Advocacy Arena with Dee

Good afternoon.

US stocks drop after Trump ramps up his tariffs and investors dump potential AI losers U.S. stocks slumped after President Donald Trump ramped up his newest tariffs, while investors continued to punish companies that could be losers in the artificial-intelligence revolution.

Trump’s quick move toward more aggressive tariffs shows how much uncertainty still hangs over the global economy, even after the Supreme Court said the president lacked the legal authority to institute his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs.
apnews.com/article/stoc...

Trump ramps up attack on birthright citizenship case in Supreme Court Trump argued against the Supreme Court making the 'wrong' decision in a pending case about birthright citizenship, which he opposes.

POTUS went beyond criticizing a past decision, as he shifted gears & lobbied for a future decision. His argument against birthright citizenship came in the same social media post that blasted the SCOTUS for Feb. 20 decision overturning his emergency tariffs.
www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

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Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves."

Resilient Zelensky tells BBC Putin has started WW3 and must be stopped Ukraine's president sat down with the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Kyiv days before the four-year anniversary of the war.

World War Three, the only answer intense military & economic pressure to force him to step back.

"I believe that Putin has already started it. Question is how much territory he will be able to seize & how to stop him...
www.bbc.com/news/article...

It required a grassroots civil rights movement that organized and mobilized for several decades, combined with a Democratic Congress and awakened president, Lyndon B. Johnson, to finally dismantle Jim Crow through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and, more decisively, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Overturning the Jim Crow system did not come easily, even as the nation’s attitudes about race began to liberalize. “All types of conniving methods are still being used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters,” Martin Luther King Jr. said in a 1957 speech.

Trump’s Midterm Threats Recall a Bleak Chapter in American History — Foreign Policy Illiberalism has been part of the national culture since the founding.

Jim Crow involved much more than disenfranchisement. The system consisted of an entire infrastructure of norms, rules, and laws that entrenched racial segregation and relegated Black Americans to secondary status.

apple.news/A29YYR8zdRyO...

From bakeries to beauty shops, Russian businesses are feeling the pain from a new wartime tax policy As Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine marks four years, the pressure on Russia’s economy is starting to show.

Ordinary Russians are feeling the pain. Business owners interviewed by The AP described a steady decline in demand for their goods and services, a sudden increase in costs as suppliers adjust to the tax reform, and a tax burden that’s now tens of times higher.
apnews.com/article/russ...

Armed man shot dead after breaking into Trump’s resort: report An armed man was fatally shot Sunday by law enforcement after breaching the perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Reuters reported.Trump was not at his Palm B...

Near the property’s north gate, officers confronted a white male in his early 20s carrying a gas can and shotgun, who ignored repeated commands before raising the shotgun, prompting officers to fire.
They identified the man as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin.
www.rawstory.com/trump-267529...

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Spoutible Pod: News & Current Events Stirring up

#GoodTrouble you don’t want to miss…
Celebrating movement icons bc the struggle continues
#VotingRights
#BlackHistoryMonth
spoutible.com/pod/69894437...

Good afternoon.

This feels me with joy 🫶🏼
It is my absolute favorite quote of his—pinned on all my socials.

I have recited it at the close of every weekly #AdvovacyArena #goodtrouble community chat since its inception over five years ago. The chat is to increase civic engagement and it starts with being informed.

This feels me with joy 🫶🏼
It is my absolute favorite quote of his—pinned on all my socials.

I have recited it at the close of every weekly #AdvovacyArena #goodtrouble community chat since its inception over five years ago. The chat is to increase civic engagement and it starts with being informed.

Image of John Lewis with white text reading, "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime."

On his birthday, we honor the legacy of John Lewis.

yep 👍🏼

Feb. 21, 1965 | Malcolm X Assassinated During Speech in New York City Learn more about our history of racial injustice

OTD Feb 21, 1965, Malcolm X, a religious & civil rights leader, was assassinated during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York. He was just 39 years old and left behind his wife, Betty Shabazz, and six young daughters—including twins born after his death. #BHM
calendar.eji.org/racial-injus...

A lazy Caturday morning.

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

A retired British primary school administrator with a British passport and a valid visa was shackled, chained and detained for six weeks by ICE

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

DEEscussions | Dee Batiste | Substack Advocacy Arena facilitates Conversational Roundtables to educate and inspire civic engagement. Host of Podcast series: "Connections & Conversations with Dee;" weekly Good Trouble Community Chat; bi-we...

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Join @tify330.bsky.social as we dig into…

✔️ Elections
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✔️ Media & Influencers
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Good evening.

this nuiance is missed

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office — Guardian US King expresses his ‘deepest concern’ and says ‘law must take its course’ as former prince arrested at Sandringham estate

King Charles has insisted “the law must take its course” after detectives took the unprecedented step of arresting his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office

apple.news/AsIxYhEipR7W...

New Maryland law reshapes how police can work with ICE - WTOP News Maryland has ended its 287(g) agreements, preventing local police from performing federal civil immigration duties previously carried out with ICE. Prince George’s County leaders are also considering ...

Maryland is drawing a hard line on immigration enforcement with new legislation that changes how local police can work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The opposite of what TNGOP supermajority is doing here.

wtop.com/maryland/202...

Moderna says the FDA will consider its new flu shot after resolving a public dispute Vaccine maker Moderna says the Food and Drug Administration will decide whether to approve its new flu shot for older adults after all.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Feb 18, 2026 agreed to review Moderna's mRNA seasonal influenza vaccine after the company amended its application, reversing last week's refusal.
apnews.com/article/mode...

Good morning.

New Mexico approves truth commission on alleged Jeffrey Epstein ranch abuse — Guardian US Lawmakers say the panel will compel testimony to uncover what happened at Epstein’s Zorro ranch and who knew

The subcommittee, which must have four representatives from both major political parties, is expected to have a $2m budget and run through.

The committee will deploy subpoena power and testimony, as well as official records, “to put the whole story together.”

apple.news/AY3e3VA6_S1u...