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Holiday Season Routinely Sees Rise in Human Trafficking

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Childwelfare.com says the legal definition of trafficking involves “the exploitation of people through force, coercion, threat, and deception and includes human rights abuses such as debt bondage, deprivation of liberty, and lack of control over freedom and labor.”

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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Federal prosecutors said the fight against human trafficking, a crime that harms some of the most vulnerable members of society, counts among their highest priorities.

“We are committed to vindicating the rights of human trafficking crime victims by bringing their traffickers to justice and working to ensure that survivors have access to restitution, services, and assistance that are needed to rebuild their lives,” U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg offered in a statement.

U.S. Department of Justice officials maintain that their strong efforts continue to combat human trafficking.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney General released the Department of Justice’s National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking.

The strategy laid out the Department’s multi-year plan to combat all forms of human trafficking, focusing on efforts to protect victims of trafficking, prosecute human trafficking cases, and prevent further acts of human trafficking.

The Human Trafficking Institute estimates that there are 24.9 million victims of human trafficking globally.

In 2020, the Institute reported that federal courts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 4 U.S. territories handled 579 active human trafficking prosecutions, 94% of which were sex trafficking cases and 6% forced labor cases.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, individuals prosecuted for human trafficking increased from 729 in 2011 to 1,343 in 2020, an 84% rise.

The number of persons convicted of a federal human trafficking offense increased from 2011 (464 persons) to 2019 (837 persons) before falling in 2020 (658 persons). Of the 1,169 defendants charged in U.S. district court with human trafficking offenses in the fiscal year 2020— 92% were male, 63% were white, 18% were black, 17% were Hispanic, 95% were U.S. citizens, and 66% had no prior convictions.

By the end of 2020, for the 47 states that reported data, 1,564 persons were in the custody of a state prison serving a sentence for a human trafficking offense.

The District of Columbia reported zero new criminal human trafficking cases filed in federal courts in 2021.

The advocacy organization Hope for Justice defines human trafficking as modern slavery, where one person controls another for profit by exploiting a vulnerability.

Victims usually are forced to work or are sexually exploited, and the trafficker keeps all or nearly all the money. The control can be physical, financial, or psychological.

Childwelfare.com says the legal definition of trafficking involves “the exploitation of people through force, coercion, threat, and deception and includes human rights abuses such as debt bondage, deprivation of liberty, and lack of control over freedom and labor.”

The organization noted that trafficking could be for purposes of sexual exploitation or labor exploitation.

In 2004, officials formed the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force to increase the prosecution of traffickers while identifying and serving the victims.

The task force’s primary goal is to “facilitate a more coordinated anti-trafficking effort in the D.C. area through protocol development, extensive community outreach, proactive investigations, law enforcement training, intelligence sharing, and more formalized partnerships between law enforcement organizations and non-governmental organizations.”

Additionally, while the holiday season counts as a time of joy, happiness, and fun, the nonprofit Shero Foundation said for human trafficking victims, the holidays are no different from any other day.

Law enforcement officials said traffickers typically increase their illegal activities during the holiday season.

“We let our guard down because you’re supposed to be joyful, and, you know, it’s a great time of year. And unfortunately, we have people out there that don’t care what time of year it is,” Tony Mancuso, a sheriff in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, told reporters in a pre-Christmas interview in 2021.

“California is home to some of the largest hubs for sex and labor trafficking in the United States, and it is beyond the time our state takes the necessary steps in combatting this criminal enterprise,” Democratic Assemblymember Tim Grayson insisted.

Grayson noted that human trafficking was a $150 billion-a-year global industry and introduced a bill to establish the California Multidisciplinary Alliance to Stop Trafficking Act (California MAST).

The bill aims to examine and evaluate existing programs and outreach for survivors and victims of human trafficking and provide recommendations to strengthen California’s response to supporting survivors and holding offenders accountable.

“In my search for a better life, I found myself exploited by various individuals similar to other child trafficking survivors,” said Jimmy Lopez, Survivor Advocate for the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking. “Human trafficking is an invisible crisis plaguing our state and forcing thousands of children to grow up too fast; we must stop trafficking in its tracks, and we must hold offenders accountable,” Lopez said.

If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free hotline, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-373-7888 to speak with a specially trained Anti-Trafficking Hotline Advocate.

Support is provided in more than 200 languages. Hotline officials said they are there to listen and connect those in need with the help required to stay safe.

Callers can dial 711 to access the Hotline using TTY.

You can also email help@humantraffickinghotline.org.

To report a potential human trafficking situation, call the hotline at 1-888-373-7888, or submit a tip online here.

All communication with the hotline is strictly confidential.

The post Holiday Season Routinely Sees Rise in Human Trafficking first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Rep. Al Green Files Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Rep. Green told Newsweek that he is moving on impeachment now before “tanks are rolling down the street.”

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By Lauren Burke

Congressman Al Green (D-TX) has filed articles of impeachment against President Trump. Rep. Green, 77, has served in Congress since 2005.  President Trump is the only President who has been impeached twice by the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Green told Newsweek that he is moving on impeachment now before “tanks are rolling down the street.” The impeachment resolution filed by Rep. Green on May 19, states that President Trump is, “unfit to represent the American values of decency and morality, respectability and civility, honesty, and propriety, reputability, and integrity, is unfit to defend the ideals that have made America great, is unfit to defend liberty and justice for all as extolled in the Pledge of Allegiance, is unfit to defend the American ideal of all persons being created equal as exalted in the Declaration of Independence, is unfit to ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare and to ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity as lauded in the preamble to the United States Constitution, is unfit to protect government of the people…” Whether Rep. Green can force a vote in the U.S. House on impeachment remains an unknown issue. President Trump was impeached on December 18, 2019, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He was then impeached a second time on January 13, 2021, for “Incitement of insurrection” in the wake of the violent January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters.

The White House stated Black Press USA on Rep. Green’s effort to impeach the President. “This week, Democrats ousted their DNC ‘leader,’ opposed the largest tax cut in history, and were exposed for actively covering up Joe Biden’s four-year cognitive decline. Now, Democrats have turned their sights to threatening impeachment. We are witnessing the collapse of the Democrat Party before our eyes. Not a single one of these efforts will help the American people. The contrast could not be more clear: President Trump is fighting for historic tax relief for the American people, Democrats are fighting themselves,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly in a written statement. Several decisions and legal interpretations by the Trump Administration are currently being challenged in federal court. On May 15, the U.S. Supreme Court debated the issue of birthright citizenship after a legal challenge on the issue by the Trump Administration.

During that legal challenge, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson challenged Trump’s solicitor general Dean John Sauer by saying, “Your argument seems to turn our justice system into a catch-me-if-you-can kind of regime … where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights.” Rep. Green’s impeachment resolution also focused on the issue of ignoring judicial orders by the executive branch. A notable example was the deportation case of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Garcia was deported to a prison in El Salvador by federal officials on March 15, 2025.“The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it. To permit such officials to freely ‘annul the judgments of the courts of the United States’ would not just ‘destroy the rights acquired under those judgments’; it would make a solemn mockery’ of ‘the constitution itself.’” “You have no mandate,” Congressman Green stood up and yelled at President Trump during his State of the Union Speech on March 4. After the incident, Republicans who control the U.S. House considered sanctioning Rep. Green, but they did not complete an action against him.

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Affordable Childcare Remains a Barrier: Solutions in New Report

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — We also still haven’t put a dent in affordability for working families. That’s why we urgently need increased funding and new solutions.”

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While America’s childcare supply grew nationally, the price of that care continues to rise—placing affordable, high-quality care out of reach for many families. A new report released by Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA), Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply, shows that despite promising signs of increased supply, affordability remains a major barrier — and underscores the need for increased sustained federal and state investment.

From 2023 to 2024, the number of childcare centers increased by 1.6% (to 92,613) and the supply of licensed family childcare (FCC) homes increased by 4.8% (to 98,807). The national growth in FCC homes’ supply is driven largely by four states (CA, KS, MA, VA) and is especially notable as it reverses a year-long downward trend.

At the same time, the national average price for childcare rose by 29% from 2020 to 2024, outpacing inflation and exceeding other major family household expenses like rent or mortgage payments in many states. Childcare is now so expensive that it consumes 10% of a married couple with children’s median household income and a staggering 35% for a single parent. In most states, families pay more for childcare than rent, mortgage payments, or in-state university tuition.

“Childcare supply is increasing, and that is a win—but it’s not enough,” said Susan Gale Perry, Chief Executive Officer of CCAoA. “Recent federal and state pandemic-era investments have stabilized and grown supply in some places, but a significant supply gap still exists — especially in rural communities and for infants and toddlers. We also still haven’t put a dent in affordability for working families. That’s why we urgently need increased funding and new solutions.”

CCAoA’s Childcare in America: 2024 Price & Supply report also found that:

  • The average price of childcare increased by 29% from 2020 to 2024, outpacing the national inflation rate of 22%.
  • In 45 states plus Washington, DC, the average annual price of center-based childcare for two children exceeded mortgage payments, in some states by up to 78%.
  • In 49 states plus Washington, DC, the price of center-based childcare for two children exceeded median rent payments ranging from 19% to over 100%.
  • In 41 states plus Washington, DC, infant care in a center cost more than in-state university tuition.

CCAoA urges policymakers to increase childcare funding at both state and federal levels to maintain the momentum of growing supply, address rising prices, and expand access to childcare for families. Federal funding increases have fallen short of the need and our research shows that total state investments in child care or preschool vary widely from state to state, putting children, families, and communities across America on an uneven playing field. Further, targeted investments in childcare supply building and stabilization and childcare workforce recruitment and retention strategies are essential to help sustain an adequate supply of high-quality childcare options nationwide.

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is the only national organization that supports every part of the childcare system. Together with an on-the-ground network of people doing the work in states and communities, it helps America become child care strong by providing research that drives effective practice and policy, building strong child care programs and professionals, helping families find and afford quality child care, delivering thought leadership to the military and direct service to its families, and providing a real-world understanding of what works and what doesn’t to spur policymakers into action and help them build solutions.

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Sex, Coercion, and Stardom: Diddy Case Mirrors Music’s Ugly History

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — It started with a Reddit post that didn’t just speculate on Diddy’s fate but questioned the very foundations of the culture that made him

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By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

As Sean “Diddy” Combs faces a federal sex trafficking case and the slow unraveling of his once-untouchable legacy, a larger question looms: Is this the moment the music industry finally confronts its darkest secrets?

It started with a Reddit post that didn’t just speculate on Diddy’s fate but questioned the very foundations of the culture that made him: “How much damage could Diddy do to the state of hip hop?” the user asked. “Supposedly, he has incriminating evidence against those who attended his parties. The same parties that had a lot of bad things happen, to say the least.” The implication was chilling—if Diddy were to cooperate with federal authorities, the fallout might not stop at his feet. Names floated in the post—Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Usher, Justin Bieber—aren’t confirmed in any court filings, but their inclusion highlights the breadth of Diddy’s influence and the potential reach of any revelations. If even a fraction of the speculation proves true, the reverberations wouldn’t stop at hip-hop—they’d hit every corner of the music industry. For his part, Combs denies all allegations. His legal team has described the now-infamous “freak-offs” as consensual encounters, part of his non-monogamous lifestyle. But prosecutors allege something much more sinister: a criminal enterprise powered by the machinery of his music and business empire—one that trafficked women, coerced labor, obstructed justice, and used influence and intimidation to maintain control. Still, for all the headlines Combs generates, his alleged crimes do not exist in isolation. The music industry has long tolerated, enabled, and even glamorized behavior that would trigger career-ending consequences in other arenas. Diddy’s story might be shocking—but it’s not new.

Rock music has its own rogue’s gallery. Jerry Lee Lewis nearly destroyed his career in 1958 after marrying his 13-year-old cousin. Elvis Presley met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu when he was 24 and later moved her into his home in Memphis. In more recent years, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler faced (and ultimately evaded) a lawsuit from a woman who says he sexually assaulted her in the 1970s when she was 17. A judge dismissed the case due to the statute of limitations. Phil Spector, the genius producer behind the “Wall of Sound,” died in prison after being convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson. Gary Glitter was convicted of possessing child pornography and later child sex abuse. Kid Rock and Creed frontman Scott Stapp were filmed with strippers in a sex tape that leaked online in 2006. A new biography of the Rolling Stones claims Mick Jagger had sexual relationships with at least two of his male bandmates, raising further questions about the power dynamics inside even the most celebrated groups.

Journalist Ann Powers, writing for NPR, once noted that the “history of rock turns on moments in which women and young boys were exploited in myriad financial, emotional and sexual ways.” Powers added: “From the teen-scream 1950s onward, one of the music’s fundamental functions has been to frame and express sexual feelings for and from the very young… relating to older men whose glamour and influence encourages trust, not caution.” This brings the spotlight back to Diddy—not just as an accused individual but as a symbol. He was once the archetype of success: Harlem-born mogul, founder of Bad Boy Records, and kingmaker behind artists like Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Ma$e, 112, and French Montana. He transformed hip-hop into a global business and amassed influence far beyond the recording booth. He sold more than 500 million records, earned multiple Grammy Awards, and was honored by MTV, Howard University, and the City of New York—until those honors were swiftly revoked after a video surfaced showing him physically assaulting singer Cassie Ventura. Ventura, his longtime partner and protégé, has accused Combs of brutal physical abuse and psychological control. Her lawsuit and the video evidence ignited a wave of allegations from other women and men, describing similar patterns of coercion, manipulation, and fear. “This is not just about bad behavior. This is about systemic exploitation and abuse made possible by fame, money, and silence,” said one advocate for survivors in the entertainment industry.

While hip-hop has long been a target of criticism for misogyny and violence, what’s now being laid bare is a broader, genre-defying truth: from rock and pop to hip-hop and beyond, the music industry has operated for decades without accountability for its biggest stars. “Sex isn’t the problem,” one Reddit user responded. “Coercion via job opportunities is.” Another added, “Zero [impact], just like R. Kelly and MJ did zero to R&B,” referencing the R&B superstar’s conviction and Michael Jackson’s controversial legacy. Others argued hip hop would endure, regardless of Combs’ fate. Maybe it will. But the Diddy scandal pulls back the curtain—not just on the parties, the rumors, or the headlines—but on an industry-wide culture that has, for too long, allowed power to shield predation. As one survivor put it outside a recent court appearance: “This isn’t just a hip hop problem. It’s not even just a music problem. It’s a power problem.” And now, the music industry has to decide: Will it finally tune in, or will it keep playing the same old song?

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