The Update: Is Kamala Harris For The People?
Biden finally picked a running mate & we've got questions.
Welcome back to the News. Now. NXT. newsletter! The Recap serves as a follow up to my weekly podcast. Listen, subscribe, and share with a friend using one of the links below.
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news.
You should still #PrayforBeirut
Remember last week when we talked about the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon? Well, their entire government resigned. The former prime minister’s cabinet will serve as the country’s caretakers until a new government is formed.
Organizers are asking officials to #FreeTianna
A young organizer named Tianna Arata has been hit with 8 charges, including 5 felonies, after organizing a peaceful protest in her hometown of San Luis Obispo, California. Police say the protest became a dangerous demonstration, and while Tianna wasn’t proven to even know about the violence that took place, she was one of only two arrests made that day and is taking the brunt of the charges. A petition calling for her release has over 53K signatures.
Mistrust & Misinformation Lead To #ChicagoProtests
A police-involved shooting and misinformation spread through social media led to demonstrations, property damage, and looting in Downtown Chicago. Police say they suspected a young man of having a gun. He ran and was shot in the shoulder. Social media shared a number of stories, including that the victim was 15 years old and had been shot 15 times. That wasn’t true. Frustration spilled into the streets, causing the city’s mayor to scold demonstrators, without calling attention to the fact that officers did not have bodycams on to corroborate their account of the story.
sports.
It may be a wrap for #CollegeFootball this fall.
The Big 10 and PAC 12 announced that they would be postponing their fall athletics, until at least the spring. The remaining members of the Power 5 will journey on for now, but even that is questionable due to the uncertainty of COVID.
NBA players will soon be allowed to have visitors in #TheBubble
After weeks of successfully running their bubble, the NBA & NBAPA announced that players would be allowed to have visitors on the campus after the first round of playoffs. There are some restrictions… some of which include the exclusion of people that players only know from social media. In other words, no random IG hookups. This comes at a good time, as things seem to be getting chippy between the players.
now & nxt.
After weeks of speculation, Joe Biden finally selected his running mate - Senator Kamala Harris, his former opponent in the primaries. This is a historic selection, she’s only the 3rd woman selected to be a potential VP on a major party ticket. She’s also the first Black, and first Indian woman to do the same. Since the announcement, social media has been all a buzz, with many people expressing their displeasure with Senator Harris’ record as a prosecutor. I explored this and more in the podcast this week, asking you to answer - Is Kamala Harris For The People? Here’s an excerpt:
“I think Joe Biden made the smartest choice for his campaign and the one that would do the most to get him to his end goal. Often times, digital-native millennials forget that there’s a whole contingency that is not online that will be voting in the election. Only about 22% of the country is on social media - so the twitter timeline consensus is just not an accurate representation of the pulse of the nation. Black twitter may have a far-reaching cultural impact in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue, but that doesn’t mean that the influence will be felt in the pews of that church in rural South Carolina, or on the links in that retirement community in Florida. There’s a whole other world out there that Biden needed to engage… and he did it. In fact between 4 pm-6 pm on Tuesday after this announcement, the fundraising platform Act Blue reported that it processed $6 million in donations for the campaign. That proves one thing: Biden did what needed to be done.”
They actually wound up raising $26 million in the 24 hours after the announcement, a total that previously took Joe months to meet previously.
Listen to the rest by clicking here.
That’s it for this week. Leave me a comment and let me know how you feel about Kamala Harris as a potential Vice President. Or, tweet me.