Skip to main content

From Juneteenth and Social Media Influencers to Books here is what to read this weekend



It shouldn't come as any shock to people but I am not the smartest person. Most my articles take about an hour or so to research and write so that I have a clear understanding of facts to base my opinions on. 

So with this in mind, I'm starting a new periodic series called "Articles that Make You Smarter," in which I will post links to a few stories that will help enlighten your point of view. Sometimes they will be culturally relevant, sometimes they will be interesting reads and sometimes they will be entertaining.

Here are some stories you should read this weekend:

In honor of Juneteenth:
With everything going on with Black Lives Matter, President Trump had the bright idea of scheduling a rally for June 19 in Tulsa. For those of you not in the know, this is a triple whammy for the president who has notoriously been on the wrong side of racial issues. Not only is June 19, Juneteenth day when slaves from Texas realized they were free but Tulsa is the sight of a riot in what was once known as the black wallstreet (which he claimed to have popularized?) Here are some articles to check out about the holiday and one about the riots.

From VOX

From Teen Vogue

The New York Times on the Burning of Black Wallstreet:


Black Lives Matter
Speaking of protests, a lot of people have taken to the streets to march in solidarity of police reform. Including social media influencers here's an article explaining why influencers aren't doing enough.


Other:
Finally, if you're looking for a good list of books to check out this summer. BuzzFeed has you covered:



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Democrats introduce overhaul of police reform

Today house democrats introduced t he Justice in Policing Act, which would hold police departments across the nation more accountable for their actions by stripping away some of their protections. The legislation would also c reate a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police chokeholds. The legislation would also  revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are knowingly involved in reckless misconduct and seek to provide greater transparency on police behavior according to the AP News. To put it bluntly, as much as I want this legislation to get make ground, it is a long shot pipe dream to get put into law. This is because the senate is majority Republican and will more than likely shoot it down or have it stripped or include poison pill amendments to it, despite Senator Lindsey Graham and Majority Senate Leader Mitch McConnell vowing to look at the issues.  What do you think? -Alex 

Statehood, the coronavirus and how the U.S. sets the standard for policing

With everything going on in the world, it's easy to lose track of the important issues going on in the world. For this edition of Articles that Make You Smarter, I wanted to share three articles that would give some perspective on three major issues in America. I hope you read and enjoy: Why statehood matters: The House of Representatives approved a bill that would recognize Washington D.C. as the 51st state of the country. While the Senate will more than likely shoot the bill down, here's an article by The Gaurdian that explains everything surrounding the bid for statehood:  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/25/washington-dc-statehood-bid-house The United States and Policing: What's going on in America with policing doesn't just happen in a bubble. Here's a great article by The New Republic about how our country sets the standard for policing across the world: https://newrepublic.com/article/158297/america-exports-police-violence-around-world A new surge

Politics unusual

I've been called a lot of things in life. Liberal hack, fake news media and jackass ranks up there pretty high. Some of the things that I've been called few and far in between are dishonest, liar, coward. My hope as the creator of The Statesmen, a news/politics/and opinion blog, is that those words lacking in what defines who I am reflect this website. But first, a small introduction of who I am and why I'm writing this. My name is Alex and I am a moderate liberal/populist that studied journalism at Kent State University and developed a love for politics during my senior year. I grew up in a conservative house, car rides homes with my father involved long quiet rides as Rush Limbaugh filled the car. For most of my life I considered myself a Republican until I didn't anymore. That isn't to say that I hate everything they do and I certainly don't like everything that Democrats do either. It goes without saying (but I will anyway) but the