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Taylor Swift’s ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT‘ retains its stronghold on the Billboard 200 for the third consecutive week, surpassing expectations with a resounding 282,000 units sold. The album continues to captivate audiences with its profound lyricism and emotional depth, solidifying Swift’s status as a powerhouse in the music industry.

Following closely behind, Dua Lipa’s ‘Radical Optimism’ makes a dazzling debut at #2 on the Billboard 200, garnering 83,000 units, including an impressive 51,500 pure sales. This achievement marks Lipa’s second top-10 album and her highest-charting record to date. Notably, ‘Radical Optimism’ also secures Lipa the largest album sales week of her career in the US, further cementing her rising star status.

Morgan Wallen makes a notable entrance onto the Billboard 200, as ‘One Thing At A Time’ debuts at #3 with 71,000 units. The album’s arrival signals Wallen’s continued presence in the music landscape, highlighting his ability to resonate with audiences across genres.

Meanwhile, Future and Metro Boomin collaborate to deliver ‘WE DON’T TRUST YOU,’ debuting impressively at #4 with 61,000 units. The project showcases the dynamic synergy between the two artists, earning acclaim for its innovation and compelling sound.

SEVENTEEN makes waves with their latest release, ‘SEVENTEEN BEST ALBUM ‘17 IS RIGHT HERE,’’ entering the Billboard 200 at #5 with 53,000 units, including an impressive 49,000 pure sales. This achievement marks their fifth top 10 album, underscoring their enduring popularity and influence in the music industry.

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Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

As a mother and community organizer, I look to my babies and others to see the hopes and promises for their future. I also am keenly aware of the importance of systems that promote the health and well-being of our children, which makes D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget cuts to the child care system, a cornerstone of any child’s early developmental well-being, deeply concerning to me and other parents and community advocates alike.

The labor of child care providers has been economically devalued since the days of enslaved African women forcibly rearing white babies. Bowser’s budget cuts reinforce slave-era beliefs that Black and brown child care labor do not deserve fair compensation. These women make up the invisible backbone of the American communities and economies. They deserve pay that can afford them a fair standard of living.  The mayor and D.C. Council should invest in our babies the same way they invest in millionaires. This is why we are working tirelessly to prevent this from continuing.

May 13 marks the National Day Without Child Care (DWOCC), a day where child care providers will advocate for our government systems to create more affordable and accessible child care. As a proud member of the Raising Child Care Fund, we will focus this day’s efforts on urging Mayor Bowser to say no to detrimental child care budget cuts.

On April 3, Mayor Bowser proposed a 2025 fiscal year budget that wholly eliminates the Early Childhood Educatory Pay Equity Fund. The Pay Equity Fund (PEF), was created in 2021 under the Birth-to-Three for All DC law passed in 2018. This program proposed to offer permanent funding to help offer direct payments to child care professionals and employers to equalize the compensation and benefits of child care workers with their colleagues in the DC Public School System.

In 2019, before PEF, D.C.’s median income was $15.36 for a child care worker versus $33.10 for a kindergarten teacher and $44.16/hour for an elementary school teacher.  The implementation of the Pay Equity Fund in 2022 and 2023 helped bridge that gap by paying $80 million to over 4,000 daycare teachers and their facilities to increase wages and compensation. D.C.’s relatively expensive standard of living means any potential drop in child care wages to minimum wage levels will force many workers to find alternate employment.

PEF’s other program, Health4CareChildCare, provided free or low-cost health insurance coverage to early childhood educators. It’s estimated that 16% of child care workers under age 65 are uninsured compared to 4.23% of teachers. The loss of this program will leave many workers uninsured or underinsured, which can further exacerbate health disparities that disproportionately impact Black communities in D.C.

D.C. has additionally proposed cutting $10 million from the child care subsidy program, which helped decrease the cost of child care for low-income families. D.C.’s current child care offerings only serve 71% of the demand. The lower wages, coupled with subsidy cuts, will lead to an even greater lack of child care available for D.C. families.

Education

These child care budget cuts represent deep betrayal to promises made by the D.C. mayor and council members to early childhood educators, especially given that D.C. increased educational requirements and regulations for child care workers.

In December 2023, D.C. required all of the early childhood workforce to have child development associate credentials or an associate’s degree. Comparatively, only five other states require similar minimum credentials. Increasing educational requirements while reneging on promises of increased compensation for this predominantly Black female workforce is deeply harmful to the economic and mental well-being of our child care workforce.

D.C. government has justified these budget cuts by stating D.C. needed to find funding to replenish its reserve funds. However, Bowser’s budget included adding $3.1 million for juvenile justice facilities, $32 million for tourism grants and marketing and $551 million for revitalizing the downtown Chinatown area.

Additionally, Tazra Mitchell, a chief policy and strategy officer at DC Fiscal Policy Institute, tweeted “In 2021, the CFO’s office told me DC has spent only about 75% of the Cash Flow reserve at any one point in time.”

D.C. government is choosing to slash child care education programs that positively impact Black communities in favor of programs that impact corporate interest’s bottom line to solve a cash flow problem. This is an unjust act of democracy that we cannot let win.

As community members who believe in steering D.C. towards a caring economy, we are dedicating our time, attention and resources toward urging the D.C. mayor and council to not turn their back on child care workers.

This May 13, we plan to host child care providers and parents at the Wilson Building, which houses the offices of the mayor and council members. We will host office hours and meetings with councilmembers Phil Mendelson, Jeneese Lewis George, Kenyan McDuffee, Christina Henderson and others who support restoring the pay equity fund. SPACEs in Action will also host car brigades and do a banner drop urging the D.C. Council to keep their promise to child care providers.

The proposed budget cuts to the child care system will threaten the physical and economic health of over 4,000 mostly Black and brown female child care workers. It will exacerbate the already burgeoning child care crisis that will leave so many families, unable to find affordable and accessible care for their children. The tangible consequences of cutting child care will exceed the imagined benefits gained from increasing DC’s rainy day fund.

On this DWOCC, join us in urging D.C.’s mayor and council members to protect our children’s future by protecting our early childhood educators in the present. No child’s educational development or child care provider’s economic livelihood should get cut to balance a budget.

 LaDon Love is the executive director of SPACEs in Action.

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SM Entertainment’s formidable girl group, aespa, is set to rock up the music landscape with their highly anticipated debut full-length album, ‘Armageddon’.

The group, recognized for their original concepts and mesmerizing performances, is poised to release their latest single, ‘Supernova,’ which is expected to be a game changer in the K-pop landscape.

‘Supernova’ is one of the two title tracks of aespa’s debut album. Fans may watch the song video concurrently on YouTube’s SMTOWN account, offering a visual feast to complement the intense audio experience.

‘Supernova’, described as a dance track with a minimalist sound marked by firm kicks and bass, is the creation of legendary hitmaker KENZIE. The song has an enticing synth melody and catchy lyrics that hint at an extended world, which perfectly complements aespa’s main theme.

The lyrics to ‘Supernova’ cleverly create parallels between the opening of a gateway to another dimension and the cataclysmic explosion of a supernova, symbolizing Aespa’s trip into unexplored territory. Combined with the group’s usual intensity and hip attitude, the music will captivate listeners.

The music video for ‘Supernova’ is a visual extravaganza in and of itself, highlighting each member’s different persona and embracing their ‘real selves’. Incorporating cutting-edge technologies such as AI, the video provides a conceptual aesthetic that underlines aespa’s position as a digital era pioneer.

Aespa’s debut full-length album, ‘Armageddon,’ demonstrates the group’s variety and artistry. The album, which will be released on May 27th at 6 p.m., will have ten songs, including the double title tracks ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Supernova’.

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On the afternoon of May 3, Roger Fortson opened the door of his Florida apartment with a gun in his hand and was immediately shot six times by a sheriff’s deputy responding to a complaint about an argument.

Fortson’s supporters point to the deputy’s rapid decision to open fire and his mere presence at the apartment — where the Air Force senior airman was apparently alone and FaceTiming with his girlfriend — as proof that it was a blatantly unjustified killing and the latest tragedy involving a Black American being shot at home by law enforcement. Authorities, meanwhile, have seized on Fortson holding a gun when he answered the door to cast the shooting as a clear-cut case of self-defense for a deputy confronted with a split-second, life-or-death decision.

Investigators will consider these factors when deciding whether to charge the deputy in a case that also reflects the realities officers face every day in a country where millions of people carry guns, including in Florida, one of the largest gun ownership states.

Policing experts say Fortson simply holding a gun when he opened the door wasn’t enough justification to use deadly force, but investigators will also have to consider what information the deputy knew when he responded and whether Fortson showed any behavioral indication that he posed a threat. They also say the proliferation of legal and illegal firearms is forcing officers throughout the country to have to decide faster than ever what constitutes a deadly threat.

“The speed of the shooting is pretty intense. It’s happening very, very fast,” Ian Adams, an assistant professor who studies criminology at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer, said after watching the deputy’s body camera video of Fortson’s shooting.

“The presence of a gun enhances the risk. But mere presence is not at all justification for using deadly force,” Adams said.

The redacted video released Thursday by the Okaloosa County sheriff in response to allegations raised by attorneys for Fortson’s family shows the deputy speaking to a woman outside the Fort Walton Beach apartment complex who described someone hearing an argument.

The deputy, whose name and race haven’t been released, bangs on Fortson’s door, pauses, then knocks again, yelling that he’s from the sheriff’s office. Fortson eventually answers the door while holding what appears to be a gun by his side pointed at the ground. Within a few seconds, the deputy shoots Fortson six times, only then yelling for him to drop his weapon.

Sheriff Eric Aden said the deputy acted in self-defense, and he rejected assertions that the deputy was at the wrong apartment. Ben Crump, an attorney for Fortson’s family, said they remain adamant that the deputy went to the wrong unit because Fortson had been home alone and on a Facetime call with his girlfriend.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Adams said beyond the body camera footage there has to be some behavioral indication that a person intends to cause deadly harm with their gun.

“We also live in a nation with more guns than people. If the mere presence of a gun were the standard for reasonable use of deadly force, we would be awash with police shootings,” he said.

The increase in gun ownership has changed policing in ways, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank that focuses on critical issues in policing.

“This is a tragedy on so many levels, for everyone — for the family and for the officer. Guns accelerate decision-making and that’s the challenge here,” he said.

In a statement Friday, Crump focused on the deputy’s quick use of deadly force, and the lack of a verbal command for Fortson to drop his weapon until after the deputy shot him.

But experts say officers aren’t required to issue commands or warnings whenever they use deadly force. David Klinger, a criminal justice professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis who is also a former police officer, said the standard is to give a warning when it’s feasible.

“But if pausing to give a warning or a verbal command is going to increase the risk of a deadly threat, then it isn’t feasible,” he said.

Scott Lacey, a former Air Force Special Operations Command officer who served in the same squadron as Fortson, said he believes Fortson’s shooting was unjustified.

“When he just opens the door, sees him with a gun and unloads six rounds on the senior airman, to me that just screams unjust right away,” said Lacey, who spent time as an Arizona state trooper after leaving the military. “The airman didn’t raise his gun and showed no kind of hostile intent.”

Lacey responded to a Facebook post from Air Force leaders that called for people on base to support Fortson’s family while maintaining professionalism. Lacey called the shooting unjustified and urged the commander to instead, “Take a stand and do something,” adding that he’d feel unsafe with the sheriff’s department at his doorstep.

It’s not the first time the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has come under scrutiny for its use of force.

LaTanya Griffin filed a federal lawsuit against the department in August alleging that deputies used a battering ram to enter her home while serving a search warrant in 2019. Griffin, who had been asleep naked, was ordered at gunpoint to walk outside and remain nude in front of officers and the public, she said. She was never arrested or charged with a crime.

In court papers, lawyers for the sheriff’s office said the deputies’ actions were consistent with “established, reasonable, and generally accepted police procedure.” The litigation is ongoing.

“I think the Department of Justice needs to take a look at what’s happening with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office,” said Kevin Anderson, a lawyer for Griffin.

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In another incident six months ago, an Okaloosa County deputy reacted to the sound of a falling acorn hitting his patrol vehicle by firing multiple rounds at the vehicle, where a handcuffed Black man sat inside.

After hearing the deputy yell “shots fired” and “I’m hit,” his supervisor also fired at the vehicle. The man inside survived the barrage rattled but unscathed.

Internal investigators found that the supervisor’s actions were “objectively reasonable” because she was acting to protect the other deputy in what she believed was an “imminent and immediate danger of death.” But the report found that the deputy who initially screamed “shots fired” hadn’t acted reasonably in firing his gun. He resigned before the investigation was completed.

In her interviews with investigators, the supervisor mentioned that deputies had been through a lot in recent weeks, including the killing of a deputy who was responding to a domestic violence call and the involvement of another in an on-duty shooting.

The shooting of Fortson came just days after four members of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force were killed while serving a warrant in North Carolina. Some officer groups have suggested such killings could affect how officers perceive threats.

“I don’t think the presence of previous shootings is ever going to be justification,” Adams said. “There is no world where officers don’t encounter a firearm risk. Officers swim in risk. But risk alone is not cause for using force, let alone deadly force.”

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Kehlani, an American singer-songwriter, paid a poignant homage to mothers from all around the world on Mother’s Day via Instagram.

In her Instagram story, the Bay Area artist expressed condolences for Palestinian, Congolese, Sudanese, Tigrayan, and Haitian mothers, recognizing their challenges and courage.

“My heart is with Palestinian mothers, Congolese mothers, Sudanese mothers, Tigrayan mothers, Haitian mothers,” Kehlani wrote in her Instagram story. “Mothers of martyrs, mothers whose prayers are felt through the world.”

Kehlani’s Instagram Story

This gesture comes at a difficult time, as conflicts and disasters continue to plague these places, with mothers often suffering the brunt of such adversity.

She emphasizes their perseverance and the weight of their prayers, bringing attention to the universal experience of motherhood that transcends regional bounds.

Kehlani, who is well-known for her engagement on social justice issues, has continuously used her platform to raise awareness and elevate disadvantaged or overlooked perspectives.

Her Mother’s Day statement serves as a reminder of humanity’s interconnectedness, as well as the significance of honoring and inspiring moms all throughout the world.

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