All Categories - Multicultural Symposium Series

EPISODE #40 Project 2025—The Presidential Playbook Part 2: Eliminate The US Department of Education

8/5/2024

Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

Project 2025 is the 920+ page document that will become the playbook for the Trump Administration should he win the presidency in November 2024. It declares war on the cultural dynamics of American society, including the African-American community, other communities of color, the LGBTQ community, and those whose religious ideologies are left of center.

Today's podcast specifically looks at the second half of Chapter 11, which articulates the dismantling and ending of the US Department of Education. States' rights are the order of the day, and parent power prevails regardless of how qualified mom and dad are in determining the complete direction of their child's education.

This is the second of a series of podcasts on Project 2025. You, the listener, are encouraged to download a free copy of the document before the November 5th election day and read it for your own understanding.

www.project2025.org

Themes Covered In Chapter 11 Include:

States Rights
Parental Rights
White Christian Nationalists
Privatization
Destruction of the LGBTQ+ Community/Trans Community
Anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) esp. Black People

EPISODE #39 Project 2025—The Presidential Playbook Part 1: Eliminate The US Department of Education

7/29/2024

Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

Project 2025 is the 920+ page document that will become the playbook for the Trump Administration should he win the presidency in November 2024. It declares war on the cultural dynamics of American society, including the African-American community, other communities of color, the LGBTQ community, and those whose religious ideologies are left of center.

Today's podcast specifically looks at Chapter 11, which articulates the dismantling and ending of the US Department of Education. States' rights are the order of the day, and parent power prevails regardless of how qualified mom and dad are in determining the complete direction of their child's education.

This is the first of a series of podcasts on Project 2025. You, the listener, are encouraged to download a free copy of the document before the November 5th election day and read it for your own understanding.

www.project2025.org

EPISODE #37 Learn About 5 Ways To Enhance Your Summer Cross-Cultural Collaborations

7/12/2024

Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

Summer is the perfect time of year to sit back, relax, and enhance your cross cultural collaborations.

Whether you're traveling to new destinations, exploring different cuisines, or engaging in cultural festivals, summer provides endless opportunities to immerse yourself in diverse traditions and perspectives. It's a season ripe for forging new friendships, learning new languages, and experiencing the beauty of multicultural interactions firsthand. As the sun shines brightly, let it inspire you to open your heart and mind to the myriad ways people celebrate life around the globe. So, grab your favorite drink, find a cozy spot, and learn 5 new ways to enhance your cross cultural collaborations all summer long!

Read your favorite book, magazine, or article OUTSIDE while enjoying nature.
Explore movies on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, or your local theatre.
Find local ethnic festivals and events.
Explore a single topic or two on YouTube.
Create your own cultural list of favorite topics.

Juneteenth Explained

6/20/2024

Celebrating Juneteenth is a relatively new tradition for me. Not because of its significance or historical value but more in alignment with regional awareness. I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and most African Americans who grew up in the Motor City in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s traced their roots to the Southeastern US states. My family hailed from Georgia and South Carolina before migrating to Detroit. Our story was a bit different from those that originated in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and especially Texas. Blacks from those states typically migrated North to the middle of the country and westward when African Americans sought refuge from oppressive Southern racism between the early 1900s and 1970.*

I knew of very few Juneteenth celebrations in Detroit. It would be years later when I fully understood the importance of the day that finally set Texas slaves free. And that recognition has grown to admiration and honor for some 250,000 slaves who heard the news of their freedom two and a half years after President Lincoln freed them via the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth is America's second Independence Day. That phrase was coined by the activists who worked tirelessly to elevate Jubilee Day, now known as Juneteenth, to respectable levels of honor, dignity, and liberation. It took 156 years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday when President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021. Now is the opportunity to celebrate the "rebirth" of a people whose shackles were finally lifted by General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.

Juneteenth is synonymous with celebration. It gives permission for Americans everywhere to barbecue, have fish fries, drink red soda, dance, and spread good news while you party all night. I went to my first Juneteenth community event at Boston's Franklin Park on June 15, 2019. Thousands of Black, Brown, Asian, and White metro-Bostonians gathered at Franklin Park in family groupings, sororities, fraternities, and civic organizations for a daylong love fest in tribute to Juneteenth. It was pure love and fellowship, and now, five years later, I can't wipe that smile off my face. The pandemic prevented the festivities from taking place in 2020 and 2021. However, the Juneteenth celebrations resumed at Franklin Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022.

Heavy rains minimized the June 17, 2023 festivities, and I missed the event altogether. However, Juneteenth was celebrated on Monday, June 19, 2023, in Brockton, Massachusetts, where they've held festive ceremonial events for many years.

This year, the Brockton organizers have hot, sunny weather, and I will attend and participate in their fifth-anniversary event later this afternoon. And this year's Franklin Park celebration on Saturday, June 15, 2024 was spectacular! Warm sunny weather, thousands of party-goers of may ethnicities, and guest appearances from Governor Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
In her book, On Juneteenth, historian, Harvard law professor, and native Texan Annette Gordon-Reed said it this way:

"People of African descent, and to be honest, of some European descent, celebrating the end of slavery in Texas with dishes learned in slavery and a dish favored by ancient Mesoamerican Indians that connected Texas to its Mexican past; so much Texas history brought together for this one special day."

Professor Gordon-Reed says it best. Juneteenth throws off the shackles of slavery and brings all people together with food, fellowship, and fun. That spirit signifies the second Independence Day for all Americans, including those in the Black Community.

Juneteenth represents the freedom of not just Black people but all Americans to live their lives in the spirit of cross-cultural understanding. That celebratory day in Galveston, Texas is as important in our lifetime as it was way back in 1865.

*To learn more about the great Black migration in the United States, read Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns.

The Companion Guide To JUNETEENTH
On Sale Today!!!

Explore the origin of Juneteenth, from its historical roots in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, to the celebrations, parades, and festivities now held in other countries. Juneteenth is considered the Second Independence Day for Black People in the United States! This guidebook will help you understand why Juneteenth is now a federally-recognized holiday throughout the country.

What This Guidebook Has To Offer

Historical records, an authentic timeline, cities, and towns actively commemorating the holiday, and a step-by-step action guide on how you can start a Juneteenth celebration in your city, town, neighborhood, company, organization, or community! The best 20 pages you've ever read!

This book will help you understand why Juneteenth matters and how you or your organization can celebrate it year after year in brand new ways.

For The People

Although based on the historical emancipation of African Americans from slavery, this Guidebook is designed for all people regardless of their ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, or gender identity. Juneteenth can be celebrated by all people!

Great For: Business Leaders, Human Resource Directors, Government Leaders, Community Advocates, Historians, Educators, Students and Those Who Know Very Little/Nothing About Juneteenth!

2 for $25
($15 Each Regular Price. You save $5)

Click Below To Learn More and Purchase

Click Here To Purchase Your Juneteenth Guidebooks

Tribute To Professor Charles Ogletree, Jr.

8/27/2023

August 19, 2023, marked the sad farewell homegoing celebration of a great American. I was privileged to be honored with Professor Charles Ogletree during a Boston Red Sox game in August 2016, along with other community and civic activists. In March 2017, I honored Professor Ogletree during my Black History Empowerment Breakfast. He was a great lawyer, Harvard Law School professor, social justice advocate, and adviser to President Barack and Michelle Obama. Most importantly, he was the treasured husband of Pamela Ogletree, father, grandfather, and longtime member of St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge before Alzheimer's caused his family to move to Maryland.

Charles Ogletree, Jr. was the Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.
Professor Ogletree was the author and co-editor of several books, including The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (June 2010 Palgrave MacMillan), When Law Fails: Making Sense of Miscarriages of Justice (2009), From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race and the Death Penalty in America (2006), and All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education (2004).

Ogletree was born on December 31, 1952, to Charles Sr. and Willie Mae Ogletree, the first of their five children. He grew up in a rural northern California community called Merced, with a small African-American population living south of its railroad tracks. His maternal grandparents, Big Daddy and Big Mama, were an essential influence on the young Ogletree. With his grandfather, he would fish for hours, and from Big Mama, he learned how to cook and, thus, learned self-sufficiency.

He would later credit both grandparents as profoundly influencing his demeanor and tactics as a trial lawyer. However, Ogletree's parents' marriage was plagued by periodic violence, and they eventually divorced, although they remained on good terms.

A bright child who spent free hours in the public library and brought home good grades from school, his first brushes with the law—especially watching his father being taken away in cuffs after incidents of domestic violence at the Ogletree house—instilled in him a deep distrust of and feelings of powerlessness toward the law enforcement community.

Professor Ogletree graduated from high school and earned an M.A. and B.A. (with distinction) in Political Science from Stanford University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He also held a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He also received honorary doctorates from several universities and colleges, including Cambridge College, Wilberforce University, the University of Miami, the New England School of Law, Lincoln College, Tougaloo College, Mount Holyoke College, and Amherst College.

May his legacy be remembered by us all forever. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done.

(Biographical sources from Harvard University, the family, and https://biography.jrank.org/pages/2366/Ogletree-Jr-Charles.html.)

JUNETEENTH EXPLAINED

6/17/2023

Celebrating Juneteenth is a relatively new tradition for me. Not because of its significance or historical value but more in alignment with regional awareness. I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and most African Americans who grew up in the Motor City in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s trace their roots to the Southeastern US states. My family hailed from Georgia and South Carolina before migrating to Detroit. Our story was a bit different from those that originated in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and especially Texas. Blacks from those states typically migrated North to the middle of the country and westward when African Americans sought refuge from oppressive Southern racism between the early 1900s to 1970.*

I knew of very few Juneteenth celebrations that happened in Detroit. It would be years later when I fully understood the importance of the day that finally set Texas slaves free. And that recognition has grown to admiration and honor for some 250,000 slaves who heard the news of their freedom two and a half years after President Lincoln freed them via the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth is America's second Independence Day. That phrase was coined by the activists who worked tirelessly to elevate Jubilee Day, now known as Juneteenth, to respectable levels of honor, dignity, and liberation. It took 156 years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday when President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021. Now is the opportunity to celebrate the "rebirth" of a people whose shackles were finally lifted by General Order No 3 on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.

Juneteenth is synonymous with celebration. It gives permission for Americans everywhere to barbecue, have fish fries, drink red soda, dance, and spread good news while you party all night. I went to my first Juneteenth community event at Boston's Franklin Park on June 15, 2019. Thousands of Black, Brown, Asian and White metro-Bostonians gathered at Franklin Park in family groupings, sororities, fraternities, and civic organizations for a daylong love fest in tribute to Juneteenth. It was pure love and fellowship, and now, four years later, I can't wipe that smile off my face. The pandemic prevented the festivities from taking place in 2020 and 2021. However, the Juneteenth celebrations resumed at Franklin Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022.

Today's activities in Boston on June 17, 2023, will sadly be minimized by heavy rains that saturate the region. However, Juneteenth will be celebrated on Monday, June 19, 2023, in Brockton, Massachusetts, where they've been celebrating the event for many years. Undoubtedly the, Juneteenth will be celebrated throughout the country for the rest of the weekend and beyond.

In her book, On Juneteenth, historian, Harvard law professor, and native Texan Annette Gordon-Reed said it this way:

"People of African descent, and to be honest, of some European descent, celebrating the end of slavery in Texas with dishes learned in slavery and a dish favored by ancient Mesoamerican Indians that connected Texas to its Mexican past; so much Texas history brought together for this one special day."

Professor Gordon-Reed says it best. Juneteenth throws off the shackles of slavery and brings all people together with food, fellowship, and fun. That spirit signifies the second Independence Day for all Americans, including those in the Black Community.

Juneteenth represents the freedom of not just Black people but all Americans to live their lives in the spirit of cross-cultural understanding. That celebratory day in Galveston, Texas is as important in our lifetime as it was way back in 1865.

*To learn more about the great Black migration in the United States, read Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns.

Learn more about Juneteenth in Carole's Juneteenth Guidebook. Click Below to Learn More.

JUNETEENTH GUIDEBOOK CLICK HERE

Understanding Critical Race Theory: What It Is And What It's Not

5/11/2023

By Carole Copeland Thomas

I have worked with or known some of the best diversity professionals in the industry. After 36 years of crisscrossing the country and the world, I should know a thing or two about the concepts, terms, and ideologies of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and multiculturalism. That includes the years I was a member of the Diversity Collegium co-founded by the late great Dr. Roosevelt Thomas and Dr. Price Cobbs. Dr. Mary Frances Winters, Kay Iwata, and Julie O'Mara were also my colleagues in the Collegium for many years. We traveled the country meeting on key issues and paved the way for the current crop of DEIB professionals in the US.

And throughout the years, during my Collegium days and beyond, we NEVER designed a training module focused on Critical Race Theory! It may have been discussed but it was NEVER a part of our strategic design.

So…What is the Critical Race Theory?

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an academic and legal framework created by law experts and scholars in the 1970s and 80s that has blown up into a controversial hot topic around the country. CRT is now tied to educational efforts as either an ideological concept or a threat to the "freedom" of our nation. Despite the naysayers, CRT has never been used as the educational foundation for public school systems around the United States, nor has it been the principal framework used by diversity experts in the country.

Who are some of the "framers" of CRT?
The late Attorney Derrick Bell, while on the faculty of Harvard Law School, was one of the early framers of CRT. Civil Rights advocate, attorney, and academician Kimberlé Crenshaw was also an early scholar who helped shape the concept. They were academic leaders looking at systemic racism from an institutional perspective. They had NO reason to roll out a CRT course for elementary school students.

Is CRT designed for elementary students?
NO! It has NEVER been designed with elementary, middle, or high school students in mind. It principally was confined to exploration in the legal and social justice arenas.

Why is CRT such a controversial topic?
Sadly, right-wing conservative groups have latched on to CRT and are now using it as a wedge issue as they wage culture wars across the United States. They have flipped it and now use messaging to denounce it as a racist ideology promoted by left-wing progressives.

When did the CRT controversy start?
It started under the Trump administration. On September 22, 2020, at the end of his term in office, President Trump signed Executive Order #13950 banning diversity training, CRT "training," gender identity, and sexual orientation training within federal agencies and contractors. I lost business because of that order.

Although the Executive Order was reversed by President Biden, various state legislatures across the US continued to push to ban CRT, diversity, gender identity, and sexual orientation educational efforts, primarily in public schools. Again CRT has never been taught in public schools, yet it has been targeted in various legislative bills across the United States.

What states are targeting anti CRT legislation?

To date, more than 44 states proposed or passed anti-CRT legislation impacting public school systems and job sites in New Hampshire, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, and several others. It started with Florida's ruling called the "Don't Say Gay" law, impacting grades Kindergarten through Third Grade, and bans any specific discussion about gender identity or sexual orientation in the classrooms. It passed the state Senate and was signed by the Governor of Florida on Monday, March 29, 2022. The law went into affect in July 2022

Florida continues to lead in anti CRT legislation that now targets public/state colleges and universities. As of February 2023, Florida House Bill 999/SB 266 is pending in their state legislature. It states the following:

Requires public college and university governing boards to review their institutions for violations of HB 7 or programs that are "based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities." Colleges and universities are also prohibited from expending any funds, regardless of source, that promotes or supports a program that violates HB 7, espouses diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promotes political or social activism. All general education courses must be "based on the fundamental truth that all persons are equal before the law and have inalienable rights and may not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics, violates [HB 7], or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities."

In New Hampshire, a pending law prohibits specific discussions about race or sex as mandatory student or employee training. Teachers can lose their license if caught teaching about race, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The bill was slipped in under the state budget without the benefit of the full range of discussion or hearings.

So, where can I learn more about CRT and the fight to reverse the legislation designed to kill it?

Start with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund document about CRT.
Download it here: https://bit.ly/3r7V5QQ

The NAACP Legal Defense Funds articulates it this way:
Critical Race Theory recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual bias and prejudice. It is embedded in laws, policies, and institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities. According to CRT, societal issues like Black Americans' higher mortality rate, outsized exposure to police violence, the school-to-prison pipeline, denial of affordable housing, and the rates of the death of Black women in childbirth are not unrelated anomalies.

Here is an entire webpage I created to help you understand CRT:
http://www.tellcarole.com/understanding-crt.html

Good Book To Read:
Race, Rights, and Redemption: The Derrick Bell Lectures On The Law And Critical Race Theory
Edited by Janet Deward Bell and Vincent M. Southerland

LIVE State by State Update on Anti-CRT GAG Orders

https://bit.ly/3r8TQBd

Good YouTube Video To Watch on Right-Wing Groups and Why They Are Fighting Against CRT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtJ3s6YECAc&t=7s

Now do your homework, make up your OWN mind and talk to your friends, students, colleagues, or neighbors about WHY you support or denounce CRT. The choice is YOURS.

5 Ways You Can Celebrate The Holidays This December!

12/16/2022

By Carole Copeland Thomas

Five international holidays converge on the scene every December (and early January) to make our schedules hectic, exciting, and pressure-filled. Wrapping gifts while shopping at odd hours of the night either pushes us into the spirit of happiness OR helps us find an escape path until all of the celebrations are over.

Here are related links to five holidays with religious and nonreligious implications. You'll learn interesting facts and figures that will make you scratch your head in amazement. The marathon includes Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day. Learn new traditions and pass them on as the merriment continues throughout the holiday season.

May you celebrate the Season and get ready for an awe-inspiring 2023!

-Carole Copeland Thomas

==========
Links and Resources For The Five Holidays

1 Hanukkah
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/3840625/jewish/13-Hanukkah-Facts-Every-Jew-Should-Know.htm?gclid=CjwKCAiAmO3gBRBBEiwA8d0Q4pDJz2VX1LG1_sN0V5SAZbinichpFp5px9yfA6E7saEpk0daVFLqnRoCncwQAvD_BwE

2 Winter Solstice
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/get-ready-for-the-winter-solstice-23294

3 Christmas

Parenting Article Written For Kids
https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/20-interesting-facts-and-information-about-christmas-for-kids/

Inc Magazine
https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/10-weird-facts-about-christmas.html

History of the Christmas Tree
https://www.historytoday.com/alison-barnes/first-christmas-tree

4 Kwanzaa
Official Website:
https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.html

5 Three Kings Day
https://www.newsweek.com/when-three-kings-day-and-how-it-celebrated-epiphany-772690

What Is Juneteenth?

5/23/2022

Juneteenth, which is celebrated annually, is an important holiday in the Black community. The day has become the most prominent Emancipation Day holiday in the United States and commemorates the moment when emancipation finally reached those in the deepest parts of the former Confederacy on June 19, 1865. It is a holiday meant for celebration rather than mourning and remembrance.

Juneteenth is not just a Black holiday. It is an American holiday. The day signals America finally realizing our founding principles of "liberty and justice for all." Slavery is a dark stain on US history, but Juneteenth is an example that America can move past the transgressions of history in the pursuit of a freer society.

Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1980, and a number of other states subsequently followed suit. In 2021 Juneteenth was made a federal holiday. The day is also celebrated outside the United States, being used by organizations in a number of countries to recognize the end of slavery and to honor the culture and achievements of African Americans.

The word is a combination of the month of June and the 19th, the exact day when Major General Gordon Granger marched into Galveston, Texas with 7000 "colored troops" and read General Order Number 3 announcing the end of the Civil War and Slavery. The war had actually ended two months earlier, and the slaves in the region had actually been freed 2.5 years earlier, but their slave masters had NOT set them free. After reading the order, it was posted on the door of Reedy Chapter AME Church in Galveston.

Click Here For Juneteenth Details

JUNETEENTH: BLACK PRIDE OR PERIL?
JUNE 3, 2022

Invite a Friend or Colleague to this two-hour event. It will be worth every minute as you hear from subject-matter experts on issues impacting the Black community AND Beyond!

Register and Join Us for This Free Live Webinar And Learn More About The Legacy of Juneteenth As We Wrestle With The 2nd Anniversary of George Floyd's Death & Now The Tragedy of The Buffalo Massacre

The event is a multigenerational, multimedia virtual program designed to inspire and engage each attendee to understand why Juneteenth is considered the second Independence Day in American History.

CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW FOR COMPLETE DETAILS.

CLICK HERE FOR JUNETEENTH DETAILS

5 Reasons Why Every Black Woman Can Relate To Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

5/1/2022

After 232 years and 115 prior appointments, President Joe Biden stuck to his campaign promise and identified the right woman for the top job. He promised to appoint a Black woman to the US Supreme Court at his first opportunity. When Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement on the Bench earlier this year, President Biden sprang into action with his nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the US Court of Appeals judge with a stellar track record of judicial balance and even-handedness.

And despite a contentious Senate hearing process, Jackson was confirmed on April 8, 2022 by a Senate vote of 53-47, with three Republicans voting for Justice Jackson (Mitt Romney-Utah, Susan Collins-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski-Alaska). Vice President Kamala Harris read the results as the Senate Chamber burst into thunderous applause. A historic Supreme Court confirmation of a Black woman from Florida was announced by the first Black woman Vice President of the United States.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will serve a lifetime term in the Court and will start her service as soon as Justice Breyer retires, most likely sometime in June.

With such an outstanding series of events, here is why every Black woman can relate to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson:

1 She's Grounded.

Justice Jackson will have served as a sitting Judge longer than most of the other Justices. She's been a sitting judge for nearly ten years, with no trouble in getting confirmed for her other federal appointments. She also sets the record for having served as a public defender, and she clerked for Justice Breyer early in her career. She knows the law and has been praised for her ability to look at issues from both sides of the spectrum.

Black women know that often we have to be twice or three times as prepared to qualify to get the job.

2 She's Well Educated
Her mother was an educator, and her father was a lawyer. She graduated at the top of her class at Miami Palmetto Senior High School and was admitted to Harvard University in spite of a non-visionary guidance counselor advising her to lower her educational expectations.

Black women are used to being "dumbed down" by guidance counselors who don't see their brilliance. Not the first time, nor the last, that a counselor gave bad advice to a top Black student.

Justice Jackson would graduate from Harvard College (1992) and Harvard Law School (1996) with flying colors.

I wonder how many other students of color suffered through the low expectations of a high school guidance counselor. Too many…far too many.

3 She's Unmoved By Political Hacks Like Ted Cruz and Marsha Blackburn

I had MUCH to say after reacting to the ridiculous and racially motivated Senate hearing questions by Ted Cruz and Marsha Blackburn. Some of my words can't be put in print because of the vile contempt I have for Cruz and Blackburn. Lindsey Graham and Josh Hawley round out the quartet of Trump sycophants who have sold their souls to the devil. While I wanted to throw my television down a flight of steps because of the questioning of Justice Jackson's judicial record, she remained unmoved.

When Senator Blackburn asked Brown-Jackson to "define a woman," Justice Jackson looked mildly puzzled and artfully skipped over the trap that lay before her. Blackburn, in later comments, referred to Jackson in terms of being the recipient of "dark money Leftist groups" and "pushing the agenda of woke education" as she explained why she felt Justice Jackson was unqualified for the job.

That's when I wanted to throw my television down the steps in protest of this right-wing racist woman who can't imagine a dark-skinned Black woman serving on the Supreme Court.

I reacted in front of my television set. Justice Jackson, who had prepared for the brutality of the Republican Senators, remained unmoved. She was rewarded when Romney, Collins, and Murkowski joined the Democrats to vote for this brilliant woman of action.

Black women understand the resilience and emotional constraint it took for Justice Jackson to remain unmoved when the Senate attacks mounted.

4 She's Visionary

Three of her Harvard roommates and good friends were interviewed on national television about their college and law school days with Justice Jackson. Attorney Antoinette Coakley, who is one of my friends and church members here in Boston said, "It was very clear from the first time that we met her that it was special. I remember telling her when we were in the dorm, 'You are going to be the first black woman on the US Supreme Court.'"

Justice Jackson was a brilliant debater in high school. While Fox News' Tucker Carlson was asking about Justice Jackson's LSAT scores (law school entrance test scores), her high school classmate, Stephen Rosenthal, told news reporters about the numerous medals she won from the debate team victories.

Justice Jackson knew from an early age that law was her profession and nothing deterred her from fulfilling her dream of success. She was supported by loving parents and guided by trusted hands throughout her college and law school courses. Her vision translated to the historic confirmation despite senators who wanted to squash her dreams.

Black women know that vision often turns into reality when you believe in yourself.

5 She's All In

The vitriol spewed out by small-minded politicians was washed away by the triumphant speech by Senator Cory Booker. He elevated the moment to its rightful, historic place when he showered Justice Jackson with praise and adoration. On March 25th, he said the following:

"I'm telling you right now, I'm not letting anybody in the Senate steal my joy! I am embarrassed... I'm just looking at you, and I'm starting to get full of emotion. You didn't get here because of some left-wing agenda. You didn't get here because of some dark money groups. You got here how every Black woman in America (who) has gotten anywhere has done...by being like Ginger Rogers said, "I did everything Fred Astaire did but backwards in heels.'

That star was a harbinger of hope. Today you are my star!"

That 19-minute speech by Senator Booker will go down as one of the greatest speeches by any senator. It proved that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is an "All In" woman of integrity who represents the BEST in Black America.

Every Black woman gave Senator Booker and a virtual standing ovation for his unwavering support of Judge Jackson. She's All In because of the love of her husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson, and her daughters, Talia and Leila. Her parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, married for more than 54 years, solidly stand by her. So does her younger brother Attorney Ketajh Brown.

Black women know that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is All In because she's prepared to preside in the US Supreme Court as the harbinger of hope for us all.

The time is now, and this country is the better because of Black women like Ketanji Brown Jackson. She may be the first but certainly won't be the last. We salute her courage under fire for a job well done!