Latest news with #pro-Black
Black America Web
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Why Is The Lead Pipe Replacement In Flint Still Unfinished Nearly 11 Years After Water Crisis Began?
Source: picture alliance / Getty It has been more than a decade since 2014, when a Michigan state-appointed emergency manager decided it was a good idea to save money by a contract with Detroit's water system and switched to the Flint River, causing the Flint water crisis by ditching a system that didn't need treatment to prevent corrosion that put lead in the water pipes for one that did. It's been eight years since 2017, when Flint entered into a settlement that required the replacement of all lead pipes so residents would be assured clean water to drink and bathe in. Well, apparently, the job still ain't done. From the Associated Press: Although the city recently said it completed work required under a legal settlement, the agreement didn't cover vacant homes and allowed owners to refuse, potentially leaving hundreds of pipes in the ground. The state agreed to oversee work on those properties and says it's determined to finish by fall. Flint's missteps offer lessons for municipalities that face a recently imposed federal mandate to replace their own lead service lines. The Trump administration is expected to soon tell a federal appeals court if it will stand by that mandate. 'I think other cities are racing not to be Flint,' said Margie Kelly, a spokesperson with the environmental nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, which reached a settlement with the city to force it to replace lead pipes. (Side note: If anyone is banking on the Trump administration to reinforce the mandate in a predominantly Black city, they should probably know that the same administration, in April, ended a wastewater settlement for a mostly Black Alabama town, falsely calling it 'environmental justice as viewed through a distorting, DEI lens,' simply because environmental racism was addressed in the reaching of the settlement. Seeing as the Flint water crisis has often served as a rallying event for pro-Black activists and environmentalists, one shouldn't put it past President Donald Trump and his MAGA-fied Justice Department to simply decide the federal mandate was 'woke' waste, despite it being implemented during his first term. Just sayin'.) According to AP, when the city of Flint entered into the agreement, funds were directed to fix homes that had known lead lines, meaning contractors weren't able to simply go neighborhood by neighborhood and fix everything. And because many city records were inaccurate or missing, with 'some handwritten on notecards dating to the early 1900s,' AP reported, even finding those select homes proved difficult. Source: picture alliance / Getty 'The city's overall management of the program was ineffective,' NRDC attorney Sarah Tallman told AP, arguing that a better strategy would have been to coordinate the pipe replacements geographically. (The issues with city records proved so troublesome that, ultimately, contractors ended up having to check all the pipes anyway.) As for the Flint homeowners who had opted out of having their pipes replaced, according to Flint Department of Public Works Director Kenneth Miller, who was just hired last year, the city didn't know how many residents had opted out and how many homes still had dead pipes due to oversight. 'Just like any other organization, people get lax, people stop doing things, people get laid off and the person that used to do it doesn't do it anymore,' Miller said. So, what's being done to fix all of this finally? Well, last year, the city adopted an ordinance to prevent homeowners from opting out, and 'officials are working from a list of more than 4,000 properties where there could be a lead line, sending letters and making in-person visits to homes, if needed,' AP reported. That number includes thousands of homes that have been left vacant due to the steep population loss in Flint over the years. It should be noted that while the people of Flint were failed by government officials at every level, in 2023, the Flint water crisis case was 'closed' without a single person being held criminally liable or accountable at all, despite dozens of deaths that can be attributed, at least in part, to lead pipes. Where's the justice? Where's the accountability? And when will it all finally be fixed? SEE ALSO: Michigan Renames Office Focused On Black Healthcare Due To DEI Concerns The Caribbean Water Crisis, Its Root Causes And Effective, Affordable Ways To Improve Supply Systems SEE ALSO Why Is The Lead Pipe Replacement In Flint Still Unfinished Nearly 11 Years After Water Crisis Began? was originally published on
Buzz Feed
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
'90s TV Shows And Movies That Aged Like Milk
Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community which '90s TV shows and movies aged poorly in their opinion. Here are 18 of their top answers: "Seinfeld in general…but the whole 'sexually assaulted on camera while asleep for a dental procedure' thing was especially bad." —Anonymous, 30, Missouri "In the 1994 Disney film Blank Check, the 11-year-old protagonist has a crush on a 30-year-old FBI agent. They even share a KISS in one scene. Like, dude! Seriously, writers? You really just had a minor and an adult (an FBI AGENT, no less!) kiss each other? Why? What drugs were you on to make you think that scene was a good idea? Not as bad as that one (implied) scene in Big, but still! I hope that creep lost her job." —Anonymous, 20, Pennsylvania "Doogie Howser, M.D.! The first episode has an adult woman pretending to seduce him and makes him think she wants to sleep with him. The second episode is about an adult woman trying to get pregnant by him." —Anonymous, 39 Hutto, TX "I will die on this hill: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air did not age well, and Uncle Phil isn't even a top-five best TV dad. Will was a teenager dating grown women every other episode, and Phil and Vivian just let it happen. Phil claimed to be pro-Black but voted for Reagan twice, was ashamed of his background as a pig farmer, and detested 'lowly' and working-class Black people. He blamed Will for everything that went wrong, even if he had nothing to do with it. And he was sexist and controlling AF, trying to forbid a 25-year-old Hilary from posing for Playboy or Ashley from doing anything. The show was funny and rewatchable, but it's hard to ignore all of the issues." —justchillman "Will and Grace, while giving a marginalized group a platform, I feel, is cringeworthy now and then. I could never get through one episode without feeling that my queerness was being used as a punchline. The misrepresentation of us as a group — meaning being gay was either silly, or you were doomed to be alone and sad — was a perpetuation of most of the movie tropes from the '80s that followed queer culture into the '90s and early '00s. However, I am very proud of the new work in shows, like We Are Here and the later seasons of RuPaul, as well as the new Queer Eye." —delicioussunflower83 "Mrs. Doubtfire. I grew up loving that movie. It came out when my parents divorced, and while Dad never dressed in disguise to spend time with us, he had the same sort of custodial arrangements — every Thursday and every other weekend. I just watched it with my kids this morning, and between the transphobia and the part where he makes a pact with the older two kids to keep it a secret from their mom, it hasn't aged well. I know people will disagree, but this is how I feel." —bigbabybelcher "American Pie would be my pick for didn't age well. Yes, I get this was a product of the time and would be on par with something like Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds for the type of film it is. I absolutely think you need to watch these films with a grain of salt and take them for what they were at the time they were released, even if they're problematic by today's standards. That still doesn't mean that watching them now doesn't feel a little gross because a lot of the humor doesn't translate anymore. 😬🤷🏻♀️" —mo2758 "In the movie Analyze This, Billy Crystal gives counseling to tough guy mob boss Robert DeNiro. In one scene, the doctor is talking to the boss about what to do about his impotence. After the session, the boss replies, 'If you turn me into a [gay slur], I'll have to kill you!' Then the line is repeated minutes later by the counselor's son, who was eavesdropping. It's like the line was so funny, it had to be said again?" —Anonymous, 63. Northern Midwest "The Nanny does not hold up well. I used to love watching it as a kid, but watching it as an adult, you notice how much body-shaming there is. Every other line was about someone being 'fat.' And she was constantly comparing herself to Maggie. And she was sooooo desperate to get married, she nearly slept with her cousin. And Maxwell yelled at her a lot and blamed her for everything, even if he asked her to do it. Beautiful outfits though." —justchillman "On Ally McBeal, there's an episode where Ally defends a trans woman in court, then keeps her out of jail by giving her a job, even getting her boss Richard to enforce a workplace culture where her preferred gender is recognized. Unfortunately, all of that is undercut by also showing a psychologist describing gender dysphoria as a devastating and largely untreatable mental illness for which she might best be institutionalized, having characters make various jokes and disrespectful references to her gender identity, and then unceremoniously killing her off just so that Ally can feel sad about it. Absolutely gross." —Anonymous, Alison R. "Home Improvement was hard to try watching again as an adult who has been in an abusive relationship. I understand he had to be dumb and misogynistic to learn a lesson at the end of the show, but it was super icky." —Anonymous "In Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost, remember how the entire gang suspected the Hex Girls were behind the Witch's Ghost? They judged them based on their gothic appearances before knowing the full story as to why they looked like that." —Anonymous, 18, United States "The Wonder Years did not age well. I watched it every week. I tried to rewatch it recently and barely made it through the first episode." —abourque "The Cosby Show: a show where the main character was an OB/GYN examining women in the BASEMENT OF THEIR HOME!" —surprisedlamp744 "There was this one episode of Friends where a friend of the main group became sober after realizing he's an alcoholic, and the Friends group started hating hanging out with him and considered him a bore compared to when he would drink. They ditch him by the end of the episode, IIRC." —Amy M., Lockport, NY "Friends did NOT hold up well. Fat jokes, gay jokes, everyone in New York is white inexplicably, Ross sleeps with a student, sleeps with his school librarian in high school, tries to kiss his cousin, violates Rachel's boundaries, says the wrong name at his wedding, never sees his son, treats his sister like crap, treats Phoebe like crap, whines about everything, etc. etc. etc. This is coming from someone who still watches it and owns it on DVD." —ganethley "Friends. The way they dealt with queer characters on the show pissed me off." —Anonymous, Australia And finally: "I never understand how and why Friends always gets a free run. They are six of the most vile and insular people to ever form a clique. Example — Janice is one of the friendliest, most caring characters, and they do nothing but ridicule her and go out of their way to be cruel. All because she has a loud laugh?!" —shyduck175 Are there any more '90s TV shows or movies you'd add to this list? Or what about ones that aged surprisingly well? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Target Boycott Phase Two: Organizers to Expand Movement This Weekend
Greear Webb hasn't set foot in a Target or spent any money there in two months — a conscious departure from what was once his go-to retailer for affordable apparel and toiletries. The 24-year-old Emory Law School student and Midtown resident is one of an estimated 10,000 members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest who answered Pastor Jamal Bryant's call in February to undertake a 40-day 'Target fast' in response to the company's walkback of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which has sparked nationwide backlash from Black consumers. Up until recently, Target was an outspoken supporter of DEI programs following the 2020 police murder of Georgia Floyd in Minneapolis, where the bullseye brand is headquartered. But the company announced an end to its three-year DEI goals on Jan. 24, less than a week after President Donald Trump began a push to end public and private sector DEI programs, signaling a larger political shift following Trump's election win in November. Webb spent Monday evening shopping at a nearby Kroger. He's one of many Black Atlanta residents who have grown weary of Target and other major retailers allegedly taking Black customers for granted. 'We're tired of the economic injustice,' Webb told Capital B Atlanta on Monday. 'We're tired of the political injustice, where people are treating us as a political minority with no power at all.' Target hasn't responded to Capital B Atlanta's calls and emails requesting comment. Metro Atlanta was the nexus for the 40-day Target fast, which formally began on March 5 and is scheduled to end on Thursday, coinciding with the conclusion of Lent. However, local boycott organizers and participants say their economic justice movement will continue indefinitely. On Friday, New Birth will host a three-day event dubbed the Bullseye Black Market that is designed to showcase local Black businesses and give Target boycott supporters a chance to connect with pro-Black brands and entrepreneurs. On Easter Sunday, the megachurch's pastor is unveiling the next phase in the Target boycott. 'We will give the state-of-the-Target address, as it were — where we are and how do we proceed,' Bryant told Capital B Atlanta on Friday. Bryant estimates that 150,000 people across America have boycotted Target. Duke University public policy professor Vicki Bogan told CNN recently that Black people represent about 9% of Target's customer base. Foot traffic at Target stores has declined for 10 consecutive weeks since the company's policy change, according to Retail Brew. In addition, Macrotrends data shows Target's stock price has plummeted from an all-time high of $266.38 in November 2021 to a four-year low of about $95 — a drop likely made steeper by Trump's recent tariffs on foreign imports, which have contributed to widespread market volatility. Bryant said he's scheduled to meet with leaders at Target this week. 'We'll see whether that comes to bear,' he said. The Black faith leader acknowledged other companies, including Amazon and Walmart, have eliminated or changed their DEI programs since Trump won reelection, but he said Target stands out because of the $2 billion commitment it allegedly broke to the Black community in the wake of Floyd's tragic killing. 'They disavowed their commitment to George Floyd's family,' Bryant said. 'It was incomprehensible that they will betray a community that has been so loyal to them.' The Target fast website lists four demands for the retailer: To restore the corporation's commitment to DEI, to honor its $2 billion pledge to Black businesses, to deposit $250 million amongst Black-owned banks, and to invest in retail business education at 10 HBCUs. Bryant said the goal was to demonstrate the collective economic power of Black consumers, which is expected to surpass $2 trillion in 2026, according to Nielsen. The boycott, Bryant suggested, has given voice to the Black Americans opposed to Trump policies whose collective will may have been thwarted at the ballot box. 'Our pocketbooks are our picket signs,' Bryant added. 'Our dollar is the demonstration.' The Target boycott was generated out of the larger Our Money United campaign started more than a year ago by Charles Walker, CEO of Friends of the Movement Global, an Atlanta-based social data analytics company. Organizers recently unveiled additional tools designed to help Black consumers and their allies avoid spending money with companies that are not aligned with their values, including a National Boycott Registry that helps consumers find businesses that are aligned with their values, a 'Voter Wallet' digital tool that connects users with Black-owned businesses, and a Black Wall Street ticker that tracks and reports community spending. 'Companies don't want to admit that a boycott hurt them, so we have to quantify that on our end,' Walker said. 'This is just starting. We're going to continue to organize and build, block by block.' The post Target Boycott Phase Two: Organizers to Expand Movement This Weekend appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
