Latest news with #JamaicanAmerican
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
We can't defund our way to prosperity. We need to support our schools, nurses and firefighters
At the dawn of what was billed as a new American "Golden Age," President Donald Trump stood before the nation and proclaimed, "The American Dream will soon be back and thriving like never before." That was January 20, 2025. Now, just a few months into this new chapter, it's worth asking: What does a thriving American Dream actually require? It's not built on speeches or slogans, but on the everyday systems that support working families — schools, hospitals, firehouses and other vital services that keep our communities strong and our local economies growing. Take a walk through any thriving town or city in America. You will find not just businesses booming and cranes dotting the skyline. You'll find hospitals staffed by highly skilled nurses, public schools filled with ambitious children, public health departments tracking outbreaks before they spread and fire departments ready to respond within minutes. You'll also find community colleges and public universities acting as launch pads for young adults entering the workforce. These are not just services. They are the living, breathing organs of a healthy, functioning economy. This isn't just theory. It's personal. My mother, a retired NICU nurse, spent decades caring for the smallest lives at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. She was a proud member of SEIU Local 1991. Like many Jamaican-American women in healthcare, she wasn't just a registered nurse — she was a community builder, a public servant and the backbone of our neighborhood. Her union card didn't just signify fair pay; it represented dignity, stability and a stake in America's future. Policymakers across the political spectrum often talk about revitalizing American industry and rebuilding the middle class. Many Americans — especially those in the political middle, who feel disconnected from the extremes of both parties — are simply looking for practical solutions. They're not chasing culture wars or partisan fights; they want what works: good jobs, strong schools, and safe, stable communities. But manufacturing doesn't happen in a vacuum. You can't build a factory in a town where the hospital has closed, the school is underfunded, the firehouse is short-staffed, and the technical college has shuttered because of federal budget cuts. Just ask any titan of industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 449,000 job openings in the manufacturing sector as of March 2025. These are real jobs that require real people with real skills. Yet, we lack the workforce to fill them. Why? Because we've spent the past decade underfunding the very institutions that grow, train and sustain that workforce. One bipartisan bright spot is career and technical education (CTE). As a recent New York Times opinion piece by AFT President Randi Weingarten highlighted, CTE is having a moment. Bringing together leaders like Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and business leaders like Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, CTE could catalyze the kind of revitalization many Americans are calling for. To make that a reality, it must expand with the support of our most significant national resource: the federal government. A robust, federally supported career and technical education system could help resolve nursing shortages, address crises in emergency services and build a new generation of skilled tradespeople. But education doesn't just begin at age 18. Public schools are the first rung on the ladder. Yet, under the latest federal budget proposal, funding for public K-12 schools is set to take a massive hit. One billion dollars for student mental health services? Gone. Programs aimed at closing achievement gaps and supporting students with disabilities? Slashed. This isn't belt-tightening. This is misaligned priority-setting. Our schools are already overwhelmed. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves. School nurses, counselors and support staff are being cut or forced to cover multiple roles. In some districts, students show up to class hungry, traumatized and with nowhere to turn. And the federal government's answer is to cut more? We can't build a 21st Century workforce without 21st Century schools. We can't have a strong manufacturing base without strong community colleges. We can't train the next generation of emergency responders if we're defunding the very programs that would prepare them. A factory job may require technical skill, but the journey to that skill begins in a kindergarten classroom. When some lawmakers talk about "freedom," they often forget that freedom is meaningless without infrastructure. What good is the freedom to choose your doctor if there are no doctors in your town? What does school choice mean if your local public school is being bled dry by underinvestment and neglect? America's prosperity has always rested on a simple formula: invest in people, invest in places, and the profits will follow. The towns that are thriving today are those that never stopped believing in that equation. They fought to keep their schools open, their hospitals staffed, their libraries funded and their civic fabric intact. But manufacturing doesn't happen in a vacuum. You can't build a factory in a town where the hospital has closed, the school is underfunded, the firehouse is short-staffed, and the technical college has shuttered because of federal budget cuts. Just ask any titan of industry. If we truly want to restore American greatness, we must recognize that it isn't built solely on tax breaks and tariffs. It's built in the maternity wards, classrooms, firehouses and community colleges that serve as the foundation of working-class life. Cutting for the sake of cutting isn't policy. It's performance art. And for working families like the one I grew up in, it's not just shortsighted — it's dangerous. To restore the American Dream, we need more than rhetoric. We need reinvestment. In schools. In hospitals. In people. In hope. That's the kind of manufacturing America still knows how to do — and it starts right in our backyard.
CBS News
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Rapper Sean Kingston, mother found guilty in federal fraud case
A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, found singer and rapper Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, guilty on all charges Friday evening in their luxury fraud scheme trial. Turner was taken into custody immediately, while Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, was ordered on house arrest until sentencing. Kingston and Turner were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. They now await sentencing. They face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on each count. Prosecutors accused the pair of running a scheme in which they obtained high-end items—including a luxury SUV, jewelry, expensive watches and a wall-sized TV — without paying for them. In May, the Broward Sheriff's Office raided Kingston's home in Southwest Ranches, Florida, as part of the investigation. Authorities presented evidence showing that Kingston and Turner sent fake wire transfer receipts to sellers as proof of payment. A key piece of evidence was a text message from Kingston to his mother, which read: "I told you to make [a] fake receipt," followed by, "so it [looks] like the transfer will be there in a couple [of] days." During closing arguments, Turner's attorney argued that the alleged victims were "fraudsters" themselves, while Kingston's attorney attempted to distinguish between the rapper's public image and his personal life. He described Kingston as "a soft guy who grew up poor when he rose to fame overnight," adding that he had "no idea how to run a business [and] no idea how much money is in his bank account." Kingston was first arrested on May 23, 2024, at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert where he was performing. He waived his right to fight the extradition and was returned to Florida. The two also face similar state charges. The Jamaican American performer had a No. 1 hit with "Beautiful Girls" in 2007 and collaborated with Justin Bieber on the song "Eenie Meenie."
Axios
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
14 Black Bay Area authors to add to your reading list
Black authors around the world are taking literary genres to new heights, and many of them started right here in the Bay. State of play: Axios asked the team at the San Francisco Public Library's African American Center and Collection Development for recommendations of literary authors who have ties to the Bay Area. They replied with a long list, one we had to unfortunately condense for this story. Here are some of the selections for each genre. Children's books Natasha Tripplett: A Jewish Jamaican American adoptee based in the Bay Area, Tripplett has focused her work on bolstering cultural representation in children's literature. Notable works include " The Blue Pickup," which tells the story of a young girl's love for fixing automobiles with her grandfather in Jamaica. Thomishia Booker: A member of the Bay Area's Black Literary Collective, Booker uses her writing to uplift Black children. Her series includes the books " Brown Boy Joy" and " My Brown Skin." Angela Dalton: Based in Oakland, Dalton has a longtime interest in space that inspires her books. She is part of the Bay Area BIPOC Book Creators. Notable works include " To Boldly Go," which chronicles "Star Trek" actress Nichelle Nichols' experience as the first Black woman astronaut on TV. Nonfiction Akilah Cadet: Co-owner of the Oakland Roots Sports Club, Cadet explores structural oppression from her vantage point as a Black disabled woman in her writings. Her book, " White Supremacy is all Around: Notes From a Black Disabled Woman in a White World," includes personal stories from her experience with workplace disability and more. Rue Mapp: A Bay Area native, Mapp is the founder and CEO of the Oakland-headquartered Outdoor Afro, which advocates for Black connections and leadership in nature. Her book, " Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors," uplifts the history of Black people's relationship to the outdoors, from a journey up Kilimanjaro to a beekeeper couple in Detroit. Earlonne Woods: This Bay Area resident co-created the podcast "Ear Hustle" with Nigel Poor while incarcerated in the San Quentin State Prison. The podcast was lauded for painting a rare portrait of life behind the bars. Woods and Poor's book, " This is Ear Hustle," illuminates their path to the podcast and shares new stories of prison life. Memoir Dorothy Lazard: Raised in San Francisco and Oakland, Lazard has made a name for herself as a librarian and public historian. Her memoir, " What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World," looks back at that journey by tracing her life through historical moments like the murder of Emmett Till, Summer of Love, and the redevelopment of Oakland. Aisha Harris: Her voice is well-known to listeners of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Harris, a Bay Area resident, brings that same wit to her book " Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture that Raised Me." "Wannabe" explores the staples of Harris' 90s childhood and analyzes the origins of tropes like the "Black friend." Melissa Valentine: Valentine completed her debut memoir, " The Names of All the Flowers," after serving as a fellow at the San Francisco Writers' Grotto. The memoir examines themes of racial trauma and grief through Valentine's experience seeing her brother fall victim to the criminalization of Black boys and men and later to gun violence in 1990s Oakland. Contemporary Kai Harris: A professor at Santa Clara University, Harris traces themes of Black girlhood, the slave narrative and motherhood in her works. Her book, " What the Fireflies Knew," a coming-of-age novel told by an 11-year-old girl as she grapples with her new reality after the death of her father and disappearance of her mother. Romance Jasmine Guillory: A Bay Area native, Guillory has made a reputation for herself as a rom-com writer. Many of her books are set in the region. Her latest book, " Flirting Lessons," is a queer romance that involves a young woman who seeks dating advice from Napa Valley's biggest heartbreaker. Horror Tamika Thompson: A former journalist who lives in the Bay, Thompson is among the many Black authors who followed in the footsteps of Octavia Butler to take speculative fiction to new heights. Notable works include " Unshod, Cackling, and Naked," a collection of 13 horror short stories that reframe mundane Black experiences and delve into Black women's rage. Science Fiction/Fantasy Kemi Ashing-Giwa: A Ph.D. candidate at Stanford's earth and planetary sciences department, Ashing-Giwa weaves messages of anti-colonialism and ecophysiology into her works. Notable books include " The Splinter in the Sky," which depicts a tea specialist-turned-spy-turned assassin's mission to rescue her abducted sibling and save her conquered homeland. Historical fiction Yaa Gyasi: A Berkeley resident, Gyasi began writing her debut novel as an undergraduate student at Stanford, where she pursued funding to do research in her home country of Ghana. Her debut novel " Homegoing" follows two half-sisters as they embark on different paths in 18th century Ghana.
