A Quick Message To Readers About The New Civil Rights Movement
Regular readers know that almost never do we interrupt you with site-specific news, information, or requests, but we’re going to do just that very quickly right now.
LGBT blogger Pam Spaulding last night on Twitter told an avid reader and supporter — whom I know and am very grateful to for her advocacy — “Blogging doesn’t pay the bills and I cannot clone myself.” To be frank, it really struck a chord, and I thought I’d use it as a jumping off point to share a few thoughts.
As you probably assume, the only income The New Civil Rights Movement receives is from advertising, and quite frankly, it’s so small it doesn’t even pay the rent. Not even half the rent.
I mention this only because for us to continue to deliver high-quality news and opinion, that you often will find either here first or no where else, we need advertisers to continue to want to support us with their business.
(By the way, if you’re new here, or just want to know a little more about the site, please visit our media page.)
And despite the small amount of space we have available for ads, we want to stay true to our mission: to be of service to our community.
Recently, we’ve run several ads free of charge, because we believe in the causes the ads represent. And it’s not the first time we’ve done that.
Gay Marriage USA is a Facebook page that was created by the same person who created Gay Marriage For New York, which attracted almost 150,000 fans in a fairly short period of time. They’re doing a great job advocating for the same thing we are — marriage equality — and I hope you’ll “like” both pages. (This ad expired Tuesday but the pages are very much active on Facebook. Please visit them!)
Keep Education FAIR is an ad that’s running free of charge too because I’m personally very concerned about the future of SB 48, California’s FAIR Education Act. You should be too. I reached out to Equality California, GLSEN, and the GSA Network and asked how I could help. Hopefully we’ll be doing more to help ensure SB 48 stays the law in California. I hope you will be too.
And Lemon Sky is a great and important off-Broadway show here in NYC that just started previews last night. Lanford Wilson, a gay playwright who died earlier this year, wrote the show, and we wanted to support the production. And, on a personal note, my fiancé is the assistant director, and so we wanted to support the show even more because of that, but we would have run the ad regardless.
The other ads on the site are important too, like “The Missing link,” and the ad that reads, “Shocking Meat Video,” both of which have very generously helped support us the past few months.
Another word about ads. We don’t blindly accept ads. There are plenty of ads we’ve rejected, because we won’t support their mission, or because we felt they were inappropriate and would degrade the quality of the site overall.
Some ads, mostly those via Google, may occasionally upset you. Once in a while we get emails asking why we’re running ads for, say, Michele Bachmann. It’s not by choice — Google serves ads based upon content and based upon your browsing habits. If you see an ad that upsets you, please email us and let us know the site the ad goes to so we can ask it be blocked.
Lastly, as I said, the only income we receive is via ads. Not totally accurate.
If we write a piece that mentions a book, often we’ll link to the book at Amazon, and on the rare chance you buy the book through that link, we make a tiny amount of money. To date, that amount has been $11.79.
Also, on the bottom right hand side of the page, you’ll notice a yellow “donate” button. A few generous souls over the past few years have used it to show their gratitude for our work. While we don’t usually mention it, of course, we’d be most grateful if you found yourself wanting to use it.
In fact, at some point soon we may be forced to actively campaign for donations, perhaps much like PBS does now. We’ll see. Delivering high-quality content isn’t free, nor is it easy.
You can help keep us running and help us get our message of equality out. Donations are one way. Bringing more visitors is another.
If you like an article here, please, share it with your friends, family, and co-workers. Tweet it, Facebook it, Google+ it, Reddit it, Fark it, Digg it. The more people who visit, the more we can focus on delivering high-quality news, information, and opinion to you.
I wanted you, our loyal readers, to know a little bit more about what we’re doing here and why.
Questions? Thoughts? Answers?
Drop a comment below, or email me directly: davidbadash@gmail.com
Thank you for your loyalty.
David
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NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”
“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.
Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.
“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).
The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.
A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.
“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.
“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”
READ MORE: MAGA State Superintendent Supports Chaplains in Public Schools – But Not From All Religions
Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”
Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”
In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”
Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”
“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”
The original video is here.
See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.
Caution: the video is disturbing.
Ole Miss taking care of business. pic.twitter.com/JiL9hs2pHz
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) May 3, 2024
READ MORE: Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.
While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.
But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.
READ MORE: RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”
The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.
READ MORE: Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report
NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.
“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”
Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.
“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”
READ MORE: Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report
“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.
“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”
One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.
But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”
Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”
Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.
“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.
“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”
Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.
READ MORE: Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report
Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
News2 days agoCongressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
News3 days agoTrump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
News3 days agoElection Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report
News2 days agoNoem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
News2 days agoRFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties