NNPA NEWSWIRE — Dozens of state legislatures introduced bills to restrict the practice of voting by mail. Other states have begun aggressively removing voters from the rolls and re-drawing Congressional maps blatantly designed to silence the Black vote.
The significance and relevance of Karen Bass being elected as the first female Mayor of the City of Los Angeles is not just a concern for people of color or persuasion.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act, banning hair-related discrimination. The measure passed in a vote of 235-189 along party lines.
“This has been a 30-plus year journey,” Congresswoman Jackson Lee declared. “We had to take a different approach. We had to go one by one to members explaining this does not generate a check.” Congresswoman Jackson Lee said this week that there’s now enough votes in the House for passage of the historic piece of legislation.
America – and most notably Black America – is back to work, declared President Joe Biden as he announced one of the most robust job reports in modern times.
Congresswoman Karen Bass is the newest candidate to enter the Los Angeles mayoral race. Bass officially announced her candidacy in a tweet on Sept. 27, that proclaimed, “With my whole heart, I’m ready. Let’s do this — together. I’m running for mayor.”
Once again, the idea of Statehood for the District of Columbia has not only come before the U.S. Congress but has also passed the House of Representatives.
House Resolution 1 – the “For the People Act of 2021” – counts as a strong rebuke and counterbalance to voting restrictions considered or enacted in various Republican-led states across the country. It restricts partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts and nullifies obstacles for voters.
“For too long, we have endured the pain of watching or seeing the deaths of people of color, particularly Black men and women, at the hands of rogue police officers who operate with impunity and take it upon themselves to be the arbiters of life and death,” Congresswoman Maxine Waters declared. “The trauma that our communities feel is only made worse by the ways in which we are forced to reckon with the reality that Black people are over 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people, and Black teenagers are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than white teenagers.”
While some of us are spending our time watching the news or wondering how we are going to survive the pandemic, now is the time to understand the battles we are in and determine what we must do individually and collectively.
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.
Lawmakers are seeking to honor Officer Goodman for his actions that may have saved the lives of many people, including members of Congress, during the deadly insurrectionist attack at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. “He’s a hero. The United States Capitol was under attack by armed, violent extremists, and Officer Eugene Goodman was the only thing standing between the mob and the United States Senate,” Florida Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist declared.
Top National Stories of 2020
Somewhere in in the world — California, Nevada, or beyond — Snoop Dogg, Mike Tyson, J.R. Smith, and millions of other Americans are smiling. They might even be enjoying a puff and “passing it around.”