Planned Parenthood on Monday asked a state court judge in Utah to block a law set to take effect next month that would effectively ban abortion clinics from operating in the state.

Planned Parenthood said the law, which would eliminate the licensing process for abortion clinics and thus effectively make it impossible to get an abortion anywhere but in a hospital, violated the state constitution’s rights to privacy and bodily integrity, in a lawsuit filed in the Third Judicial District Court in Salt Lake City.

The case is before Judge Andrew Stone, who last year issued a preliminary order preventing the state from enforcing an earlier abortion ban while he hears a legal challenge by Planned Parenthood. The judge said at a hearing in that separate case that it was prudent to pause a “seismic change in women’s health treatment” until the lawsuit, which remains pending, is finally decided.

Planned Parenthood argued that Stone should block the newer law for the same reason, saying it would ban 95% of abortions in the state if allowed to take effect on May 3.

“As promised, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah is fighting back and doing everything in our power to make sure that Utahns can get the care they need to stay healthy,” Sarah Stoez, interim president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said in a statement.

The office of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, who signed the law last month, declined to comment.

The law blocked last year was a so-called trigger ban set to take effect in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion established in its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which it did last June.

The law banned nearly all abortions, with exceptions for risk of death or permanent injury to the mother and for severe fetal abnormalities. It also included an exception in cases of rape or incest, but only if reported to the police.

For now, abortion remains legal up to 18 weeks of pregnancy in Utah.

Twelve of the 50 U.S. states now ban abortion outright while many others prohibit it after a certain length of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

Ever since the all-white Beastie Boys infiltrated the hip-hop scene in the mid-1980s, there’s a belief that since it’s a genre created for and by Black people, anyone else is a guest.

Not much has changed.

Macklemore, a multiple award-winning white rapper, recently said that even after being in the game for over 20 years, he and Eminem are still just “guests” of the hip-hop culture.

The Seattle-raised recording artist posted a recent interview he did with Nate Burleson for CBS Mornings on his Instagram account. The discussion centered around the talk of white rappers being guests in the genre of hip-hop.

3rd Bass, Beastie Boys, Paul Wall, Iggy Azalea, Kid Rock, House of Pain, and of course, Eminem have all had to respond to questions about being considered a guest in their chosen field of music. When the question was posed to Macklemore, who is also part of the Grammy- and BET Award-winning duo, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, he agreed.

“One of my favorite interviews ever with @nateburleson… excited for you guys to see the whole thing 🪄”

“I think it is true. It is true and I agree. If you look at the origin of where hi-pop came from and what was happening in New York City, what was happening in the Bronx, and the way Black people and people of color have been treated historically in America from the jump—this was the music that was birthed out of oppression. Hip-hop is inclusive so there’s always been an open door to a certain extent. In certain moments it was a little bit harder to push it open, back in the ’90s.”

In acknowledging his “guest” status, he mentioned Eminem, who many consider one of the best rappers to put lyrics to paper.

“But I’m a guest, Em’s a guest,” Macklemore said. “Doesn’t matter how good we get. Doesn’t matter how great Eminem is. We’re guests in the culture. 100%. And that’s not to say that I don’t belong here. I absolutely belong here. But you still have to realize that this is not your house. And that you’re a guest. And take your shoes off and help with some dishes.”

 

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A biopic on legendary singer Dionne Warwick is finally going to see the light of day!

According to Billboard, singer and songwriter, Teyana Taylor recently confirmed she will play the role of Warwick in an upcoming biopic that she has been linked to for several years.

Two years ago, Entertainment Weekly reported that Warwick discussed Taylor’s involvement in doing a series and that Taylor was excited about being “involved in directing it.”

“It’s going to be a series, we’re planning to do an episodic type of a show,” Warwick told EW in 2021. “[Teyana] is certainly a talented young lady with whom I’ve had the pleasure of interfacing. In fact, we had a conversation last night on the telephone. She’s very excited about the prospect of being involved and she’s also going to be very, very much involved in directing it and putting together parts and parcel of how we see this going.”

On a recent episode of The Tamron Hall Show, Taylor talked about going forward with the role and that she speaks to Warwick every day. The movie is in the process of becoming a reality.

“We’re already working on it,” Taylor informed Tamron Hall. “We’re in the building process right now. I’ve always wanted to make sure like, I could lock in with any person that I would be playing, you know? How Angela and Tina was, how Jamie Foxx and Ray Charles was, you know what I’m saying? Like, to really get to know them and I miss when movies was like that, when you get to know them and tap in and just bond.”

With her direct connection to the “That’s What Friends Are For” the singer, Taylor is very cautious about portraying Warwick the right way.

“I’ve always been a firm believer and stood on safety,” Taylor said. “She’s had a wonderful career, and I think right now is about making her feel as safe as possible to tell her story because a lot of these stories get misconstrued or dramatized to an extent. That’s not really where we want to go.”

• News

by Sharelle B. McNair

April 4, 2023

Former Black Tesla Employee Awarded $3.2 Million Over Racist Treatment

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Being racist is always going to cost you. Just ask Tesla.

The New York Times reports a jury ordered the electric car company to pay a former Black employee $3.2 million after it was accused of ignoring racial abuse while he worked at its California factory.

While working as a contractor, Owen Diaz claimed he was subjected to numerous racist offenses between 2015 and 2016. During his employment, a supervisor and other Tesla workers continuously used racial slurs, referencing him. Employees also wrote racial epithets and drew symbols and caricatures around the factory.

While the awarded amount sounds like a win, it was much less than what was anticipated. Two years ago, a different jury awarded Diaz $137 million, mainly in punitive damages. The judge then reduced the figure to $15 million. Diaz denied the offer and challenged for a new trial.

After a five-day trial, $3 million in punitive damages was awarded and $175,000 in past and future noneconomic damages. According to CNN, Tesla has repeatedly denied the charges. However, the company admits there were problems that needed to be addressed at the plant.

“We do recognize that in 2015 and 2016 we were not perfect. We’re still not perfect,” former Tesla Vice President Valerie Capers Workman said in 2021. “But we have come a long way from five years ago. We continue to grow and improve in how we address employee concerns.”

Bernard Alexander, Diaz’s legal counsel, said the racist remarks took an emotional toll on his client, who dealt with it the best way he could. He decided to speak up once his son started working there and received the same treatment.

“The prevalence of the use of the N-word inside of Tesla’s workplace is an indication that they did not care about how their African American employees felt,” Alexander said. “It was a complete affront to every African American inside the workplace.”

Former Los Angeles Laker Lamar Odom has found his purpose by investing in several drug treatment centers, TMZ Sports reports. Odom has battled addiction in the past, nearly dying at one point due to his drug use.

The NBA champion has teamed up with Christian hip-hop recording artist Dontae Ralston and Hall of Fame skateboarder Dennis Martinez to purchase treatment facilities in San Diego, El Cajon, and Lemon Grove.

Odom shared a photograph of him, his partners, and staff at one of the facilities via his Instagram account.

“So Blessed 🙏🏿 Please meet my partners and staff at my new addiction treatment centers @odomwellnesstreatmentcenters located in San Diego County!!
God saved me, so I can save others. 🙏🏿”

 

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According to the Odom Wellness Treatment Centers website, it is a treatment program that offers restoration through Detox, Inpatient facilities, Outpatient programming & housing. His [Odom’s] mission is to give back and allow all clients the ability to live and benefit from the same Entourage that supports and encourages his recovery.”

“He wants to help everyone he can,” a representative for Odom said. “He is thankful that he was given a second chance at his life and feels his destiny is to help others.”

This is only the beginning of the Odom Wellness Treatment Centers. Odom intends on purchasing two more facilities soon, another in San Diego, and one in Calabasas.

“When God had saved me from that accident, I was trying to find my purpose—and I think I may have found it,” he told TMZ. “I know I have found it.”

Earlier this year in a television special, Odom insisted he did not do any drugs on the night he overdosed at a brothel in Nevada. He claimed the owner of the brothel, the late Dennis Hof, tried to kill him by putting drugs in his drink.

He made that revelation on TMZ Presents: Lamar Odom: Sex, Drugs and Kardashians in January. Odom claimed he was set up to be killed by the owner of the Love Ranch South in Pahrump, Nevada. That incident took place in October 2015.

Yesterday, Stephen Curry’s UNDERRATED Golf program announced KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, as title sponsor in an effort to advance equity, access and opportunity for underrepresented and underrated youth in the sport of golf. KPMG will bring a multitude of new offerings to enhance the tour, including a mentoring and leadership development program for the participating youth.

“KPMG’s sponsorship of UNDERRATED Golf further exemplifies our focus on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within our firm and the broader marketplace,” said KPMG U.S. Chair and CEO Paul Knopp. “We look forward to working with Stephen Curry, Mariah Stackhouse and the UNDERRATED Golf team to positively impact the diversity pipeline in golf and empower young athletes as leaders both on and off the course through meaningful leadership development and mentorship opportunities.”

Additionally, LPGA Tour player and KPMG brand ambassador Mariah Stackhouse will serve as an UNDERRATED Golf brand ambassador starting in the 2023 season, where she’ll host the newly minted “KPMG Leadership Day” to take place at the season-ending Curry Cup.

“After attending the inaugural Curry Cup last summer and seeing that UNDERRATED Golf’s mission aligned perfectly with two of my passions – increasing the representation of diverse talent in the sport of golf and empowering young athletes as leaders off the course – I knew that I wanted to get involved,” said Stackhouse. “I also recognized that, after working with KPMG for almost 7 years, they too shared the same authentic commitment to this mission, so I facilitated an introduction. I am thrilled that these two best-in-class organizations have come together, and I am honored to serve as UNDERRATED Golf’s ambassador alongside Stephen Curry.”

At each UNDERRATED Golf presented by KPMG tour stop, 60 athletes will participate in tournament style events and team-building activities while simultaneously networking with college golf coaches and golf executives. Ultimately, 24 best boys and girls will emerge from the tour to compete at the season-ending Curry Cup. The tour will give many young golfers their first opportunity to play at prestigious courses, with four tour stops across the country including:

• The Park West Palm in West Palm Beach, FL | June 25-27
• Firestone Country Club in Akron, OH | July 6-8
• Paiute Golf Resort in Las Vegas, NV | July 18-20
• Chambers Bay in Seattle, WA | Aug 7-9

UNDERRATED Golf is a purpose-driven business endeavor with the overarching commitment to provide equity, access and opportunity to student-athletes from every community by balancing participation in the sport to truly reflect our society. With a mission to increase the participation numbers amongst competitive golfers from diverse communities, UNDERRATED Golf’s vision of the sport better reflects and balances the diversity of our society and provides access to the opportunities the game brings both on and off the course.

“UNDERRATED Golf launched with a mission to provide equity, access and opportunity to student athletes from underrepresented communities,” said Stephen Curry. “As we enter our second year, we are driven to open more doors for diverse players and balance participation in the sport to truly reflect our society. Through our partnership with KPMG and Mariah Stackhouse as a brand ambassador, this program is reinforcing what a role model looks like and empowering young girls interested in golf, by letting them know the game has a place for them. It’s inspiring to see everyone coming together to support this message and work towards creating positive change in the sport.”

For more information, please visit www.stayunderrated.com, and connect on social media via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

• News

by Sidnee Michelle Douyon

April 4, 2023

NYC Mayor Warns Trump Supporters Ahead of Arraignment: ‘Be On Your Best Behavior’

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams addressed Donald Trump supporters directly Monday, saying city authorities would not hesitate to arrest and charge anyone who breaks the law in protest over the former president’s upcoming arraignment on state charges.

Trump was heading to New York on Monday and was due to surrender to prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday. He is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges, after his indictment in a grand jury probe over hush money paid to a porn star.

The Republican, who is running for president again in 2024, has called the probe a witch hunt, and has urged his supporters to take to the streets. After he falsely claimed he won the last presidential election, his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, in a deadly riot.

Adams warned Trump supporters against turning to violence on Tuesday, saying the city was “not a playground for … misplaced anger.”

“Although we have no specific threats, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene – who is known to spread misinformation and hate speech – has stated she’s coming to town. While you’re in town, be on your best behavior,” said the Democratic mayor.

A spokesperson for Greene could not immediately be reached for comment. The Republican U.S. congresswoman from Georgia said on Twitter on Sunday that her protest would be lawful and that she rejects anyone who incites or commits violence. Greene said she would lead a pro-Trump protest at a park near the Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday.

The mayor said the New York City Police Department had not received any credible threats around the indictment, but would heighten security on public transit and increase police presence around the Manhattan courthouse where Trump will be arraigned in anticipation of possible unrest.

Roads would be closed around the city on Tuesday, the mayor said. A court official said courtrooms on higher floors of the courthouse will be closed shortly before Trump’s expected 2:15 p.m. (1815 GMT) arraignment.

Before voting to indict Trump, a grand jury heard evidence about a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The actress has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denies he had a sexual encounter with her.

During his two terms as the Democratic mayor of Rhode Island’s largest city, Elorza undertook bold actions to advance a social and racial justice agenda. This included taking the unprecedented step to engage the state Department of Education to turn around the city’s chronically underperforming school system, creating the city’s Eat, Play, Learn Initiative to expand out-of-school enrichment, and launching a nationally recognized African American Ambassador Group to bring Black leaders into the center of policymaking. Notably, he invested $400 millioninto repairing school buildings, and supported the expansion of high-quality public charter schools.

“As Mayor, I saw all too well the critical need for bold leadership to transform public education so that it serves all students—particularly those historically marginalized,” said Elorza. “DFER has been at the forefront of the fight against the status quo in public education for more than a decade, and I am honored to serve this organization at a time of both incredible urgency and possibility for our nation’s students.”

A leader in and outside City Hall, Elorza was elected by his peers to serve as Trustee for the United States Conference of Mayors, and was an Aspen Institute Rodell Fellow, a member of the New Deal Leaders network, and a member of the inaugural Bloomberg/Harvard City Leadership class.

“What I admire most about Jorge is his unwavering commitment to put the interest of students above adult politics,” said DFER Interim CEO Shakira Petit. “There is a tremendous opportunity right now for leaders to utilize historic investments in education to advance the innovative approaches that we know work for students. As DFER grows our collective impact, Jorge brings the political acumen, vast leadership experience, and vision to help our organization—and Democratic education champions across the country—meet this moment and bring about real change for all students.”

Elorza was born and raised in Providence and is the proud son of Guatemalan immigrants. A first-generation college student, he attended the Community College of Rhode Island before earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island, and a law degree from Harvard Law School. Elorza is co-founder of the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University School of Law, where he previously served as a law professor.

• Diversity, Equality, Inclusion

by Sidnee Michelle Douyon

April 4, 2023

NASA Names Woman, Black Astronauts to Artemis II Crew in Lunar First

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NASA on Monday named the first woman and the first African American ever assigned as astronauts to a lunar mission, introducing them as part of the four-member team chosen to fly on what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon in more than 50 years.

Christina Koch, 44, an engineer who already holds the record for longest continuous spaceflight by a woman and was part of NASA’s first three all-female spacewalks, was named as a mission specialist for the Artemis II lunar flyby expected as early as next year.

She will be joined by Victor Glover, 46, a U.S. Navy aviator and veteran of four spacewalks who NASA has designated as pilot of Artemis II. He will be the first Black astronaut ever to be sent on a lunar mission.

Rounding out the crew are Jeremy Hansen, a Royal Canadian Air Force colonel and first Canadian ever chosen for a flight to the moon, as a mission specialist, and Reid Wiseman, another former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, named as mission commander. Both are 47.

All three NASA astronauts chosen for the Artemis II mission are veterans of previous expeditions aboard the International Space Station. Hansen, an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, is a spaceflight rookie.

The Artemis II quartet were introduced at a pep rally-like event attended by journalists, local elementary school students and space industry leaders, televised from Houston at the Johnson Space Center, NASA’s mission control base.

“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is humanity’s crew,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on stage. “We are going.”

U.S. President Joe Biden privately called the four on Sunday to congratulate them, the White House said.

Artemis II will mark the debut crewed flight – but not the first lunar landing – of an Apollo successor program aimed at returning astronauts to the moon’s surface later this decade and ultimately establishing a sustainable outpost there as a stepping stone to future human exploration of Mars.

The kickoff Artemis I mission was successfully completed in December 2022, capping the inaugural launch of NASA’s powerful next-generation mega-rocket and its newly built Orion spacecraft on an uncrewed test flight that lasted 25 days.

The objective of the 10-day Artemis II journey around the moon and back, is to demonstrate that all of Orion’s life-support apparatus and other systems will operate as designed with astronauts aboard in deep space.

Artemis II will venture some 6,400 miles (10,300 km) beyond the far side of the moon before returning, marking the closest pass humans have made to Earth’s natural satellite since Apollo 17, which carried Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt to the lunar surface in December 1972.

They were the last of 12 NASA astronauts – all of them white men – who walked on the moon during six Apollo missions starting in 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.

LUNAR FLIGHT PLAN

At its farthest distance from Earth, Artemis II is expected to reach a point more than 230,000 miles (370,000 km) away. The typical low-Earth orbit altitude of the International Space Station is about 250 miles above the planet.

Carried to Earth orbit atop NASA’s two-stage Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the Artemis II crew will practice manual maneuvers with the Orion spacecraft before handing back to ground control for further tests and the lunar flyby portion of the mission.

After looping around the moon, Orion will use gravity of the Earth and moon to send it on a propulsion-free return flight lasting about four more days, ending in a splashdown at sea.

If Artemis II succeeds, NASA plans to follow a few years later with an unprecedented landing on the moon’s south pole with astronauts, one of them a woman, on Artemis III. Further crewed missions would follow about once a year.

Compared with the Apollo, born of the Cold War-era U.S.-Soviet space race, Artemis is a broader based program, enlisting commercial partners such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the space agencies of Canada, Europe and Japan.

It marks a major redirection of NASA’s human spaceflight ambitions beyond low-Earth orbit after decades focused on flights to and from the space station.

• News

by Sidnee Michelle Douyon

April 4, 2023

Florida Senate Passes Six-Week Abortion Ban

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Florida’s Republican-led Senate passed a bill on Monday to outlaw most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, bringing the state a step closer to joining others across the U.S. South in banning almost all abortions.

Florida currently has a law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which is being challenged in court. Republicans in the state House of Representatives and Senate filed concurrent bills last month to restrict the procedure further, starting at six weeks of pregnancy.

The Senate approved its bill with a vote of 26-13. The House’s near-identical version of the bill advanced out of committee on Thursday and a floor vote is likely in coming days. Either bill could be approved by the other chamber and sent on to the governor’s desk for signing as soon as this week.

The bills make exceptions for abortions in cases of rape and incest and in cases when the mother’s life or health are at serious risk, not including psychological health.

With Republicans controlling the legislature and governorship in Florida, a six-week ban is likely to become law. Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to challenge former President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has signaled his support.

The fate of the legislation also depends on how the state supreme court rules in a challenge of the 15-week ban. A group of abortion providers has argued it violates the state constitution.

A six-week ban would restrict abortion access across the U.S. South, where most other states have already banned the procedure at early stages of pregnancy. Patients have been traveling to Florida from across the Southeast to end their pregnancies since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, gutting federal abortion rights.

Data from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration showed that the number of out-of-state abortion patients rose 38% in 2022 compared to 2021.