Black Press USA Staff Report
The May 1 edition of Let It Be Known began with a pair of videos featuring journalist Charles Blow and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who delivered searing critiques of a House Judiciary Committee vote that, as Crockett described it, gives former President Donald Trump the power to deport U.S. citizens. Crockett, visibly outraged, revealed the shocking development during a live markup session, warning that constitutional protections are being gutted in real time. “They just voted to give Trump the legal ability to deport U.S. citizens,” Crockett said. “They did it during the same week we learned a four-year-old American child with cancer was deported, separated from her father, and cut off from her treatment.” Crockett, joined by fellow Rep. Deborah Ross and others, said Republican lawmakers refused to support an amendment she authored affirming that U.S. citizens cannot be deported—an amendment she introduced only because, she said, “ICE is doing it anyway.” “I entered into the record that ICE cannot legally detain or deport U.S. citizens, and they still voted no,” said Crockett. “Some didn’t even show up to vote—too cowardly to go on record.”
The broadcast picked up with Let It Be Known hosts Stacy Brown and Niele Anderson expressing disbelief over the vote and noting the racial dynamics at play. “There’s a reason they don’t care,” Anderson said. “It’s because they know who will be targeted—Black and brown people, people with accents, those with darker skin.” Brown and Anderson drew attention to the House’s refusal to provide due process protection, describing it as dangerous and unconstitutional. Brown compared the current moment to the cruelty of America’s past. “It used to be that the U.S. brought in children from other countries for cancer treatment,” he said. “Now, they’re sending American children away—sick, four-year-old cancer patients.” The hosts also discussed the global rise of far-right authoritarianism, highlighting recent events in Burkina Faso, where U.S. involvement is being blamed for fomenting unrest. Anderson noted the parallels with Project 2025 in the U.S., saying the movement isn’t just national but global in scope.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s first major speech since leaving the White House also came up. Harris warned that Trump is “a vessel” for a long-planned extremist agenda. “Fear isn’t the only thing that’s contagious,” Harris said. “Courage is contagious, too.” Anderson credited Emerge CEO A’shanti Gholar for the platform that helped amplify Harris’s voice. “Emerge has been training women to lead, and it matters that a Black woman leads that organization,” she said. The show touched on youth cell phone bans in schools, eliciting passionate opinions on both sides. Some viewers supported the bans because they reduced distractions, while others, including Brown, expressed concern over safety during school shootings.
Also covered: the lawsuit filed by a Black couple in Texas after their newborn was taken away due to a home jaundice treatment; the ongoing “State of the People” tour mobilizing Black voters across the country; and sports headlines involving Shaduer Sanders and the racial disparities in how athletes are treated. The episode wrapped with a celebration of coach Dawn Staley’s new statue in South Carolina and a tribute to Essence magazine co-founder Clarence O. Smith, who died at 93. Hosts also recognized Mound Bayou, Mississippi, as the correct answer to the day’s Black trivia question: the town founded by formerly enslaved people in 1887, once known as the “Jewel of the Delta.” “A lot is happening across this country and around the globe,” Brown said. “But what’s clear is that we must stay informed, engaged, and ready.”
Watch Let It Be Known on weekdays at 8 a.m. EST.
