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Trump Exploits Tragedy to Push Racist and Partisan Attacks

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Rather than focus on the victims or provide substantive details about the ongoing investigation, Trump and his officials used the tragedy to attack Democrats and falsely blame former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

American hate continued in one of its worst forms as political partisanship and racism consumed briefings that featured President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The briefings followed the devastating midair collision over Reagan National Airport that killed all 64 people aboard an American Airlines flight and at least three military personnel in a Black Hawk helicopter. Rather than focus on the victims or provide substantive details about the ongoing investigation, Trump and his officials used the tragedy to attack Democrats and falsely blame former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Obama, who left office in 2017, was somehow dragged into the conversation, while Trump and his allies baselessly claimed the crash resulted from diversity, equity, and inclusion policies—initiatives that have been in place in the federal government since at least the 1960s after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

Even as mainstream media figures like Bakari Sellers urged against assigning blame so soon after the crash, Trump once again showed no bottom. Instead of acknowledging the gravity of the moment, he seized on the disaster to push his political agenda. “We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system. I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary,” Trump claimed, without citing any policy changes or evidence. “And then when I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. I put safety first, Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first,” he continued. “Their policy was horrible, and their politics was even worse.”

Trump then aimed at what he called an “FAA diversity push,” spewing falsehoods about hiring standards. “They’re including people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities—it’s amazing,” he said. From there, he turned his attacks on former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Do you know how badly everything’s run since he’s run the Department of Transportation?” Trump said. “He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground, and he’s a disaster. Now he’s just got a good line of bulls—.”

Vance, Duffy, and Hegseth echoed Trump’s attacks, claiming that only the “best and brightest” should be hired in air traffic control and government agencies. “If you go back to just some of the headlines over the past 10 years, you have many hundreds of people suing the government because they would like to be air traffic controllers, but they were turned away because of the color of their skin,” Vance falsely asserted, offering no proof. Hegseth piled on, declaring that “the era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department.” “The best leaders possible—whether it’s flying Black Hawks, flying airplanes, leading platoons, or in government—will be chosen based on merit,” Hegseth said.

Duffy blamed the crash on government hiring practices without offering any evidence. “We are going to take responsibility at the Department of Transportation and the FAA to make sure we have the reforms that have been dictated by President Trump in place to make sure that these mistakes do not happen again and again,” he said. Meanwhile, as Trump and his allies turned a national tragedy into a political spectacle, Democrats urged patience while investigators worked to determine the cause of the crash. “It never does any good to speculate on the causes of aviation accidents before we have the facts and the details,” Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) said. “It is important to let the NTSB complete its work before we consider any potential policy response.” “My heart goes out to the families of the victims on both aircraft following last night’s awful tragedy,” he added.

Among those killed were 14 skaters returning home from a national development camp in Wichita, Kansas, including six members of the Skating Club of Boston—two teenage athletes, their mothers, and two coaches. Doug Zeghibe, CEO of The Skating Club of Boston, fought back tears as he spoke to NBC Boston. “Skating is a very close and tight-knit community. I think for all of us, we have lost family,” he said. He called the two coaches, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, “top coaches,” noting that they were the 1994 world pair champions. “This wasn’t the first plane tragedy for the club,” Zeghibe said, recalling the 1961 crash that killed the entire U.S. figure skating world team en route to the world championships in Prague. “It had long-reaching implications for this skating club and the sport in this country because when you lose coaches like this, you lose the future of the sport as well.”

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AI Isn’t Killing Jobs—Yet. But Entry-Level Workers and Middle Managers Should Be Watching Closely

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — the World Economic Forum, and tech industry analysts all point to the same conclusion: AI is changing the workforce—but the doomsday scenario hasn’t arrived.

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By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Despite relentless corporate hype and rising concerns about mass unemployment, artificial intelligence has yet to lead to widespread job losses. Reports from Goldman Sachs, Brookings, CNN, the World Economic Forum, and tech industry analysts all point to the same conclusion: AI is changing the workforce—but the doomsday scenario hasn’t arrived. According to Goldman Sachs’ Q2 2025 AI Adoption Tracker, AI usage among U.S. firms rose from 7.4% to 9.2% in just one quarter. Yet the research found “no sign of a significant impact on most labor market outcomes.” Job growth, wage trends, unemployment, and layoff rates in AI-exposed industries remain consistent with those in less-exposed sectors.

Brookings reached a similar conclusion. In a July report, researchers Tania Babina and Anastassia Fedyk found that “AI adoption is associated with firm growth, increased employment, and heightened innovation.” A one-standard-deviation increase in AI investment resulted in a 2% annual increase in both sales and headcount after two to three years. But the disruption is already visible in certain roles. Call center employment is slowing, and AI-related job postings now account for 24% of all IT openings—even if they still make up only 1.5% of total job ads. “We’re looking at a complex reshaping, rather than a straightforward elimination,” said Gaurab Bansal of Responsible Innovation Labs.

Goldman’s analysis found that productivity is where AI is already leaving its mark. Firms that fully integrate generative AI report labor productivity gains between 23% and 29%. Tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft confirm those numbers. Amazon saved $250 million after deploying AI agents to upgrade 30,000 internal apps. Microsoft now uses AI for up to 30% of its code development. But AI’s reach goes beyond code. According to a 2025 survey from Howdy.com, 79% of U.S. tech workers are using AI more than they were six months ago. Workers report AI helping with code generation, data analysis, cybersecurity, and documentation. Yet 38% believe their companies will replace jobs with AI within five years.

That concern is acute for early-career workers. The World Economic Forum warns that “entry-level roles could be increasingly at risk.” Their Future of Jobs Report 2025 showed 40% of employers plan to cut jobs where AI can automate tasks. Market research analysts and sales representatives could see up to 67% of their tasks replaced by AI, according to data cited in the Forum’s analysis from Bloomberg. Brookings found that AI-adopting firms are actively reshaping their labor force. The share of college-educated workers increased by 3.7%, and those with STEM degrees are in higher demand. At the same time, the number of non-college-educated workers fell by 7.2%. Companies are also flattening their hierarchies, reducing the need for middle management in favor of highly skilled, independent contributors.

“Most tasks for most jobs can’t be automated,” wrote Meta’s Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun, echoing a sentiment across the industry. But that doesn’t mean the changes won’t be profound. As Brookings notes, the shift favors highly-skilled workers and larger firms with the resources to build and deploy custom AI tools—possibly exacerbating inequality. CNN’s reporting also noted skepticism about corporate motivations. “AI is so good, it’s going to put humans out of jobs” may serve as a convenient cover for executives looking to cut staff, said some insiders. Pew Research found that more than half of Americans are worried about AI’s impact on the workplace. For now, mass layoffs may be overstated—but entry-level workers, mid-tier managers, and policymakers alike are on notice, experts declared.

What’s clear is that the workforce is in transition. “We’re entering a decade-ish, maybe more, period of uncertainty,” said Bansal.

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Beyoncé’s Tour Spurs Black Western Fashion Revival

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Concert parking lots and arenas have become makeshift runways of Black cowboy and cowgirl style, blending tradition, swagger, and reinvention.

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By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour isn’t just making musical headlines—it’s transforming the way Black communities express themselves through fashion. With each city stop, the tour has reignited interest in Western style, with Black fans reclaiming and redefining a genre long associated with whiteness. As the tour nears its close on July 26, fans across the country have turned out in droves, wearing rhinestone-studded cowboy hats, bold denim-on-denim ensembles, fringed jackets, and satin sashes. Concert parking lots and arenas have become makeshift runways of Black cowboy and cowgirl style, blending tradition, swagger, and reinvention. “This ain’t just a concert—it’s a statement,” said 26-year-old Mia Jackson of Atlanta, who wore a leather corset, flared denim pants, and custom boots to the tour’s stop in her city. “We’ve always been part of the Western story. Beyoncé just made it undeniable.”

Black-owned fashion brands have experienced a surge in sales, particularly those that incorporate Western aesthetics. Designers like Dymond Taylor of Houston’s Bstone Western Wear have seen record demand. Her brand, which blends traditional rodeo gear with modern silhouettes, reported a 212% increase in online traffic since the tour began. “This movement is changing lives,” Taylor said. “People want something real, something rooted. And Beyoncé put that on stage in a way that gave us all permission to shine.” Retail data supports the trend. In the U.K., where Cowboy Carter recently wrapped a leg of its tour, PrettyLittleThing reported a 622% spike in searches for cowboy jackets, with cowboy boots and hats rising by 53% and 85%, respectively. Vinted reported that searches for “Western” fashion increased by 16%, and “denim” by 8%, in the days following the concerts. “It’s about taking something that’s always belonged to us but wasn’t seen that way,” said 33-year-old Marcus Thompson from Chicago. “My granddaddy was a Black cowboy in Mississippi. When I put on this hat, it ain’t just for show—it’s heritage.”

The fashion surge goes beyond commercial appeal—it’s also a form of cultural reclamation. For decades, the image of the cowboy in America has largely erased the presence of Black cowboys who helped shape the West. Beyoncé’s visual narrative, tour wardrobe, and intentional inclusion of Black Western symbolism have brought that buried history back into the spotlight. “This is the first time I’ve seen so many of us rocking cowboy boots and fringe jackets and not feel like it’s costume,” said 22-year-old Nia Roberts of Dallas. “It feels like we’re wearing ourselves.”

Major fashion houses have also taken note. Calvin Klein collaborated on bedazzled tour pieces worn by Beyoncé, while brands like Levi’s have seen increased foot traffic tied to her influence. Stylists say the tour has helped shift trends toward elevated denim, metallic accents, and bold silhouettes—many of them now signature pieces in the Cowboy Carter visual identity. “I ain’t never worn a cowboy hat in my life,” said 28-year-old Jordan Banks from Detroit. “But standing in that stadium with thousands of other Black folks dressed like this? I felt powerful. Like we were finally being seen on our own terms.”

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SWAC TV set to launch August 1

SWAC TV launches Aug. 1 as a free streaming platform for all 18 conference sports, offering unprecedented visibility for HBCU teams across football, Olympic, and women’s athletics.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Starting next month, fans of the Southwestern Athletic Conference will no longer need a cable sports package to watch their favorite teams compete.

On Aug. 1, the Southwestern Athletic Conference will launch SWAC TV, a free streaming platform set to broadcast games across the league’s 18 sports. The launch marks the latest move by an HBCU athletic conference to expand its media presence beyond traditional broadcast partnerships.

The debut will feature a football tripleheader on Aug. 30. Southern will visit Mississippi Valley State at 5 p.m. ET, followed by Langston vs. Grambling State and Texas Southern vs. Prairie View A&M, both scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m.

“The debut of SWAC TV is undoubtedly a game-changer for the Southwestern Athletic Conference,” said SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland.

Several collegiate conferences offer streaming platforms; however, most require subscriptions or cable access. SWAC TV’s open access gives the league’s teams broader visibility and consistent coverage across all sports.

“For the first time in history, our fans and supporters will have a high-quality, technologically advanced streaming platform solely dedicated to broadcasting live events and delivering high-definition, on-demand league content,” McClelland said.

The platform will feature live events, original programming, sports talk shows, and podcasts. It will be available on major streaming devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google Play, and Android TV.

McClelland added that every football game in the conference’s portfolio will air on ESPN, HBCU GO, or SWAC TV.

A total of 45 games are scheduled to stream during the first season. The Turkey Day Classic—Tuskegee at Alabama State—will conclude football coverage on Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. ET.

“We’re excited to unveil it,” McClelland said. “But also, it will be an opportunity for our Olympic sports and our women’s sports to be seen on a national basis.”

The launch coincides with growing interest in HBCU athletics, particularly in football, where programs have attracted prominent coaches and upgraded facilities.

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