Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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John Fetterman’s announcement that he has checked himself into a hospital was met with bipartisan praise. Far right politicians from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to fellow Pennsylvania centrist Rep. Susan Wild to New York left wing Congressmen Richie Torres lavished support on the senator for publicly disclosing and confronting his illness. Reaction to Fetterman’s predicament demonstrates the dramatic transformation of perception and attitudes toward public health and mental ill...
Here we are. Another year, another February and another Black History Month in the books. Every year, for 28 days (29 in leap years), we are rightly introduced to and reminded of the innumerable contributions Black people have made to this nation. Corporations make bold and brazen acknowledgments, educational institutions salute Black history, and churches sponsor dinners representing a culinary smorgasbord undeniably definitive of recipes that originated in the African diaspo...
Let’s face it, when Fox News gives Democrats a B+, you know they really delivered an exceptional performance. That was the grade the rabidly right-wing media network gave President Biden on his State of the Union address. As someone who usually doesn’t watch these annual speeches to the nation, I did buck my previous trend and decided to tune in for this one. Admittedly, I harbored some degree of apprehension wondering if Biden would be up to the task. If they were forced to...
Last month, the Yale School of Public Health held a ceremony to celebrate Bobbi Wilson, a 9-year-old Black kid from Caldwell, N.J., whose efforts to eradicate spotted lanternflies was seen as an environmentally progressive gesture. The ceremony also served as an opportunity to recognize Wilson’s donation of her personal spotted lanternfly collection to Yale’s Peabody museum, where she is now listed as the donor scientist on its official database. “Yale doesn’t normall...
The death of Black people at the hands of law enforcement has become so commonplace that it’s easy to feel both outraged and psychologically numb. Over the past few decades, from Rodney King to George Floyd, we have become front-row spectators to grainy and, in some cases, graphic footage of police officers engaged in horrific levels of violent behavior toward people of African descent. We can now add Tyre Nichols of Memphis, Tenn., to the growing number of victims, a list t...
In his ongoing attacks on what he describes as “woke politics,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has denied permission for an African American history course to be taught in Florida public high schools. NAACP Director Ivory Toldson condemned the course’s rejection, calling DeSantis’ decision a “dereliction of his duty to ensure equitable education for all Floridians.” “Dismissing this important subject as lacking ‘educational value’ defies centuries of evidence to the contrary,” To...
This month, as we celebrate Black history, millions of Americans will celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King was, without question, one of the greatest historical figures of the 20th century. He dedicated his life in an effort to ensure the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness would be in reach for all those who were marginalized and had been denied access to full citizenship rights for far too long. Like many people, King was a complex man....
The drama surrounding Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership bid remains nothing short of surreal. It took 15 bids to secure the votes required to become speaker of the House. In his fatalistic desire to become speaker, McCarthy made numerous concessions to his opponents that have all but promised to nullify any real power or influence he will likely have. An interesting side story stemming from the drama was the effort by far-right House members to support Rep. Byron Donalds of Fl...
Last month, Grace Stanke, a 23-year-old nuclear engineering student from Wausau, Wis., was crowned Miss America 2023. Stanke is a beautiful, blond-hair'ed woman who is obviously gifted in math and science. She was crowned by her predecessor, Emma Broyles, Miss Alaska, who became the first woman from her state to win the title. But don’t be surprised if you missed it – for the second straight year, the pageant was streamed online and didn’t air on television. A scandal in 20...
It sure didn’t take long for right-wing media figures to criticize the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was released on Dec. 8 by the Russian government as part of a negotiated prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed “the merchant of death.” Since the deal was made by the Biden administration, the Right predictably launched a perverse and sinister attack, politically weaponizing her release by employing racist and homophobic langu...
Days away from the 2022 midterm election, a disturbing trend unfolded involving “poll watchers” positioning themselves at various voting locations across the nation. These poll watchers were armed men (mostly men) dressed in military attire outside polling places attempting to psychologically intimidate or use violence against certain voters by engaging in menacing antics. Such activity was commonplace in Maricopa County, Ariz., where these “self-selected vote watch...
Since the Reagan era of the 1980s, we have heard arguments from various quarters lamenting the supposed “fact” that studying liberal arts or the humanities in general was a colossal waste of time. As a Generation X teenager, this message was routinely fed to me and my peers. More than a decade later as a graduate student in the humanities, I harbored intense skepticism toward such dismissive rhetoric. Now, more decades later as a tenured professor deeply engaged in the hum...
Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville recently suggested in comments railing against reparations that Black Americans were “the people that do the crime.” Speaking at a Donald Trump rally for Republican candidates in Nevada, Tuberville described Democrats as engaged in a battle to take from white people and give to Black people, whom he stereotyped as criminals. “No, they’re not soft on crime,” Tuberville said, “They’re pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because...
In past political climates, such an October surprise would be grounds for a serious acknowledgment or resignation by a politician from a race for public office. Unfortunately, we are in the post-Trump era of politics, where a Twilight Zone political theater of the deviant and bizarre has become the norm. Over the past few days, a continual drip of bombshells have roiled Herschel Walker’s senatorial campaign. The Republican senate candidate from Georgia has faced a nonstop o...
'Tis is the season to promote male masculinity. There has been no shortage of rhetoric emanating from a number of right-wing politicians warning about the supposed decline of male virility contributing to the death of "real manhood." From Mike Pompeo decrying and declaring war on the "wokeness that is supposedly weakening the military," to Senator Josh Hawley's allegations of " the left's attack on men in America." Earlier this summer, shameless Fox News host Tucker Carlson...
