U.S. Supreme Court: Honoring Justice Ginsburg and Nominating Her Replacement

The body of Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose as mourners
pay their respect.

Friday, September 25th, concluded three days of a historic observance of the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  For two days her remains laid in repose at the U.S. Supreme Court and then on Friday a processional of a hearst containing  her flag draped casket with her family following in vehicles left the U.S. Supreme Court for the U.S. Capitol. Justice Ginsburg was the first female Justice to lie in repose at the Supreme Court and the first woman and Jewish American to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. Of course, civil rights legend Rosa Parks was the first woman whose body was brought to the U.S. Capitol for a ceremony to honor her life and legacy. The distinction is she was a private citizen and her body was referred to as “lying in honor”.  

Amy Coney Barrett 

Just a week and a day after the death of Justice Ginsburg, President Trump announced the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, a U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the 7^th Circuit based in Chicago, Illinois. She was on the President’s short list in 2018 when he then nominated now Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (See here.) This time President Trump made a commitment to nominate a woman. Judge Barrett is considered very conservative and a textualist. She previously clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia. Barrett is a married mother of seven children (two of were adopted from Haiti). She will make history as the first mother with school age children to sit on the Court if she is confirmed.

Her nomination has ignited cries of hypocrisy by the Democrats against the Republicans who refused to even consider the nomination of Merrick Garland four years ago during an election year. It remains to be seen whether voters will punish or forgive the Republicans for their change in stance regarding this election year nomination.

Another negative part of this process has been that almost within the same breath as the announcement of Justice Ginsburg’s death a week ago Friday evening (9/18), Republican Senate leaders started making comments in the media about Ginsburg’s replacement. It was disrespectful of Justice Ginsburg’s service and legacy to speak of her replacement while her last breath was still in the air. It’s like talking about who a husband will marry next before wife‘s body has been removed from the family home. Hopefully this will change in the future.

Many are speculating how the Senate nomination Hearings will go and how Senators should questioned Judge Barrett. Judge Barrett has a judicial record now of almost three years. Certainly the Senators can question her on her case opinions. She has also authored publications. Her points of view in these articles can be questioned. Her beliefs and values should be made known to the American people. After all, this is a job interview for the highest court in the land.

And so, the process begins.

It's Time

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

It's been 244 years since this statement was published with unanimous consent in the Declaration Of Independence by the founders of our country. How much longer do we need to make this a reality for all?

A sure sign of a cycle of "mental illness" is when a people with a history of abuse then turn around and abuse other people. It's past time that we reckon with our history, our own personal experiences and the realities of our country and communities. Stop making excuses for the unacceptable. 

The time is now. The inflection point of this era is now. A pandemic, police brutality, racial inequality, social justice and human rights issues have brought us to our knees. We must rise in solidarity to a new normal that truly embraces equality and economic opportunities for all. It's past time. Let's go already!

--Nona O., Founder, womenatliberty.com

*Image Credit: Brattleboro Schools Raise Black Lives Matters Flag, 2018, Vermont Public Radio. Listen to story here:

http://ow.ly/eUiu30qWc2j

#GunControl: Sensible Solutions, Not Rhetoric

So after hearing and watching the news reports of the Walmart mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, I woke up Sunday morning to yet another mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio late Saturday night. In fact, it was the 251st mass shooting of 2019. Moved with emotion and sorrow, I posted this on my personal Instagram account on Sunday:

When will enough be enough? How many more lives must be lost in mass shootings before we act as one nation to enact sensible #guncontrol.
#ElPaso #Dayton #MassShooting

A few minutes later, someone I did not know posted these comments on my IG:

I was not even sure how to take their comments. I was amazed and aghast at how desensitized the individual seemed to be to these events. After all, lives were lost, people were dead and injured, and families have been irreparably harmed.

With Sandy Hook and the many school shootings on the top of my mind, I hastily typed this response (with typos):

I'm tired of 'thoughts and prayers'. I'm tired of people who live in American cities defending the need to own assault rifles. Period. You do not need an assault rifle to defend yourself or the safety of your family. I'm all for constitutional rights and an advocate for people being entitled to the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. However, we place limits on when a person can drive, how fast a person can drive on streets and highways, and how much insurance is needed in order for you to legally drive a vehicle on the road. These laws have been passed to save lives, your life and the lives of your community members. I'm tired of the rhetoric from politicians and anyone who feels the need to equate their 2nd Amendment rights with the "need" to own and carry an assault weapon on the streets of American cities.

We as a nation require that an owner of a car who drives it on U.S. roads have both a license and insurance. Is this too much to ask of people who own guns? And if you fail to secure your gun or report it stolen, especially an assault or rapid-fire type of weapon, should not you be liable for any damage it causes?

I propose that legal gun owners should be both licensed and insured with insurance similar to car insurance. And before you purchase a gun from an individual, gun shop, or box store, etc., you need to have a license and insurance proportionate to the amount of product you want to buy. 

Just think how situations might change if gun manufacturers, gun dealers, and individual owners had to carry gun insurance for not only their inventory or personal property, but also comprehensive coverage for any damage caused by any unreported gun that was originally licensed to them. Just like you call the police to report when your car is stolen and expect that that information is entered into a database so that if the car is involved in an accident and someone gets hurt or killed, you will not be liable, the same should apply for gun shops, box stores, manufacturers, and individuals, etc.

These mass shootings have got to stop and become a rarity and not a common news item. Please make America safe again for every day people who want to attend a music festival, hang out with friends in a club, pray with their eyes closed in a church service, send their children to school to learn in a safe environment, and take their family to Walmart to school shop.

We need sensible solutions not rhetoric. It's time to act! No more excuses. Offer some solutions.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

The Greatest Cooks On Earth

I was raised by a family of "the greatest cooks on earth"! 🐐 My earliest memories of food include my Big Mama's chicken and dumplings (most of y'all don't know nothing about that) and her hot lemon, honey and some other stuff concoction to nurse me back to health when I was sick.

And the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays...turkey and dressing, ham, smoked turkey, macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas, rice, yams, mixed greens, squash (yellow and zucchini), mashed potatoes, turnips, cornbread, sweet potato pies, peach cobbler, pound cake, German chocolate cake (I didn't eat this), pig stuff--chitterlings, pig ears--rarely (I did not eat this either) and lemon meringue pies. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things...

Anyway, everything was good! Even me, the picky eater, who did not eat everything my Mom and Aunt cooked knew that the food I didn't like was still good and well seasoned. Those were the days and I am thankful for the memories. #Elmira #Naomi #Myrle #Joyce #Mable #OnePotWonders #BigPotInTheLittlePot #ThanksgivingMemories #FoodWasLove #AndTheFoodNeverRanOut #Ebonics #SoulFood #ICanMakeDressing #HateStuffing #OklahomaBorn #CaliforniaBred 🤣😉

Movie Review: The Hate You Give (2018)

This is a masterfully told story by director George Tillman, Jr. who presents us with several perspectives on the issues and fallout surrounding police shootings of unarmed black men happening in urban cities across this nation. Based on the acronym and music of Tupac Shakur, THUGLife, The Hate U Give explores how complicated life can be for black families who live at the intersection of race, culture, economic disparities, policing in black and brown communities and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Starr Carter, played Amandla Stenberg, is a high school student that lives in two distinctly different worlds where code switching is her teleport between the two. Her family is a stable two parent and 2.5 children African American home. They continue to reside in the urban neighborhood where her parents were raised although they could afford better. Her mother Lisa (Regina Hall) and father Maverick (Russell Hornsby) are married and raising their children, Starr and her brothers Seven (Lamar Johnson) and Sekani (TJ Wright) in a loving home. 

The kids go to a private school across town in a mostly white upper class neighborhood. The mother is a nurse while the father is an entrepreneur and owns a grocery store in their neighborhood. And yet, as the parents work everyday to achieve a better life for their family and keep their kids out of trouble, their lives are affected and impacted by the shooting of one of Starr's close childhood friends, an unarmed young black teenager who was shot by a white police officer during a traffic stop.

The movie does an excellent job of raising complicated issues and arguments on both sides of the debate concerning police shootings of unarmed African Americans. Common, a trusted voice in the Black community known for his art and activism, was a superb choice for his law enforcement role in the movie. Regina Hall represented well the plight of black mothers who are the encouragers, advisors, peacemakers, and fire when necessary. Russell Hornsby embodied a black father who is both a protector and provider, but also the voice of "the movement".

You'll also get a chance to hear from white "allies" who don't always understand why their voices are met with ambivalence by members of the Black Community. I will say this, Starr's boyfriend Chris (KJ Apa) "gets it" and responds appropriately when communicsting and reaching out to Starr during her crisis. 

The ensemble cast was incredible and Amandla did a tremendous job of humanizing the cool Starr and the "nerd" Starr without over the top antics. And it was also good to see Issa Rae on the big screen.

Bottomline, George Tillman has crafted another story that is both relevant, encompassing and entertaining. You should see this movie and discuss it with your friends, children and other family members. #THUG

Movie Review: Widows (2018)

When I first saw the trailer a few months ago for the movie "Widows" (20th Century Fox), I wasn't feeling it. Although I absolutely love Viola Davis, the movie's lead character, as previewed in the trailer, the film didn't really move me. So when I decided to give it a chance and go see an advanced screening at the inaugural Smithsonian African American Film Fest presented by the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. on 10/24, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Surrounding Davis in this thriller is a diverse cast of strong female characters including Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious), singer/actress Cynthia Erivo (Color Purple on Broadway and OITNB), and Australian newcomer Elizabeth Debicki. The supporting characters, from the Oscar nominated actor Liam Neeson to Emmy award winner Robert Duval to Golden Globe winner Colin Farrell and Oscar nominated Daniel Kaluuya (most recently seen in Get Out and the blockbuster Black Panther), all gave strong performances.

Two-time Oscar winner Davis carries the film which had so many plot twists that you were kept on the edge of your seat waiting to see what would happen next. She is subtly brilliant and was really the rue for this incredible gumbo of a cast. Kaluuya showed us a side of his acting we've never seen before. And Erivo showed great athleticism in her role; Rodriguez and Dibecki depicted women in different stages of coming into their own; and veteran actor Duval displayed his usual magnificence in his portrayal of an overbearing father.

Academy award winning director Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave) was the head chef tending to the rue and he delivered a great gumbo that moviegoers will enjoy consuming. Set in modern-day Chicago, the movie had everything you could ask for in an urban thriller except maybe shady cops. The story was smooth to the taste and delightfully fulfilling. Widows opens on November 16 and I encourage you to go see it. It's definitely worth the price of admission.

Also, the African American Film Fest runs through this Saturday, October 27. Most of the films they are screening are $10 and they even have some free events. Go to http://aafilmfest.si.edu for more info and tickets.

--Nona Ogunsula for womenatliberty.com 

U.S. Supreme Court Nominee: Judge Brett Kavanaugh

***UPDATE:
President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Republican Senate leaders have promised a vote on the Kavanaugh nomination by late Fall 2018.

Watch here:

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Will you watch tonight (9 pm EST) as the President announces his choice for the U.S. Supreme Court nominee? Do you care or feel the nominee has the potential to affect you and/or your family's life?

Here are some important facts about the potential nominees. Who would you choose:

Thomas Hardiman, 53
·3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia (11 years)
·Notre Dame (undergrad), Georgetown Law
·First person in immediate family to graduate from college
·Father of three

Raymond Kethledge, 51
·US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Cincinnati, Ohio (10 years)
·University of Michigan (undergrad and Law School)
·Author, w/Army veteran Mike Erwin, "Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude" recognizes leaders including Dwight Eisenhower, Jane Goodall, Winston Churchill, and Martin L. King, Jr.
·Former law clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy
·Father of daughter and son

Amy Coney Barrett, 46
·United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Chicago, Illinois (8 months)
·Rhodes College (undergrad), Notre Dame Law
·Former law professor at Notre Dame Law School and George Washington University Law Schools
·Mother of seven including two adopted children from Haiti

Brett Kavanaugh, 53
·U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (12 years)
·Yale (undergrad and Law School)
·Former law clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy
·Senior Associate Counsel and Associate Counsel to President George W. Bush
·Father of two daughters