A year ago, in a quick fix reaction to the pandemic, the FDA released emergency guidance that lowered the standards for germ-fighting products like hand sanitizer in order to get more on the market. This led to an ongoing wave of hand sanitizers that both smell horrible and seem to do virtually nothing. Now, a year later, city streets are refilling, businesses are starting to operate at full capacity, and we have a more reliable supply of hand sanitizer. Yet, businesses are still providing questionable products, and we are even seeing reports of products with toxic carcinogens steadily pop up. ... read more »

Congress should honor the memory of the late civil rights activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis by enacting laws to protect voting rights, Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement Saturday on the one-year anniversary of his death. ... read more »

Andre Perry, a Brookings Institution fellow, told the Times that some of the surge in Black business registrations could be a signal of personal economic trouble. “This is more about survival than it is about wealth creation. There’s lots of people who have lost their jobs and lost their businesses. People are starting to realize that side hustles are businesses,” Perry said. ... read more »

HUD’s most recent Point-in-Time count, which outreach workers and volunteers conducted in January, show that 17 out of every 10,000 people in America experienced homelessness on a single night in 2019. The report revealed that 567,715 people are homeless and represent a cross-section of America – associated with every region, family status, gender category, and racial and ethnic group. ... read more »

The new report revealed that at least 28 percent of those killed were African Americans, who make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population. Although this figure is staggering, the Center for American Progress (CAP) noted that it is almost certainly under-represents the actual number of civilians who died while in the custody of the criminal justice system. ... read more »

“Since it became law more than a decade ago, the Affordable Care Act has been a lifeline for millions of Americans. The pandemic has demonstrated how badly it is needed and how critical it is that we continue to improve upon it,” President Biden stated. ... read more »

It was much more than a political assessment when I declared 15 months ago that “we know Joe, and most importantly, Joe knows us.” Joe Biden is succeeding because of he understands the needs and aspirations of the American people. His bold and inclusive initiatives are restoring the faith of those who have been hardest hit by the current health and economic crises and raising the hopes of those who had already been hard hit by injustices in our society long before these crises struck. ... read more »

“… if the U.S. Justice Department develops evidence that a local or state entity like a police department is failing to abide by the U.S. Constitution or other federal laws, it can go to federal court and seek an order of some kind requiring the entity to cease its illegal activity and perhaps implement some measures to prevent its recurrence,” Caitlin Kizielewicz, a spokesperson for the Crime and Justice Research Alliance, told NNPA Newswire. ... read more »

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced Angela and J.C. Johnson, owners of the Serving Spoon, as her guests to the Presidential Address to the Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. The Serving Spoon is an Inglewood community staple. ... read more »

“I am deeply saddened by the untimely passing of my friend and colleague, Rep. Hastings of Florida,” Texas Democratic Congressman Al Green wrote in an email to the Black Press and posted to Twitter. ... read more »

At the federal level, lawmakers are expected to re-introduce a payday lending bill that would give both consumers and military veterans the same 36% rate protection as the Military Lending Act (MLA). Named the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act, the measure is hoped to secure the same broad and bipartisan support that MLA received.   ... read more »

Congressional Black Caucus today expressed its wholehearted support for Shalanda Young as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  If confirmed, Young would be the first African-American woman to lead the OMB, one of the most important federal government agencies. ... read more »

This week, authorities announced they had suspended Louisiana State Police Master Trooper Kory York, and acknowledged that Ronald Greene, who was shackled, handcuffed and dragged, “was mistreated.” The admission came after Greene’s family viewed graphic body camera footage of the arrest that included York using a barrage of expletives as he detained the Black motorist. York and other troopers were seen on the video choking and beating Greene. ... read more »

The House Homeland Security chairman accused Donald Trump in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and conspiring with his lawyer and extremist groups to try to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden. ... read more »

Members of the California Nurses Association (CNA) and National Nurses United (NNU) organized an online briefing for the California Congressional Delegation, with hopes that congress steps up to meets the needs of healthcare workers during the highest recorded surge of Covid-19 cases. ... read more »