DESANTISLAND 

HISTORIAN RECEIVES $1.5M GRANT TO EXPAND RACIAL JUSTICE TOURS

The 84-year-old still desires people to experience history at places where Black lives were lost to hatred

by Daniel Johnson

July 1, 2024

Marvin Dunn, a Florida historian and founder of the Miami Center for Racial Justice, received $1.5 million in funding from the Mellon Foundation. This grant will allow him to expand his “Teach the Truth” tours, which focus on sites of racial violence, from Florida to other Southern states.

As the Miami Herald reports, Dunn is looking to partner with universities in the states he will expand his tour to encompass. Dunn also recognizes that the story he is telling through his tours is the story of American history, not just Black history.

“Florida was not the only state where lynchings took place. It’s all of our history,” Dunn told the outlet. “It’s all of our pain. It’s not just Black pain or white guilt: it’s all of our pain; it’s all of our responsibility to correct this record.”

In 2023, Phillip Brian Harper, the higher learning program director at the Mellon Foundation, reached out to Dunn after reading about his tours, resulting in a $150,000 grant from the foundation, marking its second funding of Dunn’s center, which supports the tours.

Harper told the Herald that Dunn’s commitment to telling the complete story is what motivated him to fund his efforts. “If we don’t have a full variety of perspectives grounded in the full variety of experiences that inform the history and culture of this country, people will go through their lives poorly informed about the true depth, complexity, and richness of this country,” Harper said. “And that means we would have an extremely impoverished society.”

This time, the Mellon Foundation is granting Dunn’s center $1.5 million in funding, leading to the potential expansion of several sites in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. In an interview with the Herald, 84-year-old Dunn expressed his continued desire for people to experience history by visiting places where blood was shed, and Black lives were lost due to hatred.

“We’re just now beginning to find out where the worst lynchings in Georgia took place,” Dunn said. “That’s why we need to do this: I’m considered an expert on anti-Black violence in the country, at least in the South, and I’m not sure what happened everywhere in Georgia, but I know a lot of people died by the rope. We’ll find out and take people to those places.”

Since Dunn is of advanced age, he told the paper that the plan is to “identify faculty members and have them teach the students” in the states the tour will expand to. He also indicated that those students would receive payment for working as guides on the tour. Although he has not officially decided on the tour’s sites, he is interested in taking the tour either to Emmett Till’s grave in Mississippi or the Equal Justice Institute in Alabama.

Dunn’s tours received increased national attention in the wake of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on teaching Black history in Florida classrooms. 

Jamora Arroyo-Jefferson, a high school student who attended the first “Teach the Truth” tour in 2023 made a short documentary about her experience, which went on to win the 2024 Princeton Prize in Race Relations and a South Florida Regional “Certificate of Accomplishment” as well as praise from Dunn himself. 

Dunn told Arroyo-Jefferson in a blurb for the documentary, “Jamora, I congratulate you on your excellent documentary on the first “Teach the Truth” tour. I have seen no other film that captures my work so effectively and I have been followed on the tour by MSNBC, CNN, and a host of other filmmakers. Your film goes to the very heart of the purpose and success of the tour. To have this quality of work come from a high school student is incredible.”

RELATED CONTENT: The National Museum Of African American History And Culture Acquires Charleston Slave Badges For Searchable Exhibit

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE

Activists demand energy independence amid ongoing blackouts in Puerto Rico

By Mivette Vega
June 21, 2024

Recent weeks have seen a surge in blackouts in Puerto Rico caused by problems in transmission and generation lines. Towns in the south, like Santa Isabel and Coamo, have borne the brunt of these outages.

Activists from Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora staged a protest in New York Wednesday night, calling for a better energy system for island residents. Thousands of Puerto Ricans have endured constant blackouts in recent weeks.

The group went to the Manhattan offices of New Fortress Energy, the parent company of Genera, which is in charge of generating electricity on the island.
RELATED: Major power outage leaves 350,000 Puerto Ricans in the dark

“The privatization of energy distribution by LUMA, combined with the privatization of energy generation by Genera PR/New Fortress Energy, has gone from bad to worse,” said unionist David Galarza in a statement.

Recent weeks have seen a surge in blackouts caused by problems in transmission and generation lines. Towns in the south, like Santa Isabel and Coamo, have borne the brunt of these outages, with residents facing not just darkness but damaged appliances, lost food due to lack of refrigeration, and limited access to water due to failing pumps. Last Wednesday, another massive power outage affected 350,000 clients.

Protesters pointed out the long-term economic consequences of relying on private companies for energy. The high cost of electricity stifles business growth and burdens households.

But beyond economics, the protest resonated with a deeper yearning for self-determination. Casa Pueblo, a self-managed community organization renowned for its energy independence initiatives, played a key role in organizing the demonstration. Their message: Puerto Rico can’t chart its own course if it’s tethered to foreign energy corporations.

“The energy transition we need is one that leads to independence,” declared Arturo Massol Deyá, Casa Pueblo’s executive director. He highlighted his upcoming testimony before the United Nations Decolonization Committee, where he will argue that energy sovereignty is a crucial prerequisite for genuine self-determination for Puerto Rico.

RELATED: Puerto Rico Extends LUMA’s Contract Despite Strong Opposition

The timing of the protest was intentional. It coincided with the Committee’s scheduled session, where Puerto Rico’s right to self-determination will be discussed for the 42nd time. For many activists, the energy crisis symbolizes a larger struggle: the fight for Puerto Rico’s right to shape its own future, free from external control.

The group of protestors included organizations like Jornada se Acabaron Las Promesas, Por Libertad, La Colectiva Feminista en Construcción, and the Socialist Front. They called for the government to reclaim control of the energy sector and invest heavily in renewable energy sources. Moving away from fossil fuels, they argued, was not just an environmental necessity, but also a key step towards energy independence and economic resilience in the face of climate change.

Author

Mivette Vega  is a seasoned journalist and multimedia reporter whose stories center the Latino community. She is passionate about justice, equality, environmental matters, and animals. She is a Salvadorrican—Salvadorian that grew up in Puerto Rico—that has lived in San Juan, Venice, Italy, and Miami.

LUMA IS A JV WITH ALBERTA'S ATCO 

Hurricane Beryl grows to Category 5 strength in the southeast Caribbean

By Bill Chappell

NPR
Published July 1, 2024

NOAA/NESDIS/STAR GOES-EastHurricane Beryl loomed toward St. Vincent — and grew in power — as it brought threats of catastrophic winds and dangerous storm surges to the Windward Islands. The storm is seen here in a satellite image just after sunrise on Monday.

Updated July 01, 2024

Hurricane Beryl upgraded to a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm late Monday night, the National Hurricane Center said, as it crossed islands in the southeastern Caribbean.

Beryl’s winds increased to 160 mph, late Monday, the hurricane center said. Beryl was about 510 miles east-southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic and was moving west-northwest at 22 mph. It was forecast to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica.

Earlier Monday, the eye of Beryl "made landfall on Carriacou Island" as it brought 150 mph winds and a dangerous storm surge to islands on the eastern edge of the Caribbean, the NHC said. The storm hit the island after another round of rapid strengthening.

"This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Take action now to protect your life!" the center said ahead of Monday's landfall. "Residents in the Grenadine Islands and Carriacou Island should not leave their shelter as winds will rapidly increase within the eyewall of Beryl."

The Category 4 storm has been moving at 20 mph. Its center passed well south of Barbados, but Beryl still hammered the island with winds that gusted up to 70 mph.

As of 2 p.m. ET, the government of Barbados has discontinued its hurricane warning for the island.

Warnings remain in place for St. Vincent, the Grenadine Islands and Grenada. A less urgent hurricane watch — meaning hurricane conditions are possible, though not explicitly expected — is in place for Jamaica.

National Hurricane Center /A five-day forecast cone shows the likely path of Hurricane Beryl as it moves across the Caribbean Sea and an eventual landfall — likely near Mexico's Yucatan.

Beryl has put up some eyepopping numbers in recent days, with warm ocean water allowing it to quickly gain strength after becoming a tropical depression on Friday. When it blossomed into a Category 4 storm on Sunday, it became the first Atlantic hurricane on record to attain that status in June. 

How dangerous is the storm?

Beryl weakened slightly to a Category 3 storm early Monday, but meteorologists predicted it would likely gain power again after an eyewall replacement took place in that same timeframe.

Its sustained winds of 140 mph place Beryl's in Category 4 on the Saffir-Sampson wind scale. The power of storms in that class is fierce.

"There is a very high risk of injury or death to people, livestock, and pets due to flying and falling debris," according to the NHC. "Nearly all older (pre-1994) manufactured homes will be destroyed. A high percentage of newer manufactured homes also will be destroyed," and poorly built homes could see all of their walls collapse.

While hurricane winds draw much attention, the cyclones pose the greatest threat to life with floodwater, from rain and storm surge.

"A life-threatening storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels" close to its landfall, the NHC said.

Beryl is forecast to drop 3 to 6 inches of rain across the Windward Islands through Monday afternoon.

Despite passing south of Barbados, Barbados Meteorological Services Director Sabu Best said in an update early Monday that wind gusts were dangerously strong, from 50 up to 70 mph, urging residents to stay inside until an "all clear" has been announced. Rainfall, he added, had not been as bad as expected. 

What is Beryl's expected path?

The hurricane is currently heading west-northwest, moving through the Windward Islands Monday morning before heading across the southeastern and central Caribbean Sea, the NHC said.

A west-northwest track is a common heading for an Atlantic hurricane. And while many storms that have hit the U.S. have eventually curved distinctly toward the north, Beryl is currently forecast to maintain a predominantly westward motion until it hits Mexico. Its current forecast track is further south than earlier predictions.

On its current forecast path, the earliest tropical storm-force winds are expected to hit Central America Wednesday night. Mexico's coastal states of Quintana Roos and Yucatan will likely feel those winds on Thursday.

What about the warming ocean?

Climate change — and specifically, an established trend of warmer ocean and air temperatures — has led to more intense hurricanes and other storms. And this year, that dynamic is already rewriting the record books.

Since forming in late June, Beryl is now the earliest Category 4 Atlantic storm; it was also "the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic (<=23.5°N) in June on record, breaking the old record set in 1933," as Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach said on X.

Near-record warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic were cited as one reason National Weather Service forecasters have predicted an unusually active Atlantic hurricane season, with up to 25 named storms.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Hurricane Beryl Seen From Space as 'Unprecedented' Storm Makes Landfall

Category 4 Hurricane Beryl Strengthening at 'Unheard Of' Rate

 for a hurricane to make direct landfall on Grenada on the first day of July is completely unprecedented."

By Anna Skinner

Senior Writer, General Assignment
Published Jul 01, 2024 

Satellites produced a "sobering" image of Beryl as it made landfall Monday in the Windward Islands as a Category 4 hurricane.

Beryl strengthened into a hurricane on Saturday, becoming June's easternmost major hurricane in the Atlantic. The storm underwent rapid intensification, and it became a Category 4 hurricane as soon as its wind speeds reached 130 miles per hour. Beryl temporarily weakened to a Category 3 before strengthening again, with maximum winds documented at 150 miles per hour when it made landfall.

"Sobering satellite imagery of high-end Category 4 Hurricane #Beryl with max winds of 150 mph making landfall on Carriacou Island (Grenada)," extreme storm chaser Colin McCarthy posted on X (formerly Twitter).

He went on: "Beryl is the strongest Caribbean hurricane ever recorded this early in the season and [it's] making landfall at peak intensity. Only one other Category 4-5 hurricane on record since 1850 has moved within 75 miles of Grenada: Ivan in September 2004. However, for a hurricane to make direct landfall on Grenada on the first day of July is completely unprecedented."

A map from the National Hurricane Center shows the arrival time of winds associated with Hurricane Beryl. NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

The satellite video McCarthy included with his post shows Beryl swirling over the Caribbean before it tears through Grenada, one of the Windward Islands.

National Hurricane Center (NHC) senior hurricane specialist John Cangialosi told Newsweek that satellite imagery is a forecaster's "eyes" when it comes to hurricanes.

"That's what gives us so much information about where the center is located, its structure to some degree, its strength," he said. "It helps us understand how the storm is changing over time."

Cangialosi added that satellite imagery is NHC's No. 1 data point.

The NHC has published numerous updates warning residents of the "extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation." As of 11 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time, Beryl's eyewall, a ring of thunderstorms that produce heavy rains and typically the strongest winds, was moving through the southern Windward Islands.

"Residents in Grenada, the Grenadine Islands, and Carriacou Island should not leave their shelter as destructive winds and life-threatening storm surge are expected during the next few hours," the NHC said.

In addition to the winds and storm surge, Beryl produced heavy rainfall and localized flash flooding.

"Beryl is expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it moves across the Caribbean Sea later this week," the NHC said. "A Hurricane Watch has been issued for Jamaica. Interests in the Cayman Islands, Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the remainder of the northwestern Caribbean should monitor its progress."

Beryl is the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season and the second named storm. Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in Mexico on the morning of June 20. Shortly after Beryl formed, the third named storm of the season—Tropical Storm Chris—formed quickly on Sunday night. Chris made landfall in Mexico on Sunday night, with wind speeds at around 40 mph. It has since dissolved.

The NHC is tracking another tropical disturbance, in the central tropical Atlantic, that has a 20 percent chance of forming in the next 48 hours.

 

Hurricane Beryl: What To Know About 'Unprecedented' Category 4 Hurricane Bearing Down On Caribbean

Jul 1, 2024 Forbes Newsroom

On "Forbes Newsroom," meteorologist Dr. Marshall Shepherd discussed Hurricane Beryl, and why he says it is an "unprecedented" storm.

Puerto Rico braces for indirect impacts as Hurricane Beryl pummels Carriacou

Hurricane Beryl floods a street in Hastings, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. 

AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan.


By Mivette Vega, 

Associated Press
July 1, 2024

According to a recent projected trajectory, the closest approach of the center would be 241 miles to the southwest of Cabo Rojo.

The dangerous and extremely powerful Hurricane Beryl made landfall Monday on the Caribbean island of Carriacou after becoming the earliest storm of Category 4 strength to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.

Just shy of a Category 5 storm, the hurricane blew off roofs, uprooted trees, and caused other damage on Carriacou, one of the islands of Grenada, and elsewhere in the southeast Caribbean.
RELATED: Meteorologists expect an ‘explosive’ hurricane season

“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Puerto Rico is outside Beryl’s cone of uncertainty, but starting Monday afternoon, the hurricane’s indirect effects will begin to be felt.

Because the hurricane will pass about 200 miles or more south of the island, a high risk of ocean currents is expected. Therefore, the National Weather Service San Juan (NWSSJ) issued a warning for small boat operators, which will be in effect from 6:00 p.m. on Monday until noon Wednesday.

According to a recent projected trajectory, the closest approach of the center would be 241 miles to the southwest of Cabo Rojo.

Beryl’s outer bands could move across Puerto Rico starting Monday night, generating squally weather and breezy conditions, according to NWSSJ.

Dangerous breaking waves of up to 17 feet are anticipated on Tuesday in areas such as Patillas, Guayanilla, Guayama, Salinas, and Arroyo, among others.

“On its path, the outer bands of Beryl will bring periods of thunderstorms and breezy to windy conditions, with winds ranging between 25 and 30 miles per hour with stronger gusts. Beryl will also bring dangerous seas and life-threatening rip currents with high surf conditions,” the NWSSJ said in a previous report.

RELATED: As hurricanes strengthen, scientists consider adding Category 6

Beryl strengthened from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo.

It also was the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.

Floricua’s staff journalist, Mivette Vega, contributed to this story.

‘Historic’ Hurricane Beryl could take life-threatening shape as a potential Category 4 storm

AP | ByAshima Grover
Jun 30, 2024 

Hurricane Beryl, which strengthened its fury as a Category 3 storm on Sunday morning, is now forecast to become a scarier Category 4.

Hurricane Beryl is forecast to strengthen into a powerful Category 4 storm as it approaches the southeast Caribbean, which began shutting down Sunday amid urgent pleads from government officials for people to take shelter.

This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/GOES satellite handout image shows Tropical Storm Beryl at 19:30UTC on June 29, 2024. Much of the southeast Caribbean went on alert Saturday as Tropical Storm Beryl was set to undergo rapid strengthening, becoming a "dangerous" major hurricane before it crosses the Windward Islands sometimes on June 30, forecasters said.(AFP)

Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Beryl's center is expected to pass about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Barbados on Monday morning, said Sabu Best, director of Barbados’ meteorological service.

“This is a very serious situation developing for the Windward Islands,” warned the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which said that Beryl was “forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge.”

Beryl strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane on Sunday morning, becoming the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record for June, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.

Beryl is now only the third Category 3 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic in June, following Audrey in 1957 and Alma in 1966, said hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.

How dangerous is Hurricane Beryl?

“Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area,” he said in a phone interview. “Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and it hasn’t struck yet.”

Also read | Who is Nyay Mway? South Asian boy shot dead by NYPD for holding a pellet gun, video goes viral

Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last strongest hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage in Grenada as a Category 3 storm.

“So this is a serious threat, a very serious threat,” Lowry said of Beryl.

Beryl was located about 420 miles (675 kilometers) east-southeast of Barbados. It was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) and was moving west at 21 mph (33 kph). It was expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then head into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on a path toward Jamaica. It is expected to weaken by midweek but still remain a hurricane as it heads toward Mexico.

Forecasters warned of life-threatening storm surge of up to 9 feet (3 meters) in areas where Beryl will make landfall, with up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain for Barbados and nearby islands.

Long lines formed at gas stations and grocery stores in Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for a storm that has broken records and rapidly intensified from a tropical storm with 35 mph winds on Friday to a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday.

Warm waters were fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher. Lowry said the waters are now warmer than what they would be at the peak of hurricane season in September.

Beryl marks the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher. If Beryl’s winds reach 125 mph, it would be the second earliest such storm in the Atlantic on record, surpassing Audrey in 1957, he said.

In addition, if Beryl reaches a Category 3, it would only be the third storm to do so in the Caribbean prior to August; Dennis and Emily both did so in July of 2005, according to Klotzbach.

“We have to remain vigilant,” Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Saturday. “We do not want to put anybody’s life at risk.”

Thousands of people were in Barbados for Saturday’s Twenty20 World Cup final, cricket’s biggest event, with Mottley noting that not all fans were able to leave Sunday despite many rushing to change their flights.

“Some of them have never gone through a storm before,” she said. “We have plans to take care of them.”

Mottley said all businesses should close by Sunday evening and warned the airport would close by nighttime.

Kemar Saffrey, president of a Barbadian group that aims to end homelessness, said in a video posted on social media Saturday night that those without homes tend to think they can ride out storms because they’ve done it before.

“I don’t want that to be the approach that they take,” he said, warning that Beryl is a dangerous storm and urging Barbadians to direct homeless people to a shelter.


Echoing his comments was Wilfred Abrahams, minister of home affairs and information.

“I need Barbadians at this point to be their brother’s keeper,” he said. “Some people are vulnerable.”

Meanwhile, St. Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a national shutdown for Sunday evening and said schools and businesses would remain closed on Monday.

“Preservation and protection of life is a priority,” he said.

Caribbean leaders were preparing not only for Beryl, but for a cluster of thunderstorms trailing the hurricane that have a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression.

“Do not let your guard down,” Mottley said.


Beryl is the second named storm in what is forecast to be an above-average hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeastern Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2024 hurricane season is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Trump can't end war in a day, Russia UN envoy says

"I'll get it settled fast, before I take office."

Updated July 1 2024 -

US presidential candidate Donald Trump has boasted he could end the war in Ukraine in a day. (AP PHOTO)

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia says that "the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day," when asked about US presidential candidate Donald Trump's frequent claims that he could end the war within 24 hours if re-elected.

Republican candidate Trump has not given any details and has said that if there had been a "real president" in the US - who was respected by Russian President Vladimir Putin - then Moscow would not have invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"I will have that war settled between Putin and (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy as president-elect before I take office on January 20th. I'll have that war settled," Trump said last week during a debate against President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

"I'll get it settled fast, before I take office."

US voters go to the polls on November 5 to elect the next president for a four-year term.

The outcome of the election matters to Russia, despite its attempts to play it down, because it will determine the extent of Washington's commitment to keep backing Ukraine against Moscow and supplying it with advanced US weapons.

"The Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day," Nebenzia told a news conference on Monday to mark the beginning of Russia's presidency of the United Nations Security Council for July.

In response, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Reuters: "President Trump is the most effective statesman and negotiator in history, and he will solve this conflict when he is elected."

The Kremlin has said that any peace plan for Ukraine proposed by a possible future Trump administration would have to reflect the reality on the ground but that Putin remained open to talks.


Australian Associated Press

"We are New Orleans”: A Workers’ Bill of Rights Finds Common Ground

“When we came up with the Workers’ Bill of Rights, it wasn’t just for one group, it was for all.”

SARAH JAFFE

JULY 1, 2024

A waiter working at a restaurant in New Orleans in 2021. A new effort to secure a Workers' Bill of Rights for workers in New Orleans is finding common ground.

PHOTO BY MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana’s government made headlines in recent weeks for passing a slate of right-wing policies that range from requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom to eliminating lunch breaks for young workers. Other priorities, like banning collective bargaining for most public sector workers, didn’t pass this time around but may come back to haunt working people soon enough.

If that’s not enough, the state already has preemption laws on the books that prevent local ordinances that would raise the minimum wage, provide paid leave, require prevailing wage for workers on city contracts, or regulate the gig economy.

So what are workers in Louisiana, particularly in its most progressive city, New Orleans, to do?

So what are workers in Louisiana, particularly in its most progressive city, New Orleans, to do?

Despite some of the least favorable conditions for labor in the country, workers here have been organizing — and making gains. The most recent victory came from Tulane’s non-tenured faculty, and workers have been pushing for union rights and safer, better conditions in workplaces from hospitals to dollar stores. And now workers in New Orleans, organizing with Step Up Louisiana, are campaigning for a Workers’ Bill of Rights in the city, an initiative which will be on the ballot in November.

Workers in New Orleans, organizing with Step Up Louisiana, are campaigning for a Workers’ Bill of Rights in the city, an initiative which will be on the ballot in November.


It was those dollar store workers whose campaign for better conditions sparked the idea for a local ordinance, explained Kisha Edwards, operations and membership coordinator for Step Up Louisiana. During conversations with local church leaders and members of the City Council, they began to discuss ways to incentivize businesses to do better by their employees. ​“We were thinking of a grading system attached to the bill of rights,” Edwards explained, to let customers know that workers in a particular place have safe and secure working conditions, health benefits and paid leave.

The key issues, added David Williams, a Dollar General worker organizing with Step Up, are ​“the opportunity for workers to have a living wage, the right to heal, when they need time off or need to spend time with their family, the right to organize where they don’t have to feel threatened by anything. Also, affordable healthcare coverage because everything costs, inflation is real.”
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After the early conversations, Step Up held listening sessions around the city, asking people what they would want in a workers’ bill of rights. Britain Forsyth, the legislative coordinator for Step Up, joined the organization in December 2022 and began working on crafting a proposal from the results of those listening sessions. The plan involves creating a Healthy Workplace designation for employers who uphold those four principles: a minimum of $15 per hour wage, paid leave for health, family, bereavement and holiday time, the right to organize a union, and employer-provided health insurance. They also want to build a workers’ commission to hear complaints by workers and to hold bad bosses accountable.

Details, Forsyth said, are still being hammered out. ​“We’ve been working a little bit with the Office of Human Rights and Equity and talking to them about what’s possible.” The Healthy Workplace designation would be managed by the city health department, who have been, he said, enthusiastic partners. A lot of people, he said, have felt hopeless about the political situation in the city because of the preemption laws and the election of Jeff Landry as governor, and so public officials have jumped at the chance to do something positive, even if they have to rely on incentivizing good behavior more than punishing or banning bad.

“Our city council has really been eager to pass this,” Forsyth said. ​“Their leadership on this has been great because it’s showing unity — something that they may not always have.” Edwards added, ​“That’s the message I believe that the city council is sending, that our city deserves more and we deserve better for our workers.”

But the bill of rights will have to be passed by the people, with a ballot initiative to amend the city charter. And so Step Up is preparing for a campaign that will run throughout the summer and into election season. They have a year-round canvassing operation already that can be turned to this work, and plan to dedicate organizers to the issue. They also intend, Forsyth said, to mobilize business owners who are supportive, both as part of the campaign and to make sure that anything put forward in the bill is actually achievable for business owners who want to do right by their employees. There will be rallies and community events, and collaboration with the campaign to pass a housing trust fund, which will also be on the ballot in November.

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But Forsyth is hopeful that the measure will pass with broad support. ​“I am sure there are bad actor bosses who would be upset about this passing,” he said. ​“But there are a lot of things in New Orleans that have become non-controversial, and the things that we have on here are some of them.”

“I am sure there are bad actor bosses who would be upset about this passing,” he said. “But there are a lot of things in New Orleans that have become non-controversial, and the things that we have on here are some of them.”


Louisiana has passed some progressive legislation in recent years, Edwards noted. With the state’s ​“fair chance” hiring law and New Orleans’s ​“ban the box” ordinance, formerly incarcerated people have been given better access to jobs, she said, but if those jobs don’t pay a living wage and allow people to afford decent housing, they aren’t truly sustainable.

“Our society sees that lengthy punishment, what does it do? What does it do for the human being? You’re deteriorating a human being,” she said. That understanding has been spreading in recent years as the movement against mass incarceration grows, but, Edwards noted, when people are released from prison, they often come out with health issues that are harder to tend in the low-end jobs that they are often relegated to. Without healthcare, without paid leave, it is too easy to lose a job; without a job, you can’t pay the rent, and the constant stress makes those health issues worse.

New Orleans, she noted, is a tourist city, which relies on service sector workers to provide a good experience for visitors. ​“If our workers aren’t treated right, of course they can’t go to work and perform at their best if they don’t have an affordable place to live, if they don’t have livable wages.”
“If our workers aren't treated right, of course they can't go to work and perform at their best if they don't have an affordable place to live, if they don't have livable wages.”


For the dollar store workers, safety has been a core concern, and Edwards noted that the right to paid leave would incentivize employers to pay more attention. Robberies and violence have been common at the discount retailers, enough that the issue has been central to their organizing.

The right to heal that the bill of rights includes is drawn expansively for just this reason: to include the right to time off to recover from a traumatic experience in the workplace itself. ​“This would send a message to businesses and employers in the city that we are not taking it anymore. We’re standing up and we’re fighting back,” she said. ​“We demand action. We demand a difference. We want a change in our city.”

Visitors to New Orleans come from all over the world, Forsyth noted, and the Healthy Workplace rating could be something that businesses use to promote themselves to visitors, similar to the way that LGBT-friendly businesses market themselves as safe and welcoming places for queer and trans visitors. After all, no one wants to be served food made by a sick chef, but few of us have any way to know what working conditions are like when we visit a strange place.

“You've always got to dedicate yourself to make things right and make things better,” Williams said. “When we came up with the Workers' Bill of Rights, it wasn't just for one group, it was for all. We are New Orleans.”

To Williams, it feels good for New Orleans to potentially be a leader in passing progressive legislation that can be upheld even with a deeply hostile state government. ​“When you have this Workers’ Bill of Rights in place in the city, it’s a domino effect,” he said. ​“Somebody asked me one day, ​‘What is New Orleans?’ I say, simple. It’s the people. It’s the people that make New Orleans, New Orleans. It is the culture. There’s so many names to call us, and most of it is the Big Easy, but if I’m being honest, there’s nothing really easy about it because you’ve always got to hustle.”

“You’ve always got to dedicate yourself to make things right and make things better,” Williams said. ​“When we came up with the Workers’ Bill of Rights, it wasn’t just for one group, it was for all. We are New Orleans.”

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Sarah Jaffe is a writer and reporter living in New Orleans and on the road. She is the author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion To Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone; Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt, and the forthcoming From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire, all from Bold Type Books. Her journalism covers the politics of power, from the workplace to the streets, and her writing has been published in The Nation, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New Republic, the New York Review of Books, and many other outlets. She is a columnist at The Progressive and a contributing writer at In These Times. She also co-hosts the Belabored podcast, with Michelle Chen, covering today’s labor movement, and Heart Reacts, with Craig Gent, an advice podcast for the collapse of late capitalism. Sarah has been a waitress, a bicycle mechanic, and a social media consultant, cleaned up trash and scooped ice cream and explained Soviet communism to middle schoolers. Journalism pays better than some of these. You can follow her on Twitter @sarahljaffe.

Under pressure on plane safety, Boeing is buying stressed supplier Spirit for $4.7 billion

Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes.

By The Associated Press • Published 6 hours ago

The Spirit AeroSystems factory in Wichita, Kansas, US, on Monday, July 1, 2024.

Boeing announced plans to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion, a move that it says will improve plane quality and safety amid increasing scrutiny by Congress, airlines and the Department of Justice.

Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners, including 737s and 787s.

“We believe this deal is in the best interest of the flying public, our airline customers, the employees of Spirit and Boeing, our shareholders and the country more broadly,” Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement late Sunday.

Concerns about safety came to a head after the Jan. 5 blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) over Oregon. The Federal Aviation Administration soon after announced increased oversight of Boeing and Spirit, which supplied the fuselage for the plane.

No one was seriously injured in the Alaska Airlines door incident, which terrified passengers, but Boeing is under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department to plead guilty to criminal fraud in connection with two deadly plane crashes involving its 737 Max jetliners more than five years ago.

Boeing has until the end of the week to accept or reject the offer, which includes the giant aerospace company agreeing to an independent monitor who would oversee its compliance with anti-fraud laws, according to several people who heard federal prosecutors detail a proposed offer Sunday.

The Justice Department said in a May court filing that Boeing violated terms of a 2021 settlement allowing the company to avoid prosecution for actions leading up to the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, which killed 346 people.

Those crashes were blamed on a faulty sensor in a flight-control system and the investigation is separate from the probe of the more recent Alaska Airlines blowout, which involved Spirit.

Boeing spun off Spirit, which is based in Wichita, Kansas, and not related to Spirit Airlines, in 2005. In recent years, quality problems have mounted, including fuselage panels that didn’t fit together precisely enough and holes that were improperly drilled.

Spirit removed its CEO in October and replaced him with Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who served as acting defense secretary in the Trump administration.

Things seemed to be going more smoothly until the Alaska Airlines incident. Investigators said a panel used in place of an extra emergency door had been removed at a Boeing factory to let Spirit workers fix damaged rivets, and bolts that help hold the panel in place were missing after the repair job. It is not clear who removed the bolts and failed to put them back.

Spirit said in May that it was laying off about 450 workers at its Wichita plant because of a production slowdown since the January incident. Its total workforce was just over 13,000 people.

“Bringing Spirit and Boeing together will enable greater integration of both companies’ manufacturing and engineering capabilities, including safety and quality systems,” Shanahan said.

The acquisition's equity value of $4.7 billion is $37.25 per share, while the total value of the deal is around $8.3 billion, which includes Spirit’s last reported net debt, the aerospace company said.

Boeing common stock will be exchanged for Spirit shares according to a variable formula that depends on a weighted average of the share price over a 15-trading-day period ending on the second day before the deal closes, Boeing said.

The companies also announced an agreement with Airbus to negotiate the purchase of Spirit assets involved with programs operated by the European aerospace firm. The Airbus agreement is set to commence when Boeing's acquisition of Spirit is completed, the two U.S. companies said.

Shares of both companies rose by more than 3% Monday.

Union says Boeing penny-pinching has hurt supply chain


By AFP
June 28, 2024

Jon Holden -- seen here with Hillary Clinton in March 2016 -- is president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers for District 751, which represents some 30,000 Boeing workers - Copyright AFP Emmanuel DUNAND

Elodie MAZEIN

Boeing’s practice of aggressively pressuring suppliers on costs has damaged its own supply chain, contributing to the aviation giant’s current woes, a top union negotiator told AFP this week.

“Boeing has spent a long time, since 2012 trying to squeeze the supply chain by forcing them to cut their costs to Boeing, year over year,” said Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) for District 751.

“I’m fine with efficiency,” Holden said. “What I’m not okay with is undermining the health of the manufacturing process.”

Holden’s local chapter in Seattle represents 32,000 workers, with some 30,000 at Boeing. The union hopes for significant gains from the new contract after negotiations kicked off in March.

“Boeing went through an effort to sell off different factories, to reduce their net assets, and those factories are now part of the supply chain,” Holden told AFP in an interview, adding such moves contributed to the storied manufacturer’s current woes.

“The company looks at ways to make things more efficient, but they cut out important redundancies like quality assurance,” he said.

For months, Boeing has been dealing with production problems in three commercial jets — the 737 MAX, the 787 Dreamliner and the 777.

The company has been in crisis mode since a 737 MAX flown by Alaska Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing in January after a fuselage panel blew out.

Boeing has undertaken training programs and other initiatives to boost quality control and reassure the Federal Aviation Administration. Many of these efforts center on the IAM-represented Boeing factory in Renton, Washington where the MAX is built.

Along with another union at Boeing, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the IAM has sought two seats on Boeing’s board of directors, an effort Boeing opposes.

– Seeking ‘substantial’ raise –

In light of Boeing’s current travails, the union wants to be able to bargain on any changes to quality management that could affect the production system.

“We never proposed those things in the past but it’s our reputation, it’s our jobs, it’s our livelihoods,” Holden said.

Key demands include a “substantial” salary hike of at least 40 percent, as well as provisions for health care, retirement and job security.

Holden said a hefty wage hike is imperative after workers only received nominal cost-of-living support over the last eight years in spite of “massive inflation” of recent years.

The union is also seeking assurances from Boeing that it will build its next new aircraft — expected around 2035 — in the Seattle region.

“It’s job security for the next 50 years,” he said.

At a congressional hearing earlier this month, Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said of workers, “they will definitely get a raise.”

Holden said most of the major issues in the contract talks remain unresolved, meaning the two sides will be adding hours to upcoming negotiations.

The IAM plans to take a vote July 17 authorizing a possible strike. To mark the event, it has rented T-Mobile Park in Seattle, the stadium for the Seattle Mariners baseball team, which holds up to 48,000.

“When we all participate in this important event, the factory will be quiet,” the union said on its website.

The current contract, in place for 16 years, expires at midnight on September 12. The union last called a strike in 2008 that lasted 57 days.

During a media visit of the Renton plant organized by Boeing this week, an AFP reporter observed a boisterous union rally with representatives wearing IAM buttons and carrying signs as they marched through the plant in a show of solidarity.

“We have a very strong leverage right now and we’re going to use it,” said Holden.

Boeing is currently engaged in talks to buy back Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier of the fuselage for the 737 MAX. The company was once part of Boeing before being spun off in 2005.

Holden welcomes the shift, saying it was “foolish” for Boeing to separate from Spirit, adding, “it’s important that they are healthy.”

DOJ reportedly preparing to present Boeing with plea deal for 737 Max crashes

"The families will strenuously object to this plea deal."


Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun takes a seat as family members of those killed in Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes hold up pictures of their loved ones before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs -- Subcommittee On Investigations at the Hart Senate Office Building on Tuesday, June 18. on Capitol Hill. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo

July 1 (UPI) -- The Justice Department is planning to present Boeing with a plea deal related to two fatal crashes of the embattled American aerospace company's 737 Max 8 jet that lawyers representing the victims' families describe as a "sweetheart deal" that they will "strenuously object" to.

The Justice Department has been investigating Boeing and its safety practices following a series of recent issues that have plagued the company's public image, most notably when a door plug flew off a 737 Max jet in January mid-flight.

Last month, federal prosecutors said those issues violated a 2021 agreement that shielded it from criminal charges stemming from the two crashes of 747 Max jets that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

The conditions of the plea deal have not been publicly disclosed but lawyers representing the families said it was presented to them during a two-hour call on Sunday. If Boeing accepts, it means a criminal trial will be avoided.

"The deal will not acknowledge, in any way, that Boeing's crime killed 346 people. It also appears to rest on the idea that Boeing did not harm any victim," Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing victims' families in a criminal action pending in a Texas federal court, said in a statement.

"The families will strenuously object to this plea deal."

Robert Clifford, a senior partner at Clifford Law Office who participated in the call, also said accountability and admission that Boeing committed a crime resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people were absent from the plea deal.

"I can tell you that the families are very unhappy and angered with DOJ's decisions and proposal," he said. "And the families will most certainly object before Judge Reed O'Connor and ask that he reject the plea if Boeing accepts."

Justice Department officials told the families and their attorneys during the call that they have yet to present the deal to Boeing but would do so later Sunday, according to the lawyers.

UPI has contacted both the Department of Justice and Boeing for comment and confirmation.

Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in October 2018, killing 189 people. Six months later, a second Boeing 737 Max jet, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, crashed shortly after take off, killing 157 people.

In 2021, Boeing struck a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve a criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration over pilots withholding information about issues with the jet.

Boeing has apologized over the crashes. Its outgoing CEO, Dave Calhoun, repeated the apology earlier this month during a bipartisan hearing on Capitol Hill.

"I apologize for the grief we have caused," he said. "We are focused on safety."