US Military Completes Withdrawal From Junta-Ruled Niger

FILE - U.S. and Niger flags fly at the Niger Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger, April 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Carley Petesch, File)

DAKAR, SENEGAL (AP) — The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Niger is complete, an American official said Monday.

A small number of military personnel assigned to guard the U.S. Embassy remain, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Earlier this year, Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement that allowed U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. A few months later, officials from both countries said in a joint statement that U.S. troops would complete their withdrawal by the middle of September.

The U.S. handed over its last military bases in Niger to local authorities last month, but about two dozen American soldiers had remained in Niger, largely for administrative duties related to the withdrawal, Singh said.

Niger’s ouster of American troops following a coup last year has broad ramifications for Washington because it’s forcing troops to abandon critical bases that were used for counterterrorism missions in the Sahel. groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate in the vast region south of the Sahara desert.

One of those groups, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, known as JNIM, is active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and is looking to expand into Benin and Togo.

Niger had been seen as one of the last nations in the restive region that Western nations could partner with to beat back growing jihadi insurgencies. The U.S. and France had more than 2,500 military personnel in the region until recently, and together with other European countries had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training.

In recent months Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to reinforce the country’s air defenses.

Book Review: Brathwaite Flexes His Writing Chops And Expands Black Literary Canon With Debut ‘Rage’

This cover image released by Tiny Reparations shows "Rage: On Being Queer, Black, Brilliant...and Completely Over It" by Lester Fabian Braithwaite. (Tiny Reparations via AP)

BY DONNA EDWARDS

There was a class at my university called Black Arts, Black Power. Lester Fabian Brathwaite’s “Rage” would fit snugly right into that syllabus.

With an extensive writing portfolio already under his belt working for publications like “Out,” Brathwaite’s debut book is part memoir, part academic review of culture and society, part philosophical musings of a queer Black millennial man who was born in Guyana and grew up in New York. It fits comfortably alongside the works of other greats to whom it pays homage, like Huey P. Newton, James Baldwin and Nina Simone — the latter being apparent by the book’s full title: “Rage: On Being Queer, Black, Brilliant ... and Completely Over It.”

No doubt Brathwaite is a great writer, but he’s also a great thinker.

In a chapter largely focused on muscular dysmorphia, he makes a shockingly persuasive — if bracingly cavalier — argument for bodily autonomy that invokes trans rights, women’s rights, drug use and bodybuilding.

“Rage” is conceptually heavy and multilayered, but with casual syntax and regular use of pop icons and common people, places and things as touchstones. At the same time, there’s a touch of high-brow, with several literary references and famous turns of phrases thoughtfully employed to bring new light to old ideas — and sometimes turn an idea on its head.

With a teaspoon of empathy and an open mind, you’ll find that any differences between the author and the reader melt away because the heart of what Brathwaite is saying is universal.

That said, “Rage” is anything but demure. The Table of Contents is peppered with profanities and even a chapter titled “I Hate the Gays.” Readers will either be turned off here before ever buying the book, or tempted to know more about this self-described “hateful child who grew into an even more hateful adult” — said, like most reflections in the book, with a protective layer of comedy around a kernel of truth.

But being off-putting is part of Brathwaite’s shtick, one readers have not only allowed but praised time and again with arguably more upsetting works (looking at you, “Lolita”).

Still, the writing can admittedly be annoyingly abrasive, like with its overuse of the f-slur and other choices that I personally didn’t love. But in the end, Brathwaite really grew on me. He wholeheartedly owns these pieces of himself. He reclaims words and is ready to live wildly, make mistakes and then grow from them.

And the tender moments hit harder for it, whether Brathwaite is describing his mother’s burial on his 14th birthday or the fifth-grade teacher who took him to Boston for being her top student.

Is “Rage” a little thick? Yes, at times, for sure. But it’s more like academic-lite, broken up with comedic relief, romantic exploits and, as Brathwaite loves to say, debauchery. If you find the starting pace a bit slow, rest assured it ramps up — quickly.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

Women Are Still Underrepresented In Local Government, Despite A Woman Running For President

BY JUSTIN DE BENEDICTUS-KESSNER

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL

Kamala Harris is at the top of a major party ticket running for president. Some people have celebrated her candidacy, hoping that it will excite voters enough to elect the first woman president.

But the glass ceiling that stymied Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid in 2016 is still sturdy at other levels of political office across the country.

My research with Diana Da In Lee, Yamil Velez and Chris Warshaw shows that in cities and counties, women remain underrepresented among local officeholders in nearly every political office.

Like many other characteristics of officeholders, such as occupation or race, the gender of elected officials influences the way they make policy. Research has shown that women, and especially working-class women, elected to state and federal government offices in countries around the world make different spending decisions. Having more women in elected offices might matter especially at the local level, where the details of many of these federal or state spending decisions actually play out.

Congress is infamous for having few women in office. But until now, researchers and the public knew very little about how women and different racial groups were represented outside the federal government.

We gathered data from city, county and school district elections covering the past three decades in any city with a population of at least 50,000 people and any county with a population of at least 75,000 in 2020. Using this data, we calculated the share of winning candidates who were women or men.

Our published research shows that women make up a smaller share of elected officials in county governments and city governments than they represent in the population.

The gap between women’s share of the population in counties and women’s share of officeholders in counties is especially large. While women make up just over half of the population in counties, they make up only a little over a quarter of legislators who serve on county councils or county commissions. Women serving as county executives, sheriffs and prosecutors are even rarer. The office of sheriff is especially dominated by men, with women serving in less than 5% of these positions.

City government offices look a little better for women’s representation. Women are not well represented in the mayor’s office – only 24% of mayors are women – and just over a third of elected city councilors are women. The relatively smaller gender gap of elected officials in city government is an improvement over counties, but it is far from gender parity.

School boards are the one exception. On the school boards we studied, women are slightly overrepresented in office relative to men. This may be a result of school boards being what political scientists like us call “stereotype congruent” offices for women, whom voters see as more competent in areas such as education and health.

People learn early in life, through a process researchers call “gendered political socialization,” to question women’s place in politics. For this reason, women are less likely to express an interest in politics or run for office, and they first show this lack of political ambition early in their childhood. Other research shows that in adulthood, gendered expectations of women to have successful careers alongside motherhood can further limit their interest in running for office. Our research shows the consequences of these ambition gaps between men and women in politics: Women remain underrepresented in nearly every local political office, except for school boards.

As Kamala Harris takes on Donald Trump in the presidential election this fall, many pundits and voters are celebrating the representation of women – and in particular, women of color – in politics. But no matter the outcome in November, the gender gap between city and county residents and their local elected officials will be large. As a result, the important policies that local governments make might not fully represent the wishes of the people.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

Class And Race Can Create Divides Between Donors And A Cause They Support − Putting Stress On Those Nonprofits

BY ABBIE COHEN

PH.D CANDIDATE IN EDUCATION

UCLA

Relying on wealthy, largely white donors for funding can lead nonprofits that run after-school programs for low-income children of color to feel pressured to skew their priorities. In part because of class and racial differences, these nonprofits can have trouble conveying how the interests of the programs’ participants are being met while also satisfying donors’ demands.

This was evident in an in-depth case study I wrote about in Children & Schools, an academic journal. The after-school program I studied supports low-income girls in a Northeastern city. The girls, who are in grades 3-5, receive free weekly mentoring sessions.

The mentors are college students who volunteer to help build the girls’ self-confidence and ambition by reading and discussing stories with them about female athletes, film directors, politicians and human rights activists, among other role models. The organization is led by a Black woman who is from the local community, and the nonprofit uses its own original curriculum.

By participating in the program, the girls get a safe way to explore their “many identities,” a member of the nonprofit’s staff told me.

However, while conducting interviews, convening focus groups, analyzing documents and observing a virtual fundraising event, I consistently found that the group’s staff felt pressured to use the corporate jargon of its donors when communicating with them. The donors are predominantly wealthy white business executives.

The nonprofit’s executive director said one of the benefits of participating in the mentoring sessions is their playfulness. The girls can “just be free, and just have fun and talk to their mentors, and journal,” she said.

Despite her confidence that the program is worthwhile, she said she often experiences a disconnect while fielding her donors’ questions.

“It’s always like, ‘What’s your business model? And what’s going to be your key performance indicators? How are you going to grow?‘” She felt pressured to talk as if she were running a private business and to focus on goals more relevant to a business rather than those that can best support the mentored girls.

She was frustrated that she has to focus so much on fundraising numbers, while less tangible wins, like “the joy of the program participants,” fail to come through to the donors.

Why it matters

Large numbers of K-12 students participate in programs run by nonprofits throughout the school year and during vacations.

Many of these valuable opportunities benefit children and teens who attend chronically underfunded public schools.

National organizations, such as the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Club of America, run some of these programs. Others operate on a smaller scale. They can provide tutoring or teach chess, drama, martial arts and other skills. It’s common for them to get a mix of government and private funding. Some also charge tuition.

Other researchers have found that participating in community-based programs can benefit low-income kids and their neighborhoods.

Because of their association with schools, those nonprofits must comply with strict requirements due to local state, city and school system rules. At the same time, they have to satisfy their donors’ own demands and expectations or risk losing out on much-needed cash.

What’s next

While I didn’t interview this nonprofit’s donors in the pilot research described here, I am now doing so for my dissertation.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

Mauricio Pochettino Instills Hope That The USMNT Can Win The World Cup In Fiery Press Conference

USMNT Coach Mauricio Pochettino

BY MARK HARRIS, OUTKICK

Mauricio Pochettino isn't just looking for the U.S. men's national team to play in the 2026 World Cup and perhaps make a little noise in the tournament, he was brought in to do far more than that. He and the U.S. Soccer Federation have their sights set on winning the World Cup on U.S. soil, and Pochettino isn't shying away from letting the entire world know it.

Pochettino was formally introduced as the USMNT's newest manager on Friday, and when asked what he's hoping to accomplish between now and the start of the World Cup in less than two years, he laid out the loftiest of goals.

"We are winners. We are going to compete, and compete is completely different than to play…We have time, and we need to really believe in things, in big things," Pochettino explained. "We need to believe that we can win all the games, that we can win the World Cup."

That brief quote personifies the change in culture that the U.S. men's team must undertake if it wants to not only perform well in the World Cup, but be taken more seriously on the global stage.

You could take any former managers of the USMNT and ask them what they are hoping to accomplish in the World Cup, and everyone would deliver some form of coach-speak about ‘playing to our highest level.’ Not Pochettino, he actually said the words "win the World Cup."

Words, of course, are only words, and legitimately contending for a World Cup in 2026 is the loftiest goal imaginable, but Pochettino, not shying away from said goal, is already instilling excitement among U.S. supporters. The first item on the list to get the American squad moving in the right direction is to re-gain confidence.

"Of course the confidence was a little bit low after the Copa América," Pochettino said, referring to the U.S. being bounced from the group stage of the tournament this summer "I think it's a very good generation of players. We need to show that we play like a collective on the pitch."

Pochettino has never coached at the international level, but he brings more accolades to the USMNT managerial position than anyone else who has manned the role before. The 52-year-old managed Chelsea last season, took Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019, and previously won a league title with Paris Saint-Germain.

Endometriosis Pain Leads To Missed School And Work In Two-Thirds Of Women With The Condition, New Study Finds

BY RASHA AL-LAMI

RESEARCHER IN WOMEN'S HEALTH

YALE UNIVERSITY

More than two-thirds of women with endometriosis missed school or work due to pain from the condition, in a study of more than 17,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the U.S. That is a key finding of new research published in the Journal of Endometriosis and Uterine Disorders.

Our study also found that Black and Hispanic women were less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis compared with white women. Interestingly, women who identified as part of the LGBTQ community had a higher likelihood of receiving an endometriosis diagnosis than heterosexual women.

We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the period 2011 to 2019. The survey data use adjusted weights to account for the racial composition of U.S. society, meaning our sample of 17,619 women represents 51,981,323 women of the U.S. population.

We specifically examined factors related to quality of life, such as poverty, education and functional impairment, as well as race and sexual orientation.

I am a physician-scientist and a researcher in women’s health, working together with specialists in OB-GYN from Yale and the University of Texas.

Why it matters

Endometriosis is a chronic, often painful condition that affects approximately 10% of reproductive-age women worldwide. It occurs when tissues that would normally line the inner surface of the uterus instead occur outside the uterus, such as on the ovaries or even in distant organs such as the lungs or brain. These abnormally located lesions respond to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle, causing pain when stimulated by the hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle.

Our study sheds light on how endometriosis, despite its prevalence, remains underdiagnosed and underresearched. We found that 6.4% of reproductive-age women in the U.S. had an endometriosis diagnosis. More than 67% reported missed work or school, or having been unable to perform daily activities, due to pain associated with endometriosis.

Our study highlights disparities in the diagnosis and management of endometriosis among different racial groups. Black women had 63% lower odds of getting an endometriosis diagnosis, and Hispanic women had 55% lower odds compared with non-Hispanic white women. This disparity may reflect historical biases in health care, pointing to the need for more equitable practices.

In addition, our study underscores the importance of considering women’s health across diverse population subgroups, with particular attention to sexual orientation. We found that non-heterosexual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer women had 54% higher odds of receiving an endometriosis diagnosis compared with straight women. Our study was the first to examine endometriosis likelihood among non-heterosexual women at the national level in the U.S.

We found no significant association between endometriosis and other quality-of-life indicators such as poverty, education or employment status, which suggests that the condition affects women across various socioeconomic backgrounds.

What other research is being done

Our work adds to the growing body of evidence that Black women are less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis and that their reported pain symptoms are often overlooked.

Explanations for this inequity include health care bias against minority women and limited access to medical care among Black women. Research also shows that many medical professionals as well as medical students and residents believe that Black women have a lower pain threshold compared with the white population.

This is another possible reason that pain symptoms among Black women with endometriosis get neglected. Researchers from the U.K reported the same findings, attributing these disparities to systemic bias and inequitable medical care.

Another study estimates that the lifetime costs associated with having endometriosis are about US$27,855 per year per patient in the U.S., costing the country about $22 billion annually on health care expenditures.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

Former Chelsea Manager Pochettino Named US Soccer Men’s National Team Coach

Mauricio Pochettino

Former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has been named the new coach of the United States (USA) men’s team, US Soccer announced in a statement.

Pochettino, who parted ways with English Premier League side Chelsea in May after one season in charge, will take the reins of the national team ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States.

The Argentinian, a former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur manager, said his decision to join US Soccer was not just about football, but about the journey the country was on and he could not pass up the opportunity.

“The energy, the passion, and the hunger to achieve something truly historic here – those are the things that inspired me,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“I see a group of players full of talent and potential, and together, we’re going to build something special that the whole nation can be proud of.”

US Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker said Pochettino was a “serial winner with a deep passion for developing players”.

“His track record speaks for itself, and I am confident that he is the right choice to harness the immense potential within our talented squad. We are thrilled to have Mauricio on board as we embark on this exciting journey to achieve success on the global stage.”

USA have been without a permanent coach since a humiliating early exit from the Copa America on home soil in July led to the sacking of Gregg Berhalter after his second stint as head coach.

The 51-year-old boss was first appointed in 2018 and led the Americans to the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup, but just weeks later found himself embroiled in a bitter public row with one of the team’s brightest emerging talents, Gio Reyna.

US Soccer’s search for a new coach began when Berhalter’s contract expired at the end of 2022 and included names such as Canada coach Jesse Marsch, but they ultimately rehired Berhalter in June last year with the full support of the players.

However, it proved unsuccessful as the US failed to progress beyond the group stages of the Copa America after a shock 2-1 defeat to Panama and a crushing 1-0 loss to Uruguay.

Pochettino will take over after Mikey Varas, who has been appointed interim coach, oversaw friendlies against Canada last Saturday and New Zealand on Tuesday.

USA drew 1-1 with New Zealand in Cincinnati after Christian Pulisic’s goal was cancelled out by Ben Waine’s late equaliser.

They will next play friendlies against Panama on October 12 and Mexico three days later.

Jewelry Seized From Polish Inmates Of Nazi German Concentration Camps Is Returned To Families

The director of Germany's Arolsen Archives Floriane Azoulay, talks to the relatives of 12 inmates of World War ll Nazi Germany's concentration camps at the start of a ceremony in which the relatives were given back personal items and jewelry that the Nazis had seized during the war and which were recently stored at the archives, in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday September 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) 

BY MONIKA SCISLOWSKA

WARSAW, POLAND (AP) — Stanislawa Wasilewska was 42 when she was captured by Nazi German troops on Aug. 31, 1944, in Warsaw and sent to the women’s concentration camp at Ravensbrück, Germany. From there, she was sent to the Neuengamme forced labor camp, where she was given prisoner number 7257 and had her valuables seized.

Eighty years later, Germany’s Arolsen Archives returned Wasilewska’s jewelry to her grandson and great-granddaughter at an emotional ceremony in Warsaw late Tuesday during which families of 12 Polish inmates of World War II Nazi German concentration camps were given back their confiscated belongings.

Some relatives had tears in their eyes as they received the mementoes of their long-gone, often unknown family members. More such ceremonies are planned.

Wasilewska’s family was given back her two amber crucifixes, part of a golden bracelet and a gold wristwatch engraved with the initials KW and the date 7-3-1938, probably marking her wedding to Konstanty Wasilewski.

“This is an important moment in our lives, because this is a story that we did not fully know about and it came to light,” Wasilewska’s great-granddaughter, Malgorzata Koryś, 35, told The Associated Press.

When Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945, Wasilewska was taken by the Red Cross from Neuengamme to Sweden, but later returned to Poland. She is buried in her native Grodzisk Mazowiecki, near Warsaw.





From another family, Adam Wierzbicki, 29, was given two rings which belonged to Zofia Strusińska and a golden chain and tooth filling of Józefa Skórka, two married sisters of his great-grandfather, Stanislaw Wierzbicki. Captured together on Aug. 4, like Wasilewska, the sisters also went through Ravensbrück and Neuengamme before the Red Cross took them to Sweden.

A family story has it that a Swedish man fell in love with one of the sisters and wanted them both to stay, promising to take care of them, but they decided to go back to Poland, Wierzbicki said.

The return of their jewelry is “important for sentimental reasons but also for historical reasons,” Wierzbicki told the AP.

The items were returned by the Arolsen Archives, the international center on Nazi persecution, which holds information on about 17.5 million people. It stores some 2,000 items which were seized by the Nazis from concentration camp inmates from more than 30 countries, and are intended to be returned to their relatives.

When the prisoners were sent to concentration camps, their valuables — wedding rings, watches, gold chains, earrings and other items — were confiscated and put in envelopes marked with their owners’ names. That allowed for the items’ return to the families, 80 years later.

It was an uplifting moment when the archives volunteers contacted him, Wierzbicki said, but there was also the thought that “history will catch up with you. It was like my aunts were looking at me from the past.”

The archives launched its restitution campaign, “Warsaw Uprising: 100 Untold Stories,” to mark 80 years since the city rose up against the Nazi invaders on Aug. 1, 1944, with the goal of reaching the families of 100 victims and reviving the memory of them through their belongings.

Archive director Floriane Azoulay said they are only custodians of the belongings, which should be returned to the families.

“Every object that we return is personal,” Azoulay said. “And it’s the last personal thing a person had on them before they became a prisoner, before they became a number. So it is a very important object for a family.”

Volunteer Manuela Golc has found more than 100 Polish families and each time it’s an emotional moment.

“It is often the case that we pass on information that the family was not aware of at all,” Golc said. “So this conversation on the phone ... is also very difficult. But in the end we are very happy that the memento is returning to the family.”

If she was unable to trace a family online or through official records, she traveled to cemeteries, leaving notes waterproofed against the rain for the families on the graves of people whose data matched those in the archives, asking them to get in touch.

The Warsaw Uprising was launched by the underground resistance Home Army with the goal of taking control of the capital city ahead of the advancing Soviet troops. It fell after 63 days of heroic struggle that cost the lives of some 200,000 fighters and civilians. In revenge, the Germans expelled the surviving residents and reduced Warsaw to ruins.

During German occupation in 1939-45, Poland lost some 6 million residents, half of them Jewish, and suffered huge material losses.

Official US Poverty Rate Declined In 2023, But More People Faced Economic Hardship

BY MARK ROBERT RANK

PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE, 

ARTS & SCIENCES AT WASHINGTON

UNIVERSITY  IN ST. LOUIS

The number of Americans living in poverty, according to the nation’s official definition, fell slightly to about 36.8 million in 2023, the Census Bureau announced on Sept. 10, 2024. The data released also indicated that the poverty rate declined a little. However, an alternative way to measure poverty ticked up, as more people in the U.S. faced economic hardship.

The Conversation U.S. asked Mark Rank, a sociologist who researches poverty and economic inequality, to explain the latest numbers and to share some of his insights about poverty in America.

What’s the most significant news?

I think the most interesting aspect of this report is the different directions the two measures of poverty went in 2023. On one hand, the official poverty measure declined to 11.1% in 2023 from 11.5% in 2022. At the same time, the supplemental poverty measure, an alternative way to measure poverty introduced in 2011, increased to 12.9% in 2023 from 12.4% a year earlier.

The official poverty rate fell because overall household income rose modestly in 2023 – even after taking inflation into account – according to other census data. However, like many poverty experts, I believe that the supplemental poverty measure is a better indicator of what’s going on because it takes into account household expenses as well as tax credits and the effects of government programs on reducing poverty.

It turns out that one key reason for the increase in the current supplemental poverty measure is that Social Security benefits and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – also known as SNAP or “food stamps” – pulled fewer people out of poverty in 2023 than in 2022.

The supplemental poverty measure also increased as the result of out-of-pocket medical expenses being higher in 2023 than in 2022.

Are there more meaningful ways to assess poverty in America?

The annual Census Bureau report only represents a year-by-year snapshot of poverty. I think estimating the long-term risk of impoverishment across a typical American’s lifetime is a more meaningful approach.

To that end, I’ve conducted research using a large nationally representative dataset from University of Michigan researchers who have tracked the same households each year since 1968. Based on this analysis, I’ve found that a clear majority of Americans will experience poverty for at least one year of their adult lives.

Some 58.5% of Americans will experience at least one year below the official poverty line between the ages of 20 and 75, while 76% will either experience poverty or near poverty – meaning that their income falls below 150% of the poverty line.

The numbers presented in the annual Census Bureau report indicate that only about 1 in 9 Americans are facing poverty today. But my research shows that 3 out of 4 Americans will experience poverty or near poverty at some point in their lives. The result is that poverty should be viewed as an issue of “us” rather than an issue of “them.”

How does poverty in the US compare with what’s going on in similar economies?

The U.S. has one of the highest rates of poverty among Western industrialized nations. Whether the focus is on working-age adults, children, people over 65 or the population as a whole, the U.S. is near the top in terms of the extent and depth of its poverty.

One major reason is that the federal government does much less than its counterparts in many other countries to help people stay out of poverty. The U.S. safety net is relatively weak when it comes to protecting Americans from economic destitution.

The result is that the percentage of Americans experiencing poverty in any given year is among the highest among comparable nations.

In addition, the extent of both income and wealth inequality tends to be more extreme in the U.S. compared with other high-income countries.

How do you interpret the long-term patterns in the US poverty rate?

The U.S. made substantial progress in terms of reducing poverty in the middle of the 20th century. The poverty rate was cut in half from 22.4% in 1959 to 11.1% in 1973.

This improvement was due to the robust economy of the 1960s and government initiatives known as the “War on Poverty.” However, since 1973, the overall rate of poverty has ranged between 11% and 15%. It has tended to decline somewhat during periods of economic growth, and it has risen during periods of economic stagnation and recession.

The official poverty rate of 11.1% in 2023 matches the poverty rate in 1973. The supplemental poverty measure, which stood at 12.9% in 2023, reflects a similar lack of progress. It was first calculated in 2009, when it stood at 15.1%.

There are two major success stories, however.

First, older Americans have become less likely to experience poverty.

In 1959, 35.2% of people who were 65 and up were experiencing poverty – the highest rate of any age group. In 2023, only 9.7% of older Americans were in poverty, as indicated by the official rate, and that was among the lowest for any age group.

The primary reason for this reduction was the expansion of Social Security benefits and the introduction in 1965 of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Without these programs, poverty for older Americans would rise to an estimated 40%.

The other major success story was that the share of U.S. children experiencing poverty fell substantially in 2021 as a result of the child tax credit expansion and the economic impact payments the federal government made to all Americans beginning in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked economic havoc.

As a result of these policies and others, the supplemental poverty measure among children fell by nearly half to 5.2% in 2021, from 9.7% in 2020. With the expiration of these benefits, the rate of childhood poverty has returned to pre-pandemic levels. According to the supplemental poverty measure, it rose to 13.7% in 2023 – the highest rate since 2018.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

Kamala Harris’ Message To Women On ‘Freedom’ Helps Explain Why Black And White Christians Are Deeply Divided Over Support For Donald Trump

BY YOUSSEF CHOUHOUD, DARA DELGADO, FLAVIO ROGERIO HICKEL JR. AND LEAH PAYNE

Just days after President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race in July, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the annual meeting of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority in Indianapolis, where she emphasized the importance of both religious faith and political freedom.

Harris contrasted her stance on abortion rights with that of former President Donald Trump, stating, “Across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights,” Harris said. “And in the face of these attacks, we must continue to stand together in defense of freedom.”

By centering “freedom” in her campaign, Harris invoked a key element of Black identity and spirituality rooted in the historic struggle for liberation by formerly enslaved people. This legacy partly drives an attitudinal divide between Black and white Christians, especially on issues such as abortion and support for Trump.

As political science and religion scholars, we view Harris’ remarks as a subtle reminder to voters that Black religious life in the U.S. has long involved an appeal to people of all faiths to use their beliefs to advance social justice.

Her message stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s conservative allies, who have pushed for restrictions on personal freedoms concerning abortion.

The racial divide

To better understand the relationship between race, religion and support for Trump, we fielded an online, national survey in June 2024 supported by the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit organization that conducts public opinion polls on a variety of topics.

In order to compare the views of white and Black Christians, our sample of nearly 1,500 adults included over 700 participants from each racial group. We asked half the sample to indicate their level of agreement with five statements commonly used to measure Christian nationalist beliefs.

Those items include support for religious-based laws and the belief that the U.S. was conceived as a Christian nation.

We then categorized participants according to whether they agreed with most of the statements (“adherents” and “sympathizers”) or disagreed with most of them (“skeptics” and “rejectors”). Over one-third of both Black and white Christians agreed with most Christian nationalist ideas.

We found that Black Christian nationalists are far less likely to support Trump, however, compared with their white counterparts. Additionally, they do not back far-right policies, like those outlined in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s plan to implement a conservative agenda across the federal government.

These two groups also differ greatly in their evaluation of Trump. Only 17% of Black Christian nationalists expressed a favorable view toward the former president, compared with 49% of white Christian nationalists.

The chosen one?

These racial differences are even more pronounced when we examined the attitudes of charismatics – a group of devout Christians who in the late 20th century began emphasizing Pentecostal practices such as divine healing and speaking in tongues, a language of indecipherable sounds believed to be a direct communication with God.

All participants in our survey – 760 white Americans and 734 Black Americans – were asked whether they had personally experienced or witnessed practices of charismatic Christianity. Those include receiving what they believed to be a direct revelation from God.

While only 23% of white Americans in the study were categorized as charismatic, that figure doubled to 51% of Black Americans.

Although prominent white Christian nationalists frequently characterize Trump as “the chosen one,” we found that only 15% of Black charismatics express favorable views of him compared with 52% of white charismatics.

The ongoing fight for freedom

The Black radical tradition, helps explain how Black charismatics can share so much with their white counterparts – even an embrace of Christian nationalism – but diverge when it comes to Trump and abortion.

In its contemporary form, the Black radical tradition is an ideological framework that asks its adherents to actively resist policies that threaten racial equality and bodily autonomy. Abortion rights fit squarely within this political tradition.

According to a 2014 Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, the majority of Black Christians say that abortion should be legal. Those Christians include such denominations as Baptists, Presbyterians and Pentecostals who are not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

Over the years, that majority support for abortion among Black Christians has remained stable and mirrors similar support among Black voters overall. In a 2024 Pew Research Center poll, for instance, 73% of Black voters said abortion should be legal.

During her speech before members of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, Harris said that she understood the difficulty in balancing one’s faith with political resistance. But as she explained:

We, who believe in reproductive freedom, will fight for a woman’s right to choose, because one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do!

After Harris accepted Biden’s endorsement, her longtime pastor, Rev. Amos Brown, prayed that Harris would advance her campaign “in the spirit of our ancestors.”

That ancestral spirit includes the Black radical tradition of political resistance – and the ongoing fight for freedom.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

James Earl Jones, Acclaimed Actor And Voice Of Darth Vader, Dies At 93

James Earl Jones arrives before the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012 in Hollywood section of Los Angeles...(AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File) 

BY MARK KENNEDY

NEW YORK (AP) — James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.

His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York’s Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.

The pioneering Jones, who in 1965 became one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama (“As the World Turns”) and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors. He was also given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.

He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of “The Gin Game” having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.

“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then. “I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn’t get him.”

Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in “Field of Dreams,” the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit “The Great White Hope,” the writer Alex Haley in “Roots: The Next Generation” and a South African minister in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”

He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father,” commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Disney’s “The Lion King” and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the “Great American Documents” audiobook.

“If you were an actor or aspired to be an actor, if you pounded the pavement in these streets looking for jobs, one of the standards we always had was to be a James Earl Jones,” Samuel L. Jackson once said.

Some of his other films include “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Greatest” (with Muhammad Ali), “Conan the Barbarian,” “Three Fugitives” and playing an admiral in three blockbuster Tom Clancy adaptations — “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” In a rare romantic comedy, “Claudine,” Jones had an onscreen love affair with Diahann Carroll.

LeVar Burton, who starred alongside Jones in the TV movie “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones,” paid tribute on X, writing, “There will never be another of his particular combination of graces.”

Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s “Sunrise At Campobello” and would win his two Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” (1969) and “Fences” (1987). He also was nominated for “On Golden Pond” (2005) and “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” (2012). He was celebrated for his command of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. More recent Broadway appearances include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “You Can’t Take It With You.”

As a rising stage and television actor, he performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival Theater in “Othello,” “Macbeth” and “King Lear” and in off-Broadway plays.

Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby’s arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.

When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents’ farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.

“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, “Voices and Silences.” “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”

Too embarrassed to speak, he remained virtually mute for years, communicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A sympathetic high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry, and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did so faultlessly.

Teacher and student worked together to restore the boy’s normal speech. “I could not get enough of speaking, debating, orating — acting,” he recalled in his book.

At the University of Michigan, he failed a pre-med exam and switched to drama, also playing four seasons of basketball. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955.

In New York, he moved in with his father and enrolled with the American Theater Wing program for young actors. Father and son waxed floors to support themselves while looking for acting jobs.

True stardom came suddenly in 1970 with “The Great White Hope.” Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play depicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th-century America. In 1972, Jones repeated his role in the movie version and was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor.

Jones’ two wives were also actors. He married Julienne Marie Hendricks in 1967. After their divorce, he married Cecilia Hart, best known for her role as Stacey Erickson in the CBS police drama “Paris,” in 1982. (She died in 2016.) They had a son, Flynn Earl, born in 1983.

In 2022, the Cort Theatre on Broadway was renamed after Jones, with a ceremony that included Norm Lewis singing “Go the Distance,” Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “Make Them Hear You” and words from Mayor Eric Adams, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

“You can’t think of an artist that has served America more,” director Kenny Leon told the AP. “It’s like it seems like a small act, but it’s a huge action. It’s something we can look up and see that’s tangible.”

Citing his stutter as one of the reasons he wasn’t a political activist, Jones nonetheless hoped his art could change minds.

“I realized early on, from people like Athol Fugard, that you cannot change anybody’s mind, no matter what you do,” he told the AP. “As a preacher, as a scholar, you cannot change their mind. But you can change the way they feel.”