Monthly Archives: June 2022

WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement after the International Labor Organization today recognized occupational safety and health as a Fundamental Principle and Right at Work:

The U.S. Department of Labor commends the International Labor Organization for recognizing for the first time the right to a safe and healthy working environment in the framework of the ILOs Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work at the 2022 International Labor Conference.

Every day, millions of workers around the world face dangerous or unhealthy working conditions. Across the world, the ILO estimates that more than 2.3 million women and men die each year because of work-related accidents and diseases.

Some workers are not aware of their rights because their employers fail to provide that information or they did not present it in a language understood by the workers. Others are afraid to speak up because of their immigration status or for fear of losing their jobs, and still others live in places that lack the necessary institutions to protect their rights or that fail to enforce them.

The ILOs 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work established an international consensus on the core body of labor rights in four categories: freedom of association and collective bargaining; the elimination of forced or compulsory labor; the effective abolition of child labor; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Todays approval of an amendment to the 1998 declaration now includes: a safe and healthy working environment. Though non-binding, the 1998 declaration is the most widely cited ILO instrument. This recognition will have tremendous benefit for the safety and health of workers everywhere.

The U.S. Department of Labor will continue to work at home and abroad to ensure that all workers have the right to a safe and healthy working environment.

Learn more about the departments international work.

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Statement by Secretary Walsh on the International Labor Organization's recognition of occupational safety, health as a fundamental right - US...

Workers at Warrior Met Coal in Alabama recently marked more than 400 days on strike the longest in the state's history. As the Alabama miners continue to hold the line, Starbucks employees recently won union elections in that state as well as Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

These brave workers Black and white and Latino and Asian;women, men, and nonbinary people are carrying on a centuries-long history of labor organizing in the South. But many of the oft-told stories of successful organizing efforts in the region and the nation at large have either been relegated to obscure academic texts or center the struggles of white men.

In "Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor,"labor reporter Kim Kelly rectifies this marginalization with accounts of how Black workers wielded the power of collectivized labor to organize in the Reconstruction-era South and beyond. Kelly is a freelance reporter based in Philadelphia who has written for the Washington Post, The Baffler, and The New Republic, and pens a labor column for Teen Vogue.

As Kelly recounts, after the Civil War freed Black people sought opportunities to work and own property alongside their white counterparts. But Southern state legislatures, seeking to extend the oppression of Black people, passed a series of laws known as "Black Codes"that among other things limited the rights of Black workers. In South Carolina, for example, Black workers were forced to enter into contracts with white landowners that labeled them as "servants"and required them to work and reside on the property of their "masters."These labor contracts criminalized communication among and movement of workers. Violations often meant forfeiture of wages and sometimes carried a jail sentence.

This system of slavery by another name gave way to a practice known as convict leasing, where people imprisoned under laws specifically designed to target Black people were then leased to local industrialists or farmers and forced to work under harsh conditions without pay. Widely practiced in Southern Appalachia, convict leasing generated millions of dollars for the U.S. economy during the 19th century through activities including coal and salt mining. It was only through the organizing of Black mine workers that the practice received national attention and was eventually abolished, first in Tennessee, then Georgia. Alabama abolished it much later.

Following the Civil War, many Black women took up domestic labor, including laundry work. In 1866 a group of Black laundry workers in the Mississippi capital launched a massive strike after city officials dismissed their appeal for fair wages. At the time, their plight was overshadowed by that of white millworkers in the North, though they drew support from the region's abolitionists. The workers eventually founded Mississippi's first trade union, the Washerwomen of Jackson. Soon after, Black-led labor organizing spread throughout the South, from the formation of the Colored National Labor Union in 1869 to the Great Strike of 1877, which started in West Virginia and eventually spread to other states including Mississippi, where many strike leaders were Black railroad and dock workers married to members of Washerwomen of Jackson.

One year after the Jackson strike, Congress passed the Peonage Abolition Act, outlawing debt slavery like that experienced by so many Black workers after the Civil War. However, Black sharecroppers in Arkansas still found themselves unfairly indebted to white land owners. These sharecroppers returned from fighting in World War I to form the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America (PFHUA) with the aim of negotiating fairer settlements with landlords. But the union's attempt to organize resulted in the kidnapping of the union president's son, who was assaulted, labeled a "labor agitator,"and jailed.

Over the next two days, a mob of white civilians, police, and military servicemen unleashed violence on union members and the wider community of Elaine, culminating in the deaths of at least 100 Black people and the jailing of an additional 285. The event became known as the Elaine Massacre, which is still commemorated today. Though the union dissolved, a dozen Black members known as the Elaine 12 were convicted for their alleged roles in the massacre and later exonerated after a 1923 landmark Supreme Court case, Moore v. Dempsey, forever changed the way courts interpret due process. Not long after, A. Philip Randolph began organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black-led union to successfully negotiate a contract with a major corporation and receive a charter from the American Federation of Labor. Its motto was "Fight or Be Slaves."

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Who are some of the people who have been left out of the conversation about labor in the United States?

The book focuses specifically on women, Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander workers, disabled workers, queer and trans workers, immigrant workers, workers whose labor has been criminalized like sex workers, or people in prison. Those are all people and groups whose stories have been documented and preserved by academics and historians and contemporary journalists at the time, but those histories aren't necessarily made available or accessible to most of us. There's a lot of really incredible academic writing and research that's kind of locked away in these archives or only available in academic presses, and a lot of folks that are are interested in or would be interested in this history don't have anywhere where to look. I wanted this book to weave together different stories and characters and moments to show not only has labor history always been intersectional, inclusive, and diverse, but it's really those workers who typically have been the most vulnerable, the most marginalized, who fought the hardest.

How has this helped to shape or maybe warp the image of America's working class?

There is this enduring avatar of what a working-class person looks like, or what a union worker looks like. And it invariably ends up being someone like my dad, like a white guy in a hard hat with dirt on his hands, who has dodgy political opinions and is not interested in the radical or even progressive aspects of labor history. That's not to say that those folks aren't a part of the movement. They've always been here, they raised me, they're important too. But that's not the whole story. Even just in stark, modern terms, the most common union worker you'll come across is a Black woman who works in health care. The typical union worker right now is not a guy like my dad. Given how union density has fallen and how work itself has changed, that old stereotype just isn't going tocut it anymore. And I think it's really important to show that every type of person has been part of this movement and done incredible things. And there's no reason why we can't do it again.

I think it's really important to show that every type of person has been part of this movement and done incredible things. And there's no reason why we can't do it again.

A few chapters of the book focus on Black domestic workers I'm thinking specifically of the Washerwomen of Jackson, Mississippi. How does their legacy endure today?

Domestic workers face this conundrum where the actual labor they perform, whether it's caring for children or elders, whether it's cleaning, whether it's just maintaining the home there's been this pervasive image throughout history that that's not even work. That's just what certain people are supposed to do. Why would we pay you for that? Whether, you know, it's been discussed in context of the Wages for Housework campaign, or just the way that domestic workers were left out of major labor legislation, and still are. There are so many people in this country, so many workers, who not only are fighting for decent wages or protection on the job they are fighting just to be recognized as workers. This is something that we've seen throughout decades and centuries and are still seeing now.

Several of the organized movements in the book began down South, then made their way up North, which is sort of the opposite of how stories about labor are often presented. How does a movement travel from, say, South Carolina to Pennsylvania?

Even before technology was part of the equation, it came down to networks, right? Building networks of solidarity,staying connected with activists across state lines and building a real community of workers and organizers. One of my favorite examples of Southern workers innovating, and coming up with new ways to use new technologies to their advantage, was during the Great Textile Workers Strike in 1934. There was this massive textile workers strike going on, and at one point workers formed these things they called "flying squadrons."They use this new shiny technology as a way to spread the news of the strike and connect with workers and get them to join in. These flying squadrons were just made up of automobiles. That was a new thing back then that was before we had Twitter, before we had Discord. That revolutionized the way that people were able to connect to the news of strikes and labor unrest.

How has the history of slavery, forced labor, and Jim Crow in the South shaped the labor movement?

There's this tendency to sort of silo off specific historical moments or movements for justice as their own thing, whether it's like, you know, the disability rights movement, or the civil rights movement. Those have always intersected with the labor movement and the history of slavery in the South that was labor, it was forced labor. It's something that you can trace direct lines from, from slavery to convict leasing to incarcerated workers in prisons across the country. Everything's connected and builds on something that people before have struggled against. Every fight we're dealing with right now, someone was already doing that 100, 200, 400 years ago.

The book notes that Black women were mine workers as early as 1821, centuries before the white woman who is actually credited for being the first woman to work in the mines. How does writing enslaved people out of the labor movement in this way make building power more difficult?

I don't think you can really understand the labor movement as it stands now, or how it got here, or the mistakes it's made, or the successes that it has notched, without understanding the impact of slavery and the impact of forced labor. So many firsts in this country didn't ask to be first, and a lot of their names are lost to history. When I was researching the chapter on mining, I couldn't find any names [of enslaved people] or any of their voices. It kind of broke my heart because they're pioneers. They're labor heroes, too.

In the book you talk about the practice of convict leasing and how it was widely practiced in Appalachian states after, and in Alabama's case before, the Civil War. How has this practice shaped current systems of incarceration, and what role has abolition played in the labor movement?

We're a few decades removed from that particular historical moment. But there are still people in prisons who are seeing their labor sold to companies and seeing those companies and the U.S. government profit enormously off of their labor. They don't have a choice, they're not able to push back against their boss, they can't clock out. They have no rights as workers. In North Carolina I researched the prisoners' labor union movement there in the '70s there's one specific Supreme Court decision that jumped out at me as a catalyst that kneecapped the nascent prisoner labor union movement when it was really just picking up steam.

In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled in the Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners Labor Union case that incarcerated workers don't have a right to join the union or to organize a union. Even though they're workers and even though they're enduring those material conditions, they are not allowed. I think we've really seen the impacts of that four decades later. But of course, people in prison have continued to organize; incarcerated workers have continued to strike and resist and rebel. It's interesting to think about how the labor movement intersects with abolitionist movements because I think and hope a lot of us within the two movements are committed to actually getting people free and to understanding and emphasizing that intersection between incarcerated workers and labor. Again, it's all connected.

And one thing that complicates that in an interesting and really enduringly frustrating way is the fact that cops, police, they are ostensibly part of the movement, right? They have their "unions,"hard air quotes around them, but still, they have unions. Their collective bargaining agreements have arguably a hell of a lot more power than a lot of other unions that represent actual workers in this country. Something we saw pop up gave me a lot of hope, at least momentarily. I think it was like 2020 that we saw this little movement, the no cop unions movement. I was involved in that, trying to call on the AFL-CIO to disaffiliate a police union. Union members and leaders were pushing pretty publicly, saying hey, these are the people who are murdering and caging and oppressing our fellow union members, our fellow workers they should not be part of this federation. It was interesting seeing how much pushback it got.

The end of the book brings us to the present moment of the ongoing Warrior Met Coal strike in Alabama. From your view, how does this strike reflect the efforts to organize labor in the South that you researched for the book?

One thing that was really fun about putting this book together, and especially the way that I structured the chapters, is that I wanted to make it very, very clear how much current struggles were connected to things that happened in the past. Every chapter starts with something a little further back in the mists of time, whether it's, you know, 19th century, 20th century. And then I wanted to show something very current at the end. So much progress has happened in between, but so many people have been left out. Even though that's not the rosiest view, it's true. And I think it's important to show that, whether you're a coal miner in the 1800s or 2021 going to war against a coal boss who is trying to prevent you from organizing, everything old is new again. Putting a more inspiring positive spin on it, so many of the ways that workers won in the past, we're seeing that happen again.

I love it and I didn't put it in the book because it happened after I turned it in of course, but after the [Amazon] labor union won their their union recognition battle in Staten Island, I was reading about it from other really great journalists who have covered it the whole time, like Luis Feliz Leon, Lauren Gurley, Maximillian Alvarez. Organizers Chris Smalls, Derek Palmer, Angelica Maldonado the tactics they used, whether it was ensuring that people spoke the workers'languages, making sure people felt heard, having barbecues, having jollof rice, showing that they appreciated the culture of the people and saw them as humans, not just robots the way that Amazon did, that took me right back to 1946, the Great Sugar Strike in Hawaii. In order to organize workers, get them ready to strike, and make sure that the white sugar plantation bosses couldn't break them the way they had before by dividing different types of workers, their union at the time, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, pulled together different groups of workers and they had translators, they had meetings where everybody was conversing, they shared food, they built strike kitchens. There was so much of that interpersonal solidarity building. And they won. So many of the tactics that today's organizers are using, even if they don't necessarily know it, are echoing what folks in the past have done to win against their version of Jeff Bezos.

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Beyond white guys in hardhats: Kim Kelly on labor's hidden history of diversity - Facing South

Responding to the announcement that Malaysias Cabinet has decided to work towards abolishing the mandatory death penalty, Amnesty International Malaysias Executive Director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said:

We applaud the governments decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty and to grant judges discretion in sentencing. Its a welcome step in the right direction, and we urge it to go further and work towards full abolition of this cruel punishment.

The government should table the necessary amendments in Parliament without delay and establish a full review of all cases involving the mandatory death penalty with a view to commuting these sentences.

We have seen and documented time and time again how the use of mandatory sentencing has disproportionately harmed the most marginalized and disenfranchised members of society, how the death penalty itself has not served as a unique deterrent to crime, and how its continued use has stifled the necessary and visionary work towards enabling fair justice and addressing issues at the root causes.

The death penalty is also cruel, inhumane and a violation of the right to life. But todays announcement by the government shows that human rights change is possible, and that the global trend towards abolition remains unstoppable. Malaysias decision should also set an example for other countries in the region.

Background:

On 10 June 2022, the Minister in the Prime Ministers Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that the government has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty. The Cabinet decision was reached after a presentation of a report by the Special Committee to Review Alternative Sentences to the Mandatory Death Penalty.

Currently, 11 offences carry the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia, including for drug-related offences, which make up the majority of death penalty cases. The decision by the Cabinet would give judges discretion in sentencing. These amendments would still need to be tabled and passed in Parliament before they take effect.

The Cabinet decision includes calls for further studies to develop proposals for substitute punishments for 11 offences which carry the mandatory death penalty.

According to a Parliamentary written reply in February 2022, there are currently 1,341 people on death row in Malaysia, with 905 of the cases involving mandatory death sentences for drug trafficking.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

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Malaysia: Move to abolish mandatory death penalty is 'welcome step' in right direction - Amnesty International

For better and for worse, best practices for celebrating Juneteenth at work are top of mind.

In 2021, many employers attempted to make good on previous promises of antiracism and cultural inclusion by making this holiday celebrating slaverys abolition a paid day off see Workday, Twitter, Uber and Lyft even before President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday on June 18 last year. African Americans have been celebrating the holiday since June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers belatedly arrived in Galveston, Texas to let Black residents of Texas know they were no longer enslaved.

As non-Black Americans start to embrace Juneteenth, companies are looking for ways to celebrate that dont cause harm or outrage (read: a pint of red velvet ice cream and a paltry striped napkin set).

Cracking down on cultural appropriation and investing in company-wide education around racial inequity can create a solid foundation. But DEI leads can keep the spirit of Juneteenth alive, year-round, by examining and auditing current talent acquisition practices for racial equity, experts told HR Dive.

Juneteenth should be about educating and supporting, and making sure that you are part of the progress, because there's still so much work to be done, Kimberly Lee Minor, Bandiers chief commercial officer and president, told HR Dive in an interview. And making sure that people of color Black people, specifically are represented across the ranks in whatever industry we're in.

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For example, like many fashion retail companies, Minor said, Bandier greatly lacked diversity when she joined 18 months prior. Leadership tapped Minor to speak with leaders about Juneteenth and fill in cultural gaps. Because of the antiracism conversations that were kindled two years ago, more little-known Black history came to light. Those who did know, Minor said, didnt gain that knowledge from K-12 social studies classes. That history lesson came from Black parents or was unearthed in college.Building on the work of summer 2020,Minors goals arent just about making Bandier more multicultural. She also wants her workplace to be supportive of its growing, diverse community.

Kimberly Lee Minor, president and chief commercial officer at Bandier

Along with giving employees the day off, Minor said the athleisure brand celebrates mainly in how HR builds out its team. She juxtaposes this approach against Walmarts Juneteenth recent controversy.

Retailers can be the worst. I've been in this industry for so long. They can just be the worst because they see a marketing or merchandising opportunity at every turn, Minor said of the ice cream debacle.

It's not like every Black person on the 19th of June has a cookout like I've never been to a Juneteenth cookout. I've been to cultural celebrations, she said. What would make you think that you should make money off of those people who are celebrating their legal freedom?

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Malia Lazu, a lecturer in Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management at MITs Sloan School of Management, said that Juneteenth is becoming a tentpole for corporations to market their equity missions to a Black audience. While the ice cream was laugh-worthy, she explained over the phone to HR Dive, its indicative of a Juneteenth growing pain: with more awareness of the holiday comes more performative allyship.

If anyone had asked Black people how they would like corporations to respond, I don't think a Juneteenth holiday would have been the first thing, she continued. Now, from her perspective, Black people are forced to operate within and around that framework. Juneteenth doesn't help corporations take diverse hiring slates more seriously, Lazu continued. The Juneteenth holiday doesn't provide a third party outside audit of DEI efforts.

Malia Lazu, lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and founder & CEO of The Urban Labs

Throughout her conversation with HR Dive, Minor expressed her belief that companies should seek to make their Juneteenth acknowledgements more expansive. It's not just on June 19. Great, it's a national holiday, she said dryly. So you'll give your employees a day off. But make a commitment to it every day.

Lazu also echoed Minor, emphasizing that companies should continue to have historical discussions around the holidays origins and give people a day off. But really do something structural and make that the day you move the needle around DEI in your company. Because Juneteenth is a really sacred holiday for a lot of Black people. Its what we did for our freedom.

The rest is here:

Juneteenth beyond a day off: How to celebrate year-round - HR Dive

Since the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and the subsequent mass mobilizations for police defunding and abolition, the defund movement has continued to organize.

Has this work had an impact in Canada? Have there been successful challenges to reducing Canadian police budgets?

The answer is complicated and depends on how you define success.

Some argue the mobilization and movement-building that has transpired people brought together in campaigns for police abolition that reimagine community safety is a huge success in and of itself. Abolition has entered the public consciousness like never before.

Dozens of books have been published by academics, lawyers and activists, building on the work of Black feminists in the United States and Canada who have long argued police perpetuate rather than reduce violence in our society.

There have been some modest successes in defunding police.

In Edmonton, city council voted to cut the 2022 police budget increase by $10.9 million and reallocate the money to social services.

In Halifax, a subcommittee of the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners has tabled a detailed and carefully researched report to city council on how the local police force could be gradually detasked and defunded.

When one looks further, however, what becomes apparent is a serious and growing counter-campaign. Its perhaps the strongest indication of the movements success at undermining the sanctity of police budgets until now.

Police have fought vigorously against the defund movement through threats and false conceits of impending violence if budgets are cut. They are co-opting calls for community safety, branding themselves as protectors in need of continuing or increased resources. They position themselves as innocent heroes under attack, and discredit those who critique them.

One strategy police use is an offensive and personal tactic of removing people from positions of influence if they support police defunding.

When Winnipeg City Coun. Sherri Rollins critiqued police racism in March 2020, an informal complaint was lodged against her by the police board alleging she lacked compliance with the citys respectful workplace policies.

Similarly, in July 2020, another Winnipeg city councillor, Vivian Santos, discussed defunding and was ousted from the police board. Police removed her on alleged security grounds when background checks turned up a friend with a criminal record.

Scare tactics are another strategy.

According to their own data, only eight to 10 per cent of calls to police involve violence. Despite acknowledging that a large proportion of the calls they receive might be better managed by other kinds of workers, police maintain that reducing officers would be nave and undermine community safety.

But which community is the police keeping safe? Instead of diverting funding to organizations with expertise in gender-based violence, anti-racism measures and mental health, police are demanding and receiving record funds to triage these programs themselves.

The Waterloo Region Police recently got a $12.3-million boost to run mental-health interventions while community organizations are starved through austerity and struggle to keep their doors open.

In Hamilton, Ont., activists from the Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition supported homeless people who were harassed daily by police and eventually violently evicted from their encampments.

The coalition demanded city council reallocate resources from police towards permanent housing, prioritizing the needs of the community over criminalizing homeless people. The organizations antidote to scare tactics is to focus on prevention and the fight to protect people over property.

Police suggest ostensible reforms, such as unconscious bias training and body cameras, as a promise to change the culture of policing. As criminologists have noted, such reforms increase police funding without demonstrable change, sidestepping the reality that policing is inherently violent.

With growing attention to their record of extra-judicial killings, systemic racism and harassment in their own forces and their failure to address gender-based violence, police are on the defence.

Take, for example, the aggressive response to criticism from police unions. The police brass may have to mince their words when responding to politicians and the public, but police unions often reveal their true colours.

In June 2020, the Regina Police Association defended a tweet suggesting that its cultural unit, which works with Indigenous people, would be the first to go should the police be defunded. Choose wisely, it threatened.

Also in June 2020, the Edmonton police chief similarly stated that defunding would harm diversity initiatives within policing. This threat to the employment of Black and Indigenous officers positioned the police as a benevolent force in the struggle for racial justice, obfuscating the colonial foundation and systemic racism of policing.

Yet the charge in Canada to defund the police is being led by Black and Indigenous leaders and is explicitly focused on racial injustice in the criminal justice system.

The lack of success in police defunding is a sign of how vigorously police are fighting back, not a sign of a waning movement.

Over the past two years, police chiefs, police representatives and police unions have mobilized the public resources they have to fight against the defund movement. But an Ipsos poll found 50 per cent of Canadians under the age of 38 are interested in police defunding and abolition.

Defunding the police is not radical or irrational, contrary to what police might have the public believe.

What is radical and irrational is continuing to spend 15 to 30 per cent of municipal budgets on public policing. What is radical and irrational is continuing to use criminalization and criminal law to deal with social issues and interpersonal harms when we know that a punitive, carceral approach does not decrease harm or lead to more safety in our neighbourhhoods.

Instead, citizens need to think openly about ways to address harms in our communities and neighbourhoods and to reallocate funds from bloated police budgets to housing, mental health, addiction, employment, counselling, anti-violence education and more. Then we might truly live in a healthier, safer world.

At a time when many people are struggling to make ends meet, we must not let police tantrums get in the way of real safety and a fair share of resources for community and social development. Nor can we accept the criminalization of poverty and inequality, which is the current alibi for how public police and the whole penal system stays in business.

More:

Thin-skinned blue line: Police fight against defunding, showing their true colours - The Conversation

MINOT, N.D. In District 3, in Minot, a Republican House candidate has floated, as a part of his campaign, an idea to use a surge of state revenues resulting from high oil taxes to bring down everybody's property taxes by 50%.

It's a detailed, serious-minded plan from Roscoe Streyle that is worthy of debate and scrutiny.

But in the primary race, Streyle is up against unserious candidates from the Bastiat Caucus wing of the NDGOP's schism. In response to his proposal, the Grand High Poo-Bah of the Bastiats has countered with an unserious idea North Dakota's voters have already rejected overwhelmingly.

State Rep. Rick Becker, who isn't running for re-election, argues, in a letter to the editor submitted to various publications around the state , that Streyle's plan is a nonstarter because what we really ought to do is eliminate property taxes entirely.

Which is the sort of pie-in-the-sky thinking politicians offer when they know they'll never really be called on to follow through. Not just because Becker isn't running for another term, but because his Bastiat Caucus disciples make up a tiny fraction of the Legislature, and thus have the luxury of throwing about brash, simplistic proposals while the grownups go about the more nuanced and difficult work of actually governing.

I recently noted that Rep. Jeff Magrum, another Bastiat who is seeking the NDGOP Senate nomination in the District 8 battleground, voted against 40 of 49 appropriations bills during the 2020 session of the Legislature. He said "no" to funding most of our state government, all while offering little in the way of improvements to the spending bills he tried to vote down.

That sort of grandstanding might titillate the Facebook constituencies these ninnies hold dear, but it's hardly relevant to the sound governance of the state of North Dakota.

But let's get back to the property tax question.

We had a debate about abolishing them. I was even on the abolition side of the argument, at the time. But when it was put to voters in 2012, 76.54% of voters said "no" to the idea.

Less than a quarter of the electorate, at the time, endorsed the proposal.

At that time, property taxes were routinely at the top of voter gripes, and not much has changed today, which is why Streyle is campaigning on a plan to cut them in half while the Bastiats are trying to upstage him by recycling old arguments from a decade ago.

To be sure, property taxes in our state are a morass. What you pay is driven by decisions made by your local governments city, county, parks, etc. yet blame for property taxes is heaped on the back of state lawmakers.

Streyle's plan is a response to that, and while it may not be perfect, it's at least possible, unlike what Becker and his clown car of Bastiats are proposing.

See more here:

Port: We had the debate about abolishing property taxes, and voters rejected it - INFORUM

The Cookout is a free event to be held at the mini-pitch in Petersburg Park

Louisville Parks and Recreation, Black Players for Change (BPC), Black Womens Player Collective (BWPC) and the U.S. Soccer Foundation will host their first-ever joint event, The Cookout, on June 19, 2022 in celebration of Juneteenth.

Taking place at the recently completed mini-pitch in Petersburg Park, 5008 E. Indian Trail, the family-friendly event will offer free food to those in attendance, provided by Boss Hog's BBQ Food Truck, while supplies last. Additionally, professional athletes will be in attendance to participate in soccer scrimmages with the public. The event runs from noon to 4 p.m.

Juneteenth is the oldest known holiday commemorating the final communication of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Observed every year on June 19, the holiday originated in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, when soldiers gave residents notice of the end of slavery, nearly two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.In June 2020, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer signed an executive order recognizing the day as an official holiday for Louisville Metro Government (LMG) workers, and early the next year, he established a16-memberJuneteenth Jubilee Celebration Commission to design an annual celebration here. More information about the citys 2022 celebration is atjuneteenthlou.com

We are pleased to partner with organizations like the U.S. Soccer Foundation, BPC and BWPC, all of which work tirelessly to eliminate racial inequity in sports and in community, Mayor Fischer said. We are looking forward to celebrating Juneteenth and Black excellence on and off the pitch with the entire city.

And, he added, as we get ready to host the inaugural USL Summer Showcase next month, the June 19thevent is also another opportunity to show Louisvilles love of soccer the fastest-growing sport in the nation.

Petersburg Parks mini-pitch was officially unveiled in October 2021 and honors members of BPC and BWPC with women of the BWPC featured in imagery surrounding the pitch. It was built as part of an initiative by the U.S. Soccer Foundation aimed at removing systemic barriers to the sport for youth of color and is a partnership between BPC, BWPC, U.S. Soccer Foundation, Musco Lighting and adidas.

From our origin, Black Players for Change has been dedicated to using soccer as our vehicle to generate sustainable change, said Earl Edwards Jr, President of Black Players for Change. Collaborating with these like-minded organizations, providing access to the beautiful game, and celebrating such a historic occasion is the perfect culmination, and example, of why we established the BPC. We look forward to everyone coming out to celebrate!

We are thrilled to celebrate Juneteenth with BPC and BWPC and our partners at Louisville Parks and Recreation, said Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. Activating these mini-pitches and ensuring that children and families have safe places to play the game ensures that our sport is more inclusive and accessible to all.

Together, BPC and BWPC have brought 18+ mini-pitches to underfunded Black communities. With 70% of Black communities lacking recreational facilities and only 35% of Black children ages 6-12 playing sports on a regular basis, bringing mini-pitches and other resources is a goal that both organizations have seen as a great generational turn toward the growth of Black professional athletes in soccer.

Petersburg Park is located in Metro Council District 2, represented by Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin.

It is important that everyone, regardless of race, gender, income, or background, gets the opportunity to experience a variety of recreational activities within their own community. The vast cultural diversity represented by the people in my district lends itself to a great assortment of potential sporting interests and one that is more popular than ever is soccer, Shanklin said. I would like to thank the U.S. Soccer Foundation, BPC and BWPC for their work and generosity in providing my constituents with a beautiful mini-pitch to play and practice on, as well as this celebratory Cookout event this Juneteenth. As we continue to strive for equity and inclusion for all in our neighborhoods, it is invaluable to have partners such as these to help facilitate our goals and reach those who are often left out.

Those interested in participating in scrimmages at the June 19thevent who are under the age of 18 will need to be accompanied by a parent/guardian to complete a waiver.

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ABOUT LOUISVILLE PARKS AND RECREATIONLouisville Parks and Recreation, a nationally accredited parks and recreation agency, manages 120 parks and six parkways on more than 13,000 acres of land and operates recreation programs for area residents of all ages and abilities. Since taking office in 2011, Mayor Greg Fischer has been committed to ensuring equity in parks and recreation, including the start of the West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative, the Louisvilles Engaging Children Outdoors (ECHO) programming and most recently, becoming the third city in the country to launch an equity review of all Metro-owned parks and facilities.bestparksever.com

ABOUT BLACK PLAYERS FOR CHANGEBlack Players for Change (BPC) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization consisting of over 170+ Black players, coaches and staff from MLS, working to bridge the racial equality gap that exists in society. BPC is committed to tackling the racial injustices that have limited Black people from having an equitable stake in the game of soccer and society. Among the many goals, the organization strives to advance the attention on human rights inequalities from protest to programs, partnerships, and policies that address systemic discrimination. For more information visitwww.BlackPlayersForChange.org

ABOUT BLACK WOMENS PLAYER COLLECTIVEThe Black Womens Player Collective (BWPC) is a nonprofit organization that elevates the image, value, and representation of Black women as athletes and leaders in business, industry, and public and private institutions. The BWPC currently consists of the 43 Black women competing in the NWSL as of 2020 and aims to provide a collective voice to the Black perspective and experience of a professional female athlete amidst the incessant and pervasive racial inequality and social injustice plaguing our country. Follow us onTwitterand Instagram.

ABOUT U.S. SOCCER FOUNDATIONThe U.S. Soccer Foundations programs are the national model for sports-based youth development in underserved communities. Since its founding in 1994, the Foundation has established programs proven to help children embrace an active and healthy lifestyle while nurturing their personal growth beyond sports. Its cost-effective, high-impact initiatives offer safe environments where kids and communities thrive. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Soccer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information visitwww.ussoccerfoundation.orgor follow us onTwitterandFacebook.

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Louisville Parks and Recreation to partner with BPC, BWPC and U.S. Soccer Foundation for Juneteenth Celebration - LouisvilleKy.gov

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the beginning of the decline of the countrys economy was when the government lost Rs. 6.6 billion in revenue with the abolition of the tax system implemented in 2019.

We must immediately return to the 2019 tax system. We must begin our resurrection from where we fell, he added.

He said that many government agencies do not have proper financial management, and therefore, new methods need to be introduced.

The Road Development Authority is an example. Although they had the funds, they failed to manage those funds in accordance with Treasury regulations, he added.

In the current situation in our country, the government is unable to provide funds to cover the losses of any state-owned enterprises. That debt burden can no longer be borne by the state or state-owned banks, said the Prime Minister.

Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka needs to achieve economic stability by the end of this year.

Then by 2024 we will have the opportunity to create economic stimulus through financial stimulus. By 2025, our goal is to balance our budgets or create a primary surplus. This economic program must continue to move towards this long-term goal. Even if the individuals, groups and parties in power change, it is imperative that we achieve our national goals and maintain the highest level of efficiency in the country, he added.

Full Speech by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe:

I hope you all understand the situation we and our country face. We need to find new ways as an alternative to the traditional ways if we are to elevate the country from this position. We must set aside our traditional political ideologies for a short period of time and make a concerted effort to rebuild the country. The people of the whole country should play a role in this effort. We all have a part to play for the country.

Our primary focus here is on economic stability. But we cannot recover from this alone by creating economic stability.

We need to revive the economy of our country.

This is not something that can be done in two or three days. This challenge cannot be done by miracles, not from slogans, not by magic, nor emotions. Implementing intelligently thought-out projects requires hard work and dedication.

The country spends $500 million per month on fuel. It should be kept in mind that the current global crisis risks raising oil prices. Some estimate that global oil prices will rise by as much as 40% by the end of this year. In this context the idea of introducing a coupon system for fuel cannot be ruled out. Somehow we have to find $3,300 million worth of fuel for the next six months.

It costs $40 million a month to import gas. We are currently using multilateral assistance, local currency and Indian loans to import gas. We will require $250 million over the next six months for gas.

The next three weeks will be a tough time for us in regards fuel. It is time we all must use fuel and gas as carefully as possible. Unessential travel should be limited as much as possible. Therefore, I urge all citizens to refrain from thinking about hoarding fuel and gas during this period. After those difficult three weeks, we will try to provide fuel and food without further disruptions. Negotiations are underway with various parties to ensure this happens. After these difficult three weeks, we are trying to ensure the shortage of fuel and gas will have ended. Lets face these difficult three weeks united and patiently.

We produce some of the food we require locally. The rest are imported. Our harvest has declined in the past several months. We have to face this situation at and we have to work hard from this point onwards to ensure the next harvest is a success. That harvest, however, will be available by the end of February 2023. In terms of rice, our countrys annual rice requirement is 2.5 million metric tons. But we have only 1.6 million metric tons of rice in stock. This condition is not only restricted to paddy but many other crops. So, in a few months we will have to face serious difficulties and shortages in terms of our diets. We need to import food items to meet our daily requirements. It costs about $150 million a month.

The task of rebuilding our declining agriculture must begin immediately. We are losing the international market for our export crops. Action must be taken to prevent this. Chemical fertilizers are needed to boost local agriculture. It costs $600 million a year to import fertilizer for paddy, vegetables, fruits, other major crops as well as our tea, rubber, coconut and export crops. Since manure has to be applied from time to time from the beginning to the end of a harvest. It is essential that fertilizer is exported without any shortages. We must ensure that no money or effort will be wasted.

We are currently involved in various international assistance programs to import medicines and health equipment required for the country. It has also been planned to seek assistance from various countries. We do not need large amounts of foreign exchange for health for the next six months as those groups and countries have provided substantial support for our health system. We thank them on behalf of the health department.

In this context, we need $5 billion to ensure our daily lives are not disrupted for the next six months.We need to strengthen the rupee in line with the daily requirements of the citizens. Another $1 billion is needed to strengthen the rupee.

That means we need to find $6 billion to keep the country afloat for the next six months.In the midst of all this we need to develop plans to raise the average national product. We need to implement those plans. According to the central bank, the average GDP growth in 2022 will be -3.5 According to the International Monetary Fund, the situation is even worse. According to them, its growth will be -6.5 percent.

The average national output of the global economy will decline next year due to the impact of the war in Ukraine. Recovery is forecast for 2024.

We also have to face that global environment.

The government has lost Rs. 6.6 billion in revenue with the abolition of the tax system we implemented in 2019. That was the beginning of the decline of our economy. Therefore, we must immediately return to the 2019 tax system. We must begin our resurrection from where we fell.It is a fact that we all know that money has been printed indefinitely in recent times. Rs. 2.5 billion has been released from 2020 to May 20, 2022.

Many government agencies do not have proper financial management. Therefore, new methods need to be introduced. The Road Development Authority is an example. Although they had the funds, they failed to manage those funds in accordance with Treasury regulations. In the current situation in our country, the government is unable to provide funds to cover the losses of any state-owned enterprises. That debt burden can no longer be borne by the state or state-owned banks.

We are currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund. Our discussions are based on our future economic plan. Accordingly, the year 2023 will see us face all the challenges. We need to achieve economic stability by the end of this year. Then by 2024 we will have the opportunity to create economic stimulus through financial stimulus. By 2025, our goal is to balance our budgets or create a primary surplus. This economic program must continue to move towards this long-term goal. Even if the individuals, groups and parties in power change, it is imperative that we achieve our national goals and maintain the highest level of efficiency in the country.

In our efforts we must pay close attention to our foreign relations. To increase international our support. We are becoming a marginalized country in the world due to poor foreign polices. Changing that position will not be easy. But we have to do it somehow.

I am currently in constant consultation with foreign ambassadors. I had telephone conversations with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the President of the United Arab Emirates, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Discussions were held with representatives of international organizations such as the United Nations, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program, the United Nations Development Program and the World Health Organization.

Many representatives of these countries and international organizations have agreed to support our country during this difficult time.

The United Nations has arranged for a worldwide public appeal on the 9th of June. They are seeking support to provide humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. Through this project, they plan to provide $48 million over a four-month period to the food, agriculture and health sectors.

India, China and Japan are leading the list of countries that provide us with loans and assistance. Relations with these countries, which have always been strong, are now broken. Those relationships need to be rebuilt.

Some time ago we borrowed under the SWAP facility from the Peoples Republic of China. There was a condition regarding that loan. We can use that money only if our country has enough foreign reserves for three months. We have not had foreign exchange reserves for three months since the loan was taken. Our former officials took loans to deceive the country. We will not be debt free under that condition. We have requested the Chinese government to consider removing that condition from the agreement that has been signed with them.

We urge the Chinese government to look into the matter favourably.

Japan is our long time friend. A nation that has helped our country greatly. But they are now unhappy with us due to the unfortunate events of the past. Our country had failed to formally notify Japan of the suspension of certain projects. Sometimes the reasons for these suspensions were not even stated. According to reports submitted by an individual, some projects undertaken by Japan in our country have been halted midway through.

Japan and India had agreed to supply us with two LNG power plants. The CEB stopped those two projects without any justifiable reason.

Japan had agreed to provide about $ 3 billion worth of projects to our country by 2019. All of these projects were put on hold for no reason.

I urge the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance to conduct an inquiry into the suspension of such valuable projects granted to us by our longtime allies for unstated reasons.Despite alienating these friendly nations, India offered to help us in the face of the growing crisis. We express our respect and gratitude to them during this difficult time. We are also working to re-establish old friendships with Japan.

We call on the International Monetary Fund to hold a conference to help unite our lending partners. Holding such a conference under the leadership of India, China and Japan will be a great strength to our country. China and Japan have different credit approaches. It is our hope that some consensus on lending approaches can be reached through such a conference.

We have an obligation to repay the loans taken so far. Many loan installments received from multilateral institutions have to be repaid this month. We did not pay the loan installments. In the future we will have to take new loans and we have the responsibility to repay the debt of the country.Once we come up with a loan repayment plan for those that we have obtained from other countries, we need to focus on the personal loans our country has taken. We sough expert advice from Lezard, an international financial advisory firm, and Clifford Chance, an international legal consulting firm.We absolutely must have foreign exchange to repay the loans that have been taken. The export economy needs to be strengthened quickly to bolster our foreign exchange. Our country is located in a strategically important position. That is a positive factor in terms of regaining a competitive advantage in the global market. Alongside the economic hubs of Singapore and Dubai, we too have the potential to grow into another economic hub. Vietnam is a great example of having undertaken such a task successfully. Different product values must be exported by integration. At the same time, we want to keep the trade surplus as low as possible in our transactions with different countries.Our ultimate goal is to create a new economy for Sri Lanka. The goal is to transform Sri Lanka into a developed country by 2048, the centenary of Independence.

Our country is not working like a well-oiled machine, we are not sure what we should we do first. This system needs to be overhauled. That is what we are doing now. Resetting the system. The interim budget is the first step in rebuilding the system. Once we have taken that step, we will implement a modern system and install safeguards that will protect us from future calamities. But to do all this, we need to restart the system.

That is why we are presenting an interim budget to Parliament on the basis of our future economic plan and road map. As I mentioned earlier, our hope is that this budget will lay the foundation for our economy, allowing it to stabilize and recover.

The interim budget will reduce unnecessary government spending, while controlling other costs. We will also focus on revitalizing many areas affected by the crisis. There is an urgent need to focus on many sectors such as the export economy, tourism and construction.

We have also pointed out to the International Monetary Fund that this time the focus should be on the economically weaker sections of our country. They agreed. We prepared the interim budget based on those facts.

I would like to draw your attention to some of the key areas we are focussing on.

1) Take maximum action to ensure food safety.A recent study by the World Food Program (WFP) found that 73% of participating households reduced their diet and food intake. We will change that situation and strive to provide food without shortage as per this food security plan. We are working towards ensuring a three meal situation in the country.

2) Increase in grant limit.While the economy is in turmoil, people are facing various hardships. We will take action to alleviate their suffering as much as possible. The current annual expenditure on providing various reliefs to the economically backward is $350 million. This amount is expected to increase to US $550 million.

3) Farmers loans should be written off one hundred percent.We know that farming families who cultivate paddy on small lands are in a very precarious position. Farmers loans obtained by farmers with less than two hectares of land will be stopped immediately.

4) Free ownership of their lands by residents.Earlier we had launched a program to provide free government lands to the people through guarantees like Swarnabhoomi and Mahawali. Some provincial councils opposed the move. So this did not succeed. At present, steps are being taken to give the people the right to ownership so that such protests do not arise.

5) Granting the ownership of urban flats to the occupants on concessional basis.Families live for rent in many of the suburban apartments. There are also long-term interest payments for home ownership. We will take steps to transfer the ownership of all these houses to the residents on concessional basis.

6) Opening of flats built by China for the public.At the request of the Peoples Republic of China when I was previously the Prime Minister, they donated 1,888 apartments to our country. One hundred and eight of these houses are reserved for artists. We will take steps to provide all these houses to the deserving without any political influence. My hope is to set up a program to provide those 1,888 homes for free.

At a time when the country is in decline, we are trying to rebuild the economy and the country without putting too much pressure on the people. Our expectation is to preserve every aspect of our lives and move forward.

We can save the country if we make gradual progress. There is a dangerous situation that goes beyond being a personal issue or a party issue. Let us understand the dangers and seriousness of this. In such a situation, there is no point in looking at the past. For a while let us forget the past. In trying to renew the country, we must think only of the future.

Economic reforms alone are not enough to rebuild a country. At the same time, socio-political and public service reforms are needed. I would like to bring to your attention to an issue that was raised at a recent press conference held from the protests.

Commenting on this, artist Tamitha Abeyratne made this request to me. He appealed to the people to find a solution to this problem in the parliament and to unite the people who love the country. But the Prime Minister himself should not try to deceive the people by giving sweets.

I would like to draw the attention of all of you to this idea. The responsibility for resolving the current situation in the country rests on the shoulders of the peoples representatives in this House. We must accept that responsibility. We must fulfill that responsibility. Instead of plastering over the issues, long-term and effective solutions should be sought.

So, lets set aside all differences and think anew for the country. Lets start the new journey. We will initiate the necessary constitutional reforms. Lets think differently. We can all start to change the system by thinking differently and acting differently.

Public service must be viewed from a different angle. Efficiency and productivity have fallen to a very low level due to the provision of unlimited employment in the public service. Some government employees have no obligation to their duties. Therefore, the public sector needs to be completely restructured and reformed. Our mission is to create a public service that will enable a citizen to receive immediate and efficient services throughout their lives without any hassle.Another important aspect to consider in this transition is to build a country free of corruption and fraud. It is mandatory. A society without theft. A country where there is no room for thieves. A regime with strong rules that can punish wrongdoers.

To this end, we expect to implement a national policy on the prevention of bribery and corruption. In 2019, a national policy to combat bribery and corruption was developed. We will take steps to hand over the draft policy to all party leaders in Parliament. Get their feedback too. Countries such as Sweden, which have successfully implemented the anti-corruption and anti-corruption mechanism, are following the example of the Hong Kong government and making the necessary structural changes. If any amendments are to be made to the present draft, necessary amendments will be made in consultation with all parties lawyers and experts and this National Policy will be implemented.I therefore invite all of you in this House to support our economic, socio-political and public service reforms in rebuilding the country.

Let us build the country first. Let us protect our country from this crisis. Give your support to these efforts. After returning to normalcy in the country within the specified time frame, you may return to your traditional political activities. Implement traditional party political agendas.I would like to conclude my statement by quoting Winston Churchill.

The pessimist sees difficulty in every situation; the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.We take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way. We will use these opportunities to build the country with confidence.

We will all take full responsibility to bring the country back to normalcy.

The rest is here:

'Economy started to decline when 2019 Tax system was abolished' - PMs Full Speech - Newsfirst.lk

(RNS) Ed Litton, the outgoing president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has a few words of advice for his successor.

Buckle up.

The thing about the Southern Baptist Convention and Ive been doing this a long time you never know whats going to come up, he said.

Starting on Tuesday (June 14), Litton, a longtime Alabama pastor, will preside over the annual two-day meeting of the nations largest Protestant denomination. More than 8,200 local church delegates, known as messengers, will gather at Californias Anaheim Convention Center about 10 minutes from Disneyland to pray, worship and deliberate.

Likely there will be a few fights along the way.

The 13.7 million-member denomination has been rocked in recent weeks over a report that found SBC leaders had worked for decades to downplay the problem of sexual abuse and protect the denomination while demonizing abuse survivors, treating them as enemies of the church. Southern Baptists have also been divided by the polarization affecting the broader culture, with a group of self-styled conservative pirates hoping to change the direction of the SBC, claiming it has been invaded by liberals, critical race theory and female preachers who are steering the denomination away from the Bible.

In Anaheim, messengers will elect a new president and decide whether to enact a series of reforms aimed at addressing sexual abuse. A task force has recommended spending $3 million to set up a website to track abusive pastors and church workers, provide more training and hire staff to help survivors find help, along with other potential reforms. Messengers may decide to cut ties with one of the largest churches in the denomination, which recently announced plans to hire a female teaching pastor.

Those two days in Anaheim will likely have a profound effect on the future direction of the SBC.

A look at some of the key issues at stake:

RELATED: Can anyone lead the Southern Baptist Convention forward?

Pastor Ed Litton, of Saraland, Alabama, answers questions after being elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention on June 15, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee. On March 1, 2022, Litton announced he would break with tradition and not seek a second term in the top office. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Last summer, angered at reports that SBC leaders had long mistreated abuse survivors, the messengers approved a task force to oversee an investigation into how leaders at the SBCs Nashville-based Executive Committee had responded to the issue of abuse. Along with releasing a report from Guidepost Solutions, the investigating firm, the abuse task force has made a series of recommendations, including setting up a Ministry Check website to track abusers.

If approved, initial funding for the abuse reforms is already in place. On Wednesday, Send Relief, a partnership between the SBCs International Mission Board and North American Mission Board that does compassion ministry, announced plans to provide $4 million in initial funding for abuse reforms. An earlier plan had called for reforms to be paid for out of SBCs Cooperative Program, which pools money from local churches for national and international missions.

But complicating matters, Guidepost Solutions, the investigating firm, posted a note on social media in support of Pride Month, prompting claims that Guidepost is a liberal group that should not be trusted. This week, Baptist leaders in Tennessee and Alabama called for Southern Baptists to cut ties with Guidepost, while an abuse task force in Kentucky ceased working with the firm. Along with its work with the task force, Guidepost is overseeing a hotline where SBC abuse survivors can report allegations.

Some Baptist leaders object to the reforms, saying they are unbiblical or warning that they will destroy the SBC by opening the denomination to lawsuits.

RELATED: How the apocalyptic Southern Baptist report almost didnt happen

During the 2021 annual meeting, where attendance topped 21,000, messengers took an active role in shaping the agenda, twice overturning rulings from then-SBC President J.D. Greear, forcing floor votes on a resolution on abolishing abortion and on a motion authorizing the abuse investigation. Both moves caught leaders by surprise.

An active messenger body could cause chaos at the annual meeting, which typically has a tightly packed agenda and little wiggle room. Thats happened before, most notably at the 1985 annual meeting, whichdrew 45,000 messengers at the height of the so-called Conservative Resurgence, in which conservatives took control of the denomination from moderate leaders. That led to a controversial ruling from then-SBC president Charles Stanleywho ruled a motion from moderates out of order, despite attempts to overrule him from the floor. The fallout from the controversy led to a federal lawsuit and led the SBC to begin using a professional parliamentarian.

Litton said he and other leaders will work to make this years meeting as fair as possible.

Were going to do our best to make sure that that its fair and that, that this largest deliberative body in the world for two days can do its business in a way that reflects the character of who Southern Baptists really are, he said. Southern Baptists think its best when the people are heard and when people have an opportunity to speak.

This years presidential race includes Florida pastor Tom Ascol, head of Founders Ministries, a Calvinist group with ties to the Conservative Baptist Network, and Bart Barber, a Texas pastor and chair of the resolutions committee for this years annual meeting. Ascol is perhaps best known for his opposition to critical race theory and female preachers and for his past claims that many of the people who are members of SBC churches are not really Christian and many SBC congregations are no longer churches.

Pastor Bart Barber in the video announcement of his candidacy for president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Video screen grab

Barber is known for his tweets about SBC governance, his folksy social mediavideos and his role in the firing of Southern Baptist legend Paige Patterson in 2018 after Patterson was accused of mistreating a rape victim in a previous job.

The new SBC president will likely be charged with appointing an ongoing task force to deal with abuse and can nominate candidates to serve on key denominational committees.

One thing to watch: On Monday, attendees at the annual SBC Pastors Conference will elect a president for next years event. The election for the conference held before the annual meeting is usually low-key. This year, however, the election could spark fireworks, as one of the leading candidates is missionary Voddie Baucham, an Ascol ally and author of a bestselling book warning of the dangers of CRT and social justice. A Baucham win could foreshadow what happens in the SBC presidential race.

Bauchams candidacy could be an issue, as currently he is neither a pastor nor, by his own admission, a Southern Baptist. According to Matt Henslee, current Pastors Conference president, all previous conference presidents have been SBC pastors. But the conference has no official rules for the election, leaving the decision in his hands.

As president, I think it is best left up to Southern Baptist pastors to decide who will lead them next year, he said.

In May, Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of one of the largest churches in the SBC, announced plans to retire this fall. Andy Wood, a San Francisco pastor, has been named his successor. Woods wife, Stacie, would also become a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, joining three other female pastors who were ordained last year. That puts the church at odds with the SBCs statement of faith, which states that only men can be pastors.

At the 2021 SBC annual meeting, a Louisiana pastor made a motion for the SBC to break fellowship with Saddleback Baptist Church, as they have ordained three ladies as pastors, and all other churches that would choose to follow this path. The motion is being considered by the SBC Credentials Committee, which can recommend expelling churches that are not in friendly cooperation with the denomination. The committee plans to meet just prior to the annual meeting.

The committee will report specifically on Saddleback as the motion requires however the committee has not finalized its recommendation and has no comment at this time, the committee chair told Religion News Service in an emailed statement.

Christa Brown talks about her abuse at a rally outside the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex on June 11, 2019, in Birmingham, Alabama. RNS photo by Butch Dill

For years, a group of abuse survivors has had a vocal presence at SBC meetings, calling attention to the issue of abuse and pressing for reforms. In 2007, advocates such as Christa Brown pushed for the SBC to set up a database to track abusive pastors an idea convention leaders rejected, despite being told by their lawyers that the idea was possible. After the Guidepost report was released, survivors called for a series of reforms. Among them:

While not binding, resolutions at the SBC meeting often produce fireworks. In 2021, the convention passed a resolution on abortion abolition calling for an end to abortion with no exceptions. Proposed by an Oklahoma pastor, the motion foreshadowed recently proposed legislation in conservative states to tightly restrict abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. In past years, there have been fiery debates over the Confederate flag, CRT and the alt-right that dominated headlines.

During this years meeting, Litton plans to submit a grassroots plan to advance racial reconciliation in the SBC and in the communities where SBC churches worship. Its based on work he has done in Mobile, Alabama, where he is a pastor.

Litton said he is grateful for the Southern Baptists he has met in the past year, often while they were volunteering at disasters, and gave parting words to the next president.

These people are serious and they deserve good leaders. They dont deserve people who have some ax to grind or point to prove. They just need people who are trusting the Lord like they do, Litton said.

RELATED: How the apocalyptic Southern Baptist report almost didnt happen

Read the original here:

When Southern Baptists meet next week, anything could happen - Religion News Service

Museum exhibitions are traditionally about objects. But in a provocatively commentated show of Black portraits from the 18th and 19th centuries, the Met confronts itself.

Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast centers on Why Born Enslaved!, the bust Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux modelled in 1868 and produced in popular editions thereafter. Life-size, she is bound at the chest with rope, glowering upwards in knowledge and pain a captive with no doubts of the crime shes been dealt.

The Met already owned Carpeauxs terracotta version of the famous work. Then a rare marble (one of two from his studio) went on sale in 2018. When the opportunity to acquire this bust came up, Elyse Nelson, the conceiver and co-curator of the show, told me, we acquired it with the idea that this could be the linchpin for an exhibition.

Sculpture requires patronage, requires wealthy patrons, so is often associated with the state, Nelson explained. That state, the court of Napoleon III, was very proud of the emancipation decree from back in 1846, a generation before Americas. Carpeauxs work offered belated congratulations to France. The emperor was among its first buyers.

But when art is tied to regimes especially regimes as grabby as the Second Empire it has trouble gaining our trust. There was something unclean about the Mets acquisition: by purchasing an enslaved woman, the shows catalog asks, can we be other than complicit in the aestheticization of slavery?

In this spirit, the show interrogates Carpeaux across his early sketches of the bust, his marble, his earlier versions and his renderings of a larger public work related to her. It must be the fullest examination ever staged of his iconic sculpture.

For the catalog Wendy S Walters, a professor of non-fiction at Columbia and Nelsons co-curator, explores the work as a record of subjection, even fetishization. We have historically understood enslavement, Walters explained to me, to think that the sexual component of enslavement was separate from the work component. They were not.

Walters argues that Carpeaux revisits that sexual component a little too readily: the hyperrealism where rope meets breast, the artists alleged aggression toward women, his commodification of a slaves likeness for financial gain and political favor.

Viewers will leave either outraged by such politicization of art or equipped with a more nuanced understanding of the touchy era following abolition, a time when European heads of state made grand gestures toward equality while they plotted the Scramble for Africa.

Carpeauxs contemporaries appear and give him context. Familiar works by Charles Cordier field unsparing questions about the white gaze. Once a gem of the collection, the Black man of Jean-Leon Gromes Bashi Bazouk (1868-69) still adorns the cover of the Mets official guidebook, but now it is scrutinized through the prism of European imperialism.

One of the shows virtues is to reach back before Carpeaux, to the golden era of protest when his abolitionist vocabulary was first being forged. One display is devoted to Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter whose medallion from 1787 took off like wildfire among activists of the time. No bigger than a thumbprint, it shows a Black man chained and begging for our sympathy. Here he is reproduced on a glass cologne bottle, on a pearlware jug, and on a gilded seal fob modified to show a female slave.

Though Wedgwoods intentions were good and his timing ingenious, such finery smacks of the black Instagram square, the corporate pledge to do better, the pint of Juneteenth ice cream.

The most illuminating guest is Jean-Antoine Houdon, Carpeauxs forebear in marble. Locals have long admired Houdons Bather (1782) in the Mets sun-drenched court of European sculpture. Braced for a splash, the bather is lovely the arch of her outstretched foot fixed nimbly on a stone, a detail both structural and emotive.

It turns out she didnt wash alone. The bather was commissioned for a fountain in the 45-acre pleasure garden (now the Parc Monceau) of the kings cousin, the duc dOrleans. Above her originally stood a Black woman carved in lead, a servant who pumped water through a ewer on to the pure white back of her stone mistress.

Though the servile half of the fountain disappeared during the Revolution, a plaster of her head appears on loan from Soissons. Far from Houdons famous realism (see his exquisite Ben Franklin in the American wing), this head depicts a simplified, obsequious, very unfortunate, smiling mammy.

Worse, when France freed her slaves the first time, in 1794, Houdon converted his slaves likeness into terracotta, scrawled an abolitionist caption into her base, and mass-produced her as a souvenir of emancipation. The Met have brought out their copy of this miniature for the show.

Here is expert curation: the plaster slave, the clay freedwoman, the implied connection to the marble mistress across the wing. I think this project changed me as an art historian, Nelson said of such timebombs. I think that this is just the beginning of a conversation, and that a larger conversation could follow.

If the parable of Houdon teaches anything, its how greasily the feudal values of the ancien rgime could masquerade as liberalism. These masqueraded in artist and patron alike: having installed Houdons happy slave fountain in his wonderland, the duc dOrleans, one of the richest men in France, renounced his title when revolution arrived and rebranded himself Philippe Egalit. (The guillotine got him anyway.)

The curators believe Houdons cheap intentions with his smiling slave served as precedents for Carpeaux 90 years later. But Why Born Enslaved! is not so easily reduced not quite.

Yes, Carpeauxs patrons, like Houdons opportunist duke, were the worst kinds of virtue signalers. While Napoleon III sent troops to seize Mexico, his empress used her bronze of Why Born Enslaved! to broadcast republican sentiment back home.

And yes, Carpeaux borrowed from his own racialized fountain, his globe allegory in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris (1874). Now anonymous, the sitter for Why Born Enslaved! was visibly the same woman who modelled his Africa in that monumental public work. The chain around Africas ankle might well be construed as a degrading and irrelevant icon. That was very common,: an emancipated figure, even decades after abolition, would still be carrying the vestiges of their captivity, Walters explained.

For context, Walters and Nelson include earlier four continents allegories in porcelain and on paper. For all its realism, Carpeauxs fountain and by extension his bust derived from a time-worn menu of ethnic tropes that put Europa first.

But these facts cannot dim the absolute electricity of the womans gaze. Against her ropes she spins sharply to the left, and as you spin with her, encircling a back-to-back display of the terracotta and the later marble, youll detect from that early draft to the final one a faint sharpening of her brow as if a wound that began in entreaty has hardened into reproach. Against the glib Wedgwood and the shameless Houdon, Carpeaux creates nothing less than a human.

Janet Jackson owned a reproduction, Beyonc posed with one, and Kehinde Wiley depends on the sincerity of Carpeauxs original for the strength of his own homage, which is wisely on display: a small bust critiquing exploitation in modern sports.

Carpeauxs endurance, as this searching and feisty exhibition makes clear, can and should exist alongside the paternalizing traditions and the dirty money in spite of which his work took such vivid life.

The figures themselves carry multiple valences, Walters offered, and if we allow them to carry multiple valences, then were really starting to think critically about what representation is, which to me seems to be the purview of a museum.

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The beginning of a conversation: the Met examines a complex history of emancipation art - The Guardian