Mitch McConnell

The President Needs to Pull Out All Stops

Last week, Majority Whip Clyburn, Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, made the observation that the “Filibuster” currently being used in the
U.S. Senate to block the Voting Rights Bill as well as the George Floyd Bill, is a matter of tradition and not a part of the U.S. Constitution.

Civil rights groups oppose fast-tracked Supreme Court nominee: Nation’s diversity not represented in its courts

One of the most consequential decisions that presidents make are lifetime federal judicial appointments at every level: circuit, appellate and the U.S. Supreme Court. The independent federal judiciary is charged with ensuring that the nation’s courts are fair to all people. Even the phrase “equal justice under law” is carved in the stone façade of the Supreme Court building.  

Harris Statement on Supreme Court Nomination

U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Saturday released the following statement following President Trump’s nomination of U.S. Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States:

BLACK WOMEN LEADERS RESPOND TO TRUMP AND THE GOP IN RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION TO BLACK AMERICA: ‘WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE?’

Our consortium of Black women leaders has disrupted the status quo of this election cycle and of society. This week, we have been reminded of the question you asked Black people during the 2016 election: “What do you have to lose?”  Our answer, evidenced by increasingly poor economic outcomes, high racial tensions and hate incidents, the coronavirus, and an overall lack of dignity and respect in the White House, is a lot. And for Black women in particular, it’s too much.

Rep. Waters on Midnight Mitch McConnell’s Sham Impeachment Trial Rules

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued a statement on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s partisan rules for the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, which will operate on a greatly compressed schedule in the dark of night, and, for the first time in U.S. history, will proceed without a guarantee for material witnesses and documents:

Will McConnell Let the Senate Hold a Fair Impeachment Trial?

Today the House of Representatives will vote on whether to impeach President Trump. If it votes yes, sometime early in the new year I will take an oath on the Senate floor to uphold the Constitution, review evidence and follow the facts wherever they lead, regardless of party or ideology. Every one of my colleagues will be required to do the same.

Reparation: Racism vs Reality 

Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader said he does not support reparation for decentness of slaves, concluding “None of us currently living are responsible” for slavery.  In a sense, Senator McConnell is right. Reparation is not the responsibility of White Americans or any individuals living today. It is the responsibility of the government.  For it was the U.S. government which enacted the legal institution of human chattel enslavement, primarily of Africans and African Americans, in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Resisting the Ethical Imperative of Reparations: Seeking Artificial Refuge in Dishonest Denial

The recent hearing in the House of Representatives on reparations marks an important step on the long struggle for justice for Black people and accountability from the larger society for the horrendous and harrowing history of enslavement, Jim Crowism and racist oppression of varied kinds. However, in the spirit and speech of Amilcar Cabral, we know we must “mask no difficulties, tell no lies and claim no easy victories.”