THE CASH STUFF FOR 09-17-26

                                                   REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA)

                                                            REP. ALMA ADAMS (D-NC)

ADAMS CO-SIGNS LETTER

REQUESTING DOJ/FBI 

PROBE INTO BLACK HANGINGS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12) is a primary co-signer of a Sept. 8th letter by Massachusetts Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and approximately 60 other members of Congress, to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, requesting an investigation into a troubling “series of deaths” by hanging of Black people across the country in recent weeks. The deaths “ raise significant suspicion of foul play even the role of lynching in our nation’s history," their letter stated.

“Therefore, we write to urgently demand a thorough, transparent, and comprehensive federal investigation into every hanging death of a Black individual across the United States.,” the letter continued.

The official congressional request for a federal investigation is particularly

 important to North Carolina given a tragic mid-August incident in downtown Raleigh where the body of a 32-year-old Black man was found hanging from a tree in a parking lot. Raleigh police later determined from cameras in the area that the victim actually committed suicide. 

Reportedly, the victim’s mother described her son as struggling with mental problems that likely led to the suicide. There was no evidence of a criminal act involved, authorities said.

Still, a federal investigation would confirm that local police finding.

Then, there is the August 26th death by hanging in Roanoke Rapids of Demetrius Eugene Fleming, 38, and father of nine. At press time, local authorities were still investigating. Fleming’s body was found in his home. His obituary called him a man who was close to his church, and was fond of music.

Rep. Adams “…has expressed deep concern regarding the recent incidents of Black hangings, labeling them as acts of racial violence and a stark reminder of America's history of racism. She emphasizes the need for justice and accountability in addressing these heinous acts.”

“The growing number of Black people found hanging in public is a national crisis,” Rep. Pressley’s letter continued. “A recent report documented more than 70 modern-day lynchings in the United States between 2000 and 2025. In 2026 alone, there have already been at least 10 reported hangings of Black people. They were as young as 18 years old and lived in different parts of the country, including Mississippi, Michigan, and New York. Each of their deaths should be treated with the utmost seriousness and investigated without bias by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”

“We know there is a long history of neglecting to prevent or investigate deaths of Black individuals," Pressley’s congressional letter continued. “For decades, the DOJ and FBI ignored widespread lynchings which motivated more killings. Inaction by the federal government is tantamount to complicity. This is part of the legacy of racial terror in the United States, and this neglect has long-term consequences. Not only are innocent lives lost, but lynching inflicts deep traumatic and psychological wounds on family members, neighbors, and the entire Black community.”

Rep. Presley reminded both AG Blanche and Director Patel that her’s was not just a simple request from several concerned members of Congress, but in fact, federal law.

“Congress enacted the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in 2022 to ensure the DOJ and FBI are empowered to fully investigate suspicious deaths and hold individuals accountable. It is incumbent upon you to do just that. At a minimum, each federal investigation, with permission of the decedents’ families, should include an independent autopsy, an audit of local and state law enforcement investigations, review of physical and testimonial evidence, and a final report submitted to Congress explaining the agency’s findings. Additionally, there must be robust data collection that tracks the hanging deaths of Black people in a transparent and systematic manner.”

Rep. Presley concluded her letter with, “We would appreciate the opportunity for our offices to connect with your teams at regular, scheduled intervals to share updates, feedback, and concerns from the broader community, as appropriate.”

At press time, there was no response from either DOJ or the FBI to Rep. Pressley’s request for a federal investigation into recent Black hanging incidents.

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NORTH CAROLINA RANKED

DEAD LAST FOR WORKERS

IN 2026

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

The "Old North State" may reliably appear on the top of many national lists when it comes to being one of the best in business, quality of life or getting a college education, but when it comes to policies favorable to workers, a new survey found that it’s dead last.

According to a new report from Oxfam of its “Best States to Work Index for 2026,” which analyzed 37 labor policies in all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, North Carolina ranked last, #51, with a jaw-dropping score of 4.90 points out of a possible 100, when it came to wage policies, worker protection policies and right-to-organize policies.

North Carolina traditionally has been a right-to-work state, meaning that workers legally cannot be compelled to join a union. Generally this is seen as undermining the right of workers to push for better salaries and benefits, and better working conditions through collective bargaining.

“The average worker in North Carolina feels the effect of being 52 out of 52. They feel it when they can’t get a day off when their child is sick and has to stay home from school. They feel it when they have to choose between taking care of that child and putting food on the table,” said Braxton Winston, president of NC AFL-CIO, which represents more than 100,000 union members.

According to available data, the minimum wage hasn’t been raised in North Carolina since 2009, when it was increased to $7.25 to match the federal minimum wage.

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THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR THURSDAY, SEPT. 10TH, 2026

                                                                      CASH MICHAELS 

SMALL POTATOES? $5000? HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH?

                                                by Cash Michaels

You know, it truly is a shame how much we’ve lost in a national leader with you-know-who in the White House. Honesty, integrity, good judgement, compassion, commitment to serving the American people, courage, competence - I could go on. In my experience, those were the qualities that made for an exceptional president of the United States. From John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, each president had his strengths and weaknesses, but each pretty much knew what his job was, and did it to the best of his ability, for the best of reasons.

         “You don’t become president of the United States,” Ronald Reagan once said after his term was up. “You are given temporary custody of an institution called the presidency, which belongs to our people. Having temporary custody of this office has been for me a sacred trust and honor beyond words or measure.”

And the one thing we always knew about each president, even before Kennedy, was that despite their personal faults, our presidents always knew never to talk down to the American people, or about American citizens. It’s just something you just didn’t do. I'm pretty sure that there were times when presidents wanted to, but where would it get you? Your job as an elected official was to serve all of the American people, and carve out our mandate as you best understood it when the American people have had their say, whether you agreed with it or not.

Whatever you did, displaying respect for the ultimate wisdom of the American people was your job when you served as president.

But not anymore.

Today we have a man in the Oval who clearly admits that his term in office is all about him, and what he can get for himself, even if he has to buy it with other people's money. Our country is only great, he says, because he’s in charge of it. The only real history that is being made in our nation today is being made by him, and no one else. Recently he released a chart of pictures of former presidents which he rated, with the bottom floor of portraits featuring Barack Obama, Joe Biden and others labeled as “failures”, while his portrait stood above all other former presidents as the “greatest” ever.

And now we know what he thinks about everybody else but himself, and how much respect he has for the average American.

Not much.

Oh, the current president talks a good game when it suits his purposes, but once in while he betrays what he actually thinks and feels. For instance, when asked why the term “war” was suddenly, after six months, being discouraged from use about the intense conflict we’re still in the middle of with Iran, the president said,  "A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict, because it's small potatoes for us."

Eighteen members of our US military have lost their precious, young lives as a result of  what was routinely being called a war when certain people in power said it would be over with in 15 minutes six months ago. But now, because those same people apparently don’t want to be tagged with the responsibility of paying full death benefits to the families of those 18 brave Americans, or have to openly admit that they are losing their “war” with Iran, a war they arrogantly did not get congressional approval for, it’s suddenly time for cruel semantics.

Except that now, the strategy is to minimize the sacrifices of brave Americans who have given their lives for their nation by calling what they sacrificed for “small potatoes.”

Let’s draw from previous insulting language from our president about the ultimate sacrifices our brave men and women sign up for. Only “suckers and losers,” remember that, give their lives for military conflicts their commander-in-chief now refers to as “small potatoes.” 

        If only the current president had an ounce of honor and dignity.

The president added afterwards that he called the Iran War, a war that he’s previously said was important to the United States because "we must make sure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon," “ not a big thing.”

What kind of double-talk is that, except exactly the kind of double-talk we should expect from someone who has no respect for the people he’s supposed to be serving, people he’s sworn to be protecting, people he truly cares little about.

Look at his attitude about the long-suffering naval personnel onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, who are just being sent back home now months beyond their customary deployment in the Middle East. When asked about the suffering those sailors endured, our president callously responded, “They didn’t serve long enough!”

It has been written that the current president, whose name I’ve decided not to dignify in this column this week, cares more about how his fancy ballroom and 250-foot arc are coming along under construction than he does about what is happening in the war he started. He’s more interested in the self-monuments he’s building to himself than the war, because as he’s said earlier this week, no one is going to pay the kind of tribute to him when he’s gone that he feels he deserves now.

And apparently, instead of doing the job he was elected to do in lowering the cost of living for the American people, the absolute best that he can do is import tons of questionable ground beef from some foreign country no one is willing to identify to flood the market with in hopes that will make up for the high cost of regular supermarket beef, and the rising cost of gas (which as of this writing, crude oil has reached over $100-per-barrel).

None of this behavior is truly serving the American people.

All of it is treating us, including our war dead, like "small potatoes."

       And then, Wednesday night in Texas during what was called the first night of the Republican Midterm Election Convention, the conniver-in-chief who has already proven how little he thinks about the welfare of the country he unfortunately leads right now, brazenly stands up during an hour and forty-minute speech, and actually tries to bribe every American adult with $5,000 if the Republicans win back Congress after the upcoming midterm elections.

$5,000? Americans have already spent that much each, thanks to his stupid tariffs and will spend more on higher gas prices long before the Iran war is over with.

A cold-blooded shadow of a man who knows his party is going to lose in two months, who feels he can buy Americans off with OUR money to keep the political party he’s already screwed out of relevancy in power just to continue to serve him.

Vote-buying, that’s what it is, and it’s America at it’s lowest point EVER, proving what this con man truly thinks of us - that we’re so needy of him and greedy like him, that like some kind of fat, slovenly monarch, he can buy us off with a pittance just to get us vote as he wishes. The longer he remains in office, the more he reveals himself not as a leader, but as a desperate predator and liar who only uses people for his own ends. This is not the first time he's promised to pay folks for something he needs. Gee, if the country is doing gangbusters like he says, why not send out everybody's $5,000 check NOW?

Like I said - what does he think of us again? 

Small potatoes! 

Well, we are NOT small potatoes! We’re proud Americans, dammit, and if the elected officials we put into office can’t treat us with the respect, dignity and honor we all expect and are due, then we need to make a change…NOW!!!

         I say the November midterm elections is a good time to start. Early voting is just around the corner, so there’s no excuse. Unless you actually enjoy the patent disrespect coming from our president AND his party, let's show them how we treat folks who think all we are are small potatoes. "Suckers and losers" who have to be brazenly bribed to cast a ballot!

Let's VOTE them out of office. And those of you even thinking about voting for Republicans for a phony $5,000 government check? HA! Don't hold your breath!!!

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THE CASH STUFF FOR 09-10-26

BLACK STUDENTS AT 

UNC-CHAPEL HILL 

DECRY “RACIAL ATTACK”

DURING WATCH PARTY

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Black students at UNC-Chapel Hill are blasting the campus administration and police after a terrifying incident on August 31st left them feeling particularly unsafe.

According to the campus student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, “…a racially motivated attack…took place in Greenlaw Hall Monday night (August 31st.). The perpetrator entered a “Love Island” watch party hosted by several Black student organizations to throw objects at attendees and brandish a makeshift incendiary device.”

The Daily Tar Heel continued, “…during the watch party, the perpetrator entered the Greenlaw Hall classroom and made racially charged threats. Students in attendance said they felt that their lives were threatened.” “After leaving the academic building, the attacker was also spotted chasing students through the Pit while threatening them with open flames.”

UNC Campus police eventually caught up with the suspect, who was identified as 45-year-old Keegan Carlisle Wilson, a UNC alumnus. UNC police say that Wilson was apparently having a mental breakdown when he came on campus. He was committed to UNC Hospital “due to exhibiting mental distress.” Once cleared, authorities intend to charge Wilson with disorderly conduct, vandalism, damage to property and aggravated assault along with banning him from campus.

Reportedly, 80-100 Black students were affected by the “racial attack” and some sought counseling afterwards.

The suspect’s unidentified mother is quoted in subsequent published reports saying that “The system failed us,” referring to her inability to “get him mental health help for months.”

Meanwhile, UNC-Chapel Hill Administration and UNC - Chapel Hill Police are  pushing back on accusations by Black student leaders  and faculty members that those watch party students were essentially “abandoned” while they were under attack.

Some who were trapped by Wilson during the attack claim that there was no campus-wide Alert Carolina message issued, warning of the incident.

UNC Police Chief Brian James maintained that no campus alert message was sent out because of the length of time it takes to confirm an incident, and then have that confirmation approved. Even so, Chief James said the suspect was taken into custody within 17 minutes of officers being alerted.

"He was in custody and there was no longer a threat to campus," Chief James told WRAL-TV. "What I don't want to happen is, we're sending out multiple alerts all the time about everything, and then, when it pops up, I really need you to pay attention to it. You're like, 'Oh, this is another Alert Carolina message.”

Still, some UNC faculty members say the system has worked differently in the past.

"This is an incident where 80 to 100 of our students thought there was an imminent threat to their lives. They were ducking under their desks," Mark Peifer of UNC’s Dept. of Biology said. "This is, from my perspective, the most serious incident we've had on campus since when a gun was drawn and someone was killed."  

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TRUMP’S ANTI-DEI TAX EXEMPT

STATUS THREAT INCLUDES

PRIVATE HBCUS TOO

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

In an effort to further stamp out DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies in the nation’s higher education, private historically Black colleges and universities that in anyway maintain admissions policies, scholarships, loans or other programs for students of color could lose their tax-exempt status under a new proposed rule by the Trump Administration because they “engage in racial discrimination.”

In North Carolina this would affect Shaw University in Raleigh; Bennett College for Women in Greensboro; Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, Livingstone College in Salisbury; and St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh.

Overall, at least 18,000 private schools and colleges could now be affected by a draft proposal that was released last week by the Dept. of the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. Under this proposal, private schools K-12 and post-secondary institutions that are found to be discriminating on the basis of race, color or national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational , admissions, scholarships, athletic or other policies against whites,could have their 501(c)(3) tax exemption status revoked.

Reportedly, the Treasury Department estimates at least 750,000 students attending private schools across the country may be enrolled and “qualify for scholarships allocated on the basis of racial, ethnic or national identity.”

The proposed rule has not gone into effect yet, but and when it does,  is slated for May 31, 2027. But once it does, those private schools, if found to be in violation, will lose their tax exempt status, meaning they will then be subject to federal income tax, and donations to those institutions will no longer be tax-deductible.

HBCUs, in addition to other “minority-serving institutions” will be affected, most observers note. “Schools rebranding race-based preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversity-enhancing does not change their discriminatory nature. Today’s Treasury and IRS proposed regulations establish a clear standard, and the institutions that continue to use discriminatory practices will no longer receive the benefits of federal tax-exempt status,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Under President Trump, this Administration is standing up for America’s students by ensuring racial discrimination has no place in American education.” 

Interestingly. The proposal would not affect private institutions that have a religious mission or curriculum. Religious affiliations would be exempt under the proposed policy.

Critics were not please with the proposal.

"This is not neutral enforcement ‌of ⁠civil-rights law. It is an affirmative attempt to turn civil-rights law against the very people it was enacted to protect," AAUP President Todd Wolfson said in a statement. "For half a century, federal policy recognized that measures intended to dismantle entrenched racial exclusion are not equivalent to policies designed to preserve it."

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