Tell-It Report: Army Renames Fort Lee After a Black Soldier to Maintain Confederate Fiction by Michael Harriot

Barred from using the names of Confederate soldiers, the Trump administration “restores” the names of seven military bases that once honored the losers of the Civil War. Read on Substack

In Gullah Geechee communities, a “tell-it” was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention — from politics to entertainment.

President Donald Trump has reinstated the names of Army bases that once honored Confederate leaders. But, contrary to what he announced, Fort Lee won’t be named after Robert E. Lee, but a Black soldier named Fitz Lee.

Trump’s recent travel ban is preventing Haitian children scheduled to undergo heart surgery from traveling to the United States for their life-changing procedures.

The Grammys are adding a “traditional country” category just months after Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” earned her Country Album of the Year.

Read the full stories below:

Trump renames Fort Lee after a Black soldier because he can’t use Robert E. Lee

Continuing President Trump’s efforts to remove diversity measures enacted by his predecessor, the Army announced it was reverting to the original names of seven bases whose names were changed in 2023 because they honored Confederate leaders. Despite his statement on Tuesday in which Trump said one base would be restored to Fort Robert E. Lee, it will not actually honor the Confederate general who led the fight to keep slavery legal.

Instead, Fort Lee in Prince George’s County will be named after a Black soldier, Pvt. Fitz Lee, the New York Times reports.

In 2023, the Biden administration renamed the bases honoring Confederate leaders. Fort Lee then became Fort Gregg-Adams to honor two Black leaders, Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams. By law, names of Confederate soldiers can’t be used on military bases, hence the bait and switch.

Lee was a Buffalo soldier who fought in the Spanish-American War. Born in Virginia, he received the Medal of Honor in 1899 for risking his life to save wounded comrades in Cuba. Shortly after the mission, he suffered from vision loss, swollen limbs and abdominal pain stemming from kidney disease. He died at age 33.

Though the bases’ original names are back, like Fort Lee, they will not honor Confederate leaders. Instead, they will be named after the soldiers “who served in conflicts ranging from the Civil War to the Battle of Mogadishu,” the Army announced in a statement on Tuesday. No women are honored in the rebrand.

Along with the newly dubbed Fort Lee, bases included in the change are Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Polk, Fort Rucker and Fort A.P. Hill. Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth changed the names of Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, now honoring World War I and II veterans, respectively, with the same last names instead of Confederate soldiers.

“We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change,” Trump said during the announcement, CBS News reports. “And I’m superstitious, you know? I like to keep it going, right? I’m very superstitious.”

The Department of Defense originally spent about $39 million to change the names of military installations named after Confederate figures, CBS 6 Richmond reports. Although the changes are expected to take effect immediately, no estimated cost for the revamp was announced, according to CBS News.

Trump’s travel ban is blocking Haitian children from getting stateside surgery

Lifesaving procedures for more than a dozen Haitian children and young adults with serious cardiac issues have been stalled or canceled due to Trump’s travel ban, NBC News reports

The ban, which went into effect on June 9, extends to 12 countries and bars foreigners seeking legal immigrant status as well as those seeking visas from entering the U.S., according to CBS News.

The International Cardiac Alliance is an aid organization that has sent more than 100 children from Haiti to the U.S. for heart surgery. Though a proclamation made some exemptions, including for U.S. citizens and those traveling for the World Cup and the Olympics, those undergoing medical procedures with the alliance’s help were not on that list, according to NBC. Its waitlist includes at least 316 Haitians in need of heart surgery, ranging from infants to young adults.

The organization’s executive director, Owen Robinson, told the New York Times that finding adequate medical help in other countries will be difficult.

Sixteen-year-old Fabienne Rene and her family were counting on travel to treat her rheumatic heart disease. Her father, Fignole Rene, told NBC that they don’t know what their alternative option would be.

“I was not waiting to hear something like that,” Rene told the outlet in Creole. “We know for sure that there is nowhere in Haiti we can have this possibility. The only option that we have was just waiting to have an open door from the Cardiac Alliance.”

According to the NYT, Trump’s decision to prevent Haitians from visiting is because they stayed in the states longer than their visas permitted 25% of the time. In addition to Haiti, the 12 countries on the travel ban list include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, The Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Trump also issued partial suspensions for Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Trump has restricted travel for these 19 Black and brown countries because he deemed them “high-risk.” However, just last month, he gave white South Africans asylum, claiming they were subject to “white genocide.”

His administration also rescinded Haitians’ temporary protected status, which prevented them from being deported, and revoked a program that allowed them to move to the U.S, according to the NYT.

Grammys to add ‘traditional country’ category after Beyoncé’s historic win

The Recording Academy announced that they would be breaking up the country album category, adding a “traditional” category and renaming the existing category to “contemporary.” And Beyoncé fans don’t think their decision’s timing — coming just months after “Cowboy Carter” won big — is coincidental.

“The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said we would like to have more variety in how our music is honored,” the Academy CEO Harvey Mason told Billboard. “They said, we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.” According to the outlet, the new category was proposed in previous years.

Fans pointed to the not-so-subtle racist shade that they believe stemmed from “Cowboy Carter” winning both Best Country Album and Album of the Year, the first time Beyoncé has won in both categories.

An anonymous music executive told Phil Lewis that the academy’s intentions are clear. The executive pointed to the academy adding Best Dance Pop Recording category after Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” and “Break My Soul” won.

“Now, the same thing has happened again.” the executive explained for What I’m Reading.

“There are probably some country purists in power that aren’t happy with her winning Best Country Album — especially after she was snubbed completely from the CMAs — and suddenly the country album category is being divided into two categories.”

Beyoncé is currently on the Cowboy Carter World Tour. The show and album pay homage to country’s Black roots and call out the industry’s historic efforts to erase Black legacy and impact from the genre.

During her acceptance speech for Best Country Album, she expressed gratitude for those in the genre who accepted “Cowboy Carter.”

“We worked so hard on it,” she said. “I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists, and I just wanna encourage people to do what they’re passionate about and to stay persistent.”

ICYMI

Former host of MTV’s “TRL” and BET’s “Teen Summit,” Ananda Lewis, has died at 52 on Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer.

Sly Stone, the legendary frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, died on June 9 at age 82.

Silentó, the 27-year-old rapper who created a viral hit with “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in the fatal shooting of his cousin.

A Milwaukee jury convicted Maxwell Anderson of killing 19-year-old Sade Robinson, whose body was found dismembered after she went on a first date with Anderson.

Misty Copeland announced that she is retiring after 25 years with the American Ballet Company.

Solange’s Eldorado Ballroom opens in Houston.