Author: chicagoinquirer

by Jay Cohen CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox fired executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn on Tuesday, cutting ties with their baseball leadership amid another disappointing season. Williams, who originally joined the White Sox front office in 1992 as a scout, was in his 11th season as executive vice president after serving as the club’s general manager for 12 years. He was one of baseball’s most prominent Black executives. Hahn joined the organization in 2000 and had been the GM since October 2012. Williams and Hahn helped Chicago to the 2005 World Series title. The…

by Kate Brumback ATLANTA  — Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s lawyer and confidant, turned himself in at a jail in Atlanta on Wednesday on charges related to efforts to overturn then-President Trump’s lossin the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The former New York mayor, was indicted last week along with Trump and 17 others. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said they participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to subvert the will of the voters after the Republican president lost to Democrat Joe Biden in November 2020. Bond for Giuliani, who was released after booking like the other defendants, was set at…

by Gary Fields WASHINGTON  — The last part of the speech took less time to deliver than it takes to boil an egg, but “I Have A Dream” is one of American history’s most famous orations and most inspiring. On Aug. 28, 1963, from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. began by speaking of poverty, segregation and discrimination and how the United States had reneged on its promise of equality for Black Americans. If anyone remembers that dystopian beginning, they don’t talk about it. What is etched into people’s memory is the pastoral flourish that marked the last five minutes and…

by Sasha Litvinova TALLINN, Estonia  — Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year, was presumed dead Wednesday after a plane crash north of Moscow that killed all 10 people on board. Prigozhin was on the plane, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency, which cited the airline. The crash immediately raised suspicions since the fate of the founder of the Wagner private military company has been the subject of intense speculation ever since he mounted the mutiny. At the time, President Vladimir Putin denounced the rebellion as “treason” and a “stab in the back” and…

by Bill Barrow ATLANTA — Donald Trump’s decision to skip the first Republican debate may hurt television ratings and put more pressure on the eight contenders who will be on stage. But plenty of rank-and-file conservatives said they were eager to see their options without the former president dominating the conversation. “People are just so focused on the circus,” said Melissa Watford, a 53-year-old Republican from suburban Atlanta. “He’s just a distraction. Distraction, distraction, distraction.” Watford’s husband, Jack, said he would still consider supporting Trump if he wins the nomination, but he described the former president as “clickbait” and expressed relief that he is yielding…

by Andrew Dalton LOS ANGELES  — Kerry Washington and Martin Sheen, a pair of fictional former politicos, turned Hollywood’s strikes into a rousing campaign rally Tuesday with speeches celebrating unity across the industry and with labor at large. “We are here because we know that unions matter,” said Washington, who played a political fixer on ABC’s “Scandal.” “Not only do we have solidarity within our union, we have solidarity between our unions, because we are workers.” The rally outside Disney Studios in Burbank, California, coming more than a month into a strike by Hollywood actors and more than three months into a strike…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger  — After three months of crossing the desert and then watching other migrants die at sea in his failed attempt to reach Europe, Sahr John Yambasu gave up on getting across the Mediterranean and decided to go back home. The 29-year-old from Sierra Leone reached Niger in June on his return journey, but United Nations officials said he had to wait for packed migrant centers to empty before he could be repatriated. Then mutinous soldiers toppled Niger’s president a few weeks later, bringing regional tensions and the shuttering of the borders. Yambasu was trapped. He…

by David Crary The March on Washington of 1963 is remembered most for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech — and thus as a crowning moment for the long-term civil rights activism of what is sometimes referred to as the “Black Church.” At the march, King indeed represented numerous other Black clergy who were his colleagues in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But the march was the product of sustained activism by a broader coalition. Black and white labor leaders, as well as white clergy, played pivotal roles over many months ahead of the event. Moreover, the Black Church…

By Emeka Obasi LAGOS, NIGERIA -Stephen Keshi became close to Paul Okoku at St. Paul’s Primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos and their friendship lasted until death took the African legend away. That bond also  witnessed some embarrassing moments. As kids, they were unable to afford bicycles which some of their mates  enjoyed. The inability to own Chopper or  Hercules, meant the friends had to rent from sources outside their neighbourhood. The terms and condition of that deal were clearly spelt out . The lenders were so strict that defaulters were penalised beyond measure since there were no regulatory agencies to…

by Alanna Durkin Richer and Jill Colvin Former President Donald Trump says he will surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges in the case accusing him of illegally scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss. “Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED,” Trump wrote on his social media network Monday night, hours after court papers said his bond was set at $200,000. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Monday afternoon that when Trump surrenders there will be a “hard lockdown” of the area surrounding the main county…