Omarosa Manigault: Blacks not trying hard enough to work with Trump

Here's another example of Omarosa's and the Trump administrations tone deafness to the black community. They don't seem to get that the onus is in them to earn the trust and respect of the community through THEIR actions and not the other way around. Refusing to enforce consent decrees, cuts to education and HBCUs, attacks on healthcare (ACA), Jeff Sessions appointment as Attorney General, talking about making stop and frisk the law of the land, not doing anything about discriminatory voter ID laws, and cutting environmental protections don't give the impression that the Trump administration wants to work with African Americans. George Cook AfricanAmericanReports.

President Donald Trump's liaison to the black community, the former "Apprentice" star Omarosa Manigault, says African-American activists aren't trying hard enough to work with the new administration.

The White House aide delivered the pointed message in an interview with The Associated Press in advance of an appearance Thursday at the annual convention of an activist organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

"We're here waiting, willing to work with the community," Manigault said when asked about Trump's moves to slash programs that benefit minorities. "This president wants to engage. It's not a one-way street."

She was more measured Thursday afternoon as she faced hundreds of black activists, who, like African-American voters across the nation last fall, overwhelmingly opposed Trump's presidency.

Several participants refused to utter the president's name in convention sessions, referring to the 45th president only by the number 45. Trump got just 8 percent of the African-American vote last November, according to exit polls.

"I'm ready," Manigault told the crowd as some murmured their disapproval. "I know what I came into, and I ain't never scared."

She insisted she's spent her first 100 days in Washington fighting for the black community. She noted that Trump has met personally with the Congressional Black Caucus and the presidents of historically black colleges and universities.

Manigault called on black leaders to help the struggling institutions as well.

"As I fight for you from the White House, I need you to fight on the outside," she said from the podium of a Manhattan hotel ballroom.

Read more: Trump Aide: Blacks not trying hard enough to work with Trump

Eric Holder Rips Republicans For Trying To Make It More Difficult To Vote

Former Attorney General Eric Holder says it’s “shameful” Republicans are seeking to implement photo ID laws and other measures that make it more difficult to vote.

Holder, who is leading a national redistricting reform effort, accused Republicans of trying to suppress potential voters who are less likely to support them. He made the remarks during the National Action Network’s annual convention in New York City on Wednesday.

“Some Republicans have declared, ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, change the rules.’ Make it more difficult for those least likely to support Republican candidates to vote,” he said. “This is done with the knowledge that by simply depressing the votes of certain groups, not even winning the majority vote of these groups, elections can in fact be effective.”

“The attempts in certain states to make even registration more difficult are shameful,” he added.

Holder went on to cite a 2014 study by the Government Accountability Office showing that voter ID laws in Kansas and Tennessee reduced turnout among young and African-American voters.

“If one were to try to find vote fraud or a rigged election system, that is exactly where it is,” he said.

Read more: Eric Holder Rips Republicans For Trying To Make It More Difficult To Vote

Fox News anchor Kelly Wright discusses suing network for racism

Fox News anchor Kelly Wright is the latest on-air personality to sue the network. This afternoon, Wright joined a racial-discrimination case filed last month in Bronx Supreme Court against Fox News, its parent company 21st Century Fox, general counsel Dianne Brandi, and former comptroller Judith Slater. Watch Wright explain why he joined the lawsuit below.

Beyonce giving scholarships to four women

Beyonce Knowles announced today that she will be giving away four scholarships via a posting on her website:

FORMATION SCHOLARS

To add to the celebration of the one-year anniversary of LEMONADE, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter announces the establishment of Formation Scholars awards for the 2017-2018 academic year, to encourage and support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious and confident.

Four scholarships will be awarded, one per college, to female incoming, current or graduate students pursuing studies in creative arts, music, literature or African-American studies. The schools selected for participation are Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design and Spelman College. All details and application deadlines are available directly from the colleges.

Everything Wrong with Charter Schools on Display in New Orleans

New Orleans is the nation’s largest and most complete experiment in charter schools. After Hurricane Katrina, the State of Louisiana took control of public schools in New Orleans and launched a nearly complete transformation of a public school system into a system of charter schools.

The birthing of the charter system occurred in 2005 when the community was displaced by Katrina. Control of the public school system was taken away from a board which had an elected majority of African American officials and was given to the white majority board of the state system

The first casualty of the abrupt change was the termination of the South’s largest local union and the firing of over 7000 most African American female teachers. Attorney Willie Zanders told the NAACP of the years of struggle for those teachers which, though initially successful, ended in bitter defeat years later. The city’s veteran black educators were replaced by younger, less qualified white teachers from Teach for America and Teach NOLA.

The change to charters reduced the percentage of black teachers from 74 percent to 51 percent. There are now fewer experienced teachers, fewer accredited teachers, fewer local teachers, and more teachers who are likely to leave than before Katrina. Five charter schools have tried to unionize with United Teachers of New Orleans. Though two schools cooperated, two other charters have said they are exempt from NLRB – a position rejected by the National Labor Relations Board. One of those charter schools shut out the public in 2016 by meeting privately and online over how to respond to unionization efforts.

New Orleans now spends more on administration and less on teaching than they did before Katrina. One charter school executive, who oversees one K-12 school on three campuses, was paid $262,000 in 2014. At least 62 other charter execs made more than $100,000. This compares with the salary of $138,915 for the superintendent of all the public schools in Baton Rouge.

Read more: Everything Wrong with Charter Schools on Display in New Orleans