Mr. Smith’s foes in Washington

As we celebrate the culture and contributions of Black Americans this month, we’re spotlighting those who are working to bridge racial divides and honor the experience of being Black in America. For more than 25 years, David Cherry, a Chicago-based community organizer and activist, has helped diverse communities develop around issues of democracy, social justice, and inclusion. Cherry is a senior vice president and city leader at the All Stars Project of Chicago, which advances strategies for creative engagement on poverty, violence, and other issues impacting impoverished youth and their communities. He is also the president of the Leaders Network, a collaborative of faith and community leaders in Chicago working together to create flourishing communities through independent leadership, economic justice, and equal educational opportunities. Cherry believes political independence is the way to get there. He is on the board at Independent Voting, founded the United Independents of Illinois, and is a member of the Forward Party of Illinois. “Principled people must get together and collaborate to solve our problems—including violence, poverty, the economy, and everything else,” he says. “Let’s begin organizing outside of the limitations and handcuffs of the two-party system and begin ending the political paralysis that leaves more and more Americans in mourning.” —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

• Chinese spy balloon investigation shifts from a search to a new key phase that could reveal its tradecraft secrets —Fortune

• FBI says it has ‘contained’ cyber incident on bureau’s computer network —CNN

• EPA vows to hold train firm accountable for Ohio disaster —The Mercury News

• Five Memphis officers plead not guilty in death of Tyre Nichols —Associated Press

• Sen. John Fetterman will likely be in hospital for a few weeks for clinical depression treatment —CNBC

• U.S. has between July and September to raise debt ceiling, CBO warns —The Washington Post

• U.S. on track to add $19 trillion in new debt over 10 years —The New York Times

• White supremacist gets life in prison for Buffalo massacre —Associated Press

• FBI searched University of Delaware for Biden documents, source says —CNN

• U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz won’t face charges from Greenberg-related probe —Orlando Sentinel

Smith fights for rule of law

Special Counsel Jack Smith isn’t messing around. According to CNN, he is reportedly locked in courtroom warfare of an unprecedented size and scope against Donald Trump and his allies, with at least eight ongoing secret battles before Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court and the judges of the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington. The battles are with witnesses Smith has subpoenaed in his grand jury investigation of Trump’s Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago misconduct. Though subpoena battles aren’t rare, the sheer volume in this case is unusual…but certainly in keeping with the Team Trump MO. —The xxxxxx

• Will Meadows pull a Pence? Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows received a subpoena this week, just as former Vice President Mike Pence indicated that he will fight his. Meadows was a central figure in Trump's campaign to cling to power, as revealed by text messages he sent and received from various people in Trump’s orbit who were working on his plan. No word yet on whether Meadows will testify. —USA Today

• Aggressive moves. Earlier this week, federal prosecutors working on behalf of the special counsel investigation asked a judge to force Trump attorney Evan Corcoran to provide additional testimony. To overcome the shield of attorney-client privilege, prosecutors alleged in the motion that the ex-president used his attorney in furtherance of a crime or fraud. Corcoran recently appeared before the grand jury for roughly four hours. Whether he returns remains to be seen. —CNN

• Down in Georgia… A special grand jury investigating the efforts of Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia found evidence that one or more witnesses lied during their testimony, according to the jurors’ final report released yesterday by a Fulton County judge. You know what they didn’t find any evidence of? Widespread voter fraud. Well how about that? —U.S. News & World Report

MORE: Proud Boys member drafts subpoena to call Trump as a witness in Jan. 6 trial —CBS News

‘We will lose the war’ on disinfo

A social media industry trend threatens to undo many of the safeguards put in place to ban or tamp down on disinformation—like false claims about the COVID-19 pandemic or the integrity of elections. Twitter has slashed its staff, while Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has shifted its focus and resources toward its immersive “metaverse.” And last month, Google quietly reduced its team of experts in charge of handling misinformation at YouTube. Facing economic headwinds and political and legal pressure, the companies are reducing their efforts to combat false and misleading information at a time when the problem remains as pernicious as ever. Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters for America, blames fatigue. “I do think we, as a society, have lost the appetite to keep battling,” he says. —The New York Times

MORE: 'Team Jorge': How disinformation threatens democracy —Deutsche Welle

Uda: Is AI coming for our jobs?

“No one has a crystal ball, and how ChatGPT will change the employment landscape is really anyone’s guess. But what we do know is that the startling capacity of this tool has finally woken the public up to AI’s tremendous potential and that companies are now scrambling to figure out if it’s a threat or something that can give them a competitive edge.” —Rachel Uda on Katie Couric Media

Rachel Uda is a writer at Katie Couric Media.

MORE: Microsoft's new Bing AI chatbot, 'Sydney', is acting unhinged —The Washington Post

In praise of incrementalism: Real change comes from slow, steady, bipartisan progress 

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.

Reprinted from South Florida Sun Sentinel

I’d like to share a story about frustration and finding a way through it.

On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, refused to give up her seat and galvanized the emerging civil rights movement.

But that was only the beginning. It would be nine long years between Montgomery and President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act, another year for the Voting Rights Act, and yet three more years for the Fair Housing Act.

Across my six decades in the civil rights movement, I have learned that change requires heroic people—like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—to put it all on the line. But it also requires persistence and practicality. It requires winning an imperfect victory today and coming back to try to win a little more tomorrow.

It’s a lesson too often lost on America’s political leaders today. But it certainly isn’t lost on the American people or on Floridians, who understand the path out of this frustrating political moment we’re in won’t come by aiming to steamroll the other side. It will come only when we treat one another with a full measure of dignity and respect and accept the give and take that comes with living in a democracy.

A few months ago, No Labels, where I serve as a national co-chair, polled thousands of Americans, and hundreds of Floridians, to see where and whether they could accept compromise solutions to our biggest problems.

They can.

For example, nearly 80% of Floridians support an immigration compromise that would increase border security while providing a pathway to citizenship for the “Dreamers,” those who were brought to the United States illegally as children.

More than 85% of Floridians want to see significantly expanded funding to ensure young children have the proper nutrition, and a similar number favor rigorous national education standards to arrest the scandalous decline in our children’s performance on reading and math tests.

Additionally, at least three quarters of Floridians approve of taking immediate steps to increase the production of American fossil fuels while investing more to expand clean energy in the long term.

This should provide a major opportunity for members of Congress to courageously cross the aisle to collaborate on solutions—and be rewarded for it. Cooperation is popular; 89% of Americans believe we could solve most problems in America if both major political parties tried to work together.

My experience in the civil rights movement gives me hope that our legislators will take that opportunity. The three landmark legislative accomplishments of that era—the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act—all passed with bipartisan support. I will never forget how Americans of diverse beliefs and backgrounds supported the cause.

Politics will always provoke frustration. It’s up to us to remember that it comes from a place of mutual concern, and channel it towards a stronger democracy.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., is the national co-chair of No Labels and the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

When Russia takes over eastern Ukraine with its siege and destruction, the civilized, democratic world ends. Bill M. from Pennsylvania was correct. When Putin and the traitorous Republicans support him by ending aid to Ukraine, America will cease to exist as the moral light upon the hill of freedom. —Gary N., Indiana

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Renew America Foundation.