner, and said that she "answered the call to run" so the community could address its issues together, NBC News reported. "While I believe strongly in respecting the democratic voting process and boots will continue to be counted, the results are clear that the people of Oakland have elected me as your next mayor," she continued. "Thank you, Oakland!" Councilmember Loren Taylor conceded the race Saturday morning after it became clear that Lee's lead was insurmountable. Lee made a brief appearance at an Easter event Sunday at the Arroyo Viejo Center where she thanked interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins for his work. Lee, 78, represented Oakland in Congress for 27 years before retiring last year following an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. She was endorsed by a handful of California Democratic party stalwarts, including former Gov. Jerry Brown. Lee takes the place of former Mayor Sheng Thao after he was indicted on federal bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges in January. With about 400,000 residents, Oakland is a deeply liberal city, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and the hometown of former presidential contender Kamala Harris. The city is contending with high homelessness, public drug use, gun crime and violence that prompted the fast food chain In-N-Out Burger to close one of its locations for the first time. Oakland has about 400,000 residents and is deeply liberal and multicultural, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and claimed by former Vice President Kamala Harris as her hometown. But Oakland also is reeling from homeless tents, public drug use, illegal sideshows, gun violence and brazen robberies that prompted In-N-Out Burger to close its first location ever last year. "We have to bring people here who understand the beauty and opportunities in Oakland and who will work with us to help us move this beautiful city forward," she said Sunday, KQED reported. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Washington Post
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Progressive icon and ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee wins race for mayor of struggling Oakland, California
SAN FRANCISCO — Progressive icon and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee declared victory Saturday as the new mayor of troubled Oakland, a San Francisco Bay Area city reeling from economic stagnation, crime and homelessness. Lee issued a statement Saturday as mayor-elect, saying that her chief opponent, Loren Taylor, had called to concede the April 15 race. 'While I believe strongly in respecting the democratic voting process and ballots will continue to be counted ... the results are clear that the people of Oakland have elected me as your next Mayor,' she said. 'Thank you, Oakland!' Lee, 78, is a Black female trailblazer who represented the city in Congress for over two decades before retiring last year after running unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. 'Oakland is a deeply divided City,' she said, adding that she 'answered the call to run' so the community could work together to solve its problems. Lee was endorsed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and other previous Oakland mayors who said she was the seasoned, uniting presence the city needed after a divisive recall of former Mayor Sheng Thao in November. Thao was indicted on federal bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges in January. Oakland has about 400,000 residents and is deeply liberal and multicultural, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and claimed by former Vice President Kamala Harris as her hometown. But Oakland also is reeling from homeless tents, public drug use, illegal sideshows, gun violence and brazen robberies that prompted In-N-Out Burger to close its first location ever last year. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sent California Highway Patrol officers to help combat what he called an alarming and unacceptable rise in crime. And the city doesn't have enough money to pay for public services. Despite her high name recognition, the race was surprisingly heated with Taylor, 47, a former Oakland city council member who pledged to bolster police, reduce crime and revitalize the city's economy. Taylor said in a statement that 'while the outcome was not what we worked for and hoped for,' he was proud of the campaign and the bold ideas he introduced. On the campaign trail, Lee emphasized the need for more community services as well as more police. Economic development, job creation and ensuring core city services like fire hydrants work properly are among her priorities. She will finish out the remainder of Thao's term and would be up for reelection in November 2026. Lee was first elected to the U.S. House in 1998 and became best known nationally as the only lawmaker to vote against the 2001 authorization for the use of military force in response to the Sept. 11 attacks .
