Tag Archives: National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis

Newswire: Rep. Jim Clyburn will lead House Oversight Committee on Coronavirus

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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Rep. James Clyburn


House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) will chair a newly established oversight panel with broad authority to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus.
During an exclusive live broadcast, Clyburn told National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to impanel a committee after she recalled a similar body selected by President Harry S. Truman after World War II.
“Speaker Pelosi called me several weeks ago, and we got into this discussion about what we need to do and how we needed to make sure that this is done in such a way that it will meet with our vision of making sure that the greatness of this country is accessible and affordable for all,” Clyburn told Chavis.
“This pandemic has opened up some fault lines in this great country, and primary among them is healthcare. Healthcare is not accessible and affordable to all, and this pandemic has shown that to be the case.”
Clyburn continued:
“America’s greatness has always been because it’s been able to repair its faults. Speaker Pelosi said she’d given a lot of thought to what happened as this country was moving toward World War II and Truman told the Senate about the 116 committees who after World War 1 looked at all of the profiteering, the price gauging, and the kind of fraud that these fly-by-night groups had done.”
Clyburn noted that healthcare and other fraud has run rampant during the current novel coronavirus pandemic and, more than ever, African Americans are being victimized.
“This pandemic is vising family after family after family. We know from all of the data that it is being visited more harshly and more prevalent among African American communities, and some Latino communities all over the country,” Clyburn stated.
The new panel is expected to enjoy far-reaching power to investigate how the trillions of dollars already approved by Congress for coronavirus relief are being used, Clyburn added.
It will be able to issue subpoenas, review America’s preparedness for the crisis, and examine decisions about the crisis within the administration.
The panel will probe the “efficiency, effectiveness, equity and transparency” of taxpayer funds used to respond to the crisis and will investigate reports of waste, fraud, and abuse of funds being spent, according to the establishing resolution.
It will also be able to study the economic impact and disparate impacts of the crisis on different communities.
“This is about transparency and accountability,” stated Clyburn during the live stream titled, “Black America and COVID-19: Saving and Empowering Black Lives.”
Clyburn also talked with Chavis about the NNPA’s Coronavirus Task Force and Resource Center, the first media-related entity in the United States to declare a “State of Emergency for Black America” as the fatalities among Black Americans have continued to rise alarmingly across the nation.
Using social media to increase public awareness about COVID-19, the NNPA continues to encourage the use of the hashtags: #SaveBlackLives, and #NNPACoronavirusTaskForce.
Clyburn, a 14-term U.S. Congressman and the dean of the South Carolina congressional delegation has spent his career working to improve and empower the lives of African Americans. Former President Barack Obama once noted that Clyburn is “one of a handful of people who, when they speak, the entire Congress listens.”
As Assistant Democratic Leader in the 112th Congress, the number three ranking Democrat in the House, Clyburn is the leadership liaison to the Appropriations Committee and one of the Democratic Caucus’ primary liaisons to the White House.
He plays a prominent role in messaging and outreach.
The Clyburn-Chavis interview can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/blackpressusa.

Newswire : Black Press Exclusive: Dr. Lonnie Bunch’s African American Museum dream fulfilled

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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Lonnie Bunch with Benjamin Chavis


Dr. Lonnie Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, sat down for an exclusive interview with National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The two discussed Bunch’s timely new book, “A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump.”
“I [initially] saw this journey to build a museum that could help bridge the chasms that divide us as a ‘fool’s’ errand,’” Dr. Bunch said.
The book outlines the multitude of challenges Bunch faced when pursuing the construction of the historical museum. Those challenges included choosing the location; architect; design team; and the collection of unique pieces of African American artifacts. He added that the museum was “an errand worthy of the burdens.”
Available from Smithsonian Books on the organization’s website and at Amazon.com, “A Fool’s Errand” is a tour de force of Bunch’s personal and political accomplishments.
During the intimate video-taped interview inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the two visionaries also tackled topics that ranged from the Transatlantic Slave Trade, their shared North Carolina families’ histories, the writing legacy of author James Baldwin, and the contemporary vitality of the Black Press of America.
“The relevance and inclusion of the Black Press in events such as this one, show the continued significance of the Black Press,” NNPA Chair Karen Carter Richards, said after the interview between Chavis and Bunch.
“The Black Press is alive and well, and we will continue to be the daily recorders of our history across the globe. Although we’ve seen many changes within our industry; these changes are bringing better opportunities for the Black Press,” Richards said.“So, we are honored that Dr. Lonnie Bunch has chosen to include us as a part of this important national media event,” she said.
While in graduate school, Bunch desired to write a dissertation about the Black Press, he said. However, naysayers told him the Black Press was unimportant. He said that theory quickly was proven wrong. “I knew it was,” Bunch said.
“I think the Black Press has always been the guardian of our community. It’s always been the place where facts are found that are not told in other places. It’s a place where you can understand the richness of the community.
“What I love about the Black Press today is that it’s a place that reminds people of the power of the African American community… the Black Press is critically important.
“What [The Black Press] does is it reminds us that there are many different lenses to understand a story. If you don’t have the lens to the African American community, where are you going to find your story? For me, the Black Press is crucial not for the past, but for the future,” Bunch said.
Bunch said he sought out to obtain a building that would reference the spirituality, resilience, and hope that have been key elements within the African American community. Elements he said that have shaped America’s identity in ways most Americans do not understand.
He said the revolution in South Africa reinforced his belief that history is an effective tool to change a country by embracing the truth of a painful past.
The museum opened three years ago to much fanfare, with former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, among others, in attendance. “To some, visiting the museum allows them to find hope … that the current poisonous political partisanship and racial antipathy will one day be overcome,” Bunch said.
A historian, author, educator, and curator, Bunch has enjoyed a career of near unapparelled success. Bunch has held numerous teaching positions, including American University in Washington, D.C. (Bunch’s Alma Mater); the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; and the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Bunch was elected in 2017 to become a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He’s also the recipient of the President’s Award from the NAACP, and the Impact Leader Award from the Greater Washington Urban League.
Last year, the Phi Beta Kappa Society presented Bunch with the Phi Betta Kappa Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities and the National Education Association honored him with the Award for Distinguished Service to Education.
Earlier this year, Bunch was appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the first African American to hold that position in the organization’s 173-year history. He oversees 19 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers, and several education units and centers.
Now, with “A Fool’s Errand,” Bunch said he has a simple message to convey.“History matters,” he told Chavis. “You can’t understand yourself or the future without looking back. History is an amazing tool to live your life. More than anything else, it challenges you to be accurate,”
Watch the full interview between Dr. Chavis and Dr. Bunch here at BlackPressUSA.com.