Hello America!!! How was your first two days? By the time of this posting, it will be day three for me. It’s Wednesday morning Jan 22, 2025. For me it's a day of melancholy. It’s the 24th year since we lost my eldest brother, a Mariane, Lance Corporal Benjamin Norwood Jr., to brain cancer due to the effects of “Agent Orange” after serving two tours in the Vietnam War. Needless to say, I was very proud of Ben Jr. as he was affectionately called.
I guess you could say I come from a military family. I even enlisted in the Army although the Army felt that I would best serve my country if I went to college. I think of my brother at this inflection in time in history as I do with other members of my family who served, including my father and uncle who served in Korea, my cousins and dear friends who didn’t make it home from Vietnam like my brother. I think of the Applewhite brothers from Germantown our neighborhood in Philadelphia where I grew up as a young boy and all the young men who served that were seniors when I was a kid who graduated from Thomas Edison High School in North Philadelphia. If you are not familiar with them, they are the youngest men who paid the ultimate sacrifice from any high school in Philadelphia.
Why am I using this platform and I do understand that we live in a time where no one enjoys the written word; it’s TikTok and Reels and soundbites. But in my reflection on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and my brother coming at a time where 63% of white men and white women voted for a twice impeached, indicted, insurrectionist, convicted felon and his power hungry cronies taking positions of authority in his cabinet and administration, and with the majority of Republicans in Congress and the United States Senate as well as the Supreme Court has become a real and active threat to me, my way of life, and all or most of the people I love.
Some people are saying that we should give Trump a chance, that we should "work together" with him because he won the election, and he is "everyone's president."
However, if you want to believe that fine. Trump is not, nor will he ever be someone we as the Black community can work with and the Executive Orders that were signed within hours or minutes after he took the oath of office proves that. You want to complain about Biden using the pardon to protect people; when you already knew Trump was going to use the pardon power in an abusive manner on day one because he said so and here is the proof: Trump issued pardons for some 1,500 defendants who participated in the siege on the U.S. Capitol four years ago, wiping away scores of convictions for people who helped delay the certification of the 2020 election and upend the peaceful transfer of power.
Trump also said at the Oval Office he would commute the sentences of a number of people, without offering immediate details. "We hope they come out tonight," he said. So, forget your selective outrage.
These pardons included one of the leaders of The Proud boys sadly that among his very first acts in office is to give a pardon to a white nationalist leader it is hard to imagine that we were sitting in the capital the sight of that attack and hours later the man who incited that attack pardons the people who participated in that attack is a terrible way to begin. No, I am not surprised.
Let’s talk about the media that has surrendered its first amendment responsibility and have turned their platforms into what is tantamount to being State TV; that included social media. Do you have to buy stock in order to make money using the Fanbase app?
No, you don't have to buy stock to make money using the Fanbase app! Fanbase allows
users to monetize their content directly through subscriptions and audience engagement.
Users can charge their audience from $2.99 to $99.99 a month for exclusive access
to photos, videos, audio chat rooms, and long-form content.
However, if you're interested in potentially benefiting from the company's growth, you can choose to invest in Fanbase's equity crowdfunding campaign. This is optional and separate from the content monetization features. I tell you this because in a few short months you are going to need a new platform to get news, information and factual information.
Speaking of Executive Orders let's talk about the executive orders that are going to affect our lives until petitions get filed with the courts and possibly be upheld by the Trump handpicked Justices +two. Within an hour of being sworn in Trump filed the following executive orders:
Jan. 6 pardons
Pausing the TikTok ban
Undoing Biden executive actions
Another order rescinded 78 Biden-era executive actions, orders and presidential memoranda.
They include a wide variety of actions related to racial equality, climate, migration
and gender policy; the federal workforce; and Biden's recent move to take
Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Inflation
You can’t control what the private sector charges for it products.
Immigration
Trump signed executive orders making sweeping changes to immigration and border security.
They include:
Declaring a national emergency at the border: Trump signed an order declaring "that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States," and allowing for the deployment of armed forces and the National Guard to respond.
"Clarify" the military's role in border security: This action directs the military to "prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders." This includes "by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities."
Ending "catch and release," continue building the wall, and end "Remain in Mexico": A sweeping order on "Securing Our Borders" calls for establishing "physical barriers" at the border, ending the practice known as "catch-and-release" and reinstituting a policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claim is processed.
Designating criminal cartels as terrorists: This order defines drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, in order to expedite the removal of members of groups like Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela, and MS-13.
Suspending refugee resettlement: Trump signed an order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
Ending birthright citizenship: Trump signed an order that would end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents without legal status. The order argues that the 14th Amendment, which enshrines birthright citizenship, does not extend to individuals who are born in the country but not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." This action is likely to see immediate legal challenges. (This is a part of the 14th Amendment. Does that mean that as a descendant of a slave do I lose my citizenship?)
Enhance vetting and screening: This order instructs federal agencies to "vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the United States, particularly those aliens coming from regions or nations with identified security risks."
"Protect American citizens against invasion": This order instructs federal agencies to use "all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States against all inadmissible and removable aliens."
Rescinding the location of children separated from their parents.
Restore the death penalty
Trump signed an order reinstating the federal death penalty, instructing the attorney general to "pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use." In particular, it calls for the death penalty to be sought in all cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer, and all capital crimes committed by immigrants without legal status.
"Weaponization of government"
Trump signed an order "ending the weaponization of the federal government."
Trump and his allies have long claimed that the Justice Department under former President Biden was weaponized against him, citing the various legal cases against him, and other conservatives.
DOJ prosecutors wound down the two federal criminal cases against Trump after he won the 2024 election, following longstanding department precedent. In a report on the government's election interference case released last week, special counsel Jack Smith said the evidence against Trump would have led to his conviction at trial — if not for his election victory that led to charges being dropped.
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump pledged to punish, prosecute or jail his political enemies. Trump has repeatedly indicated that he would use federal law enforcement as part of a campaign to exact "retribution."
Federal workforce
Trump signed a "freeze on all federal hiring, excepting the military and a number of other excluded categories." At Capital One Arena, Trump told his supporters the temporary pause would "ensure that we're only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public."
He also signed an order requiring federal workers to return to the office in person, and a "regulatory freeze" preventing the creation of new federal regulations.
Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord
Trump signed an order titled, "Putting America first in international environmental agreements," which included withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord.
Trump previously withdrew from the Paris accords during his first term, but Biden rejoined the agreement in 2021.
Defining 'sex' and ending DEI programs
Trump signed an executive action Monday night dealing with gender identity. The details weren't immediately made public; however, an incoming White House official speaking on background had told reporters earlier in the day that an order would make it the policy of the United States to recognize two biologically distinct sexes — male and female.
"These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality," the official said.
The change will require government agencies to use the definitions on documents like passports, visas and employee records the official said. Taxpayer funds will not be allowed to be used for "transition services," the official said.
A second action will end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, the official said, giving as examples environmental justice programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as diversity training.
Energy and climate
Trump intends to declare a national energy emergency, aiming to cut red tape and regulations for the energy industry, and a second one specific to Alaskan resources, an incoming White House official told reporters on a background conference call.
"That national energy emergency will unlock a variety of different authorities that will enable our nation to quickly build again, to produce coal and natural resources, to create jobs, to create prosperity and to strengthen our nation's national security," the official said. The official said energy prices are too high, but declined on the call to name a lower target price.
The action will end what incoming Trump officials call the "electric vehicle mandate" and will end "efforts to curtail consumer choice on the things that consumers use every single day, whether it be showerheads, whether it be gas stoves, whether it be dishwashers and the like," the official said.
Trump has long railed against energy efficiency standards on the campaign trail, and specifically taken aim at "electric vehicle mandates," a term he uses to encompass all policies designed to encourage a transition to battery-powered cars. Rules actually requiring 100% of vehicles to be electric do not exist on the federal level.
So, America I found this online, and I am going to paraphrase it but this is where I stand. The 47th President, his power-hungry cronies taking positions of authority in his cabinet and administration, and the majority of Republicans in Congress are a real and active threat to me, my way of life, and all or most of the people I love.
Some people are saying that we should give Trump a chance, that we should "work together" with him because he won the election, and he is "everyone's president." This is my response:
Barack Obama for 8 years...Lies about his legitimacy and hatred for his principles and his attempts to work within the system.
Medicaid.
pushing unfit Cabinet nominees through on recess appointments without the advice and consent of the Senate.
on the middle class and poor.
pockets and those of his family and cronies.
, to companies which then despoil those lands.
because they are predators, or inconvenient for a few, or because some people want to get their thrills killing them.
for as long as I have been alive.
are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.
or undermine, weaken or destroy Unions in any way.
change, fracking, or any other issue where a majority of scientists agree thatTrump and his supporters are wrong on the facts. white supremacists a seat at the table, or to normalize their hatred.
basis of a "pre-existing condition."
at any level of government.
dictators.
oil on Sacred Ground for Native Americans. And it would run under the Missouri River, which provides drinking water for millions of people.
An accident waiting to happen.
This is my line, and I am drawing it.
I WILL stand for honesty, love, respect for all living beings, and for the beating heart that is the center of Life itself.
That "winning", "being great again", "rich" or even "beautiful" is nothing... When others are sacrificed to glorify its existence.
Very Truly Yours,
Tyrone Norwood
