Category Archives: Newswire

Newswire: Colonel Paris Davis receives Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam

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President Biden awards medal to Col. Paris Davis

From Blackmansstreet

President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Army Colonel Paris Davis, some sixty years after his superior officers recommended him for the nation’s highest honor. However, the Army lost the recommendations twice, and some believe racism may have played a role.

President Biden draped the Metal of Honor around Davis, who was awarded for fighting in Vietnam during a packed event at the White House.

Davis was captain and commander of the 5th Special Forces Group, one of the few Blacks in command.

He was engaged in a continuous pre-dawn raid on a contingent of the North Vietnamese army encamped in the village of Bong Son in Binh Dinh province.

Davis fought in hand-to-hand combat with the North Vietnamese and thwarted the capture of three American soldiers. He also sprinted across open rice paddies to rescue members of his troop. His entire team survived “That world gallantry is not much used these days,”
Biden said. “But I can think of no better word to describe Paris.” Colonel Davis retired in 1985 and faced segregation in Virginia.

He also wondered why he had never heard about the recommendation he received for the Medal of Honor. He was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest combat medal, but his team members said his Black skin was a factor in the disappearance of the Medal of Honor recommendation.

Davis had been recommended for the Medal of Honor after the battle in 1965. Nine years later, a second nomination was submitted, but it also was lost.
Army service members said there was no evidence of racism, but former President Bill Clinton said Black men were not recommended for the Medal of Honor in World War II. He then listed several Black men who received the Silver Star but were denied the Medal of Honor often given the Silver Star, a high honor, but not the Medal of Honor.

In 1997, President Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to seven African Americans who had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

In 2021, Christopher Miller, then acting defense secretary, ordered an expedited review of Davis’
Case.

Several weeks ago, President Biden called Davis, now 83, telling him he would receive the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony.

Newswire: The Joint Center: Blacks and People of Color getting few jobs in the new Congress

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Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackMansStreet.Today

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington D.C. think tank for Black-elected officials, angry that only 5.1 percent of Blacks and 17.9 percent of people of color are hired for the nation’s top jobs in the 118th Congress, which began meeting January 3, 2023.

Top staff positions include chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and communication directors.

“These low numbers are concerning because people of color account for 40 percent of the U.S. population, and Blacks account for 12.4 percent of the population,” the Joint Center wrote in “Update of Racial Diversity of the Top Staff Hires in 118thCongress.”

The Joint Center’s midterm hiring campaign microsite, which went live on November 2022, features several interactive tools monitoring staff of all new and returning members. More than 93.6 percent of the top positions–1,499 of 1,602– have already been filled as of February 17, 2023.

Of the 1,011 top staff positions filled by returning House members, this number also lags behind the national population.

Returning Senate members’ counties also lag behind the diversity of the national population.

The 205 newly elected House members, continue to be behind the national population of 40.0 percent for people of color and Blacks.

Of the newly elected Senators, only diverse top staffers accounted for 8.3 percent, which is lower than the U.S. population.

Newswire: DOJ court brief hints at possible
federal indictment of Donald Trump

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 Insurrectionist mob attacks U. S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021


By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Officials from the U.S. Department of Justice have stated that inciting imminent private violence is not part of a president’s official responsibilities, the strongest indication yet that criminal charges are being considered against former President Donald Trump.
In a case involving police officers who want to sue Trump, the federal appellate court in the District of Columbia asked the Department of Justice to weigh in on the matter.
“Such incitement of imminent private violence would not be within the outer perimeter of the Office of the President of the United States,” the DOJ wrote in a memo to the court.
Trump asserted that he can’t be sued for his role in organizing his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Lawmakers and Capitol Police officers have filed a lawsuit claiming that Trump incited the attack by falsely claiming in a speech that the 2020 election had been stolen and urging his supporters to march on the Capitol.
The civil division of the Department of Justice filed a 23-page brief with the court of appeals, requesting that the court allow the lawsuit to move forward.
The DOJ said Trump’s incitement of the deadly insurrection fell outside the scope of his presidential powers and therefore disqualifies any immunity argument.
The U.S. Supreme Court has previously decided that the Constitution protects presidents from being sued for their official actions.
“The District Court correctly rejected Trump’s categorical assertion ‘that whenever and wherever a President speaks on a matter of public concern he is immune from a civil suit,” the DOJ insisted.
“Speaking to the public on matters of public concern is a traditional function of the Presidency, and the outer perimeter of the President’s office includes a vast realm of such speech.
“But that traditional function is one of public communication. It does not include incitement of imminent private violence of the sort the district court found that the plaintiff’s complaints have plausibly alleged here.”
The lawsuits allege that Trump’s speech was responsible for inciting the attack, which the DOJ said begs the question of whether it is within the scope of his presidency to update his supporters on the results of the 2020 election.
In a ruling made last year, Federal District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta allowed the lawsuits against the former president to proceed.
The judge concluded that Trump’s various communications leading up to and including January 6 amounted to a “call to action” and that he urged his supporters should “fight like hell” to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory.
Trump’s attorneys have appealed that ruling to the D.C. Circuit. They claimed presidents have always been protected from legal action for statements made in the course of their official duties because such statements are considered “speech on matters of public concern.”
Several Democratic lawmakers and Capitol Police officers have joined forces to file a lawsuit against Trump over the attack on January 6. Other groups not involved in the appeal, such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, are also named as defendants in the lawsuits.
By its very nature, “such conduct plainly falls outside the President’s constitutional and statutory duties,” the DOJ wrote.
As such, it cannot be squared with the President’s customary role of addressing the nation on vital issues, they argued.
The President has “extraordinary power to speak to his fellow citizens and on their behalf” in his role as the nation’s leader and head of state.
“But that traditional function is one of public communication and persuasion, not incitement of imminent private violence,” the DOJ continued.
“To extend immunity to such incitement would contradict the ‘constitutional heritage and structure’ that have informed and justified the doctrine of presidential immunity.

 

Newswire : Black taxpayers are audited at twice the rate of other people

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Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackMansStreet.Today
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Black men who are raising their children alone are more likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service if they use the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), compared with married couples of another race who also use EITC, according to a study conducted by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
The EITC supports low-and middle-income with taxable earnings from work, replacing welfare as the largest cash-based safety net program in the United States.
The IRS, which collects $4 trillion to support government programs, relies on audits to detect underreporting tax liabilities and verify that taxpayers qualify for the benefits they claim.
The Stanford study reported that Black taxpayers were audited between 2.9 to 4.7 times the rate of non-Black taxpayers.
EITC causes a high rate of audits involving Black taxpayers versus non-Black taxpayers. Black taxpayers accounted for 21 percent of EITC claims, but they were the focus of 43 percent of EITC audits.
Stanford RegLab teams work with the Treasury Department, which allows them to analyze more than 148 million tax returns and approximately 780,000 audits.
When President Biden took office, he signed Racial Justice Executive Order 13985, which requires all federal agencies to determine how their programs impact racial and ethnic equity.
The discrepancy boggles the mind, although tax returns don’t ask for the taxpayer’s racial or ethnic identity. So, the IRS uses first names, last names, and the locations where many Black people live.
The most striking statistic affecting Blacks and the IRS is that a single Black man with dependents who uses EITC is 20 times more likely to be audited compared to a non-Black, married couple that jointly filed a taxpayer claiming EITC.
“The racial disparity in audit rates persists regardless of whether EITC claimants are male or female, married or unmarried or raising children or are childless,” the study noted.
When Black men report a taxable income of 7.73 percent  with EITC, they are more likely to be audited by the IRS compared with 3.46 percent for married non-Blacks couples, according to the study.
For single Black male taxpayers who did not claim dependents, they are audited at 5.66 percent versus 2 percent for a non-Black single adult.
Seventy percent of IRS audits happen through the mail, and 50 percent involve EITC claimants.
The IRS supposedly uses a colorblind method in which Black taxpayers are audited at much higher rates than non-Black taxpayers who use the use EITC.
The burden of correspondence audits on EITC claimants is more likely to fall on lower-income taxpayers whose tax returns are less complex and less likely to lead to litigation.
President Biden’s executive order is intended to make the IRS audit selection algorithm more just. Racial disparities in income are well known, and what the IRS chooses to focus on has big implications for whether audits complement, or undercut a progressive tax system, said Daniel E. Ho of Stanford University.

Newswire : South Africa hosts Russia and China in joint naval exercises

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Chinese ship prepares for naval exercises.


 
Feb. 27, 2023 (GIN) – On the heels of a near-unanimous vote at the U.N. condemning Russia over its war on Ukraine, South Africa will be hosting 10 day joint naval exercises with Russia and China.
 
Opposition figures are calling this an endorsement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
 
South Africa’s government says it remains neutral regarding the conflict, and that it routinely hosts similar drills with other countries, including France and the U.S.
 
The naval exercises, called Mosi, which means “smoke” in the Tswana language, are taking place in the Indian Ocean, off the South African coast. 350 members of its armed forces will take part.
 
Russia will be sending its Admiral Gorshkov warship which carries Zircon hypersonic missiles. These fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of 620 miles.
 
Moscow “will be trying to show that despite its setbacks in the war in Ukraine, its armed forces are still very powerful”, said Denys Reva from South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies.
 
The U.N. vote called on Russia to immediately withdraw from the Ukraine and end the fighting. Thirty-two countries abstained from voting, while seven countries, including South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, and Mali refused to endorse it.  
 
“All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide,” said South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, during a visit by her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in January.
Trying to stop South Africa from conducting joint military exercises with the countries of its choice amounted to “an abuse of international practice”, she said.
African nations abstaining from the vote included Burundi, Algeria, Angola, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
In an interview last March with Bloomberg News, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said “(the position of) neutrality can cost… and fortunately, we’re not alone in all this, there are many others that have chosen the same path. The benefit in all this is that we can talk to both sides.”
 
Last year, Kenya, then a member of the UN Security Council, deplored Russia’s invasion, calling it a resurgence of new colonialism.
 
“We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression,” Dr Martin Kimani, Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN said at the time.
 
The non-binding vote means Ukraine has gained two more African backers than last year in March. 
 

Newswire :Obesity Care Week begins as report reveals that nearly 50 percent of African Americans have obesity

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Billboard on obesity

By Stacy M. Brown,NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Obesity Care Week 2023 (OCW) kicked off on Monday, Feb. 27, with a focus on the disproportionate impact of obesity on communities of color.
Health officials responsible for OCW said racial and ethnic minorities have a higher rate of chronic diseases. African Americans have the highest rate of chronic diseases.
According to recent data, almost 50% of African Americans have obesity, and approximately 4 out of 5 Black women have overweight or obesity.
The causes of obesity are complex, and a person’s access to healthy food, safe places to exercise and play, stable and affordable housing, access to quality health care, and social attitudes about body weight all play a role in whether a person will have obesity.
However, communities of color face unique challenges in each of these areas, health officials stated.
For example, in the United States, only 8% of African Americans live in a census tract with a supermarket, while 31% of white Americans have one. This means that minorities more often shop in small stores or bodegas or eat at fast food restaurants. These places usually have less fresh food and more processed food.
Cultural attitudes about body weight also play a role, with non-Hispanic white women more satisfied with their body size than non-Hispanic Black women, and Hispanic women more interested in losing weight and eating healthy. Evidence shows that the African American population has less of an impact on existing weight loss interventions, with Black men and women achieving smaller weight losses. Health officials noted that this suggests that intensive behavioral programs result in lower levels of adherence in Black people than whites.
Founded in 2015, Obesity Care Week has a global vision for a society that values science and clinically based care and understands, respects, and accepts the complexities of obesity.
Organizers have focused on changing the way society cares about obesity and have worked to empower individuals by providing affordable and comprehensive care and prevention programs, increasing awareness of weight bias, and working to eliminate obesity.
Researchers said obesity not only affects overall health, but it also increases the risk of complications from COVID-19. According to a recent study of hospitalized patients in the US, obesity may also predispose patients to getting the virus and is the strongest predictor for COVID-19 complications.
Unfortunately, African Americans are also disproportionately affected by COVID-19. According to the CDC, 33% of those hospitalized with the virus were African Americans, compared to 13% of the US population. Inequities in access to and quality of care result in poor overall health and many chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. This can affect individuals’ chances of getting COVID-19.
The communities in which African Americans live may place them at greater risk for developing chronic illnesses. For example, they may not have access to healthy foods or safe places to play or exercise.
For people who try to eat healthy, living in a food desert means that they must go to a grocery store. They often must do this by public transportation. These disparities need to be addressed so that all communities have the resources and support they need to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
“Obesity Care Week 2023 highlights the need for comprehensive and inclusive approaches to obesity care that consider the unique challenges faced by communities of color,” organizers stated.

Newswire: Chairman Thompson says classified tapes House Speaker McCarthy turned over to Fox News has ‘serious national security implications’

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Chairman Bennie Thompson with Vice-Chair Liz Cheney

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Mississippi Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson revealed that some of the 41,000 hours of video footage from the January 6, 2021, insurrection that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) turned over to Fox News included classified material that could threaten national security.
In an exclusive 65-minute interview with Let It Be Known, a live daily news show put on by the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Thompson, the head of the January 6 Commission, said he wanted to see what document McCarthy signed with Fox News to transfer the footage.
“There are serious national security implications, a lot of what we saw and did not share with the public as a committee,” Thompson said in a no-holds-barred discussion with Black Press reporters on the program. “There are safeguards in place, and some of this material is privileged,” he continued.
“You can’t just open the store and let someone come in and clean it out. We want to see what document was executed for that transfer of information. I chaired the [January 6] committee, and I can tell you that there is clearly information in there that we choose not to put in the public arena because of its sensitivity.”
The bold and unusual move by the House speaker of handing over such information reportedly comes after McCarthy faced intense pressure from his right flank to relitigate the work of the House select committee.
\While it took an unprecedented 15 rounds of voting for McCarthy to win the speakership, one of the reasons Republicans relented was because he vowed to hold hearings on the Capitol riot.
Thompson noted that the cause for alarm rose further when McCarthy gave the classified information to Carlson, the most outspoken Fox host, to promote the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
“You turn the tapes over to a guy who was the cheerleader of lies being told, and even when he knew what he was saying was wrong, he kept saying it,” Thompson railed.
“I don’t know what it means from a journalistic standpoint, we can have differences of opinion, but when facts say something different and are irrefutable, and you try to promote alternate situations, that’s not journalism,” he continued.
“You turn this kind of information to these people who have been proven in a court of law not to tell the truth about a subject they had already acknowledged in court. Fox News has turned this information over to the courts in a lawsuit, and now that same Fox News has access to information about January 6. The speaker should have said, ‘I can’t let you have this.’ But he did.”
While Thompson doesn’t expect McCarthy to pay the price for his action, he stated his belief that he, a Democrat and African American, most certainly would have it been him who turned over classified information.’ “I, and every other member of Congress, take an oath that you are not supposed to release that kind of information,” Thompson declared. “If you do, you have violated the oath of office and broken the law.”
Thompson, who led the investigation into the January 6 insurrection, called it challenging to work with Republicans like McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and others.
“I think Speaker McCarthy, because of his challenge to become speaker, made so many off-the-record commitments to become the speaker that he can’t say no to certain people,” Thompson asserted.
“He can’t say no to Marjorie Taylor Greene or some of those other folks. So it took him too long to become the speaker. Every time a vote was taken, they [negotiated, and ultimately McCarthy got the number he needed. Still, it’s clear that he had to give up all authority and power inherent in a traditional speakership to get [the job].
“So, I’m not surprised he gave this information to Fox News. They’ve been in his corner promoting an alternate reality, which is part of the payback to the Fox Network.”

Newswire: UN chief berates global financial system for denying debt relief to Africa

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Feb. 19, 2023 (GIN) – At the opening of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa this weekend, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres scolded an “unfair financial system” for denying many African countries the debt relief and concessional financing they need.
 
“Systems and structures, from health and education to social protections, job-creation and gender equality are starved of investment for lack of support,” he said.
 
Developing African countries are often left out when global investment lenders create their financial plans, he stated. “African countries cannot invest in these critical areas and climb the development ladder with one hand tied behind their backs.”
 
Guterres continued: “We need a new debt architecture that provides debt relief and re-structuring to vulnerable countries, including middle-income countries, while providing immediate debt suspension and write-downs to countries in need.”
The U.N. chief accused the international financial system of charging African countries “extortionate” interest rates – which he called “a raw deal.”
He also announced $250 million in crisis funding, including for famine risk on the continent.
Public debt ratios in sub-Saharan Africa are at their highest in more than two decades, the International Monetary Fund said last year. 
 
The coronavirus pandemic pushed many poor countries into debt distress as they were expected to continue servicing their obligations in spite of the massive shock to their finances. 
Governments on the continent, including Ethiopia, sought debt restructuring deals under an IMF program to help them navigate the crisis, but conclusion of the process has been delayed.
Others, which have not sought to restructure their debt, like Kenya, have seen their debt sustainability indicators worsen after the pandemic hit their finances.
“Nearly all of us want to put our economies back on a growth trajectory but this will not happen without sufficient restructuring to make our external debt sustainable,” said Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Meanwhile, the U.N. will spend $250 million from its emergency fund, the largest ever allocation, to respond to several crises around the world, including helping communities at risk of famine in Africa, Guterres later told a news briefing.

 

Newswire: Clif Bar & Company announces $1 million Organic Research Endowment to Tuskegee University

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EMERYVILLE, Calif.–(AP BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov 15, 2022– Today, Clif Bar & Company announced a $1 million endowment to Tuskegee University to support the advancement of organic agriculture and farming practices through the University’s College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences (CAENS).
With this investment, Tuskegee University becomes the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to receive a Clif Bar endowment and is the fifth recipient in the company’s $10 million program to support organic research at land-grant universities. This endowment is being matched by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), a non-profit organization that builds public-private partnerships to fund research addressing challenges in food and agriculture, doubling the total gift to Tuskegee University to $2 million.
Over the last three decades, research capabilities at the nation’s Black land-grant universities have been underfunded by at least $12.8 billion, compared to their predominantly white counterparts.
The growth of organic farming has also lacked regional and racial diversity.
According to the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture, of the 30,909 certified organic farmers in the U.S., only 0.5% are Black-owned. This endowment aims to increase equity in organic farming by supporting the work of plant and soil science professors and researchers, Dr. Joe K. Kpomblekou and Dr. Franklin Quarcoo, whose work was highlighted on Nov. 14 at the annual Agriculture Workers Conference in Montgomery, AL.

“Investing in an organic and equitable future for U.S. farming and agriculture is imperative to advancing our food systems and ensuring broader access to organic food for all,” said Dr. Kpomblekou. “We are grateful to Clif Bar for their industry leadership and commitment to organic research and education which will ultimately benefit not just Tuskegee University but inspire more Black leaders in organic farming.”
“Organic farming research can assist producers in implementing sustainable soil health management practices, increase resilience to climate change and strengthen our food systems,” said Dr. LaKisha Odom, FFAR scientific program director and Tuskegee alumna. “FFAR is proud to partner with Clif Bar to maximize investment in the advancement of organic agriculture and support equity in farming through this endowment to Tuskegee University.”
Founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee has a long history of innovation in agriculture, including the contributions of George Washington Carver who worked at the university most of his adult life and is known for his work on soil chemistry and crop rotation, and his commitment to support Southern Black farmers. Today, the university has a center for Plant Biotechnology Research which is training scientists from around the world and has one of the first centers funded by NASA to develop a technology for growing food in space during human space missions.
Clif Bar has been a champion for the planet since its founding 30 years ago, which includes a longtime commitment to sustainable agriculture practices including organic, having purchased more than 1.4 billion tons of organic ingredients since 2003.
“At Clif, our purpose is to redesign the business of food for the benefit of health, equity and Earth, and supporting Tuskegee’s work to make organic more accessible and equitable is a meaningful way to deliver on that promise,” said Senior Vice President of Impact & Communications at Clif Bar & Company, Roma McCaig. “We are committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion and are proud to support Tuskegee’s work that will help create a more inclusive future for organic farming.”

 

Newswire: A Black woman-owned business encounters discrimination in quest to help Ukraine

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Damage to housing in Ukraine

By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


Carolyn Davis, like many others, had an immediate reaction to the destruction in Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion. “Those folks need help,” said Davis, the CEO of the District of Columbia-based CDAG International.
To help, her construction company visited areas of the war-torn country where civilians and military personnel alike needed assistance.
Davis said her group had installed “living containers and living facilities” that provided families with things like furniture and bunk beds, as well as generators.
“We installed electrical systems and other mandatory features,” she stated.
As the war’s anniversary approaches, though, it appears that American impulses have also kicked in.
U.S. politicians, government organizations, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and others have neglected CDAG’s work, even though U.S. military aid and spending has reached over $50 billion, and firms are pitching services to gain contracts to help reconstruct that Eastern European nation.
Davis has repeatedly requested that USAID allow the company to compete for contracts to provide relief in Ukraine, but USAID has routinely declined. USAID counts as an independent agency of the government that’s responsible for providing civilian foreign aid and helping developme
nt Davis stated, “They do not recognize me. I’m just some Black woman who wants to lend a hand. And that’s exactly what they perceive. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to support a Black-owned business, but they clearly don’t.”
The American envoy to Ukraine also snubbed CDAG’s request for a meeting, despite the Ukraine Ministry of Defense having given Davis’s firm a glowing recommendation.
The Defense Ministry expressed gratitude to the United States government in a letter dated December 30, 2022, for its support during Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.The letter addressed to Nathaniel Adler, the principal director of the U.S. Office of the Under Secretary for Policy at the Department of Defense, noted that Ukraine still requires urgent supplies, equipment, and logistical support.
Meeting such requirements would be impossible without access to necessary resources and a reliable support system, the defense minister wrote. “Due to the intense fighting in several areas, it’s very difficult to get these materials to our troops on the front line and other locations, and there are very few companies that can accomplish this task,” the letter continued.
“CDAG International has worked with our military and has proven that they can assist the Ukrainian government to acquire critical services and facilitate many of our requirements. CDAG has proven beneficial to our troops and had contributed to saving lives.”
The letter is only one of many testimonials to CDAG’s capabilities, according to Dwight Brown, senior managing partner for CDAG and a retired U.S. Army Sgt. Major.
“We’ve created enough housing to accommodate 3,000 people and we’ve done it in approximately eight months,” Brown said. CDAG has focused its efforts on the western side of Ukraine, where the war’s destruction has forced many people to relocate, he said.
“There are people who left Ukraine and are trying to make their way back,” Brown noted. “We see a lot of squatters and in villages there are people with tents on the side of the road. We want people to get back inside warm structures before it gets too far into the winter there.”
The Ukraine government provided CDAG 60 acres of land, but without funding or even a token commitment from the American government, it will be difficult for the company to meet current demand.
CDAG managing partner Warwin Davis added that the firm has supplied heating, generators, and external stoves to aid Ukrainian forces. Davis, who has managed multinational supply chains for almost three decades, insisted, “We made history over there.”
“Historically speaking, it was Carol Davis who made history,” Davis demanded.
“It’s incredible that we haven’t been able to acquire a quarter from USAID despite what we’ve shown that we can accomplish.”
CDAG hopes to meet with White House officials. “The elephant in the room is we are a woman-owned and minority small business, and the U.S. government and USAID are giving all the dollars to the regular companies,” Brown asserted.
“We’re going not continue to ride the Office of the Secretary of Defense, USAID, and congressional offices. People with weaker constitutions than us would have thrown in the towel. That’s not us. When they tell us ‘No,’ it just means next opportunity. We’re coming to the table and not asking for special set asides, just an opportunity.”