Author: Carma Henry

      When Vice President Joe Biden launched his campaign for President, he made it clear that African Americans would play prominently in his appeal for support of his candidacy.  That may not seem like a revelation now that everyone talks about the “pragmatism,” the “conservative perspective” and the loyalty of Black voters to the Democratic Party.  But last spring, Biden led the way by acknowledging the relevancy of African Americans in the greatest nation in the world.

     “We’re extremely excited to announce our September grand opening date for all of the music fans who have been anxiously awaiting the debut of this museum,” said H. Beecher Hicks III, NMAAM President and CEO. “This museum is a unique place that tells a special story. Our hope is that no matter your age, race or preferred music genre, within this museum you can find something that stirs your soul, pleases your ears and moves your feet. We encourage everyone to start planning their 2020 trips to Nashville and purchase your tickets to this first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to celebrating incredible people and moments in American history.”

  The Florida Democratic Party prepares to flip Florida Blue with a new round of hires and promotions. Brittney Geathers, who has been promoted director of African American outreach,  previously served as FDP community engagement director.

We Are the Vote!

Fair credit denials limit wealth-building for Black consumers and businesses

     Butler was allegedly walking back to a team bus at the end of a trip by the Eastern Illinois University swim team when the incident occurred. The team was returning from a championship tournament last year in Sioux Falls, SD, when their bus driver pulled off of Interstate 80 near a rest stop in East Moline, IL at about 8 p.m. at night. 

     During my tenure at the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), it became clear to me that access was the foundation of economic opportunity. The transportation sector lacked diversity, equity and inclusion, and this was glaringly obvious to both leadership and employees. Pathways began to emerge to grow a diverse pool of talent, but it was obvious that a more organizational framework was needed to operate at full capacity to best serve veterans, women, underrepresented, and underserved workers; groups that had been previously overlooked.

     Forty-five’s hostility to poor people is reflected in reductions in Medicaid, food stamps, and the CHIP program, which provides health care for poor children. And while he is starving poor people, he insists on preserving the 2017 tax cuts that mostly benefitted the wealthy. I’m not surprised that “forty-five” maintains his hostility to the poor. We’ve seen this in the previous budgets that he’s presented to Congress.

A coalition of Florida and national voting rights advocates urged Florida Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee, Bay County Supervisor of Elections Mark Andersen, and other Florida officials to expand voting access for African American and low-wealth voters in Panama City ahead of the March 17, 2020 Presidential Preference Primary Election. The groups’ letter identifies serious racial disparities in Early Voting access in Panama City, as well as other barriers to voting access for African American and low-wealth voters, many of whom continue to face difficulties recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Michael, which made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on October 10, 2018.

    To pull together photographs, videos, and audio records he collected for this performance, Rose interviewed researchers and activists including Michael ‘Quess’ Moore, who co-founded Take ‘Em Down NOLA; Maxine Crump, CEO of Dialogue on Race-Louisiana; Chris Tyson, president of Build Baton Rouge, Jason Perkins, Ph.D., professors Eva Baham and Lori Martin; LSU history chairman Aaron Sheehan-Dean, Ph.D.; Southern University law professor Angela Allen-Bell; historian Thomas Durant, and many others, he said.