by Daniel Johnson

January 19, 2025

MLK Day Falls On Inauguration Day, Some Set To Honor King With Community Service

There have been three times the two events aligned.

For only the third time since President Ronald Reagan declared Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday in 1983, the presidential inauguration and MLK Day will fall on the same day, the other two presidents were Bill Clinton (1997) and Barack Obama (2013).

According to NPR, Trump’s rhetoric has convinced many Black activists and some Democratic lawmakers to skip his inauguration to honor MLK Day in their own ways.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) told NPR that she would skip the inauguration in favor of something she felt was more in line with the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.

“I plan to spend the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in my district at community events that feed our collective soul and re-commit us to building a future rooted in love,” Rep. Pressley said.

In December, the daughter of the late Dr. King, Rev. Dr. Bernice King, warned people to pay attention to what President-elect Donald Trump would set out in his inauguration, even if they deeply disagreed with him and his political leanings.

“l certainly understand the desire to tune out rhetoric, ideology, and policies with which we passionately disagree and which contradict the spirit of the Beloved Community,” King wrote on Instagram. “However, we must pay attention to what President-Elect Trump speaks on that day, even if by transcript and video later.”

According to Reuters, King, the CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, recently called on Americans to honor her father’s work and fight for the America he believed could be possible.

“We [have] an opportunity to take seriously what my father has been saying to us as a nation — to hold strong to those ideals that he taught us,” King told the outlet. “Don’t forget that they showed us that it is possible to keep moving forward and fighting for freedom, justice, and democracy — cultivating it, protecting it, and advancing it.”

On social media, her brother, Martin Luther King III, exhorted Americans to follow his father’s example and serve others.

“MLK Day is a reminder to move from reflection to action,” King III wrote as he shared an article about the overlapping dates. “My father’s legacy was rooted in service and action. My mother envisioned a ‘day on,’ not off — an opportunity to serve and engage in building the Beloved Community.”

by Daniel Johnson

January 19, 2025

Maryland Black Caucus To Support Commission Studying Reparations

Maryland has not yet acknowledged or made amends for consequences of the systematic economic exploitation and mistreatment of Black people.

On Jan. 16, Maryland’s Legislative Black Caucus indicated that its members would support legislation creating a commission to study reparations. This announcement closely follows the start of the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session.

According to Fox 45 News, Delegate Aletheia McCaskill (D-Baltimore County) said, “The commission will carefully examine and evaluate a range of reparations that will not only consider financial restitution but will also explore strategies to support and uplift vulnerable communities that continue to suffer the lingering and invasive effects of discriminatory practices rooted in systematic racism. We will confront our shared history to move closer to building a Maryland that truly lives up to its promise of fairness and equality.”

In 2024, a bill that would have established a reparations committee failed in the general assembly. The bill would have allowed Maryland to “develop and administer a program to provide compensatory benefits to the descendants of individuals enslaved in the state.”

Maryland, according to McCaskill’s comments at the press conference, has not undergone any major statewide attempts at either acknowledging or making amends for the consequences of the systematic economic exploitation and mistreatment of Black people due to the interlocking systems of slavery, Jim Crow, and other discriminatory practices.

According to ABC3340, the 2024 bill would have used an increase in marijuana’s taxation rate to fund the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund, which is expressly designed to direct funds to low-income individuals and disproportionately impacted areas.

Sen. Jill Carter, who sponsored the bill at the time, said Maryland had just started looking into legalizing marijuana.

“We are just in the beginning stages of our process of legalizing marijuana and we have made some great strides, like when we created the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund, which is designed to put money back into, to prioritize communities of color that have most been negatively impacted by the war on drugs that unfortunately was a war mainly on poor and Black people. What this bill would do would help to infuse that fund with more money, and it’s not too much of an ask, because in doing the research for this bill, I learned we use the lowest taxation rate of any state in the country that has legalized marijuana,” Sen. Carter said.

According to The Maryland Daily Record, the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus is pushing for the study of reparations because voters have indicated it is a top priority. Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins, the chair of the Caucus, said in a press conference that Black Marylanders have told them what they need to address.

“This is one of the issues that, when we go across the state, we do town halls, we do various events, that we hear from Black Marylanders and community members that they want to see repair of the harm and the impacts of enslavement in our state,” Wilkins said.

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

January 19, 2025

Nelly Defends Inauguration Ball Performance: ‘I’m Clueless On A Lot Of Things’

He justified the move by saying he's not political by nature.

Nelly was recently announced as a performer during Trump’s inauguration festivities, drawing backlash from his diverse fanbase.

However, the “Hot In Herre” rapper shared his reason behind doing so. The father, who recently welcomed a son with singer Ashanti, went on Willie D Live to explain his choice. He justified his inauguration ball performance by saying he’s not political by nature.

“We tend to sometimes make a quick… response to something that on the surface may seem [effed] up because we don’t agree…” he began his defense. “I’m not political. I’m not out here trying to tell anyone who they should vote for. This is not a campaign trail.”

He then revealed that he’s “clueless” on many issues. Given this, he thinks everyone should “do their homework” before supporting any politician and doesn’t consider his performance an explicit endorsement of Trump.

“…I’m clueless on a lot of things when it gets down to it,” he shared. “So what I tend to say is, yo, do your homework and make your own decisions about it.”

However, Nelly emphasized that he does respect the office of the President.

“But what I will say about it is that I respect the office,” he noted. “This isn’t politics, the politics for me is over, he won. He’s the President; he’s the commander-in-chief. What I would like to say is that this is the best country in the world.”

Nelly began by detailing his background in St. Louis and how he comes from a military family. He then expanded on the sacrifices of servicemen and women who fought for the country no matter who took office. He also stated that he’s “honored” to perform for Trump, sharing that no other president has ever asked him to do so.

“If these people can give their life for the office, Nelly can perform,” he exclaimed. “It is an honor for me to perform for President of the United States, regardless of who is in office.”

The backlash does not phase Nelly. Instead, he alluded that his true fans will stick beside him for his charitable efforts and love of his music.

“If politics is above and beyond anything other than what that person stands for, [or] what that person has done, then I apologize if I quote-unquote let you down,” said Nelly, who then referenced the good work he has done for the community. “If you follow what I do, then this shouldn’t even be an argument.”

The interview lasted for 50 minutes, where Willie D. challenged Nelly with a series of questions regarding Nelly’s viewpoint and the optics of his performance. However, Nelly made clear that the issues fans may take will not dissuade him from taking the stage for Trump.

Robert E. Lee, Martin Luther King, holidays

by Daniel Johnson

January 19, 2025

Mississippi And Alabama Still Celebrate Confederate General Robert E. Lee Alongside MLK Day. Why?

Robert E. Lee Day was originally celebrated by states in the South for decades following the Civil War, but was abandoned by most after President Ronald Reagan designated the third Monday in January MLK Day.

Mississippi and Alabama are the only two states that still celebrate Confederate Gen.Robert E. Lee’s birthday alongside the federal holiday set aside for slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Every other state that formerly celebrated Lee, including Lee’s home state of Virginia, has dropped those recognitions.

According to the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, several attempts have been made to separate the holidays in Mississippi, but they failed in 2023 and 2024.

Mississippi State Rep. Kabir Karriem (D-Columbus) submitted another bill to separate the celebrations on King’s birthday, Jan. 15.

In 2018, after introducing the bill, Karriem told the Columbus Commercial Dispatch that he believed the two men’s celebrations needed to be divided.

“Both men had impacts on our history, and I think it’s time to separate the holiday so that King can be observed for the civil rights icon he is,” Karriem said. “I think this change is long overdue.”

The bill proposes a Mississippi state holiday to “exclusively recognize Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday on the third Monday of January.”

According to WBHM, Robert E. Lee Day was originally celebrated by Southern states in the years and decades following the Civil War but eventually was abandoned by most after President Ronald Reagan designated the third Monday in January a federal holiday in 1983 to be Martin Luther King Day, a commemoration of King’s birthday on Jan. 15.

However, Alabama’s efforts to separate the commemoration of Robert E. Lee from that of King has met the same fate as Rep. Karriem’s bill in Mississippi.

Despite bipartisan support of a Senate bill that proposed to move the date of Alabama’s Lee Day commemoration to the date of his death, Oct. 12, the bill, sponsored by Sen. Vivian Figures in 2020, died before it could make it out of committee.

In 2023, House Bill 360, filed by Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa), would have completely eliminated Lee’s holiday from the calendar. However, it died after it was introduced for a vote by Democrat Kenyatté Hassell on April 20.

Unlike the other two Gulf Coast states, Louisiana decoupled the two diametrically opposed holidays in 2020 after Louisiana state legislators removed both Lee Day and Confederate Memorial Day from its roster of holidays.

State Sen. Jay Luneau (D-Alexandria) praised the signing of the bill eliminating the two holidays as “an important step in the right direction” and proof that Louisiana is “ready to do the right thing ” regarding reckoning with its history of racism.

It appears, if things hold to their current patterns, that neither Alabama nor Mississippi are ready to make that particular conciliatory gesture as it relates to their history with racism, which is quite literally soaked with blood.

Trump, journalists, Voice of America, fired

by Mary Spiller

January 19, 2025

Damon Wayans Reveals He ‘Purposely’ Got Fired From SNL

Wayans purposefully went off script during a live segment.

Damon Wayans revealed in the new Peacock docuseries “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” that he “purposely” got himself fired from “Saturday Night Live” by going off script during a sketch.

Wayans was a standing cast member on Season 11 of the TV comedy program. According to reports, it was considered SNL’s “weird year.” This season, Lorn Michaels hired a completely new lineup of cast members of well-established comedy stars. The change brought the now 64-year-old Wayans to attempt to turn around a series of poor ratings.

According to Variety, Wayans explained that he wasn’t nervous at all initially about being on the show because “I felt like I was born to be on ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

He was supported by former SNL cast member Eddie Murphy, who gave him advice before he joined. He recalled, “Eddie’s advice to me was, ‘Write your own sketches. Otherwise, they’re going to give you some Black people sh*t to do, and you ain’t gon’ like it.’”

He stated that eventually, he noticed the SNL writers kept rejecting his ideas.

“I could feel something was wrong and that’s why I was like, ‘Hey, give me the ball. I know what this needs,’” he said on the docuseries.

“Everything Eddie said came true,” Wayans said. He remembered that he was repeatedly written into other sketches that involved him playing stereotypical and offensive roles. He refused to participate numerous times because his mother was watching the show.

Wayan’s frustration finally came to a head when he participated in a live sketch called “Mr. Monopoly.” Although the sketch was not as strong as his own idea, it was chosen over his own.

Wayans then intentionally performed all his lines in Mr. Monopoly in a different voice on live television. “I snapped. I just did not care,” Wayans admitted. “I purposely did that because I wanted [Lorne Michaels] to fire me.”

“Damon starts doing his lines like a very effeminate gay guy,” fellow comedian and actor Jon Lovitz recalled.

The episode’s host, Griffin Dunne, said Wayans was fired shortly after the episode ended.

Lovitz said, “I thought it was weird, but people still laughed. And then Lorne fired him pretty much as soon as he walked off the stage.”

RELATED CONTENT: Damon Wayans to Launch Web Comedy Show

Nakia Holmes, Turkey Leg Hut Legacy, houston

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

January 19, 2025

Restaurateur Nakia Holmes Says Marriage To ‘Narcissist’ Destroyed The Turkey Leg Hut Legacy

The restaurant barely celebrated 10 years before the once multi-million dollar eatery came to an end late last year.

Nakia Holmes has broken her silence on the drama-filled demise of her once-coveted Turkey Leg Hut restaurant in Houston, Texas. At the center of it all was Holmes’ tumultuous marriage and divorce from the restaurant’s co-founder, Lyndell Price.

The restaurant barely celebrated 10 years before the once multimillion-dollar eatery came to an end in December 2024 amid allegations of health code violations, millions in debt, arson, violence, lawsuits, divorce filings, and Holmes’ accusations of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Price. According to Holmes, what started off as a dream fulfilled in 2016 soon went left after just six months of operating their first brick-and-mortar following an initial start as a pop-up stand during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

“We had the restaurant for six months and then things slowly started to come crashing down,” Holmes told Essence in her first tell-all interview.

At the time, Price and three others pleaded guilty to charges related to a stolen identity refund fraud scheme (SIRF). He was sentenced to 48 months in prison for crimes committed before he had even met Holmes.

“What he was incarcerated for was something that happened prior to me even knowing him,” Holmes said. “It hit me like a ton of bricks.”

After Price was released from prison and returned to the restaurant in October 2018, tensions arose between the couple over its management. One major point of contention was the restaurant’s dress code, introduced in 2021, which sparked backlash from patrons who criticized it as anti-Black. Holmes claims the dress code was Price’s idea, leaving her to deal with the fallout caused by the abrupt policy change.

The next issue was a contentious fallout with the restaurant’s supplier, US Foods, which had continued working with Turkey Leg Hut despite unpaid invoices. However, the relationship ended abruptly when Price directed expletives at a US Foods representative, prompting the company to file a lawsuit against the restaurant in 2022.

Despite the business drama, which started to leak into the press, Holmes stood by her husband because “That’s all I know,” she said.

“Have you ever met a narcissist?” she asked. Holmes filed for divorce from Price and announced their separation in November 2023. A few company terminations followed by an early morning fire that damaged the restaurant’s business offices and a former business partner who initially invested $30,000 but received over $800,000 in a settlement after suing.

Now, Holmes is moving on and ignoring the negativity, including Price opening up his Oyster Hut right across the street from where the Turkey Leg Hut used to operate.

“I’m focusing my energy on loving those who love me,” Holmes said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ESSENCE (@essence)

Price has since responded to Holmes’ candid interview on Instagram in a comment captured by Chron.

“… I will continue to work and let the negativity die with hard work,” he wrote. “She’s still the mother of my children and I will always respect her.”

by Daniel Johnson

January 18, 2025

Trump Protests Not What They Were In 2017

There are an expected 50,000 participants in the People's March, a number that pales in comparison to the 500,000 that showed up to Trump’s last inauguration ceremony.

As President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration grows closer, changes in how the largest of his opposition protests will show up offers a glimpse into how that particular movement, and in large part, resistance to Trump in general, has changed since 2017.

According to The Hill, there are an expected 50,000 participants in the People’s March, a diverse coalition of groups that include the Women’s March; while this number is nothing to thumb your nose at, it pales in comparison to the 500,000 that showed up to Trump’s last inauguration ceremony.

Tamika Middleton, the managing director of the Women’s March, told the outlet that several factors contributed to this.

“A lot of things are different,” Middleton began. “Our work as organizations this time around has been not to capture the energy of all these people who are being activated, but this time actually, our work has been to keep people from being demobilized, to keep people engaged and to give people something to hope for.”

This position was also supported by comments from Keya Chatterjee, a co-founder and executive director of Free DC, a group that is using the visibility of the inauguration to launch at the People’s March.

“I see, actually, more energy than I’ve ever seen,” Chatterjee told The Hill. “But it’s not just to do the same thing again that took us to where we were. It’s actually to learn and do better, and this time, I think that we know what it takes, which is, frankly, you know…it is, yes, to gather at protests sometimes, but it makes more sense for us to do that in ways that build our community and that are focused on our community.”

Kelly Dittmar, the director of research and a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, sees in her analysis how women are fractured and splintered, which comes as no surprise given the 53% of white women who voted for Trump in 2017, and exit polling from the 2024 election that suggested that Black women were let down by their Asian and Latinx contemporaries.

“The idea that there’s not one singular women’s movement or set of agendas — a set of priorities among all women, so it makes it hard to engage in collective action among all women as an entity or as an identity,” Dittmar said. “And so I think that you know that that complexity is probably reflected in the People’s March, right, vs. the Women’s March, and also, more generally, just kind of how women will organize.”

She also noted that “a lot of advocates and activists are already exhausted.”

Dittmar continued, “I think there are activists and advocates who, you know, might be mobilized by Donald Trump’s election, but don’t see this particular march…as the most effective way to push back.”

This somewhat fractured vision of how to protest or resist Trump 2.0 is reflected in the broader Democratic political structure.

Some Democrats, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have held themselves out as a resistance force to Trump, while others, like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, have signaled a willingness to work with Trump, but say they will break with him when necessary.

According to Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg, the latter position is a vain one; what is necessary, in her opinion, is party unity.

“I think it’s a fairly meaningless thing to say, since we have no idea what Trump’s going to do,” Greenberg said. “I do think that for the next two years in particular, what we need is actually a lot of party unity, and, in particular, in the House. And so far, I’ve seen it.”

by Mary Spiller

January 18, 2025

D.C. Residents Rush To Flee Ahead Of Trump Inauguration

As Republicans and conservatives are flooding the area for the Jan. 20 Inauguration, others can't wait to get out.

Washington, D.C. residents are fleeing the DMV area ahead of Trump’s inauguration, worried about the city’s energy. While Republicans and conservatives are flooding the area for the Jan. 20 Inauguration, others can’t wait to get out.

As reported by The Guardian, residents like Alejandra Whitney-Smith have plans in place for where to go for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week.

She explained, “It [inauguration weekend] coincides with my birthday weekend, which I usually do spend in D.C., but when the election happened, I told myself, ‘Oh, no, I can’t be here.’”

The time is particularly stressful for her, as her mother was working at the Library of Congress during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, which many claim was incited by Trump. “I just remember that feeling of fear for her and then also just concern for me being in the city. I just knew for me – I didn’t want to be around that sort of hostile negative energy.”

The Capitol insurrection took place when Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building to stop the certification of electoral votes after Trump’s loss to Joe Biden.

Whitney-Smith said Trump “represents the ugly side of America that people don’t want to acknowledge.”

She added, “I guess I maybe mistakenly had a lot of faith that people saw what happened during the first administration and I figured we as a country wouldn’t regress,” she said.

Whitney-Smith, an attorney, reflected on what this time meant for her as a Black woman, especially after Trump beat out Kamala Harris in the election.

She said earnestly, “But I also know the reality of living in this country as a Black woman. As much as I wanted Harris to win, there was something in me that still told me that America was not ready for its first Black woman president. Not only that, she was running against Donald Trump who has an almost cult-like following that is so powerful.”

Whitney-Smith’s sentiment differs from the hundreds of conservatives flocking to D.C. Hotels are reportedly booked up to 70% as of Jan. 16, and rooms are going for between $900 to $1,500 a night.

The inauguration festivities in D.C. are not reflective of Trump’s prior opinions of Washington D.C. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump called the city a “filthy and crime-ridden embarrassment to our nation.”

Bush, Obama, Virginia, New Jersey, Gubernatorial, Clinton,Trump, luncheon

by Mary Spiller

January 18, 2025

Obama, Clinton, Bush Will Not Attend Trump’s Inaugural Luncheon

Trump's administration has not commented on the absences from the luncheon.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural lunch, which goes against tradition.

As reported by NBC News, Obama and Clinton were invited to the event, but both declined to attend. Bush’s office stated it was not looking for an invite to the luncheon.

Former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton also got an invitation to the inaugural luncheon, but a source stated that she would not attend.

Although the former presidents and first ladies—except Michelle Obama—declined to attend the luncheon, they agreed to attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony earlier that day.

The Obamas’ office said in a statement, “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration.”

Michelle Obama also didn’t attend the funeral service for former President Jimmy Carter. Barack Obama, George W. and Laura Bush, and Bill and Hillary Clinton attended, as well as current President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, and Trump and Melania Trump.

The decision of so many former presidents to decline to attend the Inaugural luncheon is notable, as it has been a tradition since 1987, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, the JCCIC, which hosts the luncheon.

The Trump transition team has not commented on the three former presidents declining the lunch.

None of the former Presidents who declined to attend the luncheon supported Trump’s candidacy. While Bush did not explicitly make an endorsement, Obama and Clinton actively campaigned in opposition for Vice President Kamala Harris.

According to Angel Urena, the Bushes’ representative, they plan to attend Trump’s inauguration. A Clinton representative, Nick Merrill, also announced that they would attend.

by Daniel Johnson

January 18, 2025

After Trump Moved His Inauguration Inside, The Internet Had Jokes

On social media, users had a different reaction to the abrupt change in inauguration plans, and made jokes about Trump’s obsession with crowd size.

After President-elect Donald Trump abruptly ordered his Jan. 20 inauguration moved inside on Jan. 17, those who had ordered tickets were left scrambling, while those opposed to the returning president had jokes related to his well-documented obsession with crowd sizes on social media.

According to The Washington Post, Trump indicated on his social media platform that the parade would also be moved inside to Capital One Arena, but both local and federal officials provided no update on the plans for the procession.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, a bipartisan group tasked with planning the inauguration, stated in an email to staff on Jan. 17 that the 220,000 tickets they had distributed would now become commemorative tickets due to the inability of most ticketed guests to attend the ceremony in person.

On social media, however, users had a different reaction to the abrupt change in inauguration plans and made jokes about Trump’s obsession with crowd size.

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1880295658827182273?s=19

https://twitter.com/ArtCandee/status/1880308460585382094?s=19

Many people are saying that the REAL reason trump's inauguration is going to be inside is because he knew he was going to have a puny crowd size.

Punk ass bitch. pic.twitter.com/L51gH03V7n
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) January 18, 2025

https://twitter.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1880300088159047958?s=19

https://twitter.com/ArtCandee/status/1880303063258530018?s=19

In addition, there was also a planned protest of the President-elect, similar to the 2017 Women’s March, this time including a larger tent of protestors, including pro-Palestinian coalitions, labor groups, and socialist movements.

The group still plans to protest because they oppose Trump and his agenda, which one organizer said was a “billionaire agenda, which is a far-right extremist agenda.”

Brian Becker, the executive director of the ANSWER Coalition, one of the groups organizing the protest, told the Washington Post, “Just because the weather is a little colder doesn’t stop the urgency of a popular mobilization in support of immigrant families.”

Becker also alluded to Ronald Regan’s 1985 inauguration, which he also protested against, and was also moved indoors due to concerns over cold weather.

“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, where the government goes indoors or cancels, and a progressive movement stays outside and continues to mobilize and protest,” Becker said.

According to NBC News, Trump supporters who traveled to Washington D.C. to see their man at the inauguration are disappointed.

Some, like Oklahomans Ken Robinson and Harry Troyer, told the outlet that having it inside makes it less of a marquee event.

“We might as well stay at home and watch it on TV. I’m kind of disappointed, to be honest with you,” Robinson explained. “We came here to watch it in person. We don’t really care to watch it on a Jumbotron.”

Troyer chimed in, “Cold ain’t gonna hurt nobody. We have farms, and we don’t get to not feed the cows ’cause it’s cold.”

Jose Granado, who traveled from Miami, told NBC News that spending money on plane tickets and other accommodations only to have the event moved inside was kind of deflating.

“We made all of the plans and all of the arrangements to come up and be a part of this event, and…it’s kind of a bummer,” Granado said.