Sybil Wilkes 'What You Need To Know' 12.26.22
Sybil Wilkes ‘What You Need To Know’ Supreme History — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Take Center Stage — Killer Targeting Black Women
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 26TH, 2022
WATCH BELOW
1. Supreme History at the Highest Level
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What You Need to Know:
As promised, President Joe Biden nominated the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday, in the person of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Since her 1996 graduation from Harvard Law School, the 51-year-old judge has served at every level of the federal court system, including her current role at the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
Judge Jackson’s supporters not only call upon her extensive experience but also note her role as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. In her work as Vice-Chair and Commissioner of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the judge worked to reduce sentences for some drug offenses.
2. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Takes Center Stage
What You Need to Know:
“Judge Jackson has been scrutinized more than any person I can think of. This is her fourth time before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The three previous times she came through with flying colors and bipartisan support.”
-Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee
History will be made today as the first Black woman, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, sits before the Senate Judiciary Committee, moving closer to confirmation as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. As promised, President Joe Biden nominated a Black woman to fill the first opening on the highest court of the land. Several weeks after Justice Stephen Breyer confirmed his retirement, Mr. Biden nominated the current federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
3. Police Seize on COVID-19 Tech to Expand Global Surveillance
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What You Need to Know:
Majd Ramlawi was serving coffee in Jerusalem’s Old City when a chilling text message appeared on his phone.
“You have been spotted as having participated in acts of violence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it read in Arabic. “We will hold you accountable.”
Ramlawi, then 19, was among hundreds of people who civil rights attorneys estimate got the text last year, at the height of one of the most turbulent recent periods in the Holy Land. Many, including Ramlawi, say they only lived or worked in the neighborhood, and had nothing to do with the unrest. What he didn’t know was that the feared internal security agency, the Shin Bet, was using mass surveillance technology mobilized for coronavirus contact tracing, against Israeli residents and citizens for purposes entirely unrelated to COVID-19.
4. Police Dismissed Reports of a Serial Killer Targeting Black Women Until a Victim Escaped
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WRITTEN AND CONTRIBUTED BY COY MALONE
What You Need to Know:
Timothy Haslett Jr., a 39-year-old White man, was arrested on October 14 in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and charged with first-degree rape, aggravated sexual offense, first-degree kidnapping, and second-degree assault. Before his arrest, the Kansas City Police Department dismissed claims of a serial killer targeting Black women in the area, saying they were based on “completely unfounded rumors.”
Haslett wasn’t arrested until a Black woman he kidnapped, whipped, raped, and tortured, escaped and ran to neighbors for help, saying he’d murdered two of her friends. She was wearing a short black latex dress, a metal dog collar with a padlock, and duct tape around her neck when she begged 41-year-old Lisa Johnson for help around 7:35 in the morning. Despite the victim begging Johnson not to call the police because “…he’s going to kill us both,” Johnson called them anyway. The Black woman, who was severely underweight with matted hair, escaped when Haslett took his son to school.
5. Ministry Monday: Watch Night Service
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WRITTEN AND CONTRIBUTED BY WILLIE MCIVER
What You Need to Know:
WATCH NIGHT SERVICE, also known as FREEDOM’S EVE, can be traced back to the 18th century with the Moravian churches. On December 31 of each year, their members would assemble to reflect on the past year and usher in the new year. Watch Night Service got a new meaning for African Americans on December 31, 1862.
The story is that slaves in Confederate states gathered in churches and homes to celebrate their freedom, for it was the night before President Abraham Lincoln was going to officially sign the Emancipation Proclamation document, freeing the slaves; hence the name, FREEDOM’S EVE.
