WHY NOT NAME THEM THE “THOMPSON HEARINGS?”
If you don’t live in a cave in the middle of nowhere, you must have heard of the January 6th Hearings conducted by the January 6th Committee with Black Congressman Bennie Thompson as its Chairman. Whether or not you watched the hearings, you must have heard or read the media responses to them which have been overwhelmingly positive with the exception of the Fox “circus” channel, which is deliberately designed to dupe the already duped with misinformation and propaganda.
Thompson is a slow, deliberate-speaking Southern politician with a great history and a sharp mind and unshakeable wit. He was born in 1948 in Bolton, Mississippi, a town with a shrinking population of 567. He graduated from Hinds County Agricultural High School after which he earned a B.A. in political science at Tougaloo College in 1968 and his Masters in Educational Administration from Jackson State University and was elected to Congress from his majority Black district in 1993 after serving as a school teacher, alderman, Mayor of Bolton and member of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, the position that he held in 1993 when he won his seat in Congress where, since 2019, he has served as Chair of the Homeland Security Committee and, now, as Chair of the January 6th Committee charged with investigating the violent insurrection at the Capital after Donald Trump lost the election. He is also currently the Dean of the Mississippi Congressional Delegation and its only Democrat. It is probably fair to say that Bennie Thompson is the uniquely qualified man for the job of determining who tried to steal our democracy, why and how, and how to assure that it can never happen again.
It is not hyperbolic to say that Bennie Thompson is, essentially, at the center stage of another pivotal point in American history and he is handling things like the pro he is, which is probably why Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Joyce Beatty proposed naming the January 6th Hearings after Bennie Thompson (see page 25). In her own words: “I am calling for the January 6th hearings to be recorded in history as the Thompson Hearings. These hearings are the most consequential congressional hearings since Watergate, and the nation will have a front-row seat to the revelations that led to the January 6th attack on our democracy, the Constitution, and the American people.” She went on to say, “The world deserves to know the extent of the violence that took place that day, and I look forward to the Committee sharing their findings in these hearings and explaining the scheme to undermine the peaceful transfer of power.”
She praised Thompson and emphasized his committee accomplishments saying: “Under the leadership of Chairman Bennie Thompson, this Committee is conducting a meticulous bipartisan investigation focused on uncovering the facts. They’ve conducted more than a thousand interviews and received more than 140,000 documents. It is crucial the Committee tells the American people the full story and makes recommendations that will help ensure nothing like January 6th happens again.”
I certainly agree with Chairwoman Beatty. Black folks are altogether too often left out of the historical narrative and/or discover our roles diminished to minor players. We must seize the moment and guarantee that Chairman Bennie Thompson receives his proper place in history.

RUDY GIULIANI LIED AGAIN
You might have read about the “assault” on Rudy Giuliani where he claimed a Black man, who gently patted him on his back to get his attention, hit him on the back with such force that it felt like a bullet hit him. He also claimed the impact forced him a few steps forward but he was able to keep himself from falling. MSNBC showed a film of the incident. Rudy lied. The man barely touched him and Rudy didn’t budge. He’s such a liar. But the cops arrested the man and held him in jail for 24 hours before releasing him to his lawyer who is going to have lots of fun suing Rudy and the police.

IS HE BLACK?
You might have wondered about the race of the leader of the Proud Boys neofascist group whose members are under indictment for conspiracy relating to their activities at the Capitol on January 6th. Enrique Tarrio is a dark-skinned Cuban American (Afro-Cuban?). In a Boston Globe article (June 11, 2022), Marcela Garcia attempted to explain Tarrio’s behavior and her words were interesting. She wrote (quoting Tanya Kateri Hernandez): “What drives a non-white person to take part in violence against racial minorities? What’s the best way to distance yourself from feeling like you’re part of an oppressed group? It’s to align yourself with those who are part of the oppressors… Additionally, whiteness has been very elastic throughout history…. People who today we think of as white people with Italian American or Irish American ancestry were, at the turn of last century, viewed as non-white. Whiteness sort of expanded to include them.”

THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S TROUBLES ARE CATCHING UP TO HIM
Not only are the Thompson Hearings dealing blows to the former president, his effort to install Jeffrey Clark, a low-level environmental lawyer, as his acting attorney general and fire his then acting attorney general who refused to break the law, has resulted in Clark’s home being raided by the FBI. It was nighttime and Clark was forced to stand in the dark outside of his home in his pajamas while his house was searched and his relevant property confiscated.

THE FORMER PRESIDENTS’ TROUBLES ARE CATCHING UP TO HIM
The former president’s lawyer’s cell phone was seized by the Federal Office of the Inspector General pursuant to a warrant. The feds were apparently searching for information relative his role in organizing the plot to send lists of false alternate electors from various battleground states to be counted by the vice president in the place of the actual electors. The vice president wisely declined to cooperate which is why January 6th rioters tried to hang him. All of this is getting closer and closer to Donald Trump and may land him in jail before he gets a chance to urge the crowds to violence again.

ON THE LOCAL SCENE
It seems silly that on the local scene the most exciting political race of the year is probably the special election to replace Springfield’s ward 5 city councilor Marcus Williams, who abruptly resigned his seat and his presidency recently on short notice. More than a half dozen people joined the race including Ellen Moorhouse, who was the last to take out papers but the first to gather the required signatures; Mayor Sarno’s aide, Lavar Click-Bruce; LeMar Cook; former Ward 5 candidate, Edward Green; and Nicole Coakley. Others took out papers but are yet to present signatures for verification as of this writing. The funny part about the race is the interest of so many political players who want their candidate to win although the only one who has made a public endorsement is City Councilor Trayce Whitfield who publicly endorsed Nicole Coakley. Rumor has it that Mayor Sarno will or will not publicly endorse his candidate who is presumably his aide, Lavar Click-Bruce, whose recent fundraiser he attended. If anybody knows who the front runner is, please let me know. ■