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Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Texas House Bill 2 (HB2) is a bill within the Eighty-third Texas Legislature, first introduced into the Texas Senate as Texas Senate Bill 5 (SB5) on June 11, 2013, related to abortion rights within the state. Among provisions include banning abortions 20 weeks post-fertilization, and mandating that doctors practicing abortions must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. SB5 was heavily criticized by state Democrats, and passage during a special session in the Texas Senate was blocked by a filibuster by Senator Wendy Davis by the end of the legislative term at the end of June. Governor Rick Perry created a second special session, in which the failed SB5 was reintroduced within the Texas House of Representatives as HB2, and eventually passed both Houses and signed into law by Gov. Perry on July 18, 2013. The law faced immediate legal scrutiny, and in July 2016, the United States Supreme Court held some parts of the law to be unconstitutional in its decision on Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt.
House Bill 142 (HB 142) is a 2017 law that was enacted in the state of North Carolina that repealed House Bill 2. The bill states that all "state agencies, boards, offices, departments, institutions, branches of government, including The University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Community College System, and political subdivisions of the State, are preempted from regulation of access to multiple occupancy restrooms, showers, or changing facilities, except in accordance with an act of the General Assembly." It also enacted that no local government in this state may enact or amend an ordinance regulating private employment practices or regulating public accommodations until December 1, 2020.
The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2, Bathroom Bill, or HB2, was a North Carolina statute enacted in March 2016 and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. The bill amended state law to preempt any anti-discrimination ordinances passed by local communities and, controversially, compelled schools and state and local government facilities containing single-gender bathrooms to only allow people of the corresponding sex as listed on their birth certificate to use them; it also gave the state exclusive rights to determine the minimum wage. The bathroom portion of the bill generated immense criticism for preventing transgender people who did not or could not alter their birth certificates from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity (at the time in North Carolina, only people who undergo sex reassignment surgery could change the sex on their birth certificates, and outside jurisdictions have different rules, some more restrictive), and for changing the definition of sex in the state's anti-discrimination law to "the physical condition of being male or female, which is stated on a person's birth certificate." The removal of municipal anti-discrimination protections was also criticized, as state-level protections do not explicitly cover discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Opponents of the bill described it as the most anti-LGBT legislation in the United States, while proponents of HB2 called it "common sense" legislation. HB2 was met with widespread protests: state, county and city governments across the United States forbade their employees from non-essential travel to North Carolina; numerous corporations and firms curbed plans to hold events and create jobs in the state, and many performers canceled performances in North Carolina to boycott the state; North Carolina's economy lost over $400 million in investments and jobs. The bill was also criticized by several religious organizations, and President Barack Obama denounced it and called for its repeal. McCrory ultimately lost his bid for re-election in 2016 to Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, a vocal critic of the law. The portion of the law regarding bathroom use was repealed on March 30, 2017, with the enactment of House Bill 142 (Session 2017 of the North Carolina General Assembly). The remainder of HB2, which barred local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances, was repealed on December 1, 2020, by a sunset provision, which was inserted below the partial repeal in House Bill 142, passed on March 30, 2017. In response to the full repeal on December 1, 2020, many local governments across North Carolina almost immediately enacted local laws to protect LGBT people from discrimination and other local governments are considering enacting similar local laws.
Cannabis in New Mexico is legal for recreational use as of June 29, 2021. A bill to legalize recreational use – House Bill 2, the Cannabis Regulation Act – was signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 12, 2021. The first licensed sales of recreational cannabis began on April 1, 2022. Medical use was legalized in 2007 through a bill signed by Governor Bill Richardson. A 1978 law also allowed for medical use, but only through a federally-approved research program. It was the first medical cannabis law enacted by any state.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →The Greenwood District.
