The Texas House reconvened today, but failed to reach a quorum for the second day in a row as the Democrats, who left the state in an orchestrated effort to delay the state’s Republican-led legislature from moving forward with its redistricting map that would create five more GOP congressional seats, show no signs of returning home soon.

One of the Texas lawmakers who fled to New York, state Representative Jolanda Jones said that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is “trying to get soundbites” by threatening to arrest the lawmakers who have left the state.

President Donald Trump says the FBI “might have to” locate the lawmakers. Trump’s statement comes hours after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the state police to locate the lawmakers. However, the civil arrest warrants that have been issued do not extend beyond the state of Texas, and the 50 Democrats involved in the redistricting protest are in predominantly blue states like Illinois and New York.

Jones held back tears as she discussed the decision she and her legislative colleagues have made.

“I can’t imagine living in a time with no voting rights; I can’t imagine living in a time with no civil rights, but that’s where we are,” Jones said. “Yes, it’s hard. I have a granddaughter. I adore her. I miss her, but I’m going to have to be okay with FaceTime because I can’t come back to see her. There’s not a doubt in my mind that the Texas State Troopers will arrest me, and if I’m arrested, I literally can’t fight for democracy, so I’ve got to sacrifice. It is what it is. It makes me sad, but it is what it is.”

Texas State Senator Borris Miles released a statement announcing his support of Jones and the other legislators who broke quorum. 

Miles wrote, “It is a blatant racist power grab. The ramifications of this [mid-decade redistricting] are not just a danger to Texas; they will ripple through this country, threatening the fabric of our entire nation.”

Miles said he and other Texas lawmakers will meet with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey this week at the National Conference of State Legislatures Annual Summit in Boston to discuss ways to “sound the alarm.”

In Illinois – another blue state – the absent Texas lawmakers have received support from Governor JB Pritzker, and the Democratic National Committee Chair, Ken Martin, said they will “fight fire with fire.”

Pritzker added, “We’re going to everything we can to protect every single one of them and make sure that – ‘cause we know they’re doing the right thing, we know that they’re following the law.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “That’s why the gloves are off, and I say, ‘Bring it on.” Hochul and other political leaders in blue states have begun talking about redistricting drives to form maps favorable to Democratic candidates.

One of Black Americans’ most popular luxury enclaves is featured in a summer style campaign released by legendary designer Ralph Lauren. Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, is a coastal beauty with a history of serving as a prominent affluent haven.

“We made the concerted choice to be here in Oak Bluffs because we knew we would be safe,” a longtime homeowner said in a documentary titled, ‘A Portrait of the American Dream: Oak Bluffs.’ This place nurtures from the heart, from the soul, and from the environment that’s here, and the way we are able to build bonds with people.”

The descendants of Africans first arrived in Marth’s Vineyard in the 1600s, initially as enslaved people working on farms. In 1912, Charles Shearer, who was born to a Black woman and a slave owner, opened Shearer Cottage which was the first Black-owned inn in Oak Bluffs. Shearer Cottage is considered a “hub” for the community.

Ralph Lauren described Oak Bluffs as “a quintessential portrait of the joy, optimism, and the sense of opportunity that make up the foundation of the American Dream.”

In his collection, Lauren shows Black models in classic fashions that capture summer on the Vineyard. It is a collaboration with Morehouse College and Spelman College. Three years ago, Lauren dropped a collection featuring both colleges. The collection was a wild success and sold out. 

To watch the Oak Bluffs documentary, click here.

One of America’s most iconic landmarks includes an homage to slavery, and the little known
fact is raising eyebrows as Black Americans observe the Juneteenth and the Fourth of July
holidays.

The Statue of Liberty has stood on Liberty Island in New York Harbor as a “symbol of enlightenment … lighting the way to freedom and down the path of liberty” for 139 years. But few Americans are aware that a chain rests at the feet, and the original drawings reportedly placed them in the left hand of the statue.

When Frenchman Edouard de Laboulaye – an abolitionist – proposed presenting the statue to the United States as a gift from the people of France, sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi agreed with Laboulaye’s goodwill gesture and began to conceptualize the idea for the monument. Both men wanted to recognize the end of slavery, and Bartholdi had intended to place a chain in the statue’s left hand to represent the end of slavery and oppression.

Instead, he placed them at her feet to symbolize liberty breaking free from bondage.

During a recent interview, Dr. Joy DeGruy – an internationally known researcher and educator – stunned many African Americans with the background about the original drawings which triggered her reluctance to visit Liberty Island when a friend, who managed New York’s landmarks for the Interior Department, invited her.

DeGruy said, “When I go there, I’m going there with the knowledge that the Statue of Liberty was holding originally in her left hand broken chains – commissioned in 1865, a pretty important date – end of slavery, end of the Civil War, all of the things were why she was the Statue of Liberty.”

DeGruy recalled that she and her friend went “into the basement of the Statue of Liberty, and we find the document encased in glass behind figurines facing a wall in the hallway.”

Batholdi, the sculptor, had apparently encountered resistance to his idea of placing the chains in the left hand, which would have been a more visible display, but he insisted that the chains remain a part of the statue.

“The agreement was, ‘We will keep the chains, but we’ll make it so no one can see them,’” DeGruy explained.

According to The Statue of Liberty website, “To symbolize the end of slavery, Bartholdi placed a broken shackle and chains at the Statue’s foot.”

After DeGruy’s discovery and frustration that the chains were not mentioned during tours, she began to tell the story of the chain at the feet of the Statue of Liberty. Eventually, she said she received a call from the Interior Department’s staff, and they apologized, adding, “We have been negligent.”

Now, when tourists visit the Statue of Liberty, the park rangers include information about the chain and their significance.