Amber Ruffin, Trump, White House Correspondents' Dinner

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

March 30, 2025

Comedian Amber Ruffin Dropped From White House Correspondents’ Dinner Lineup

Trump is expected to skip the annual event.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has formally canceled the performance of comedienne Amber Ruffin as Trump remains a likely no-show at the April 26 event.

The WHCA confirmed it will forego the longtime tradition of featuring a comedian at the dinner. The association’s president, Eugene Daniels, stated that the board “unanimously” decided to cancel Ruffin’s appearance. According to NPR, he noted its desire not to touch on the “politics of division.”

“At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division, but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists,” wrote Daniels in a statement emailed to the organization’s members March 29.

However, this move sharply differs from Daniels’ original stance on keeping Ruffin as the featured comedian. He once referred to the talk show host as a “perfect fit” for the first White House Correspondent’s dinner under Trump’s second term.

“When I began to think about what entertainer would be a perfect fit for the dinner this year, Amber was immediately at the top of my list,” shared Daniels initially. “She has the ability to walk the line between blistering commentary and humor, all while provoking her audience to think about the important issues of the day. I’m thrilled and honored she said yes.”

Ruffin is an acclaimed comedian known for her past eponymously-named late-night talk show. The New York Times Best-selling author is also a writer for “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”

The Correspondent’s Dinner has taken place since 1921, with most U.S. Presidents attending as a sign of respect and camaraderie with the press. However, Trump has never attended the high-profile event. The show also went on without a comedic performer during his first term in 2019.

Trump intends to keep with his tradition of playing hooky for the dinner. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also stated her intentions not to attend. Ruffin has yet to comment on her canceled appearance.

The move also comes as the Trump administration overrode the WHCA’s authority over which journalists cover the White House. The WHCA released its response to the change that “tears at the independence of a free press.”

“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps…But the WHCA will never stop advocating for comprehensive access, full transparency, and the right of the American public to read, listen to, and watch reports from the White House, delivered without fear or favor.”

How or if the WHCA intends to replace Ruffin’s appearance remains unknown.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters , National Council Of Negro Women , s 90 Years, Gala

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

March 30, 2025

Maxine Waters Triggers Elon Musk Over Comments About DOGE And Deporting Melania Trump

Musk made his ominous threat after Waters critiqued him during a recent rally in Los Angeles.

Rep. Maxine Waters’s comments seemingly triggered Elon Musk. The California Congresswoman spoke against the head of DOGE and even first lady Melania Trump.

According to The Root, Musk reacted after Waters made remarks during a rally in Los Angeles over the weekend. Waters condemned Musk’s actions as the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). She also stated that his billionaire status does not scare anyone.

“We don’t care how much money you have, Elon, we don’t give a damn about DOGE [the Department of Government Efficiency],” she asserted. “We are going to defend the Constitution.”

However, Musk cryptically alluded to Waters’ crimes against the Constitution. In a post to X quoting a Fox News article about her “anti-DOGE tirade,” Musk made his own claims against the longtime politician.

At some point, the many crimes of Maxine Waters will catch up to her https://t.co/qNTUhsAUlJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2025

Before Waters took aim at Musk, the 86-year-old commented on Melania Trump’s controversial citizenship. Her jab at the first lady comes as Trump’s policies include an expansive immigration crackdown. The President hopes to drive the largest deportation effort in U.S. history.

“When he [Trump] talks about birthright [citizenship], and he’s going to undo the fact that the Constitution allows those who are born here, even if the parents are undocumented, they have a right to stay in America,” she began at the rally.

Waters added, “We don’t know whether or not [Melania’s] parents were documented. And maybe we better just take a look. If he wants to start looking so closely to find those who were born here and their parents were undocumented, maybe he ought to first look at Melania.” According to the U.S. Embassy, Melania moved to the U.S. from Slovenia in the 1990s for her modeling career.

She only became an American citizen in 2006 after marrying Trump, with her parents securing their citizenship in 2018 during his first presidential term. However, her status remains unaffected by Trump’s current immigration policies. Despite this, the issue still has struck a nerve with more liberal-leaning politicians.

While it is unclear if Musk intends to lead the charge against Waters or what her “crimes” actually are, his threatening words and accompanying power within the White House have left concerns about her safety.

Waters, known for her outspokenness in Congress, is likely unfazed by Musk’s ominous response to her critiques.

RECENT CONTENT: Maxine Waters Accuses Elon Musk Of Dubious Dealings, ‘With His High Technology A**’

by Daniel Johnson

March 30, 2025

Cornell Student Momodou Taal’s Request To End His Deportation Denied By U.S. District Judge

His visa was revoked after he participated in a pro-Palestine protest.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Coombe refused to prevent the deportation of Momodou Taal, a British-Gambian Ph.D. student at Cornell University, whose visa was revoked after he participated in pro-Palestine protests on March 26.

According to The Associated Press, Coombe also declined to halt the enforcement of two executive orders that are largely responsible for a crackdown on international students involved in activism against the genocide of Palestinians perpetuated by the Israeli government, funded by American taxpayer dollars.

According to The New York Times, Taal argued during the hearing that he has already been made a prisoner, and as its reporting indicates, this ruling could raise the chances of a potential deportation or detention.

“This process is imminently hanging over me, and it has impacted every aspect of my life. I feel like a prisoner already, although all I have done is exercise my rights,” Taal wrote in court documents.

The federal government in general, and Donald Trump in particular, argued that the pro-Palestine demonstrations and protests were pro-terrorist, antisemitic, and anti-American.

In a post to his social media accounts on March 10, Trump wrote, “We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”

However, according to Eliza Salamon, a Jewish 2024 graduate of Cornell who also participated in the protests, accusations of antisemitism against Taal are false.

“I’ve always seen Momodou treat everyone with the utmost respect, and I think it’s truly awful that these false accusations of antisemitism are being weaponized,” Salamon told the Times.

In court, Eric T. Lee, a lawyer representing Taal, made the case that the potential deportations of Taal and others were unconstitutional.

“There’s nothing in the Immigration and Nationality Act that makes someone deportable for attending a protest,” Lee said during a court hearing on March 25. “What we’re asking this court to do is strike down these orders. They’re plainly unconstitutional.”

Despite this argument, Coombe decided that Lee and the rest of Taal’s lawyers did not clearly establish whether she had the authority or jurisdiction to halt deportations, which are handled by immigration courts.

She also said in a ruling that Taal did not meet the high bar for the temporary restraining order he was seeking or adequately prove that his rights were under assault.

“Jurisdictional issues aside, Plaintiffs Ngũgĩ and Parasurama have not established that there is an imminent or ongoing threat to their constitutional rights that could be appropriately remedied by the requested restraints,” Coombe wrote.

“Any future harm alleged in their affidavits appears to be speculative and even moot because of the revocation of Taal’s visa,” the judge added in her ruling.

As Taal previously told The Hill, he has a much different idea of what his future harms could resemble.

“And given how they (the government) went after Mahmoud (Khalil), who has a similar fact pattern, I didn’t want to be a sitting duck for eventually myself or other international students. So, I found the lawsuit as a form of protection seeking national injunction to challenge the constitutionality of these executive orders,” Taal told the outlet.

FCC Chair Targets Disney: Investigation Launched Into Company’s DEI Practices

by Daniel Johnson

March 30, 2025

FCC Chair Targets Disney: Investigation Launched Into Company’s DEI Practices

Although Disney revised its DEI efforts in February, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a letter he was not satisfied with the changes.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr indicated on March 28 that he would be investigating whether Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices violate the FCC’s equal employment opportunity regulations via a letter he sent to the company outlining his concerns.

According to Deadline, Carr sent a letter to Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, announcing his investigation on the grounds that Disney had not done enough to appease him regarding its DEI practices.

“While I have seen reports that Disney recently walked back some of its DEI programs, significant concerns remain,” Carr informed Iger in the letter.

Carr indicated that the FCC has authority due to ABC’s status (ABC is owned by Disney) as a regulated entity, and according to Carr, the rules of the FCC and the Communications Act establish that regulated companies are prohibited “from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age or gender.”

Although Disney revised its DEI efforts in February, focusing more intently on belonging through a talent strategy factor, which a company memo says assesses “how leaders uphold our company values, incorporate different perspectives to drive business success, cultivate an environment where all employees can thrive, and sustain a robust pipeline to ensure long-term organizational strength,” this was not enough to avoid an investigation from Carr, which he hinted at in a similar memo to Comcast in February.

However, Anna Gomez, one of only two Democrats on the FCC and its de-facto voice of resistance, indicated in remarks to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that she believes Carr is overstepping his authority as FCC chair during his investigations.

Gomez told the chamber that she believes “private businesses all over the country are under attack” and urged businesses “not to stay silent” before expanding on those sentiments further.

“Government should have no business trying to roll back these efforts. (DEI) It is not only detrimental to small businesses and companies that know exactly what their customers want, it is also dangerous.” Gomez told the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Many of you are the children of parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents who escaped countries where aggressive government intervention in the private sector and government censorship led to disastrous consequences.”

Carr has largely done Trump’s bidding, in some cases going well beyond his directives, which, as The Hollywood Reporter indicated, are largely derived from a Project 2025 chapter Carr authored. This chapter hints at the suppression of the national media and his indications that the American news media, in general, is untrustworthy, a point he made to Iger in another letter he sent to the CEO in December.

According to Victor Pickard, a professor of media policy and political economy at Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication, the outlet’s description of Carr as “off the leash” is apt.

Furthermore, Jessica J. González, the co-CEO of Free Press, a progressive Washington D.C.-based group focused on media regulation reform, indicated that Carr’s tactics are concerning.

“I think Brendan Carr’s objective is not unlike Viktor Orbán’s in Hungary. There’s a much broader play to quash the independence of media systems,” González said.

According to González, Carr “is more dangerous” than Donald Trump or Elon Musk.

Meanwhile, Pickard cited Carr and Trump’s proclivity to engage in costly lawsuits against national media outlets as a cause for concern.

“The fear of getting dragged into something expensive is what does the trick. Just knowing they could attract attention is what keeps them supine and not asking tough questions. It keeps them meek. I think we should be very scared,” Pickard said.

by Daniel Johnson

March 30, 2025

Critics Slam Trump’s Attacks On Smithsonian Over ‘Divisive, Race-Centered Ideology’

Ibram X. Kendi, an anti-racist and best-selling author, referred to the sentiments expressed in Trump’s executive order as a 'literal attack on Black America itself'

On March 27, Donald Trump issued yet another executive order, this one entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which ironically accuses the Smithsonian Institution in general, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in particular, of trying to rewrite the history of the United States of America.

According to The Associated Press, this executive order was widely and sharply criticized by several Black civil rights advocates and historians as well as political figures as an attempt to whitewash and sanitize history.

Trump just made an executive order that targets the Smithsonian Museum of African-American Culture and History because it says race is invented.

Go visit now while you can. JD Vance is also on the board. pic.twitter.com/C22mEM3u1D
— Zion (@feelmyhelpcomin) March 28, 2025

First Trump removes any reference of diversity from the present — now he’s trying to remove it from our history.

Let me be PERFECTLY clear— you cannot erase our past and you cannot stop us from fulfilling our future. https://t.co/SaYMACVC2V
— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) March 28, 2025

Can we stop BSing ourselves with the pretense that any of this is ok. It is not. It is unhealthy for ALL of us.
Today, Trump signs another EO this time trying to rewrite history claiming the @smithsonian has “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” you…
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) March 28, 2025

One of many critics, Morehouse College professor and historian Clarissa Myrick-Harris, told the AP that Trump wants to deny the actual history of the United States of America.

“It seems like we’re headed in the direction where there’s even an attempt to deny that the institution of slavery even existed, or that Jim Crow laws and segregation and racial violence against Black communities, Black families, Black individuals even occurred,” Myrick-Harris said.

Ibram X. Kendi, an anti-racist and bestselling author, took it a step further than Myrick-Harris, referring to the sentiments expressed in Trump’s executive order as a “literal attack on Black America itself,” and furthermore, “The Black Smithsonian, as it is affectionately called, is indeed one of the heartbeats of Black America,” and “also one of the heartbeats” of the United States itself.

Trump’s executive order, much like a brief from America First Legal, argues that the country is now subject to a “corrosive…divisive, race-centered ideology,” which has “reconstructed” America “as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”

The order also gives Vice President J.D. Vance the power to review all properties, programs, and presentations to stop programs that “degrade shared American values” or otherwise “divide Americans based on race,” which in this context can reasonably be inferred to mean anything that paints white people in a negative light, otherwise known as American history.

Kendi pointed to this in an additional comment, referring to a plan to starve out smaller museums, which, in a similar fashion to the NMAAHC, focuses on the experiences of Black Americans, museums such as San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora, The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery, Alabama, and the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.

“To me, that’s part of the plan, to starve these institutions that are already starving of resources so that the only institutions that are telling America’s history are actually only telling political propaganda,” Kendi said.

According to Robyn Autry, a sociology professor and director of the Center for Public Life at Wesleyan University and the author of “Desegregating the Past: The Public Life of Memory in the U.S. and South Africa,” Trump and his administration are engaging in the federal censorship of American history.

As Autry writes in an op-ed for MSNBC, “The threat to museums such as The National Museum of African-American History and Culture is real. But even more sinister is the administration’s rejection of race as a ‘social construct,’ which is nothing short of an expression of a belief in racial purity and white supremacy.”

Autry concluded, “There’s a reason people in Trump’s administration seem more bothered by the idea of equity than diversity or inclusion: They don’t seem to think we’re equal and they’re going after all content that suggests we are. They believe there is a natural order of human beings — a biologically rigid system of race — that puts them at the top. And they want to force our most celebrated historical institutions to back them up.”

Jess Hilarious, Host, Breakfast Club, Loren LoRosa

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

March 29, 2025

Jess Hilarious And Loren LoRosa Mock On-Air Drama With ‘The Job Is Mine’ Parody

Jess Hilarious and Loren LoRosa are making peace after their Breakfast Club drama.

The comedy and sarcasm were in full effect as Jess Hilarious and Loren LoRosa recorded a parody of “The Boy Is Mine,” playfully competing for the third co-hosting spot on The Breakfast Club.

A week after their heated on-air debate over who the true third co-host is, Jess Hilarious and LoRosa tackled the speculation with a comedic spoof. The Breakfast Club released the parody video on March 28, showing the two radio personalities playfully recreating Brandy and Monica’s iconic hit, “The Boy Is Mine.”

”They had about enough, it’s not hard to see the job is mine. I’m sorry that you seem to be confused. That seat belongs to me, the job is mine,” Jess and Loren belted out on the hook.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Breakfast Club (@breakfastclubam)

Brandy and Monica’s signature verses were swapped out, and Jess and Loren took turns pleading their case for why they deserved the co-hosting gig.

”I think it’s time we got this straight. Sat and talk face to face. There is no way you could mistake this for your job are you insane,” Jess sings.

”See I tried to hesitate, I didn’t want to say what they told me, they said without me here to explain the latest news they wouldn’t stay,” Loren sang in response.

The playful parody addressed the buzz surrounding last week’s on-air clash, where Jess called out Loren for her frustration over her continued presence on the morning show after returning from maternity leave. After hashing things out on air, Loren later announced her new solo show with iHeartMedia and Charlamagne tha God’s Black Effect Podcast Network.

Fans applauded the spoof song and Jess and Loren for resolving what started as a problematic situation.

”This is legendary marketing,” one fan wrote.

”You know what?! I ain’t mad at it. My type of carrying on! Marketing genius,” added another user.

by Mary Spiller

March 29, 2025

ATL Rapper Young Scooter Dies At 39

Atlanta’s Fulton County medical examiner’s office is conducting an autopsy to confirm Young Scooter's cause of death.

Young Scooter, an Atlanta rapper best known for being signed to Future and Waka Flocka Flame record labels, died on his birthday at 39. He died in his hometown after suffering a severe leg injury while fleeing from police officers and jumping fences.

Born Kenneth Edward Bailey, Young Scooter was confirmed deceased by Atlanta’s Fulton County medical examiner’s office, according to Variety.

Atlanta police explained in a statement on March 28 that officers responded to shots being fired at a residence on William NY Drive SE and a woman in distress.

Andrew Smith, the Atlanta police lieutenant, said, “Once officers arrived they knocked on the door. A male opened the door and immediately shut the door on the officers.”

The officers then began searching for the suspect, who at the time was not named as Scooter.

Smith continued, “During the process of establishing the perimeter, two males fled out of the rear of the house. One male returned into the house. The other male jumped two fences as he was fleeing. When officers located him on the other side of the fence, he [Scooter] appeared to have suffered an injury to his leg.”

“Just to be very clear, the injury that was sustained was not via the officers on the scene. It was when the male was fleeing,” He reiterated.

According to the medical examiner’s report, Scooter was transported to the Grady Marcus Trauma Center and subsequently died from his injuries upon arrival.

An autopsy for Scooter’s official cause of death is still in the works, but officers believe it was a product of his leg injury obtained while jumping the fence.

Young Scooter broke into the rap scene in the 2010s as a “consistent presence” in the Atlanta area. He worked closely with other rappers like Future and Young Thug, Juicy J, Kodak Black, and Rick Ross.

Scooter’s latest project, titled Trap’s Last Hope, was released last March.

RELATED CONTENT: ‘Walk It Out’ Hitmaker DJ Unk Dies At 43

by Mary Spiller

March 29, 2025

Trump Pardons Ozy Media Co-Founder Carlos Watson

Watson's sentence was commuted just hours before he was ordered to surrender for his 10 year prison sentence.

According to a White House official, on March 28, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson. The act was finalized just hours before Watson was set to head to prison for an almost 10-year sentence for his role in a financial conspiracy and fraud case.

Watson was convicted and sentenced to prison last year on account of his startup company, and he was ordered to surrender to prison on March 28 officially. The commutation narrowly stopped it.

Watson’s company, Ozy Media, was founded in 2013 and was supposed to offer media on politics and culture with a focus on minority voices. However, it shut down in the fall of 2021 after The New York Times asked questions about the media organization’s claims of having millions of viewers and readers. The NYT also pointed out that there were hints of securities fraud behind the scenes at Ozy Media.

Soon after, in February 2023, Watson was arrested when two of Ozy Media’s top executives pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

Watson reportedly deceived the company’s investors by intentionally inflating revenue numbers for Ozy. Prosecutors stated that Watson pretended to have finalized large deals and that a company co-founder even posed as a YouTube executive on a phone call with potential investors.

At Watson’s sentencing, then-Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said, “Watson was a con man who told lie upon lie upon lie to deceive investors into buying stock in his company.”

“Ozy Media collapsed under the weight of Watson’s dishonest schemes,” Peace said.

U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee added during sentencing, “The quantum of dishonesty in this case is exceptional.”

Watson has maintained that his treatment is unfair and implied that he’s being targeted because he’s Black and that his charges are a case of “selective prosecution.”

“I made mistakes. I’m very, very sorry that people are hurt, myself included, but I don’t think it’s fair,” Watson stated.

Watson’s commuted sentence is one in a series of cases that Trump has used his presidential jurisdiction to alter. The White House revealed several other pardons alongside Watson’s, including the three entrepreneurs who founded and run the cryptocurrency exchange BITMEX. The company was ordered to pay $100 million earlier this year after Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed “willfully flouted U.S. anti-money laundering laws to boost revenue.”

Hayes, Delo, and Reed pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failing to “maintain anti-money laundering and know-your-customer programs.” Prosecutors stated that the co-founders operated BITMEX exclusively as a “money laundering platform.”

Trump also pardoned them alongside Watson this week.

Kim Scott, Cleveland, City Planner, Felony Theft, Falsifying Documents

by Mary Spiller

March 29, 2025

New Orleans Chef Demietriek Scott Indicted In COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme

Chef Scott was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, theft of government funds, and conspiracy to commit theft of government funds.

Demietriek Scott, a New Orleans chef who was once reported missing by his family, has been indicted on a federal case of wire fraud and theft charges about an allegedly fake childcare scheme alongside his co-conspirator, Romney Manuel.

Scott, who’s known professionally as “Chef Scott,” was indicted on several counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, theft of government funds, and conspiracy to commit theft of government funds.

WDSU reports that the fake childcare plot allegedly began in 2020 when a co-conspirator, Romney Manuel, began coaching Scott on how to receive COVID-19 relief aid through the Louisiana Department of Education,

Manuel, a program consultant from the LDE, engaged in sending emails back and forth with Scott. The emails contained content on how he could apply for the relief funds by setting up a fake childcare center called Nanny’s Learning and using it for the request. Manuel showed Scott how to set up an email address for the business and set up deposits with his bank for the relief funds.

According to the indictment, Scott and Manuel received over $74,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, allegedly as fake childcare providers.

The pair’s scheme was unearthed after one of Manuel’s co-workers noticed an address discrepancy in March 2021, realizing that a different childcare center was using the same address as Nanny’s Learning.

Manuel and Scott were arrested in June 2021 but posted bond and were released.

As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, Scott went missing for a while in June 2023, and his family falsely reported that his body had been found on the side of a bridge along France Road.

After being missing for two weeks, Scott returned home. He reported that he was shocked that his family reported him as missing, as he was just taking time for himself.

Although he didn’t notify anyone that he would be going off the grid, he said he appreciated everyone’s concern for him.

Scott said at the time, “I’ve been around, I’ve been around. I essentially just needed some time for myself…Life caves in on you sometimes, and that’s just what happened. I appreciate [the concern]. I didn’t know that was a thing.”

Chef Scott was born in the Seventh Ward and owns a food truck called Chef Scott’s Creole BBQ.

RECENT CONTENT: Former Rep. Cori Bush’s Husband Charged With Wire Fraud

by Daniel Johnson

March 29, 2025

Sgt. Joe Harris, Member Of U.S. Army’s First All-Black Parachute Infantry Battalion, Dies At 108

He was one of the last surviving members of the all-Black 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, nicknamed the Triple Nickels.

Sgt. Joe Harris, who was believed to be the oldest surviving World War II paratrooper as well as a member of the U.S. Army’s first all-Black parachute infantry battalion, died on March 15 in a Los Angeles hospital, surrounded by his family. Harris was 108.

As his grandson, Ashton Pittman, told The Associated Press, his grandfather was a very loving man and insisted that his family carry that love on.

“He was a very loving, loving, loving man,” Pittman told the news agency. “That was one of the things that he was very strict upon was loving one another.”

Harris, one of the last surviving members of the all-Black 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, nicknamed the Triple Nickels, was responsible for protecting the United States from Japanese balloon bombs during World War II.

According to Robert L. Bartlett, a retired Eastern Washington University professor specializing in the battalion’s history, the Japanese launched those balloon bombs into the jet stream, aiming for them to reach the U.S. mainland, detonate, and ignite fires.

During the period Harris and his squadmates served in the military, they often faced racism, expressed through their being barred from the base commissary or officer’s clubs unless they were set aside for Black servicemen.

While Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the American president during most of World War II, faced pressure to put segregated units in combat, Harris’ unit was sent to the West Coast to fight fires until they were called into combat.

As historian Matthew Delmont, the author of the book Half American, told NPR in 2022, there was no justifiable reason for the armed services to remain segregated during World War II; it was only done to maintain an unjust system of racial prejudice.

“There was no strategic or tactical reason to do it,” Delmont told the outlet. “The only reason the military maintained this racial segregation during the war was to appease white racial prejudice. Black veterans…fought for the country and many of them identified as being deeply, deeply patriotic. But for them, that meant that you also had to demand that America be a country worth fighting and dying for.”

As Bartlett indicated to the AP, the experience of the Triple Nickels, much like the experiences of Black people in the military during that period more broadly, illustrated the paradox of being a Black American. “This unit had to fight to be recognized as human beings while training to fight an enemy overseas, fight in their own country for respect even within the military,” Bartlett told the AP.

Harris is survived by his son, Pirate Joe Harris Sr., two daughters, Michaun Harris and Latanya Pittman, and five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Louise Harris, in 1981, as well as a sixth grandchild.

Pittman also remarked to the AP that his grandfather was brave enough to serve his country “during a time when the country didn’t love him, honestly, didn’t care about him.”

Pittman continued, “His life is to be celebrated. Obviously, people are going to mourn because he’s not here anymore. But ultimately what I know from conversations that I’ve had with my grandfather is that he wants to be celebrated. He deserves to be celebrated.”