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New York City Council Ignoring ‘Unintended Consequences’ in Discussing Menthol Ban

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “So, here we are proposing another policy that will put the police front and center in enforcing that policy and it’s going to be enforced in communities of color, our poor and black communities and this doesn’t make sense,” said Major Neill Franklin, the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition – or LEAP.

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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The New York City Council’s Committee on Health has scheduled a Wednesday, Jan. 30, session to discuss a plan to ban menthol and flavored cigarettes.

It’s a move that many in the civil rights community, black law enforcement and other community activists and advocates said will lead to countless unintended consequences. Particularly, opponents of such a ban argue that it would lead to more adversarial contact between law enforcement and the African American community.

“Here we are moving forward before we do a proper assessing of the potential outcome from this type of [law],” said Major Neill Franklin, the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition – or LEAP.

The policy is especially bad in the Big Apple where “we still with stop and frisk with people of color,” said Franklin, a more than 34-year law enforcement veteran of the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Department.

“So, here we are proposing another policy that will put the police front and center in enforcing that policy and it’s going to be enforced in communities of color, our poor and black communities and this doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Opponents also said that a menthol ban would create criminal enterprises and would not help curb smoking, particularly when many would simply turn to either buying from smugglers or using flavored vaping products which New York City Council also seeks to prohibit.

“First and foremost, this has a disparate impact on communities of color and if allowed to go through the policy would do more to damage police relations than it would help,” said Jiles Ship, president of the North New Jersey Chapter of the National Organization of Blacks Law Enforcement Executives – or NOBLE.

“It will also be an additional drain on resources that can be better utilized and this could create a pretext for law enforcement interaction that can eventually lead to encounters that results in the arrests of individuals who would feel that their civil rights are violated – and, I’m curious as to whether that aspect has been challenged or examined,” Ship said.

Speaking to the Black Press at the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) MidWinter Training Conference last week in Orlando, Civil Rights Attorney Benjamin L. Crump said a ban on menthol cigarettes would be another “tool for law enforcement to target African Americans.”

Rev. Al Sharpton has also spoken out against a menthol ban.

The New York City proposal also drew a sharp rebuke from RAI Reynolds American this week.

“Recent news reports have highlighted that illegal contraband already outnumbers legal cigarettes sales in New York,” said Reynolds American Spokesman Michael Shannon.
“And, we believe this proposal would only make it worse by driving products deeper into a dangerous and unregulated illegal market with many unintended consequences for local communities and law enforcement,” Shannon said.

Late last year, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would seek a ban on the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes.

The announcement came as the agency released a detailed plan to also restrict the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes.

The agency also noted that it also would seek to ban flavored cigars.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb claimed the moves are aimed at fighting smoking among young people because flavored e-cigarettes, menthol-flavored tobacco cigarettes and flavored cigars are thought as popular among teenagers.

“The proposal before the New York City Council to ban menthol cigarettes is an example of well-intention elected officials who are ignoring unintended consequences of a racially discriminatory public policy,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA, a trade organization representing the 215 African American owned newspapers and media companies around the country.

“Any measure that will put African American young men or women in harm’s way with law enforcement is bad public policy,” Chavis said.

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#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.

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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.

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#NNPA BlackPress

WATCH: NNPA Publishers Pivot To Survive

7.2.25 via NBC 4 Washington

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7.2.25 via NBC 4 Washington

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9oZc5Sz0jQQ&feature=oembed

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#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

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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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