Walter E. Williams Passed Away!

Far-right agitator Walter E. Williams passed away.

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Walter E. Williams was an American economist, commentator and academic. The far-right agitator passed away after suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension. He passed away on Wednesday at the age of 84.

Williams taught economics at George Mason University in Virginia for 40 years and had a nationally syndicated column. 

He died Wednesday, a day after teaching his final class, according to fellow professor Donald J. Boudreaux in the Wall Street Journal.

“Dr. Williams’ body of work was remarkable, prolific and, without question, controversial,” the university said. “His principal scholarly research was devoted to studying the effects on minority groups of markets as well as of government policies, an important and complicated area of study.”

Williams was born in Philadelphia in 1936. He grew up with his mother and sister. Williams had never known his father. The family lived in West Philadelphia before moving to North Philadelphia. 

He grew up in the Richard Allen projects. His neighbors back then were that sexual predator Bill Cosby. He knew the inspirations for Cosby’s Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids animated sitcom.

After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School, Williams moved to California to repair his broken relationship with his father. He would soon get a job as a taxi driver for the Yellow Cab Company. He was drafted into the military and he served as a private for U.S. Army.

Growing up in his younger days he was a progressive. He was pan-African.

“I was more than anything a radical. I was more sympathetic to Malcolm X than Martin Luther King because Malcolm X was more of a radical who was willing to confront discrimination in ways that I thought it was should be confronted, including perhaps the use of violence. But I really just wanted to be left alone. I thought some laws, like minimum-wage laws, helped poor people and poor Black people and projected workers from exploitation. I thought they were a good thing until I was pressed by professors to look at the evidence.”

Williams would find an educational equal in Thomas Sowell. He never took a class from Sowell but looked upon him as a friend and equal.

He wrote 10 books, including 1982’s “The State Against Blacks,” which was the basis of a PBS documentary, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 

In his last column, "Blacks of yesteryear and today," Williams wrote about current and past racial tensions in America reflected through his teenage years in a housing project in Northern Philadelphia. 

News of his death prompted words of grief from several prominent Republicans.  

“Walter Williams was legendary,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote. “He was brilliant, incisive, witty, and profound. I grew up reading him, and he was a ferocious defender of free markets and a powerful explainer of the virtues of Liberty."

Very sad news. Walter Williams was legendary. He was brilliant, incisive, witty, and profound. I grew up reading him, and he was a ferocious defender of free markets and a powerful explainer of the virtues of Liberty. https://t.co/DrwZo5yxqR

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 2, 2020

Fox News' Mark Levin called Williams’ death a “punch in the gut.”  He said Williams’ had an “enormous” influence on him from the time he was a child.

This documentary of the great Walter Williams is worth every minute of watching.https://t.co/AkCh5TgoyP

— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) December 2, 2020

President of the Heritage Foundation Kay C. James called Williams “a good friend and one of the world's most brilliant economists. … Truly a great loss for America.”

“I first met Walter Williams when I was 17,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), tweeted. “I’ll never forget his speech about conservation, that there is rarely a shortage of things privately owned! RIP to a brilliant and important voice for Liberty.”

I first met Walter Williams when I was 17. I’ll never forget his speech about conservation, that there is rarely a shortage of things privately owned!

RIP to a brilliant and important voice for Liberty. pic.twitter.com/oD7VSEo1b9

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 3, 2020

Walter leaves behind a daughter named Devyn. His wife, Connie Williams passed away in 2007. 

He was the cousin of Julius Erving aka Dr. J.

Williams has written for the American Economic Review, Policy Review, Journal Labor Research as well as notable publications like The American Spectator, Newsweek, Reason and The Wall Street Journal.

On some occasions, he would be a guest host for that old fart Rush Limbaugh.

Letitia Wright Saw The Digital Dash!

Letitia Wright sees a digital dash when it came to expressing doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine.

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It appears that Letitia Wright may have a digital dash going on. She was promoting anti-vaccination videos online and it triggered a huge backlash.

Best known for iconic role in the Marvel movie Black Panther, the Guyanese-British actress sparked discussions about Black people being skeptical of taking vaccinations.

Black people have always used experiments when it comes to vaccinations. 

In the video from On The Table, a discussion channel, host Tomi Arayomi voiced unsubstantiated claims about the dangers of taking vaccines.

"I don't understand vaccines medically, but I've always been a little bit of a skeptic of them," Arayomi said, stating that he doesn't know if he can trust a vaccine for coronavirus. At one point, he says those who decide to get vaccinated should "hope to God it doesn't make extra limbs grow."

Wright immediately found herself in hot water with her fans, who condemned the star for using her platform to share misinformation. The post even drew criticism from "Iron Man" actor Don Cheadle, who described the video as "hot garbage" after Twitter users tagged him in several posts, beckoning him to respond. "Jesus... just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up," Cheadle tweeted. "I would never defend anybody posting this. but i still won't throw her away over it. the rest i'll take off twitter. had no idea."

Author and essayist Roxane Gay, who wrote the spin-off comic book "Black Panther: World of Wakanda," also chimed into the heated Twitter thread. "Promoting anti-vaccine propaganda and shrouding it in intellectual curiosity is asinine. And dangerous," wrote Gay.

Wright told commenters she was just asking questions and responded to individual fans who denounced her sharing the clip. "Just using my own mind to think - which I'm free to do," the 27-year-old said in response to one user.

Following the flood of criticism, Wright tweeted "if you don't conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself....you get cancelled."

By Friday morning, the original post with the link to the video had been taken down. But Wright, who currently stars in Steve McQueen's "Small Axe," stood by her comments saying her "intention was not to hurt anyone." 

"My ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies," she said. "Nothing else."

Britain has become the first country in the West to approve a COVID-19 vaccine. However, its rapid release has raised eyebrows among many, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who criticized the U.K. for rushing through the approval process. He later apologized for his comments.

Stateside, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant emergency use authorization in the coming weeks for two separate vaccines from pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and biotech company Moderna. While widespread misinformation about the coronavirus vaccines spreads online, the scientific consensus on the jabs is that they are safe and effective. Promising results show that the vaccines expected to be released by the end of the year appear to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.

Wright, played roles in Black Panther and several British TV series including Top Boy, Coming Up, Chasing Shadows, Humans and an episode of Doctor Who. 

She has deleted all her social media accounts after the backlash.

David Lender Passed Away!

David Lander, best known for playing Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley passed away.

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David Lander, most famous for his role as Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman on the 70s sitcom Laverne & Shirley has passed away from a 37-year battle with multiple sclerosis.

Lander died Friday in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, Kathy Fields Lander said in an email Saturday to the Associated Press.

“It was very peaceful,” Lander said. “He had a tough battle with MS for 37 years and he persevered like no one I have ever seen, and it taught me a great deal about the important things of life.”

Lander had a longtime comedic partnership with Michael McKean, whom he met at Carnegie Mellon University. Together they created the characters of Lenny and Squiggy that they would play on the show, which ran from 1976 to 1983. Lenny and Squiggy — or Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman — were friends and upstairs neighbors of Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams), bottle-cappers in 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

McKean tweeted a photo in tribute to Lander on Saturday of the two actors in the early days.

Lander is survived by his wife and a daughter, Natalie Lander.

Peaches And A Creamed Trump!

Trump continues to create chaos on his way out.

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The outgoing President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump went to Valdosta, Georgia to make a pitch for Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA).

Again, Trump is still hosting rallies where many attending aren’t socially distancing or wearing facial protection. It could become a superspreader event and it could lead to infection increases in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Republicans are still not willing to accept the results of the election. It seems like Trump will not accept the fact he lost. He said he will be a “gracious loser” if the election wasn’t “stolen.”

“If I lost -- I’d be a very gracious loser. If I lost, I would say I lost and I’d go to Florida and take it easy and I’d go around and say I did a good job.”

David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are desperately trying to pit their Democratic opponents as radical. The irony of the attacks, the president and his supporters are radicals too.

Trump deliberately lies about voter fraud and calls the Georgia Republican state leadership a bunch of idiots.

“But you can never accept when they steal and rig and rob. You can’t accept that,” he added. 

Now there’s a crucial run-off in the state and Trump’s ranting and raving about his loss will play an impact to rallying Republicans.

Even though he'll rant about it being “rigged” he is dog whistling that if you don’t support the senators, then Biden will get a majority in the Senate. The goal for Republicans is now to keep the Senate in their majority.

Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are down by five points in internal polling and the state is leaning Republican.

The answer to the Democrat voter fraud is not to stay at home - that’s what Pelosi and Schumer want you to do. If you want revenge on the Democrats for their efforts to steal the Presidential election, where we are fighting hard, you have to show up and vote in RECORD numbers! pic.twitter.com/XAJ0F2JmeL

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2020

...We received more LEGAL votes by far. All I can do is run, campaign, and be a good (great!) President – it is 100% up to the states to manage the election. Republicans will NEVER forget this.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2020

Trump personally called Republican governor Brian Kemp to demand he call a special session to make a direct demand to overturn the certification of President-elect Joe Biden.

The run-off is on January 5, 2021 and it will put lots of money in the state’s candidates.

Trump stealing the oxygen out of the room. He is considering a run for 2024.

“[The Democrats and the media] cheated and rigged our presidential election but we’ll still win it. And they are going to try to rig [the runoff elections] too!” Trump told the crowd.

As the crowd says “We love you!” and “Four more years!”

The senators both had an opportunity to make their pitches for their voters. They ended up being drowned out by Trump’s supporters yelling, “Fight for Trump!”

Last week, Trump’s lawyer Lin Wood said that Loeffler and Perdue haven’t earned your vote. He said that they better support Trump’s bid to overturn the election or suffer the consequences.

Biden admitted that the Republicans are in a tough spot. They privately called him to congratulate his victory. Biden refused to mention names and said that the 2024 field could really be exhausted if Trump does want to run again.

The old south still exist.

Again, Biden has 306 electoral votes and Trump has 232 electoral votes.

Biden not only won the electoral college but the popular vote. There’s no disputing that.

Trump was the only president to win his election through the electoral college without winning the popular vote. Republicans have never won the popular vote since 1996.

Trump has turned on Arizona governor Doug Ducey, Ohio governor Mike DeWine, Maryland governor Larry Hogan, Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, Vermont governor Phil Scott and Georgia governor Brian Kemp. 

Kemp, DeWine and Ducey were loyal supporters of Trump. Now they face the wrath of him and his supporters.

Juan Williams: I Got The Coronavirus!

Juan Williams tested positive for the coronavirus.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

PROTECT BLACK WOMEN! 

END SARS NOW!

HER NAME IS BREONNA TAYLOR!

WEAR A DAMN MASK! SAVE A LIFE!

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Fox News host and political agitator Juan Williams tested positive for the coronavirus.

The co-host of The Five tested positive for the deadly disease and it forced the remaining hosts to go back to remote hosting. 

WIlliams, who was in the studio on Wednesday socially distanced from the show’s other hosts. 

“I’m not great but I’m not dying or anything. I’m worried about myself and my family. My wife doesn’t want me to come back to the house right now. On lots of levels it’s concerning,” Williams said.

Fox declined to comment on the matter citing that it was employee privacy. 

Williams went on vacation in November but returned to the studio testing positive for the coronavirus.

Williams, a Fox News commentator and former NPR commentator is a “token liberal.” His son, is a far-right Republican and he’s been very supportive of Donald J. Trump.

NPR fired him out the cannon when he made the remarks about Muslims making him uncomfortable when he is on an airplane and embraced racial/religious profiling. 

Williams was the host of the docuseries The Eyes on The Prize.

Here's the map.

Here's things to remember about the coronavirus. Revised.

1. Wash your hands frequently. Wash for at least 20 seconds (two Happy Birthday songs).

2. Do not touch your face (mouth, nose and eyes)

3. Cough into your elbow instead of your hands.

4. Keep a safe distance (at least 6 to 10 feet) from individuals. Businesses are now issuing social distancing and will have the right to refuse service if you're not adhering to the guidelines.

5. If you're sick, please stay home. You could spread the disease to others and trust me, you could face legal ramifications if you're sick and you deliberately showing up to work.

6. There is no treatment or cure for the COVID-19.

7. Follow state and federal laws regarding this. Some states have relaxed regulations but that doesn't mean you're fully able to return to normal life. You have to stay vigilant and remind yourself that you can still catch this despite social distancing and safe sanitation practices.

8. Do not hoard items like toilet paper, milk, eggs, bread, gloves, hand sanitizer, etc.

9. Use social media like Facebook Messenger, Meet, Zoom, Google Duo, Skype or social media to connect.

10. COVID-19 can live on surfaces for more than 72 hours. Including steel, plastic and cardboard.

11. A pandemic has no timeline. The coronavirus is new and scientists are trying to figure out how to combat this.

12. COVID-19 doesn't care about borders. The coronavirus spreads from human to human contact. We have no confirmation on how it made it to the United States. Don't believe what Donald J. Trump says about it coming from China. It was detected in China, then Italy and our first confirmed case was in January 2020 in the United States. We probably had thousands of people affected in 2019 and we just didn't know it.

13. If you deliberately infect other individuals, food and first responders, you will be charged with crime. So if people are trying to cough on you, sneeze on you, lick food products, lick toilet seats and refuse to wear masks where its required, they could face criminal charges. This is a controversial issue because some believe the mask isn't protecting them and some don't care about you or your family's health.

14. If you have signs of bluish lips or face, inability to wake or stay awake, new confusion, persistent pain in the chest, trouble breathing or blood in cough, call 9-1-1. There are mobile testing sites in your community but always check with a doctor first before getting a test at a public center. Most doctors will not take you openly without facial protection and confirmed symptoms.

15. Not all symptoms of COVID-19 are confirmed or denied. New issues keep showing up. So don't believe everything you've heard. The most common symptoms are noted above. Also please note that asymptomatic individuals are folks who have no symptoms but are spreading. Those are folks who look normal but have it and not showing signs yet.

16. Retail is now mandating workers and shoppers to wear facial protection. If you are continuing to not follow company policies when it comes to wearing facial protection, you can be banned from their establishment. Walmart, Kroger, Target, Whole Foods, Best Buy and other companies are now requiring facial protection in their businesses.

17. Have patience with those in the healthcare industry, service industry and law enforcement. They are operating at limited staff. Those who work at restaurants, casinos, media companies, landscaping, construction and first responders are working to serve and help you. But note, that they are putting themselves at risk as well of catching the coronavirus. Respect those who have to work in this. There are companies working on producing a vaccine. They will produce a vaccine that is safe and effective before usage. See 19.

18. Some hand sanitizers are considered dangerous to your health. Methanol-based hand sanitizer could be toxic to those with weaken immune systems or allergies. The Food and Drug Administration have warned of methanol contamination. Some products made in Mexico and China may be dangerous. There are some people ingesting hand sanitizer. See 19.

19. Please do not ingest or inject sanitizer, bleach or hydroxychloroquine into your body. There is no cure for the coronavirus. Scientists are working on creating a safe vaccine to treat the coronavirus.

20. Hold your state and federal lawmakers accountable for not taking the threat seriously. Donald J. Trump deliberately ignored the threat. In a series of audiotapes produced by the Washington Post's Bob Woodward, Trump was warned about the threat from the jump. He downplayed it because he didn't want to lose the trade deal and force Americans to take precautions. Now six months since declaring the pandemic we have over 250,000 dead and over 9 million infected. Republican lawmakers are trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and end the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act because of their stupid principles. It's important that you get go out and vote.

21. THE MASK DOESN'T IMPALE BREATHING! YOU CAN FUCKING BREATHE THROUGH A MASK! THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF A MASK BEING A THREAT TO THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THOSE WEARING THEM PROPERLY. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR THE MASK ABOVE YOUR NOSE AND COVER COMPLETELY YOUR CHIN. 

22. YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID! MISINFORMATION IS PROBABLY THE MOST DANGEROUS THING TO DEAL WITH WHEN IT COMES TO A PANDEMIC.

According to the CDC, there is still not enough information on antibodies for COVID-19 and whether they can prevent someone from getting reinfected. It still recommends that people with a positive antibody test follow recommendations for protecting themselves and others.

The coronavirus doesn't care about your age, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, politics, economic or social standings. It doesn't care about anything. It's a living organism that causes mild symptoms that include: fever, sore throats, chills, respiratory issues, loss of taste or smell and other unknown symptoms. If you have a weak immune system or health issues, your risk increases.

Death does happen to at least 40% of those who are affected by COVID-19.

Healthy people can die from this. Take this seriously. You only have one life!

If you need more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at cdc.gov.

House Passed The MORE Weed Act!

The House passed a bill to decriminalize marijuana.

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PROTECT BLACK WOMEN! 

END SARS NOW!

HER NAME IS BREONNA TAYLOR!

WEAR A DAMN MASK! SAVE A LIFE!

BLOGGER IS TRASH!

It’s a slow weekend in America. President Donald J. Trump is still whining about his election loss and is now running out of time. The electoral college has rival Joe Biden at 279 electoral votes. Thereby it officially makes him the president-elect. 

We already knew he was president-elect, but the official tally of electoral votes hereby makes him the “official undisputed” winner of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump still won’t concede and it’s already a drag on Republicans who want to challenge Biden in 2024. Trump has signalled he may run for president in 2024 and it will likely suck the air out of the room for Republican candidates who are considering a run or a second run in the case of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Or maybe a third run in the case of Mitt Romney.

Trump is heading to Valdosta, Georgia to rally for Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA). The Republicans are concerned that Trump will not rally voters. He will likely go after Gov. Brian Kemp, the Republican governor who had officially certified Biden as the winner.

He will host a large rally at the Valdosta Regional Airport. It will be at 7pm. 

Let’s be clear that the rally will be considered dangerous. The state of Georgia has a high rate of coronavirus cases and these people heading to this rally are at risk of catching it.

Congress on the other hand has been rushing to pass legislation before adjourning for the closing of this session.

The House managed to pass a bill that would decriminalize marijuana. It was a landmark bill that will likely die in the Senate. As you know, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not concerned about a “liberal gift list.” He is more concerned with trying to push for 60 votes to confirm federal judges and Supreme Court nominees now that Biden is the president.

The Senate will likely not take up the matter.

The House voted on removing marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act

The House voted on Friday on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act or titled MORE Act, which decriminalized cannabis and clears the way to erase nonviolent federal marijuana convictions.

Friday tally was mostly on party lines. Out of the 233 Democrats, 1 independent who votes as a Libertarian, only 6 voted against it. Out of the 197 members, about 158 Republicans voted against it and 5 voted for it.

15 states, two U.S. territories and Washington, DC have legalized recreational use of marijuana.

34 states, two territories have enacted medical marijuana use.

This was a good idea if we weren’t in a global pandemic. I mean can’t Congress focus on passing relief for the millions of Americans who may lose their homes, their health insurance and their lives.

Trump was likely not going to sign legislation in regards to this.

The 116th Congress was very unproductive in legislation. The Democrats lost a handful of seats thanks to the noise of the far-left. The Democrats from safe seats (i.e. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)) have single-handedly given Democrats losses in “Flyover Country.”

Even well funded Democrats like Jaime Harrison couldn’t get through the noise of the far-left and far-right. Harrison and many other Democrats were trying to take practical approaches only to be tarred to Ocasio-Cortez, Pelosi, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and the cosplay socialists.

Now with a hotly contested race in Georgia, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff don’t need distractions.

Pass legislation that helps all Americans. 

We can wait for the next session of Congress to pass marijuana legalization.

MSNBC Gives Tiffany Cross And Jonathan Capehart A Weekend Spot!

Tiffany Cross and Jonathan Capehart will host weekend programs on MSNBC. They were popular commentators on AM Joy with Joy Reid. Reid personally picked them as her replacements.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

PROTECT BLACK WOMEN! 

END SARS NOW!

HER NAME IS BREONNA TAYLOR!

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MSNBC announced the replacement hosts for weekend programming. These are two familiar faces and Joy-Ann Reid couldn’t be more prouder to see them with their own hosting spots.

Joy Reid had held AM Joy from 2016 until 2020. She replaced Melissa Harris-Perry who was unceremoniously fired out the cannon after she made a fuss about MSNBC covering election events instead of her program. Reid reluctantly took the weekend spot after being bumped from the 4pm spot she held during the 2014-15 MSNBC Forward period. 

Reid saw her show’s ratings improve rapidly during the weekend spots. The show was very successful on the weekends and people were tuning in to Reid.

Phil Griffin saw potential in her. She built up her own club of “Reiders” and kept the pressure on Donald J. Trump during his presidency.

During her years at AM Joy she did earn a bit of controversy. The progressive agitator had written on her old blog The Reid Report her thoughts on LGBTQ, Republicans and race.

She was then a Florida blogger who often attacked Charlie Crist, then-Republican governor turned into Democratic U.S. lawmaker from St. Petersburg. She questioned his sexuality, mocked his clothes and slammed Republicans for not passing legislation in the wake of Trayvon Martin being killed.

Some bloggers unearthed the blog and put her on blast. Reid at first claimed it was forged and she was hacked. It was revealed that she indeed posted those posts. She was suspended for a brief period and returned back with a tearful apology to those who were offended.

She turned to Tiffany Cross and Jonathan Capehart for advice on how to win back fans.

It appeared to work. So far, Reid has been back on the air doing the weekend show. But in 2020, Chris Matthews who was a stalwart of MSNBC primetime programming was forced off the air after allegations of sexual harassment, MSNBC were looking for a replacement.

Reid who guest hosted for Nicolle Wallace, Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O’Donnell and Ari Melber was given an opportunity to shine.

Griffin gave her a primetime spot. Now it’s time to pass the torch.

After weeks of competing for a coveted weekend slot on MSNBC previously held by Joy Reid, Tiffany Cross and Jonathan Capehart will get part of it: Cross, a political analyst and former resident fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, will anchor MSNBC on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and noon, while Capehart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who is an opinion columnist for the Washington Post and has worked as a contributor at MSNBC since 2009, will lead Sundays in the same time period. Their new shows — official titles have yet to be determined — will debut December 12 and December 13, respectively, and hold forth from Washington, D.C.

Joy Reid personally congratulates Tiffany Cross and Jonathan Capehart for their promotions.

Both anchors want to build on the efforts of Reid, whose “A.M. Joy” created a new weekend habit for curious MSNBC viewers eager to gain perspective on the headlines. “The people who come to MSNBC between ten and noon are people who know what the news is,” says Capehart, in an interview. “They come to us because they want to know the connection with other big stories, how it fits into the larger coverage, and why should I care?”

The two have since July helped to fill in on weekends, along with Zerlina Maxwell, a political analyst. Maxwell was given a daily program on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming-video hub. Each member of the trio was, with every appearance, essentially auditioning for Reid’s weekend job, with MSNBC executives eager to see whether each anchor brought people who followed them in their other jobs over to the network. The process was unorthodox at best.

“The experience was nerve-wracking,” says Cross, in an interview, but notes that in the end, “there is room for everybody.”

Like most mainstream cable-news networks, MSNBC has only a handful of people of color in major on-air roles. CNN’s Don Lemon is the only person of color who anchors a program during weekday primetime hours on the three main networks, while MSNBC’s Craig Melvin, Fox News Channel’s Harris Faulkner and CNN’s Laura Jarrett anchor daytime hours. Reid gained new stature earlier this year when MSNBC moved her to weekdays at 7 p.m., a critical time period previously anchored by Chris Matthews that is supposed to gather audiences for the network’s primetime lineup of Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell.

Yet the new leader of NBCUniversal’s news business, Cesar Conde, has called for the unit’s employee base to be 50% female and 50% people of color over an undefined period of time. NBCU’s news operations are among the industry’s largest, rivaled in size and scope only by AT&T’s CNN. In recent weeks, MSNBC named Alicia Melendez and Joshua Johnson to lead two-hour blocks on  weekend evenings.

The new Cross and Capehart shows will further augment MSNBC’s weekend programming, part of a broader initiative to get more competitive on Saturdays and Sundays. For years, MSNBC relied heavily on documentary repeats on weekends, rather than live news programming. While the network’s ratings have soared during the Trump presidency, its weekend programming often loses to CNN’s in the critical category of viewers between 25 and 54 — the audience most desired by the advertisers that support news programs. In recent weeks, CNN’s dominance among that audience has become more pronounced, even as MSNBC’s weekend programming in November spurred record audience levels.

“Jonathan Capehart has been a longtime member of the MSNBC family and his steadfast dedication to great journalism, along with Tiffany Cross’ fresh expert analysis, offer our MSNBC weekend morning audience the best of both worlds from two very different life and worldview experiences,” said  Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, in a statement.

Cross intends to launch a show that weaves diverse voices into a discussion of the week’s big stories. “We are living in a country that is quickly becoming a space where people of color are the steak, not the potato,” she says. “We should not be a separate part of the conversation. We should be woven into the main conversation, just like we have always been woven into the fabric of American society.”

She also wants to leave room to explain news concepts to the audience. She envisions a segment in which viewers might submit questions via video, asking how one becomes a member of the Electoral College or what the Director of National Intelligence does. She might provide the answer, or perhaps turn the task over to an elected official or an NBCUniversal personality. “I may reveal something each week that I didn’t know until recently,” says Cross, who admits her knowledge of sports is not the most detailed.

Capehart, meanwhile, wants to use his perch to become part of the mix of the Sunday programs that bring newsmakers to weigh in on the issues of the moment — with some twists. “I have been covering politics for almost twenty years. It’s going to be about national politics and social issues and culture. But it will not be bound by strictly talking about politics,’ he says. “If something happens in the culture, if something is popping on Twitter, if something is popping with the world of reality TV, or whatever the American people are talking about that week, of course I’m going to try to bring people on to talk about it.”

He recently interviewed former President Barack Obama in a primetime special for MSNBC, and acknowledges the session was one he’d wanted to do for a long while. It’s also an indication his role at MSNBC has changed. Working as a substitute host for an absent Reid was something akin to being invited to house-sit, he says. “You’re reluctant to move the furniture or change the paintings.” Now, he adds, “I know I’ve got the house. Let’s start filling it with furniture and artwork and rugs.” By the time he’s done with a two-hour show, Capehart says, ‘I want everyone to come away with the feeling that they learned something, that they were elevated by watching a conversation that was worthy of their time and certainly that respects their intellect.”