Poll Taxes, the Braves, and a new podcast
by King Williams
Welcome to my freemium newsletter by me, King Williams. A documentary filmmaker, journalist, podcast host, and author based in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is a newsletter covering the hidden connections of everything in the world of Atlanta from urbanism, to politics and entertainment.
If you missed Tax Day 2020
If you’re like me, tax day 2020 snuck up on you. It was yesterday. Go file today, or at least file an extension.
Here are some things that will hopefully help:
The IRS has listed how to file for free: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free, but if you’ve seen the Hasan Minaj clip on the IRS, I suggest checking this out as well.
If you file today the IRS could issue you a 5% rebate on interest today.
If you believe that you qualify for free filing, check out this information from Business Insider:
https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/free-tax-filing-instructions-irs-tax-season
There is also a list of services from tech publication CNET from back in January that may be of help:
https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/where-to-file-your-taxes-for-free/
If you’re ready to file, please start here on the IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/
Poll taxes are legal again—shit.
Speaking of taxes, the US Supreme Court has upheld Florida’s poll tax. For those of you not familiar with poll taxes, it was system of fines levied in the south to keep Black people from voting. It took the 24th amendment to fix that.
The reason why we’re even having this conversation is that in 2018, Florida voters decided to restore the rights to vote for over 1.4 million people who had some felony conviction.
As a result current governor Ron DeSantis push forth a law that added new court fees for any resident who wish to return to their right to vote.
This is where I must say Republicans and their election of supreme court justices played a major decision but not all is on them as one of the liberal judges also voted in favor of this.
Remember that coming into November when we vote. Another vote for Trump or abstaining for voting or third-party leads to more shenanigans like this.
The Deep Dive
The Braves need to change the name.
The Washington Football team has finally changed the name. I go on a deep dive as to why the Braves are intertwined with this franchise as well as why has this happened now.
You can read more by clicking on the link here.
The Neighborhood Watch Podcast Interview - Cedric Michael
In what was my last video podcast recorded before the outbreak of COVID-19, I talked to Cedric Michael, the Vice President of T. Dallas Smith, one of the few large scale Black, commercial real estate companies in America.
For a host of reasons, this interview alongside a slew of others, has never seen the light of day until recently. Cedric isn’t alone as you can expect a slew of interviews finally seeing the light.
You can listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, on Apple Podcasts, and now Spotify!
Local News
Demand Governor Kemp veto SB402, which would make people pay cash for every time they are arrested. This is a workaround on the ending of cash bail efforts in Atlanta pushed by the Atlanta City Council and Mayor Keshia Lance Bottoms.
Local coworking space franchise, Switchyards is offering 100 free memberships to Black-led social justice organizations.
John Wesley Dobbs house is for sale, this is a buy the city should make. If not the city, some university, rapper or history center.
Secretary of State has extended the deadline for primary runoffs
Governor Kemp is also seeking federal funds to keep up with a surge of positive COVID-19 results in the county.
Current US Senator David Perdue is rebranding himself as ‘the original outsider’ as he faces off against Jon Ossoff in November. The move is being used to prop up the incumbent senator as an outside voice for conservative voters in Georgia.
There’s a great article in Atlanta Magazine on the death of Ahmaud Arbrey that you should take the time out to read.
The Slutty Vegan has opened a second location in Jonesboro for takeout only and a third on Edgewood this summer.
MARTA won’t enforce the use of masks but will continue giving passengers masks for those who ride the train.
11-year-old DeKalb County girl makes masks for homeless people.
National News
Fox News’s Tucker Carlson’s top writer for his television show, Blake Neff has been fired after it’s discovered he posted several racist and white nationalist posts in an online forum.
Neff was hired by Carlson’s staff after previously working at the White nationalist website The Daily Caller, so this should come as no surprise.
So why is this important, I defer to this CNN article on how much impact Blake Neff’s writing has had on Tucker Carlson’s show:
During the years that Neff wrote for him at Fox, Carlson has hosted one of the most influential shows on cable news. In the last quarter, Carlson had not only the highest-rated program in cable news, but the highest-rated show in the history of cable news. Carlson also counts President Trump among his most loyal viewers.
On multiple occasions, the President has tweeted out videos of Carlson's program. Which is to say, the scripts that Neff likely helped write and shape were being shared by the President of the United States.
This thread by Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi’s is more of an introduction into who this guy is 👇🏽
The Trump administration is signaling that it is reversing its course on deporting foreign university students after immense backlash.
Premiere universities such as Harvard and MIT filed countersuits against the administration over the proposed changes to student’s immigration status, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says that any student who’s school goes to online-only in the fall must be deported.
New changes to payday loans could leave 12 million people vulnerable to extremely high-interest rates as the Trump administration looks to rescind those Obama era mandates.
For July, an estimated 32% of U.S. households have missed their housing payment, this doesn’t bode well as federal government stimulus ends in July.
Several notable people including NFL player Kenny Stills, Real Housewives of Atlanta star (and Decatur native) Porsha Williams, were among the 87 protesters arrested in Louisville, Kentucky as they demanded justice outside of the home of State Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s home.
As a result of being arrested at the peaceful protest, all 87 have now been charged with felonies as a result. The move is seen as a way to
Last week several Louisville protestors interrupted the mayors speech at the site of the murder of Breonna Taylor.
Holy shit the mayor of Louisville was trying to have a press conference this morning, then this happened.The site of the apartments where Breonna Taylor was killed is in a gentrifying area of the city of Lousiville where police calls have been used as a way to eventually acquire the property.
The Supreme Court upheld regulations from the Trump Administration’s request that employers can stop covering birth control under company health plans for religious reasons.
For the last time, urban density is not equal to the spread of the coronavirus, bad management has been the biggest culprit.
Neither has the Black Lives Matters protests lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Speaking of solidarity, sneaker company Vans issued a statement yesterday in support of Blackout Tuesday.
Trump is threatening to cut off school funding if schools do not open in the fall.
There was an alleged attempted lynching in Bloomington, Indiana and this has caused an outbreak of people taking to the streets to protest. Had the incident not been caught on camera, there’s no telling what the story would’ve been.
Mississippi’s election commissioner refers to ‘the Blacks’ as a problem due to the numbers of ‘them’ registering to vote. Mississippi is the blackest state in the US by % of the population but the political leadership is not representative. The election commissioner says she wasn’t being racist but was encouraging voter turnout.
Facebook is failing in bringing back advertisers as the company hasn’t done anything to stop the spread of misinformation and hate speech on the platform. Blue-chip advertisers from Coca Cola to Patagonia have starter to boycott the company this month.
Activists are asking for an independent investigation into the death of Priscilla Slater, who died in police custody.
Southern rap legends 8 Ball & MJG have started their own brewery, Beale Street Brewery, but it is currently only available in Memphis.
A new app has been created that lets you know when your local politician is talking about budgets.
Actor Mechad Brooks IG post on Haiti is doing numbers, the post is an overview of the history of Haiti and it’s exploitation by France, which is to blame for its higher poverty rate.
Google search results are revealing Covid-19 hotspots faster than governments.
Investment app Robin Hood launches a fund for POC non-profits, dubbed ‘The Power Fund’.
Microsoft launches virtual auditoriums to combat Zoom fatigue.
A San Francisco lawmaker is introducing legislation dubbed the CAREN Act to make it a hate crime when calling the police in non-threatening, racist situations
The United States Postal Service has started to issue hip hop stamps.
Global News
To the US, don’t follow the Swedish model for reopening (or in the case of Sweden, never closing the country), the country has had thousands more deaths compared to their European peers and the economy hasn’t fared better.
A Parisian artist has painted a mural dedicated to health care workers at the Bastille Opera House.
Anthony Madu, a young Nigerian, male ballet dancer has gone viral.
Tweet of the Day:
-KJW
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