n communities across the country, families are striving to give their children a good start in life. They share a common desire for their babies to be healthy, happy, and secure. Yet far too many families face considerable obstacles.
The U.S. House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in March, but the bill has stalled in the even-divided Senate. The measure would prohibit federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling.
Erica Loewe has joined the White House communications team as Director of African American Media. She was previously Deputy Communications Director to House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn. Follow her on Twitter @EricaLoewe46 for updates.
Tuesday, May 25, 2021, marks one year since the horrific murder of George Floyd by former police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was found guilty of all three charges brought against him on April 20, 2021. Mr. Floyd’s murder was filmed on a camera phone and shared all over the world. Individuals nationwide organized to march, protest, and kneel in honor of George Floyd.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, issued a statement slamming Fox News for its willingness to report absolute lies and falsehoods. Rep. Waters also announced she is considering a lawsuit.
Bernice A. King joined the children of late civil rights champions the Rev. C.T. Vivian, and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, in blasting voter suppression laws that have cropped up since the 2020 election.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, voted to pass H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act, a landmark, life-saving bill that will provide urgently-needed resources to defeat the virus, get vaccines in people’s arms, put money into families’ pockets, return children safely to the classroom, and put people back to work.
I don’t think that more than 400,000 people dead is normal. The inability to formally mourn our departed loved ones isn’t normal. Crazy white people storming the Capitol surely isn’t normal. And conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Green is so far away from normal that she is on the insanity spectrum.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is no great friend to Black people in his state. He made it clear how he felt about us when he ignored the calls for him to keep a Black woman in the U.S. Senate by replacing outgoing Senator Kamala Harris with another Black woman. So the point at which Newsom and the Democratic Party establishment should really be worried about the efforts to recall him is if Black women decide to send a reminder to them both that they still need us.
The awareness brought on by activist Martin Luther King Jr., outlined a plan for empowerment; he addressed it to a society founded on freedom. King spoke of unity in a time of division, to celebrate his life and reflect on what he stood for, Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas paid tribute to King’s accomplishments; by curating the 29th Annual Empowerment Congress Summit during the week the nation celebrated Martin Luther King Day.
America has seen true darkness; the COVID-19 outbreak catapulted the nation into a new way of operation, with many lives lost. The escalated climate during the leadership of the 45th president, Donald Trump, coupled with unjust behavior fueled by racism, created a hemorrhage in the country’s unity and applied pressure to a new awareness around the minds of society.
We can concede that it was a shock to many, if not most, White folks to see “their own” dressed in Hollywood Viking and Visigoth headdress, howling hate, attacking police and property, calling out kill lists for various future victims, as they rampaged seditiously and sanctimoniously through the Capitol attempting a coup. But they should not have been surprised, even if shocked, about how this time they found themselves and some of us and others, needing to shelter in place and hide under desks and tables to escape harm and possible death in one of America’s most sacred and secured places of government, the U.S. Capitol Building.
Donald Trump is the first president in American history to be impeached twice. Under the charge of “incitement of insurrection,” Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, set the tone for the moves affecting the current of Head of State. Among other discrepancies, the call-to-action is being fueled by the escalated uprising that took place on Capitol Hill.
The racial awakening in the United States last year after the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd may have propelled a sweep for Democrats in the January 5, 2021 Georgia Senate runoffs, paving the way for President-elect Joe Biden to push his legislative agenda without fear of obstruction.
West, a graduate of Texas State University and the University of Houston, earned a two-year fellowship from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) and American Petroleum Institute (API) as an Energy Policy Fellow.