Month: June 2023

CNN: “In most any other year, Nashville Pride looks and feels like other Pride celebrations in major cities: There are sweaty masses of starry-eyed revelers, drinking in the infectious joy. There are floats and concerts with splashy corporate sponsorships and packed gay bars where famous drag queens and local performers share the stage. And, naturally,…

Commercial Appeal: ““What I’ve learned these last few weeks is that democracy is incredibly fragile,” said Bassow, a senior at Nashville’s Hume-Fogg High School, as he cheered Pearson’s reinstatement in the shadow of the Capitol building.  “But because of the power of the people,” he added, “we were able to fix this.”  Less certain, the…

Political Wire: “Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, the wife of Attorney General Ken Paxton, is barred from voting in the impeachment trial that could lead to her husband’s permanent removal from office, the Republican-controlled Senate decided Wednesday,” the AP reports. “The rule settles a question that has loomed over the Texas Capitol since Ken Paxton last month…

TX Observer: “The history of Texas, in the way it is taught, researched, and presented to the public, has reached a crisis point. Since 1897, the principal organization in the presentation, teaching, and researching of Texas history has been the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). For 126 years, the TSHA has welcomed academics, lay historians, and anyone…

AR Times: “Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Robin Wynne has died, a spokesman for the court announced Thursday morning. A cause of death was not announced.  His death leaves a vacancy on the seven-member court, and Gov. Sarah Sanders will appoint a replacement to fill the seat until an election can be held. The state’s next judicial elections are…

NY Times: “In Charleston Harbor, where the initiating shots of the Civil War were fired — Fort Sumter is distantly visible — I’m on the site of a former shipping pier known as Gadsden’s Wharf. Here, in the 18th and early 19th century, ships carrying tens of thousands of enslaved Black Americans deposited their human cargo,…

The Daily Beast: “Juneteenth doesn’t just celebrate the end of nearly 250 years of Black chattel slavery—a brutal institution of forced labor, sexual abuse and exploitation, and wanton violence. The day also celebrates the defeat of the Confederacy, a traitorous entity founded on the cornerstone belief of white supremacy and perpetual Black subjugation, as famously declared by Confederate Vice…

AR Times: “In 2021, Arkansas became the first state in the nation to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Little Rock struck down that 2021 ban, ensuring the state’s transgender young people can continue to receive the medical treatments they need. U.S. District Judge James Moody determined Arkansas’s law to ban…

AL Political Reporter: “The Democratic National Committee voted Saturday to investigate the Alabama Democratic Party over recent bylaws changes – a response to a complaint filed by ADP vice-chair Tabitha Isner and more than 40 executive committee members to the elimination of several minority caucuses.  Members of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which will…

AP: “Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton said Monday she will “carry out my duties” ahead of the historic impeachment trial of her husband, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, but did not outright say whether or not she will recuse herself on a vote to remove him from office. Breaking weeks of public silence since her husband was impeached in…