October 16, 2025

Thursday, October 16, 2025. Annette’s Roundup for Democracy.

No Kings Day.

Have you made your plans?

If not, it may be because the media is ignoring protests against Trump.

The media is largely ignoring the trauma of millions. Here’s why.

I don’t know about you but I’d be happy never to read another story or see another TV segment exploring the deeper feelings of Trump followers.

These are easy to find, and have been for many years.

Do Trump voters still like Trump? (Yes.) Why do they like Trump? (Because, don’t you know, he’s a businessman at heart.) Would they vote for a Democrat? (When hell freezes over.)

Yes, we know. But there are a lot of people in this country — most of the 75 million who voted for Kamala Harris last year and a whole lot of others — who are disgusted, appalled and frightened by the first nine months of Trump’s second administration. By the way he’s turned the Justice Department into his vendetta machine, by ICE’s vicious treatment of immigrants and journalists, by his damaging and whimsical decisions about tariffs and much more.

But do we hear much about those regular citizens who disagree? I read and watch and listen widely, and I sure don’t. Not in mainstream media, at any rate.

I did a small gut check over the long weekend to see how much advance attention this coming Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies were getting — about 2,000 gatherings across the country that are likely to bring millions of Americans out into the streets to stand up for democracy and to protest Trump’s actions.

Short answer: Very, very little.

That could change in the next few days, of course, but as of Monday afternoon, the most prominent mainstream story I saw was from Fox News, which focused on the GOP’s effort to brand these citizen protests as hate rallies.

The Hill did a short “What you need to know” piece, which did not quote a single regular American, but did quote Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson from an appearance on Fox riffing about how this is a “Hate America” thing. “It’s all the pro-Hamas wing and the antifa people.” No, it’s not, Mike.

If there was any advance coverage in the Washington Post or the New York Times, I couldn’t readily find it. Same with CBS News and ABC News. The left-leaning MSNBC had some pre-coverage but it was about the Republican attempts to smear the protests.

Local media — especially local TV stations — did a little better. But they focused largely on logistics. The heartfelt beliefs and concerns of a traumatized nation, as spoken by ordinary citizens? That would be a good story, but I’m not seeing it in Big Journalism.

What’s the reason for this silence? As usual, I believe, it’s the mainstream media’s fear of appearing to sympathize or identify with those who oppose Trump. I often complain about the syndrome known as “both-sidesing” — in which unequal sides are given equal treatment in the press. But this failure of coverage is worse than that.

Robert Reich, the former Labor Secretary, whom I admire, has written about a nation that’s been traumatized by Trump’s anti-democratic fervor. He wrote recently about the deep anxiety, even depression, that so many feel, and argued that it is “a rational response to a nation that’s becoming ever more disordered.”

“Many of us now feel powerless and afraid. We don’t recognize our nation. We’re disoriented, vulnerable, anxious.”

If millions of Americans are feeling that — and I agree that they are — shouldn’t it get some news coverage? If that feeling is driving them out to protest next Saturday, that seems like a pretty good story, too.

But instead, we still are encouraged to plumb the depths of Trump voters’ brains. Their feelings. Over and over again.

This is a failure of mission. And if it’s driven by fear of being labeled partisan, that’s a failure of courage. I hope that actual news coverage of Saturday’s protests will give voice to the hearts and minds of these Americans. But I’m not holding my breath. (Margaret Sullivan, American Crisis, Can Journalism Save Democracy? Substack)

Or maybe you heard Speaker Mike Johnson who thinks protesting is not a right, but treason?

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Have you read that this 👇 has actually happened? If not, thank our media.

Most of Harvard’s Research Funding Has Been Restored.

As of Tuesday, Harvard University had recouped most of the federal research funding it lost when the Trump administration froze its access to grants earlier this year, multiple local news organizations reported.

The taxpayer dollars first started to flow last month after a federal judge ruled that the restrictions Trump had placed on grant access were unconstitutional. It remains unclear exactly how much funding has been distributed and what remains frozen, but in an email obtained by The Boston Globe, Harvard’s CFO and vice president for finance confirmed that the university has “received reinstatements of the majority of our direct federal awards.”

While many faculty members and staff see the resumption of grants as something to celebrate, some remain skeptical.

“Despite this encouraging news, uncertainty about the continuation of scientific funding remains,” Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, wrote in an email to staff members Friday, according to the Globe.

As a result, the public health school has instructed researchers to cap their spending at 80 percent of the total grant value, at least for now.(insidehighered.com)

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In case you didn’t know about this.

Mamdani recognizes the value of the City University of New York.

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In case you didn’t know about this.

Vance defends foul-mouthed, bigoted Young Republicans who, by the way, are grown men working in government.

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In case you didn’t know about this.

If this interview is a precursor, expect sparks to fly when Jack Smith testifies before Congress.

Jack Smith speaks out against the Trump administration in rare interview

Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two criminal cases against Donald Trump, spoke out against the Trump administration in a rare interview posted Tuesday.

Smith, who resigned from the Justice Department in January shortly before Trump returned to office as president, warned that attacks on public servants would have an “incalculable” cost on the country.

“I think the attacks on public servants, particularly nonpartisan public servants — I think it has a cost for our country that is incalculable, and I think that we — it’s hard to communicate to folks how much that is going to cost us,” Smith said in an interview last week with former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissman at University College London Faculty of Laws, where Weissman is a visiting professor.

Reached for comment on Smith's interview, the White House said, “The Trump Administration will continue to deliver the truth to the American people while restoring integrity and accountability to our justice system.” The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smith's investigation led to two indictments against Trump, one for his handling of classified documents and another for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump denied all wrongdoing and blasted both cases as politically motivated "witch hunts."

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, dismissed the classified documents case on the grounds that Smith's appointment was illegal. Smith dropped the 2020 election case after Trump's November win, citing DOJ policy on prosecuting sitting presidents.

In a report released before he resigned in January, Smith said Trump “inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence” on Jan. 6, adding he believed Trump would have been convicted for his acts had he not been re-elected president last year.

Since he assumed office in January, Trump has repeatedly blasted Smith, calling him “deranged.” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked Smith on Tuesday to testify about his prosecutions of Trump.

In his interview with Weissman, Smith warned of threats to the independence of the judiciary, saying judges and prosecutors “should not be thinking of their jobs as popularity contests.”

“They need the room and space to make decisions that some people might not like," Smith said.

The Justice Department under Trump has taken swift action against people who worked on the criminal and civil cases against him.

On Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who oversaw a civil case against Trump and his businesses, was indicted last week on bank fraud charges. The Justice Department also last month indicted former FBI Director James Comey, who clashed with Trump during the president’s first term over the DOJ investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.

Trump suggested in a Truth Social post on Sunday that Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who worked on Trump’s first impeachment trial, could also be a target.

The Trump administration has also forced out several senior FBI officials who worked on cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including special agents involved in Smith’s investigations of Trump. The FBI last week also took action against three special agents who worked in connection with Smith’s probes after GOP senators said the FBI analyzed personal cellphone data of nine congressional Republicans.

Describing his first job in the Manhattan district attorney's office, Smith said it would have been inappropriate to bring or not bring a case for political reasons, saying the suggestion alone would have gotten him tossed “out a window.”

“If I said, ‘Hey, I wasn’t going to bring this case, because it’s not a legitimate case on the facts and law, but I saw that he was an enemy of the [district attorney], and maybe we shouldn’t bring it.’ My boss, my first boss, he would have tossed me out a window. Right? Tossed me out a window,” Smith said.

Smith spoke about his time as chief of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, which is charged with fighting public corruption, saying that while he worked there, he was unaware of the politics of his subordinates “because it was entirely irrelevant to our work.”

Smith, noting that he worked in the Justice Department for years during both Republican and Democratic administrations — including as an acting U.S. attorney during the first Trump administration — made note of New York Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case, which a federal judge dismissed in April at the request of the Justice Department.

The decision came after the Trump administration moved to dismiss the charges in February, shortly after Adams agreed to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to operate at New York’s Rikers Island jail. The move prompted the resignations of multiple federal prosecutors who refused to follow the Justice Department’s orders to dismiss the case.

“Nothing like what we see now has ever gone on — this case in New York City, where the case against the mayor was dismissed in the hopes that he would support the president’s political agenda. I mean, just so you know, nothing like it has ever happened that I’ve ever heard of,” Smith said.

The interview was one of the only public appearances Smith has made since leaving office. NPR reported that Smith delivered a lecture at George Mason University in September in which he warned that the rule of law "is under attack like in no other period in our lifetimes." (NBC News)

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Prominent Journalist to Open Bookstore, Bar in Former Macon Hardware Digs

Pulitzer-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones is teaming up with local entrepreneurs to create a literary salon in the landmarked Bed Stuy building.

The building undergoing renovation in September. Photo by Susan De Vries.

In a major development for Bed Stuy’s literary community, prominent journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones is partnering with well-known local entrepreneurs to open a literary salon and bar in the former home of iconic Macon Hardware, located at the corner of Macon Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard.

Before closing in 2023, Macon Hardware had a long history as one of Bed Stuy’s longest standing Black-owned businesses — and longest-standing businesses in general. The building will continue its legacy housing a business in service to the community, and Hannah-Jones said she was honored to keep it Black owned.

Nikole Hannah-Jones. Photo by Regina Fleming.

The building at 339 Macon Street in September. Photo by Susan De Vries.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, perhaps best known for The 1619 Project, along with business partners Rotimi and Ayo Akinnuoye, the team behind Bed Stuy’s beloved Bed-Vyne businesses, and DJ Johnson, owner of New Orleans bookstore and cafe Baldwin & Co., are preparing to open The North Star Books + Bar in the space at 339 Macon Street.

Hannah-Jones, a professor at Howard University and co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting who has worked as a staff reporter for The Oregonian, ProPublica, and The New York Times, where she is currently a correspondent, told Brownstoner that, in addition to being a bookstore, bar, and cafe, The North Star Books + Bar will serve as a literary salon designed to be “a draw for great Black writers and creators from across the globe.”

“I’m very plugged into the writer community, I’m friends with a lot of great writers, and wanted to be able to bring those writers into our community,” she said. “Whenever you have big book events in the city, they’re not at Black bookstores and they’re not in Black neighborhoods, so I really wanted to bring that to Bed Stuy. People should expect all of their writing heroes.”

Catherine Solomon and Warren Hayes, who ran Macon Hardware after Clara Hayes’ passing, in 2023. Photo by Anna Bradley-Smith.

Peter Hayes pictured with the store’s original owner, Samuel Pelner. An insert of Clara Hayes is in the bottom left corner. Photo by Anna Bradley-Smith.

The two-story brick corner building at 339 Macon Street, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, has apartments on the second floor that Hannah-Jones said will be used for micro-residencies, offering visiting writers a place to stay and engage in community work.

On top of author talks and performances, the space will host other community programming, including writing workshops and book clubs. “I really, really want it to be a space, especially in these times, where creative folks can come together and exchange knowledge, ideas, literature, art,” she said.

The design of the space, now undergoing a gut renovation, is inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and its literary salons, with an Art Deco aesthetic, Hannah-Jones said. “The space will pay tribute to Black writers of all eras and of all forms.”

The side of the building on Marcus Garvey Boulevard. Photo by Susan De Vries.

Photo by Susan De Vries.

A Bed Stuy resident for nearly 15 years, Hannah-Jones has been hosting reading events in her home and planning a public space with her partners for five years. When a previous lease fell through at the last minute, she decided, if possible, she wanted to own the building they would be opening in.

After searching for some time, she saw a social media post showing 339 Macon Street was for sale and, on driving by, thought it seemed perfect. Hannah-Jones said she made her case to owner Warren Hayes, as a longstanding Bed Stuy resident heavily invested in the community, on why he should sell it to her.

“Mr. Hayes was very happy to be able to sell it to someone who is in the community and cares about the community and will create a great community space,” she said, adding, “I’m very much aware of the history, and very much honored to keep the building Black owned, frankly.”

Macon Hardware, open since at least 1930, had been operated by the Hayes family since 1987, when it was purchased by husband and wife Peter and Clara Hayes. The couple had a long and deep connection to the store prior to the purchase: Peter, who grew up in the neighborhood, began working there at 12 years old.

Clara took over its running when Peter passed, but following Clara’s death in 2022, there was no one left in the family to continue running the store, which had become a community hub. In 2023, her son Warren Hayes told Brownstoner he had made the difficult decision to put the building up for sale.

City records show North Carolina nonprofit Self-Help Venture Fund, which lends to other nonprofits, purchased the building in February 2024 for $2.6 million. (It’s a bridge loan and Hannah-Jones is the owner of the building, she said.)

The building in January 2023. Photo by Anna Bradley-Smith.

The building in January 2023. Photo by Anna Bradley-

Alongside its literary focus, the space will feature a bar and cafe, both run in house. The team is building out a full kitchen and consulting with chefs on the menu, but Hannah-Jones said that when they open, which she hopes will be at the start of the new year, they’ll begin small.

“We’re not going to have a huge menu. It’s hard enough to make money on books, but we will have the capability to offer a full menu whenever we’re ready,” she said.

The North Star Books + Bar is in good company in terms of independent bookstores in Bed Stuy. In recent years, bookstore openings in the neighborhood have included Dear Friends Books and The Word Is Change, both on Tompkins Avenue. In September, a Black-owned bookstore and wine bar for Black lesbians, Gladys Books & Wine, opened in the old Brookland Capital spot on Malcolm X Boulevard. Back in 2010, Black-owned bookstore Brownstone Books closed its doors on Lewis Avenue after a 10-year run in the neighborhood. (Brownstoner)

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