Looming state budget deficit dominates discussion at Minneapolis town hall meeting
By Mshale Staff
A projected $5.3 billion budget deficit for the 2028-29 biennium overshadowed Minnesota’s current $616 million surplus at a town hall meeting on Tuesday hosted by Minnesota Senate president Bobby Joe Champion and his District 59 House counterparts Rep. Esther Agbaje and Rep. Fue Lee. At the town hall, held at the University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), residents and DFL leaders addressed the state’s uncertain financial future.
“The most important thing the legislature has to do this year is pass a balanced budget,” DFL Sen. Bobby Joe Champion said. “We are not like the federal government. We must pass a balanced budget. That’s a constitutional mandate for us.”
While the state enjoys a surplus as it begins the 2026-27 budget cycle, the looming deficit and underlying structural imbalances, where projected spending exceeds revenue, pose significant challenges. These difficulties are compounded by uncertainty surrounding federal funding, which supports a substantial portion of the state budget, particularly for health and human services.
The state’s projected budget woes sparked immediate concern from some attendees. One person asked whether Minnesota could retain its
federal tax dollars instead of sending them to Washington, reflecting anxiety about the state’s heavy dependence on federal funding and potential federal policy shifts. Another described the convoluted process of accessing disability services, highlighting the potential impact of budget cuts.
“I fully understand why people are nervous about this,” Senate fiscal analyst Eric Nauman said. “There’s a lot of controversy out in the world right now about what’s happening in Washington.”
Nauman stressed that the legislature would need to consider various “what if” scenarios regarding federal actions and their potential impact on the state budget. He said he did not have inside information on federal plans.
DFL Sen. John Hoffman echoed similar concerns, underscoring the state’s commitment to supporting vulnerable residents, including the elderly, the poor, and those with disabilities. He recalled a meeting more than a decade back, where he and former Senator Jeff Hayden warned of the coming wave of aging Baby Boomers and the growing disparities in access to services among demographic groups. Hoffman criticized the lack of action taken then and stressed the urgency of addressing the looming deficit, urging constituents to share their stories and hold their elected officials accountable.
“We knew 13 years ago, and we
told people back then, ‘It’s coming. It’s coming.’ And you know what our government did? We did nothing.”
Sen. Scott Dibble, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee at the State Capitol, voiced concern about federal funding for the proposed $3 billion Blue Line light rail extension to the Northwest suburbs. While the state hopes for half the funding to come from federal sources, Dibble expressed doubt, given the Trump administration’s priorities.
Representatives Esther Agbaje and Fue Lee addressed the threat of federal funding cuts and policy changes, emphasizing their potential impact on Minnesota’s housing programs. Agbaje expressed concern over the Trump administration’s proposed freeze on federal funding and efforts to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
“We need that money to improve lives
in Minnesota,” Agbaje said. Federal funds currently make up 33% ($37.8 billion) of the state budget. Agbaje noted the difficulty of planning amid funding uncertainty, saying, “we will have to figure out what we can do with an already small budget in housing.”
She highlighted the state’s commitment to affordable housing, pointing to the success of the firstgeneration down payment assistance program, which helped more than 4,000 families buy homes. She also discussed a forthcoming state voucherbased housing program, modeled after federal programs like Section 8.
“We know that the situation is difficult, we know that it’s dire,” Agbaje said, adding that local initiatives “can help try to stabilize as much of our population as possible, regardless of what may or may not be coming from the federal government.”
District 59 residents listen to a presentation by Minnesota Senate fiscal analyst Eric Nauman during a town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo: Livestream Screengrab
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Guest Commentary by Albert L. Brooks, MD
U.S. health institutions
Presidential administrations significantly impact the health and well-being of our patients and communities.
Through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the agencies within it, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Institutes of Health, this new administration will decide how financial resources are allocated, dictate the focus of federal research, and determine how our public health care insurance systems are managed, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Vaccines for Children program, Medicare, and Medicaid.
The decisions made over the next four years will impact all Americans but will be felt more acutely by those most underserved and vulnerable.
As physicians, we are greatly concerned by the nominations announced by President Trump for critical healthcare-related positions. Many of their previous statements and positions are rooted in misinformation.
Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same.
It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.
Vaccines, in particular, have been a target of disinformation by some HHS nominees. In fact, research continues to confirm that vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines go through multiple rounds of clinical trials prior to being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for administration to the public.
Vaccines protect against life-threatening diseases such as measles, polio, tetanus, and meningococcal disease and, when used effectively, have been shown to eliminate or substantially reduce disease prevalence and/or severity.
Because of vaccine mis- and disinformation, vaccine-preventable diseases have been resurgent such as measles and whooping cough, endangering those who are too young or unable to be vaccinated.
Several nominees have spread disinformation alleging that fluoride in public drinking water is harmful. In fact, fluoride in drinking water at the recommended level of 0.7 parts per million, like we have in our EBMUD water, is safe and keeps teeth strong. Because of public health interventions dating back to the 1960s that have resulted in 72.3% of the U.S. population now having access to fluoridated water, there has been a reduction in cavities by about 25% in both children and adults.
We also encourage the next administration to invest in our public health infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role of public health agencies in preventing and responding to health crises in our communities.
Health departments at the state and local levels rely on federal funding support and technical assistance to develop public health response plans, implement public health strategies, and work with on-the-ground organizations to serve hard-to-reach communities. Public health agencies are critical for protecting everyone in our communities, regardless of income level, insurance status, or housing status.
Health officials should also work to protect the significant improvements in insurance coverage that have occurred since the passage of theACAin 2010. According to HHS, uninsured Americans fell from 48 million in 2010 to 25.6 million in 2023.
California has led the way by investing in Medi-Cal and expanding enrollment eligibility. It reached its lowest uninsured rate ever in 2022 at 6.2%. Voters affirmed this commitment to developing and protecting access to care in November by passing Proposition 35, which significantly expanded funding for California’s Medi-Cal program. The administration should advance policies that strengthen the ACA, Medicaid, and Medicare and improve access to affordable health care.
Regardless of the president in power, physicians will always put the best interests of our patients and communities at the forefront. We will continue to be a resource to our patients, providing evidence-based and scientifically proven information and striving to better their lives and our community’s health. We urge the new Trump administration to do the same.
Albert L. Brooks MD is the immediate past president of the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association, which represents 6,000 East Bay physicians. He wrote this for the Oakland Post and is republished by Mshale via syndication from the National Newspapers Publishers Association, the trade association of the more than 200 Blackowned community newspapers in America.
White South Africans gather in support of Trump and his claims that they are victims of racism
By Alfonso Nqunjana and Gerald Imray Associated Press
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Some white South Africans showed support for President Donald Trump on Saturday, February 15, and gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria to claim they are victims of racism by their own government.
Hundreds of protesters held placards that read “Thank God for President Trump” and displayed other messages criticizing what they see as racist laws instituted by the South African government that discriminate against the white minority.
Many were from the Afrikaner community that Trump focused on in an executive order a week ago that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government. In the order, Trump said South Africa’s Afrikaners, who are descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers, were being targeted by a new law that allows the government to expropriate private land.
The South African government has denied its new law is tied to race and says Trump’s claims over the country and the law have been full of misinformation and distortions.
Trump said land was being expropriated from Afrikaners — which the order referred to as “racially disfavored landowners” — when no land has been taken under the law. Trump also announced a plan to offer Afrikaners refugee status in the U.S. They are only one part of South Africa’s white minority.
In a speech to Parliament this week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the forced removal
of any people from their land will never be allowed in South Africa again after millions of Blacks were dispossessed of property under the apartheid system of white minority rule and hundreds of years of colonialism before that.
“The people of this country know the pain of forced removals,” Ramaphosa said. He said the land law does not allow any arbitrary taking of land and only refers to land that can be redistributed for the public good.
The Trump administration’s criticism and punishment of South Africa has elevated a long-standing dilemma in the country over moves to address the wrongs of centuries of white minority rule that oppressed the Black majority.
According to the government, the land law aims to fairly address the inequality that the majority of farmland in South Africa is owned by whites, even though they make up just 7% of the country’s population.
White protesters on Saturday held banners referencing the expropriation law but also other affirmative action policies put in place by the government since the end of apartheid in 1994 to advance opportunities for Blacks. Those laws, known as Black Economic Empowerment, have been a source of frustration for some white people.
Influential Trump adviser Elon Musk — who was raised in South Africa — has also criticized South Africa’s
government and claimed it is antiwhite for years, although some have questioned his motivations. He has recently failed to get a license for his Starlink satellite internet service in South Africa because it doesn’t meet the country’s affirmative action criteria.
While race has long framed South African politics, the country has been largely successful in reconciling its racially diverse people in the years after apartheid. The current government is made up of a coalition of 10 Black-led and white-led political parties that are working together.
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
African leaders elect Djibouti’s foreign minister as new leader of the African Union Commission
By Samuel Getachew and Rodney Muhumuza Associated Press
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — African leaders on Saturday (Feb. 15) elected Djibouti’s foreign minister to become the next leader of the commission than runs the continent-wide African Union.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf defeated Raila Odinga, a former prime minister of Kenya, and Richard Randriamandrato, an ex-foreign minister of Madagascar, in a vote at the AU summit in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
The AU has 55 member states. Presidents or heads of government pick the commission’s leader, who is effectively the chief executive of the Addis Ababa-based secretariat running the AU. Youssouf, who will serve a four-year term, replaces Moussa Faki of Chad, who has held the post since 2017.
The result is a blow for the high-
profile Odinga, who sought support among allies at home and abroad.
The 80-year-old Odinga has sought Kenya’s presidency five times over three decades, and the AU post would
have been his last foray in public affairs. His long and colorful career in local politics peaked with his rise to the position of prime minister in 2008 after tense negotiations to end postelection violence in which at least
1,000 people were killed in Kenya.
Odinga remains a beloved figure in Kenya, but some saw his recent political alliance with William Ruto, the current president of the country, as a betrayal of a decades-long fight for good governance in the east African country.
As head of the AU Commission, Youssouf inherits challenges ranging from the rise of military juntas in west Africa to a violent rebellion in eastern Congo, where rebels backed by Rwanda have taken two major cities in recent days.
Youssouf has been Djibouti’s foreign affairs minister since 2005.
The AU is frequently criticized for perceived inaction or lack of serious response to armed conflicts in different parts of Africa.
White South Africans demonstrate in support of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. Photo: Jerome Delay/AP
Rodney Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.
Mr. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, then Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Djibouti, at the General Debate of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, 2018. Photo: YouTube Screengrab
Corporate America abandons DE&I, but Black-owned brands are the future
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA
While corporations retreat, Black entrepreneurs continue to build, innovate, and thrive. According to NBC Select, over three million Black-owned brands are in the U.S., spanning every industry imaginable. As corporate America abandons its DE&I commitments, the power shifts to conscious consumers who invest in businesses that uplift and sustain marginalized communities.
Here are just a few standout Blackowned brands leading the charge:
Clothing & Accessories
• Telfar – The brand that revolutionized luxury fashion with its motto: “Not for you—for everyone.”
• Hanifa – A trailblazing womenswear brand founded by Anifa Mvuemba, known for its stunning digital fashion shows.
• Pyer Moss – Founded by Kerby Jean-Raymond, this label merges activism and high fashion.
• Grayscale – A streetwear brand bringing bold aesthetics and social commentary to the forefront.
• Sassy Jones – A standout accessories brand built on bold, unapologetic self-expression.
Beauty & Skincare
• Fenty Beauty – Rihanna’s globally inclusive beauty empire that set a new standard for shade diversity.
• Mented Cosmetics – Beauty products created specifically for deeper skin tones.
• The Lip Bar – A Black-woman-owned brand disrupting the beauty industry with bold, non-toxic lipstick shades.
• Pattern Beauty – Founded by
Tracee Ellis Ross, specializing in products for textured hair.
• Alikay Naturals – Natural haircare products with a devoted following.
Home & Lifestyle
• Estelle Colored Glass – Handblown glassware that brings Black excellence to fine dining.
• Jungalow – A home décor brand from designer Justina Blakeney, blending culture and bohemian flair.
After-School Programs at
a Minneapolis Recreation Center Near You!
Homework Help
Assistance to ensure your child completes their homework correctly and gets help studying for a test.
• Free!
• Days, times and ages vary
• 9 locations - Bottineau, Central Gym, Creekview, Elliot, Folwell, North Commons, Phillips, Van Cleve, and Waite Recreation Centers Drop-in Programs
• Free! Computer labs, board games, bumper pool, foosball, ping pong
• Check with the recreation center you plan to visit
• Nite Owlz for ages 12-18 (if still in high school), Friday and/or Saturday Nights, 10 locations – Bottineau, Brian Coyle Center, Farview, Folwell, Logan, Northeast, North Commons, Phillips, Powderhorn, Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
For more details: visit www.minneapolisparks.org; stop by a recreation center; or call 612-230-6400 (weekdays) or 612-230-6574 Soomaali
• Linoto – Luxury linen bedding made with sustainability in mind.
• Yowie – A modern design studio curating unique home goods from independent artists.
Food & Beverage
• Partake Foods – A Black-owned snack company offering allergenfriendly cookies and treats.
• McBride Sisters Wine Collection
– The largest Black-owned wine
company in the U.S., run by two sisters redefining the industry.
• Uncle Nearest Whiskey – Honoring Nathan “Nearest” Green, the Black distiller behind Jack Daniel’s original recipe.
• Capital City Mambo Sauce
– The D.C. favorite taking over the condiment industry.
Black-owned Cont’d on Pg. 7
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong speaks during a press conference outside of Target headquarters in downtown Minneapolis on Jan. 30, 2025 calling for a boycott of the retailer.
Photo: KingDemetrius Pendleton/ListenMedia USA Livestream Screengrab
Jazz Hampton officialy launches campaign to be the next mayor of Minneapolis
By Jasmine Webber Mshale
Businessman Jazz Hampton officially launched his candidacy for Minneapolis mayor on Thursday, Feb. 6 at Mosaic Venue.
The entire City Council and the mayor are up for election in November. There is no primary ahead of the November election as the city uses Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) to elect its mayor and council members. The last race for mayor in 2021 attracted 17 candidates. The Minneapolis City Council is a full-time council with elected members earning $109,846 a year and the mayor $140,814.
The candidate filing period for the city’s 2025 mayoral and council elections will begin on July 25 and run through August 12.
Hampton – the co-founder and CEO of Turnsignl, an app that provides instant access to a lawyer during police stops – announced his campaign via video on Jan. 23.
He joins a list of five others that have already announced their runs, including the incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey, Ward 11 Councilwoman Emily Koski, state Sen. Omar Fateh, Rev. DeWayne Davis and former City Council candidate Brenda Short.
“I’ve lived within ten miles of Powderhorn Park my entire life (and) I love the city of Minneapolis,” Hampton told supporters on Thursday. “If you
is Nov.
2025.
is the sixth candidate
love the city like I love it, and you’re ready for a new chapter, and you don’t want to try again for a third time, or try again with somebody who’s been
an elected official for years and years without the progress we’re hoping to see, let’s give someone new a chance that is experienced as a lawyer, as a
business owner, as a public school
Jazz Hampton speaks during the official launch of his campaign for mayor of Minneapolis at the Mosaic Venue on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. Election Day
4,
There is no primary as Minneapolis uses Ranked Choice Voting to elect its mayor and city council members. Hampton
to enter the race. Mshale Staff Photo by Jasmine Webber
Hampton Cont’d on Pg. 8
Meanwhile, corporate America’s performative commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is unraveling at an alarming rate. In the years following the murder of George Floyd, corporations made bold promises to support marginalized communities, pledging billions in investments to level the playing field. But as the political landscape shifts and accountability wanes, those commitments are being discarded.
A staggering number of major corporations have scaled back or eliminated DE&I programs: Amazon, Target, Amtrak, Goldman Sachs, Disney, Deloitte, PBS, Google, Pepsi, General Motors (GM), GE, Intel, PayPal, Chipotle, Comcast, Accenture, The Smithsonian Institution, the FBI, Meta, Walmart, Boeing, Molson Coors, Ford Motor Co., Harley-Davidson, and John Deere have all abandoned or severely reduced their diversity efforts.
The very companies that once paraded their commitment to racial equity in multimillion-dollar ad campaigns are now quietly erasing those initiatives from their bottom lines.
Not everyone is staying silent. Dr. Jamal Bryant, the influential pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, is leading a 40-day economic fast—or boycott—of Target in direct response to the retailer’s decision to phase out its DE&I initiatives. Target, headquartered in Minneapolis— the city where George Floyd was murdered in 2020—originally pledged $2 billion in investments toward Blackowned businesses. That commitment was due in December 2025, but on January 24, Target announced it would end its DE&I efforts, effectively abandoning that financial commitment.
Bryant, appearing on the Black Press’ Let It Be Known news program,
condemned the move. “After the murder of George Floyd, they made a $2 billion commitment to invest in Black businesses,” he said. “When they pulled out of the DE&I agreement in January, they also canceled that $2 billion commitment.”
Target is just the beginning. Bryant calls for 100,000 people to halt their spending at the retail giant as a direct challenge to corporate America’s retreat from racial equity. “Black people spend $12 million a day at Target,” he said. “Because of how many dollars are spent there and the absence of commitment to our community, we are focusing on Target first.” The boycott, designed to coincide with Lent, aims to leverage Black economic power to hold corporations accountable.
Within just one week, 50,000 people had already signed the petition at targetfast.org, signaling the growing momentum behind the movement.
Bryant’s demands go beyond reinstating DE&I. “White women are the number one beneficiary of DE&I,” he noted. “What I am asking for is a quarter of a billion dollars to be invested in Black banks so that our Black businesses can scale.”
He also called for Target to partner with HBCUs by integrating their business departments into its supply chain infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)—the nation’s largest Black-owned media organization—has announced its own national public education and selective buying campaign in response to corporate America’s retreat from DE&I. “We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we will not be silent or nonresponsive to the rapid rise of renewed Jim Crow racist policies in corporate America,” said NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr.
He said the same companies that plastered Black squares on social media and made grand statements about inclusion are now proving where their true priorities lie. “America has shown us time and time again: if it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense,” Bryant stated. Black-owned
NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. reinforced the need for financial realignment. “Black Americans spend $2 trillion annually. We must evaluate and realign to question why we continue to spend our money with companies that do not respect us. These contradictions will not go unchallenged.”
In response, Bryant has partnered with Ron Busby, president and CEO of the U.S. Black Chambers, to provide consumers with a directory of 300,000 Black-owned businesses. “You can’t tell people what not to do without showing them what to do,” Bryant said. “If you’re not going to Target or Walmart but need essentials like toilet paper, soap, or detergent, we’ll show you where to get them and reinvest in Black businesses.”
And the impact of the boycott is already felt. Since Black consumers began boycotting Target, the company’s stock has dropped by $11, Bryant noted.
Stockholders are now suing Target due to the adverse effects of the boycott on its stock value. Bryant said the question is no longer whether corporate America will keep its promises—it’s clear that it won’t.
Fashion designer Anifa Mvuemba, founder of women’s apparel line Hanifa, outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: Christina House / Los Angeles Times
Hampton
Cont’d from Pg. 6
parent, as a volunteer, and as someone that deeply cares about the community.”
Hampton previously served as one of the attorneys for the Great North Innocence Project that worked to vacate the sentence of Marvin Hayes who was wrongfully convicted for murder when he was 16. He was released on December 2023.
He acknowledged the “best of” ratings that Minneapolis is always winning in terms of places to live in the country when it comes to education and quality of life. However, he pointed out the celebrated quality of life in Minneapolis is not equitable.
“Sometimes I’m so proud when people say, ‘you know, you’ve seen all the studies, Minneapolis top five city to live in, best education’, all these things,” Hampton said. “And sometimes I say, is it for everyone?”
Attendees listen to Jazz Hampton speak during the official launch of his campaign for mayor of Minneapolis at the Mosaic Venue on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. Election Day is Nov. 4, 2025. Below, children play at the all ages event Mshale Staff Photo by Jasmine Webber
Religion Inspired by Pope Francis, East African Catholics seek foreign debt cancellation
By Fredrik Nzwili Religion News Service
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Catholic leaders in East Africa launched a campaign on Wednesday (Feb. 12) to advocate for the cancellation of ballooning foreign debts stagnating the countries’ economic development and contributing to poverty.
The Jubilee 2025 Debt Cancellation campaign is inspired by Pope Francis’ declaration of 2025 as the Jubilee Holy Year with the theme Pilgrims of Hope. The campaign was created by the Jubilee 2025 Africa Coalition, a movement involving faith-based organizations, civil society groups, economists and policymakers to demand debt cancellation, global financial reforms and financial accountability for Africa.
Late last year, the Pope invited Catholic bishops all over the world to lobby their governments for debt cancellation. He also asked wealthy countries and institutions to reduce or cancel debt in the name of justice amid the jubilee theme.
“Our mission extends beyond debt cancellation. We seek comprehensive global financial reforms aimed at preventing the cycle of debt entrapment that have plagued our nations,” Zambian Catholic Bishop Charles Kasonde of Solwezi, the president of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa, said at a news conference Feb. 12 in Nairobi. “We advocate for responsible borrowing and lending practices that uphold justice and equity.”
Many countries in the East Africa region face heavy debt burdens threatening their stability.
“Urgent action is required to avert further stagnation and unlock the potential of these economies,” Kasonde said.
According to the coalition, pursuing debt cancellation in the year of jubilee is a historical and moral obligation, stemming from biblical traditions that call for periodic debt forgiveness and the resto-
Africa’s external debt stands at over 1.1 trillion, according to the African Development Bank. Many African countries are spending more than 50% of their revenue to meet debts, crippling their ability to invest in areas such as education and health.
ration of an economic equilibrium. This system, in turn, provides hope and the possibility of renewal and freedom.
“The debts perpetuate poverty. Some were borrowed without the people’s consent,” said the Rev. Charles Chilufya, the director of Jesuit Justice and Ecology
Network Africa.
Twenty-five years ago, the global Jubilee 2000 campaign led by faith and human rights groups helped result in the cancellation of over $100 billion in debt for some of the most indebted countries, according to World Bank. And although that initiative, which the Catholic Church participated in, freed funds for sectors including education, health and infrastructure, the relief wasn’t sufficient to reform flaws within the global financial architecture, Chilufya said.
“It’s all about how the economy of the world is organized. It should be reset and the debts cancelled so that countries can start from a clean slate,” Chilufya said.
Kasonde said the coalition would appeal to the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which is being led by and hosted in South Africa through Nov. 30, 2025. The G20, or Group of Twenty, brings together leaders of major world economies, representing around 85% of the world’s GDP, more than 75% of world trade and around twothirds of the world’s population.
The G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is scheduled from Feb. 20-21 in Johannesburg, at which the United States — a key player — is expected to be absent. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier this month the U.S. would boycott the talks, citing South Africa’s “anti-American” agenda.
Civil society groups in Africa have criticized the U.S. move as undermining global attempts to tackle pressing challenges.
“This decision is disappointing and regrettable. Africa is not a passive player
in global affairs, and dismissing its role in critical platforms like the G20 only deepens existing inequalities,” said Mithika Mwenda, executive director of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, in a Feb. 10 statement.
Still, Kasonde said the coalition would continue to pursue foreign debt relief through various avenues.
“We shall knock on the doors of G7. We shall knock on the doors of the IMF, World Bank and the eastern area of China and related countries, so that we walk together and we help make a difference for Africa,” Kasonde said in response to a question from RNS.
The Rev. Fr. Paul Mung’athia Igweta, coordinator of the Department of Integral Human Development at the AMECEA, also spoke at the press conference about the impact of President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the U.S. Agency for International Development’s foreign aid. USAID’s dismantling would stall or end programs serving already strained African economies.
“Trump became very popular because his policies were aligning a lot with what the church stands for, (but) his (directives) have brought a lot of ripple effects on our continent,” the priest said. “For now, it’s a setback for debt cancellation since some of the orders will cause a decline of African economies.”
And as the coalition pushes its mission, it also seeks to consider strategies for recovery, debt restructuring to ease payments and fairer borrowing terms to ensure sustainability.
“Once it becomes a global agenda, it’s easier for us to win,” Igweta said.
Catholic leaders hold a debt cancellation campaign banner during a kick-off event Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Photo: Fredrick Nzwili/RNS
In this picture made available on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 by Vatican Media, Pope Francis wears a sling on his right arm, due to a fall earlier in the day, while meeting with FAO Programme Committee Chairperson on World Food Security Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile at The Vatican. Photo: Vatican Media via AP
Art & Entertainment Trump seizes control of Kennedy Center, tightening grip on American institutions
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA
In a further step toward consolidating power and turning America into a dictatorship, President Donald Trump has taken control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, placing the historic institution under his direct authority.
At a Wednesday Kennedy Center Board meeting, Trump was elected chairman, replacing financier and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein.
The board also terminated Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter and appointed former Trump administration official Richard Grenell as interim executive director. Trump posted on social media, stating, “It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees. We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”
The Kennedy Center, which had long maintained a bipartisan board, is now entirely controlled by Trump and his allies. Earlier in the week, the admin-
istration removed 18 board members who President Joe Biden had appointed. The new board includes Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, Usha Vance—wife of Vice President JD Vance—and other close Trump associates.
The move has drawn immediate backlash from the arts community. Singersongwriter Ben Folds resigned as an artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, which the Kennedy Center oversees. “Given developments at the Kennedy Center, effective today I am resigning as artistic adviser to the N.S.O.,” Folds wrote on Instagram. “Mostly, and above all, I will miss the musicians of our nation’s symphony orchestra—just the best!”
Rutter, who had led the Kennedy Center since 2014, issued a statement following her removal. “The goal of the Kennedy Center has been to live up to our namesake, serving as a beacon for the world and ensuring our work reflects America,” Rutter said. “I depart my position proud of all we accomplished to meet that ambition.” Critics have compared Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center to the actions of authoritarian regimes, warn-
ing that his control over cultural institutions is another step toward dismantling democratic norms.
“Trump as Chairman of the Kennedy Center is like if North Korea put Kim Jong-un in charge of Coachella,”
software engineer and frequent Trump critic Alex Cole posted on X. Travel guide Jeremy Wilcox added, “Donald Trump saying he was offended by shows at the Kennedy Center but then admitting right away he never actually saw any of them, is modern conservatism in a nutshell.”
President Trump has taken control of the Kennedy Center pictured above and made himself chairman. Photo: Courtesy Kennedy Center
