Angela Bassett won entertainer of the year at Saturday’s NAACP Image Awards on a night that also saw her take home an acting trophy for the television series “9-1-1.”

The Bassett-led Marvel superhero sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” won best motion picture at the ceremony, which was broadcast live on BET from Pasadena, California.

Viola Davis won outstanding actress for the action epic “The Woman King,” a project she championed and starred in. Will Smith won for the slavery drama “Emancipation,” his first release since last year’s Academy Awards, where he slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage before winning his first best actor trophy.

“I never want to not be brave enough as a woman, as a Black woman, as an artist,” Davis said, referencing a quote from her character in the film, which she called her magnum opus. “I thank everyone who was involved with ‘The Woman King’ because that was just nothing but high-octane bravery.”

“Abbott Elementary” won for outstanding comedy series. Creator and series star Quinta Brunson invited her costars onstage and praised shows like “black-ish” for paving the way for her series.

The 54 NAACP Image Awards were presented Saturday in Pasadena, California, with Queen Latifah hosting. Serena Williams received the Jackie Robinson Sports award, which recognizes individuals in sports for high achievement in athletics along with their pursuit of social justice, civil rights and community involvement.
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The creator of the Dilbert comic strip faced a backlash of cancellations Saturday while defending remarks describing people who are Black as members of “a hate group” from which white people should “get away.”

Various media publishers across the U.S. denounced the comments by Dilbert creator Scott Adams as racist, hateful and discriminatory while saying they would no longer provide a platform for his work.

Andrews McMeel Syndication, which distributes Dilbert, did not immediately respond Saturday to requests for comment. But Adams defended himself on social media against those who he said “hate me and are canceling me.”

Dilbert is a long-running comic that pokes fun at office-place culture.

The backlash began following an episode this past week of the YouTube show, Real Coffee with Scott Adams. Among other topics, Adams referenced a Rasmussen Reports survey that had asked whether people agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white.”

Most agreed, but Adams noted that 26% of Black respondents disagreed and others weren’t sure.

The Anti-Defamation League says the phrase was popularized in 2017 as a trolling campaign by members of the discussion forum 4chan but then began being used by some white supremacists.

Adams, who is white, repeatedly referred to people who are Black as members of a “hate group” or a “racist hate group” and said he would no longer “help Black Americans.”

“Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people,” Adams said on his Wednesday show.

In another episode of his online show Saturday, Adams said he had been making a point that “everyone should be treated as an individual” without discrimination.

“But you should also avoid any group that doesn’t respect you, even if there are people within the group who are fine,” Adams said.

The Los Angeles Times cited Adams’ “racist comments” while announcing Saturday that Dilbert will be discontinued Monday in most editions and that its final run in the Sunday comics — which are printed in advance — will be March 12.

The San Antonio Express-News, which is part of Hearst Newspapers, said Saturday that it will drop the Dilbert comic strip, effective Monday, “because of hateful and discriminatory public comments by its creator.”

The USA Today Network tweeted Friday that it also will stop publishing Dilbert “due to recent discriminatory comments by its creator.”

The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and other publications that are part of Advance Local media also announced that they are dropping Dilbert.

“This is a decision based on the principles of this news organization and the community we serve,” wrote Chris Quinn, editor of The Plain Dealer. “We are not a home for those who espouse racism. We certainly do not want to provide them with financial support.”

Christopher Kelly, vice president of content for NJ Advance Media, wrote that the news organization believes in “the free and fair exchange of ideas.”

“But when those ideas cross into hate speech, a line must be drawn,” Kelly wrote.
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When Miya Iwataki and other Japanese Americans fought in the 1980s for the U.S. government to apologize to the families it imprisoned during World War II, Black politicians and civil rights leaders were integral to the movement. 

Thirty-five years after they won that apology — and survivors of prison camps received $20,000 each — those advocates are now demanding atonement for Black Americans whose ancestors were enslaved. From California to Washington, D.C., activists are joining revived reparations movements and pushing for formal government compensation for the lasting harm of slavery’s legacy on subsequent generations, from access to housing and education to voting rights and employment. 

Advocating for reparations is “the right thing to do,” said Iwataki, a resident of South Pasadena, California who is in her 70s. She cited cross-cultural solidarity that has built up over decades. 

Black lawmakers such as the late California congressmen Mervyn Dymally and Ron Dellums played critical roles in winning the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which formalized the government’s apology and redress payments. 

Last Sunday marked the 81st anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing an executive order that allowed the government to force an estimated 125,000 people — two-thirds of them U.S. citizens — from their homes and businesses, and incarcerate them in desolate, barbed-wire camps throughout the west. 

“We want to help other communities win reparations, because it was so important to us,” Iwataki said. 

After stalling for decades at the federal level, reparations for slavery has received new interest amid a national reckoning over the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. Amid nationwide protests that year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that established a first-in-the-nation task force to address the topic of slave reparations. 

Other cities and counties have since followed, including Boston, St. Louis, and San Francisco, where an advisory committee issued a draft recommendation last year proposing a lump-sum payment of $5 million apiece for eligible individuals. 

In December, the National Nikkei Reparations Coalition, alongside more than 70 other Japanese American and Asian American organizations, submitted a letter calling on the Biden administration to establish a presidential commission. 

Japanese American activists in California are studying the landmark report issued by California’s task force — and plan to reach out to college students, churches and other community groups to raise awareness about why Black reparations is needed — and how it intersects with their own struggle. 

Reparations critics say that monetary compensation and other forms of atonement are not necessary when no one alive today was enslaved or a slave owner, overlooking the inequities today impacting later generations of Black Americans. 

Retired teacher Kathy Masaoka of Los Angeles, who testified in 1981 for Japanese American redress and in 2021 in favor of federal reparations legislation, says they are just beginning to educate their own community about Black history and anti-Black prejudice. 

She said that starting conversations in her community is “undoing a lot of ideas that people have” about American history and the case for reparations, said Masaoka, 74. 

San Francisco attorney Don Tamaki, who is Japanese, is the only person appointed to California’s nine-member task force who is not Black. 

At meetings, he shared how critical it was for organizers to arrange for former detainees to tell their stories to national media outlets. Redress advocates had to make hard decisions though, such as agreeing to legislation that denied reparations to an estimated 2,000 Latin Americans of Japanese descent who were also incarcerated. 

There is no equivalence to the experiences of the Japanese American and Black American communities, Tamaki said, but there are similar lessons, such as the need for a massive public education campaign. 

Only 30% of U.S. adults surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2021 supported reparations for slavery, 77% of whom were Black Americans. Support among Latinos and Asians was 39% and 33%, respectively, and white Americans had the lowest rate of support, at 18%. 

Some advocates said that the idea of reparations for the World War II incarceration camps was once considered outlandish. But many young, third-generation Japanese Americans were inspired to mobilize from civil rights and ethnic pride movements, including the Black Panther Party and the Brown Berets, who promoted Chicano rights. 

Some advocates were outraged by — and threatened to boycott — hearings set up by a 1980 federal commission on Japanese internment, called it a delaying tactic. But the testimonies that came out of public hearings the following year served as a turning point. 

For the first time, many survivors shared stories that even their families didn’t know, educating not only the younger generation but the broader American public. 

“There was not a dry eye in the house at those hearings,” said Iwataki, who worked with the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations to arrange transportation to the hearings, as well as meals and translators, for former detainees. 

Many young Japanese Americans went from frustration with their grandparents and parents for not fighting back to understanding how vulnerable they were, said Ron Wakabayashi, who was then national director of the Japanese American Citizens League. The average age of second-generation Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in the camps was only 18, he said. 

“Probably the more important thing that we got out of that was the generational healing, and the restoration of our identity,” said Wakabayashi, 78. 

The commission found no military necessity for the camps, saying the detentions stemmed broadly from “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership,” according to a report issued in 1983. 

President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing living survivors with a formal apology and $20,000 each for the “grave injustice” done to them. It would cost the U.S. government about $1.6 billion. 

Throughout the process, activists said, the Congressional Black Caucus remained a steadfast supporter of reparations. Then-Representative Dymally authored a reparations bill in 1982, and later provided his staff and office support so that advocates could lobby other members of Congress. 

Another California congressman, Representative Dellums, delivered a searing speech on the House floor of being a 6-year-old boy watching as his best friend, a Japanese American boy of the same age, was taken away to the camps. 

A year after Reagan signed Japanese reparations into law, the late Congressman John Conyers introduced a bill to consider slavery reparations, named after the promise of 40 acres and a mule that the U.S. initially made to freed slaves. The bill has gone nowhere. 

Dreisen Heath, an advocate for Black reparations, plans to travel from her home in the Washington, D.C. area to California in coming months to join artist and writer traci kato-kiriyama, whose parents were incarcerated as children, in leading workshops and educational forums.

They hope to engage young Japanese American and Black American students in the current movement.

“Nothing ever worthwhile in this country has ever happened without intergenerational, multiracial [coalition] building,” said Heath. “I see the Japanese American community, and by extension the Asian American community, indispensable to realizing reparations for Black people.” 
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The European Union agreed Saturday to impose new sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The EU said in a statement the new sanctions “are directed at military and political decision-makers, companies supporting or working within the Russian military industry, and commanders in the Wagner Group.”

The EU sanctions also prohibit transactions with three more Russian banks and hit Iran, restricting exports by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of drones used in attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

The new measures announced Saturday were adopted after much internal disagreement over their exact makeup and made public one day after the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the intended target date.

In its intelligence update Saturday, the British Defense Ministry said Russia has likely depleted its supply of Iranian one-way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicles or OWA-UAVs.

The ministry said there have not been any reports of the vehicles being used in Ukraine “since around” February 15, while at least 24 were reported downed between late January and early February.

“Scores were destroyed in the first few days of the year,” the ministry said.

Ukrainian and Western officials also have said that Western sanctions are hampering Russia’s ability to replenish its stocks of guided weapons that rely on imported microchips.

Russian official responds

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, responding to that report, said Moscow has increased military production “by tens of times” at some factories and was closely studying weapons fired into Russian-held areas from the Ukrainian side in an effort to gain an advantage.

“We are not just expanding production, but also introducing the latest technologies, perfecting them literally ‘on the march,'” he said in an article published Saturday in the National Defense magazine.

“It was funny to hear the Kyiv fantasists reasoning that ‘missiles ran out’ in Russia or ‘production stopped.’”

In a video speech Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia must be prevented “from turning Ukraine, our neighbors, and the whole of Europe, which Russian revanchism wants to reach, into concrete crumbs.”

The Ukrainian leader also pushed for more sanctions pressure on Russia after Britain, the U.S. and the European Union all announced new measures aimed at further choking off funding and support for Moscow.

Financial leaders condemn Moscow

During the G-20 summit in Bangaluru, India, on Saturday, finance chiefs of the world’s largest economies condemned Moscow for its war on Ukraine, with only China and Russia declining to sign a joint statement.

With no consensus, India, which holds the G-20 presidency this year, said in what is called a “chair’s summary” that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.”

Stating that it is essential to uphold international law, the summary said that “the use of or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue are vital. Today’s era must not be of war.”

The declaration noted that references to the war were “agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China.”

U.S. commits $2 billion more to Ukraine

On Friday, a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House announced that the Pentagon would commit $2 billion more in military assistance to Ukraine’s defense against Russia. The package includes additional ammunition for HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 155 mm artillery rounds, munitions for laser-guided rocket systems, and funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment of equipment. President Joe Biden reasserted his vow that “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia.”

Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and allies for fighter jets, but White House officials have said they are not the weaponry that Ukrainians need in the near term.

“There is no basis on which there is a rationale, according to our military now, to provide F-16s,” President Joe Biden said. “I am ruling it out for now,” he said during an ABC News interview Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to support Ukraine’s infrastructure. Blinken said the State Department in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Treasury Department are offering $10 billion in assistance, including budgetary support to Ukraine and additional energy assistance to support Ukrainians suffering from Russia’s attacks.

The Treasury Department said it is sanctioning Russia’s metals and mining sector among others. The action, taken in coordination with the G-7 leading industrial nations, seeks to punish 250 people and firms, puts financial blocks on banks, arms dealers and technology companies tied to weapons production, and goes after alleged sanctions evaders in countries from the United Arab Emirates to Switzerland.

“Our sanctions have had both short-term and long-term impact, seen acutely in Russia’s struggle to replenish its weapons and in its isolated economy,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

VOA’s Anjana Pasricha contributed to this story from New Delhi. The Associated Press and Reuters provided some information for this report.
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The finance ministers of the Group of 20 countries wrapped up a two-day meeting Saturday in India without issuing a joint statement after China and Russia objected to references that other members wanted to make on Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine.

With no consensus, India, which holds the G-20 presidency this year, said in what is called a “chair’s summary” that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.”

Stating that it is essential to uphold international law, the summary said that “the use of or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue are vital. Today’s era must not be of war.”

The declaration noted that references to the war were “agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China.”

Disagreements surface

The meeting that began Friday in India’s southern city of Bengaluru, coincided with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The strong differences that emerged were similar to disagreements that have marred several such gatherings since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

At a G-20 summit held in Bali in November of last year, leaders had bridged their differences by issuing a statement that said that “most members strongly condemned the war.”

However, at the meeting of finance ministers held in India, China did not want the word “war” mentioned in the joint statement, even as the United States and several Western countries insisted on a strong condemnation of the Russian aggression.

India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth told a news conference the Chinese and Russian representatives did not want to sign up to the wording on Ukraine because “their mandate is to deal with economic and financial issues.”

“On the other hand, all the other 18 countries felt that the war has implications for the global economy,” he said.

German finance minister Christian Lindner said that China’s refusal to join the declaration was regrettable. Reuters quoted U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen telling the news agency that it was “absolutely necessary” for any statement to condemn Russia.

The summary issued by India also underlined other divisions among member countries on the war in Ukraine, saying there were “different assessments of the situation and sanctions.”

At the G-20 meeting, countries such as the U.S., France and Britain said they are announcing stronger sanctions against Moscow as they emphasized the need to isolate Russia for its invasion.

India, on the other hand, which has decades-old ties with Russia, has not joined the economic sanctions imposed on Russia and continues to maintain strong trade ties with Moscow.

“We are looking at India’s interests and importing oil from Russia,” India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, told reporters at the end of the meeting.

Global economic risks persist, says summary

The G-20, which represents the world’s largest economies, was created after the Asian financial crisis in 1999, and it is seen as a forum that focuses on how to manage global economic crises.

The summary document issued by India said the global economic outlook had “modestly improved,” although overall growth remains “slow” and risks persist, including elevated inflation, a resurgence of the pandemic, and high debt in many poorer nations.

The discussions also focused on easing the debt burden of nations — such as Sri Lanka — that are reeling under the impact of higher food and oil prices, and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion.
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