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Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit DAVID GREENE, HOST: Yesterday, the Department of Justice reversed one of the most high-profile cases in the Mueller investigation. Michael Flynn served as President Trump's first national security adviser. He pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia. Now, the DOJ is dropping its case against him, and let's talk this through with NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas. Hi, Ryan. RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Good morning. GREENE: Feel like a lot has happened in the world since we last talked about Michael Flynn. Can you just remind us what his story is? LUCAS: Right. The FBI began investigating Flynn back in 2016 as part of the broader Russia investigation. FBI interview - FBI agents interviewed him at the White House in January of 2017, and in that interview, Flynn lied to them about conversations he had had with the Russian ambassador to the United States. A few weeks later, Flynn left the administration for allegedly lying to

As Minnesota Gov. Walz weighs his decision on when to let nonessential businesses reopen, he's facing a lot of pressure from a frustrated workforce, especially from small business owners who are trying to stay afloat during the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak. "The frustrations that they have are real. These are businesses that, they may have been in families for generations or they built up," the Democratic governor says in an interview with Morning Edition . The state is under a stay-at-home order until at least May 18 . In reopening the economy, he says, businesses will face another challenge: consumer confidence. Walz worries that — even with stay-at-home orders lifted — many consumers will be skittish about reengaging with businesses until they feel safe. Walz says many businesses should remain closed until the state ramps up its testing capacity. Achieving that goal will help contain the virus's spread, as well as bolster the public's confidence, he says.

Updated at 11:43 a.m. ET The Labor Department delivered a historically bad employment report Friday, showing 20.5 million jobs lost last month as the nation locked down against the coronavirus. The jobless rate soared to 14.7% — the highest level since the Great Depression. The highest monthly job loss before this was 2 million in 1945, as the nation began to demobilize after World War II. The worst monthly job loss during the Great Recession was 800,000 in March 2009. Loading... Don't see the graphic above? Click here. Unemployment was 4.4% in March as the coronavirus began to take hold in the U.S. It approached 25% during the Great Depression and remained elevated until World War II. Loading... Don't see the graphic above? Click here. The carnage was felt across industries in April. With most travel shut down, leisure and hospitality jobs fell by 7.6 million. The retail and health care sectors each dropped by 2.1 million. Manufacturing lost 1.3 million and government jobs fell by 980

Why is the government seeking to drop charges against Michael Flynn even though he pleaded guilty — in two admissions in court — to committing the crime at issue? The short answers: The Justice Department is giving him a break. And Flynn has played his cards well. The long answer: It's a long story. The deal Flynn admitted to lying to the FBI about conversations he had had with Russia's then-ambassador to the United States as he and the rest of President-elect Donald Trump's camp waited in the wings early in 2017. That case appeared clear. But the former Army lieutenant general also had been involved with other enterprises that might have resulted in more charges — including undisclosed foreign lobbying — and his deal with prosecutors swept that off the table. It also apparently avoided prospective charges for Flynn's son. Flynn and his attorneys considered the deal to be the least bad way out of the jam. "My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the special counsel's office

Updated at 3:20 p.m. ET Democrats and some Republicans are considering ways for the federal government to get money into people's pockets while the coronavirus is keeping much of the economy on ice. Proposals for the next round of aid are being floated, and Democrats in the House are prepping another relief package as jobless claims continue to rise in the country. The Labor Department announced Friday that 20.5 million jobs were lost in April, pushing the overall unemployment rate to 14.7 %. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hopes to release another bill, which is being crafted without the input of Republicans or the White House as early as next week. "This is a reflection of the needs of the American people," Pelosi said Thursday. "We have to start someplace and, rather than starting in a way that does not meet the needs of the American people, want to set a standard." The latest proposal from Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Ed Markey D-Mass., is a plan

The Supreme Court has temporarily put on hold the release of redacted grand jury material from the Russia investigation to a House panel. The Trump administration is trying to block the release. Last October, a district court judge ruled the Justice Department had to turn over the materials, which were blacked out, from former special counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian interference in the 2016 election. An appeals court upheld the decision , but the Trump administration, hoping to keep the evidence secret, appealed to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts' order temporarily stops the process. Lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee have until May 18 to file their response to the Justice Department's attempts to keep the materials from the House panel. The Justice Department had until Monday to turn over the material following the appeals court order. But on Thursday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block Congress from seeking it, saying, "The

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Adjusting to life on the virtual campaign trail has been a challenge for both Joe Biden and President Trump. It's been a particular struggle, though, for the former vice president. Here he is kicking off a virtual campaign rally this week with supporters in Florida. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) JOE BIDEN: Just me? Am I on? UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yes. BIDEN: Good evening. Thanks so much for tuning in. KELLY: Ouch. Joining us now is NPR political correspondent Asma Khalid. She covers the Biden campaign. Hey, Asma. ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Hi there. KELLY: So clearly some technical difficulties for the former vice president there. What is his strategy for campaigning when he can't go out and campaign? KHALID: Well, you're right. I mean, he's been hunkered down at his house in Delaware. So we should point out he has not been able to physically go out and campaign because of the virus. This week, the campaign announced this new

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Nurses and doctors have been at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. And yet even as health care workers fight back against the virus, the health care industry is crumbling around them. Today we learned that of the more than 20 million jobs that vanished last month, nearly 1 1/2 million were in health care. AILSA CHANG, HOST: And despite this dismal news for American workers, we heard a more optimistic message from the president today, who spoke about his belief that the country may soon turn an economic corner. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we're looking at the transition to greatness, and I think it's starting right now. CHANG: Meanwhile, the virus is inching closer and closer to the president, with another White House aide testing positive today for COVID-19. All right. To talk more about all of this, we're joined now by NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley, science

Pennsylvania's governor wants to attempt a New Deal-inspired solution for getting the state's more than 1.7 million unemployed residents back to some semblance of regular work. This week, Democrat Tom Wolf announced a still-vague plan for a "Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps" which, he said, would ideally be a broad program to train workers to test for COVID-19 and conduct contact tracing to monitor infection rates, while simultaneously reducing unemployment. Wolf's spokeswoman, Lyndsay Kensinger, said it's no accident that the proposed program's name is reminiscent of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Great Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps , which focused on the preservation of state parks and forests. "The governor will announce more details in the coming weeks, but the corps would be a 21st-century approach to historic programs like those in the New Deal," Kensinger said. Still unknown: When exactly the program would start, how many people the state might hire and

Attorneys for Rick Bright, the government scientist who said he had been reassigned and subsequently filed a whistleblower complaint , say a government watchdog agrees that he should be reinstated to his post. Bright was serving as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is working on a vaccine to combat the coronavirus. He said he was ousted from the position last month because he wanted to spend money on safe and vetted treatments for COVID-19 — not on ones without "scientific merit," such as hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug that President Trump and others had been touting. Trump on Wednesday called Bright "a disgruntled employee who's trying to help the Democrats win an election." Bright's attorneys say that the Office of Special Counsel, which hears whistleblower cases, determined there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that his removal was retaliatory and therefore prohibited. Bright's attorneys say OSC plans to contact the

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Protests over stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19 have become more common around the country. In California, a surprising group is behind some of them: those who oppose mandatory vaccinations. On Thursday, a mash-up of people mingled on the sidewalk in front of California's state Capitol in Sacramento. There were Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and waving American flags. There were Christians, singing along to religious rock songs and raising their hands in prayer. The event's MC. urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to tune into their event. "Everybody up at the Capitol, tell Gavin Newsom [to tune in to] 107.9 FM, if he wants to hear what we have to say," the MC told the crowd over loudspeakers. "It could be kind of good for him!" There were also mothers with their children at the rally. Many people were not wearing face masks or observing social distancing protocols. They'd all come out to protest California's stay-at-home order, put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. This week's

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

You can find a good flick anywhere this week, whether it's just down the street or in a galaxy far, far away! In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair sits down with Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins to talk about the latest movie news and all of the new films coming to the silver screen this pre-holiday weekend.

It was a whirlwind time in the film world, so, before the New Year kicks off, let's look back at what celluloid offered the masses this year. In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair, Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins, and WEMU's Michael Jewett all sit down for a conversation about the cinematic year that was 2019.

The Golden Globes were handed out this past weekend, and that's just the beginning for what's going on in the movie world. In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair sits down with Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins for a conversation about the latest movie news and the latest flicks landing on the big screen this weekend.

Hollywood's biggest night is on the way, and if you want information on nominations, snubs, and Vegas odds, we have them for you. In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair sits down with Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins to talk about the latest movie news and all of the new films coming to your local movie house this weekend.

It's cold outside, so let a good movie keep you nice and warm! For this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's Michael Jewett sits in for Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins to talk about all of the new films opening this weekend with WEMU's David Fair.

Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins is back from Park City, Utah with a lot of great stories to tell! He joins WEMU's David Fair to talk about this year's Sundance Film Festival, as well as all of the new movies opening in theaters, for this week's edition of "Cinema Chat."

There's only a few days left until this year's Oscars are handed out, so now's a good time to catch up on your film viewing. In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair talks to Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins about the latest movie news and all of the new flicks landing on the big screen this weekend.

A touch of Sundance descended upon Ann Arbor this week, and we have the rundown! In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair and Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins discuss last night's "Direct from Sundance" event and all of the new films landing on the big screen this weekend.

In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair sits down with Michigan and State Theater executive director to discuss the latest movie news and all of the new flicks landing at your local movie house this weekend. Plus, Leslie Raymond stops by to talk about this year's Ann Arbor Film Festival, including precautions being taken amidst the current public health crisis.

Movie houses across America are still closed, but Ann Arbor's specialty theaters are still finding ways to give you your movie fix. In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair talks to Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins about the latest movie news and all of the films you can catch in the comfort of your own home, including some first-run films not available anywhere else!

We all have to stay home these days, but the show must go on. In this week's "Cinema Chat," Michigan and State Theater executive director joins WEMU's David Fair by phone to talk about the latest films that you can watch online and, in some cases, share with others in the virtual world!

Entertainment has become extremely valuable during this difficult time, especially when it comes to a good flick. In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair gets on the phone with Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins to talk about the newest films and special screenings becoming available this weekend for your online streaming pleasure.

In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair talks to Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins about all of the new flicks and special events the Michigan Theater is providing for your online viewing pleasure this weekend. Plus, they talk about how WEMU and the Michigan Theater fared during this week's National Day of Giving.

Bay Area Artist Journee Premieres "Options" on All Streaming Platforms and Creates the #OptionsChallenge.

Biography

Journee is a 21 year old singer, songwriter, and model from San Jose, CA and is one of 5 brothers and sisters. She’s currently in college at UC Riverside and has immersed herself onto the LA music scene, perfecting her craft, and frequently collaborating with creatives making her one of the most exciting new acts from the region. Her single “This and That” was recently added to the Emerging R&B Playlist on Sound Cloud where out of 55 records she has the 6th most streams overall trailing only major artists. Often being compared to Aaliyah as a vocalist her lyrics are edgy but her voice is smooth and leaves any listener wanting more.

The post Bay Area Artist Journee Premieres “Options” on All Streaming Platforms and Creates the #OptionsChallenge appeared first on Singersroom.com.

It is normal for college students to find it difficult to understand an essay topic. But the big issue is how to write an essay according to the instructions of the paper. An essay topic related to the role of R&B music may pose a little challenge. Students often need a well-written sample to get the perfect picture of what to write. If you are a student with a similar topic, go through this sample essay, and use it as a guide.

Sample Paper: The Role of R&B Music in Culture

Music connects human beings irrespective of culture, ethnicity, or race, and this has become accepted in many regions of the world. Rhythm and Blue or R&B is of African-American origin born popular in the 1940s but has a growing fan base in contemporary times. The role of the R&B lies in connecting with the people, expressing personality, and asserting cultural freedom.

Rhythm and Blues provide the avenue for musicians in this genre to find expression and connect with the people of a particular culture. Like every human on earth, these musicians have encountered life problems. They face racial discrimination and continuous harassment from law enforcement agents. 

Since R&B had its origin from the Black experience (Shaw 71), the emotional connection is often intense. An example of the experience that triggers the same emotional expression is the case of Trayvon Martins.  George Zimmerman shot and killed Martins on February 26, 2012. R&B uses an incidence like this to find expression and create a familiar voice, especially for the black community. 

The intimacy and the ability to relate to the content of R&B music play an essential role in culture, especially in black communities. Most musicians in this genre use their songs as a platform for passing a message or expressing their personal beliefs. 

Although it can turn into a civil movement or used for political propaganda (Higgins 1), in some cases, it has a humanizing end. Imagine how influential the voices and personality of R&B musicians would be in a time of the global pandemic. These powerful voices can make governments begin to care for the masses. Thus, the outcry will yield better healthcare and lasting infrastructure. 

Freedom to live and practice inherited culture can come under threat by social and political forces. R&B, and the movement it drives, can be a force for good and help in liberating cultures considered to be less civilized.

 Limited understanding of the culture of other people can cause social frictions and the inability to live in harmony. With well-written lyrics and well-presented songs, R&B can articulate the grievances by lesser cultures. This will unite different cultures and generate mutual understanding and respect for all cultures of the world. 

The role of R&B music in culture goes beyond the melody, sweet voices, and instrumentals. It connects people who share a common history, presents an avenue to pass global messages, and becomes a tool for racial and ethnic freedom. With the discouragement of the use of arms and ammunition and the approval of non-violent means, R&B can use its popular music genres to forge unity and understanding between cultures. 

Rounding Off

Once you have written your essay according to the above format, you should go ahead to choose a style of reference. If you look at the sample essay, you will notice some in-text citations. This is in the MLA style or Modern Language style, but you may pick APA style or ASA style depending on the requirements of the paper. 

Some supervisors give students the freedom to choose the style of their choice. The important thing is to pay attention to the instructions for the paper. The lack of following instructions can lead to a failed paper. Thus, you will lose the efforts and money spent. 

It is impossible to downplay the importance of proper research, as this serves as the bedrock for an excellent paper. There are many offline books and tons of online resources that can serve as authentic sources of information. When you gather the necessary ideas and materials, writing an essay on R&B will be easy. 

The reason most students claim to not get materials for their essay is that they did not search in the right places. Google Scholar and JSTOR Research are some of the right places to find materials for academic research. 

The bottom line is to view the sample essay, take note of the thesis statement, and understand how to write the topic sentence and detailed explanation of each point in the paragraph. But sometimes the pressure of academic work can be overwhelming, or you needed to come to terms with the technicality of essay writing. At that point, you may seek help from AffordablePapers to get your essay written for you at a reasonable price.

Reference(s)

1. Tell It Like It Is: A History of Rhythm and Blues

Curled from https://folklife.si.edu/talkstory/2016/tell-it-like-it-is-a-history-of-rhythm-and-blues

2. The Origins and History of R&B Music

Curled from https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-randb-music-2851217

3. Category: R&B

Curled from https://official.fm/rb/

4. How Modern R&B Revitalized Pop Music

Curled from https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/modern-rnb-revitalised-pop-music/

5. Rhythm and Blues' influence on Pop Culture

Curled from https://prezi.com/pf2hsd-bwfhf/rhythm-and-blues-influence-on-pop-culture/

6. R&B CULTURE

Curled from https://prezi.com/tpv5nhfoz5ls/rb-culture/

7. The History Of R&B Music

Curled from https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-history-of-r-b-music#/

The post Essay about the Role of R&B Music in Culture appeared first on Singersroom.com.

Je’Melody Releases Hot New Album 'JADED'

JE'MELODY DEBUT EP "JADED" PREVIEW : https://soundcloud.com/jemelody/sets/jaded/s-PGpVih8fpvY

WEBSITE: https://www.jemelodymusic.com

SOCIAL MEDIA: IG: https://www.instagram.com/jemel0dy/
STREAM Je’Melody: https://songwhip.com/artist/jemelody
“JADED” by Je’Melody - Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ALxZBnVKc

The post Je’Melody Releases Hot New Album ‘JADED’ appeared first on Singersroom.com.

CHAMPIONED BY CAPITAL XTRA, REPREZENT RADIO, MNM BELGIUM, TARMAC, PULSE88 RADIO

STREAM HERE: https://open.spotify.com/album/7m6DPu3m1iE76vZDiWRaJ9?si=O7cOB7WgSviNrtRfou8ICA

Introducing 23-year old London-based Belgian Congolese songstress LYNE, who – after teasing us with three well-received introductory singles in the past couple of years that have seen her garner strong support from the likes of Capital Xtra, Reprezent Radio, MNM Belgium, Tarmac, and Pulse88 Radio, among others – is excited to unveil her brand new debut EP titled Bipo Feels, a phrase which Lyne coined about the way relationships can have us feeling bipolar, with completely opposing emotions all the time.

Produced by frequent collaborator D.E.W.I, Lyne’s Bipo Feels EP is an exquisite and expansive R&B offering, with lush afrobeats, soul and rap sensibilities sprinkled across the project, to make it all the more interesting of a listening experience for fans and critics alike. Led by Lyne’s angelic and immersive voice, and her honest and relatable songwriting, as well as D.E.W.I’s glorious musical backdrops, the Bipo Feels EP sees Lyne at her most vulnerable, as she opens up about an undecisive time in her life, which she describes as “those moments where you can have different feelings towards a man you love”.

From Lyne expressing how she is hopelessly in love with her man on the opening track ‘Together’, to the following track ‘Not Sorry’, which sees Lyne expressing her frustration with this same man, leading her to even switch between English and her native French language to convey her annoyances, the theme of the EP quickly flips on its head, and by the third track ‘All Mine’, Lyne has done a complete 180-degree switch, as she now professes to want this same man all for herself, but on the EP’s final track ‘9PM’, she finds out her man is cheating on her, and all hell breaks loose, with seemingly fatal consequences.

Speaking about the inspiration behind her Bipo Feels EP, Lyne says, “Writing this EP really helped me release some thoughts I feel like I couldn’t really open up about. Having doubts, and not being able to see clearly, while feeling different emotions at the same time, all caused by the same person, can be very frustrating. We say that there is a thin line between love and hate and I totally believe that. Intense love can seem so lasting and forever that it’s almost surrealistic when we realize how quickly it can turn into anger. I want this EP to be a message of support to anyone feeling that confusion about what their heart is saying, at times. You are not alone but keep praying and God will show you what you need to see”.

‘BIPO FEELS’ EP TRACKLIST

1. Together
2. Not Sorry
3. All Mine
4. 9PM

CONNECT WITH LYNE

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/lynensongo

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lynensongo

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lynensongo

Website: http://www.lyne.tv

STREAM HERE: https://open.spotify.com/album/7m6DPu3m1iE76vZDiWRaJ9?si=O7cOB7WgSviNrtRfou8ICA

The post LYNE EXPLORES LOVE’S CONTRADICTIONS ON HER DEBUT EP ‘BIPO FEELS’ appeared first on Singersroom.com.

MODEL DEVYN ADAIR RETURNS WITH HOT NEW SINGLE “MY LOVE” TODAY

STREAM "MY LOVE" HERE: https://www.listen.lt/DevynAdairMyLove

Over a lull of dreamy guitars and minimalist beats, her voice instantly enchants and entrances. The track ebbs and flows as her vocals flutter towards a seductive and soulful hook. The soft ballad illuminates the artist’s dynamic range and highlights her natural charisma. Be on the lookout for the premiere of the music video in the near future.

“My Love” sets the stage for the arrival of her new EP, coming soon.

Devyn Adair has quietly established herself as an enchanting presence. In addition to a successful career modeling, the Korean-American chanteuse continues to build a consistent catalog. 2018’s “Maybe” [feat. AD] attracted acclaim from RESPECT Magazine, and The Hype Magazine, which wrote, “Don’t think for a second Dev will be slow up from here!” Last year, she made waves with Filters, garnering looks from RESPECT. Magazine and more.

STREAM "MY LOVE" HERE: https://www.listen.lt/DevynAdairMyLove

Biography:

Devyn Adair is a contemporary R&B singer and songwriter with a voice that is soothing, smooth and soulful. From a young age, Devyn discovered she had a deep rooted passion for being creative, and a strong interest in the arts. Her urge to be involved in the arts led her to Korea to pursue vocal training and dance. Devyn chose to train in Korea, because of their notable artist camps, and because of her Korean heritage. After completing her training in Korea, Devyn made her way back to the states to pursue modeling and also jump started her process of becoming the artist she is today. Her music is sultry, soothing, and versatile due to her variety in both R&B and pop sounds; drawing inspiration from Chris Brown, Jhene Aiko, Ariana Grande, and more.

Follow Devyn on Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/devynadair/

https://twitter.com/devynadair

https://web.facebook.com/devyn.adair

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC65heYYee3utJyahMMGRUvA

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Hello everyone! We're the Clark family. Colt (the Dad) is a professional musician and Aubree (me, the Mom behind the camera) is a photographer. Together we home school our three children (even when we're not in the middle of a pandemic). :) We're keeping busy during our time at home by

"The black feminist Combahee River Collective manifesto and E. Franklin Frazier's Black Bourgeoisie share the diagnosis that the wealthy and powerful will take every opportunity to hijack activist energies for their own ends."

On the origins of identity politics with black feminist activists:

The term "identity politics" was first popularized by the 1977 manifesto of the Combahee River Collective, an organization of black feminist activists. In a recent interview with the Root and in an op-ed at the Guardian, Barbara Smith, a founding member of the collective, addresses common misconceptions about the term. The manifesto, she explains, was written by black women claiming the right to set their own political agendas. They weren't establishing themselves as a moral aristocracy—they were building a political viewpoint out of common experience to work toward "common problems." As such, they were strongly in favor of diverse people working in coalition, an approach that for Smith was exemplified by the Bernie Sanders campaign's grassroots approach and its focus on social issues that people of many identities face, especially "basic needs of food, housing and healthcare." According to Smith, today's uses of the concept are often "very different than what we intended." "We absolutely did not mean that we would work with people who were only identical to ourselves," she insists. "We strongly believed in coalitions and working with people across various identities on common problems."

The concept of elite capture originated in the study of developing countries to describe the way socially advantaged people tend to gain control over financial benefits meant for everyone, especially foreign aid. But the concept has also been applied more generally to describe how political projects can be hijacked—in principle or in effect—by the well positioned and resourced, as Yang's "step up" demand exemplifies. The idea also helps to explain how public resources such as knowledge, attention, and values get distorted and distributed by our power structures. And it is precisely what stands between us and Smith's urgent vision of coalitional politics.

To better understand the broader dynamic, we can look to philosopher C. Thi Nguyen's work on games. As he explains in his new book Games: Agency as Art (2020), confusing the real world with the carefully incentivized structure of game worlds can lead to a phenomenon he calls "value capture," a process by which we begin with rich and subtle values, encounter simplified versions of them in social life, and then revise our values in the direction of simplicity. Nguyen is careful to point out that value capture doesn't require anyone's deliberate or calculated intervention, only an environment or incentive structure that encourages excess value clarity.

Nguyen stops short of noting that another risk of gamifying values is the unequal distribution of power across participants. But outside of the world of games, power differentials do shape outcomes. Value capture is managed by elites, on purpose or not. In other words, elites don't simply participate in our community; their decisions help to structure it, much in the way that game designers structure the world of games. After all, elites face a simpler version of oppression than non-elites do: whereas working-class black folk are pressed by racial slights and degradation alongside economic problems that might require "socialized medicine" to solve, elites's economic position makes them comfortable enough to focus on their own status and cultural power—often at the expense of non-elites.

The Congressional Black Caucus's cosponsorship of Ronald Reagan's 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act helped supercharge mass incarceration by establishing mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines and adding $1.7 billion toward the drug war while welfare programs were cut. This legislation solved the problem for the black elites of the CBC of how to seem involved with respect to the crack cocaine epidemic. But with the law's passage, working-class African Americans went from dealing with one very complex problem to weathering two interlocking ones: the drug epidemic itself—unsolved by this draconian measure—and the surge of discriminatory law enforcement the legislation unleashed.

Elite capture is not unique to black politics; it is a general feature of politics, anywhere and everywhere. I could just as easily have focused on the world of elite universities. In Philosophy of African American Studies (2015), for example, Stephen Ferguson II makes a similar argument about the elite capture of black studies, which owes its existence to the radical student movements of the 1960s and '70s but has since been "turned into a bureaucratic cog in the academic wheel controlled by administrators, with virtually no democratic input from students or the black working-class community." I could also have kept the general perspective but reversed the role of race and class. In socialist organizations, for example, we might find that white people likewise tend to capture the group's politics.

Or we could look away from race to a different set of identity characteristics altogether. In the Buzzfeed article "You Wanted Same-Sex Marriage? Now You Have Pete Buttigieg," Shannon Keating laments the trajectory of mainstream queer politics away from the more radical elements dramatically on display in the Stonewall riot of 1969 and ACT UP. Or take how The Wing, a coworking space touting itself as a "women's utopia," exploits the women who work for it.

And, of course, elite abuse of identity politics isn't limited to the United States. It is also a particularly salient problem in Global South politics, where national, ethnic, and caste identities are shaped by an unstable mix of indigenous and colonial history. Peace studies scholar Camilla Orjuela argues that, from Sri Lanka to Kenya, politics in multiethnic Global South societies easily fall into cycles of expecting elites to allocate resources along blatantly ethnic and regional lines. After all, the thinking going, the elites of every other ethnic group will do the same when they're in power. Journalist John Githongo describes such ethnic elites as "creatures of patronage and . . . influence peddling" who treat the state as a ladder to their own goals rather than an institution of collective responsibility. These conceptual strands are vividly illustrated by the history of the U.S.-backed Haitian dictators "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The Duvaliers cynically used tropes drawn from the Vodou religion, popular with the country's poor, to intimidate the citizenry while enriching themselves. At the same time, they unleashed unspeakable violence upon actual Vodou practitioners, fearing the revolutionary potential of the religion, which was instrumental in ending slavery on the island.

As the Combahee River Collective acknowledged, simply participating in activism is no guarantee that we will develop the right kind of political culture; its founding members were veterans of important radical political movements that nevertheless made crucial oversights along the way. Elites have to get involved—actually involved—but that involvement needs to resist elite capture of values and the gamification of political life.

We have our work cut out for us, but fortunately we aren't starting from scratch: there's a rich history to draw from. In the 1960s, feminists held regular group meetings, in houses and apartments, to discuss gender injustice in ways that would have been taboo in mixed company. A set of such "consciousness raising" guidelines by Barbara Smith and fellow activists Tia Cross, Freada Klein, and Beverly Smith provides an example of identity politics work as the Combahee River Collective envisioned it. The exercise starts by asking participants to examine their own shortcomings ("When did you first notice yourself treating people of color in a different way?"), but ends by asking how they can use an element of shared oppression as a bridge to unite people across difference ("In what ways can shared lesbian oppression be used to build connections between white women and women of color?"). Because, in the end, we're in it together—and, from the point of view of identity politics, that is the whole point.

"Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over." Sabrina Orah Mark reflects on fairy tales, the academic job market, and being a mother during the COVID-19 pandemic. (SLParisReview)

What does 'mild' mean in the context of Covid-19? Geographer Felicity Callard details the multifarious meanings of mildness in this pandemic; how the term is used by different actors and what it comes to mean to those experiencing 'mild' cases. The mild, Callard argues,

will likely continue to be used for multiple Covid-19 purposes – whether adjudicating clinical symptoms, assessing the virus's impact on the body, determining the need for formal healthcare services, or judging the likely time of return to functional normality, whether inside and outside the labour market. I therefore predict on-going epistemological, ontological and political contestation over the scope and definition of the mild.

Luz had never heard Bible truth in her language—until she attended a Spanish-speaking Amazing Facts prophecy series! She devoured the message and wanted more. Today, you can greatly multiply the number of Spanish materials and websites for our Latino friends when you sacrificially support this ministry. Thank you for changing her life and helping to bring the message of life to the people of Cuba.

Amazing Facts is experiencing tremendous growth in our radio and TV audiences, a surge in web traffic, and a doubling of requests for Bible lessons and materials. Especially today, God wants to advance the work of spreading His truth to a planet reeling in fear and confusion. Your timely gift right now will truly transform people who are now open to the truth. Let’s not pullback in these difficult days but press ahead!

Gov. Brian Kemp is encouraging all Georgians to undergo screening for the coronavirus as the testing supply continues to rise and the federal government plans to send enough swabs to test 2% of the state’s population. Speaking at the Capitol Thursday, Kemp said the change in guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention means those without symptoms can contact their doctor, local health department or use a free app from Augusta University to start the process.

GDOL Has Distributed $1.7 Billion In Unemployment Benefits Over Past 7 Weeks Georgia Lawmakers Meet Virtually, Discuss Budget Cuts In Upcoming Fiscal Year Coalition of Acitivists, Legislators Petition Gov. Kemp To Discuss COVID-19 In Black Communities USDA Reports Georgia Leads Nation In Blueberry Production

The family of an unarmed black man who was shot and killed near Brunswick in February is calling for the resignation of the local district attorney. A rally is planned for Friday morning.

Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, have been arrested on murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed Thursday.

The head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a Friday briefing that after two days of investigating the two-month-old shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery there was “sufficient probable cause” to arrest two men on charges of aggravated assault and felony murder. And GBI Director Vic Reynolds didn't rule out more arrests in the future.

You've most likely seen bomb-sniffing dogs at the airport when you've gone through the security line. In a post-coronavirus world, we could get used to seeing dogs in security checkpoints as we stand in line at stadiums, concert venues and even bars. These dogs wouldn't be sniffing for bombs, however. They would be tracking the scent of people who have COVID-19.

In the 911 call regarding the fatal incident involving Ahmaud Arbery and his assailants, Gregory and Travis McMichael, the 911 dispatcher said she didn't understand what Arbery was "doing wrong."

GBI Make 2 Arrests In The Shooting Death Of Ahmaud Arbery Georgia Tests 2% Of State Population For COVID-19, Expecting To Test Another 2% By End Of May Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Voices Displeasure With Gov. Kemp's Reopening Strategy Delta CEO Thinks Testing, Contact Tracing Critical Before Customers Become Confident Enough To Fly

Compared to the lockdowns and shuttered businesses in countries across the world, Sweden is an outlier. Swedish officials have advised citizens to work from home and avoid travel, but most schools and businesses have remained open. This relaxed approach aims to minimize impact on the economy and slow the spread of the virus through what is known as “herd immunity.” But striving for herd immunity without a controlled vaccine in place can also prove risky.