HOW BLACK YOUTH FALL
PREY TO FOREIGN TERRORIST
RADICALIZATION
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
If you were one of the many to be surprised by news from federal authorities that an 18-year-old alleged ISIS-inspired American terrorist had been stopped before he could kill people in a Charlotte grocery store and a Burger King restaurant on New Year’s Eve, and he happened to be black, don’t be.
Foreign radicalization of African-American youth has long been a tool of terrorist organizations like ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and al-Qaeda, as well as foreign governments like Vladimir Putin’s Russia, published reports show.
During their January 2nd press conference, federal authorities identified Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill, a suburb of Charlotte, as an ISIS-inspired terrorism suspect who had been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Sturdivant was stopped before he could carry out his alleged plot to commit mass killings at the fast food restaurant where he worked, and an unknown grocery store. After a search of his home, federal authorities determined that the black youth had long been planning an attack on non-Muslims, LGBTQ people, law enforcement and military personnel with the hammers and knives in his possession. Sturdivant reportedly spent a lot of time online reading ISIS material and creating TikTok videos about his fealty to ISIS.
Also found during a search of his home, a Kevlar vest and a handwritten note expressing how he hoped to die in a battle with police.
Sturdivant was stopped after communicating with undercover NY City police officers and FBI agents posing as ISIS followers, but it wasn’t the first time.
In 2022, federal authorities allege, Sturdivant, then a minor, was stopped by his grandfather from killing his neighbor with a hammer and knife. The black youth reportedly received psychological treatment after that incident.
Federal authorities allege that Sturdivant was planning an ISIS-inspired jihad. Had he succeeded, the Charlotte black youth would have been the second in exactly a year to commit such a deadly act.
The January 1st New Year’s 2025 New Orleans truck attack that killed fourteen people, and injured 57 others on a crowded Bourbon Street was perpetrated by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old African-American man who drove from Houston, Texas to commit the deadly terrorist attack. He was killed during a gun battle with police.
In his truck was found an ISIS flag, and on social media, Jabbar had posted several videos declaring his allegiance to ISIS. It is not known how long Jabbar had been an ISIS follower.
Beyond the ISIS flag and perpetrator’s videos, the FBI determined that the New Orleans 2025 attack was an instance of domestic terrorism inspired by, but not committed by the foreign terrorist group, since no direct connection could be determined.
These are just two recent so-called ‘lone wolf attacks” involving young black males inspired by foreign terrorist or anti-American groups.
In a March 2015 online article titled, “The Allure of ISIS Recruits," it’s explained that the reasons why ISIS is able to attract young people from across the world vary:
Poverty and oppression may explain why people in some countries embrace violent extremism, but it does not account for the flow of Western volunteers or the dreamy allure of fighting for a faraway cause. Biographies of those who have reached out to participate in jihad suggest a variety of motives, including alienation, personal crises, dissatisfaction with empty spiritual lives — and adolescent rebellion.
However, when it comes to African-Americans, significant factors can lead to recruitment, such as feelings of disenfranchisement, social grievances, and oppression.
Experts say terrorist groups exploit these feelings online in order to recruit, if not inspire, new followers of color.
This is also how Russian operatives, during the 2016 elections, used black grievances, like a deadly police shooting in Charlotte then, to exploit the black-white racial divide for the purpose of starting a race war.
According to the University of Michigan Law School article “Virtual Hatred: How Russia Tried to Start a Race War in the United States,” Throughout the [2016] campaign, Russian operatives created hundreds of fake personas on social media platforms and then posted thousands of advertisements and messages that sought to promote racial divisions in the United States. This was a coordinated propaganda effort.”
Inciting racial differences made the national environment ripe for violence, and while several other fatal shootings occurred, the Russian-inspired race war never happened.
Because of the insidious nature of foreign-inspired terrorism, experts say it’s hard to know how many young African-Americans have been or are being indoctrinated. Published reports say federal authorities normally track these young people’s movements, internet and phone usage whenever possible in hopes of heading off any possible plots that may be underway.
Normally, when those efforts are successful, authorities are able to either arrest ISIS-inspired young people at airports on their way to join the terrorist organization, or, as in the case of Christian Sturdivant, just before they commit a violent terrorist act.
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HOW BLACKS IN NC
LOST GROUND IN
2025 (PART 1)
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
As 2026 proceeds, a look back at 2025 raises important questions for African-Americans in North Carolina about how much social, political and human capital was lost last year, and whether much, if any of it, can be regained in the future.
At the top of the list of social and political ground lost to blacks in 2025 has to be the destruction of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies and programs not only in state government, but private industries as well, affecting hiring, education and small business opportunities.
Even though Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed measures ratified by the NC General Assembly that dismantled DEI in state government, many agencies began ending the policy and practice on their own. And those vetoes can still be overridden by the NC General Assembly in 2026.
Tens of millions of dollars of federal education grants used to “strengthen teacher recruitment and retention, reduce vacancies, and improve hiring processes” for at-risk student needs in schools across North Carolina were also cut off by the Trump Administration, according to published reports. As a result, recruiting efforts for more teachers of color have been hurt, and those already on the job are at risk of losing their employment.
In their termination letter, those teachers were told the special program they were working under “…includes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.” The letter also alleged that teachers were being trained in “divisive ideologies.”
Amid President Donald Trump’s promise to close the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC-12) blasted the administration for essentially installing a tip line, otherwise known as an “End DEI portal," “…where the public could make complaints about diversity, equity and inclusion practices in K-12 public schools as the Trump administration works to purge DEI from the government,” according to The Hill.
“The Trump Administration is once again using the federal government to attack teachers, students, and schools that dare to promote fairness and inclusion,” Congresswoman Adams, founding chairwoman of the Bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus, said in a statement. “This so-called ‘tip line’ is a shameless attempt to silence educators and dismantle programs that ensure every child—no matter their race, gender, or background—has a fair shot at success. Instead of working to strengthen our public schools, Trump is weaponizing the Department of Education to push a political agenda.”
In an effort to intimidate over 50 private and public universities across the nation to cease their DEI programs and practices, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) under the Trump Administration began investigating them for allegedly violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
One of the universities accused was Duke University in Durham.
The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights accused Duke and over 50 other major institutions of racially discriminating against white and Asian-American students…
The state's onslaught against DEI continued as the NC House voted 69-45 to ban state and local government agencies (including schools) from promoting, supporting, funding, implementing or maintaining workplace DEI programs, policies, or initiatives.
All House Republicans present voted for the measure.
House Bill 171 also instructed Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek, to audit state agencies periodically to determine if they are in compliance with the new law once it’s ratified by the NC Senate.
Any state employee that violates HB 171 could lose their job. There are civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.
A previous version of HB 171 would have mandated criminal punishment for violations.
House Majority Leader Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus), primary sponsor of the bill, said that it was needed to prevent discrimination and restore hiring practices.
The war on DEI in 2025 extended to scientific research in North Carolina as well, setting back work done curing sickle cell anemia and other diseases that primarily affect black people.
Plus, the Trump Administration announced the dismantling of the Dept. of Education, and three notable figures of North Carolina black history, who unquestionably did much to inspire and uplift the community died.
All of that and more in part 2 next week.
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