The Georgia Democrat, who came about 60,000 votes shy of becoming America’s first Black female governor, refused to follow the traditional script for defeated politicians who offer gracious congratulations to their victorious competitor and gently exit the stage. Instead, Abrams took an unapologetically indignant tone that established her as a leading voting rights advocate.
This week Laphonza Butler, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015 and a Vice President of SEIU International, announced she will be leaving the organization at year’s end.
Waters’ statement was not subtle.
The debates that have unfolded in connection with the campaign to appoint Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court increasingly centered on charges of alleged sexual assault by him against Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. The attacks on Dr. Ford have come to represent everything that is so blatantly misogynistic about current U.S. society. The political Right has pulled out all of the stops to demean her character. One of the critical ‘arrows’ that is being fired is one that goes like this: why didn’t she come forward sooner?
“This is a discriminatory state law that is antiquated and almost equates to the laws that discriminated against racial minorities decades ago when they were required to pay a poll tax in order to vote…” — Sheila Jackson Lee
It was an issue of great interest to his boss, President George W. Bush who favored race-neutral admissions. Staff prepared a response anticipating the practice would be struck down, saying, “We must be ever mindful not to use means that create another wrong and thus perpetuate our divisions” in the pursuit of diversity.
I am so proud of the Freedom Schools scholars who have learned they are following in the footsteps of children and youths who were the foot soldiers and infantry of the Civil Rights Movement. Some of their stories from the Movement are well known: six-year-old Ruby Bridges in New Orleans walked through White mobs to attend school—even praying for those jeering at her; the Little Rock Nine; the four little girls killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. Thousands of children were on the frontlines of history. Whether sung or unsung heroes, we owe all of them a debt of gratitude.
The unfortunate result for citizens is that we’re just not getting any value from this key office these days. The Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection and Wall Street Reform Act is clear as to the responsibilities given to CFPB. Under the previous director, billions of dollars were returned to consumers for a host of illegal and deceptive acts by predatory financial institutions. These achievements were accomplished with the support of a dedicated staff.
A number of Southland civic leaders expressed disappointment after the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, upheld President Donald Trump’s executive order that largely bans travel and immigration from the nations of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela and North Korea. The executive order has been termed a “Muslim ban” by critics despite the fact that it makes no mention of religion. Five of the seven countries included have Muslim-majority populations, and Trump openly speculated while campaigning for the presidency in 2015 and 2016 that the United States needed a temporary ban on Muslims traveling to the United States in
U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, delivered remarks at the National Action Network’s 2018 Convention. She reflected on the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and outlined the fights our country faces today.
As a girl in Kansas, Linda Brown’s father tried to enroll her in an all-white school in Topeka. He and several black families were turned away, sparking the Brown v. Board of Education case that challenged segregation in public schools.
Janus case is part of continuing attack on workers
A proposed new state law would automatically give youthful offenders a chance at parole after 25 years.
A lawyer sentenced to five days in an Ohio jail for refusing to remove a Black Lives Matter button while in court has filed a federal lawsuit, saying her free speech rights were violated.
It’s impressive how Wendell Pierce confronts the challenge of his latest role, that of Clarence Thomas: with a hearty dose of empathy. Granted, Pierce has never been nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, and has little firsthand experience at the center of a firestorm like the 1991 nomination hearings where law professor Anita Hill accused her former boss at both the U.S. Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of numerous cases of sexual harassment.