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OP-ED: Overturning Roe v. Wade Weakens Our Union

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Those seeking to deny basic rights rarely stop halfway. States are already proposing to legally sanction trips to other states for abortions. The enactment of these laws—which I believe to be blatantly unconstitutional, but do not trust the current Supreme Court to agree—would force women to choose between living in certain states and access to legal abortion anywhere. Given that nearly one in four American women have an abortion in their lifetimes, I fear deaths and horrific outcomes to many pregnancies and maybe another Great Migration.
The post OP-ED: Overturning Roe v. Wade Weakens Our Union appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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4 years ago

July 11, 2022

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By The Honorable James E. Clyburn (D-SC), House Majority Whip

The statement of purpose in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution says, “in order to create a more perfect Union.” While I often focus on the words “more perfect,” equally important is the word “Union.” I fear that the Supreme Court’s recent opinion overturning Roe v. Wade is a step back from that pursuit and significantly weakens our Union.

Ill-advised Supreme Court decisions have torn our Union asunder in the past. And anything that has happened before can happen again. The Supreme Court’s decisions in Citizens United and Shelby County started the most recent erosion of our constitutional rights and democratic values, and its decision in the Dobbs case strips away another long-held right. The Court is reverting to a dark chapter in its history and risks thrusting our Union down another dark path.

During the Reconstruction era immediately after the Civil War, our Union made significant progress toward greater perfection through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and congressional action to enforce their protections. These efforts granted more Americans a greater ability, as the Supreme Court observed with respect to abortion rights more than a century later in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, “to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation.”

Yet the Supreme Court of that time issued decisions that contributed to halting this progress in its tracks, and which aided and abetted the return to power of Confederates and their white supremacist governing ideology—and the ultimate rise of the Jim Crow era. In the Slaughterhouse Cases and Bradwell v. Illinois in 1873, the Court severely limited the privileges and immunities clause of the 14th Amendment, stripping this constitutional source of rights from those Americans whose privileges and immunities were under threat. In United States v. Cruikshank in 1876, the Court exonerated members of a white supremacist mob that had perpetrated a local insurrection, holding that Congress could not protect Americans against violations of their constitutional rights by non-government actors, no matter how organized or how violent.

The Court’s endorsement of white supremacy was sealed with Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, upholding the establishment of second-class citizenship with its “separate but equal” holding. The Court followed with Giles v. Harris in 1903, upholding Jim Crow voter suppression schemes that were disenfranchising African American voters throughout the South, rendering the 15th Amendment a dead letter for more than 60 years.

The effects of these decisions were that the rights of African Americans—the right to vote, the right to equal education, the right to be protected by law from deadly violence, the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”—were dependent upon the states in which they lived. This states’ rights approach was highly detrimental to our Union and lethal to thousands of Blacks and other minorities.

Under this oppressive reality, the Great Migration ensued, where millions of African Americans moved north searching for dignity and greater opportunity. For them, a country in which they had to migrate from one part to another for basic rights—though circumstances at their destinations were far from perfect—was no union at all.

This type of disunion is beginning to repeat itself. Already, the Supreme Court’s decisions over the past decade in Shelby County (which resulted in states and localities no longer needing to have voting law changes “precleared” by the Justice Department), Rucho (which gave a green light to partisan gerrymandering), and Brnovich (which increased the difficulty of protecting the right to vote under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act) are enabling stark divergences in democratic procedures from state to state, with some states enacting significant barriers to electoral participation and accountability.

This creeping disunion is being exacerbated with the overturing of abortion rights in many states. As a result of the Supreme Court’s green lighting of voter suppression and partisan gerrymandering, this backsliding may not be limited to states where a majority of voters support candidates who favor abortion bans. When this happens, women in many states—disproportionately Southern states—will be forced to travel elsewhere for abortion care. That will be a grave imperfection in our Union. And this option may not even be feasible for many low-income women, and they will find themselves in wrenching situations with no good options.

Those seeking to deny basic rights rarely stop halfway. States are already proposing to legally sanction trips to other states for abortions. The enactment of these laws—which I believe to be blatantly unconstitutional, but do not trust the current Supreme Court to agree—would force women to choose between living in certain states and access to legal abortion anywhere. Given that nearly one in four American women have an abortion in their lifetimes, I fear deaths and horrific outcomes to many pregnancies and maybe another Great Migration.

There is no reason to believe the anti-choice zealots would stop there. Members of Congress are already discussing a national ban on abortion. The most extreme seek a constitutional ban. Some may say they don’t foresee these bans happening, and they may be right. But I don’t trust the right-wing, anti-abortion extremists to stop until the right to legal abortion has been eliminated.

And as Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion warned, those seeking to outlaw abortion won’t stop there. The Republican platform calls for overturning Obergefell, which guarantees the right of same-sex couples to marry. Other rights like contraception, intimate activity between consenting adults, and even interracial marriage could also be at risk. If this Republican Party is given the power to pass laws and appoint judges, rights that many thought were safe will be in jeopardy.

Forming a more perfect Union in a diverse society like ours cannot be achieved through mandated conformity—that is a recipe for rupture, not cohesion. I have often observed that none of us is any more or any less than our experiences allow us to be. Some Americans’ experiences have led them to the conclusion that abortion is morally acceptable, while the experiences of others have led them to the opposite conclusion.

The best way to form a more perfect Union is to leave decisions regarding abortions to those who are by far the best suited to make them: pregnant women. The Court’s decision in Dobbs will go down in history with the Slaughterhouse Cases, Bradwell, Cruikshank, Plessy, and Giles as grave errors that took us further away from a more perfect Union. I urge my congressional colleagues and state legislators to learn from our history and change course before our nation is torn apart once again.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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