Category Archives: History

One Michigan mother is using a daily game of dress-up to teach her daughter about some of the most influential Black figures.For the third year in a row, Taylor Trotter is dressing her daughter Paisley as some of the most influential Black trailblazers. Every day she takes a picture of Paisley dressed as a different historical figure, posts a side-by-side picture on Facebook, and adds a caption explaining each person's contribution to American history.February is Black History Month. Five-year-old Paisley has dressed up as Serena Williams, Kamala Harris, Jackie Robinson, Mae Jemison and other important figures.Trotter came up with the idea while taking a child psychology class at school, where she learned about the struggles of children from biracial backgrounds. Trotter said the class helped her realize that it can be challenging for children from multicultural backgrounds to identify with a group and learn who they are."I knew I had to make a conscientious effort to teach her about the Black side of her and the Black history," Trotter said. "And I want this to help her become confident in loving who she is."At the end of each year, Trotter collects the pictures and captions and creates a book. She and Paisley look at it throughout the year, giving them the chance to continuously learn and pay tribute to these historical figures."This teaches her that just because people are different doesn't mean they aren't worthy."As the pair prepared for the annual project, Trotter noted that this year, she wanted to highlight the lives of Black Americans lost to police brutality. She's collected 10 people that she wishes to pay tribute to, one of which dates back to the 1970s."I'm just trying to bring awareness that this is a systemic problem and people are passing this hatred in their hearts down from generation to generation," Trotter said.Trotter told CNN she thinks that it's important for her to be honest with her daughter about the systemic problems America faces."Racism doesn't have an age, so kids are never too young to learn about it," Trotter said. "I don't want to send her into the world blindsided to the fact that people may treat her differently just because of the way she looks."Trotter recognizes the differences and similarities between her and her daughter. She says that having a biracial daughter has broadened her point of view."These aren't necessarily things that I've had to think about before," Trotter said. "It's helped me as a mom and I feel like I'm doing my part in educating my daughter and creating change."You can find the daily Black History month posts on their Facebook page.

One Michigan mother is using a daily game of dress-up to teach her daughter about some of the most influential Black figures.

For the third year in a row, Taylor Trotter is dressing her daughter Paisley as some of the most influential Black trailblazers. Every day she takes a picture of Paisley dressed as a different historical figure, posts a side-by-side picture on Facebook, and adds a caption explaining each person's contribution to American history.

February is Black History Month. Five-year-old Paisley has dressed up as Serena Williams, Kamala Harris, Jackie Robinson, Mae Jemison and other important figures.

Trotter came up with the idea while taking a child psychology class at school, where she learned about the struggles of children from biracial backgrounds. Trotter said the class helped her realize that it can be challenging for children from multicultural backgrounds to identify with a group and learn who they are.

"I knew I had to make a conscientious effort to teach her about the Black side of her and the Black history," Trotter said. "And I want this to help her become confident in loving who she is."

At the end of each year, Trotter collects the pictures and captions and creates a book. She and Paisley look at it throughout the year, giving them the chance to continuously learn and pay tribute to these historical figures.

"This teaches her that just because people are different doesn't mean they aren't worthy."

As the pair prepared for the annual project, Trotter noted that this year, she wanted to highlight the lives of Black Americans lost to police brutality. She's collected 10 people that she wishes to pay tribute to, one of which dates back to the 1970s.

"I'm just trying to bring awareness that this is a systemic problem and people are passing this hatred in their hearts down from generation to generation," Trotter said.

Trotter told CNN she thinks that it's important for her to be honest with her daughter about the systemic problems America faces.

"Racism doesn't have an age, so kids are never too young to learn about it," Trotter said. "I don't want to send her into the world blindsided to the fact that people may treat her differently just because of the way she looks."

Trotter recognizes the differences and similarities between her and her daughter. She says that having a biracial daughter has broadened her point of view.

"These aren't necessarily things that I've had to think about before," Trotter said. "It's helped me as a mom and I feel like I'm doing my part in educating my daughter and creating change."

You can find the daily Black History month posts on their Facebook page.

Go here to read the rest:

Daily game of dress-up teaches 5-year-old about Black history - WAPT Jackson

Erika Jackson and Sarah Swedberg dont wait for Black History Month to teach Colorado Mesa students about the history of race in America.

This past fall, Swedberg taught a course on American slavery, and several of those students this semester are in Jacksons upper-level History of Race, Immigration and Ethnicity in America class.

Sarah and I work together extensively, and whats been incredibly helpful in me teaching this class is that I would say a third of the students in my class took American Slavery last semester with Sarah, Jackson said. We were talking (recently), and they kept saying, Oh, yeah, this connects to this thing that we learned about American Slavery. And Im just like this, this is so great, so Im wondering if we should think about a way to pair the two classes together in the future, because those students having that prior knowledge that theyre bringing into the classes is really essential.

Swedberg said shes been interested in social justice I think all of my life, and every course she teaches has an element of Black history.

My (general education) classes focus on a lot of things, but I am always very clear that this is in part, a story about civil rights, to the point where sometimes on the evaluations, the white students say I didnt sign up to take a Black history course. she said. And if I were talking to them, Id say Well, its not a Black history course, its an American history course, and guess what, Black history is American history. We talk about a lot of other things, too.

This summer, she plans to develop an African-American History course for general education students. It takes a couple of years for new courses to be approved, but shes hoping in the spring of 2022 or the next fall, that will be added to the history department.

Hopefully if we can hire faculty members of color and if that person had expertise in history, then he or she could take over teaching that class, said Swedberg, who, like Jackson, is white. There is a long history of white scholars (studying and teaching) Black history, and its something that we all have to negotiate as far as building that trust.

Both encourage their students to bring up topics that concern them.

Its really refreshing to me that they are forthcoming and they will kind of challenge me a little bit in the first week and will ask me, are you going to teach my history? Jackson said. And I say, Absolutely, and if, if I am missing something, or if theres something that you feel is very important that were all learning about, please tell me. Ive noticed more of that, taking ownership of their history and and really saying, This is important. Everybody needs to know this.

They dont just stand in front of the class and lecture or read from a textbook. There are plenty of discussions, sometimes a little heated, and the students are assigned projects that are more than term papers.

Jacksons History of Race, Immigration and Ethnicity in America students have been assigned a service learning project.

Theyre really excited about it, she said. They have to identify a historical problem, it can be something that is more comparative, and they identify the problem, they contextualize that problem for me and then they talk about the contemporary relevance of that topic as well.

And then they have to propose a way that they are going to enact change within their community. That can either be the Grand Junction community or that can be their home community, but they have to propose something to me that they are going to actively participate in, to educate, to bring about change in some way.

Jackson gave the students an example to start them thinking, comparing the protest tactics of the 1950s and 60s to those that are being used in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Then they could propose as their service learning that they are going to be come engaged with their community chapter, a local chapter of Black Lives Matter, she said.

The students turned in their ideas this past week, and among the topics that have piqued their interest are Indigenous Women and Sex Trafficking, Perspective and the Historical Significance of the 1619 Project, The Holzworth Historical Site of the Rocky Mountain National Park, and Segregation in the National Parks System.

Swedberg was at the Juneteeth celebration at Lincoln Park this past summer and started thinking about a project thats created internship opportunities for CMU students.

I thought, I dont want all this history to be lost, I dont want all these stories to be lost, she said. Some of them always will be, but maybe we can start an oral history project for Black and brown community members.

The Social Justice Archive will be a series of oral history interviews, and shes working with the Mesa County Public Library to add to the Mesa County Oral History Project on its website. Its in the startup stage, with her intern learning how to conduct the interviews, and she hopes to train more to conduct interviews and research to build the archive. Shes done one interview with David Combs, a longtime resident who is with the Black Citizens and Friends.

I want to get histories, life histories, not just from the so-called important people, she said, but from young people, all sort of folks, just so that we have a really good permanent record of the lives of particularly Black residents of Mesa County.

Jackson is CMUs liaison for secondary and elementary education, serving as an advisor to future history teachers.

What Ive found from my students is that they want to bring about change, she said. They want to change the curriculum, they want to do all of these really creative, interactive things within the classroom.

View original post here:

CMU professors active in teaching Black history - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Everything Shawn Bryant has done in his life has been with one goal in mind to be a teacher. Its what drove him from being a janitor for District 51 to to where he is today.

Every day, he promotes love and acceptance to his students in his class of third graders at Pear Park Elementary School. Its important to him that he teaches the children that diversity is a positive fact of life, whether it be Black History Month in February or not.

My role has been flipping over rocks to show the diversity in our community, Bryant, an African American, said. What that means is getting people to change how they think about diversity.

It appears that hes not alone.

School District 51 is increasing its role in Black History Month following the national discourse around racial justice last summer.

The district is collaborating with groups throughout the Grand Valley, such as Black Citizens and Friends, to bring diverse thoughts and lessons into schools for February.

I think this year were doing a more comprehensive plan, said Superintendent Diana Sirko. Were involving everyone, celebrating what everyone brings to the table.

Through Tuesday, District 51 is allowing the community to watch the film Coded Bias, a documentary about racial bias. Then, there will be a community virtual conversation about the film on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

More information can be found at blackcitizensandfriends.com

To be more effective in the classroom, the district is adapting lessons to each level of schooling and including the community.

Scott Finholm, who organized the Black History Month curriculum for District 51 elementary schools, said that Black history is intertwined with District 51s year-round history curriculum. February is the month to make sure its at the forefront of lessons. He has adopted plans from well-respected sources such as Teaching Tolerance, but creating the lessons was difficult.

Youre walking a fine line, Finholm said. On one hand, you cant white wash history. Were learning every year new things that are important to learn about. On the other hand, you need to keep the lessons age-appropriate.

Bryants third graders, for example, arent going to learn about specific racial attacks or massacres nor the nuances of the Jim Crow South.

Instead hes teaching the positives of diversity.

He sees early elementary school as the best time to teach these positive messages to his students. At this age, theyre impressionable and absorb information and lessons well, he said. By middle school, theyre unsure who they are, Bryant said. And by high school, students are shaping themselves.

The goal is to have acceptance ingrained at a young age to the point that its no longer a lesson, Bryant said. I might be the only African American teacher theyll have out here, thats a problem.

Beyond the classroom, District 51 is also accepting videos from the community about the importance of Black history. These can come in the form of motivational messages, educational speeches, or artistic expressions such as poems or songs. These videos will be shown in various classrooms. To submit a video, email tracy.gallegos@d51.org.

These efforts have emphasis in February but began last summer.

Though Grand Junction did not see demonstrations to the scale of larger cities, the community did hold a celebration of Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the emancipation of Black slaves. In early July, Sirko and assistant superintendent Brian Hill met with organizers of Right and Wrong (RAW) to discuss an equity task force to address racism within the school district. In the meeting, current and former students recounted instances of racial harassment.

RAW organizers remain committed to strengthening its relationship with District 51.

Ive maintained a relationship with the superintendent, Mrs. Sirko, said Antonio Clark, RAW co-founder. Some of the stories we heard last year from some of the kids, I havent been told any of that [is still happening] and I feel like people would contact our page if some of those things were going on. I cant say definitively that they are or arent.

Holding Black history events for one month, however, isnt enough, Bryant said. Grand Junction isnt the most diverse city in Colorado, so its important that students of color see people who look like them in positions of power and success, he explained. Especially so for low-income students of color.

The school district plans to be diligent in addressing the issue. But Bryant thinks that the district needs to avoid complacency to make real change.

Theres a lot of conversations in the district but theres not a lot being done right now, he said. Were not going to move this needle forward without action.

View post:

District 51 commits to collaborative Black History Month - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Not every No. 7 story has a happy ending, alas

2015 Kevin White, WR White is an abject lesson in not drafting players without a strong track record. White was a one-year wonder at West Virginia who didnt test particularly well at the NFL scouting combine. The Bears learned the hard way; White caught just 48 passes in four years, 36 of those as a rookie. Injuries have ruined any chance for White to live up to his status, but he struggled before them too.

2013 Jonathan Cooper, OG Taking an interior offensive lineman in the top 10 is generally a bad idea. For the Cardinals, it turned into a disaster. Cooper quickly played his way out of Arizona, and then New England, and Cleveland, and Dallas and a few other spots. He hasnt played since 2018 and makes Oday Aboushi look like an All-Pro by comparison.

2012 Mark Barron, S Holmes old team, the Rams, learned that taking a player without a real position isnt such a great idea. Barron never really fit as a safety or a linebacker. He was not a bad player, but Barron never made much of an impact outside of a small string of games where he played as a starting backer in a base 2-LB defense.

2009 Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR He was a stunning selection by the Raiders, a player generally projected as a Day 2 talent. And he occasionally lived up to that level of status, but never came close to the top-10 selection.

More here:

A history of the No. 7 overall pick in the NFL draft - Lions Wire

A Beautiful Resistance is celebrating Black History Month by amplifying local stories of change-makers and the people inspired by them.

My name is Therlande Louissaint and this is my best friend/venture partner Marlyn Urquiza. We are first-generation children of immigrant parents from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador. We want to celebrate New England Black History by honoring Black Market, a staple in our community, graciously opened by Kai and Chris Grant in 2017.

They believed in our vision and gave us a roof to create Estrogenia, a safe space comprised of women of color involved in the arts, entrepreneurship, health care, and entertainment. A room full of love in the heart of Roxbury, for the people, by our people.

Black Market in Nubian Square is an afrocentric space for Black economic empowerment and cultural enrichment.

Jene Osterheldt can be reached at jenee.osterheldt@globe.com and on Twitter @sincerelyjenee.

Excerpt from:

The Black history I carry with me: Therlande Louissaint and Marlyn Urquiza - The Boston Globe

Connecticut shows up early when it comes to presidential history.

George Washington wore a suit made of fabric woven in Connecticut on the day he took the oath of office as the nations first president. It was like his made in America statement, said Diana Ross McCain, an author and historian who specializes in the Nutmeg State. Washington spent many days during the Revolutionary War and during his presidency in Connecticut, as many other presidents would later do, too.

They all come through here eventually. The vast majority of presidents visit Connecticut at one time or another, said McCain, a Durham resident who has carried out extensive research for the Connecticut Historical Society.

As the nation turns its attention to Washington, D.C., where a former president was just impeached and a new president is rolling out a big agenda for his first 100 days in office, the Presidents Day holiday presents a timely reminder that the men who served in the highest office in the land were fallible human beings, with their own foibles, prejudices, likes and dislikes.

The presidents who visited Connecticut in the past extolled in its scenic beauty, complained about substandard lodgings, studied in its ivied halls, took delight in a motorcade and expressed confidence in its burgeoning defense industry. All left a mark in the history books, as ambitious men in a state that prizes accomplishment, success and learning.

Connecticut boasts more than its share of presidential history, and it is still influential in power politics, as a major player on the fund-raising circuit.

Many of the nations early presidents visited Connecticut. Washington, whose nut-brown inaugural suit woven in Hartford impressed the fashion mavens of the day, took a goodwill tour of the state after his swearing-in ceremony in New York City.

The Puritan element was still strong in Connecticut, so when Washington found himself in Ashford on a Saturday night, he knew that travel would be out of the question on Sunday, as it was contrary to law and custom to travel on the Sabbath, he noted in his diary. Washington confided in his journal that the inn where he was staying was less than stellar in its accommodations, and the minister whose service he attended on Sunday was heavy on lame discourse.

John Adams, before the presidency, marveled at the beauty of the countryside on a trip he took from Wethersfield to Middletown, part of a spa journey to improve his health. Nothing can exceed the Beauty, and the Fertility of the Country, he wrote in his diary.

President James Monroe visited an arms manufacturer in Middletown in 1817, when the humiliation of the British attacks on U.S. soil and the ransacking of the capital in the War of 1812 were still fresh. Connecticut was on its way to becoming a major provider of weaponry its nickname was once the Arsenal of Democracy.

He stopped to visit all the weapons manufacturers Connecticut was in the forefront of producing firearms and swords and rifles, noted McCain.

Abraham Lincoln made an important visit to Connecticut on his path to the White House. His campaign through the state represented an important part of his strategy to secure New England, said Thomas Balcerski, an associate professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, and an authority on presidential history.

Lincoln gave five major speeches in Hartford, New Haven, Norwich, Meriden and Bridgeport. He also helped reelect Republican Governor Alfred Buckingham, who would become a key supporter of the Civil War effort, Balcerski said.

Connecticut also saw the first appearance of the Wide-Awake movement that later spread across the country. It was an organization of young men expressing support for military strength and resolve, with torch-lit parades in support of the Republican Party, the professor noted.

The state has often been at the forefront of technology and industrial advances, and President Theodore Roosevelt was the first chief executive to ride in an autmobile in 1902. The car, a Columbia Electric Victoria Phaeton, was made in Hartford, when it was an automobile manufacturing center.

The submarine base at Groton and the Coast Guard Academy in New London have drawn a number of presidential visits, most recently when President Donald Trump gave a commencement address in 2017 to the graduates.

Yale University in New Haven has a rich presidential connection. George H.W. Bush, who grew up in Greenwich, was a student there and baseball standout. His son and future president, George W. Bush, was born in New Haven, the only president born in the state, while his father was completing his studies in the Elm City.

William Howard Taft was a Yale man par excellence and taught at Yale Law School after leaving the White House, and it was at Yale Law where and Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham first met.

John F. Kennedy, a graduate of Choate in Wallingford, made a big pitch to Connecticut voters in New Haven during a very close presidential election. Kennedy campaigned in Hartford and Bridgeport and returned to the state in the final days of the race.

In 1960, Connecticut was a swing state, and Kennedy had to campaign here to win, said Balcerski. He came just two days before the election, and chose New Haven with an open-air car, waving crowds, police escort, all that, and he later gave a speech at a rally that same day. And Kennedy did win (the state) - but it was close.

His wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, was another Connecticut preppy, graduating from Miss Porters School in Farmington.

In the contemporary era, Connecticut has not been a major player in presidential races, with only seven electoral votes, which are reliably Democratic but it has been very much an out-sized player in terms of fundraising. During the primary process in particular, the big money in southeastern Connecticut has been a major draw for presidential aspirants.

President Barack Obama went to the Westport estate of the now disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2012 for a $35,800 per head fundraiser, and presidential candidates have spent many an evening at glittering Gold Coast soirees, raising money for the campaign trail.

Money is so critical. As presidential campaigns are won and lost through advertising, contributions and political action committees really do decide elections, said Balcerski, Our state and its power players have influence, before the nomination is made, during the primary process, and the actual campaign, through financial support. Money talks.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com

The rest is here:

Presidential history in Connecticut spans the centuries - CT Insider

Heres what you need to know:Video

transcript

transcript

Trump supported the actions of the mob, and so he must be convicted. Its that simple. When he took the stage on Jan. 6, he knew exactly how combustible the situation was. He knew there were many people in the crowd who were ready to jump into action, to engage in violence at any signal that he needed them to fight like hell to stop the steal, and thats exactly what he told them to do. Then he aimed them straight here, right down Pennsylvania, at the Capitol, where he told them the steal was occurring. That is the counting of the Electoral College votes. And we all know what happened next. They attacked this building. They disrupted the peaceful transfer of power. They injured and killed people, convinced that they were acting on his instructions and with his approval and protection. And while that happened, he further incited them while failing to defend us. If thats not ground for conviction, if thats not a high crime and misdemeanor against the republic in the United States of America, then nothing is. President Trump must be convicted for the safety and security of our democracy and our people. The stakes could not be higher. Because the cold, hard truth is that what happened on Jan. 6 can happen again. I fear, like many of you do, that the violence we saw on that terrible day may be just the beginning. Weve shown you the ongoing risks, the extremist groups, who grow more emboldened every day. Senators this cannot be the beginning. It cant be the new normal. It has to be the end. And that decision is in your hands. This trial is about whether Mr. Trump willfully engaged in incitement of violence and even insurrection against the United States, and that question they have posed in their article of impeachment has to be set up against the law of this country. No matter how much truly horrifying footage we see of the conduct of the rioters and how much emotion has been injected into this trial, that does not change the fact that Mr. Trump is innocent of the charges against him. Despite all of the video played, at no point in their presentation did you hear the house managers play a single example of Mr. Trump urging anyone to engage in violence of any kind. At no point did you hear anything that could ever possibly be construed as Mr. Trump encouraging or sanctioning an insurrection. Senators, you did not hear those tapes because they do not exist. The question is on the article of impeachment. Senators: How say you? Is the respondent Donald John Trump guilty or not guilty? The yays are 57. The nays are 43. Two-thirds of the senators present not having voted guilty, the Senate judges that the respondent, Donald John Trump, former president of the United States, is not guilty as charged in the articles of impeachment.

The United States Senate voted on Saturday to acquit Donald J. Trump in his second impeachment trial, as Republicans in a Senate still bruised from the most violent attack on the Capitol in two centuries banded together to reject the charge that he incited the Jan. 6 attack.

Voting 57-43, the Senate fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds necessary for conviction. Seven Republicans voted to find the former president guilty of incitement of insurrection, with all 50 Democrats, the most bipartisan support for conviction in any of the four presidential impeachments in U.S. history.

That outcome reflected the widespread outrage about Mr. Trumps conduct among senators who experienced the violence of the attack firsthand, fleeing for safety as marauders overwhelmed the Capitol Police and swarmed the Capitol during the attack. It came after Democrats built a case that the former president had undertaken a monthslong effort to overturn the election, and then provoked the assault on the Capitol in a last-ditch attempt to cling to power.

If that is not ground for conviction, if that is not a high crime and misdemeanor against the Republic and the United States of America, then nothing is, Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and the lead manager, pleaded with senators before the vote. President Trump must be convicted, for the safety and democracy of our people.

Minutes after the verdict was announced, Mr. Trump sent out a statement thanking his legal team and decrying, as he did for most of his presidency, the witch hunt he says is being waged upon him by his enemies.

It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree, he wrote, echoing the final arguments of his lawyers in the Senate on Saturday.

I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.

He also suggested that the Democrats attempt to end his political career had also failed, telling his supporters, our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun.

The verdict brought an abrupt end to the fourth presidential impeachment trial in American history, and the only one in which the accused had left office before being tried. The senators were voting on a question with no precedent in American history: whether to convict a former president accused of seeking to violently thwart the peaceful transfer of power and putting at risk the lives of hundreds of lawmakers and his own vice president.

The trial ended after just five days, partly because Republicans and Democrats alike had little appetite for a prolonged proceeding, and partly because Mr. Trumps allies had made clear before it even began they were not prepared to hold him responsible.

So ends a 39-day stretch unlike any in the nations history. Dispensing with the customary investigations and hearings, the House moved directly to impeach Mr. Trump seven days after the attack, citing an urgent need to remove him from office. Ten Republicans joined Democrats to adopt the charge, more than had ever supported the impeachment of a president of their party.

In a surprise twist on Saturday, the House managers made an abrupt demand to hear from witnesses who could testify to what Mr. Trump was doing and saying during the rampage. The Senate voted to allow it, but the prospect threatened to prolong the trial by days or weeks without changing the outcome, and in a head-spinning move, the prosecutors quickly dropped it.

After a flurry of closed-door haggling with Republicans, they agreed with Mr. Trumps lawyers to admit as evidence a written statement by a Republican congresswoman, Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, who has said she was told that the former president sided with the mob as rioters were attacking the Capitol.

transcript

transcript

Former President Trumps actions preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty. Theres no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags and screaming their loyalty to him. It was obvious that only President Trump could end this. He was the only one who could. Former aides publicly begged him to do so. Loyal allies frantically called the administration. The president did not act swiftly. He did not do his job. He didnt take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored. No, instead, according to public reports, he watched television happily. Happily. If President Trump were still in office, I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge. But in this case, the question is moot because former President Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction.

Minutes after voting to acquit Donald J. Trump on Saturday, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, castigated the former president for what he called a disgraceful dereliction of duty, pinning responsibility for last months Capitol assault directly on Mr. Trump.

In a speech more blistering than many of those in favor of conviction, Mr. McConnell said the former president had shouted wild myths about election fraud into the the largest megaphone on planet earth with foreseeable consequences. Congress and the American public paid the price, he added.

It was a stunning statement from a leader who has defended Senate prerogatives zealously, in which he effectively argued that Mr. Trump was guilty as charged, but the Senate could do nothing about it.

There is no question none that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, he said. The people that stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole.

But even as he condemned Mr. Trump, Mr. McConnell said his reading of the Constitution was that the Senate should not try a former president. He called impeachment a narrow tool meant to remove an official from office, not pursue them afterward.

Democrats were furious, pointing out that their vote to impeach came while Mr. Trump remained in office and that it was Mr. McConnell who refused to call the Senate back into session to start the trial before he left office. But Mr. McConnell said that even if he had, there would not have been time to reach a verdict in the final days of Mr. Trumps term.

The harshly worded speech appeared to be something of a compromise for Mr. McConnell, the most powerful Republican in Washington, who has come to despise the 45th president he aided and accommodated for four years and now regards Mr. Trump as a danger to his party.

Mr. McConnell had considered voting to convict the former president as a means of purging him from the party, but allies said he concluded he could not practically, as leader, side with a minority of his colleagues rather than the overwhelming number who said the trial was invalid and voted to acquit. Instead, he used every ounce of his rhetorical strength to try to damage Mr. Trumps credibility with his own party.

When the Capitol attack was underway, Mr. McConnell said, Mr. Trump abdicated his responsibility as commander in chief, and afterward, he refused to drop his baseless election lies.

Whatever reaction he says he meant to produce by the afternoon, we know he was watching the same live television as the rest of us, Mr. McConnell said. A mob was assaulting a Capitol in his name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags and screaming their loyalty to him.

He added: He did not do his job. He did not take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored. No, instead, according to public reports, he watched television happily happily as the chaos unfolded.

Mr. McConnell also rejected one of Mr. Trumps lawyers most explicit defenses: that his words had been no different from those of any other politician advocating a cause.

That is different from what we saw, he said.

Notably, he argued that it was up to the criminal justice system to hold former presidents to account for their conduct in office. Mr. Trump, he said, didnt get away with anything yet.

President Biden said late Saturday that while former President Donald J. Trump had been acquitted of inciting last months riot at the Capitol, the substance of the charge is not in dispute.

He pointed out that even Republicans who did not vote to convict Mr. Trump had criticized his behavior, including Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, who said after the vote on Saturday that the former president was guilty of a disgraceful dereliction of duty.

Mr. Biden went on to express gratitude for those who bravely stood guard that January day as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, as well as Democrats and Republicans who demonstrated the courage to protect the integrity of our democracy. Election officials from both parties strongly disputed Mr. Trumps baseless claims of fraud, and judges some of them appointed by Mr. Trump rejected warrantless legal challenges.

This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile, Mr. Biden said. That it must always be defended. That violence and extremism has no place in America. And that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and defeat the lies.

Other leading Democrats turned their ire toward their Republican counterparts. Speaker Nancy Pelosi quickly batted down the idea of a bipartisan censure resolution, saying it would let cowardly senators off the hook and constitute a slap in the face of the Constitution.

Five years ago, Republican senators lamented what might become of their party if Donald Trump became their presidential nominee and standard-bearer, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said moments after the vote. Just look at what has happened. Look at what Republicans have been forced to defend. Look at what Republicans have chosen to forgive.

Mr. Biden had mostly distanced himself from the particulars of the trial, with a notable exception on Thursday, when he declared that a graphic video of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol that was shown during the trial might have changed some minds. As Congress was consumed by the trial this weekend, Mr. Biden was at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on his first trip away from Washington since he took office.

Aides said that Mr. Bidens plan next week was to return the countrys focus to fighting the coronavirus and its economic fallout. They have scheduled a televised town hall in Wisconsin on Wednesday focusing on his pandemic response, followed by a trip to Michigan on Thursday to tour a vaccine production facility.

On Sunday, the third anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Mr. Biden issued a statement honoring the young victims and their loved ones, who like far too many families and, indeed, like our nation theyve been left to wonder whether things would ever be OK.

He added: We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer. Today, I am calling on Congress to enact common-sense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. We owe it to all those weve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change.

Seven Republican senators voted on Saturday to convict former President Donald J. Trump in the most bipartisan vote for a presidential impeachment conviction in United States history. The margin still fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds needed to find him guilty.

Who are the seven senators? Only one Lisa Murkowski is up for re-election next year, and she has survived attacks from the right before. Two are retiring, and three won new terms in November, so they will not face voters until 2026.

Mr. Burr, 65, a senator since 2005, is not seeking re-election in 2022. Despite holding Mr. Trump immediately responsible for the Capitol riot, he had voted against moving forward with the impeachment trial, and his decision to convict came as a surprise.

As I said on Jan. 6, the president bears responsibility for these tragic events, Mr. Burr said in a statement on Saturday. The evidence is compelling that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a coequal branch of government and that the charge rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. Therefore, I have voted to convict.

Mr. Cassidy, 63, a senator since 2015, was just re-elected. Weeks ago, he voted against moving forward with the trial, but said he was persuaded by the House impeachment managers.

Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person, Mr. Cassidy said. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty.

Ms. Collins, 68, a senator since 1997, was just re-elected to a fifth term. She has long been critical of Mr. Trumps actions, extending to the Capitol riot.

That attack was not a spontaneous outbreak of violence, Ms. Collins said on the Senate floor after the vote. Rather it was the culmination of a steady stream of provocations by President Trump that were aimed at overturning the results of the presidential election.

Ms. Murkowski, 63, a senator since 2002, is up for re-election in 2022. She has appeal for both Democrats and independents and won a write-in campaign in 2010 after losing the Republican primary. She has harshly criticized Mr. Trumps actions before and during the Capitol rampage, calling his conduct unlawful.

Its not about me and my life and my job, Ms. Murkowski told a Politico reporter who asked about the political risk she took with her vote. This is really about what we stand for. If I cant say what I believe that our president should stand for, then why should I ask Alaskans to stand with me?

Mr. Romney, 73, a senator since 2019, is the only Republican to have voted to convict Mr. Trump in his first impeachment trial. A former presidential candidate, he made clear after the Capitol attack that he held Mr. Trump responsible.

President Trump attempted to corrupt the election by pressuring the secretary of state of Georgia to falsify the election results in his state, Mr. Romney said in a statement on Saturday. President Trump incited the insurrection against Congress by using the power of his office to summon his supporters to Washington on Jan. 6 and urging them to march on the Capitol during the counting of electoral votes. He did this despite the obvious and well-known threats of violence that day. President Trump also violated his oath of office by failing to protect the Capitol, the vice president and others in the Capitol. Each and every one of these conclusions compels me to support conviction.

Mr. Sasse, 48, a senator since 2015, was just re-elected. He has been a frequent critic of Mr. Trump and had signaled that he was open to convicting the former president.

On election night 2014, I promised Nebraskans Id always vote my conscience even if it was against the partisan stream, Mr. Sasse said in a statement. In my first speech here in the Senate in November 2015, I promised to speak out when a president even of my own party exceeds his or her powers. I cannot go back on my word, and Congress cannot lower our standards on such a grave matter, simply because it is politically convenient.

Mr. Toomey, 59, a senator since 2011, is not seeking re-election in 2022. He had denounced Mr. Trumps conduct; in a statement on Saturday, he said had decided during the trial that the former president deserved to be found guilty.

I listened to the arguments on both sides, Mr. Toomey said, and I thought the arguments in favor of conviction were much stronger.

After days of calling out former President Donald J. Trump actions, House Democrats summed up their case by accusing him of impeachable inaction his unwillingness to stop the mob that killed, maimed and clawed at the heart of American democracy in his name.

Think for a moment, just a moment, of the lives lost that day of the more than 140 wounded, said Representative Joe Neguse, Democrat of Colorado and one of the House impeachment managers. Ask yourself if, as soon as this had started, President Trump had simply gone onto TV, just logged onto Twitter, and said stop the attack. How many lives would we have saved?

The Democrats tone throughout the accelerated trial, soft-spoken and emotional, represented a striking contrast with the angry, high-volume riposte of Mr. Trumps defense team whose fiery final argument was inspired, and perhaps instigated by, the former president.

Senators, do not let House Democrats take this maniacal crusade any further, said Michael T. van der Veen, who emerged as the most outspoken member of Mr. Trumps legal team.

You do not have to indulge the impeachment lust, the dishonesty, and the hypocrisy, added Mr. van der Veen, whose earlier statements prompted Senator Pat Leahy of Vermont, who presided over the trial, to call for civility on both sides. It is time to bring this unconstitutional political theater to an end.

Even if acquittal seemed preordained throughout the long closing arguments on Saturday, exoneration did not; Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, called his not-guilty vote a close call, and many Republicans, while ultimately siding with Mr. Trumps arguments, seemed impressed by the evidence and empathy of the Democratic impeachment managers.

Representative Jamie Raskin, who was grieving the recent suicide of his son Tommy, 25, at the time of attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, offered sympathy to the families of those hurt or killed as a result of the attack, a toll that includes the suicides of two police officers in the aftermath.

We must recognize and exercise these crimes against our nation and then we must take care of our people and our children, their hearts and their minds, he said. As Tommy Raskin used to say, its hard to be human. Many of the Capitol and Metropolitan Police officers and guardsmen and women who were beaten up by the mob also have kids.

The Democrats seemed to have a far more sophisticated understanding of the senatorial mind-set than Mr. Trumps team.

In his summation, Mr. van der Veen implored senators, a group that prides itself on being steeped in history and conversant with the nations great documents, to read the Constitution.

Mr. Neguse offered a barbed lecture of his own. But his was hidden in a reference to Mr. McConnells hero, a fellow Kentuckian, Representative John Sherman Cooper, who braved a political backlash to support civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

Weve always risen to the occasion when it mattered the most, not by ignoring injustice or cowering to bullies and threats, but by doing the right thing, he said of Mr. Cooper.

During the first trial of Donald J. Trump, the former president commanded near-total fealty from his party. His conservative defenders were ardent and numerous, and Republican votes to convict him for pressuring Ukraine to help him smear Joseph R. Biden Jr. were virtually nonexistent.

But this time, seven Republican senators voted with Democrats to convict Mr. Trump the most bipartisan rebuke ever delivered in an impeachment process. Several others, including Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, intimated that Mr. Trump might deserve to face criminal prosecution.

Mr. McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor after the vote, denounced Mr. Trumps unconscionable behavior and held him responsible for having given inspiration to lawlessness and violence.

Yet Mr. McConnell had joined with the great majority of Republicans just minutes earlier to find Mr. Trump not guilty.

The vote stands as a determinative moment for the party Mr. Trump molded into a cult of personality, one likely to leave a deep blemish in the historical record. Now that Republicans have passed up an opportunity to banish him through impeachment, it is not clear when or how they might go about transforming their party into something other than a vessel for a semiretired demagogue who was repudiated by a majority of voters.

Yet Mr. Trump remains the dominant force in right-wing politics.

Indeed, in a statement celebrating the Senate vote on Saturday, Mr. Trump declared that his political movement has only just begun.

The lineup of Republicans who voted for conviction was, on its own, a statement on Mr. Trumps political grip on the G.O.P. Only Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is up for re-election next year, and she has survived grueling attacks from the right before.

The remainder of the group included two lawmakers who are retiring Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina and Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and three more who just won new terms in November and will not face voters again until the second half of the decade.

In Washington, a quiet majority of Republican officials appears to be embracing the kind of wishful thinking that guided them throughout Mr. Trumps first campaign in 2016, and then through much of his presidency, insisting that he would soon be marginalized by his own outrageous conduct or that he would lack the discipline to make himself a durable political leader.

Several seemed to be looking to the criminal justice system as a means of sidelining Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump is facing multiple investigations by the local authorities in Georgia and New York into his political and business dealings.

Even in places where Mr. Trump retains a powerful following, there is a growing recognition that the partys loss of the White House and the Senate in 2020, and the House two years before that, did not come about by accident and that simply campaigning as the Party of Trump is not likely to be sufficiently appealing to win back control of Congress next year.

The pure savagery of the mob that rampaged through the Capitol that day was breathtaking. One police officer lost an eye, another the tip of his finger. Still another was shocked so many times with a Taser gun that he had a heart attack.

They suffered cracked ribs and multiple concussions. At least 81 members of the Capitol force and 65 members of the Metropolitan Police Department were injured, not even counting the officer killed that day or two others who later died by suicide. Some officers described it as worse than when they served in combat in Iraq.

And through it all, President Donald J. Trump served as the inspiration if not the catalyst. Even as he addressed a rally beforehand, supporters could be heard on the video responding to him by shouting, Take the Capitol! Then they talked about calling the president at the White House to report on what they had done.

If nothing else, the Senate impeachment trial has served at least one purpose: It stitched together the most comprehensive and chilling account to date of last months deadly assault on the Capitol.

Yet for all the heart-pounding narrative of that day and the weeks leading up to it presented on the Senate floor, what was also striking after it was all over was how many questions remained unanswered on issues like the financing and leadership of the mob, the extent of the coordination with extremist groups, the breakdown in security and the failure in various quarters of the government to heed intelligence warnings of pending violence.

And then, most especially, what the president was doing in the hours that the Capitol was being ransacked.

The Trump camp has never provided a definitive and official account of the former presidents knowledge or actions during the attack. But advisers speaking on the condition of anonymity have told reporters that he was initially pleased, not disturbed, that his supporters had disrupted the election count and that he never reached out to Vice President Mike Pence to check on his safety even after Mr. Pence was evacuated from the Senate chamber.

What really struck some senators, particularly the handful of Republicans open to conviction, is what Mr. Trump did next or what he did not do. Despite pleas from Mr. McCarthy, other allies, key aides and his daughter Ivanka Trump, the president was still more focused on pressing his effort to block the election than coming to the aid of his vice president and Congress.

Matthew Rosenberg, Mark Mazzetti and Michael S. Schmidt contributed reporting.

The Senates acquittal of former President Donald J. Trump at his second impeachment trial will hardly be the last or decisive word on his level of culpability in the assault on the Capitol last month.

While the Justice Department officials examining the rash of crimes committed during the riot have signaled that they do not plan to make Mr. Trump a focus of the investigation, the volumes of evidence they are compiling may eventually give a clearer and possibly more damning picture of his role in the attack.

Case files in the investigation have offered signs that many of the rioters believed, that they were answering Mr. Trumps call on Jan. 6. The inquiry has also offered evidence that some pro-Trump extremist groups, concerned about fraud in the election, may have conspired together to plan the insurrection.

If this was a conspiracy, Trump was the leader, said Jonathan Zucker, the lawyer for Dominic Pezzola, a member of the far-right Proud Boys group who has been charged with obstructing police officers guarding the Capitol.

As the sprawling investigation goes on quite likely for months or even years and newly unearthed evidence brings continual reminders of the riot, Mr. Trump may suffer further harm to his battered reputation, complicating any post-presidential ventures. Already, about a dozen suspects have explicitly blamed him for their part in the rampage a number that will most likely rise as more arrests are made and legal strategies develop.

Some defendants, court papers show, said they went to Washington because Mr. Trump encouraged them to do so, while others said they stormed the Capitol largely because of Mr. Trumps appeal to fight like hell to overturn the election. One man charged with assaulting the police accused the former president of being his accomplice: In recent court papers, he described Mr. Trump as a de facto unindicted co-conspirator in his case.

Legal scholars have questioned the viability of faulting Mr. Trump in cases connected to the Capitol attack, noting that defendants would have to prove not only that they believed he authorized their actions, but also that such a belief was reasonable.

See the original post:

Impeachment Trial: Trump Is Acquitted by the Senate - The New York Times

The Tennessee Titans were bounced from the playoffs in the first round after an 11-5 season and an AFC South title, leading to their owning the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

The Titans have owned this specific four times in franchise history. Three of those selections came when they were the Houston Oilers in 1963, 1964 and 1988, and then the Titans had that pick once again in 2018.

The first two, running back Jerry Cook (1963) out of Texas and offensive tackle Bobby Crenshaw (1964) out of Baylor, were both third-round picks in the AFL draft and neither player ever suited up for the Oilers.

In 1988, the Oilers selected running back Lorenzo White in the first round of the NFL draft. The Michigan State product spent seven seasons with the franchise.

White compiled 1,000 carries for 4,242 yards and 29 touchdowns during his Houston tenure, with his best season coming in 1992 when he finished with 1,226 yards, seven scores and a Pro Bowl nod.

White broke the 700-yard mark two other times, but never reached 1,000 yards or more again. He ended up moving on to play for the Cleveland Browns in 1995, his last season in the league.

In 2018, the Titans picked Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans, who just completed his third season in the two-tone blue in 2020.

Evans showed plenty of promise during his first two seasons, and especially in his sophomore campaign in 2019, when he finished second on the team in tackles with 111, tallied 2.5 sacks and was a force against the run.

Unfortunately for Tennessee, Evans took a step back last year, as his season was marred by ineffective play and a team-high eight penalties. His fifth-year option, which once looked like a lock to be picked up, is now in question. The Titans will have to decide by May what to do with their linebacker.

Overall, the Titans have gotten a few solid players in the spot theyre set to pick during the 2021 NFL draft, but none qualifies as a home-run pick. General manager Jon Robinson can change that on April 29.

Excerpt from:

The players Titans have drafted at No. 22 overall in franchise history - Titans Wire

When you woke up this morning and realized it was Valentines Day, hopefully you werent in a panic about getting that special gift for your significant other. And if you woke up this morning with the awareness that youre going to have a baby today well, depending on all kinds of circumstances, you might be unleashing a highly prolific NFL quarterback on the world in the next 20 years or so. Per Chase Stuart of Football Perspective, the odds favor you and your progeny.

Three of the best quarterbacks of all time from a statistical perspective Jim Kelly, Steve McNair, and Drew Bledsoe were all born on February 14, and former Jaguars quarterback David Garrard also shares the birthdate. As Stuart points out, Valentines day is the only date of birth for four different quarterbacks who have thrown for over 16,000 yards Garrard brings up the rear at 16,003. No other date of birth has four quarterbacks with even 7,500 yards between them.

The totals for quarterbacks born on Valentines Day, when you pack in Patrick Ramsey and a handful of other guys (including Jared Lorenzen, the Hefty Lefty, and former Dolphins quarterback/halfback/punter Larry Seiple)?

How about 11,723 completions in 19,916 attempts for 137,342 yards, 808 touchdowns, and 615 interceptions? Thats a lot of numbers.

If theres a Fredo Corleone on the Valentines Day list, its unquestionably Christian Hackenberg, the former Jets second-round pick who never threw a regular-season pass, washed out of the NFL completely, and was last seen swearing his way out of the Alliance of American Football, and trying to become a major league pitcher.

But hey. its a day of love, so lets accentuate the positive. Are there future February 14th birthday kids with bright NFL futures? Dont bet against it.

Read more:

Quarterbacks born on Valentine's Day have been the most prolific in NFL history - Touchdown Wire

Livingston also served as the first Clerk for the newly formed Eagle Joint Fire District in 2006

by: WKBN Staff

Courtesy: Mayor Ben Kyle Facebook Page

HUBBARD, Ohio (WKBN) Hubbard Mayor Ben Kyle announced the citys Service Director, Dan Libbo Livingston died Saturday morning.

Mayor Kyle made the announcement on Facebook Saturday evening.

Livingston started his career of service in the late 1970s working at Hubbard Union Cemetery, retiring as Sexton/Clerk after 33 years.

During that time, he was elected to multiple terms as Hubbard City 1st Ward Councilman and one of the areas longest serving Trumbull County Democrat central committee members.

Livingston also served as the first Clerk for the newly formed Eagle Joint Fire District in 2006.

He later went on to become one of the longest tenured Service Directors in Hubbards history. He started in 2012 under Mayor John Dark and currently served under Mayor Ben Kyle.

Livingston was also committed to his community where he volunteered. He was a current and active member of the Hubbard Rotary Club, member of the board of directors for the Hubbard High School All Sports Hall of Fame, former Vice President of the Hubbard Area Chamber of Commerce and numerous other community based organizations.

Mayor Kyle says he was a friend to everyone and always had a memorable story to tell. He will be remembered as a true Hubbard Eagle: always having the best interest of Hubbard residents in mind.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Stewart-Kyle Funeral Home in Hubbard.

Read the rest here:

One of the longest tenured Service Directors in Hubbards history dies - WKBN.com