Tech Field

 

The inroads and upward mobility for Blacks in the tech industry remain a challenge, and in some cases, doors are being shut completely. Recently, Google agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by Black workers. But the big tech company admits to no wrongdoing.

After over three years of contested litigation, lead plaintiff April Curley and fellow plaintiffs filed for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, seeking non-monetary relief in addition to the $50 million for approximately 4,000 current and former Black employees in California and New York, according to court documents.

The settlement establishes a fund of $50 million to compensate members of the class-action lawsuit, and provide for any court-approved attorneys’ fees, costs, and service awards and all costs of administering the settlement, pending a federal judge’s approval of the motion for preliminary approval of the settlement filed by the plaintiffs.

Ms. Curley and other Black workers filed suit alleging that: “Plaintiffs have been harmed by Google’s racially hostile work environment and company-wide discriminatory practices.

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Due to its abysmal representation of Black professionals since its founding and growing public awareness of its lack of commitment to genuine diversity and inclusion,

Google hired Plaintiff Curley in 2014 to expand its outreach to Black college students,” alleges the initial complaint filed on March 18, 2022. It was amended on September 15, 2022, and again on July 26, 2024, according to court records.

The barriers Black professionals face in the industry while trying to gain experience and success in the majority-White tech industry are further proof that unifying, pooling resources and doing for self as taught and exemplified by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam and taught by His National Representative the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is necessary.

“We must remember that we just cannot depend on the White race ever to do that which we can and should do for self,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote in “Message to the Blackman in America,” in the chapter, “A Program For Self-Development.”

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad used the biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man to explain that Black people cannot be charmed by the wealth and luxury of White people and continue to beg them for jobs, particularly as we are continually mistreated.

The allegations in the Google lawsuit point to this mistreatment.

According to plaintiffs in the Google lawsuit, civil rights and personal injury attorneys, along with Stowell & Friedman, Ltd. lawyers, in a press release, alleged that Google’s pattern of discriminatory practices included:

• In 2014, Google only had one Black top-level executive out of 25. Over the next two years, Google added five White top-level executives but zero Black executives.

• In 2014, when Plaintiff April Curley was hired, Google employed over 32,000 employees, of whom only 628, or 1.9%, were Black.

• By 2021, after public scrutiny for its lack of diversity, Google’s workforce inched up to 4.4% Black, compared to an average of 9.1% within Google’s industry classification, according to 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

• In 2021, Google’s leadership ranks were only 3% Black and its prestigious tech workforce was only 2.9% Black.

• Google assigns Black employees to lower levels than their experience and responsibilities warrant and pays Black employees less for performing the same level of work as non-Black employees.

• Google segregates its workforce and workplaces, which are permeated by a racially hostile work environment. Black professionals and visitors at Google’s main California campus headquarters and other locations are routinely harassed and targeted based on their race, often being questioned by security or asked to show identification.

Some Black tech professionals acknowledge that Black people should pool their resources, as taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and create their own self-employable tech corporations.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, like his Teacher, has called Black people to unify and has challenged Black America to harness their purchasing power and support Black businesses.

“So, I want you all to think about what must be done,” stated Minister Farrakhan, during Part 7 of his 2013, 58-week lecture series “The Time and What Must Be Done.”

“To Black people: We must pool our resources. On February 24, 2013, at our annual Saviours’ Day Convention, the subject was ‘The Economic Blueprint of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to Fight Against Poverty and Want.’ You need to know what we must do to prepare a ‘future’ for ourselves.

Whether it’s here or elsewhere, we have to ‘get busy’ and get up from a ‘begging’ position. And if you doubt and fear this, thinking, ‘We can’t leave White America! I mean, that’s not intelligent,” Minister Farrakhan continued.

Timothy Muhammad, CEO of a Chicago-based technology company, highlighted the challenges faced by Blacks in tech and emphasized the importance of self-reliance. His staff manages clients’ networks, systems, provides phone systems, carrier systems and offers cybersecurity services.

“As a people, we need to take some time and really study the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as it pertains to doing for self. When you do for self, the key word is ‘self.’ You look to see what the self needs, and then you go about providing a service to fulfill the needs of the self, your own people,” he stated.

“Far too often, we’re not looking at the needs of our people. We’re going to school to be educated, and then once we get educated, we’re running around, yet again, begging for a job from other people.

Who then racially discriminate against us, and then 15-20 years later, … they settle for a measly $50 million spread among 4,000 people. We have to begin to do something for ourselves,” Timothy Muhammad told The Final Call.

According to The Black Tech Effect report, which measured the social impact of high-growth, Black-led tech companies worldwide, traditional analysis platforms have overlooked Black tech founders for decades, resulting in a false narrative about the progression of Black-led tech companies due to flawed analysis.

The report, authored by The Plug (which covers Black start-ups) and Omidyar Network (a philanthropic investment firm founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam), features a hundred high-growth companies and founders from various industries, including fintech, healthcare, HR, and others. 

It revealed that companies prioritizing social impact were excelling faster than those traditionally seen as market leaders. Nearly one-third of the companies featured in the report were founded or led by Black women.

Further, the report found that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are responsible for more than 20% of Black American graduates. “Despite making up just three percent of America’s colleges and universities, HBCUs are accountable for nearly 18% of Black STEM bachelor’s degrees,” the report found.

Black people need to understand technology, and at the ground level is where it must be figured out, according to Timothy Muhammad. Business to business, person to person, who is the customer, what are they looking for, then focus on that, he stated.

“There’s so much room in our community to be able to serve us, but you have to focus on us. You can’t focus on the tech companies. They’re national, international. They’re not just serving Black people, and Black people are benign and neglected in that process,” he argued.

“They don’t make phones for you. They make phones for themselves and other respected nations and nationalities, and then you jump on the bandwagon and you’re a part of the afterthought. You just come along for the ride. So, there is no tech specific for you, except exploitation,” he stated.

The Los Angeles chapter of Blacks in Technology (BiT) believes it is critical to elevate the voices of Black professionals in tech and to hold major companies accountable when systemic inequities persist. Though Google denies any wrongdoing, the settlement underscores the deep-rooted and ongoing pattern of bias that Black employees have long experienced in the technology sector.

“We recognize the settlement as a hard-fought acknowledgment of harm, but not yet justice. The lawsuit, led by April Curley, reflects what many Black professionals have endured across the industry: being funneled into lower-tier roles, denied advancement, underpaid, labeled unfairly, and dismissed when they speak out.

Curley’s experience and those of the more than 4,000 Black employees covered in the settlement are not isolated incidents; they represent a pattern of exclusion that has persisted in Silicon Valley and beyond,” stated Omari Bakari, president, BiT Los Angeles chapter.

Despite the financial settlement, Google’s denial of wrongdoing is deeply concerning, he continued, citing data about Black representation, as illustrated in the complaint. It is a stark reminder of the systemic barriers that have limited Black advancement in the tech industry, he said.

“This is not about one company—it’s about a culture,” he said. “The Google settlement follows a pattern of racial bias settlements in the tech industry, including the $28 million settlement earlier this year where Google allegedly favored White and Asian employees in pay and promotions. These outcomes demonstrate a systemic failure to support, value, and retain Black talent,” Mr. Bakari added.

It is the responsibility of Black people to overcome any disagreements and distrust we may have with one another and to work together for our collective progress.

“It is we, the Black man and woman, who are disunified and distrustful of self; with discord and conflict rampant within all our Black organizations.  We allow envy and jealousy to dominate our relationships with one another.  

We criticize and condemn everything ‘Black-owned’ and ‘Black-operated.’ It is we who refuse to patronize our own.  We refuse to pool our resources to address our own needs. 

And, it is we who have failed to truly analyze and follow the successful models and strategic examples that other ethnic and religious groups have followed to benefit their own people,” Minister Farrakhan explained in “The Time and What Must Be Done,” part 31.

“We are the only members of the human race that deliberately walk past the place of business of one of our own kind, and spend our dollars with our enemies!  So, before we can achieve ‘success,’ we must confront and overcome these self-destructive behaviors—these are the things that we are going to have to do!” Minister Farrakhan said.

Travel Ban

 President Donald Trump’s new proclamation fully suspending the citizens of 12 countries from traveling to the United States and limiting travel from citizens of 7 countries went into effect on June 9.

The proclamation, dated June 4, cited reported concerns related to countries lacking proper issuance of passports or documents, inadequate screening and vetting measures, high visa overstaying rates, countries historically refusing to take back their citizens, and, for a very few countries, terrorism.

Fully suspended countries include Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar (recognized by the U.S. government as Burma), Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partially suspended countries include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Amnesty International described the travel ban as “discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel.” 

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“By targeting people based on their nationality, this ban only spreads disinformation and hate,” the organization posted on X.

“The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans,” Diosdado Cabello Rondón, Venezuela’s Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, said during a weekly show on state television, according to NBC News. He described the U.S. government as “fascist” and added that the government persecutes Venezuelans for no reason.

The African Union Commission issued a statement expressing concerns “about the potential negative impact of such measures on people-to-people ties, educational exchange, commercial engagement, and the broader diplomatic relations that have been carefully nurtured over decades.” 

The commission called “upon the U.S. Administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned.”

Monthly Muslim Refugee Admissions for Each Month of 2017 and Average for 2016 from The Cato Institute. Source: U.S. Department of State *Monthly average, **Through December 11, 2017

Oxfam, an international human rights organization, condemned the travel ban and restrictions.

“A new travel ban marks a chilling return to policies of fear, discrimination, and division. By once again targeting individuals from Muslim-majority countries, countries with predominantly Black and Brown populations.

And countries in the midst of conflict and political instability, this executive order deepens inequality and perpetuates harmful stereotypes, racist tropes, and religious intolerance,” Abby Maxman, Oxfam America’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

“This policy is not about national security—it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,” she added.

“This latest travel ban would deny entry to individuals and families fleeing war, persecution, and oppression, forcing them to remain in dangerous conditions. It will prevent family reunifications and America’s historical legacy as a welcoming nation will be further eroded.”

Eight of the 19 banned and restricted countries are predominantly Muslim, including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Sierra Leone and Turkmenistan. Half the population of Chad and Eritrea is Muslim.

Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen were also among PresidentTrump’s previous executive order during his first term in January 2017, which banned travel to 7 predominantly Muslim countries. The other two countries were Iraq and Syria.

“It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young presidency. Travelers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights to the U.S. or detained at U.S. airports after they landed. They included students and faculty, as well as business people, tourists and people visiting friends and family,” the Associated press reported. 

Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, a global Christian humanitarian organization, described the ban and restrictions as “the latest assault on legal immigration processes.”

“It’s always been difficult for most individuals in many of these countries to obtain visas, but this blunt order restricts the entry even of those who meet strict qualifications and undergo thorough vetting,” he said in a statement.

“We urge the administration to reconsider these restrictions and to pursue policies that scrutinize individuals in the interest of ensuring security without banning entire nationalities from lawfully visiting or emigrating to the United States.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) labeled the travel ban “discriminatory” and also issued a statement.

“This senseless, prejudicial policy is an abuse of power that also threatens U.S. citizen relatives from the targeted countries. We cannot allow this Administration to continue scapegoating individuals based on religion or nationality,” he said.

Some exemptions from the travel ban and restrictions include lawful U.S. residents, U.S. citizens who have dual citizenship, foreign national employees of the U.S. government who meet certain qualifications, foreign nationals who meet specific criteria, athletes of international and major sporting events, individuals who apply for visas in connection to U.S. family members and children adopted by U.S. citizens.

Samia Suluhu

 

Samia Suluhu Hassan—a woman many knew merely as Magufuli’s unassuming vice president, always standing quietly at his side, taking notes, offering a gentle nod. Now, she had inherited the highest office.

Suluhu has begun, quite unexpectedly, to rule with an iron fist. Not the gentle, consensus-building hand many had assumed would come with a woman in power, but something far firmer—something that rattled the mahogany podiums of Dodoma.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, once celebrated as the embodiment of a new era for Tanzanian politics, has quietly drifted into authoritarianism. It is as though a switch has been thrown in the soft-spoken corridors of power—one that many Tanzanians and observers alike scarcely saw coming.

A handout photo shows supporters of newly elected President of Tanzania John Pombe Magufuli (unseen) attending his inauguration ceremony at the Uhuru Stadium, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 05 November 2015. Photo: Albi Arhó

For a generation raised on the notion that female leaders would be more compassionate, more collaborative, Suluhu’s recent turn toward heavy-handed tactics feels like a betrayal of hope itself. When she ascended to the presidency in March 2021, it came with a sense of possibility, hope and even jubilation among many Tanzanians.

She was the first woman ever—and the first Zanzibari—to hold the office, and the assumptions were predictable: surely a woman, many argued, would bring a form of leadership seasoned with empathy.

Throughout the world, from Jacinda Ardern’s deft handling of crisis in New Zealand to Angela Merkel’s quiet, steely resolve in Germany, female heads of state had carved out images of temperate strength—authoritative yet measured, firm yet kind. Suluhu, with her soft voice and disarming smile, seemed cut from that same cloth.

Early on, she spoke of “reconciliation” and “rebuilding,” signalling a departure from her predecessor’s combative, even brash, style. But in the shadow of those initial olive branches lay a political calculus that would soon reveal its sharp talons. Many greeted her ascension as a breath of fresh air. And indeed, at first, she offered glimpses of exactly that: she kissed the boots of civil society groups, reopened shuttered media outlets, and invited opposition leaders to her office—even former rivals such as Tundu Lissu, who, in private, recalled her warmth and jocularity during their meetings.

In those early months, it felt as though Tanzania might pivot toward a more open democracy. Suluhu unveiled what came to be known as the “Four Rs”: Reconciliation, Resilience, Reforms, and Rebuilding. True to the first “R,” she dispensed with the broomed-under-the-carpet brand of politics her predecessor had championed, lifting bans on newspapers and easing social restrictions. “We must listen to each other,” she preached, “even when we disagree.” There were subtle smiles, even subtle jokes—she once quipped in public that she hoped microphones wouldn’t betray her “Swahili proverbs” about unity, as though the old radio mics might blurt out Nogadawa (an often slippery Zanzibari colloquialism).

But the promise of a kinder, gentler era, it turned out, was ephemeral.

To understand how a woman who spoke of unity and a new inclusive politics could morph into an uncompromising leader, one must first see the world she emerged from.

Zanzibar

Zanzibar is a small patch of paradise in the Indian Ocean, where coral reefs kiss sugar-white sand and the spice-scented wind drifts daily from ancient plantations inland. Samia was born into a modest family in the mid-1960s, just a few years after the 1964 revolution that merged Zanzibar with Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanzania.

She grew up alongside her siblings in a narrow, ochre-hued alley in Makunduchi, at the southern tip of Unguja Island. The houses, with their corrugated tin roofs, jostled for space between clove trees and the occasional coconut grove. Each dawn, the call to prayer from the minaret of the nearby mosque would mingle with the cries of street vendors hawking roasted yams.

Her parents, like most in Makunduchi, had roots in fishing and small-scale agriculture—her father was said to have once been a sailor who worked the shallow reef waters, delivering charcoal and coconuts to dhows bound for mainland markets.

Her mother, a homemaker with a laugh like the tinkle of glass beads, took in tailoring orders, hemming sarongs and resewing tattered shirts late into the night. From them, Samia absorbed the rhythms of hard work and community reliance. She would accompany her mother to the town’s modest bazaar, where Indian spice merchants and Omani shopkeepers haggled over sacks of turmeric and cinnamon.

Suluhu, even then, displayed a kind of quiet confidence—listening more than speaking, observing more than interjecting.

School was a mix of rigorous Islamic instruction at the madrasah and public schooling funded by the fledgling Tanzanian government. She excelled in economics, which some of her teachers attributed to the sharp business acumen she displayed when, at twelve, she set up a makeshift roadside stall selling slices of mango in peak season.

She’d learned from her mother the art of profit margins—buy cheaply from the farmer, sell just high enough to make a little gain without alienating her friends who scrambled for the fruit. Stories from old neighbours suggest that when she was fourteen, she once negotiated with a trader from Stone Town to exchange a heavy sack of coconuts for a school uniform. Those around her saw in Samia a budding negotiator, one who balanced firmness with a welcoming smile. She was the ocean greeting the beach.

Her tertiary education took her to the mainland—first to the Open University of Tanzania and later abroad to the University of Manchester, where she completed a postgraduate diploma in economics.

That spirit of curiosity and a touch of worldliness must have set her apart when she entered Zanzibar’s House of Representatives in 2000. As Minister of Labour, then in subsequent portfolios, her star continued to rise. She built a reputation for meticulousness: files colour-coded, reports footnoted, budgets cross-checked.

When Magufuli chose her as his running mate in 2015, it was partly to balance the ticket—Zanzibari inclusion, gender diversity, and some measure of technocratic credibility. Together, they stormed to victory, buoyed by Magufuli’s promise to eradicate corruption and inject “Hapa Kazi tu!”

Work, nothing else!

Suluhu became the first female Vice President of Tanzania, and with that title came the expectation that she would temper her boss’s rough edges. Indeed, during state events, she often stood quietly behind him, making notes, nodding, but rarely interjecting—like a chess grandmaster calculating moves from behind the board.

File photo: Tanzanian President John Magufuli joins a clean-up event outside the State House in Dar es Salaam on December 9, 2015. Photo: Arhó Albi

Yet, in March 2021, the unexpected happened: President Magufuli died, and Samia was suddenly vaulted into the presidency. The nation held its breath. Would she continue Magufuli’s legacy of muscular state control, or would she carve out a new path of openness?

Initially, she did the latter. She reopened independent newspapers, invited foreign epidemiologists back to Dar es Salaam, and re-joined the COVAX program to procure vaccines. Instead of dismissing COVID-19 as a “Western plot,” she rolled up her sleeve and got vaccinated publicly, even encouraging Tanzanians to do the same.

Suluhu was a marionette dancing free of its strings for the first time, delightfully.

And yet, Suluhu’s political instincts were forged in the crucible of CCM, a party that has prided itself on unity and unwavering dominance since Tanganyika’s independence in 1961. Beneath the outward humility, Suluhu was no pushover. She moved quickly to consolidate her base, building alliances with key regional and party elites.

Those who murmured criticisms of her initial media détente soon found themselves reassigned, if not altogether sidelined. By the end of 2022, whispers within the CCM suggested that Samia had grown uncomfortable with the thickening air of liberalization. What began as a genuine musing on inclusivity slowly metastasized into a conviction that dissent was dangerous—too messy, too unpredictable. It was then that the subtle shift became visible. Opposition rallies that had been permitted in early 2023 started triggering police roadblocks. Prominent figures in CHADEMA, the leading opposition party, found themselves hauled before courts on nebulous charges of “inciting public disorder.” 

In villages across the Great Lakes region, youth organizers reported that meetings about land rights or election fairness were abruptly shuttered; activists went underground or to exile. High-profile lawyers who took up election petitions discovered their phones tapped, their offices visited by plainclothes officers. Even journalists who had returned from exile sensed a tightening noose. One veteran editor joked, though with more bitterness than humour, that his blinking “live” sign in the newsroom now felt like a crosshair.

It’s here, in the murky space between Ella Baker’s grassroots organizing and Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa (familyhood) ideal, that Suluhu’s presidency took on a decidedly authoritarian tinge. The country that had once celebrated a woman’s ascendancy to its highest office now watched as that same woman deployed the levers of state to dampen opposition.

It was a dramatic reversal, and yet not entirely unprecedented among female leaders. Though many point to Jacinda Ardern’s empathy or Angela Merkel’s consensus-driven style as templates, history offers examples of women who embraced—and wielded—power in harsh ways. Consider Indira Gandhi, whose 1975–77 Emergency in India saw censorship, imprisonment of political opponents, and a suspension of democracy. Or Spain’s Victoria Eugenie, arguably less directly, but who nonetheless staggered towards the end of monarchy with ruthless political gamesmanship. Even Cleopatra, in her ornate palaces along the Nile, was known to be both beguiling and ruthless, brokering assassinations to secure her throne.

None of this is to suggest that Suluhu intended initially to be a dictator. Rather, power has a way of bending principles to pragmatism. Once the machinery of CCM consolidated behind her, and the cost of dissent rose—imagine that clattering policeman’s baton meeting your abrazo of a gentle explanatory speech—she may have concluded that control was the only reliable currency.

That, of course, has disappointed many who believed women might break the cycle. There is a certain irony: for decades, feminists around the world have championed increased female participation in politics precisely because they assumed women would infuse governance with empathy, compassion and cooperation. But the example of President Suluhu reveals a discomfiting truth: gender alone does not inoculate one from the temptation of absolute power.

For everyday Tanzanians, the transformation in their leader cuts deep. They had hoped that a woman, reared amidst the reverberation of muezzin calls and guided by the gentle hands of “Mama”, her mother, would bring a kinder touch. Instead, some now wonder if she has simply learned, after all these years, that the promise of softness makes for easy opportunity to tighten one’s grip.

What of Suluhu’s own narrative? Some say she was never “soft” at all—only strategic, cultivated to be agreeable so as to survive in the unforgiving game of CCM politics. Others recall how, as Vice President, she quietly manoeuvred behind the scenes, shepherding budgets and personnel shifts without fanfare.

Perhaps that is the paradox of power: a woman who grew up listening to the evening call to prayer, her hands stained with the red dust of tobacco fields, who walked the alleys of Stone Town as a young legislator, was just as susceptible to the intoxicating current of authority as any man, and now has hands stained with the red blood of her compatriots.

In Suluhu’s rise and subsequent consolidation, one sees not only the imprint of her own personality but also the enduring strength of a political structure that prizes unity and control above all. It is a cautionary tale of how, even when a break in the glass ceiling is achieved—shards of hope glinting in the sunlight—the underlying machinery of control can pull a leader back into conformity.

STOP the Sexual Assault Against Humanitarian and Development Aid Workers

 

This report contributes to understanding, preventing, and responding to sexual assault against aid workers.

It presents findings on:

• who the survivors of sexual harassment and assault are
• who the perpetrators are
• the conditions that enable and inhibit this violence
• agencies’ responses, from training through medical and emotional care for survivors

It provides detailed recommendations to assist agencies in preventing and responding to sexual harassment and assault against aid workers.

Our findings are drawn from a review and analysis of 78 articles and reports, 24 security-training materials, 2,423 survey respondents from Humanitarian Women’s Network and Report the Abuse studies, 57 testimonies from women and men who are survivors of sexual harassment and assault, and 30 in-depth interviews.

Riviera

 

Cohiba tells BourbonBlog.com that they are releasing of the Riviera Toro Tubo, a new addition to the critically acclaimed Riviera line.

The cigar maintains the blend’s signature box-pressed construction and features a square aluminum tubo. First introduced in 2023, Cohiba Riviera made its event premiere at the 2023 Smokes & Sips Derby Soirée — cohosted by BourbonBlog.com’s Tom Fischer, Cohiba’s Sean Williams, and Jason Brauner. It marked a departure for the brand, featuring a San Andrés wrapper and a box-pressed format — both firsts for Cohiba.

Since launch, Riviera has received multiple accolades across all four of its available vitolas.

The Riviera blend is handcrafted in Nicaragua and features a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran Connecticut binder, and a four-leaf filler from Honduras’ Jamastran and La Entrada regions and Nicaragua’s Condega and Estelí. Medium to full-bodied in strength, Riviera is marked by its complexity, balance and nuance.

Pricing and Release Date

The Riviera Toro Tubo is a full-time addition to the line and is offered in a 6 ½ x 52 box-pressed Toro vitola. Each cigar is packaged in a box of 10 with an MSRP of $24.99 per cigar. Shipments begin to authorized Cohiba retailers in May 1st, 2025.

“Riviera has been one of the most talked-about blends in the Cohiba portfolio,”  Cohiba Brand Ambassador Sean Williams tells us. “The response from both critics and fans has been incredible. A tubo offering for this blend is something we’ve been asked about since launch, and we’re excited to finally deliver it.”

The Riviera lineup now includes the following front marks:

Lancero Box-Pressed (7 x 38)

Toro Box-Pressed (6 ½ x 52)

Toro Box-Pressed Tubo (6 ½ x 52)

Perfecto Box-Pressed (6 x 60)

Robusto Box-Pressed (5 x 52

Riviera is handcrafted at Scandinavian Tobacco Group Estelí, S.A.

Rev. Barber

 As the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" made its way to the U.S. Senate Monday, with lawmakers preparing to consider cuts to Medicaid and food assistance and an extension of tax cuts for the rich, one of the nation's top anti-poverty campaigners warned that the proposed budget "is not just bad policy, it is sin."

Rev. William J. Barber II led a "Moral Monday" rally and march through Washington, D.C. to the U.S. Capitol, where he and other advocates spoke out against the proposal that was narrowly passed by the House last month and would "rob the poor, starve children, and deny care to the sick in order to line the pockets of the wealthy."

"We will not stand by while it preys on the most vulnerable," said Barber.

Along with the Institute for Policy Studies and the Economic Policy Institute, Barber's organization, Repairers of the Breach, re-released an earlier report Monday on the proposed budget with additional information about communities that would be impacted if the budget is passed into law.

The budget, said Repairers of the Breach, would result in:

• A loss of health insurance for an estimated 8.6 million Medicaid enrollees, due to new work requirements that would penalize the minority of beneficiaries who don't work—those who attend school, care for family members, or have a disability;
• A loss of coverage for an additional 4 million people whose tax credits would expire;
• The end of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for 11 million people who would be subject to work requirements or whose states would be forced to cut back on aid;
• The loss of the child tax credit for 4.5 million children whose parents don't have Social Security numbers; and
• More than $100 billion for border wall construction, new immigration detention centers, and new investments in community arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

At the rally, Barber spoke about how members of the House voted for a budget that could directly harm hundreds of thousands of their constituents.

"They don't want us to talk about the fact that the largest portion of Medicaid enrollees are families with incomes below $40,000," said Barber. "These are working poor people... In West Virginia for instance, 28% of the entire population is covered by Medicaid. Over 500,000 [people]. And yet every Republican from West Virginia voted to cut. In Ohio, 26% of the people are covered by Medicaid. That's where [Vice President JD] Vance is from... We're talking about children and pregnant women, and adults and people with disabilities."

Repairers of the Breach said it would send delegations into the Senate office buildings to hand senators a petition calling on them to oppose the "immoral cuts" in the proposed budget.

Republicans in the Senate can only afford to lose three votes. Lawmakers including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have suggested major changes will need to be made to the House-passed bill in order for it to be approved—with the senators expressing concern more for the federal deficit than the well-being of millions of Americans who would lose healthcare and food assistance.

"I think there are four of us at this point, and I would be very surprised if the bill at least is not modified in a good direction," Paul told CBS News on Sunday.

Barber told rally-goers on Monday: "We have to stop believing when they say something's over."

"It ain't over until it's over," he said, "and it's not over until all of us have spoken."

Banana Giant

 

The U.S.-headquartered banana giant Chiquita said Thursday that it moved to fire thousands of Panamanian workers who walked off the job last month as part of nationwide protests against the right-wing government's unpopular reforms to the nation's pension system.

Citing an unnamed source close to Chiquita, Reutersreported that the mass firings are expected to impact around 5,000 of the company's 6,500 Panamanian workers. José Raúl Mulino, Panama's right-wing president, defended the banana giant formerly known as United Fruit, accusing striking workers of unlawful "intransigence."

The company estimates that the strike, which began in late April, has cost it at least $75 million.

The pension reforms, known as Law 462, sparked outrage across Panama, with unions and other groups warning the changes would result in cuts to retirement benefits, particularly in the future for younger workers. The law transitions the country's pension system to an individual account structure that opponents say will be far less reliable than its predecessor.

"With the previous legislation, we could retire on 60% to 70% of our salary. Now, with the new formula, that amount drops to just 30% to 35%," said Diógenes Sánchez of Panama's main teachers' union. "It's a starvation pension."

The Associated Pressnoted Thursday that in recent weeks, "marches and occasional roadblocks have stretched from one end of the country to the other as teachers, construction workers, and other unions expressed their rejection of changes the government said were necessary to keep the social security system solvent."

The Hague

 Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded proudly Wednesday to reports that the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was considering arrest warrants against him and fellow extremist minister Bezalel Smotrich over their roles in expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Ben-Gvir, who has openly fought efforts to deliver aid to starving Palestinians and worked to prevent progress toward a durable cease-fire, wrote in a social media post that "when The Hague is against me, I know I'm on the right path"—suggesting he would view an arrest warrant from the ICC as a badge of honor.

"I have one clear message to the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague," he wrote. "No arrest warrant of any kind will deter me from continuing to work for the people of Israel and the Land of Israel. The prosecutor in The Hague does not scare me."

The Israeli minister's post came after The Wall Street Journalreported that ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan "was preparing to seek arrest warrants for two far-right Israeli cabinet members before he went on leave as the United Nations investigates sexual-assault allegations against him."

The Journal noted that the cases center on Ben-Gvir and Smotrich's "roles in expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank." Both ministers live in West Bank settlements, which have expanded significantly since Israel began its full-scale assault on the Gaza Strip following the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.

"A decision on whether to pursue the cases falls to Khan's two deputies, and it is unclear how they plan to proceed," the Journal reported. "ICC prosecutors have been weighing whether Smotrich and Ben-Gvir committed war crimes by pushing construction of West Bank Jewish settlements."

Late last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing the pair of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Khan decided to take leave earlier this month amid the U.N. probe of sexual assault allegations made by one of his aides. Khan has denied the accusations, which have thrown the ICC into chaos at a pivotal moment.

Journalist Alice Speri reported for Drop Site earlier this month that "the woman's accusations were far more serious than what has been revealed so far, and include what she described to colleagues as monthslong grooming, psychological coercion, and sexual advances, which eventually escalated into 'unwanted' and 'coerced' sex that lasted nearly a year and continued even after she told Khan that his conduct had left her suicidal."

Khan's alleged conduct and the resulting blowback risks compromising the ICC's work to hold Israeli officials to account for war crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories, advocates and court officials fear.

Speri reported that "many at the court, including the alleged victim... understood the abuse allegations were political dynamite and 'a gift for Israel,' as one person put it, and they worried about how they may be used to discredit the ICC, and particularly delegitimize the case against Netanyahu, which many believed was warranted and crucial."

Guarding Against The Enemy Within

 When the enemy is close, like your family, sometimes you don’t know how to fight. The first dysfunctional family started with the rebellion of Adam and Eve. Then we had two children, one becoming the enemy of the other due to envy. Any one of you that have accomplished anything in life, or are beautiful or attractive or talented, you know what it means to have people envy you for some gift that you have, and then hate you for your gift and then seek to destroy you because of your gift. Joseph had brothers who hated him because the father gave Joseph a coat of many colors; and because the son had a vision that the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed to him, and the corn stalk of his brothers bowed, which meant that they would one day bow to him. Joseph’s father told him not to tell of his vision. But Joseph was so excited over what he saw that he told it, and telling it inspired envy; envy inspired hatred; hatred inspired murder. The brothers decided to put Joseph in a pit after one of the brothers persuaded the others not to kill Joseph.

Judas was a different type of character. He came out from the table of his Master. He knew that Jesus was a good man. He had benefited from the goodness of Jesus. Judas was a real revolutionary, and when he heard the preaching of Jesus, he knew that Jesus was a true revolutionary and was attracted to Jesus. But when Jesus began showing not the militant side that he felt Jesus was going to lead him to, he felt that Jesus had betrayed him and betrayed the revolution, and that led Judas to betray his Master.

Judas sat with his Master and they ate together, but Jesus knew what his student was going to do. After supper, Jesus said, “I have chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil.” Here is an exalted assembly of men following a man that the world had been looking for, but Jesus disappointed Judas. And in that disappointment Judas felt ease in betraying Jesus to the Pharisees and to those who killed him. It seemed as though Jesus didn’t guard himself against Judas, but he knew that Judas was the means of the glorification of God and the glorification of Jesus, because it could not happen until he was betrayed. No matter how bitter the cup was, Jesus had to drink from that cup.

A Good Man

 Lawmakers and green groups on Monday sounded the alarm on the energy and environmental provisions in the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's section of a Republican-backed tax and spending megabill, which is slated to be marked up in a committee meeting on Tuesday.

Critics are warning the proposal will harm regular Americans by seeking savings through a take back of funds from various programs in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the signature climate legislation signed into law under former U.S. President Joe Biden, and includes "giveaways" for oil and gas companies.

Congressional Republicans are pressing ahead with a spending and tax cuts bill that will primarily benefit the wealthy and would be paid for in part through steep cuts to Medicaid, despite widespread opposition. Those cuts were first fleshed out in a House budget blueprint earlier this year and are part of the budget bill from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the text of which was unveiled on Sunday. But Medicaid cuts are not the only aspect of the bill drawing scrutiny.

"Giving giant tax breaks to billionaires while increasing electric bills for American families is wrong. Republicans are sacrificing America's energy dominance while setting up a 'pay to play' scheme for polluters to bribe the Trump Administration to obtain energy permits," said Energy Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) on Monday. "Dismantling our landmark Inflation Reduction Act will kill jobs, hurt businesses, and drive-up Americans' energy costs."

The legislation includes a provision that would allow energy developers to access an expedited permitting review if they pay $10 million or one percent of the anticipated cost of the construction of the project.

Another provision would have companies applying to export or import natural gas pay a nonrefundable $1 million fee and in return have their project "deemed to be in the public interest."

"The idea that corporate polluters can pay a fee to freely pollute our communities is beyond the pale," said Mahyar Sorour, a director of the Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy at the Sierra Club, on Monday.

"While it slashes much-needed support for clean energy and climate resilience, it would allow fossil fuel companies to pay to get their project approved. That's not just wrong, it's un-American," said Alexandra Adams, chief policy advocacy officer at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

According to E&E News, the legislation aims to rescind "the unobligated balance" of IRA funds for multiple Department of Energy programs, such as money meant for the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program.

"Republicans just proposed cutting thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in clean energy funding, and billions of dollars in healthcare funding from their own districts. Why? Because Big Oil and healthcare CEOs told them to. This is not how a democracy should function. This is oligarchy in action," said Sunrise Movement executive director Aru Shiney-Ajay in a statement on Monday.

"Young people fought tooth and nail for the funding now on the chopping block," added Shiney-Ajay, invoking the organizing and activism that went into pressuring lawmakers to pass the IRA.

Republicans are also planning to rescind the unobligated balances from the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, an IRA program that is supposed to support clean energy projects primarily for historically marginalized and low-income communities, per E&E.

What's more, according to E&E, the plan would go after a variety of IRA programs, such as those designed to reduce air pollution at schools and ports and limit emissions from diesel engines. Also it takes aim at the IRA's methane fee, which levies a fee on oil and gas companies who produce too much planet-warming methane.

"House Republicans are bending over backwards to give handouts to big polluters while their constituents pay the price of worse pollution and higher energy bills," said Sorour. "This is a terrible bill for the American people. The House should get their priorities straight and reject this proposal."

Sabbath Queen

 Filmed over 20 years, Sabbath Queen follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's epic journey as the dynastic heir of thirty-nine generations of Orthodox rabbis who rejects his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer father, and the founder of Lab/Shul: an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. Sabbath Queen joins director Sandi DuBowski and his rabbi, Amichai, on a lifelong and cinematic quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion, ritual, and love for a challenging, rapidly changing twenty-first century.