The Tolbert Report

05/19/2026

Words from 1905 that still resonate.
"W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause" premieres May 19 at 9/8c.

05/19/2026

Stuart Hene lacks the integrity to lead Tyler City Council.
To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Stuart Hene is an attorney*. Attorney's must take the following oath:
"I will support the Constitutions of the United States, and of this state; that I will honestly demean myself in the practice of law; that I will discharge my duties to my clients to the best of my ability; and that I will conduct myself with integrity and civility in dealing and communicating with the court and all parties."
Members of City Council must take the following oath:
"I will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State."
Hene FAILED to exercise reasonable oversight when the City of Tyler sought authorization to initiate Eminent Domain power to take a citizen's private property rights.
Hene FAILED to recuse himself after being notified by the Court in the subsequent Cause that he was appointed as the First Alternate Special Commissioner.
Hene abused his power as a member of City Council to directly harass and harm a City employee. His conduct violates basic rules of ethics.

The first responsibility of a member of City Council is to represent The People. The City has the power to use the full force and effect of the law to pursue its agenda. We all want OUR City to prosper, but not to OUR detriment and at OUR expense. I believe that OUR City operates best when City Council holds the City Manager and Department Heads accountable to operating efficiently and justly.

It is for these reasons that I will NOT be voting for Hene in the June 2026 runoff election.

*Bar Card Number: 24069904
TX License Date: 11/06/2009

05/16/2026

The Civil War Amendments (the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments) were ratified between 1865 and 1870 to abolish slavery, establish birthright citizenship, guarantee equal protection under the law, and protect the voting rights of formerly enslaved Black Americans following the Civil War.

The 14th Amendment (1868)
Established Citizenship: It declared that all people born or naturalized in the U.S. (including formerly enslaved people) are American and state citizens.
Equal Protection: It prohibited states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without "due process of law" and guaranteed "equal protection of the laws".
Other Provisions: It barred certain former Confederate leaders from holding office and addressed war debts.

It is reasonable to believe that the Trump administration wants to force the U.S.A. backwards from a more perfect union and does not agree with Lincoln's dedication to "government of the people, by the people, for the people".

Introductory essays about the Constitution of the United States.

05/10/2026

South Africa was heavily influenced by the U.S. example of racial oppression.

Mandela, born in 1918, was the son of the chief of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu people. Instead of succeeding his father as chief, Mandela went to university and became a lawyer. In 1944, he joined the African National Congress (ANC), a Black political organization dedicated to winning rights for the Black majority in white-ruled South Africa. In 1948, the racist National Party came to power, and apartheid—South Africa’s institutionalized system of white supremacy and racial segregation—became official government policy. With the loss of Black rights under apartheid, black enrollment in the ANC rapidly grew. Mandela became one of the ANC’s leaders and in 1952 was made deputy national president of the ANC. He organized nonviolent strikes, boycotts, marches and other acts of civil disobedience.

After the massacre of peaceful Black demonstrators at Sharpeville in 1960, Nelson helped organize a paramilitary branch of the ANC to engage in acts of sabotage against the white minority government. He was tried for and acquitted of treason in 1961 but in 1962 was arrested again for illegally leaving the country. Convicted and sentenced to five years at Robben Island Prison, he was put on trial again in 1963 with seven others on charges of sabotage, treason, and conspiracy. In the celebrated Rivonia Trial, named after the suburb of Johannesburg where ANC weapons were found, Mandela eloquently defended his actions. On June 12, 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison. He was confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing and was forced to do hard labor in a quarry. He could write and receive a letter once every six months, and once a year he was allowed to meet with a visitor for 30 minutes. However, Mandela’s resolve remained unbroken, and while remaining the symbolic leader of the anti-apartheid movement, he led a movement of civil disobedience at the prison that coerced South African officials into drastically improving conditions on Robben Island. In 1982 he was moved to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland, and in 1988 to a cottage, where he lived under house arrest.

In 1989, F.W. de Klerk became South African president and set about dismantling apartheid. De Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, suspended executions, and on February 11, 1990, ordered the release of Nelson Mandela. Mandela subsequently led the ANC in its negotiations with the minority government for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 26, 1994, the country’s first free elections were won by Mandela and the ANC, and a “national unity” coalition was formed with de Klerk’s National Party and the Zulus’ Inkatha Freedom Party. On May 10, Mandela was inaugurated in a ceremony attended by numerous international dignitaries.

In South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is sworn in as the first Black president of South Africa. In his inaugural...

04/20/2026

Virginia Law Passes "Purification" Act (April 20, 1924): Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act, a eugenics-based law designed to "purify the white race" by banning in*******al marriage and requiring all residents to register their race at birth, a move designed to enforce white supremacy and anti-miscegenation.

04/11/2026

Every single one of them failed to honor their Oath of Office to protect and defend the U.S. and Texas Constitution.
The most influential statement of the principle of just compensation is found in Armstrong v. United States (1960), where the Supreme Court wrote: “The Fifth Amendment’s [Takings Clause] . . . was designed to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.”

04/10/2026

Attack on Nat King Cole (1956): During a performance in Birmingham, Alabama, white men attacked Nat King Cole on stage. Cole, one of the first Black performers to achieve mainstream success, was assaulted while performing for an all-white audience, highlighting the virulent racism in the South despite his national fame.
Discovery of the LaLaurie Torture Chamber (1834): Following a fire at the Royal Street mansion in New Orleans, a torture chamber was discovered in the home of Delphine LaLaurie. Rescuers found enslaved Black individuals chained, mutilated, and severely abused, exposing the brutal cruelty experienced by enslaved people, even in an urban setting.
Alabama Court Injunction Against Civil Rights Leaders (1963): On April 10, 1963, a Birmingham circuit judge issued a blanket injunction aimed at stopping protests and demonstrations by civil rights leaders. This legal action was a deliberate attempt to stifle thefight against segregation, leading directly to the arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. two days later.

04/09/2026

The Colfax Massacre (1873): While technically starting a few days earlier, on April 9, 1873, the standoff escalated in Colfax, Louisiana. White supremacists, upset over the results of a local election, surrounded the courthouse, which was defended by newly enfranchised Black citizens. The white mob used cannon and fire to force surrender, subsequently massacring 60–100 Black men, many of whom were shot after being arrested.