#NNPA BlackPress
COMMENTARY: Celebrity Trials, Legacies Lost, Lives Shattered, What’s the Real Truth?
NNPA NEWSWIRE — …the odds of a black man winning inside an American courtroom are tantamount to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell waiting tables at a soul food restaurant in Harlem and offering reparations for slavery.
By Stacy M. Brown
@StacyBrownMedia
When National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., assigned me to cover the Bill Cosby criminal trial in 2017, I didn’t think it would be as taxing as the experience of covering Michael Jackson’s trial in 2005 and the infamous O.J. Simpson civil trial a decade prior to that. I was wrong.
The three trials are the subject of my new book, “Celebrity Trials: Legacies Lost, Lives Shattered. What’s the Real Truth?”
The book is available in Kindle and paperback on Amazon.com.
As for the Bill Cosby trial, I initially thought I would get the cold shoulder from Cosby, whom I had famously (or infamously) called at his home in 2014 when his sexual assault scandal first broke.
“I just want the Black Press to be fair,” Cosby told me, before almost daily inviting me back to a private sitting room to discuss the case.
In truth, Cosby wanted all media to be fair. That he felt the need to ask for fairness is shameful, but in the era of Fake News, it was understandable.
Cosby would even call me at home and speak with my wife and children, telling them to behave themselves and, of course, making them roll on the floor laughing with his latest jokes.
And, after two jury selections, two trials, a hung jury and ultimately a guilty verdict and prison, it was even easier to understand why Cosby asked for fairness – he didn’t get it from mainstream media and only the Black Press presented — with pin-point accuracy — the accounts of a trial that was reminiscent of how trials against black men were carried out during and before the Civil Rights era.
It is probably why many African Americans still celebrate the not guilty verdicts bestowed upon Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson.
Because all too often, the odds of a black man prevailing in a high-profile criminal court case being tried in an American courtroom are tantamount to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell waiting tables at a soul food restaurant in Harlem while offering reparations for slavery.
The day Cosby was to be sentenced, he called me while enroute to the courthouse.
I said to him, “Don’t you have an appointment?”
To which he said, “I’m not worried about that.”
He wanted to know how my son was doing.
You see, during the course of our conversations, I shared with him something that was troubling my son, and Cosby and his crisis manager, Andrew Wyatt, made it a point to check in regularly.
And, on the day he knew he was losing his freedom – within moments of actually losing that freedom – Cosby’s concern was the well-being of my son.
I not only covered Jackson’s trial, but had the unenviable task of being called as a prosecution witness.
I remember briefly speaking with Michael Jackson the day before my testimony.
He offered me his Bible and we shared a brief laugh. He was with his children and he and I both were in a bit of a hurry.
Emotionally, I felt badly for Michael. But rationally, I believed he was guilty of the charges being levied against him.
His brother-in-law was asked to testify against him, and I’ll never forget the phone call from him brother-in-law asking me to “please, see if you can talk to the district attorney, the detectives. If I testify against him, I’m going to lose my family.”
I had to help but, what could I do? In the end, he wasn’t compelled to testify, and Michael Jackson walked out of court a free man, but to borrow a phrase, he was “a dead man walking.”
At the time, California-based Sky News asked me where I saw Michael in five years. My response: “Dead.”
That was because Michael’s family had repeatedly told me that he was heavily using drugs.
Each time I saw Michael, it seemed to have confirmed their fears, although when he died four years after the trial ended, the medical examiner didn’t find any illegal drugs in his system.
During one of my visits to Neverland Ranch, Michael’s famous home, I remember seeing a guest book that he wanted every visitor to sign, and among the famous names was O.J. Simpson.
Simpson’s criminal trial in 1995 was an example of “wrong place, wrong time.” Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti decided to try Simpson in Los Angeles instead of Santa Monica where the crime took place.
Garcetti, in my mind, wanted a jury of blacks and other minorities to find O.J. guilty. However, Garcetti later explained to me that he asked for the venue change for the trial because the Santa Monica courthouse wasn’t large enough to accommodate the number of media and others covering and attending the trial. Imagine that, the media decides where justice takes place.
O.J., in my view, got away with murder.
He was found liable by a civil jury and ordered to pay $33 million (equivalent to $55.5 in 2019).
Even though he was acquitted of the murder charges (perhaps becauseof the fact that he was acquitted), Simpson never fully appreciated the zeal to see him behind bars — for any reason — held and maintained by a large percentage of the American public. As a result of that zeal and arguably, his own poor judgement, he served nearly a decade in prison for attempting to steal memorabilia that he argued actually belonged to him.
In 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping when he and a group of other men entered a room at the Palace Station Hotel Casino and took sports memorabilia at gunpoint.
While Simpson admitted to taking the items, which were previously stolen from him, he denied breaking into the hotel room and also denied that he or anyone else was armed.
Simpson was arrested along with three other men and charged with multiple felony accounts. Eventually, all three of Simpson’s co-defendants plea-bargained with the prosecutors in exchange for reduced sentences and an agreement to testify against Simpson at trial that guns were used in the robbery.
For more behind-the-scenes insights into the legal sagas of Cosby, Simpson and Jackson, read my book.
Click herefor more information.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BlackPressUSA.com or the National Newspaper Publishers Association
#NNPA BlackPress
Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

By Lauren Burke
By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.
The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.
“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.
“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

#NNPA BlackPress
Congressional Black Caucus Challenges Target on Diversity
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
Target is grappling with worsening financial and reputational fallout as the national selective buying and public education program launched by the Black Press of America and other national and local leaders continues to erode the retailer’s sales and foot traffic. But a recent meeting that the retailer intended to keep quiet between CEO Brian Cornell and members of the Congressional Black Caucus Diversity Task Force was publicly reported after the Black Press discovered the session, and the CBC later put Target on blast.
“The Congressional Black Caucus met with the leadership of the Target Corporation on Capitol Hill to directly address deep concerns about the impact of the company’s unconscionable decision to end a number of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,” CBC Chair Yvette Clarke stated. “Like many of the coalition leaders and partner organizations that have chosen to boycott their stores across the country, we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted,” Congresswoman emphasized. “Black consumers contribute overwhelmingly to our economy and the Target Corporation’s bottom line. Our communities deserve to shop at businesses that publicly share our values without sacrificing our dignity. It is no longer acceptable to deliver promises to our communities in private without also demonstrating those values publicly.”
Lauren Burke, Capitol Hill correspondent for Black Press of America, was present when Target CEO Cornell and a contingent of Target officials arrived at the U.S. Capitol last month. “It’s always helpful to have meetings like this and get some candid feedback and continue to evolve our thinking,” Cornell told Burke as he exited the meeting. And walked down a long hallway in the Cannon House Office Building. “We look forward to follow-up conversations,” he stated. When asked if the issue of the ongoing boycott was discussed, Cornell’s response was, “That was not a big area of focus — we’re focused on running a great business each and every day. Take care of our teams. Take care of the guests who shop with us and do the right things in our communities.”
A national public education campaign on Target, spearheaded by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the NNPA’s board of directors, and with other national African American leaders, has combined consumer education efforts with a call for selective buying. The NNPA is a trade association that represents the more than 220 African American-owned newspapers and media companies known as the Black Press of America, the voice of 50 million African Americans across the nation. The coalition has requested that Target restore and expand its stated commitment to do business with local community-owned businesses inclusive of the Black Press of America, and to significantly increase investment in Black-owned businesses and media, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU, Black-owned Banks, national Black Church denominations, and grassroots and local organizations committed to improving the quality of life of all Americans, and especially those from underserved communities. According to Target’s latest earnings report, net sales for the first quarter of 2025 fell 2.8 percent to $23.85 billion compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales dropped 3.8 percent, and in-store foot traffic slid 5.7 percent.
Shares of Target have also struggled under the pressure. The company’s stock traded around $103.85 early Wednesday afternoon, down significantly from roughly $145 before the controversy escalated. Analysts note that Target has lost more than $12 billion in market value since the beginning of the year. “We will continue to inform and to mobilize Black consumers in every state in the United States,” Chavis said. “Target today has a profound opportunity to respond with respect and restorative commitment.”
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