Podcasts about Emancipation Proclamation

Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. Carwardine details the intense political opposition Lincoln faced in 1863 following the Emancipation Proclamation. He highlights Clement Vallandigham, a "Peace Democrat" leader who viewed the war as unwinnable and Lincoln as a "Puritan despot." Carwardine explains that the Democraticcoalition was fractured by religion, specifically between Catholics and Protestants, yet united in opposing the administration. Lincoln ultimately banished Vallandigham to the Confederacy to neutralize his influence.1880 HENRY BEECHER

SHOW SCHEDULE1-19-20261914 FLAG DAY WITH WILSON, BRYAN, ROOSEVELT Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. Carwardine discusses President James Buchanan's January 4, 1861, national fast day, intended to unite a fracturing nation through prayer and repentance. While old-school Presbyterians like Charles Hodge supported this call for divine intervention, the effort largely failed to forestall war. The event highlighted three distinct groups of religious nationalists: conservative Unionists, anti-slavery Republicans viewing slavery as a national sin, and pro-slavery theologians defending the institution on scriptural grounds. Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. Carwardine explains that President-elect Lincoln did not view Republicans as overly aggressive, positioning himself as a constitution-respecting centrist rather than a radical. Lincoln opposed slavery's expansion but acknowledged its constitutional protection where it already existed, believing the South was misled by elites and would eventually return to the Union. Ironically, Lincoln and Buchanan, though political opposites, worshiped at the same Washington church, sharing an old-school Presbyterian background. Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. In September 1861, Lincoln proclaimed a fast day, carefully avoiding specific references to slavery to maintain political unity. Carwardine details the conflict surrounding General Frémont's unauthorized emancipation order, which Lincoln revoked to prevent losing loyal border states like Kentucky. Consequently, anti-slavery nationalists used the pulpits to criticize Lincoln's caution, demanding the war become an explicit crusade against the "gigantic crime" of slavery rather than just a restoration of the Union. Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. The discussion turns to Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens' "Cornerstone Speech," which explicitly defined racial inequality as the Confederacy's foundation, a stance widely condemned in the North. Carwardine notes that despite earlier tensions, Lincoln viewed his fast days as successful, utilizing them and meetings with religious delegations to gauge public sentiment and prepare the ground for eventual emancipation. Lincoln valued these interactions to influence and learn from denominational leaders. Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. Carwardine details the intense political opposition Lincoln faced in 1863 following the Emancipation Proclamation. He highlights Clement Vallandigham, a "Peace Democrat" leader who viewed the war as unwinnable and Lincoln as a "Puritan despot." Carwardine explains that the Democraticcoalition was fractured by religion, specifically between Catholics and Protestants, yet united in opposing the administration. Lincoln ultimately banished Vallandigham to the Confederacy to neutralize his influence. Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. Carwardine discusses James McMaster, the Catholic editor of the Freeman's Journal, characterizing him as an extraordinary polemicist who was imprisoned for his "vituperations" against the war. McMaster argued the war denied the rights of free men and refused to retract his views upon release. The segment also features Samuel "Sunset" Cox, a Democrat who famously attacked New England Puritanism as the source of the nation's meddling and moral extremity. Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. The discussion turns to the Union's "low point" in August 1864, where Lincoln expected to lose the election to Democrat George McClellan. Carwardine describes the Democraticcampaign as "brokenbacked" for pairing a general with a peace platform. However, the fall of Atlanta revived Union hopes. Carwardine emphasizes how pastors articulated a "higher cause"—the preservation of a unique republican government—to justify the war's terrible "bloodletting" and sacrifice. Guest: Professor Richard Carwardine. Carwardine analyzes the war's conclusion and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, which framed the conflict as divine judgment for the shared offense of slavery. He notes that Lincoln intended a Reconstruction based on charity and "absence of malice," rather than punishment. By 1865, Lincoln's views had evolved to support citizenship for African American veterans, though his assassination left the specific blueprint for the nation's reintegration unfinished and uncertain. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. In 1925, the Tennessee legislature passed the Butler Act, banning the teaching of evolution in public schools. At Robinson's drugstore in Dayton, local booster George Rapier and others recruited 24-year-old science teacher John Scopes to violate the law as a test case to generate publicity for the town. Although Scopes was knowingly guilty, the ACLU backed the defense to challenge the law's constitutionality regarding the separation of church and state. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. The ACLU, seeking to defend religious liberty and raise its profile, seized upon the Scopes case. While the board considered prestigious constitutional lawyers, the notorious Clarence Darrowvolunteered his services pro bono because he viewed the Butler Act as bigoted. Despite the ACLU's hesitation regarding Darrow's controversial reputation from the Leopold and Loeb trial, Scopes insisted on having the "street fighter" Darrow defend him against William Jennings Bryan. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. Clarence Darrow was a celebrated attorney known for his "downhome" jury appeals and defense of the marginalized. Mentored by progressive John Altgeld, Darrow built a reputation defending labor unions, socialists like Eugene Debs, and the poor against powerful corporations. However, his career suffered a "bad patch" following the McNamara brothers' bombing case in Los Angeles, where Darrow himself faced trials for allegedly bribing a juror, leaving him with a checkered reputation. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. Three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan joined the prosecution to revive his political career and defend fundamentalism. Famous for his populist "Cross of Gold" speech, Bryan had become rigid in his views, advocating for prohibition and a literal reading of the Bible. He viewed the trial as a platform to combat the theory of evolution, which he believed deprived children of a moral center and denied the miracles of creation. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. Fundamentalist Judge John T. Raulston presided over the trial, enjoying the publicity brought by loudspeakers and radio coverage. The defense included civil liberties lawyer Arthur Garfield Hayes, a secular Jew, serving as a constitutional anchor. Meanwhile, William Jennings Bryan arrived as a celebrity in a pith helmet, though Scopes noted Bryan ignored his own diabetes by overeating at dinner, revealing a disconnect between his fundamentalist beliefs and medical science. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. The defense suffered a major setback when the judge ruled that their scientific experts could not testify before the jury, forcing them to read affidavits into the record instead. H.L. Mencken, the acerbic journalist who dubbed the event the "Monkey Trial," covered the proceedings. Sympathetic to Darrow and critical of Bryan's "fanatic" views, Mencken influenced public perception, though the jury remained shielded from the scientific evidence the defense hoped to present. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. During a stifling heatwave, the trial moved outdoors where Darrow executed a shocking maneuver by calling prosecutor William Jennings Bryan to the witness stand. Darrow interrogated Bryan on his literal interpretation of the Bible, questioning stories like Jonah and the whale. Bryan faltered, admitting creation "days" might be metaphorical periods, which undermined his fundamentalist position and allowed Darrow to humiliate him regarding his knowledge of history, geology, and world religions. Guest: Brenda Wineapple. The trial ended abruptly with a guilty verdict, denying Bryan his closing speech; he died days later, likely due to heat, stress, and diabetes. John Scopes eventually became a geologist and lived a reclusive life, refusing to exploit his fame. Darrow's later career fluctuated, including a controversial defense in the racially charged Massie trial in Hawaii, before his death in 1938, leaving behind a complex legacy beyond the "Inherit the Wind" narrative.

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Season 6 episode 18 rebecca  j...and therapy - 1_8_26, 10.27 AMThu, Jan 08, 2026 10:40AM • 57:28SUMMARY KEYWORDSemotional metabolization, existential threat, destabilizing changes, social media, information overload, Venezuela crisis, racial identity, colonization, anti-blackness, white privilege, immigration policies, historical context, white supremacy, interdependence, narrative controlSPEAKERSSpeaker 3, Speaker 1, Speaker 2 Jenny  00:30I think something I'm sitting with is the impossibility and the necessity of trying to metabolize what's going on in our bodies. Yeah, and it feels like this double bind where I feel like we need to do it. We need to feel rage and grief and fear and everything else that we feel, and I don't think our nervous systems have evolved to deal with this level of overwhelm and existential threat that we're experiencing, but I do believe our bodies, Yeah, need space to try to do that, yeah,yesterday, I was sitting at, I don't know what's gonna happen to people anyway, Rebecca  01:45Pretty good. I'm okay. It like everyone. I think there's just a lot of crazy like and a lot of shifting to like, things that we could normally depend on as consistent and constant are not constant anymore. And that is like, it's very, 02:11I don't even have a word I want to say, disconcerting, but that's too light. There's, it's very destabilizing to to watch things that were constants and norms just be ripped out from underneath. People on like, every day there's something new that used to be illegal and now it's legal, or vice versa. Every day there's like, this new thing, and then you're having to think, like, how is that going to impact me? Is it going to impact me? How is it going to impact the people that I care about and love? Yeah, Danielle  02:52Jenny and I were just saying, like, maybe we could talk about just what's going on in the world right now, in this moment. And Jenny, I forgot how you were saying it like you were saying that we need to give our bodies space, but we also need to find a way to metabolize it so we can take action. I'm paraphrasing, but yeah, Rebecca  03:30And I would agree, and something else that I was thinking about too is like, what do you metabolize? And how do you metabolize it? Right? Like, in terms of what's happening in Venezuela, I have people that I count very dear to me who feel like it was a very appropriate action, and and people who are very dear to me who feel like absolutely not. That's ridiculous, right? And so, and I'm aware on that particular conversation, I'm not Venezuelan. I'm not I'm very aware that I stand on the outside of that community and I'm looking in on it, going, what do I need to know in order to metabolize this? What do I not know or not understand about the people who are directly impacted by this. And so I, like, I have questions even you know about some of the stuff that I'm watching. Like, what do you metabolize and how do you come to understand it? And in a place where it's very difficult to trust your information sources and know if the source that you're you're have is reliable or accurate or or complete in it, in its detail, it feels those are reasons why, to me, it feels really hard to metabolize things i. Jenny  05:06There's this like rule or like theory thing. I wish I could remember the name of it, but it's essentially like this, this graph that falls off, and it's like, the less you know about something, the more you think you know about it, and the more confident you are. And the more you know, the less confident you are. And it just explains so well our social media moment, and people that read like one headline and then put all these reels together and things talking about it. And on one hand, I'm grateful that we live in an age where we can get information about what's going on. And at the other end, like, you know, I know there, there's somewhere, some professor that's spent 15 years researching this and being like it is. There's so much here that people don't know and understand. And yeah, it feels like the sense of urgency is on purpose. Like that we just have to like it feels like people almost need to stay up to date with everything. But then I also wonder how much of that is whiteness and this idea of like, saviorism and like, if I'm just informed, then I'm doing my duty and like what I need to do and and what does it look like to slow down and be with things that are right in front of US and immediate, without ignoring these larger, transnational and global issues. Yeah, it feels so complicated. Rebecca  06:55I do think the sense of urgency is on purpose. I think that the overwhelming flood of information at this time is not just a function of like social media, but I think, I think the release of things and the timing of things is intentional, I think, and so I think there's a lot of Let's throw this one thing in front of you, and while you everybody's paying attention to that, let's do 10 other things behind closed doors that are equally, if not more, dangerous and harmful than the thing that we're letting You see up front. And so I think some of that is intentional. So I think that that sense of almost flooding is both about social media, yes, but it's also about, I think some of this is intentional, on purpose, flooding Jenny  08:01I think it's wise to ask those questions and try to sort of be paying attention to both what is being said and what is not being said. Rebecca  08:16Yeah, it may makes me think, even as you named Venezuela like my understanding is that that happened either the day of or the day before Congress was supposed to explain why they had redacted the Epstein files, and it just the lengths that they will go to to distract from actually releasing the files and showing the truth about Trump and Epstein and everyone else that was involved is, Speaker 2  08:52well, yeah, yeah, yes. And there's something in me that also wants to say, like it what happened around Venezuela might be 09:32and its natural resources is not a small thing. And then I was reminded today by someone else, this is also not the first time this country has done that. It might be the first time it was televised to the world, but so I don't Yes on the distraction. And I agree with you times 1000 10:09hard about this moment, is that there's all this stuff that's happening that's like absolutely we would be looking at, how do you possibly put any of that in any sense of order that it makes any sense? Because, yes, the FC, I mean, it's horrific. What we're talking about is likely in those files, and if they are that intent on them not coming out, if it's worse than what we already know, that's actually scary. Danielle  10:44Yeah, I agree that this isn't new, because this is it feels like, you know, Ibram X kendi was like, talking about, hey, like, this is what I'm talking about. This is what I'm talking about. And it feels as though, when we talk, I'm just going to back up, there's been this fight over what history are we teaching, you know, like, this is dei history, or this is, you know, critical race history. But in the end, I think we actually agree on the history more than we think. We just don't disagree on where we should take it. Now, what I think is happening is that, and you hear Donald J Trump talk about the Monroe Doctrine, or Vance talk about Manifest Destiny, or Stephen Miller, these guys talk about these historical things. They're talking about the history of colonization, but from a lens of like, this was good, this was not a mistake. Quote, slavery was not necessarily a bad thing. You have like Doug Wilson and these other Christian nationalists like unapologetically saying there was slavery. It's been throughout all time. This was, quote, a benefit people, you know, you have Charlie Kirk saying, you know, in the 1940s like pre civil rights movement, quote, I think he said, quote, black people were happier. He has said these things. So in my, in my mind, yes, they, they're they're saying, like, we don't want X taught in schools. But at the same time, they actually, we actually kind of agree on history. What we don't agree on is what we should do with it, or or who's in com, who's in control. Now, I think what they're saying is, this was history. We liked it, and we don't like the change in it, and we're just gonna keep doing it. I mean, they literally have reinstated the Monroe Doctrine, which is so racist, it's like, and manifest destiny is like, so fucked up to, like, put that back in place, like Rebecca said, I'm not, I'm not negating the murder that just happened in Minneapolis, but this concept that you you can tell who's human and that these resources belong to us, the only person human in the room, then, is the White man. I don't know. Does that make sense? It Rebecca  13:24makes me think of you know, when you talk about sort of identity formation, or racial identity formation, when you are talking about members of the majority culture and their story is, is this manifest destiny? Is this colonization and and the havoc and the harm that that they engaged in against whole people groups in order to gain the power? Do they, sort of, on a human level, metabolize the their membership in that group, and what that group has done the heart the and that it's come by its power by harming other people, right? And so in order to sort of metabolize that you can minimize it and dismiss it as not harmful. So that's the story, that slavery is not a bad thing, and that black people are happier under slavery, right? You can deny it and say that it didn't happen, or if it did, it wasn't me. That's Holocaust deniers, right? That didn't happen. I think what we're looking at now is the choice that some of the powers that be are making in order to metabolize this is to just call what is evil good, to just rewrite. Not the facts, but the meaning that that we draw from those facts. And then to declare, I have the right to do this, and when I do this, it makes me more powerful, it makes me a better leader, and it establishes rules and norms about right versus wrong. I think they're rewriting the meaning making as a way to kind of come to terms with what what they've done. And so I think that statement by the Vice President about you no longer have to apologize for being white in this country is actually about more than an apology. That was that is now, a couple of weeks later, after watching what happened in Venezuela, watching what happened in Minneapolis, watching what they're doing about Greenland, you go like, that's just a statement that we're going to do whatever the heck we want, and you cannot stop us, and we will do it without apology, and we will make you believe. We will craft a narrative that what is wrong is actually right, Jenny  16:43it just, it's, it's wild to me that our last time, or two times ago that we were talking, I was talking about Viola liozo, who was the white woman who drove black people during the bus boycott and was murdered, and the what feels like is being exposed is the precarity of white privilege, like it is Real. It exists, and so long as white people stay within the bounds of what is expected of them, and Renee good did not and I think that that is it Rebecca  17:36exposes what's already true, that I think racism and race are constructs to protect the system, and so if, no matter what your melanin is, if you start to move against the system, you immediately are at risk in a different way, and yet still not in the same way. You know, like there are already plenty of people who have died and been disappeared at the hands of ice. What happened is not new. What is new is that it did happen to a white woman, and it reveals something about where we are in the fulcrum, tip, I think, of of power and what's happening? 18:30because I think the same, like you said, is true during the Civil Rights Movement, right that in there, they're really they're most of their stories we don't know. There's a handful of them that we know about these, these white the people who believe themselves to be white, to quote on history codes, who were allies and who acted on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement and who lost their life because of it. There's probably way more than we know, because, again, those are stories that are not allowed to be told. But it makes me wonder if, if the exposure that you're talking about Jenny is because we were at some sort of tipping point right, in a certain sense, by the time you elect Obama in oh eight, you could make the argument that something of racial equality is beginning to be institutionalized in the country, right? I'm not saying that he solved everything and he was this panacea, but I'm saying when the system, when the people in the system, find a way to bring equilibrium. That's the beginning of something being institutionalized, right? And, and, and did that set off this sort of mass panic in the majority culture to say that that cannot happen? Mm. Yeah, and and, so there is this backlash to make sure that it doesn't happen, right? And to the extent that it's beginning to be institutionalized, that means that some members of the majority culture have begun to agree with the institutionalism of some kind of equilibrium, some type of equity, otherwise you wouldn't see it start to seep into the system itself, right? And it means that there are people who open doors, there are people who left Windows cracked open there, you know, there are, right? I mean, somebody somewhere that had the key to the door, left it unlocked, so, so that, so that a marginalized community could find an entrance, right? And and so it does make me think about, are we? Are we looking at this sort of historical tipping point? And what's being exposed is all these people are the majority culture who are on the wrong side of this argument. We need you to get back in line. I mean, if you read ta nehisi Coates book, eight years in power, he makes a sort of similar argument that that's what happened around reconstruction, right? You have the Emancipation Proclamation being signed, slavery is now illegal in the United States, and there's this period during reconstruction where there's mass sort of accomplishment that happens in the newly freed slave community. And then you see the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the very violent backlash. This is not going to happen. We're not. We're not. And when, when I say what happened during Reconstruction, is like again, the beginning of the institutionalizing of that kind of equilibrium and equity that came out of the Emancipation Proclamation. Right? My kids were part of a genealogy project a few years back, and one of the things that they uncovered is they have a ancestor who was elected to this 22:27and while he was in office, he was instrumental in some of the initial funding that went to Hampton to establish Hampton University, right? And so that's the kind of institutionalized equity that starts to happen in this moment, and then this massive violent backlash, the rise of the Ku Klux, Klan, the black codes. We this is not going to happen. We're not doing this right. And so it does make me wonder if what we're actually looking at the exposure that you're talking about, Jenny is like the beginning of the this sort of equilibrium that could happen when you when things start to get institutionalized and and the powers that be going No way, no How, no dice, not doing that. Danielle  23:21I think that's true, and especially among immigrant communities. I don't know if you know, at the beginning, they were saying, like, we're just going after the violent criminals, right? And this morning, I watched on a news source I really trust, a video of a Somali citizen, a US citizen, but as a Somali background, man pulled over by ice like he's an Uber driver in Minneapolis. And they like, surrounded him, and he's like, wait a minute, I thought you were going after the violent criminals. And they're like, Well, you know, like, Are you a US citizen? He's like, Well, where's your warrant? And they're like, we're checking your license plate. He's like, well, then you know who I am. And then they want him to answer, and they keep provoking and they're like, Oh, you have a video on us. And he's like, Oh, you have a GoPro. He's like, I thought you were just going after violent criminals, you know? And they're like, no, we want to know if you're a US citizen. So in a sense, you know, there was all this rhetoric at the beginning that said, we you have to do it the right way. And I remember at the very beginning feeling afraid for Luis like, oh, man, shit, we did this the right way. I don't know if that's really guarantee. I don't think that's a guarantee of any guarantee of anything. And it's not doing well paying all the bills like it's expensive to become a citizen. It is not easy. Paying all the bills, going to the fingerprints, get in the test, hiring a lawyer, making sure you did it. Like cross, all your T's dot, all your eyes, just to get there and do it. And then they're saying, you know, and then they're saying, Well, prove it. Well, what do you have on your record? Or people showing up after having done all that work? They're showing up to their swearing in to be US citizens. And they're saying, Sorry, nope. And they're like, taken by ice. So you can see what you're saying. Rebecca first, it says violent criminals. Yeah, and you know, you have to have like, an FBI fingerprint background check. You had to do this, like, 10 years ago. Whenever Luis became a citizen, that's like, serious shit, you get your background check. So by the time you're into that swearing in, they know who you are, like you're on record, they know who you are, so they've done all that work. So this is not about being a criminal. This is about there's somebody successful that's possibly not white, that has done all the right things, paid all the fees, has the paperwork, and you don't like them because they're not white. And I think that's directly related to anti blackness. Rebecca  25:40Yeah. Say more about the anti blackness, because we started this conversation talking about Somalis and and Somalis are only the latest target of ice, right? It started with people of Latino descent. So how does that for you come down to anti blackness? Oh, for me, Danielle  26:02I see it as a as a projection. I can't tolerate my feelings about, quote, people of color, but let's be more specific about black people, and I can't tolerate those feelings. And for a time, I think we were in this sliver of time where it was not quite it was still like gaining social momentum to target black folks, but it was still a little bit off limits, like we were still like, oh, it's the criminals. Oh, it's these bad, bad guys. I know it's just the Latinos or, Oh, it's just this, this and this and this. But then if you notice, you start watching these videos, you start noticing they're like, they're grabbing, like, Afro Latinos. They're like, they're like, pushing into that limit, right? Or Puerto Rican folks they've grabbed, who are US citizens? So now you see the hate very clearly moving towards black folks. Like, how does an untrained $50,000 bonus ice agent know if, quote, a black person, quote, you know, if we're talking in the racial construct, has a Somali background or not, right? Right? It actually feels a little bit to me like grooming, right? Rebecca  27:24I I've asked myself this question several times in the past couple of years, like, and if, and I think some of the stuff that I've read like about the Holocaust, similar question, right? Was like, is racism really the thing that is that is driving this or is it something else, like at the at the heart of it, at the end of the day, are you really driven by racialized hate of someone that is different than you? Or is that just the smoke screen that the architects of this moment are using because you'll fall for it, right? And so I do think like you start with the criminals, because that's socially acceptable, and then you move very quickly from the criminals to everybody in that ethnic group, right? And so you see the supreme court now saying that you can stop and frisk somebody on the basis of a surname 28:22or an accent, Rebecca  28:26right? And it feels very much like grooming, because what was socially acceptable was first this very small subset, and now we've expanded to a whole people group, and now we've jumped from one country to another, which is why I think you know MLK is quote about injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. If you're going to come for one subset, you will eventually come for everyone, until the only subset is those in power versus those that aren't. Danielle  29:05Or just, let me just ask you this question then, so you got he's enforcing immigration bans on certain countries. Guess who the where the majority of those countries are located, Africa. Now, why didn't he do that with Latin the Latin America? It's very interesting, Rebecca  29:29and my fear is that it's coming right again. It's socially acceptable in this country to be anti black. Everyone understands that, and then you move from anti black to anti everybody else. And what you say is this, this people group is closer to black than white, and for that reason, they're out too, which is also not a new argument in this country. Jenny  29:58It makes me think of someone you. To this illustration, then I will not get it probably exactly how it is, but it was basically like if I have a room of 10 people, and I need to control those 10 people, I don't need to control those 10 people. I need to make a scapegoat out of three of them, and then the other seven will be afraid to be that scapegoat. And I feel like that is a part of what's going on, where, viscerally, I think that, again, like white bodies know, like it is about race and it's not about race, like race is the justification of hatred and tyrannical control. And I really love the book by Walter Rodney, how Europe underdeveloped Africa. And he traces like what Europe, and I would include the US now has done to the continent of what is so called Africa, and it didn't in the end, that it was used to create race and racism in order to justify exploitation and of people and resources. And so it's like, yeah, I think at the end of the day, it's really not about race, and it is because of the way in which that's been used to marginalize and separate even from the construction of whiteness, was to try to keep lower socioeconomic whites from joining with formerly enslaved black people and indigenous people to revolt against the very few people that actually hold power, like there are way more people that lack power. But if, if those in power can keep everyone siloed and divided and afraid, then they get to stay in power. Danielle  32:01That's where I come back to history. And I feel like, I feel like these guys like JD Vance and Stephen Miller love our history and hate the parts of it that are leading towards liberation. For people, they love that they love the colonization. They talk about it. They've there's a fantasy. They're living in, this fantasy of what could be, of what was for one set of people, and that was white men. And they're enacting their fantasy on us in some ways, you know, I think the question of, you know, Jenny, you always deal with bodies, and, you know, you're kind of known for that shit, I think, I think, just like, but the question of, like, who has a body when, when? Like, when does the body count? You know, like, when does it matter? And it feels like that's where race becomes really useful, 33:09because it gets to say, like, you know, like, that white lady, that's not really, that's not really a murder, you know. Or, you know, George Floyd, like, Nah, that's not really it, you know, just com, and they knew there's so many other lynchings and murders. Like, we can't cover them all. I just think it's just speaks to, like, who, you know, another way to say it'd be like, who's human and who's not. Jenny  33:42And like I sent you. Danielle, there was a post yesterday that someone said, those white lives matter. People seem to be really silent right now. And it just exposes, like the the hypocrisy, even in that and the, I think, the end of not the end, because racial privilege is still there, but, but this moment is exposing something, I think, as you're naming Rebecca, like it feels like this really scary tipping, and maybe hopeful tipping, where it's like there's enough, maybe fear or grasping of power, that there's enough desperation to execute a white woman, which historically and now, I think it says something about where we are in this moment. And I don't know exactly what yet, but I think it's, it's very exposing. Rebecca  34:43Yeah, but my what floats across my mind when you say that is really what has been the narrative or trajectory for white women? Because I think if you start to pull on stories like Emmett Till. 35:01Soul, and you realize what has been done in the name of protecting white women that doesn't actually feel like protection, right, right? And so, so again, you almost have this sense of like white femininity being this pawn, right? And you and you can have this narrative that that sounds like it's protection, sounds like it's value, but really it's not right. I only pull that out and use it when it when it gives me permission to do what I really want to do, right? 35:43And so in this moment. Now, you know, I mean, Emmett Till died because he was accused of looking inappropriately at a white woman, right? More recently, that incident with the the bird watcher in Central Park, right? I mean, his freedom is is under threat because of a white woman and, and then how do we go from that to ice killing a white woman and, and what like you said? What does that actually say about the value of white women, Was it, was it ever really recognized by the powers that be, right? Or is that like a straw man that I put up so I can have permission to do whatever I want? Jenny  36:36Absolutely, yeah, I think the trope of protecting white womanhood. It's it's always given women privilege and power, but that is only in proximity to white men and performing white womanhood. And you know, as you were talking about, the rise of lynchings, it did begin after reconstruction, and it really coincided with the first movie ever shown in theaters, which was Birth of a Nation they showed, yeah, white men in blackface, sexually assaulting a white woman, and the absolute frenzy and justification that that evoked was, we're protecting our white women, which was really always about protecting racial and class privilege, not the sovereignty of the bodies of white women, Rebecca  37:33right, right? And so we're back to your original thought, that what now is exposed, you know, with what happened in Minnesota is it's not really about protecting her and she's expendable. She is, quote, a domestic terrorist 37:56now so that we can justify what we're doing, Jenny  38:15which I think subconsciously at least white bodies have always known like there is something of I am safe and I am protected and I am privileged, so long as I keep performing whiteness. Rebecca  38:39I mean, the thing that scares me about that moment is that now we've gone Danielle from the criminals to the brown skinned citizens to white women who can be reclassified and recast as Domestic Terrorists if you don't toe the line, right? They're coming for everybody, because, because now we have a new category of people that ice has permission to go after, right? And again, it reminds me, if you look back at the black codes, which, again, got established during that same time period as you're talking about Birth of a Nation, Jenny, it became illegal for black people to do a whole host of things, to congregate, to read all kinds of things, right to vote, and in some states, it became illegal for white people to assist them in accomplishing any of those tasks. I Yeah, Danielle  39:53I mean, it's just the obliteration of humanity like the. Literal like, let me any humanity that can you can connect with your neighbor on let me take that away. Let me make it illegal for you to have that human share point with your neighbor. I really, that really struck me. I think it was talking about the the Minnesota mayor saying they're trying to get you to see your neighbor as like, less than human. He's like, don't fall for it. Don't fall for it. And I agree, like, we can't fall for it. I'm mean, it's like that. I Jenny  40:45don't know if you know that famous quote from Nazi Germany that was, like, they came for the Jews. And I didn't say anything because I wasn't a Jew. They, you know? And we've seen this, and we've all grown up with this, and the fact that so many people collectively have been like, well, you know, I'm not a criminal, well, I'm not an immigrant, well, I'm not, and it's like it this beast is coming for everybody, Rebecca  41:13yeah, well, and I, you know, I think That as long as we have this notion of individualism that I only have to look out for me and mine, and it doesn't matter what happens to anyone else. That is allowed the dynamic that you're talking about Jenny is allowed to flourish and until we come to some sense of interdependence until we come to some sense of the value of the person sitting next to me, and until we come to some sense of, if it isn't well with them, it cannot possibly be well with me. That sort of sense of, Well, I'm not a criminal, I'm not a Jew, so I don't have to worry about it is gonna flourish. 42:09Yesterday, I jumped42:12on Facebook for a second, and somebody that I would consider a dear friend had a lengthy Facebook post about how in favor he was of the President's actions in Venezuela, and most of his rationale was how this person, this dictator, was such a horrible person and did all of these horrible things. And my first reaction was, like, very visceral. I don't, I can't even finish this post like, I just, I mean, this is very visceral, like, and, and I don't want to talk to you anymore, and I'm not sure that our 20 plus years of friendship is sufficient to overcome how, how viscerally I am against the viewpoint that you just articulated, and I find myself, you know, a day later, beginning to wonder, Where is there some value in his perspective as a Latino man, what, what is his experience like that, that he feels so strongly about the viewpoint that he feels? And I'm not saying that he's right. I'm saying that if we don't learn to pause for a second and try to sit in the shoes of the other person before dismissing their value as a human. We will forever be stuck in the loop that we're in, right? I don't you know, I don't know that I will change my opinion about how much as an American, I have problems with the US president, snatching another leader and stealing the resources of their country. But I'm trying to find the capacity to hear from a man of Latino descent the harm that has been done to the people of Venezuela under this dictator, right? And I have to make myself push past that visceral reaction and try to hear something of what he's saying. And I would hope that he would do the same. I. Danielle  45:06I don't have words for it. You know, it just feels so deep, like it feels like somewhere deep inside the dissonance and also the want to understand, I think we're all being called, you know, Rebecca, this moment is, you know, this government, this moment, the violence, it's, it's, it's extracting our ability to stay with people like and it's such a high cost to stay with people. And I get that, I'm not saying it isn't, but I think what you're talking about is really important. Rebecca  45:57like you said, Jenny earlier, when you were talking about like, the more you know about something, the less confident you are, right? It's like, I can name, I am not Venezuelan, right? I can name I don't even think I know anybody who's from Venezuela, and if I do, I haven't taken the time to learn that you're actually from Venezuela, right, right? And I don't know anything about the history or culture of that country or the dictator that that was taken out of power. But I have seen, I can see in my friend's Facebook post that that's, it's a very painful history that he feels very strongly about. I so mostly that makes me as a black American, pause on how, on how much I want To dismiss his perspective because it's different than mine. Jenny  47:22I yeah, it also makes me think of how we're so conditioned to think in binaries and like, can there be space to hold the impossible both and where it's like, who am I to say whether or not people feel and are liberated or not in another country? I guess time will tell to see what happens. But for those that are Venezuelan and that are celebrating the removal of Maduro like can that coexist with the dangerous precedent of kidnapping a leader of a foreign country and starting immediately to steal their resources and and how do we Do this impossible dance of holding how complex these these experiences are that we're trying to navigate Rebecca  48:29and to self declare on national TV that like you're the self appointed leader of the country until, until whenever right some arbitrary line that you have drawn that you will undoubtedly change six times. I mean the danger of that precedent. It is I don't have vocabulary for how problematic that is. Danielle  48:57I don't mean to laugh, but if you didn't believe in white supremacy before, I would be giving you a lesson, and this is how it works, and it's awesome. Jenny  49:10And like you're saying, Rebecca, like I love books are coming to me today. There's another one called How to hide an empire and it Chase. It tracks from western expansion in what is now known as the United States to imperialism in the Philippines, in Puerto Rico, like in all of these places where we have established Dominion as a nation, as an empire, and what feels new is how televised and public this is, that people are being forced to confront it, hopefully in a different way, and maybe there can be more of this collective like way to psych it. This isn't what I'm supporting, because. I think for so long, this two party system that we've been force fed has a lot of difference when it comes to internal politics in the United States, but when it comes to transnational and international politics, it's been pretty much very similar for Democrats and Republicans in terms of what our nation is willing to do to other nations that we are conditioned not to think about. And so I think there's a hope. There's a desire for a hope for me to be like, Okay, can we see these other nations as humans and what the US has always done since the beginning. Rebecca  50:45you know, there's what actually happened, and then there's the history book story that we tell about what happened, right? And it like, it like what Danielle said. It appears to me that white supremacy is just blatantly at play, right? Like they're not hiding it at all. They're literally telling you, I can walk I can walk into another country, kidnap its leader and steal its resources. And I will tell you, that's what I'm doing. I will show you video footage of me intercepting oil tankers. I right like, and I will televise the time, place and location of my meeting with all the oil executives to get the oil um and and I'd like to be able to say that that is a new moment in history, and that what feels different is that we've never been so blatant about it, but I'm not sure that's true, right? I would love to have a time machine and be able to go back in some other point in time in American history and find out what they printed on the front page of the newspaper while they were stealing Africans from Africa or all the other while they were committing genocide against all the Native American tribes and all the other places and countries and people groups that the United States has basically taken their people and their resources. And so I don't know if this is different. I don't because, because the history books that I read would suggest that it is that right, but I don't. You can't always trust the narrative that we've been taught. Right? When I think there's an African proverb but as long as history is told by the lion, it will always favor the lion. Jenny  52:55I love you. Really good to be with you. Love you. Bye. Bye. See You Bio: Jenny - Co-Host Podcast (er):I am Jenny! (She/Her) MACP, LMHCI am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, Certified Yoga Teacher, and an Approved Supervisor in the state of Washington.I have spent over a decade researching the ways in which the body can heal from trauma through movement and connection. I have come to see that our bodies know what they need. By approaching our body with curiosity we can begin to listen to the innate wisdom our body has to teach us. And that is where the magic happens!I was raised within fundamentalist Christianity. I have been, and am still on my own journey of healing from religious trauma and religious sexual shame (as well as consistently engaging my entanglement with white saviorism). I am a white, straight, able-bodied, cis woman. I recognize the power and privilege this affords me socially, and I am committed to understanding my bias' and privilege in the work that I do. I am LGBTQIA+ affirming and actively engage critical race theory and consultation to see a better way forward that honors all bodies of various sizes, races, ability, religion, gender, and sexuality.I am immensely grateful for the teachers, healers, therapists, and friends (and of course my husband and dog!) for the healing I have been offered. I strive to pay it forward with my clients and students. Few things make me happier than seeing people live freely in their bodies from the inside out!Rebecca A. Wheeler Walston, J.D., Master of Arts in CounselingEmail: asolidfoundationcoaching@gmail.comPhone:  +1.5104686137Website: Rebuildingmyfoundation.comI have been doing story work for nearly a decade. I earned a Master of Arts in Counseling from Reformed Theological Seminary and trained in story work at The Allender Center at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. I have served as a story facilitator and trainer at both The Allender Center and the Art of Living Counseling Center. I currently see clients for one-on-one story coaching and work as a speaker and facilitator with Hope & Anchor, an initiative of The Impact Movement, Inc., bringing the power of story work to college students.By all accounts, I should not be the person that I am today. I should not have survived the difficulties and the struggles that I have faced. At best, I should be beaten down by life‘s struggles, perhaps bitter. I should have given in and given up long ago. But I was invited to do the good work of (re)building a solid foundation. More than once in my life, I have witnessed God send someone my way at just the right moment to help me understand my own story, and to find the strength to step away from the seemingly inevitable ending of living life in defeat. More than once I have been invited and challenged to find the resilience that lies within me to overcome the difficult moment. To trust in the goodness and the power of a kind gesture. What follows is a snapshot of a pivotal invitation to trust the kindness of another in my own story. May it invite you to receive to the pivotal invitation of kindness in your own story. Listen with me…Kitsap County & Washington State Crisis and Mental Health ResourcesIf you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 911.This resource list provides crisis and mental health contacts for Kitsap County and across Washington State.Kitsap County / Local ResourcesResourceContact InfoWhat They OfferSalish Regional Crisis Line / Kitsap Mental Health 24/7 Crisis Call LinePhone: 1‑888‑910‑0416Website: https://www.kitsapmentalhealth.org/crisis-24-7-services/24/7 emotional support for suicide or mental health crises; mobile crisis outreach; connection to services.KMHS Youth Mobile Crisis Outreach TeamEmergencies via Salish Crisis Line: 1‑888‑910‑0416Website: https://sync.salishbehavioralhealth.org/youth-mobile-crisis-outreach-team/Crisis outreach for minors and youth experiencing behavioral health emergencies.Kitsap Mental Health Services (KMHS)Main: 360‑373‑5031; Toll‑free: 888‑816‑0488; TDD: 360‑478‑2715Website: https://www.kitsapmentalhealth.org/crisis-24-7-services/Outpatient, inpatient, crisis triage, substance use treatment, stabilization, behavioral health services.Kitsap County Suicide Prevention / “Need Help Now”Call the Salish Regional Crisis Line at 1‑888‑910‑0416Website: https://www.kitsap.gov/hs/Pages/Suicide-Prevention-Website.aspx24/7/365 emotional support; connects people to resources; suicide prevention assistance.Crisis Clinic of the PeninsulasPhone: 360‑479‑3033 or 1‑800‑843‑4793Website: https://www.bainbridgewa.gov/607/Mental-Health-ResourcesLocal crisis intervention services, referrals, and emotional support.NAMI Kitsap CountyWebsite: https://namikitsap.org/Peer support groups, education, and resources for individuals and families affected by mental illness.Statewide & National Crisis ResourcesResourceContact InfoWhat They Offer988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (WA‑988)Call or text 988; Website: https://wa988.org/Free, 24/7 support for suicidal thoughts, emotional distress, relationship problems, and substance concerns.Washington Recovery Help Line1‑866‑789‑1511Website: https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/injury-and-violence-prevention/suicide-prevention/hotline-text-and-chat-resourcesHelp for mental health, substance use, and problem gambling; 24/7 statewide support.WA Warm Line877‑500‑9276Website: https://www.crisisconnections.org/wa-warm-line/Peer-support line for emotional or mental health distress; support outside of crisis moments.Native & Strong Crisis LifelineDial 988 then press 4Website: https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/injury-and-violence-prevention/suicide-prevention/hotline-text-and-chat-resourcesCulturally relevant crisis counseling by Indigenous counselors.Additional Helpful Tools & Tips• Behavioral Health Services Access: Request assessments and access to outpatient, residential, or inpatient care through the Salish Behavioral Health Organization. Website: https://www.kitsap.gov/hs/Pages/SBHO-Get-Behaviroal-Health-Services.aspx• Deaf / Hard of Hearing: Use your preferred relay service (for example dial 711 then the appropriate number) to access crisis services.• Warning Signs & Risk Factors: If someone is talking about harming themselves, giving away possessions, expressing hopelessness, or showing extreme behavior changes, contact crisis resources immediately.Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.Rebecca A. Wheeler Walston, J.D., Master of Arts in CounselingEmail: asolidfoundationcoaching@gmail.comPhone:  +1.5104686137Website: Rebuildingmyfoundation.comI have been doing story work for nearly a decade. I earned a Master of Arts in Counseling from Reformed Theological Seminary and trained in story work at The Allender Center at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. I have served as a story facilitator and trainer at both The Allender Center and the Art of Living Counseling Center. I currently see clients for one-on-one story coaching and work as a speaker and facilitator with Hope & Anchor, an initiative of The Impact Movement, Inc., bringing the power of story work to college students.By all accounts, I should not be the person that I am today. I should not have survived the difficulties and the struggles that I have faced. At best, I should be beaten down by life‘s struggles, perhaps bitter. I should have given in and given up long ago. But I was invited to do the good work of (re)building a solid foundation. More than once in my life, I have witnessed God send someone my way at just the right moment to help me understand my own story, and to find the strength to step away from the seemingly inevitable ending of living life in defeat. More than once I have been invited and challenged to find the resilience that lies within me to overcome the difficult moment. To trust in the goodness and the power of a kind gesture. What follows is a snapshot of a pivotal invitation to trust the kindness of another in my own story. May it invite you to receive to the pivotal invitation of kindness in your own story. Listen with me… Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that. Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger PictureTrump placed tariffs on many nations, the Asian nation exports are surging, even with the tariffs. More money for the people. Fuel prices are below $2 in many states. Trump has cut 646 regulations.Trump is using the Jacksonian Pivot to bring down the [CB] and go back to the constitution. The [DS] is losing it money laundering system. They are having a difficult time funding their operations. Trump is continually putting the squeeze on the [DS] and each nation run by dictators is going to fall one by one. Trump gave the [DS] 8 months to comply with his EO. He brought the NG into their states, they forced them out. He gave them a chance but they decided to escalate the situation. Next move is POTUS. Economy (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2008258196322856968?s=20   all-time high. This is despite US tariffs which were initially set at to 49%, but later negotiated down to ~20%. At the same time, Chinese exports to the US plunged -40% YoY in Q3 2025. This comes as the region has a massive cost advantage over US and European manufacturing, which ranges from 20% to 100%, even after tariffs. Companies use Southeast Asian economies as alternative export bases to avoid China’s 37% reciprocal tariff. As a result, the amount of trade rerouting from China hit a record $23.7 billion in September. US trade flows are shifting sharply amid tariffs. https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/2008327708200104042?s=20 https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/2008516399564509382?s=20  https://twitter.com/DrJStrategy/status/2008306299235189133?s=20   and a decisive shift of policy emphasis toward productive capital and economic sovereignty rather than financial engineering, Trump has reoriented the engines of growth toward productive capital, investment, industry, and national capacity. Anchored by the Trump Corollary, asserting a sovereign, American‑led Western Hemisphere and demonstrated in both the flawless military operation in Venezuela and the broader regime‑pressure strategy, this doctrine is not theater but an integrated fusion of economic, security, and hemispheric power. These changes are as profound in their structural implications as the original Jacksonian pivot, and those who assume Trump is a merely performative politician and strategist are therefore sorely mistaken, confusing a disruptive style with a coherent focused project to realign America's coalition, its economic model, and its role in the world. Political/Rights https://twitter.com/KatieMiller/status/2008286018722562351?s=20 https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/2008263492030349618?s=20 Hilton Axes Hotel From Their Systems After Video Shows Them Continuing to Ban DHS and ICE Agents  https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2008497245826556404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008497245826556404%7Ctwgr%5E65c50b3797a2e502ba8c026a05c290955554706a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Frusty-weiss%2F2026%2F01%2F06%2Fhilton-axes-hotel-from-their-systems-after-video-shows-them-continuing-to-ban-dhs-and-ice-agents-n2197811 Less than two hours after the video had been uploaded to X, Hilton issued another statement saying they were dropping that particular hotel from their list of franchisees and accusing ownership of lying to them about making corrections to their policy. https://twitter.com/HiltonNewsroom/status/2008522493171298503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008522493171298503%7Ctwgr%5E65c50b3797a2e502ba8c026a05c290955554706a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Frusty-weiss%2F2026%2F01%2F06%2Fhilton-axes-hotel-from-their-systems-after-video-shows-them-continuing-to-ban-dhs-and-ice-agents-n2197811 Source: redstate.com https://twitter.com/amuse/status/2008256013162410201?s=20   mandatory detention without bond hearings. Judges opposing the move admitted the goal is to promote self-deportation rather than extended courtroom battles. Conservatives say the numbers reveal a coordinated judicial campaign to override Trump’s immigration policy. SCOTUS has yet to rule on the matter. DOGE Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board Votes to Dissolve Organization in Act of Responsible Stewardship to Protect the Future of Public Media   The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress to steward the federal government's investment in public broadcasting, announced today that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization after 58 years of service to the American public. The decision follows Congress's rescission of all of CPB's federal funding and comes after sustained political attacks that made it impossible for CPB to continue operating as the Public Broadcasting Act intended. Source:  cpb.org Geopolitical https://twitter.com/Object_Zero_/status/2008524560891588691?s=20   flight path (ballistic or powered) from Kola to anywhere on the lower 48, then everything goes over Greenland. Greenland is the theatre where any strategic exchange between Washington and Moscow is contested. If you want to intercept a ballistic missile, the best point to do so is at the apogee, at the top of the flight path. The shortest route for an interceptor to get to an apogee is from directly below the apogee. That's where Greenland is. So, without stating what should happen here, this is **why** the Trump administration says they **need** Greenland for national security. The other thing that is happening is that the Northern Passage through the Arctic is opening up, and soon there will be Chinese cargo ships sailing through the Arctic to Rotterdam. It's faster than the Suez and the ships aren't limited to Suezmax size so China and EU trade is going to accelerate a lot. This means Chinese submarines will also be venturing under the Arctic into the Northern Atlantic, IF THEY AREN'T ALREADY DOING SO. Hence, the North East coast of Greenland serves not 1 but 2 critical strategic security objectives of US national security. If this wasn't clear to you, please understand that the Mercator global map projection is for children and journalists only. It is not a useful guide to where any countries or territories actually are in the real world that we live in. No self respecting adult should be using Mercator for their worldview. Anyone saying “there must be some other secret reason for Trump being interested in Greenland” is a certified ignoramus. https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/2008414070425206927?s=20  permission from the Ministry of Defense. “We want to clarify that what happened in downtown Caracas was because some drones flew over without permission and the police fired dissuasive shots. No confrontation took place. The whole country is in total tranquility,” said a Spokesman for the Information Ministry. https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/2008420269480694261?s=20  Miraflores Presidential Palace.   Seems like a failed coup attempt https://twitter.com/jackprandelli/status/2008298246675021881?s=20   offshore oil, creating a massive geopolitical risk. The most immediate outcome in capture of Maduro is to neutralize this threat and secure the operating companies stakes in Guyana, as well as Western Hemisphere’s energy security. By stabilizing Guyana’s production, which is set to hit 1.7 million barrels per day, the intervention guarantees way more oil flow in near term than reviving Venezuela’s aged infrastructure and heavy sour oil. This move protects billions in U.S. investment and positions Guyana producers as the ultimate winners. https://twitter.com/Rasmussen_Poll/status/2008448254095012088?s=20 https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/2008591197728813564?s=20  Mass Protests Enter 9th Straight Day in Iran — Regime Accused of Killing Young Woman and Multiple Peaceful Protesters as Officials Deny Responsibility — Brave 11-Year-Old Iranian Boy Calls on Nation: “Take to the Streets! We Have Nothing to Lose!” (VIDEO)  Protests against Iran's murderous Islamic regime continued across the country for a ninth straight day over the weekend, as nationwide unrest intensifies and the government struggles to maintain control. Demonstrations have now spread to multiple cities throughout Iran, with citizens openly defying the Islamic Republic and targeting its symbols of power. The latest wave of protests was initially sparked by the collapse of Iran's currency, further devastating an already-crippled economy and pushing ordinary Iranians to the brink. Source: thegatewaypundit.com https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2008537318035173629?s=20 https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2008532051331526713?s=20 https://twitter.com/infantrydort/status/2008501122902774238?s=20   when reminded that teeth still exist. They insist the world runs on rules now and that borders are sacred. Also that true power has been replaced by paperwork. This belief is not moral in the least. It's f*****g archaeological. They live inside institutions built by violence, defended by men they no longer understand, and guaranteed by forces they refuse to acknowledge. Like tourists wandering a fortress, they admire the stonework while mocking the idea of a siege. They confuse order with nature. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Then blame the person that reminds them of this. Civilization is not the default state of humanity. It is an achievement that is temporary, fragile, and expensive. It exists only where force once cleared the ground and still quietly patrols the perimeter. A lion does not debate the ethics of hunger. Neither does a starving empire. History is not a morality play, it is a pressure test. When pressure rises, abstractions collapse first. Laws follow power; they do NOT precede it. Property exists only where someone can prevent it from being taken. Sovereignty is not declared, it is enforced. The modern West outsourced this enforcement, then forgot the invoice existed. So when someone points out uncomfortable realities (whether about Greenland, Venezuela, or the broader balance of power) they respond with ritual incantations: “You can't do that.” “That's wrong.” “That's against the rules.” As if the rules themselves are armed. As if history paused because we asked nicely. This is how empires fall. Not from invasion alone, but from conceptual rot. From mistaking a long season of safety for a permanent condition. From believing lethality is immoral instead of foundational. Every civilization that forgot how violence works eventually relearned it the hard way. The conquerors did not arrive because they were monsters; they arrived because their victims could no longer imagine them. The tragedy is not that power still exists. The tragedy is that so many have forgotten it does. Idk who needs to hear this but civilization is a garden grown atop a graveyard. Ignore the soil, and someone else will plant something far less gentle. Hate me for being the messenger and asking the hard questions about conquest if you want. You're just wasting your time. War/Peace Zelenskyy Announces the Appointment of Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland as Economic Advisor  Chrystia Freeland was the former lead of the Canadian trade delegation when Trudeau realized he needed to try and offset the economic damage within the renegotiated NAFTA agreement known as the USMCA. Freeland was also the lead attack agent behind the debanking effort against Canadian truckers who opposed the vaccine mandate. In addition to holding Ukraine roots, the ideology of Chrystia Freeland as a multinational globalist and promoter for the World Economic Forum's ‘new world order' is well documented.    given the recent revelations about billions of laundered aid funds being skimmed by corrupt members of the Ukraine government, we can only imagine how much of the recovery funds would be apportioned to maintaining the life of indulgence the political leaders expect. In response to the lucrative “voluntary” appointment, Chrystia Freeland has announced her resignation from Canadian government in order to avoid any conflict of interest as the skimming is organized. Source: theconservativetreehouse.com https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/2008618653500273072?s=20 https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/2008610869924757613?s=20 this aligns with Trump’s stated approach, where Europe takes a leading role in postwar security but with American support to ensure durability—such as the proposed 15-year (or potentially longer) guarantees discussed in recent talks. The “Coalition of the Willing” (including the UK, France, Germany, and others) is coordinating these pledges to reassure Kyiv, but the framework explicitly ties into U.S.-backed elements like ceasefire verification and long-term armaments.  Russia has not yet shown willingness to compromise on core demands, so the deal’s success remains uncertain, but this step advances the security pillar of the overall plan. Medical/False Flags https://twitter.com/DerrickEvans4WV/status/2008435766742179996?s=20    dangerous diseases. Parents can still choose to give their children all of the Vaccinations, if they wish, and they will still be covered by insurance. However, this updated Schedule finally aligns the United States with other Developed Nations around the World. Congratulations to HHS Secretary Bobby Kennedy, CDC Acting Director Jim O'Neil, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, CMS Administrator Dr. Oz, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, and all of the Medical Experts and Professionals who worked very hard to make this happen. Many Americans, especially the “MAHA Moms,” have been praying for these COMMON SENSE reforms for many years. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [DS] Agenda https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2008416829404746084?s=20  https://twitter.com/WeTheMedia17/status/2008558203077095579?s=20 President Trump's Plan https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/2008278499153637883?s=20   who tried to kill Justice Kavanaugh at his family home in Maryland. Read: https://twitter.com/mirandadevine/status/2008312587197497804?s=20 https://twitter.com/PubliusDefectus/status/2008542355838955625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008542355838955625%7Ctwgr%5E08a8ea4b3726984aaeb1e460fafe90ec5a25b84f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2026%2F01%2Fhillary-clinton-launches-attack-trump-january-6%2F Developing: Lt. Michael Byrd Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Dead on Jan. 6, 2021 in Cold Blood, Runs an ‘Unaccredited' Day-Care Center in Maryland at His Home and Has Pocketed $190 Million in HHS Funds   Captain Michael Byrd and his home daycare in Maryland. In one of his autopen's last acts before Joe Biden left office was to pardon Capt. Mike Byrd, the DC officer who shot and killed January 6 protester Ashli Babbitt in cold blood during the protests on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.  Paul Sperry discovered recently and posted on Tuesday that Former Lt., now Captain Mike Byrd, has been running an unaccredited day-care center with his wife in their Maryland home since 2008. That is nearly 17 years! The Byrds have received $190 million in this HHS day-care scheme. Via Paul Sperry. Via Karli Bonne at Midnight Rider: https://twitter.com/PattieRose20/status/2008547480431218991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008547480431218991%7Ctwgr%5Ec607b3d9ed0b3fbdb6e390fdfadc416d9a45a379%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F%3Fp%3D1506321 Source: thegatewaypundit.com The White House has published a page revealing the full TRUE story of January 6 — before, during, and after. It includes: – Video and evidence showing Nancy Pelosi's involvement – A complete, detailed timeline of events – A tribute to those who died on or because of J6 A full investigation into Nancy Pelosi and everyone involved is now essential. You can view the page here: https://whitehouse.gov/j6/  https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/2008569594550895005?s=20 EKO Put This Out April 28, 2025. President Trump signs Executive Order 14287 in the Oval Office. The title reads like standard bureaucracy: “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens.” But in the third paragraph, a single phrase changes everything: Sanctuary jurisdictions are engaging in “a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law.” Insurrection. The exact statutory term from 10 U.S.C. §§ 332-333 . The language that unlocks the Insurrection Act of 1807. Georgetown Law professor Martin Lederman publishes analysis within days. The executive order mirrors Section 334 requirements. The formal proclamation to disperse before military deployment. It designates unlawful actors, issues formal warning, establishes consequences. Governors dismiss it as political theater. Constitutional attorneys recognize something else. The proclamation was already issued. Trump just didn't announce it as such. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK January 20, 2025. Inauguration Day. Hours after taking the oath, Trump issues Proclamation 10886 declaring a national emergency at the southern border. Section 6(b) requires a joint report within 90 days on whether to invoke the Insurrection Act. The deadline falls April 20, 2025. Eight days later comes Executive Order 14287 . National emergency declaration establishes crisis conditions. The 90-day clock forces formal evaluation. The executive order provides the legal predicate. Section 334 of the Insurrection Act mandates the president issue a proclamation ordering insurgents to disperse before deploying military force. April 28 order satisfies every requirement. It names the actors. Describes their unlawful conduct. Warns of consequences. Grants opportunity to comply. Governors treated it as negotiation leverage. It was legal notification. The trap locked in April 2025. Everything since has been documentation. THE TESTING PHASE Throughout 2025, the administration attempts standard enforcement. National Guard deployments under existing authority. October 4, 2025 . Trump federalizes 300 Illinois National Guard members to protect ICE personnel in Chicago. Governor J.B. Pritzker files immediate legal challenge. Federal courts block the deployment. Posse Comitatus restricts military involvement in domestic law enforcement. November 2025 . Portland judge issues permanent injunction against Guard deployment in Oregon. December 23, 2025 . The Supreme Court denies emergency relief in Trump v. Illinois. Justice Kavanaugh files a brief concurrence with a consequential footnote: “One apparent ramification of the Court's opinion is that it could cause the President to use the U.S. military more than the National Guard.” Northwestern Law professor Paul Gowder decodes the signal : “This is basically an invitation for Trump to go straight to the Insurrection Act next time.” The courts established ordinary measures cannot succeed when states organize systematic resistance. They certified that regular law enforcement has become impracticable. They documented the exact threshold Section 332 requires. The founders designed a system that assumed conflict between federal and state authority. For decades, that friction was suppressed. Emergency powers normalized after 9/11, federal agencies expanded into state domains, courts deferred to administrative expertise. The Guard deployment battles weren't system failure. They were constitutional gravity reasserting itself. Courts blocking deployments under Posse Comitatus didn't weaken Trump's position. They certified that ordinary measures had become impracticable, crossing Section 332's threshold. December 31, 2025 . Trump announces Guard withdrawal from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland via Truth Social. Governor Newsom celebrates: “President Trump has finally admitted defeat.” But the machine's interpretation misreads strategic repositioning as retreat. You cannot claim ordinary measures have been exhausted if contested forces remain deployed. Pull back. Let obstruction resume unchecked. Document the refusal. Then demonstrate what unilateral executive action looks like when constitutional authority aligns. THE DEMONSTRATION Trump v. United States . THE HIDDEN NETWORKS Intelligence sources describe what the roundups since fall 2025 actually target. Embedded cartel operatives running fentanyl distribution chains under state-level protection. The riots following military arrests aren't organic resistance. They're funded backlash from criminal enterprises losing billions. Pre-staged materials appear at protest sites. Simultaneous actions coordinate across jurisdictions. The coordination runs deeper. Federal employee networks across multiple agencies held Zoom training sessions in early 2025. Officials with verified government IDs discussed “non-cooperation as non-violent direct action,” the 3.5% rule for governmental collapse, and infrastructure sabotage through coordinated sick calls. They planned to make federal law enforcement impracticable. The exact language Section 332 requires. Sanctuary policies exist because cartel operations generate billions flowing through state systems. Governors sit on nonprofit boards receiving federal grants. Those nonprofits contract back to state agencies, cycling federal dollars through “charitable” organizations. Cartel cash launders through these same construction and real estate networks. When Trump's operations extract high-value targets, they disrupt the business model. The Machine defends itself through coordinated obstruction designed to make federal enforcement impracticable. This transcends immigration policy. This tests whether states can capture governance for criminal enterprises and nullify federal supremacy. THE LINCOLN PARALLEL Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation confounded supporters and critics alike. Abolitionists expected moral thunder. Instead they received dry legalese about “military necessity” and “war powers.” The document deliberately avoided the word “freedom.” It specified which states, parishes, counties. It exempted border states still in the Union. Constitutional historians recognize the genius. Lincoln wasn't making a moral proclamation. He was establishing irreversible legal predicate under war powers. Once issued, even Northern defeat couldn't fully restore slavery. The proclamation made restoration of the old order structurally impossible. Trump's April 28 order follows identical construction. Critics expected immigration rhetoric. Instead: technical language about “unlawful insurrection” and “federal supremacy.” Specified sanctuary jurisdictions, formal notification procedures, funding suspensions. Avoided inflammatory language. Constitutional attorneys recognize the structure. Irreversible legal predicate under insurrection powers. Even political defeat cannot fully restore sanctuary authority. States would have to prove they're not in systematic insurrection. Both presidents disguised constitutional warfare as administrative procedure. THE COMPLETE RECORD When you review the eight-month timeline you recognize what most ‘experts' miss. The April 28 EO satisfied every Section 334 requirement. It designated sanctuary conduct as insurrection. It provided formal notification. It established consequences. It granted eight months to comply. Compliance never arrived. California and New York passed laws shielding criminal networks. Illinois officials threatened to prosecute ICE agents. Multiple states coordinated legal defenses against federal authority. Courts blocked every standard enforcement attempt. They certified that ordinary measures have become impracticable. Every statutory requirement checks complete: Formal proclamation warning insurgents to disperse: April 28, 2025 Executive Order 14287 Extended opportunity to comply: Eight months from April to December 2025 Documented systematic multi-state obstruction: Sanctuary laws, prosecution threats, coordinated resistance Exhausted ordinary enforcement measures: Guard deployments blocked by federal courts Judicial certification of impracticability: Supreme Court ruling with Kavanaugh footnote The legal architecture stands finished. The predicate has been established. Only the final triggering event remains. Thomas Jefferson signed the Insurrection Act into law on March 3, 1807 . He understood executive authority: forge the instrument ahead of the storm, then await the conditions that justify its use. Abraham Lincoln used it to preserve the Union when eleven states organized systematic resistance. Ulysses S. Grant invoked it to shatter the Ku Klux Klan when Southern governments refused to protect Black citizens. Dwight Eisenhower deployed federal troops to enforce Brown v. Board when Arkansas chose defiance. Each invocation followed the same pattern. Local authorities refuse to enforce federal law. The president issues formal proclamation. Forces deploy when resistance continues. The current situation exceeds every historical precedent in scale and coordination. Multiple state governments coordinating systematic obstruction. Sanctuary jurisdictions spanning dozens of cities. Criminal enterprises funding the resistance through captured state institutions. The April proclamation gave them eight months to stand down. They chose escalation. THE COUNTDOWN The January 4 statement confirms what the legal timeline already established. Prerequisites met. Constitutional threshold crossed and judicially certified. The operational timeline is active. The next escalation triggers the formal dispersal order. Section 334 requires the president issue proclamation ordering insurgents to “disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes” before deploying military force. That's the legal tripwire. Once issued, if obstruction persists after the compliance window closes, federal troops can enforce federal law. Active duty forces under the Insurrection Act. Constitutional. Unreviewable. The forces won't conduct door-to-door immigration raids. They'll provide security perimeters while federal law enforcement executes targeted operations against high-value assets. Operatives. Trafficking nodes. Criminal infrastructure. Targeting oath-bound officials elected and appointed, as well as federal employees who swore to uphold federal law and chose insurrection instead. THE RESTORATION Sanctuary jurisdictions received explicit insurrection warnings last spring. More than half a year to comply. Every olive branch rejected. Courts blocked ordinary enforcement repeatedly, certifying impracticability. The Venezuela op demonstrated unilateral resolve. Yesterday's statement activated the operational sequence. Pattern recognized. Machine is exposed. Evidence is complete. What remains is execution. They're just waiting to hear it tick. The most powerful weapon restrains until every prerequisite aligns. Until mercy extends fully and meets systematic rejection. Until the constitutional framework demands its use. Every prerequisite has aligned. Mercy has been extended and rejected. The framework demands its use. Revolution destroys. Reversion restores. The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves. The Insurrection Proclamation frees a republic.  https://twitter.com/EkoLovesYou/status/2008304655156342936?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2008597603412308341?s=20 (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

The hot dogs are sizzling, the fireworks are firing, and July 1991 cover model Rochelle is telling Sassy George Washington never meant shit to her and that HER Independence Day is January 1, the day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. HELL YEAH! ...There is more to the issue, but it doesn't really compare. One fashion story is in gray; the other is red, white, blue, and American flag print for the holiday Rochelle shan't be celebrating. Sassy also wants to help you lighten up your makeup; turn a t-shirt and a skirt into an ugly and ill-fitting dress; and look ahead to fall -- nooooOOOOO! -- and the plaids and suedes they think you'll be rocking for back to school. Light a firework and listen! QUICK LINKS

When Kentucky in 1792 became a state, it had a choice; keep slavery or abolish it. University of Kentucky professor Melanie Goan teaches a class on the state's relationship with the institution of slavery until the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

* On the 150th Anniversary of the Proclamation, the Surprising Truth: With yesterday (January 1st, 2023) being the 160th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, we are going back to a broadcast classic where Bob Enyart and guest Jamie Schofield analyze the meaning and actual intent of that sad document. For this was no abolitionist policy (as a contemporaneous report in the Rocky Mountain News makes clear), but an example of moral compromise that ended in failure. Today's Resource: The Plot | Second Edition!The Bible Gets Easier to Understand: Apparent contradictions plague many Bible students. The Plot demonstrates how hundreds of such contradictions disappear when the reader applies the big picture of the Bible to its details. Tunnel vision focuses so narrowly on a problem that the solution often lies just out of view. As the pastor of Denver Bible Church, Bob Enyart teaches Christians how to use the whole counsel of God to understand the plot of the Bible and solve biblical mysteries. (Missionaries in Costa Rica effectively use the Spanish translation, La Trama.) Available as either book or PDF download. The Plot: 2nd Edition Just before his passing, Bob finished the second edition of his manuscript, The Plot. While sadly he didn't live long enough to see the work published, He did get it out just in time. His second edition includes ten years worth of updates, revisions, additional sections and updated graphics. Now, a year after his passing, it has been made available to the public! Get your copy now... The Proclamation was actually comprised of two announcements, not just one.  The first half – the preliminary proclamation – set the policy and gave a deadline of 100 days.  It was addressed not to the common citizens of the nation or to the Union military, but rather to the states in rebellion at that time.  What was Lincoln's declared policy on slavery at that time?  He made that very clear in a letter to Horace Greeley on Aug. 22, 1862, just days before the issuance of the preliminary proclamation: If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. . . . I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. Lincoln's goal was not the abolition of slavery but rather the preservation of the Union, and if that meant keeping slaves in bondage everywhere, he would support and practice exactly that.  And this non-abolitionist stance is reflected in the text of the Emancipation Proclamation.The Preliminary Proclamation, September, 1862 In short, the stated intent and purpose of this policy was to offer the Confederate states the opportunity to keep their slaves if they would choose to stop rebelling within a 100-day deadline.  Essentially, it said that if your state ceases its rebellion against the union, you may keep your slaves. I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States... That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; Any state still in rebellion against the Union on Jan. 1 would be subject to the Proclamation, which would declare any current slaves in those areas to be free.  The stated goal was not to free any slaves, but rather to preserve the Union.  Was it a success?  Before hearing the answer, Bob predicted that such a policy would bear no fruit, and he was right.  In fact, not a single state took Lincoln up on his offer.  By its own standard, the Proclamation was an abject failure!  In fact, all the proclamation did in that regard was to infuriate the Confederate states more than ever, deepening their resolve to reject the Union. Perhaps even worse, the preliminary proclamation also explicitly ordered slaves to be returned to their slave owners in specific circumstances, thus actually ordering the enforcement of keeping such men in bondage: Sec.10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; In other words, if a slave escaped to an area controlled by the Union, all a Southern slave owner had to do was show up, give an oath (no evidence required) that he was the lawful owner of that slave, and swear that he had never taken up arms against the Union, and then “here's your slave back.” The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 This document was the culmination of the policy already given 100 days earlier.  Not a single Confederate state had taken Lincoln's offer to cease rebellion and keep their slaves.  Therefore, this document declared (largely symbolically) the slaves in those non-Union-controlled areas to be free.  But, at the same time, and as one should expect in such a compromised and non-abolitionist policy, it also explicitly listed all of the areas in the U.S. where slaves would be kept in bondage.  Thus, this policy actually authorized the continuing wicked enslavement of innocent men, women and children, for example in many counties in Louisiana, especially around New Orleans, as well as in the newly-forming West Virginia. Many abolitionists of the day decried the Emancipation Proclamation, rightly pointing out its moral compromise.  Lincoln's own secretary of state, William Seward, commented that "We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free."  Unlike Lincoln, Seward knew the atrocities of slavery firsthand, having been raised by a slave-owning family.  "I early came to the conclusion that something was wrong... and [that] determined me to be an abolitionist." On the other hand, in their coverage of the Proclamation, the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News here in Colorado celebrated on their front page the fact that this policy was not abolitionist, and mocked abolitionists who disagreed with it, praising Lincoln for going against the “radical” abolitionists.  The newspaper wrote: “The last mail... brought scores of Eastern and Western papers with similar recommendations.  The voice of the press is almost unanimous in its approval.  That is a pretty correct index of popular opinion, and we may therefore set down that almost the entire loyal States endorse the action of the President.  It must be expected that the ultra Abolitionists will kick against it, as too conservative [not going far enough] for their radical views.  Let them squirm!  ‘Honest Abe' has shown that he will be no tool of theirs.” How were slaves freed and slavery abolished, then? It's important to note that the Emancipation Proclamation didn't outlaw slavery anywhere.  It declared current slaves in those areas to be free, in areas where the Union had no control.  It essentially “freed” them in word only, and was largely a symbolic gesture.  As the Union military moved through the Confederate states in rebellion, they did free slaves they encountered.  In truth, they could have done this with or without the Proclamation.  The Proclamation was simply used as an excuse to do it, but they would have been right to do it, regardless.  Lincoln gave orders to the Union Army to free those slaves, apart from the Proclamation, which wasn't addressed to the Union Army, but to the Confederate States themselves.  He could have ordered the Union Army to do this without such a proclamation.  And even if Lincoln hadn't issued that order, it would have still been right for Union forces moving through the South to free those slaves, anyway.  If you are a military unit and have taken over an area from the enemy, and you find men who have been kidnapped and brutalized by the people there, the right thing to do would be to free those victims.  The Proclamation didn't free anyone, although it did serve as a political excuse to do so. What of the abolition of slavery, then?  That was accomplished later, in some areas at the state level, and in the rest of the nation through federal action.  Unlike in the Emancipation Proclamation, in all of these cases it was a principled, no-compromise, abolitionist policy that required the complete abolition of slavery in each state.  For example, West Virginia (which had ironically seceded from Virginia while the latter was seceding from the Union) wasn't allowed to join the Union as a new state unless their constitution abolished slavery without exception.  In Maryland, Arkansas and Louisiana in 1864, they abolished slavery at the state level as their citizens ratified new state constitutions.  In Missouri in January of 1865, that governor abolished slavery via executive order.  In all other Southern states, slavery was ultimately abolished through the ratification of the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in December of 1865. In all of these cases, it was a no-compromise policy that we would describe today as “pro-personhood.”  Slavery was ultimately abolished despite the pro-slavery policy of the Emancipation Proclamation, not because of it.

* On the 150th Anniversary of the Proclamation, the Surprising Truth: With yesterday (January 1st, 2023) being the 160th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, we are going back to a broadcast classic where Bob Enyart and guest Jamie Schofield analyze the meaning and actual intent of that sad document. For this was no abolitionist policy (as a contemporaneous report in the Rocky Mountain News makes clear), but an example of moral compromise that ended in failure. Today's Resource: The Plot | Second Edition!The Bible Gets Easier to Understand: Apparent contradictions plague many Bible students. The Plot demonstrates how hundreds of such contradictions disappear when the reader applies the big picture of the Bible to its details. Tunnel vision focuses so narrowly on a problem that the solution often lies just out of view. As the pastor of Denver Bible Church, Bob Enyart teaches Christians how to use the whole counsel of God to understand the plot of the Bible and solve biblical mysteries. (Missionaries in Costa Rica effectively use the Spanish translation, La Trama.) Available as either book or PDF download. The Plot: 2nd Edition Just before his passing, Bob finished the second edition of his manuscript, The Plot. While sadly he didn't live long enough to see the work published, He did get it out just in time. His second edition includes ten years worth of updates, revisions, additional sections and updated graphics. Now, a year after his passing, it has been made available to the public! Get your copy now... The Proclamation was actually comprised of two announcements, not just one.  The first half – the preliminary proclamation – set the policy and gave a deadline of 100 days.  It was addressed not to the common citizens of the nation or to the Union military, but rather to the states in rebellion at that time.  What was Lincoln's declared policy on slavery at that time?  He made that very clear in a letter to Horace Greeley on Aug. 22, 1862, just days before the issuance of the preliminary proclamation: If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. . . . I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. Lincoln's goal was not the abolition of slavery but rather the preservation of the Union, and if that meant keeping slaves in bondage everywhere, he would support and practice exactly that.  And this non-abolitionist stance is reflected in the text of the Emancipation Proclamation.The Preliminary Proclamation, September, 1862 In short, the stated intent and purpose of this policy was to offer the Confederate states the opportunity to keep their slaves if they would choose to stop rebelling within a 100-day deadline.  Essentially, it said that if your state ceases its rebellion against the union, you may keep your slaves. I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States... That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; Any state still in rebellion against the Union on Jan. 1 would be subject to the Proclamation, which would declare any current slaves in those areas to be free.  The stated goal was not to free any slaves, but rather to preserve the Union.  Was it a success?  Before hearing the answer, Bob predicted that such a policy would bear no fruit, and he was right.  In fact, not a single state took Lincoln up on his offer.  By its own standard, the Proclamation was an abject failure!  In fact, all the proclamation did in that regard was to infuriate the Confederate states more than ever, deepening their resolve to reject the Union. Perhaps even worse, the preliminary proclamation also explicitly ordered slaves to be returned to their slave owners in specific circumstances, thus actually ordering the enforcement of keeping such men in bondage: Sec.10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; In other words, if a slave escaped to an area controlled by the Union, all a Southern slave owner had to do was show up, give an oath (no evidence required) that he was the lawful owner of that slave, and swear that he had never taken up arms against the Union, and then “here's your slave back.” The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 This document was the culmination of the policy already given 100 days earlier.  Not a single Confederate state had taken Lincoln's offer to cease rebellion and keep their slaves.  Therefore, this document declared (largely symbolically) the slaves in those non-Union-controlled areas to be free.  But, at the same time, and as one should expect in such a compromised and non-abolitionist policy, it also explicitly listed all of the areas in the U.S. where slaves would be kept in bondage.  Thus, this policy actually authorized the continuing wicked enslavement of innocent men, women and children, for example in many counties in Louisiana, especially around New Orleans, as well as in the newly-forming West Virginia. Many abolitionists of the day decried the Emancipation Proclamation, rightly pointing out its moral compromise.  Lincoln's own secretary of state, William Seward, commented that "We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free."  Unlike Lincoln, Seward knew the atrocities of slavery firsthand, having been raised by a slave-owning family.  "I early came to the conclusion that something was wrong... and [that] determined me to be an abolitionist." On the other hand, in their coverage of the Proclamation, the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News here in Colorado celebrated on their front page the fact that this policy was not abolitionist, and mocked abolitionists who disagreed with it, praising Lincoln for going against the “radical” abolitionists.  The newspaper wrote: “The last mail... brought scores of Eastern and Western papers with similar recommendations.  The voice of the press is almost unanimous in its approval.  That is a pretty correct index of popular opinion, and we may therefore set down that almost the entire loyal States endorse the action of the President.  It must be expected that the ultra Abolitionists will kick against it, as too conservative [not going far enough] for their radical views.  Let them squirm!  ‘Honest Abe' has shown that he will be no tool of theirs.” How were slaves freed and slavery abolished, then? It's important to note that the Emancipation Proclamation didn't outlaw slavery anywhere.  It declared current slaves in those areas to be free, in areas where the Union had no control.  It essentially “freed” them in word only, and was largely a symbolic gesture.  As the Union military moved through the Confederate states in rebellion, they did free slaves they encountered.  In truth, they could have done this with or without the Proclamation.  The Proclamation was simply used as an excuse to do it, but they would have been right to do it, regardless.  Lincoln gave orders to the Union Army to free those slaves, apart from the Proclamation, which wasn't addressed to the Union Army, but to the Confederate States themselves.  He could have ordered the Union Army to do this without such a proclamation.  And even if Lincoln hadn't issued that order, it would have still been right for Union forces moving through the South to free those slaves, anyway.  If you are a military unit and have taken over an area from the enemy, and you find men who have been kidnapped and brutalized by the people there, the right thing to do would be to free those victims.  The Proclamation didn't free anyone, although it did serve as a political excuse to do so. What of the abolition of slavery, then?  That was accomplished later, in some areas at the state level, and in the rest of the nation through federal action.  Unlike in the Emancipation Proclamation, in all of these cases it was a principled, no-compromise, abolitionist policy that required the complete abolition of slavery in each state.  For example, West Virginia (which had ironically seceded from Virginia while the latter was seceding from the Union) wasn't allowed to join the Union as a new state unless their constitution abolished slavery without exception.  In Maryland, Arkansas and Louisiana in 1864, they abolished slavery at the state level as their citizens ratified new state constitutions.  In Missouri in January of 1865, that governor abolished slavery via executive order.  In all other Southern states, slavery was ultimately abolished through the ratification of the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in December of 1865. In all of these cases, it was a no-compromise policy that we would describe today as “pro-personhood.”  Slavery was ultimately abolished despite the pro-slavery policy of the Emancipation Proclamation, not because of it.

Thom Hartmann is the nation's #1 progressive talk radio host and a New York Times bestselling author. His new book is The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink. Hartmann reflects on the first year of Trump 2.0 and the destruction and chaos it has unleashed on American democracy, society, and the world. Yet he insists that despair and surrender are not options as we enter 2026. Drawing on history and the cycles of great social change, Hartmann points to signs of a growing people's movement pushing back against Trumpism, as more Americans wake up to the damage inflicted by the oligarchs, gangster capitalism, and other anti-democratic forces. Ultimately, he believes the American people will prevail and push toward a real social democracy modeled on President Franklin Roosevelt's FAIR Deal. On this special New Year's episode, Chauncey DeVega reflects on how we must keep riding the wave out of the great troubles of 2025 — balancing pessimism and optimism, fear and hope. He urges us not to pretend everything is fine or suppress anger and grief, but to acknowledge those feelings and ask the essential question: "Okay — now what are you going to do?" in 2026. And for those fortunate enough to have had a good year amid so much collective pain, Chauncey emphasizes the obligation to share that energy and to uplift others. By learning from the long Black Freedom Struggle and other pro-democracy movements, the American people can better navigate what promises to be a perilous year ahead. In that spirit, Chauncey shares an essay on the tradition of Watch Night, when enslaved and free African Americans — often in secret and at great risk — gathered on New Year's Eve to count down the minutes until the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

What was the cross of Christ?   “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” - John 8:36 (KJV)  

When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, it freed the slaves. Well, not exactly... on THIS DAY, January 1st with Chris Conley.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once upon a time, there was an inventor and entrepreneur named Madam C.J. Walker. She was the child of slaves, the first in her family to be born free, thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation. As a child, she had to work in the cotton fields to help support her family. Later, as a teenaged orphan, she became a washerwoman, backbreaking work considered one of the worst and most difficult jobs a woman could have. But she dreamed of more -- for herself and her daughter. When, due to an illness, her hair began to fall out, she created a hair care regimen specifically for African-American women. It worked! She crisscrossed the country going door to door to sell her products and eventually built a beauty empire with sales representatives in every state. The formula grew to be so popular she became the first self-made female millionaire in America, and her products are still for sale today. About the Narrator Poorna Jagannathan is an actress and the producer of "Nirbhaya" ('Fearless'), the critically-acclaimed play written and directed by Yael Farber. Based on real-life events, the play breaks the silence around sexual violence and was called by The Telegraph as one of the "most powerful pieces of theater you'll ever see.” Jagannathan gained international recognition for her portrayal of a journalist in the 2011 Bollywood film "Delhi Belly" and has appeared as series regular on HBO's "The Night Of" and Netflix's "Gypsy." In 2018 she was a member of the ensemble cast of HBO's "Room 104," created by the Duplass brothers. Most recently, Jagannathan plays Nalini Vishwakumar in Mindy Kaling's comedy series "Never Have I Ever." Credits This episode of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is produced by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, with writing and operation support by Darby Maloney and Elyssa Dudley. Sound Design and Original Theme Music by Elettra Bargiacchi. [This episode originally aired in April 2018.]

The Watch Night Service is a tradition the grew out of slavery, yet still is an important part of how, for many African Americans, is the only way that a new year should be brought in. The practice, called “Freedom Night” or named the Watch Night Service, began in 1862, when anxious slaves were waiting on confirmation of their freedom based on the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, the service continues in the church with prayers of gratitude for another year and blessings over what's to come. 

Bennett Parten discusses his book, Somewhere Toward Freedom Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation. The book tells the story of Sherman’s March through the south as a social history of the refugee crisis brought on by the war and the Emancipation Proclamation. As freed slaves rushed toward the Union forces, they brought […]

Key takeaways from this study God's laws were always intended as a blueprint for human dignity, justice and release from oppression, laying the groundwork for true freedom. Heaven's agenda is not simply legalistic rule-keeping, but the transformation of individuals and societies toward compassion and liberty. By making freedom the end goal for slaves — especially Israelite slaves — God modeled a system intended to end cycles of generational bondage. The Torah's pathway for Gentiles to join Israel is Heaven's open door for all nations to enter spiritual freedom. Biblical laws set higher standards for humane treatment, signaling Heaven's desire that all people, regardless of status, can be liberated. Prophetic interventions (like Jeremiah 34) show that God rewards societies that extend liberty, but withdraws his favor when they renege, underscoring that freedom is dear to God's heart. The arrival of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) is the culmination of Heaven’s freedom goal: the offer of spiritual freedom and redemption to every nation, tribe and tongue. God is deeply responsive to repentance, faith and action — always ready to set captives free, both physically and spiritually. The ultimate intention of Heaven is for all people to know freedom — not merely by law, but through relationship, faith, and loving community. The journey from slavery to sonship is the story of God's heart for humanity: that every nation would experience deliverance and restoration through His mercy and truth. It's tempting to skip the difficult parts of the Bible, like the ordinances of slavery in Exodus (שְׁמוֹת Shemot). Here, we don't dodge them. We face them head-on, recognizing that Scripture's laws were in response to brutal ancient societies but also express the heart of a redeeming God Who works through history, not around it. The תּוֹרָה Torah (“instruction,” “teaching”) is not just a book of do's and don'ts. It's an unfolding revelation — God giving His people not only laws (מִצְווֹת mitzvot) but the principles and spirit behind them. Today we’re seeking those principles, to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2Timothy 2:15), so we can discern what God is up to in these difficult passages. The big picture: Law, mercy and becoming a distinct people to do something Let's remember, Israel was called to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (גּוֹי קָדוֹשׁ goy kadosh; Exodus 19:6) — not to mimic Egypt or Babylon but to model God's justice and compassion. We're not supposed to copy distorted theologies or twisted histories, like those that fueled the Spanish Inquisition (tragically insisting on forced conversions and outlawing Torah practice). Instead, “placing the ordinances before them” (Exodus 21:1) challenged Israel to treat every person — citizen, foreigner or even slave — with more dignity, fairness, and hope for freedom than the surrounding world expected. We're still being called to do the same. When we read these laws, our immediate reaction is often that they—and the culture in which they were given—seem strange, even very strange, to us. Human nature does not change, and people who desire to exercise absolute power over others will always find excuses to do so. As believers, we have an obligation to advocate for the freedom and fair treatment of those who are enslaved. Laws about slavery: An honest look The structure of biblical servitude Exodus 21–22 doesn't ignore slavery. It regulates and humanizes it within a radically unfree world. In Hebrew, the word is עֶבֶד eved (“servant” or “slave”). Slavery in ancient Israel could arise from debt, crime or poverty. But the Torah takes that bitter reality and bends it toward compassion and eventual liberty. Israelite slaves (עֶבֶד עִבְרִי eved Ivri): They were set free after six years of service. “In the seventh year he shall go out as a free man without payment” (Exodus 21:2 NASB 1995). Gentile slaves (עֶבֶד מִן־הַגּוֹיִם eved min ha-goyim): Non-Israelite slaves served longer, but the law provided avenues for dignity and even conversion and inclusion. The key was always freedom (חֵרוּת cherut, ἐλευθερία eleutheria). “God encourages us to not just say, ‘Well, there's the law.' Rather, He teaches us the principle behind the law — so we can apply it, even as times change.” Responsibilities and restoration Torah insisted that masters provide for their servants and their families. “If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone” (Exodus 21:4 NASB 1995). But here's the twist: upon release, Israelites were to be given resources (Deuteronomy 15:13-14). Slaves could, with what they received, “buy” freedom for their wives and children — a path to holistic release. The gentile's path to inclusion An incredible provision: any Gentile (גּוֹי goy, plural גּוֹיִים goyim) who embraced the God of Israel became “as a native of the land” (Leviticus 19:34). The Torah's inclusive heart was always beating — the servant wasn't forever defined by their starting point; they could become part of the family of God. The moment he says, “I am not going to be Gentile anymore, I'm going to follow the God of Israel,” he's now a sojourner among Israel (Exodus 12:48-49; Numbers 15:15). The reality is that throughout most of the Ancient Near East, there were few legal avenues for slaves to gain freedom, whereas in Israel there were legal mechanisms that allowed slaves to become free. The Torah's laws, which may appear inequitable at first glance, were in fact more merciful to slaves than the laws common throughout the Ancient Near East. Discipline and ethics: Justice with limits The Torah sought to curb human power, even in discipline. Masters were prohibited from using lethal force against slaves: “But if the slave survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for he is his property. If, however, the slave lives only a day or two after being beaten … he shall surely be punished.” Exodus 21:20-21 paraphrase Jewish tradition explains: discipline could only use non-lethal tools—not rocks (אֶבֶן ehven, “stone”) or clubs (מַקֵּל makel, “rod”) liable to cause death. If a slave was permanently injured (e.g., lost an eye or tooth), that servant went free (Exodus 21:26-27). This is the Torah's חֶסֶד khesed/chesed (“mercy”), limiting what was culturally normal — even while working within a broken world. Consequences of injustice In parallel passage Jeremiah 34, King צִדְקִיָּהוּ Tzidkiyahu (Zedekiah) decreed liberty for Israelite slaves, an “Emancipation Proclamation” in obedience to Torah. For a moment, Heaven's pleasure was evident — the Babylonian army withdrew. “…Proclaim liberty to them, that every man should set free his male servant and every man his female servant — a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman — so that no one should keep them, an Israelite his brother, in bondage.” Jeremiah 34:9-10 paraphrase But when the people reneged — re-enslaving those liberated — God pronounced judgment, equating their act to kidnapping (חָטַף khataf/chataph), a capital offense (Exodus 21:16): “… I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies … and burn it with fire ….” Jeremiah 34:21-22 NASB 1995 The prophetic message? Justice and mercy aren't just ideals. They're the very conditions for God's protection and blessing. Freedom is non-negotiable. Even kings are not above God's law. Faith, works and living out God's heart Apostle יַעֲקֹב Ya'akov (James) famously wrote about faith in Heaven that doesn’t bring life to the world: “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Our discussion reinforced that belief and action are inseparable. Kings, like Zedekiah, couldn't just declare good intentions. They had to enforce righteousness — for themselves and their society. Faith (אֱמוּנָה emunah) doesn't just reside in the mind. It must change how we respond to suffering, injustice, or even ancient laws — pushing us to build communities where no one stays in bondage. Messiah: The fulfillment of freedom and inclusion The whole of Scripture is a story arc bending toward Messiah — יֵשׁוּעַ Yeshua (“salvation”). The Torah's complex social instructions longed for something greater: spiritual and ultimately physical redemption for all. Yeshua quoted one of Heaven’s key reformer prophets when He announced His mission: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release [ἄφεσις aphesis, “release/freedom”] to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.” Luke 4:18 NASB 1995; Isaiah 61:1 And Apostle Paul (formerly, Sha'ul) wrote: It was for freedom (ἐλευθερία eleutheria) that Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm…. Galatians 5:1 NASB 1995 Messiah is the answer to both the physical and deepest spiritual oppression. He is the One who brings both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, into “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21 NASB 1995). Principles behind the Law: Applying God's heart today Laws without principles can become cold and lifeless. God wants us to know why He commands as much as what He commands. The Torah teaches us to understand the “spirit” (רוּחַ ruach) behind the mitzvot. Yeshua taught (Matt 22:34-40: Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-37) that the three-fold loving the LORD (mind/emotions, life, wealth/resources; Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and loving others as oneself (Leviticus 19:18). When faced with a new or difficult situation, it is the principle of freedom, justice, khesed (mercy) and shalom (contentment) that should guide us. If we understand Heaven’s principle, then we can apply it in a positive way and affect a whole lot of people, including ourselves and the outcome we live through. Repentance, intercession and God's compassion A thread through Scripture is Heaven’s willingness and eagerness to listen, to show mercy and to change a decree in response to repentance (תְּשׁוּבָה teshuvah, μετάνοια metanoia, “return/repentance”) and prayer. Whether we look at Moses interceding after the Golden Calf (Exodus 32), or Abraham negotiating for Sodom (Genesis 18), or Jeremiah weeping for his people, we see a God who invites dialogue and delights to show mercy: So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. Exodus 32:14 NASB 1995 Our relationship with God is rooted in covenant (בְּרִית berit), not unalterable fate. We can plead for mercy, intervene for others, and participate with God in the work of redemption. From Egypt to Messiah: A journey of increasing inclusion The arc of Scripture is toward ever-greater inclusion and freedom, not less. The Torah began by regulating and humanizing ancient social norms. The prophets called the people to deeper justice and loyal-kindness: “To do justly, to love mercy (חֶסֶד chesed), and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). And in Messiah, the doors are thrown open wide: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 NASB 1995). God's heart, from start to finish, is to proclaim liberty (דְּרוֹר deror, “release/freedom”) to the captives and recovery for all. Proclaiming freedom to the nations The disturbing reality of slavery in the Bible is not the last word. God's commandments, even where they accommodated ancient realities, were always subversive — pushing toward a world of inclusion, compassion, and release for all peoples. We are called, in Messiah, to “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24 NASB 1995). So let's be a people who oppose bondage wherever we see it — physical, spiritual, social — and who open the doors to any who wish to become sons and daughters of the Most High. May we, as those native to Israel and those grafted into her who have found freedom in Messiah, be quick to share that hope: “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36 NASB 1995). Shalom and blessings as you seek and extend God's liberating love to every nation (גּוֹי goy) and every neighbor. May the God Who brought Israel out of מִצְרָיִם Mitzrayim (Egypt) continue to bring all His children into freedom and shalom. The post Set the captives free: The Bible's real message on slavery & redemption (Exodus 21–22; Jeremiah 34) appeared first on Hallel Fellowship.

Tennessee Thunder: A Tale of Two Armies by Daniel F Korn https://www.amazon.com/Tennessee-Thunder-Tale-Two-Armies/dp/195919786X Everyone has heard of Gettysburg, but for sheer ferocity of fighting, it is tough to match the horrendous stories of what happened in the fight for Tennessee in the battles of Stones River and Chickamauga. This is the story of two very different armies, and their equally different commanders. The Union Army of the Cumberland, led by the charismatic, but excitable William Starke Rosecrans against the Confederate Army of Tennessee, and its hot-tempered and irascible commander; Braxton Bragg. As 1862 ends, and the birth of a new year of the war looms on the horizon, an end to the bloodletting is nowhere in sight. It was a year that had just seen the April horrific fight at Shiloh, the incredible ineptness of McClellan in the Peninsula /Seven Days Campaign, the September bloodbath known as Antietam, and President Lincoln's launch of a huge gamble in the Emancipation Proclamation, all followed by the near disaster for the Union at Fredericksburg. It would be followed by a year that would see death, destruction, and a level of ferocity in warfare on a scale never before seen on the American continent. Of all the major battles of the Civil War, Stones River had the highest percentage of casualties on both sides. Although the battle itself was inconclusive, the Union Army's repulse of two Confederate attacks and the subsequent Confederate withdrawal were a much-needed boost to Union morale after the defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg. It dashed Confederate aspirations for control of Middle Tennessee. Names such as the Dragons Teeth, Slaughter Pen, the Round Forest, and the Orphans Brigade would enter the American lexicon. The battle was very important to Union morale, as evidenced by Abraham Lincoln's letter to General Rosecrans: "You gave us a hard-earned victory, which had there been a defeat instead, the nation could scarcely have lived over." The Confederate threat to Kentucky and Middle Tennessee was gone, and Nashville was secure as a major Union supply base for the rest of the war.

Visit our website to learn more about The God Centered Concept. The God Centered Concept is designed to bring real discipleship and spreading the Gospel to help spark the Great Harvest, a revival in this generation. www.godcenteredconcept.comKingdom Cross Roads Podcast is a part of The God Centered Concept.In this episode of the Kingdom Crossroads Podcast, T.S. Wright and Pastor Bob Thibodeau delve into the historical context of the Third Age of the Church, discussing significant events and God's intervention throughout history. They explore the rise of the Holy Roman Church and its implications for Christianity today, emphasizing the importance of understanding one's purpose within the church and the broader Christian community.TakeawaysThe Kingdom Crossroads Podcast aims to spark a revival across the United States.Historical examples illustrate God's intervention in pivotal moments.The Emancipation Proclamation was a significant turning point in American history.The New Testament was formalized through various councils in the early church.The rise of the Holy Roman Church marked a significant shift in Christian history.The church is meant to glorify God, not itself.Believers should focus on their purpose within the church.There are no denominations in heaven; only believers and non-believers.The fourth age of the church will be discussed in future episodes.Understanding church history helps contextualize modern faith.

Discover the powerful story behind the Emancipation Proclamation — the historic document that forever changed the course of American history. Signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, it declared freedom for enslaved people in Confederate-held territories and transformed the Civil War into a fight for liberty and equality.

In August 1861, General John C. Fremont—once America's most famous explorer and the Republican Party's first presidential nominee—issued an unauthorized order freeing all slaves in Missouri. President Lincoln swiftly revoked it, fearing the decision would drive crucial border states into Confederate hands. The clash between these two men revealed a fundamental tension: Fremont operated on moral urgency and personal instinct, while Lincoln worked within constitutional constraints and political reality. Fremont's military career never recovered from the confrontation.Yet sixteen months later, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation employed the exact legal framework Fremont had pioneered: military necessity as commander-in-chief during wartime. Historian and journalist John Bicknell joins us to explore how this forgotten general's bold gambit forced critical conversations about slavery's role in the war effort and ultimately shaped the constitutional pathway to emancipation. The story reveals why we remember one man as the Great Emancipator while the other faded into historical obscurity—and why both were essential to America's path toward freedom.Host: Jeff SikkengaExecutive Producer: Jeremy GyptonSubscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea

After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, enslaved people feared running away to the North, as their return was mandated, and they faced brutal punishment or even death upon return to deter others from escaping. But that changed during the Civil War. Black slaves in Confederate Virginia began hearing rumors that they could receive their freedom if they reached the Union’s Fort Monroe. Union General Benjamin Butler found a loophole in the Fugitive Slave Act that allowed slaves who fled to Northern lines to be treated as "contraband of war"—seized enemy property—under the Confiscation Act of 1861. This meant they would be set free instead of being returned to slaveholders. Butler did this to deplete the Confederacy's labor force and bolster Union morale by offering refuge to escaping enslaved people. Word spread across the state. In a short time, nearly a thousand former slaves formed a camp outside the fort. Many worked to sustain the camps, growing crops like corn or cotton on nearby abandoned lands to feed themselves and generate resources. Men, women, and even children contributed to the war effort through various tasks, such as building fortifications, digging trenches, or serving as cooks, nurses, or laborers for Union troops. Freedpeople established schools, often with the help of Northern missionaries or organizations like the American Missionary Association, teaching literacy to adults and children. Other contraband camps sprang up, and by the end of the war, 800,000 former slaves had established over 200 of them. Today’s guest is Tom Zoellner, author of “The Road Was Full of Thorns: Running Toward Freedom in the American Civil War.” We discuss how these camps fostered interracial interactions that shifted public opinion toward abolition, highlighting the agency of enslaved people in their own liberation. The Emancipation Proclamation was a delayed response to these grassroots movements, not a singular heroic act. The camps’ role in challenging slavery’s legal and social foundations helped reshape the trajectory of the Civil War.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Kentucky in 1792 became a state, it had a choice; keep slavery or abolish it. University of Kentucky professor Melanie Goan teaches a class on the state's relationship with the institution of slavery until the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boortz busts common myths — from the Emancipation Proclamation to Social Security, voting rights, and “democracy” — exposing what the media hasn’t told you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boortz busts common myths — from the Emancipation Proclamation to Social Security, voting rights, and “democracy” — exposing what the media hasn’t told you.Atlanta's ONLY All Conservative News & Talk Station.: https://www.xtra1063.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Day in Legal History: A. Lincoln Admitted to BarOn September 9, 1836, Abraham Lincoln was licensed to practice law by the Illinois Supreme Court, setting in motion a legal and political career that would ultimately reshape American history. At the time, Lincoln was a 27-year-old former store clerk and self-taught frontier intellectual, with no formal legal education. Instead, like many aspiring attorneys of the era, Lincoln "read law" by apprenticing under established lawyers and studying foundational legal texts such as Blackstone's Commentaries and Chitty's Pleadings. His relentless self-education and growing reputation for honesty earned him the nickname “Honest Abe,” long before he entered the national spotlight.Shortly after being admitted to the bar, Lincoln moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he set up a law practice. His first lawsuit came less than a month later, on October 5, 1836, marking the beginning of a legal career that would span over two decades. Lincoln took on a wide variety of cases—ranging from debt collection and land disputes to criminal defense and railroad litigation—and traveled extensively on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit.His courtroom demeanor was marked by clarity, logic, and moral conviction, attributes that would later define his presidency. Practicing law not only gave Lincoln financial stability but also honed the rhetorical and analytical skills that would serve him in legislative debates and national addresses. His legal work with the Illinois Central Railroad and other corporate clients exposed him to the country's economic transformation, deepening his understanding of commerce, labor, and the law's role in shaping society.Lincoln's rise from rural obscurity to respected attorney mirrored the American ideal of self-made success, and his legal background profoundly shaped his political philosophy. It was as a lawyer and legislator that he began to articulate his opposition to slavery's expansion, using constitutional and moral arguments that would later guide his presidency and the Union's legal stance during the Civil War.His legal reasoning and insistence on the rule of law would ultimately be central to the Emancipation Proclamation, his wartime governance, and the framework for reconstructing the nation. The law gave Lincoln the tools to interpret and preserve the Constitution, even amid its greatest crisis.Lincoln's admission to the bar on this day in 1836 was not just a personal milestone—it was a foundational step toward the presidency and toward a redefinition of American liberty and union that would endure for generations.Events ripple in time like waves on a pond, and Lincoln's admission to the bar in 1836 is one such stone cast into history. Had he not secured that license—had he not taught himself law from borrowed books and legal treatises—it is likely he never would have risen to national prominence or attained the presidency. Without Lincoln's leadership in 1860, the United States may well have fractured permanently into separate nations, altering the course of the Civil War and leaving a divided continent in its wake. That division would have profoundly reshaped global affairs in the 20th century. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the fact that there was a United States powerful and unified enough to confront the Nazi war machine in 1941 traces, in part, to a frontier shop clerk's grit, discipline, and determination to study Blackstone's Commentaries by candlelight.A Florida state appeals judge who sided with Donald Trump in a high-profile defamation case against the Pulitzer Prize Board has been confirmed to the federal bench. On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 50–43 along party lines to approve Judge Ed Artau's nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Artau is now the sixth Trump judicial nominee to be confirmed during the president's second term.Artau joined a panel earlier this year that allowed Trump's lawsuit to proceed after the Pulitzer Board declined to rescind a 2018 award given to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 election. In a concurring opinion, Artau criticized the reporting as “now-debunked” and echoed calls to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court precedent that has long protected journalists from most defamation claims by public figures.The timing of Artau's nomination has drawn scrutiny from Senate Democrats, who argue it raises ethical concerns. Artau reportedly began conversations about a possible federal appointment just days after Trump's 2024 victory and interviewed with the White House shortly after issuing his opinion in the Pulitzer case. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the confirmation a “blatant” example of quid pro quo, while others questioned Artau's impartiality.In response, Artau defended his conduct during his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, stating that ambition for higher office alone doesn't disqualify a judge from ruling on politically sensitive cases and that he holds no personal bias requiring recusal.Florida judge who ruled for Trump in Pulitzer case confirmed to federal bench | ReutersAfter 21 years, one of legal academia's most influential blogs is shutting down. The TaxProf Blog, launched in 2004 by Pepperdine Law Dean Paul Caron, will cease publication by the end of September following the closure of its longtime host platform, Typepad. Caron said he isn't interested in rebuilding the site on a new platform, though he hopes to preserve the blog's extensive archive of nearly 56,000 posts.Initially focused on tax law, the blog evolved into a central hub for news and commentary on law schools, covering accreditation, rankings, faculty hiring, admissions trends, and more. It maintained its relevance even as other law professor blogs declined in the wake of Twitter's rise. Caron's regular posts made the site a must-read in the legal education world, often mixing in personal reflections and occasional commentary on religion.The closure also casts uncertainty over the broader Law Professor Blog Network, which includes around 60 niche academic blogs also hosted on Typepad. At least one, ImmigrationProf Blog, has already begun looking for a new publishing home.Reactions across the legal academy reflected the impact of the blog's departure. One law school dean likened it to daily sports reporting for legal education—a constant, trusted source of updates and debate.Groundbreaking law blog calls it quits after 21 years | ReutersThe U.S. Supreme Court has sided with the Trump administration in a contentious immigration case, allowing federal agents to resume aggressive raids in Southern California. The Court granted a request from the Justice Department to lift a lower court order that had restricted immigration stops based on race, language, or occupation—factors critics argue are being used to disproportionately target Latino communities. The ruling, delivered in a brief, unsigned order with no explanation, permits the raids to continue while a broader legal challenge proceeds.The case stems from a July order by U.S. District Judge Maame Frimpong, who found that the administration's actions likely violated the Fourth Amendment by enabling racially discriminatory stops without reasonable suspicion. Her injunction applied across much of Southern California, but is now paused by the Supreme Court's decision.Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the Court's other two liberals, issued a sharp dissent, warning that the decision effectively declares all Latinos "fair game to be seized at any time," regardless of citizenship. She described the raids as racially motivated and unconstitutional.California Governor Gavin Newsom and civil rights groups echoed those concerns. Newsom accused the Court of legitimizing racial profiling and called Trump's enforcement actions a form of "racial terror." The ACLU, representing plaintiffs in the case, including U.S. citizens, denounced the raids as part of a broader “racist deportation scheme.”The Trump administration, meanwhile, hailed the decision as a major legal victory. Attorney General Pam Bondi framed it as a rejection of “judicial micromanagement,” and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing separately, argued that while ethnicity alone cannot justify a stop, it may be used in combination with other factors.This ruling adds to a series of recent Supreme Court decisions backing Trump's immigration agenda, including policies that limit asylum protections and revoke humanitarian legal statuses. In Los Angeles, the raids and the use of military personnel in response to protests have escalated tensions between the federal government and local authorities.US Supreme Court backs Trump on aggressive immigration raids | ReutersA federal appeals court has upheld an $83.3 million jury verdict against Donald Trump for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, rejecting his claims of presidential immunity. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the damages appropriate given the severity and persistence of Trump's conduct, which it called “remarkably high” in terms of reprehensibility. The ruling noted that Trump's attacks on Carroll grew more extreme as the trial neared, contributing to reputational and emotional harm.The lawsuit stemmed from Trump's repeated public denials of Carroll's allegation that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. In 2019, Trump claimed Carroll was “not my type” and said she fabricated the story to sell books—comments he echoed again in 2022, prompting a second defamation suit. A jury in 2023 had already found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in an earlier case, awarding Carroll $5 million. That verdict was also upheld.Trump's legal team argued that his 2019 comments were made in his official capacity as president and should be shielded by presidential immunity. The court disagreed, citing a lack of legal basis to extend immunity in this context. Trump also objected to limits placed on his testimony during trial, but the appeals court upheld the trial judge's rulings as appropriate.The $83.3 million award includes $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages. Carroll's legal team expressed hope that the appeals process would soon conclude. Trump, meanwhile, framed the ruling as part of what he calls “Liberal Lawfare” amid multiple ongoing legal battles.Trump fails to overturn E. Jean Carroll's $83 million verdict | ReutersMy column for Bloomberg this week takes aim at the so-called "Taylor Swift Tax" in Rhode Island—an annual surtax on non-primary residences valued over $1 million. While the headline-grabbing nickname guarantees media coverage, the underlying policy is flawed, both economically and politically.Rhode Island isn't alone—Montana, Cape Cod, and Los Angeles have all attempted to capture revenue from wealthy property owners through targeted taxes on high-end real estate. But these narrowly tailored levies often distort markets, suppress transactions, and encourage avoidance rather than compliance. LA's mansion tax, for example, dramatically underperformed because property owners simply didn't sell.The appeal of taxing second homes is clear: they're luxury assets often owned by out-of-staters with little political influence. But that lack of local connection also makes them an unreliable revenue base. It's relatively easy to sell, reclassify, or relocate a vacation property, particularly for the affluent. And when policies hinge on fuzzy concepts like "primary residence," they invite loopholes and enforcement challenges—especially when properties are held by LLCs or trusts.Rhode Island's new tax could drive potential buyers to nearby Connecticut, undermining its own housing market and revenue goals. If states want to tax wealth effectively, they must resist headline-chasing and instead build durable, scalable policies: regular reassessments, vacancy levies, and infrastructure-based cost recovery. These methods avoid the pitfalls of ambiguous residency tests and create more predictable revenue streams.And because discretionary wealth is mobile, real solutions will require cooperation—harmonized assessments, multistate compacts, and shared reporting. But more fundamentally, states looking for progressive revenue should aim higher—toward income and wealth taxes—rather than tinkering at the margins with weekend homes.Rhode Island Should Shake Off ‘Taylor Swift Tax' on Second Homes This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

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Frederick Douglass made the strongest arguments for abolition in antebellum America because he made the case that abolition was not a mutation of the Founding Father’s vision of America, but a fulfillment of their promises of liberty for all. He had a lot riding on this personally – Douglas was born into slavery in Maryland around 1818, escaped to the North in 1838, and became a renowned public speaker in Europe and the United States, captivating audiences with his powerful oratory and firsthand accounts of enslavement. Initially, in the 1840s, Douglass denounced the United States as a hypocritical nation that failed to uphold its ideals of liberty due to its support of slavery. He was part of the same radical abolitionist faction as William Lloyd Garrison, who publicly burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution in 1854 a Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society event, calling it “a covenant with death” and “an agreement with hell” due to its protections for slavery. But by the 1850s, Douglas’s views evolved to see the Constitution as an antislavery document that could be leveraged to fulfill the promise of freedom for all. His transformation reflected a strategic shift, advocating for reform within the system while maintaining his fierce commitment to abolishing slavery and securing equal rights. He was also a critic of Abraham Lincoln who later became friends with the president. Douglass disagreed with Abraham Lincoln's initial hesitancy to prioritize abolition and his gradual approach to emancipation, but agreed with Lincoln's eventual commitment to the Emancipation Proclamation and the use of Black soldiers in the Civil War, seeing these as critical steps toward ending slavery and aligning with the Constitution's promise of liberty. In “Measuring the Man: The Writings of Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln,” Jonathan W. White, today’s guest, assembled Frederick Douglass’s most meaningful and poignant statements about Abraham Lincoln, including a dozen newly discovered documents that have not been seen for 160 years. We see the anger Douglass directed at Lincoln throughout much of the Civil War as he moved slowly, but methodically, toward emancipation. Douglass’s writings also reveal how three personal interactions between these two led to powerful feelings of friendship and mutual admiration. After Lincoln’s assassination—as Jim Crow laws spread across the South—Douglass expressed greater appreciation for Lincoln’s statesmanship during the Civil War and praised him as a model for postwar America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charles Sumner is mainly known as the abolitionist statesman who suffered a brutal caning on the Senate floor by the proslavery congressman Preston Brooks in 1856. This violent episode has obscured Sumner's status as the most passionate champion of equal rights and multiracial democracy of his time. A friend of Alexis de Tocqueville, an ally of Frederick Douglass, and an adviser to Abraham Lincoln, Sumner helped the Union win the Civil War and pass into law the Emancipation Proclamation, the Thirteenth Amendment, the Freedmen's Bureau, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875. In his new book Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, Zaakir Tameez presents Sumner as one of America's forgotten founding fathers, a constitutional visionary who helped to rewrite the post–Civil War Constitution and give birth to modern civil rights law. He also argues that Sumner was a gay man who battled with love and heartbreak at a time when homosexuality wasn't accepted. And he explores Sumner's critical partnerships with the nation's first generation of Black lawyers and civil rights leaders, whose legal contributions to Reconstruction have been overlooked for far too long. Join us as Tameez brings back to life one of America's most inspiring statesmen, whose formidable ideas remain relevant to a nation still divided over questions of race, democracy, and constitutional law. The Commonwealth Club of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Tameez photo by Arifa Ali, courtesy the speaker. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. OrganizerGeorge Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared the enslaved free—but in some places, that news didn't arrive for months. In this message, Dr. Tony Evans explains how the same thing can happen spiritually when believers don't realize Christ has already set them free.

In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared the enslaved free—but in some places, that news didn't arrive for months. In this message, Dr. Tony Evans explains how the same thing can happen spiritually when believers don't realize Christ has already set them free.

In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared the enslaved free—but in some places, that news didn't arrive for months. In this message, Dr. Tony Evans explains how the same thing can happen spiritually when believers don't realize Christ has already set them free.

In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared the enslaved free—but in some places, that news didn't arrive for months. In this message, Dr. Tony Evans explains how the same thing can happen spiritually when believers don't realize Christ has already set them free.

This week is a journey through time, a stark look at the enduring impact of a brutal system. We go beyond the sanitized history books and the simplified narratives, delving into the very DNA of a people and a nation forever altered by the transatlantic slave trade. From the vibrant, complex societies of pre-colonial Africa to the dehumanizing brutality of the Middle Passage, we trace the origins of a trauma that echoes through generations. We unpack the cruel paradox of the Emancipation Proclamation, a promise of freedom that failed to erase the shackles of systemic oppression. We explore how this "peculiar institution" birthed a legacy of injustice that continues to manifest in our modern world. We connect the dots between Jim Crow laws and today's mass incarceration rates, between the economic disenfranchisement of the past and the wealth gap of the present. This is not just a story of suffering, but of resilience, of a people who have built, created, and thrived in the face of relentless adversity. This episode is an unfiltered conversation about the unpaid debt of history, a crucial exploration of how we can finally move forward by truly understanding where we've been.

This Day in Legal History: Second Confiscation ActOn July 17, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Second Confiscation Act into law, dramatically expanding federal wartime powers during the Civil War. Building on a more limited first version passed in 1861, the new act authorized the seizure of property—particularly land and slaves—from individuals engaged in or supporting the rebellion. It declared that any Confederate supporter who did not surrender within sixty days would have their property “forfeited and seized” by the United States government. Crucially, the law applied even to those who had not been convicted in court, effectively bypassing traditional due process protections.One of the most controversial aspects was the emancipation provision: slaves of disloyal owners were to be “forever free.” While limited in scope—applying only to territories held by Union forces and to those enslaved by rebels—it marked a key moment in the legal evolution of emancipation as a war aim. Lincoln, a lawyer sensitive to constitutional boundaries, had reservations about the law's due process implications. To address these, he issued a “signing statement” urging that the law be enforced in a way that preserved judicial oversight where possible.Still, the act laid the legal groundwork for broader emancipation efforts, including the Emancipation Proclamation issued six months later. It also reflected increasing pressure from abolitionist Republicans in Congress who sought a more aggressive stance against the Confederacy. The Confiscation Act expanded the Union's legal toolkit for undermining Confederate infrastructure and punishing rebellion, though enforcement was often inconsistent on the ground. It pushed the boundaries of property rights and signaled a shift in federal authority during wartime.A U.S. appeals court appears likely to block the Trump administration's effort to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants. During oral arguments on July 16, 2025, a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals questioned the abrupt reversal of TPS protections just days after President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took office. Judges expressed skepticism about the administration's rationale, particularly since the Biden administration had extended TPS protections until October 2026 only two weeks earlier.Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw questioned how conditions in Venezuela could have changed so significantly in such a short timeframe. Government attorney Drew Ensign argued that the Biden administration's extension was legally insufficient and that agencies have the authority to reconsider decisions. However, Judge Anthony Johnstone countered that policy changes must follow proper legal channels, not be masked as legal corrections. Judge Salvador Mendoza raised concerns that Noem and Trump's comments—some of which he described as “arguably racist”—might reflect racial bias in the policy shift.The TPS Alliance, represented by Ahilan Arulanantham, argued that federal law only allows revisions to TPS decisions for minor corrections, not full reversals. District Judge Edward Chen had already blocked the TPS termination in March, citing discriminatory motivations. The case affects Venezuelans who received TPS in 2023, with their status set to expire in April unless court protections remain in place. If the administration's policy holds, earlier TPS recipients from 2021 could also lose their status by September. Several other lawsuits have also challenged the termination of TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians.US judges skeptical of Trump ending Venezuelan migrants' legal status | ReutersNinth Circuit skeptical of Venezuelan immigration status terminations, despite SCOTUS block | Courthouse News ServiceThe U.S. Department of Justice has fired Maurene Comey, a prominent federal prosecutor and daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, without providing a clear reason. Comey had led high-profile prosecutions, including the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell in the Jeffrey Epstein case and the recent case against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. Two anonymous sources confirmed the dismissal and said Comey received a memo citing the president's Article II constitutional authority to remove federal employees.The move comes amid broader personnel changes at DOJ under the Trump administration, which recently reversed its position on releasing Epstein-related documents—an about-face that has frustrated Trump's supporters. Maurene Comey was part of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan and played a key role in Maxwell's 2022 conviction and sentencing. She also prosecuted Combs, who is currently in jail awaiting sentencing for transporting women for prostitution. Although jurors acquitted Combs of the most serious charges, he remains in custody.The dismissal of Comey follows a pattern of DOJ firings under Attorney General Pam Bondi, who recently terminated several prosecutors involved in investigations tied to Trump, including members of Special Counsel Jack Smith's team. James Comey, fired by Trump in 2017, is currently under investigation alongside former CIA Director John Brennan. Neither the DOJ nor Maurene Comey has commented on her termination.US DOJ fires federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, daughter of ex-FBI head James Comey | ReutersEx-FBI Chief James Comey's Daughter Ousted as Federal Prosecutor - BloombergTwenty U.S. states—mostly led by Democratic governors—filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from ending a federal grant program aimed at disaster prevention. The program, known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), was launched in 2018 to help fund infrastructure improvements that protect communities from natural disasters such as floods and wildfires. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, argues that FEMA acted beyond its legal authority when it terminated the program in April without congressional approval.The states, led by Washington and Massachusetts, assert that ending BRIC violates the separation of powers, as Congress explicitly funded the program and made disaster mitigation a key function of FEMA. They also contend that the decision-makers at FEMA—former acting director Cameron Hamilton and his successor David Richardson—were not lawfully appointed and therefore lacked authority to shut down the program.FEMA defended the decision by claiming the program had become wasteful and politicized, but bipartisan lawmakers criticized the move, especially given BRIC's importance to rural and tribal communities. Over the past four years, the program has awarded approximately $4.5 billion for nearly 2,000 projects, including flood walls, road improvements, and evacuation centers.The lawsuit comes amid scrutiny over FEMA's recent handling of deadly floods in Texas, which killed over 130 people, reinforcing concerns about cutting pre-disaster funding. The plaintiff states are seeking a preliminary injunction to reinstate the BRIC program while the case proceeds.Trump administration sued by US states for cutting disaster prevention grants | ReutersFEMA Sued By 20 States Over Cuts to Disaster Mitigation ProgramGeorge Retes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran, says he was wrongfully detained for three days following an immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, California. Retes, who works as a security guard at the site, described a violent arrest by federal agents during a chaotic scene involving protestors. He alleges that officers broke his car window, used tear gas on him, and restrained him forcefully, despite his repeated statements that he was a citizen and an employee.The raid was part of a broader immigration enforcement effort under the Trump administration, which began ramping up in June. Retes claims he was never told what he was being charged with and was taken to a downtown Los Angeles facility without explanation. He missed his daughter's third birthday while detained and now plans to sue the federal government.Immigrant rights groups have warned that U.S. citizens and legal residents are sometimes wrongly caught up in such raids. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Retes' arrest and release, stating that his case, among others, is under review by the U.S. Attorney's Office for potential federal charges. Retes condemned the treatment he received and called for greater accountability, saying no one—regardless of immigration status—should be subjected to such abuse.US citizen says he was jailed for three days after California immigration raid | Reuters This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Fourth of July celebrations took on deep new meanings. While Confederate sympathizers hid away in bitterness, African Americans across the South embraced the day with joy, commemorating their newfound freedom with fireworks, speeches, and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation.Audio Onemichistory.comFollow me on Instagram: @onemic_historyFollow me on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@onemic_historyFollow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OnemichistoryPlease support our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=25697914Buy me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Countryboi2mSources:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/07/fourth-of-july-black-holiday/564320/ https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/nations-story-what-slave-fourth-july https://www.ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine/too-la-loo-fourth-julyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/one-mic-black-history--4557850/support.

In recognition of this month's celebrations honoring the end of legal slavery in the United States, we bring you this week a conversation on "A New Birth of Freedom: Commemorating Juneteenth in Kentucky" led by Dr. Patrick Lewis, of the Filson Historical Society, back on June 18, 2021 - the first year that Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday. Watch recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8e5L7a1pME Dr. Patrick Lewis is now the President of the Filson Historical Society. A Trigg County native, he graduated from Transylvania University and holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Kentucky. He has worked for the National Park Service and the Kentucky Historical Society. Lewis is author of For Slavery and Union: Benjamin Buckner and Kentucky Loyalties in the Civil War (2015). Emancipation in the United States was over 200 years in the making by the time the 13th Amendment officially ended human bondage in 1865. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act was signed into law in 2021, making Juneteenth a federal holiday. But earlier versions of the holiday have been celebrated in the South since the mid-1860s. Kentucky recognized the holiday in 2005 through a proclamation by the General Assembly. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln, born in Kentucky in 1809, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that individuals enslaved in Confederate territories were to be freed. Effective January 1, 1863, the legal status of millions of enslaved individuals in the Southern states changed, but the Proclamation depended heavily on the Union Army for enforcement, with most Southern enslavers ignoring the executive order. Beyond the Confederacy, enslaved people in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri were unaffected by the Emancipation Proclamation. Being a geographic outlier from the Confederacy, Texas was especially slow and inconsistent in enforcing the Proclamation, and many African Americans remained enslaved. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 and declared all persons previously enslaved in Texas to be freed. Supported by more than 2,000 federal troops, General Granger was finally prepared to enforce the emancipation of Texas's enslaved population. The following year, on the anniversary of the order, free African Americans in Texas organized celebrations to commemorate the occasion, originally calling it “Jubilee Day.” Outside of the South, Maryland and Missouri had both ended slavery within their state boundaries by early 1865. However, it wasn't until the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 6, 1865, that slavery was fully abolished in the United States, forcing Kentucky and Delaware to recognize the freedom of their enslaved population. In Texas, joyous events commemorating the end of slavery evolved over the years with one major change: renaming the holiday Juneteenth in the 1890s. Following the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, Juneteenth events emerged on a bigger stage throughout the country. In Louisville in 2020, local organizers, activists, and leaders created a Juneteenth festival to celebrate Black culture and resilience. Two years later in 2022, former Mayor Greg Fischer signed an ordinance that declared Juneteenth a city holiday. In Kentucky, the most widespread regional celebration of Jubilee Day is August 8th, a date originating from Paducah and Western Kentucky's diaspora. This year, the Filson is helping sponsor and support the August 8th Emancipation Day Celebration at Louisville's West End Women's Collaborative, led by Filson Community History Fellow Mariel Gardner on Friday, August 8th, 5pm - 8pm at ELAhouse, 3835 Hale Avenue Louisville, KY 40211. https://www.wewc4art.com/play Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 7pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another installment of the Redacted History Podcast. This is a revisit episode where we take the a look back at the history, symbolism and, importance of Juneteenth. June 19th, or Juneteenth, commemorates June 19th, 1865 where enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas were made aware that the Civil War was over and that slavery had been abolished --- 900 days after the Emancipation Proclamation. Stay Connected with Me: PATREON: patreon.com/redactedhistory https://www.tiktok.com/@Blackkout___ https://www.instagram.com/redactedhistory_ Contact: thisisredactedhistory@gmail.com Episode Script Writer and Researcher: Jordyn Howard Episode Editor and Narrator: Dr. André White Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get to know our new friend Michael Burt second generation owner of We Are Nuts.Why one political group should really embrace the holiday of Juneteenth.Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name, first used in the 1890s, is a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth, referring to June 19, 1865, the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

June 19, 1865. Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved people in Texas are officially informed of their freedom.Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 19, 2025 is: emancipation • ih-man-suh-PAY-shun • noun Emancipation refers to the act of freeing someone from the restraint, control, or power of another. It is used especially for the act of freeing someone from slavery. // Jomo Kenyatta played a key role in the emancipation of Kenya from European rule in the 1960s and became the first president of the newly independent nation. See the entry > Examples: “Rappahannock County's calming beauty and rolling hills hold stories from the Civil War era waiting to be told. Howard Lambert, a Culpeper native and the first African American president of the Brandy Station Foundation, has worked tirelessly to bring these stories to life, especially those of Black Civil War soldiers. ... He also has a personal connection to the Civil War. His great-great-uncle, Fielding Turner, served in the 20th United States Colored Troops (USCT) Infantry Regiment, fighting in pivotal battles and helping to announce emancipation in Texas now commemorated as Juneteenth.” — Ayana SummerlinRosa, The Culpeper (Virginia) Star-Exponent, 11 Mar. 2025 Did you know? To emancipate someone (including oneself) is to free them from restraint, control, or the power of another, and especially to free them from bondage or enslavement. It follows that the noun emancipation refers to the act or practice of emancipating. The Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, for example, ordered that enslaved people living in the Confederate states be released from the bonds of ownership and made free people. It took more than two years for news of the proclamation to reach the enslaved communities in the distant state of Texas. The arrival of the news on June 19 (of 1865) is now celebrated as a national holiday—Juneteenth or Emancipation Day.

On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared that enslaved people were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. This means that true freedom is not a political issue, it...

Now in its 31st year, the AfroSolo Arts Festival is thrilled to return to Commonwealth Club World Affairs with "We Come This Far by Music—Let Freedom Ring! Part 2," featuring African American artists and music. The AfroSolo Arts Festival, directed by Thomas R. Simpson, is showcasing a cast of classically trained artists. This program is led by Dr. Carl Blake, pianist and director, and features Bradley Kynard, baritone; Shawnette Sulker, soprano; William Underwood, flutist. It's a joyful, soul-stirring program of music based on African American experiences, as part of San Francisco's Juneteenth Celebration—a national celebration that commemorates the freeing of enslaved people in Texas two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.  AfroSolo Arts Festival is made possible through the support of the California Arts Council, Grants for the Arts, Dream Keeper Initiative, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, SF Arts Commission, and The Friends of AfroSolo. About the Performers Dr. Carl Blake, piano and program director. Carnegie Recital Wigmore Hall (London) and L'Hermitage St. Petersburg, Russia Toured in France, England, Central and South America, Caribbean as artistic ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. Currently, director of music, Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, San Francisco, and a board member, Noontime Concerts. Bradley Kynard, baritone. This season: The Emissary by Oh/Rourke and Prospero's Island by Shearer/Stevens, Zebul in Jeptha by Handel, Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (BWV 212) by J.S. Bach, A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil by Wold, Sophia's Forest by Beecher/Moscovitch, and Harriet's Spirit by Shelby/Olvera with Opera Parallèle, Moby Dick, Heggie/Scheer with San Francisco Opera. Brooke. In Little Women, by Adamo. Shawnette Sulker, soprano. Featured artist with San Francisco Opera; Die Königin der Nacht, Cleopatra, Porgy and Bess, Jake Heggie's Intelligence, Allen Shearer's Prospero's Island. Soloist, Carmina Burana, Messiah, and Mahler's symphonies concert performances at Teatro di San Carlo, Lincoln Center, and Leipzig's Gewandhaus. William Underwood III, flutist. Performs in traditional, avant-garde, social and sacred arenas as a solo, collaborative and recording flutist. A veteran of AfroSolo Festivals in San Francisco. Toured Japan extensively with Kyodo Tokyo Incorporated . An Arts Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: Anne W Smith and Thomas R. Simpson  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get to know our new friend Michael Burt second generation owner of We Are Nuts. Why one political group should really embrace the holiday of Juneteenth. Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name, first used in the 1890s, is a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth, referring to June 19, 1865, the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Commemorate Juneteenth and reflect on its origins, history, meaning, and traditions.Learn about the prevalence and acceptance of slavery in world history (such as in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Athens, Rome, Britain, England, and Europe) and its development in the colonies and the United States. Examine the cruel and barbaric slave trade and Middle Passage across the ocean from first hand accounts.Explore how some Founding Fathers such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton opposed slavery, and George Washington emancipated his slaves. Learn how Thomas Jefferson trembled for the future of the country because of slavery, and how he banned slavery in the Northwest Territory and signed the law banning the slave trade in America. Learn how the opposition to slavery led to sharp divisions in the country, eventually exploding into the Civil War.Review how President Abraham Lincoln shifted his original position and supported the emancipation of the slaves as a wartime measure, and implemented emancipation through the first and final Emancipation Proclamations. Learn how the final Emancipation Proclamation only freed those enslaved by the Confederate States of America.Learn how many enslaved first learned of the Emancipation Proclamation for the first time on June 19, 1865 by virtue of Union General Gordan Granger General's Order No. 3 issued in Galveston, Texas after the Union army occupies the city, but only after the 25th Army Corps — primarily composed of African American Union troops — liberate Galveston.Review how slavery was finally abolished through the ratification of the 13th Amendment and treaties with Native American tribes (who held slaves) such as the Cherokee, Creek, and Chickasaw.Explore how June 19 becomes a new celebration - called Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, and finally Juneteenth - and the celebration spread across the nation, and was finally recognized as a federal holiday in the wake of the George Floyd killing in 2021. Listen to several Juneteenth Presidential Proclamations by Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.Focus on how commercialism is starting to creep into the Juneteenth celebrations.Highlights include Christina Snyder's book Slavery in Indian Country, The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America,  Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa), the Great Awakening, chattel slavery, Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, Eli Whitney & the cotton gin, Missouri Compromise, Bleeding Kansas, Lincoln Douglas debates, "A House Divided" Abraham Lincoln speech, presidential election of 1860, Declaration of Independence, abolitionists, Fort Sumter, Civil War, Grand Army of the Republic, Horace Greeley, Gideon Wells, William Seward, Antietam, Gettysburg Address, Lincoln First Inaurual Address, Lincoln Second Inaugural Address, Richard Hofstadlter's American Political Tradition, bill of lading, General Robert E. Lee, Appotomattox Court House, CSS Shenandoah, Union General Gordan Granger General Order No. 3, and much more.To learn more about America & Patriot Week, visit www.PatriotWeek.org. Our resources include videos, a TV series, blogs, lesson plans, and more.Check out Judge Michael Warren's book America's Survival Guide, How to Stop America's Impending Suicide by Reclaiming Our First Principles and History at amazon, or other major on-line retailers.Join us!

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and a powerful moment in American history. On June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved people in Texas finally learned they were free. That day became known as Juneteenth, short for “June Nineteenth.” Families and communities began celebrating with music, food, and joy. Today, Juneteenth is a national holiday that honors the end of slavery and reminds us to keep working for equality and justice.

As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America, was led by Lord Dunmore, who counted George Washington as his close friend. But the Scottish earl lacked troops, so when patriots imperiled the capital of Williamsburg, he threatened to free and arm enslaved Africans—two of every five Virginians—to fight for the Crown. Virginia’s tobacco elite was reluctant to go to war with Britain but outraged at this threat to their human property. Dunmore fled the capital to build a stronghold in the colony’s largest city, the port of Norfolk. As enslaved people flocked to his camp, skirmishes broke out. “Lord Dunmore has commenced hostilities in Virginia,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. “It has raised our countrymen into a perfect frenzy.” With a patriot army marching on Norfolk, the royal governor freed those enslaved and sent them into battle against their former owners. In retribution, and with Jefferson’s encouragement, furious rebels burned Norfolk to the ground on January 1, 1776, blaming the crime on Dunmore. The port’s destruction and Dunmore’s emancipation prompted Virginia’s patriot leaders to urge the Continental Congress to split from Britain, breaking the deadlock among the colonies and leading to adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Days later, Dunmore and his Black allies withdrew from Virginia, but the legacy of their fight would lead, ultimately, to Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Chronicling these stunning and widely overlooked events in full for the first time is today’s guest, Andrew Lawler, author of A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution. He offers a new perspective on the American Revolution that reorients our understanding of its causes, highlights the radically different motivations between patriots in the North and South.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For historian Peniel Joseph, the year 1963 — the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation — is the defining year of the Civil Rights Movement. “America came undone and remade itself in 1963, a year of miracles and tragedies, progress and setbacks,” he writes in his new book, “Freedom Season.” It profiles how events of that year affected Americans like Rev. King, Malcolm X and James Baldwin — and inspired their parts in the Black freedom struggle. Joseph joins us. Tell us: What does 1963 symbolize to you? Guests: Peniel E. Joseph, author, "Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution" - professor of history and founding director, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, University of Texas at Austin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices