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SC’s Gov. Nikki Haley and Other Republicans Come Out Against Confederate Flag
South Carolina’s Republican Gov. Nikki Haley and the state’s two Republican senators, Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, along with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, gathered at a press conference to announce their desire to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds. Momentum has been building against the Confederate flag since nine…
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Republicans Are Running for President and Running From Race
A white gunman with Confederate plates who liked telling racist jokes in high school and is now telling cops of a desire to trigger a race war kills nine black people at a church that is the living definition of black liberation, but the slayings weren’t about race? Apparently Dylann Roof needed to have written…
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Charleston Shooting Gets Strong Response From Congressional Members
Strong reactions came from the political world Thursday over the tragic massacre of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Wednesday night, alleged shooter Dylann Roof, 21, opened fire on a Bible-study group meeting at the “Mother” Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, killing six women and three men, including the church’s pastor,…
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Tech Talk on Diversity Features Black Girls Code, Phat Startup Founders
On Monday, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) hosted a one-hour Google Hangout on tech diversity that featured Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, and Anthony Frasier, co-founder of the Phat Startup. The mission of Black Girls Code is teaching young girls how to code; how to become entrepreneurs and business owners; and how to…
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70 Members of Congress Call on President Obama to ‘Ban the Box’
More than 70 members of Congress are calling on President Barack Obama to “ban the box” for federal jobs. The “box” in question is one that appears on federal hiring applications, asking job seekers if they have a criminal record. As part of an effort to reduce mass incarceration, many around the country have rallied for…
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Rep. Emanuel Cleaver Calls on President Obama to Tackle Rise in Black Child Suicides
After a recent shocking report revealing a near doubling in suicide rates for African-American children, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) is calling on President Barack Obama to focus on the issue. Cleaver is asking the president to create a task force between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Education. “Suicide is truly a tragedy for…
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Possible Funding for Police Body Cameras Moves Forward in Congress, Thanks to Sen. Tim Scott
In the wake of seemingly endless national stories about police brutality, an effort to fund and support police body cameras is making its way through a Republican-controlled Congress. And a Republican senator, Tim Scott of South Carolina, is leading the charge. On Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism held a hearing on…
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Military Weapons Used in Ferguson to Be Restricted by Obama Task Force
President Barack Obama is moving to restrict the type of military-style equipment that police departments can have, according to a report from the President’s Task Force on 21st-Century Policing. The task force was established Dec. 18, 2014, after the issue of police brutality received international attention in the wake of Michael Brown’s death by a…
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Hillary Clinton Pivots From Her Husband’s Stance on Mass Incarceration
It was 20 years, 7 months and 16 days ago when first lady Hillary Clinton stood clapping in the Rose Garden of the White House a few feet away from her husband, President Bill Clinton, as he signed the largest piece of crime legislation in American history—the $30 billion Violent Crime Control Act of 1994—known…
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Confirmation Vote on Loretta Lynch Expected Today
After 166 days of waiting—longer than the last seven nominees for U.S. attorney general combined—Loretta Lynch is expected to finally receive a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate this afternoon. If she is confirmed, Lynch, 55, would be the first female African-American attorney general in history, and only the second woman to serve as…
