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Maya Angelou, Rep. John Lewis among those awarded ‘Medal of Freedom’

President Barack Obama recognized Maya Angelou and 14 artists, athletes, a former president, civil rights activists, humanitarians and others Tuesday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for contributions to society that he said speak to “who we are as a people.”

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Maya Angelou, Rep. John Lewis among those awarded 'Medal of Freedom'
Maya Angelou (Clinton Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Angelou_at_Clinton_inauguration_(cropped_2).jpg)

President Barack Obama recognized Maya Angelou and 14 artists, athletes, a former president, civil rights activists, humanitarians and others Tuesday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for contributions to society that he said speak to “who we are as a people.”

Medal of Freedom

This year’s recipients “reveal the best of who we are and who we aspire to be,” Obama said at a White House ceremony.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

It is given in recognition of contributions to U.S. national security, world peace, culture or other significant public or private endeavors. Tuesday’s medals were the second set Obama has awarded.

The recipients

John H. Adams, co-founder of Natural Resources Defense Council

Maya Angelou, an author and poet who wrote and recited one of her works at former President Bill Clinton’s inauguration.

Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. The famed investor is known as the “Oracle of Omaha” for a business savvy that has helped him become one of the world’s richest men. Buffett is also a philanthropist and a leader of an effort challenging the country’s wealthiest people to step up their charitable giving.

Jasper Johns, an artist whose work has dealt with themes of perception and identity. He is considered a major influence on pop, minimalist and conceptual art.

Gerda Weissmann Klein, Holocaust survivor and author who founded Citizenship Counts, an organization that teaches students to cherish being American citizens

Yo-Yo Ma, a world renowned cellist and 16-time Grammy award winner who is known for his interpretations of Bach and Beethoven. He played at Obama’s inauguration and at other White House events.

Sylvia Mendez, a civil rights activist of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent

Angela Merkel, the first woman and first East German to serve as chancellor of a unified Germany. She did not attend the ceremony, but Obama said she’d be paying him a visit soon.

Stan Musial, Hall of Fame baseball player who spent 22 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals

Bill Russell, the former captain of the Boston Celtics and first black man to become an NBA head coach.

Jean Kennedy Smith, founder of VSA, a non-profit organization that promotes the artistic talents of people with disabilities

John J. Sweeney, president emeritus of the AFL-CIO

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and helped organize the first sit-ins at lunch counters that refused to serve blacks.

President Harry S. Truman established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1945 to recognize civilians for their efforts during World War II. President John F. Kennedy reinstated the medal in 1963 to honor distinguished service.


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Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a local Black newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to now broaden into a recognized Black online media outlet. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.

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Politics

Lil Scrappy, Big Freedia, Mia X, Cookie Nasty, and more artists partner with Hip Hop Caucus for a Political Rap Cypher

Released just under one week before the most important presidential election of our time, these rappers focused on issue advocacy and dropped powerful bars on the importance of voting, voting rights and democracy, civil rights, economic justice, and environmental justice – all issues that affect people of color the most and some of the pressing issues and deciding factors in this year’s election.

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Hip hop political Cypher
Photo Source: Hip-Hop Caucus

Some of hip hop’s most influential voices, Lil Scrappy, Big Freedia Mia X, Lee Merritt, Cookie Nasty, and Trae Crockett have joined musical forces to partner with Hip Hop Caucus to release a powerful political cypher as a final push to encourage people to head to polls and vote.

Hip Hop political cypher

Released just under one week before the most important presidential election of our time, these rappers focused on issue advocacy and dropped powerful bars on the importance of voting, voting rights and democracy, civil rights, economic justice, and environmental justice – all issues that affect people of color the most and some of the pressing issues and deciding factors in this year’s election.

The power of voting

Hip Hop Caucus is no stranger to leveraging the power of music, celebrity, and activism, launching their Respect My Vote! Campaign and Tour earlier this year, which included activists to reach and educate communities of color about political and social issues, and mobilize people to vote for the change they want to see on November 5.

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The message is clear that we cannot afford not to cast our ballots this election, with Mia X stating, “Say it with my chest, imma step for my rights, 10 toes down …my choice, my freedoms my voice, my votes and “if you don’t vote you don’t matter”.

See also  In Memoriam: Legendary Singer Etta James dies at 73

Watch the cypher

 


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Health & Wellness

Amber Nicole Thurman died from delayed care due to Georgia’s abortion laws, says family

Thurman died after waiting 20 hours in pain for a hospital to treat a rare complication from taking an abortion pill, she had to obtain in North Carolina.

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Amber Nicole Thurman
Amber Nicole Thurman (Photo Source: GoFundMe)

Amber Nicole Thurman was a vibrant, healthy 28-year-old Georgia woman who tragically died due to abortion laws and medical neglect, her family says.

Amber Nicole Thurman’s life could have been preventable

According to reports, Thurman died after waiting 20 hours in pain for a hospital to treat a rare complication from taking an abortion pill that she had to obtain in North Carolina. She needed a routine procedure, a dilation and curettage (D&C), to clear residual tissue from her uterus.

Did abortion laws cause problems for the mother?

But she reportedly couldn’t get the help she needed. New abortion laws in Georgia made conducting this essential medical procedure a felony unless in an emergency situation.

Georgia’s LIFE Act took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022 and banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, effectively prohibiting abortions beyond around six weeks of pregnancy, and criminalized performing one with limited exceptions.

Thurman had sought help at a local hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia. Even as Thurman developed sepsis, her family says doctors at the hospital did not evacuate the remaining fetal tissue in her uterus with the (D&C). Unfortunately, she later died on the operating table, reports ProPublica.

After Thurman’s death, a Fulton County Superior Court judge struck down the law, stating the law violates Georgia’s Constitution, reports NewsWeek.

ProPublica reported that Georgia’s maternal mortality committee also found that Thurman’s death was completely preventable. When her family learned this, they were devastated once again and their grief intensified affirming that Amber should not have died.

GoFundMe

As Thurman’s family struggles to cope with their grief and anger, they are striving to care for Amber’s son the way she wanted and have started a GoFundMe.

“The funds through this site will support Amber’s son for his immediate needs and for his future. This includes mental health and grief counseling for him and Amber’s family,” the GoFundMe reads.

According to the family, the funds will also support the family’s fight for justice for Amber and women’s rights over their own bodies.

“Amber was a devoted mother to her 6-year-old son and had dreams of becoming a nurse while she worked as a medical assistant. Amber hoped to provide a bright future for herself and her son, but that was stolen from her, and we cannot stand by as this happens to more women.”

Visit the GoFundMe to donate and for more information.


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Social Justice

Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ sue Trump for defamation after debate comments

The lawsuit stems from Trump’s remarks during the presidential debate last month.

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Exonerated Five Trump lawsuit
Photo Source: BET Networks YouTube Creative commons license (https://youtu.be/1UF0LPJU-FM?si=PGm-NKtWqJuU2YHN)

The five men from the infamous Central Park case who call themselves the Exonerated Five have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump.

The lawsuit stems from his remarks during the presidential debate last month.

Exonerated Five lawsuit against Donald Trump

During the Sept. 10 debate in Pennsylvania, Trump said the five men, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, pleaded guilty when they were tried in connection with the assault and rape of a woman who had been running in Central Park on April 19, 1989, and that the victim had died.

During the debate he said: “They admitted, they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty, then they pled we’re not guilty.”

At the time of the trials, each men had actually pleaded not guilty, and the victim of the attack survived.

According to the complaint, Trump’s statements are “demonstrably false,” adding that “Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Further the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.”

The complaint further added that the men, now in their 50s, have “suffered injuries as a result of Defendant Trump’s false and defamatory statements.”

Falsely accused

The Exonerated Five, who were just teenagers when they were indicted, had always maintained their innocence throughout their separate trials and incarceration.

Each were charged with the assault of the female jogger, as well as other assaults and robberies in Central Park.

They five spent years in prison before they were exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence linked another man, a serial rapist, to the crime. The city agreed in a legal settlement to pay the exonerated men $41 million.

This happened during a time of heightened racial tensions coupled with the case dominating headlines. Trump, then a real estate mogul, had taken out large ads in newspapers referencing the case calling for New York to bring back the death penalty.

The defamation suit was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The complaint noted that Salaam, a New York City Council member representing District 9, was at the debate and in the room when Trump made the statements.

In the lawsuit the men did not specify damages and asked for a trial to determine the amount.


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