Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher-July 10, 2024

DALLAS Texas.-Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the keynote address Wednesday morning at the 71st Boule' convention of the National Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority Inc. in Dallas, Texas, displaying the articulateness, strength, assertiveness, and oratory brilliance that helped to catapult her to the White House in 2020 as the nation's first female and first Black vice president.

The Black sorority to which Harris is a member, has some 350,000 members nationwide.

Dressed in an AKA-brand pink suit, her message was profound and almost indignant at times as she called on the tentative audience of Black women, some 20,000 of them dressed to the nines in the organization's signature pink and green, to help her lead the charge to keep former President Donald Trump from winning another term in November and to give incumbent President Joe Biden four more years.

The presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, Trump, and Biden, the Democratic nominee, will square off on Nov. 5, 2024 for the closely watched presidential election, a rematch of the 2020 election that Biden won, and what Harris described during her speech as an impending election of a lifetime.

"I do believe that this is the most existential, consequential and important election of our lifetime, Harris said to applause from her sorors at the event. "Because we know when we organize, mountains move, when we mobilize, nation's change, and when we vote, we make history."

A dutiful member of AKA since her undergraduate years at the historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a former California district attorney, state attorney general, and U.S. senator, Harris' speech sounded at times like campaign rhetoric, and she looked attractive, a plus for a prominent woman politician always under the watchful eye of the public, and the paparazzi. But she was effective and her delivery was almost flawless as she drew a standing ovation from AKA -member "sorors" at the convention, and she got national and local media coverage across the country, silencing critics seeking to brand her simply as Biden's  political sidekick.

She preached on a list of things she says the Biden-Harris administration has done since Biden took office in 2021 and what Trump intends to roll back, including eliminating student loan debt for millions of Americans, protecting education, social security, medicaid and medicare, expanding healthcare, lowering insulin prices, and tackling gun violence and the pandemic. She took on the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning Roe v Wade in 2022 in the case of  Dobbs vs Mississippi Health Organization, for which she blamed Trump for appointing three of the conservative justices who were among the majority relative to the 6-3 decision that reversed the court's landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.

The United States of America must respect and honor its women, she said.

"America must trust women, America must honor individual choice, America must defend freedom," the Democratic vice president said. "And when our Congress passes a law that restores the reproductive freedoms of Roe, our president, Joe Biden. will sign it."

She increased her tone in discussing the Supreme Court decision rendered earlier this month that granted Trump immunity for official actions taken as president as he still faces a host of  criminal charges behind a guilty jury verdict on 32 counts in one of four criminal cases brought relative to his business records and his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. Those attempts culminated in a riot at the U.S. Capital Building on Jan 6, 2021, a dark day that Biden and the Democrats say will live in infamy in America.

In short, Harris told the AKA's that the upcoming presidential election is serious business that requires participation by all stakeholders, and that voting rights and freedom and democracy are, no doubt, on the ballot, particularly where Blacks and women's reproductive rights are concerned.

"Sorors this is a serious matter," said Harris in concluding her speech to a rising ovation. "Let us fight for freedom, opportunity and equality."

Harris' AKA convention speech this week in Texas comes as both Trump and Biden are courting the Black vote leading up to the presidential election, both bragging during CNN's June 27 presidential debate about what they claim to have done to improve the lives of Black Americans.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Hundreds of law enforcement and public safety officials from Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and across the state attended the memorial service on Monday of slain Cleveland Police Officer Jamieson Ritter, 27, who was gunned down Thursday attempting to arrest a suspect in Cleveland on a Garfield Hts warrant.

Also there were family and friends and some 10 Cleveland council members, some of whom said the memorial was a "sad occasion and indicative of a young life taken too soon."

The motorcade began at Chambers Funeral Home on Rocky River Drive  and ended at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Superior Avenue.

Hailed as hero, Ritter was described as a principled and compassionate public servant with a strong moral compass who loved his job as a cop.

Police Chief Dorthy "Annie" Todd, the city's first White female police chief,  lauded him as an officer and a gentleman who had “a relentless pursuit of justice.”

Todd joined police officers who prayed and surrounded Ritter’s family, including his parents and siblings. Gov. Mike DeWine and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, the city's fourth Black mayor. also offered their condolences to the Ritter family.

Officer Ritter was among some 10 officers who went to a home on East 80th Place in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood  on the Fourth of of July holiday to arrest De’Lawnte Hardy, who is Black, at about 1 a.m. Thursday. The  Garfield Hts warrant  accuses Hardy, 24, of shooting his grandmother in the face, stealing her gun, and fleeing.

Hardy purportedly fired five shots, with one  hitting Ritter and killing him, according to police reports and authorities. He  fled and was arrested shortly after the shooting. He is charged with aggravated murder in Ritter's death and is being held on a $5 million bond.

The memorial service focused on Ritter’s life. He was a Syracuse University graduate and had moved to Cleveland from suburban Rochester, New York.  He was also a member of the  National Guard and had been deployed to Syria.

Ritter  joined Cleveland police in November of  2020 and worked as a patrolman in the Third District.  Sources said he was respected by his peers in the police department.

A funeral service will be held in suburban New York at a later date, sources said Monday.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

Picture: National NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

BALTIMORE, Maryland-This week's historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted former President Donald Trump full immunity from prosecution for official acts taken as president has upset the National NAACP, the nation's most prominent Civil Rights organization for Black people.

The group, highlighting the notorious Jan, 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capital Building for which the former president was indicted and accused of inciting a riot, wants Congress to amend the Constitution and set specific standards for what president's can and cannot do.

"On one of the darkest days in American history, former President Trump sent a violent mob to the capital to stop the peaceful transfer of power in an attempt to overturn a free and fair election, said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson in a press release Wednesday. "Gallows were erected outside the halls of Congress and our representatives were chased from the chambers. Now the man that sent that mob could skirt facing criminal conviction.This sets a worrying precedent for evading accountability while in office. This ruling puts our democracy in jeopardy."

Johnson went on to say the following:

"The combination of the high court's actions and Trump's statements presents an existential crisis for the country. That is a danger, not only to the African-American community – it is a danger to this society as a whole."

The NAACP is calling on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment restoring presidential liability because there are no kings in America. Help us keep the pressure on and add your name in support >>

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled 6-3 that former President Trump and all other presidents similarly situated have immunity from prosecution for official acts undertaken as president, a historic decision by all accounts.

The case now heads back to the trial court for a determination on what acts by Trump were, in fact, official and not official, opening the door for further appeals and solidifying the prediction by pundits that the former president will certainly not face trial in the case at issue before the November presidential election, a case that centers around his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The ruling impacts whether Trump will face a federal trial on four felony counts brought by special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding, for his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

The court, however, made it clear via its ruling that private and  unofficial acts by Trump or any other president or former president are open to criminal prosecution and potential liability for illegal activity.

"The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. "The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive."

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled 6-3 that former President Donald Trump (pictured) and all other presidents similarly situated have immunity from prosecution for official acts undertaken as president, a historic decision by all accounts.

The case now heads back to the trial court for a determination on what acts by Trump were, in fact, official and not official, opening the door for further appeals and solidifying the prediction by pundits that the former president will certainly not face trial in the case at issue before the November presidential election, a case that centers around his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C .

The ruling impacts whether Trump will face a federal trial on four felony counts brought by special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding, for his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

The court, however, made it clear via its ruling that private and unofficial acts by Trump or any other president or former president are open to criminal prosecution and potential liability for illegal activity.

"The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. "The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive."

The nation's highest court heard  oral arguments in the case in April and a ruling, initially expected in June, came down today with all three liberal justices, Elena Kagan, Katanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting, Brown Jackson a Biden appointee and the first and only Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court.

Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent that "shielding Trump from prosecution for his White House actions sets a precedent that U.S. commanders-in-chief can abuse their powers without facing punishment."

Trump had claimed in the unprecedented legal case that he is immune from all criminal charges for acts that he said fell within his duties as president, including that he incited the Jan 6, 2021 riot at the nation's Capitol Building.

A U.S. District Court out of Washington, D.C. rejected Mr Trump's immunity arguments earlier this year and he appealed, and after losing, he  appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court that has three Trump appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney-Barrett. All three were among the conservative majority relative to Monday's celebrated decision.The Supreme Court taking the case was, in itself, a victory for the former president as it increased the chances that his trial would likely not happen before November's presidential election, a 2020 rematch between Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden.

The former president was elated with Monday's decision and said on his Truth Social site as he did prior to the ruling that without immunity presidents would  be "paralyzed by the prospect of wrongful prosecution and retaliation after they leave office."

Trump, 78,  was indicted last year on numerous counts, including witness tampering and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. over his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. The trial was originally scheduled for March.

Prosecutor Jack Smith, who was appointed as special counsel in the investigation, wanted the trial to be held this year. He initially asked the Supreme Court to take up the immunity question to no avail and this left the federal court to address the matter. It rejected Trump's immunity claim, which was upheld on appeal, and it is from that ruling that Mr. Trump successfully sought the ultimate review by the Supreme Court.

"We cannot accept former President Trump's claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power - the recognition and implementation of election results," the appeals court wrote in upholding the trial court ruling, a decision that prompted Monday's Supreme Court decision that he is immune from prosecution for official acts as president in what Trump's supporters are calling a win for the former president.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.