The Greene County Democrat

Category: Newswire

  • Newswire: Congress moves to help inmates in Federal prisons but not in predominately Black state prisons

    By Frederick H. Lowe

    California prison

    Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Congress has passed legislation reducing sentences for some inmates serving time in federal prisons, but the law won’t affect state prisons and jails where the majority of black men are serving time.
    The legislation called “First Step Act,” Senate bill 2795, passed by a vote of 87 to 12. The House of Representatives passed the legislation 358-36. Now it will go to President Trump who has promised to sign it.
    First Step is designed to reduce recidivism, according to GovTrac, which monitors federal legislation.
    The bill also would place inmates in prisons close to their homes to increase the likelihood of more family visitation, order home confinement for low-risk prisoners, prohibit the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners, expand adult employment for returning prisoners through federal programs and treatment of prisoners for heroin and opiod use and addiction, and ease federal sentencing laws.
    The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocate for a fair and effective justice system by promoting reforms, called the Senate’s passage of First Step “an important milestone in the long road to ending mass incarceration and curbing the excesses and harm in the federal justice system.”
    “The last time Congress passed legislation to reduce sentences was in 2010 when Congress reformed the racially disparate mandatory minimum penalties governing crack cocaine offenses,” The Sentencing Project reported.
    The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, also praised the legislation, but the Law Center said the legislation will have no impact on state sentencing laws or on people who are incarcerated in state prisons or local jails.
    In 2016, The Sentencing Project published “The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons,” which noted that African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons across the country at more than five times the rate of whites.” In some states, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin the disparity is 10 to 1. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 35 percent of state prisoners are white, 38 percent are black and 21 percent Hispanic. Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate of black males, which is 1 in 29 adults and 1 in 15 for black boys 18 to 21.
    At the end of 2017, there was an estimated 1,489, 600 inmates in state and federal prisons, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, which is based in New York.
    There were 1, 306,300 inmates in state prisons, 9,900 fewer than in 2016, and 183, 300, or 5, 900 fewer in federal prisons than in 2016. As of December 13, the figure was 180,790 in federal prisons.
    The decline in the number of inmates in state prisons is not across the board. Some state prisons have added inmates.

  • Newswire: Africa’s ‘Blue Economy’ – the new frontier

    African maritime industry

            Dec. 17, 2018 (GIN) – Six counties in Kenya’s coastal region have been tagged for technical training in the blue economy – what some have called “the new frontier of the African Renaissance.”

        The goal is to enable young people to find jobs in the maritime industry.

        Kevit Desai, a Kenyan vocational training principal, says institutions of higher learning must begin to focus on developing skills, nurturing innovations and enterprise creation for this “overlooked opportunity.”

        He suggested a post-Blue Economy Conference workshop to create awareness and enhance community participation in this vision for the future.

        The topic prompted the World Bank last year to release a report called “The Potential of the Blue Economy” on sustainable use of marine resources for small island and coastal least developed countries.

        “An important challenge of the blue economy is to understand and better manage oceanic sustainability,” the report began, “from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health to pollution.”

        After years of neglect, the multilateral community is finally waking up,” writes David Thomas of African Business.  “Policymakers are excitingly speaking of job creation, new sources of government revenue and the limitless potential of ocean entrepreneurship.”

        But the initiative is also worrying to those who see a ‘global ocean grab’ by the rich and powerful, deciding who shall benefit, who should decide how much to fish and where. A drive for maximum profit is underway and small-scale fisher people fear a “global ocean grab’ is in the works.

        Multinational corporations, states, NGOs, speculative investors and many others are behind a ‘power grab’ to gain control of aquatic - ‘blue’ - resources, critics charge.

        A recent report on “Ocean Prosperity” speaks optimistically of the potential for profit: “The transition to a blue economy is a tremendous economic and investment opportunity,” they write, “and this report will help investors understand the risks and opportunities for making money from ocean resources.”

        The rise of blue growth represents the latest stage in a move by powerful economic actors to control crucial decision-making – including the power to decide how and for what purposes marine resources are used, conserved and managed.

        Guided by the World Bank and similar institutions, an increasing number of African countries are now embracing the blue economy for its potential to deliver solutions to their most pressing needs – particularly extreme poverty and hunger.

        Fishing sits at the forefront of debates about how to make the most of the blue economy while preserving a fragile ecosystem, observes Jeremy Prince of Murdoch University’s Center for Fish and Fisheries Research in Perth, Australia.

        Support has been promised to the African Union from the Economic Commission for Africa to ensure that the untapped potentials of the blue economy are fully realized.

  • Newswire : The Schomburg Center acquires Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis’ Archive

    Written By NewsOne Staff

    Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis

            The legacies of late actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis will prevail in Harlem. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at The New York Public Library—a cultural institution that serves as a hub for research and programming surrounding the global Black experience—has acquired the legendary couple’s archive, the New York Public Library reported.
        The couple’s mementos being brought to the Schomburg Center is very fitting as the two spent time living in Harlem. The items that are a part of the collection capture the essence of their social activism efforts and give a glimpse into their marriage. 
        Amongst the items are postcards and letters exchanged between the couple and activist Malcolm X, a greeting card that Coretta Scott King sent to the couple, Ruby Dee’s original script for “A Raisin in the Sun,” footage of Dee and Davis’ television appearances and interviews, correspondence between Dee and Langston Hughes and other items from the couple that are embedded in the fabric of Black culture.
        The Schomburg Center acquired the archive as a part of it’s Home to Harlem project; an effort to capture the stories of impactful Black figures who had an influence in Harlem and beyond. “Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were pillars of creativity, friendship, and support during the greatest artistic and political movements of our time,” Kevin Young, Director of the Schomburg Center, said in a statement. 
        “Their love for each other and for their closest friends, as well as their commitment to advancing social progress through the arts and advocacy, is reflected in the vastness of this archive. Having their archive home to Harlem will help scholars and researchers tell an even more comprehensive story of the cultural and political evolution of the 20th century. We are privileged to be stewards of the Dee and Davis legacies, and to make them available to the public for study and exploration.”

  • Newswire : Global voter suppression efforts against Black Americans are confirmed in new report

    Written By Nigel Roberts, Newsone
    A new report detailed how the Russians specifically targeted African-American voters in the 2016 election to help President Donald Trump win—adding to domestic efforts to suppress the Black vote.
    The New York Times obtained an advanced copy of the report that was released on Monday, and it found that a Russian-backed team used an array of tactics to suppress turnout among Democrats through social media outlets, especially Instagram and Facebook.
    In response, the NAACP called on Congress to conduct additional investigations into Facebook. Derrick Johnson, the organization’s president and CEO, told NewsOne that the report added urgency to its “LogOut Facebook” digital protestplanned for Dec. 18.
    “We’re raising awareness about an attack on Black and brown users, which Facebook was in part complicit with. The Russian interference during the 2016 election called into question the integrity of the voting processes that took place, and overwhelmingly, people of color have suffered the most as a result of that election,” he stated.
    A U.S. Senate committee commissioned the study that was produced by New Knowledge, a cybersecurity company based in Austin, Texas, along with researchers at Columbia University and Canfield Research LLC.
    The efforts through Facebook and Instagram focused on developing Black audiences and disproportionately recruited unwitting African-American activists who were sometimes paid to stage rallies to create turmoil.

            “As Russia takes aim at African-American voters, we can’t ignore the fact that people of color remain the primary targets for voter suppression schemes right here on American soil. In setting its main target on African Americans, Russia is taking a page out of the U.S. voter suppression playbook; by allowing voter suppression domestically, we send a dangerous message to bad actors such as Russia that Black votes don’t matter,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said.
        America’s long history of suppressing the Black vote also impacted the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. For example, after the Republican-led statehouse in Wisconsin changed its voter registration law mandating stricter identification, more than 200,000 voters, mostly African Americans, were not able to vote, according to a study from Priorities USA that was reported in The Nation.
        The progressive voting rights organization found that Wisconsin’s voter-ID law reduced turnout by 200,000 votes. Trump won the state by only 22,748 votes.
        A St. Petersburg company called the Internet Research Agency operated the influence campaign. It was owned by businessman Yevgeny V. Prigozhin who has a close connection to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
        The company created a dozen fake websites using names that would appeal to African Americans, such as blackmattersus.com, blacktivist.info, blacktolive.org and blacksoul.us. It operated a YouTube channel that covered the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality.
        On Facebook, ads targeted users who showed an interest in certain topics like Black history or the Black Panther Party.
        The NAACP called for its digital protest of Facebook ahead of Monday’s release of the report. Over the past year, the organization said it expressed concern about the company’s multiple data and privacy breaches, as well as the lack of employee diversity at large tech companies.
        “We’re holding Facebook accountable for the role it played in the proliferation of propaganda against people of color. The hackers preyed on the vulnerability of racial tensions in America, and Facebook fed them our information on a silver platter. As a corporation, Facebook needs to acknowledge this negligence, and we’re empowering people to use #LogOutFacebook as a means to express their discontent,” Johnson stated.

  • Newswire : Rep. Waters statement on Texas judge ruling Obamacare unconstitutional

    Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA)

         WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) released the following statement today in response to the ruling of a federal judge in Texas that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is unconstitutional:

     “I am deeply disturbed by the ruling of a federal judge in Texas – who was appointed by a Republican – that Obamacare is unconstitutional. This court case was brought before the court by a group of Republican governors and state attorneys general who are continuing the Republican Party’s relentless campaign to repeal Obamacare and strip away its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The case is further evidence that Republicans will stop at nothing to strike down Obamacare and take away health coverage from millions of Americans.

     “Ironically, this ruling comes barely a month after numerous Republicans stood for reelection while campaigning on the false premise that they actually cared about people with pre-existing conditions and were committed to protecting them. The American people were not fooled by these disingenuous claims, and many of these Republicans lost.

     “I applaud the announcement that the State of California, along with several other states led by Democrats, plans to appeal the court’s ruling. Obamacare has already survived several court challenges initiated by heartless Republicans, and I have no doubt it will survive this one.

     “Democrats just won a big victory in the 2018 midterm elections, after proving time and time again that we are the party that truly cares about the health and well-being of working families, seniors, veterans, the disabled and Americans with pre-existing conditions. As we take control of the House of Representatives, we will fight to protect the rights of all Americans to quality, affordable health care, and make certain that Obamacare and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions remain the law of the land.”

  • Newswire:  Global Citizens Fest honors Mandela legacy amidst huge crowd of Beyonce fans

    Dec. 3, 2018 (GIN) – A massive turnout of die-hard fans of superstars Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z filled every available square inch of the Johannesburg FNB stadium for the closing night of the Global Citizen Festival organized to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela and raise $1 billion to address poverty, food security, global health and other social issues. Beyonce and Jay-Z were the headline act for the standing room only closing affair that featured a 90 minute performance with the popular superstars that included a rendition of her 2008 single “Halo” accompanied by a South African choir. Those watching the show online, which also included appearances by Oprah Winfrey, Usher, Trevor Noah and Naomi Campbell, were only allowed to see 25 minutes of the two hour-plus set which caused bitter complaints across social media. Among the highlights of the free-ticketed event was a promise by billionaire Patrice Motsepe to give $250 million to support farming and agriculture in South Africa. Other major partners include Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, Nedbank, Vodacom, Big Concerts, House of Mandela, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers, Eldridge Industries, and Associate Partner, HP. “Global Citizens have generated commitments and policy announcements from leaders valued at over $37.9 billion that are set to affect the lives of more than 2.25 billion people. This year alone Global Citizens have secured 29 commitments totaling over $2.9 billion that are set to affect the lives of more than 501 million people by 2030,” organizers reported. As the exhausted fans left the stadium, however, joy turned to horror as the perimeter of the area was at a standstill with major traffic congestion, lack of public transportation and an absence of security, allowing robberies, violence and complete disorder to flourish. Much of this was documented on social media. Concert-goer and witness Catherine Constantinides, director of the Miss Earth SA program, said “it was more than mugging and taking phones”. “You prayed with your life not to be stabbed, punched or brutally attacked, all of which I witnessed,” she wrote on her verified Twitter account. The charity event also left a worrying question to be answered. Who would administer the giant sums promised – the government or the donors? An answer to that question should be forthcoming.

  • Newswire:  U.S. Senate’s only Black Republican blocks Tom Farr from becoming a Federal judge

     By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

    Senator Tim Scott

    On November 29, the U.S. Senate’s only African American Republican Senator, Tim Scott, announced he would oppose the nomination of Thomas Farr to a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. Scott’s blockbuster decision ended the chance of Farr’s nomination being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Scott cited, “lingering concerns” on “issues that could affect [Farr’s] decision-making process as a federal judge.” “This week, a Department of Justice memo written under President George H.W. Bush was released that shed new light on Mr. Farr’s activities. This, in turn, created more concerns. Weighing these important factors, this afternoon I concluded that I could not support Mr. Farr’s nomination,” said Scott. The decision marked the second time Scott has blocked a Trump nominee to the federal bench. “Thomas Farr was the most polarizing, dangerous and biased nominee that we have seen put forth by President Trump. We applaud Senator Tim Scott for exercising independence in the examination of Farr’s disturbing record; a record influenced by the modern white supremacist machine that former North Carolina senator Jesse Helms pioneered, and one that demonstrated bias and a commitment to defending voter suppression efforts at every turn,” stated Kristen Clarke, President of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Farr was the primary coordinator of the 1984 ‘ballot security’ program conducted by the 1984 Helms for Senate Committee. He coordinated several ‘ballot security’ activities in 1984, including a postcard mailing to voters in predominantly black precincts which was designed to serve as a basis to challenge voters on election day. Footnote 7, DOJ Memo, June 19, 1991. This revelation is singularly disqualifying,” wrote NAACP President Derrick Johnson. Sen. Scott’s decision was a dramatic one. A day before on November 28, he was nowhere to be found shortly before a vote to continue debate on the Farr nomination. Other Senators, as well as reporters, searched for Scott near the Senate floor before that procedural vote. Many assumed his support of moving the debate to a final vote meant he would support Farr’s nomination. That assumption was incorrect. Sen. Scott was joined by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in wondering out loud about whether Farr should be on the federal bench. But Sen. Scott was the only one to announce he would vote against Farr on the floor.

  • Newswire:  Indictments and trials finally come in police shootings of Blacks, minorities

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

    Amber Geiger and Botham Jean

    Recent indictments and convictions suggest a swinging pendulum, and at least some cracks in the “Blue Wall” that all too often conspires to hide details and protect officers guilty of unjust shootings of African Americans and others. Prosecutors in Chicago have won an indictment, alleging that three Windy City police officers conspired to protect a fellow officer after he fatally shot a Black teenager, Laquand McDonald, in 2014. The officers did so in spite of available videotaped evidence of the shooting, prosecutors said. McDonald, who was 17, was armed with a knife when he was shot 16 times. In Dallas, Texas, an officer was indicted last week on murder charges, nearly three months after she shot and killed an unarmed Black man whose apartment she said she entered by mistake, believing it to be her own. Also, in the last week, four Missouri police officers were indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the assault of a fellow officer who was working undercover. Officers Dustin Boone, Randy Hays and Christopher Myers of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, are accused of beating the undercover officer with a riot baton and tampering with witnesses to cover up the incident. Myers was also charged with destroying evidence and Officer Bailey Colletta was indicted on a charge of providing false statements to a federal grand jury in connection with the incident. According to CNN, the indictment details text messages between Myers and Boone in which they talk about how much fun it will be to beat “the hell out of these s**theads once the sun goes down and no one can tell us” apart. In Chicago, prosecutor Patricia Brown Holmes said in her opening statement that defendants David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney offered accounts of the deadly incident that conflicted with the video evidence. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice. The bench trial is expected to run into next week, according to Reuters. Earlier, a jury found former Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting of McDonald. What all of trials instances shares in common beyond the fact that officers are involved, and face prosecution, is that the perpetrators were white officers and the victims are all black males, and with the exception of McDonald, were unarmed when they were injured or killed. “For all the sacrifices and headaches of covering the murder trial of Chicago Officer Jason Van Dyke, it was worth it. Finally seeing a police officer led out of the courtroom left me speechless,” said Erick Johnson, who covered that trial for the Chicago Crusader. “Dressed in a black suit, he looked as if he was going to his own funeral. Only I, and a handful of Black clergy and activists in the courtroom were not mourning,” Johnson said, noting that “Silently, we were rejoicing.” The conviction, which led to Van Dyke being marched out of the court in handcuffs, was a day many Blacks in Chicago never thought they would see, said Johnson, who sat in the front row reserved for media and just yards away from Van Dyke. “A white police officer found guilty of killing Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager, and locked up immediately after his historic conviction. For Black Chicago, it was the trial of the century, a moment they had been waiting for a long time,” he said. “For this Black journalist, it was history unfolding before my very eyes. It was a story that changed Chicago forever and the climatic ending was about to take place in courtroom 500.” Meanwhile in Dallas, Amber Guyger told fellow officers that she opened fire when Botham Jean appeared in the darkness. Jean, a 26-year-old native of the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, attended college in Arkansas and had been working in Dallas for accounting and consulting firm PwC. Jean’s relatives joined the district attorney for the announcement of murder charges against the disgraced officer. “I truly believe that she inflicted tremendous evil on my son,” Jean’s mother, Allison said after the announcement of the charges, according to ABC News. “He didn’t deserve it. He was seated in his own apartment.” Guyger was arrested on a manslaughter charge three days after the Sept. 6 shooting, prompting criticism that the original charge was too lenient. But Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at the time that the grand jury could upgrade the charge, which it did last week. “When you look at the facts of this case, we thought that it was murder all along,” Johnson said. After finishing her shift, Guyger told investigators, she returned home in uniform and parked on the fourth floor of her apartment complex’s garage, rather than the third floor, where her unit was located, according to an affidavit prepared by the Texas Rangers. She said she got to what she thought was her apartment — Jean’s was directly above hers — and found the door ajar. She opened it to find a figure standing in the darkness. She said she pulled her gun and fired twice after the person ignored her commands. “The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) for decades has chronicled racially-motivated police murders and brutality against Black America,” said NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. “The recent indictments and sentencing of perpetrator police officers across the nation is long overdue. The NNPA will continue to demand an end to these systematic deadly actions and policies,” Chavis said. An analysis by the Associated Press also marked the latest developments in the national conversation on issues of law enforcement and race. A slew of law enforcement officers have faced charges for the shooting deaths of Black people. They include Guyger, Van Dyke, Stockley, and Robert Bates, a white Tulsa, Oklahoma, volunteer sheriff’s deputy who was sentenced in 2016 to four years in prison for second-degree manslaughter in the April 2015 death of Eric Harris, 44, who was unarmed and restrained.

  • Newswire:  Two Black men elected to top leadership positions in Congress

    By Frederick H. Lowe, BlackmansStreet.Today

     

    James Clyburn and Hakeem Jeffries

    For the first time ever, two African Americans will hold top leadership positions at the same time in Congress, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, recently announced. U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, was elected chair of the Democratic Caucus, and Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, was elected Majority Whip, the third most-powerful party member. Clyburn also is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Rep. Jeffries defeated Rep. Barbara Lee for this position by a vote of 123-113, which surprised some Congressional observers. Fellow California Rep. Jackie Speier indicated she believed that ageism and sexism played a role in Barbara Lee’s defeat. Saying members should have the “courage” to vote in a public way in House leadership races. Currently, the votes are taken by secret ballot. “There’s this game that some of my colleagues play where they say one thing to one member and then say something else to another member,” Speier said. Many viewed the defeat of Lee over Jeffries as a triumph of monied interests over progressive values. Though Tom Watson, founder of CauseWired, pointed out on Twitter that Jeffries voting record is just as progressive as Lee’s. In a gracious statement, Congresswoman Lee said, “I want to congratulate Congressman Hakeem Jeffries on a hard-fought race. I look forward to working with him to advance a progressive, inclusive agenda for the American people. While I didn’t win today, I hope my candidacy will inspire other women, and women of color in particular, to run for elected office and seek leadership positions. Our Caucus can only succeed when every voice is represented in leadership. “When the Congressional Black Caucus was founded in 1971, I know our 13 founding members dreamed of the day we would have more than one member in our ranks competing for top leadership positions in Congress. Today is that day, and I know they are proud,” Richmond said. The majority whip is a member of the dominant political party whose job is to keep voting members in line with the party’s ideology and goals. The majority whip ensures attendance at all important votes and legislative sessions. The 78-year-old Clyburn, who represents South Carolina’s 6th District, has been a member of Congress since 1993. Clyburn, who also was majority whip from 2007 to 2011, has been criticized for accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry over the past decade. Clyburn has received more money from drug maker PACs over the past decade than any other member of Congress—more than $1.09 million. During the 2018 election cycle, Clyburn received at least $170,000. In 2013, he was the featured speaker at a conference hosted by PhRMA, the industry’s leading trade group, according to Kaiser Health News. The conference was held at the James E. Clyburn Research Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, a hub of biopharmaceutical research. Kaiser Health News reported that voters complained about soaring prescription drug prices during the 2018 election campaign, and Democrats claimed they would do something about them in the next Congress. Nancy Pelosi, the incoming House Majority Leader, has received nearly $193,000 from drug maker PACs (political action committees). And Pelosi’s number two, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, has accepted $1.02 million from drug maker PACs since 2007. Hoyer received $128,000 from drug maker PACS during the recent election cycle. Prescription drug expenditures are nearly 20 percent of health care costs, and prescription spending is growing faster than any other part of the health care dollar. Spending on prescription drugs increased 13.1 percent in 2014—the largest annual increase since 2003. This uptick was largely driven by an unprecedented 30.9 percent increase in spending on specialty medications. In 2015, spending rose another 12.2 percent, according to theCampaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing. The chair of the Democratic Caucus makes sure party members achieve a consensus and achieve their goals. The 48-year-old Jefferies has been a member of Congress since 2013. He represents the 8th Congressional District, which includes Brooklyn and Queens, New York.

  • Newswire :  Rep. Karen Bass of California will lead the largest Congressional Black Caucus in history

     By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

     

     Representative Karen Bass (D-CA)

    On November 27 during a long day of selecting who will lead Democrats in the for U.S. House for the next two years, members of the Congressional Black Caucus selected California Congresswoman Karen Bass to be the next Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. For the next two years, the CBC will be 55 members, the largest in history. Bass told NNPA after the vote that she wants to elevate individual members of the Caucus during her tenure. “One of my most significant goals I believe is to try to elevate the unbelievable accomplishments of individual members of the Congressional Black Caucus that I believe have not really received the attention and the acknowledgement that they deserve — that’s my agenda,” Bass told NNPA. The CBC will have more power within the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House with five full chairmanships of top committees and also two members of the CBC, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), in leadership positions. Bass will be the 26th chair of the CBC, and the eighth woman to hold the position. Bass, 65, is a popular member of the CBC. She once served as the 67th Speaker of the California Assembly from 2008–2010 and is known for being tough and savvy. “From her days in the California General Assembly where she became the first African-American woman in U.S. history to lead a state legislative body, to her work in Congress to address both domestic and international issues affecting people of African descent, Congresswoman Bass has demonstrated tried and true leadership,” said outgoing CBC Chair Cedric Richmond. “From fighting for criminal justice reform and child welfare to affordable health care and a stronger economy for all, Karen has devoted her life to serving California families and African-American communities across the country. Karen is a proven leader who never backs down and always stands up for the values of inclusion and opportunity for all,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez in a statement after Bass was elected. Also elected were: Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH), 1st Vice Chair; Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), 2nd Vice Chair; Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA), Secretary; Congressman Donald McEachin (D-VA), Whip; and Congressman-elect Steven Horsford (D-NV), Parliamentarian.