Latest news with #MartinLutherKingDay
USA Today
13-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recalls meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. at 17 in new book about change
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recalls meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. at 17 in new book about change Show Caption Hide Caption What's next for Nate Bargatze? USA TODAY's Erin Jensen caught up with Nate Bargatze on his new book 'Big Dumb Eyes' and what's next after stand up. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was working to change the world long before the 7-foot-2-inch center became one of the greatest NBA players ever, and one of the most politically outspoken. In his 20th book, 'We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements from the 1960s to Today' ($30, out now from Crown) the prolific author and one-time Time magazine columnist looks back at America's protests movements – from free speech and civil rights to the national protests following the murder of George Floyd. At age 78, the NBA Hall of Famer has seen them all, often first hand. His personal journey effectively starts in the turbulent summer of 1964 when, as a 17-year-old high school senior, he participated in a journalism program sponsored by Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU). When Martin Luther King, Jr. announced a Harlem press conference in June, the son of a jazz-loving transit cop threw up his hand to cover the inspirational leader. Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. (Abdul-Jabbar changed his name in 1971 after converting to Islam) felt out of place among the professional reporters, "the serious men in serious suits.' 'I showed my press credentials to the burly men at the door and wandered in, afraid that at any minute, someone would grab me by the arm and drag me out, shouting, 'Who's this punk kid pretending to be a journalist?'' Abdul-Jabbar writes. 'I was at least a foot taller than everybody else in that room, so I would be easy to find.' Abdul-Jabbar posted a throwback photo of the meeting on his Instagram page for Martin Luther King Day. He has never forgotten King's eloquent response to his standard press conference question, even though he was fully "focused on not passing out" as his smiling hero directed his answer to him. Abdul-Jabbar cites the encounter as the start of his civil rights activism, leaving the meeting with "a renewed allegiance to Dr. King's optimism about humanity's innate goodness," he writes. That feeling did not last long. In July, he made a spontaneous decision to cover a Harlem rally protesting the shooting death of a fifteen-year-old African American, James Powell, by a white off-duty police officer. When the student journalist emerged from the subway, "the city was already in chaos." "I'd never experienced a riot before, and I was terrified," Abdul-Jabbar writes. "I did what I did best: I ran as fast as I could away from the danger. Spurring me on was the knowledge that I was a pretty big target and that I didn't know whether a bullet hitting me would come from a rioter or a cop." The Harlem riot of 1964, a part of which he witnessed, left him filled with rage and confusion over the effectiveness of King's message. Abdul-Jabbar has never stopped searching for answers or using his superstar status to protest injustice. As a rising star at UCLA in 1967, he was personally invited by NFL Browns football star Jim Brown to participate in the Cleveland Summit. Brown gathered prominent African-American voices, primarily star athletes, to discuss and ultimately support heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali's refusal, a month earlier, to enter the Vietnam War draft. The press conference photo shows him at the table with his personal hero, Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, Ali and Brown. Even as one of the serious men wearing a serious suit, Abdul-Jabbar, the youngest invitee, writes that he "never felt more out of my depth." "But I had been picked to join the team, and there was no way I would give it less than my all," he writes. Abdul-Jabbar has never stopped giving his best or believing in the importance of protests. For the critics, he often cites the national roots of dissent, starting with the 1773 Boston Tea Party, which is "celebrated in schoolroom textbooks as a political protest that helped establish the United States." The author still wonders if his work, or his new book, will make a noticeable difference in the arc of history. "Whether it does or doesn't isn't the question. Rather, the question we all face is 'Have I at least tried to make this country a better, more humane, more compassionate, freer place?'" Abdul-Jabbar writes. "I think I have."
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What time does the stock market open and close? See full schedule, 2025 holiday dates
The stock market remains volatile following President Donald Trump's implementation, then pause, of some targeted tariffs on hundreds of nations around the world. However, the trade standoff with China, which faces a 145% tariff, continues, with the Trump administration showing no signs of pausing tariffs on one of the U.S.'s top trading partners. "We'll see what happens with China," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday. "We would love to be able to work a deal. They've really taken advantage of our country for a long period of time." With a fickle stock market, an increased number of people have begun to tune in to the daily news coming out of Wall Street. Here's what to know about the stock market's operating hours. The stock market has been volatile: Should you keep funding your retirement account? According to the New York Stock Exchange's website, the "core trading session," which begins with the opening bell and ends with the closing bell, runs between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET from Monday to Friday. But a session called the "pre-opening session" starts at 6:30 a.m. ET, where orders to buy and sell stock can be queued until trading starts at 9:30 a.m. Apart from the weekend, the stock market is also closed on major holidays. According to the NYSE, those days are the following in 2025: New Year's Day: Jan. 1 Martin Luther King Day: Jan. 20 Washington's Birthday: Feb. 17 Good Friday: April 18 Memorial Day: May 26 Juneteenth: June 19 Independence Day: July 4 Labor Day: Sep. 1 Thanksgiving Day: Nov. 1 Christmas Day: Dec. 25 Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at and follow him on X @fern_cerv_. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When is the stock market open? See operating hours, 2025 holidays
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
For 60 years Kansas town has honored presidential runners-up, like Kamala Harris
In the heat of social media battles, Donald Trump fans use two words to smack down Kamala Harris supporters and critics of his thus-far tumultuous presidency: You lost! 'Tis true. But in one hamlet of about 2,800 residents in the northwest corner of the Sunflower State, once little more than a stop on a stagecoach route, there is no shame in running for president and losing. In Norton, Kansas, presidential runners-up are celebrated. For 60 years, the town has invited tourists to visit a museum on the second floor of The First State Bank downtown. Bank customers can see it from the lobby. It is called the 'They Also Ran Gallery,' a collection of black-and-white pictures and brief biographies of men and women who lost their bids to become U.S. president. A picture of Thomas Jefferson, the loser of the 1796 presidential race, hangs there. Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton are there, too. So is Trump, who lost his bid at reelection to Joe Biden in 2020. Once, a National Portrait Gallery spokeswoman pooh-poohed the idea of a losers museum as 'a bad idea if you are a losing candidate.' Created in the 1960s by a civic-minded businessman to lure visitors to town, the quirky gallery was never meant as a political statement, even in an undeniably red state. With politics as ugly and divisive as they are today, holding that bipartisan line is challenging the gallery's sole keeper who hasn't yet written the brief biographies for Harris or Trump, whose photo has been displayed since 2021. The museum's benign guiding principle since day one has been this: Let's not forget the also-rans. Lee Ann Shearer, the bank employee who has curated the gallery for nearly two decades, wondered if everyone had forgotten about the gallery itself when no media called her after Inauguration Day in January. 'I haven't tooted our horn or anything, we're just kind of one of those not-so-exciting museums unless you're really into politics,' Shearer told The Star this week. Over the years, the gallery has attracted interest and visitors from across the country, especially in and around presidential election years. The latest induction of Harris, though, came and went with none of the usual fanfare. Typically on Inauguration Day, Shearer sets up a TV, chairs and snacks in the gallery for visitors. Then about a half hour before the president takes the oath of office in D.C., she unveils the portrait of the person they vanquished. That didn't happen this year. 'We've had a few parties, a few inaugural parties and such,' she said. 'But we didn't in the COVID year and we didn't this year because of Inauguration Day landing on a Monday that we were closed, Martin Luther King Day. We weren't open, so we didn't have much excitement around it.' Shearer began as a bookkeeper at the bank in 1998 and now works as a customer service representative. She jokes that she's a 'busy bee' around Norton, working with the Chamber of Commerce and helping to promote local tourism. Norton is one of the state's many pass-through communities sustained by agriculture, a town people don't stumble upon because it sits far off the well-traveled paths of Interstate 80 to the north and Interstate 70 to the south. Both Kansas City and Denver are more than a four-hour drive away. 'It's not mountainous, it's not forest. It's just the plains, we're only plains, I suppose,' said Shearer. Back in the mid-60s when William Walter Rouse, a noted history buff and former president of the First State Bank, opened the gallery, the town had maybe 75 businesses downtown, she said. Today, there's just a handful. Rouse and fellow community leaders hatched a plan to recreate a stagecoach station that had served the town in the late 1800s when the area was a stop on the line running between Leavenworth, Kansas and Pike's Peak in Colorado. They built a replica of the station and named a street after Horace Greeley, the famous publisher of the New York Tribune who, according to town lore, stayed overnight at the station in 1859. Stagecoach Station 15 still stands, one of the town's other attractions that goes 'hand-in-hand' with the gallery, Shearer said. Later, someone gifted Rouse a book called 'They Also Ran,' by Irving Stone, which told of 19 men who lost when they ran for president. Greeley was one of them, losing in a landslide to Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. A big fan of Greeley, Rouse began collecting black-and-white copies of portraits and photos of presidential also-rans from the Library of Congress to showcase. 'His friends called him a nut and said, 'What are you doing? Who is going to stop and see this?'' Shearer said. When the bank in 1965 moved into its current location, a former theater, Rouse displayed the photos in the building's former mezzanine. They're all the same size, 16-inches-by-20-inches, and all black-and-white for that archival look. In the beginning Rouse displayed independent and third-party candidates, but when space got tight only runners-up earned a spot. That's why the gallery features 63 photos, even though Trump is currently president No. 47. Democrat Adlai Stevenson is there. He lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and has been described as 'the most beautiful loser' in presidential history. 'It is traditionally American to fight hard before an election. It is equally traditional to close ranks as soon as the people have spoken,' Stevenson said in his concession speech. 'That which unites us as American citizens is far greater than that which divides us as political parties. I urge you all to give to General Eisenhower the support he will need to carry out the great task that lie before him. I pledge him mine. We vote as many. But we pray as one.' John Kerry, too, spoke of national unity and the values Americans hold in common when he conceded to George W. Bush in 2004. Kerry rejected the term 'loser.' 'In an American election, there are no losers,' Kerry said. 'Because whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning, we all wake up as Americans. And that is the greatest privilege and the most remarkable good fortune that can come to us on earth.' The gallery wound up in Shearer's care 'mainly because I found it so interesting why people would come all the way out to Norton to a town of 2,800 people to look at a place that collects all the first runner-ups,' she said. 'I used my creative juices that I don't have anywhere else in my job to try to come up with a way to make it interesting and make sure our local tourism group promotes it, when people do come in, as one of the highlights of Norton.' Visitors are hit-and-miss, maybe 200 in an election year. Not many have stopped in to see Harris' picture, said Shearer, who admits the museum 'is kinda hard to find' but hopes new signage coming helps. 'I haven't given a lot of tours in the last couple of weeks. They come in very randomly,' she said. 'Sometimes I might have two in a day, sometimes might not have one for two weeks.' No losing candidate has ever visited. Shearer just missed a chance to have former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole stop by years ago. The Russell, Kansas native, who died in 2021, is featured in the gallery because he lost his presidential bid to Bill Clinton in 1996. The last two pictures, Trump and Harris, are displayed without biographies, though each has a brief one on the gallery's website, Shearer can't find the right words to write. She's frozen in her desire to 'make everybody feel comfortable,' a tough task given that one candidate is associated with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 'I haven't got a biography for Trump yet and I haven't got a biography for Kamala yet because it's an ongoing story,' she said. 'It's not complete. Some parts of it are historic but there's so much more to what I can put in three paragraphs in the frame. 'And it's kind of bugging me that since everything is current I can't put everything encapsulated into a paragraph because it's hard at this moment in time to know what is true and what is not true. 'We definitely don't want to make it feel any one way versus another way politically. I am by no means putting anything that's going to offend anyone in any story. It's very hard and that's probably why I've been unable to finish.' She's already had a taste of what landmines could lie ahead. 'There's only been one time that anybody has been a little bit aggressive about it and it was a lady yelling downstairs at the tellers,' she said. The woman wanted Trump's biography, when it appears, to proclaim that he incited violence on Jan. 6, one of the things Shearer is uneasy to write because she personally doesn't know what's true and what's not. 'It made us feel bad because we've never really had anyone put up any fire ...' she said. 'I make sure (visitors) know that this is to honor these people because it's the highest pinnacle of almost-success in their lives.' She is so resolutely loyal to the museum's 60-year-old tradition that it bothers her when headlines refer to the gallery's honorees as 'losers.' Oh how she doesn't like that word. 'It's ornery and it's hurtful,' she said. 'We have been referred to as, I probably shouldn't say it, but (media) have said ... hail to the losers. But I try to call them 'challengers' and 'candidates.' 'I try to keep it pretty positive. But there's people poking at everything in the world, I guess.'
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
In these dark times, Americans must harness the power of the civil rights movement again
It can often be challenging to keep track of everything in Donald Trump's US; the executive orders, the changes to decades-long protocols, the draconian legislation, the abandonment of established policies – and just the utter chaos. That in itself is part of the Trump administration's strategy – throw everything at us all at once to see what sticks and what they can get away with. There is, in fact, so much happening simultaneously that it is virtually impossible to tackle it all. That is why efforts on the ground, in our communities and in our neighbourhoods are as vital as they ever were. Just like the grassroots civil rights movement of the 1960s forced change at the top, now too is a moment when our work can and must push back against Trump and a far right that is strategically dismantling every measure of progress. We must resist in order to exist. When Trump was being sworn into office on 20 January, my organisation, National Action Network, held a massive rally at the historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Washington DC. It was important for us to gather at this church, at a location that has long served as a place of refuge and comfort during dark times. As we once again find ourselves caught in the winds of uncertainty, chaos and injustice, we must organise, strategise and execute our own plan of action in order to save any measure of advancement and our hard-won civil rights. Despite the cruelty emanating from the Oval Office, there is a lot that can be done at the state and local level, and in our communities. In fact, state laws and policies often affect people more directly than federal policies at times. Therefore engaging state- and locally elected officials is vital – let them hear from you. After all, they are in office to serve the people and serve our interests, so our interests must be known. Whether it's women's reproductive rights, voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights, protecting immigrants, or any other issue, our concerns must be addressed. This is not a time for sitting back and watching helplessly; there is a lot that we can and must do to peacefully fight back. One of the first executive orders that Trump signed in office was to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes in federal agencies. Many corporations, such as Target, McDonald's, Walmart and others, unfortunately have fallen in line and capitulated to pressure from the right to either scale back significantly their DEI policies, or eliminate them altogether. It is why I announced on Martin Luther King Day that National Action Network will lead a strategic boycott of two companies that have dropped their DEI commitments. We've put together a group that is engaged in a 90-day study of which corporations have abandoned their DEI initiatives the most – and how much of their consumer base is in the Black community and how much of our wealth they receive. We will announce which companies we're strategically boycotting at National Action Network's upcoming annual conference, held from 2 to 5 April at the Sheraton Times Square hotel in New York City. Not only will we boycott specific entities that don't respect us, but we are also simultaneously supporting those who stand with us. After retail giant Costco announced that it will remain firm in its DEI policies, I led hundreds of people in a 'buy-cott' at a Costco in East Harlem. That was followed by similar buy-cotts at Costco locations in New Jersey, Los Angeles and all over the south. It is vital to proactively support those who support us. We must remember why we have DEI in the first place – in order to rectify institutional policies that purposefully excluded us. Trump and other businesses may attack DEI, but they cannot dictate where we spend our hard-earned dollars. Our actions will speak for us even as they try to silence us. This is just one example of how we can push back individually and collectively during these challenging and dark times. There is much that we can do at the local community level to protect ourselves and our neighbours, and speak out where needed. When they cut social services, help those less fortunate and help people understand how they can navigate an increasingly confusing system. When they continue to eliminate DEI and voting protections, make sure people are empowered to know how to weather the storms – and how to still participate in the electoral process. When they go after reproductive rights, help women know where and how they can seek the care they may need and stay safe. When they target undocumented immigrants, make sure they know their rights. When they target the LGBTQ+ community, stand with them and continue to push for greater equality and inclusion. Over these next four years, it will be incumbent upon all of us to unite as one because the vile attacks against us are resting on a theory of divide and conquer. During the great civil rights movement, Black Americans and our allies organised, marched, boycotted and put enough pressure on the White House to bring about substantive change that was then codified into law. People didn't just give us our rights out of the kindness of their hearts; we demanded them. It was pressure from the grassroots that then forced elected officials to act. We once again find ourselves living in an era where our work, our voices and our actions can and must speak volumes and bring about a nation where all of us are valued, protected and afforded the same rights and liberties. Trump and the right are counting on us to be defeated or deflated; we must strategise and push back because there are more of us than them. Those of us who care about diversity, inclusion, equality and justice far outweigh those working to destroy it. We just need to use our power effectively – and as one. The Rev Al Sharpton is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and radio talkshow host
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MAGA migrants? Moving to Canada no easy road, Americans find
When U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration coincided with Martin Luther King Day in January, it felt particularly bitter for Jacquelin Lynott. The therapist from Maryland is married to a transgender man, and the executive orders Trump signed on Day 1 of his second term felt like the death knell for the civil rights movement King had led. As Trump asserted "there are only two genders" and pledged to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Lynott and her partner reached a conclusion: the United States was no longer safe for them. "They all smell quite a bit like fascism," Lynott told CBC of her reaction to Trump's orders. Lynott has since been researching how to move to Ontario, joining what immigration lawyers describe as a wave of Americans interested in immigrating to Canada. But as many never-Trumpers are discovering, leaving Trump country is harder than talking about it. Back in 2016, plenty of Americans including such famous names as Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Snoop Dogg and Bryan Cranston vowed to flee north. Few followed through, however, in many cases because there are limited immigration pathways for Americans to move to Canada. "'What do you mean I can't move to Canada next week?'" is how immigration lawyer Ryan Rosenberg describes the surprised reaction of clients discovering Canada's immigration requirements. Rosenberg, managing partner of Larlee Rosenberg in Vancouver, launched the website last year. "Tired of Trump? Thinking about Canada? We can help," the landing page offers. "We've been inundated with Americans looking to move to Canada," Rosenberg told CBC. Leaving on a jet plane? Moving to Canada from the United States is more difficult than many Americans thought, according to immigration lawyer Ryan Rosenberg. (AP) 'Calling with their heart, not with their mind' But fewer than five per cent of inquiries lead to an application to move to Canada, he estimates. Many Americans are surprised to learn they cannot simply move without a job offer, Rosenberg said. "It's often met with a lot of pushback and disappointment, frustration and comprehension from Americans who have what I would call a kind of a sense of entitlement about these things," he said. "They're calling with their heart, not with their mind." Americans are looking to move to Canada at a time when the federal government is looking to limit immigration. So unless an applicant speaks French or has a specific skillset, their options are limited, according to Ottawa immigration lawyer Betsy Kane. "There's certainly a lot of inquiries, not necessarily actionable plans to proceed with permanent residents," she told CBC. While British Columbia is looking to poach doctors and nurses from the U.S., other occupations are in less demand. "For somebody living in the States who wants to look at opportunities in Canada, it's pretty difficult right now and you really need to have a job offer in a specific field," Kane said. 'A massive red flag' Lynott and her partner are not alone in feeling increasingly unsafe in the U.S. Americans from the 2SLGBTQ+ community are among those especially eager to leave. Jacquelin Lynott, a thearapist from Maryland, has been exploring options for moving to Canada since Trump's second inauguration. (Supplied by Jacquelin Lynott) "Looking to history and the times when things became particularly precarious for groups of people, the erasing of history of specific minority groups is always a massive red flag," she said, referring to Trump's removal of transgender references from the Stonewall National Monument website. So far, however, 2SLGBTQ+ Americans have not met the bar for claiming asylum in Canada. "Discrimination is not a basis for an asylum claim," said Ottawa immigration lawyer Julie Taub. While Taub has bad news for would-be asylum seekers from the 2SLGBTQ+ community, she has better news for another category of clients: Americans with Canadian heritage. For Americans who were born in Canada or have a Canadian parent or grandparent, establishing their Canadian citizenship is often a simple matter of paperwork. "This is a new phenomenon for me," Taub told CBC. "They're well-established in the States and have excellent careers, but they just want to come here now because of what's happening." Trump's election has also caused more Americans to contact David Garson's Toronto-based law firm — but it hasn't halted his work advising dissatisfied Canadians looking to move south. "People are paying a lot for a little, their salaries are capped," he told CBC. "And don't shoot the messenger on this but there's a lot of people who are fed up — in their words — with the 'DEI wokeness' of Canada." Garson, who is also licensed to practise in the U.S., said widespread malaise is causing clients to see greener grass on both sides of the border. "I've been practising for many years," he said. "I've never seen times like these. I have never seen this much disarray." For now, Lynott and her partner are seeking job offers in Ontario with a view to applying for an express entry lottery if no opportunities arise. "But as of right now it is mostly a waiting game," she said.
