In the News

On July 23, the Congressional Black Caucus launched a new taskforce that will focus on the upcoming 2020 Census and the legacy of undercounting the African American community. The taskforce will be led by Congressman Steven Horsford (D-NV). According to a release, members of the CBC will meet with stakeholders and leading professionals to discuss the current state of play. The Caucus… Read more »

The Congressional Black Caucus will launch a new taskforce that will focus on the upcoming 2020 Census and the legacy of under counting the African American community. Members of the CBC will meet with stakeholders and leading professionals to discuss the current state of play. The Caucus will also discuss the tools required for effective outreach to hard to count communities across the… Read more »

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) told Hill.TV on Tuesday that the state of mass incarceration in the U.S. is an embarrassment, particularly when compared with other countries. “It’s really an embarrassment in our country that we have more people locked up in the United States than any place in the world,” said Bass, who is head of the Congressional Black Caucus. According to… Read more »

Many in Los Angeles call our homeless problem "an epidemic," that continues to get worse. On Saturday, some Congressional leaders took to the streets of Skid Row in downtown L.A. to help come up with a solution. Homelessness in L.A. County is up 12% this year, close to 60,000 people. Meanwhile, in the city homelessness is up 16% to about 36,000.  "It is time to… Read more »

A new bill heading to the house floor this week encourages judges to consider giving federal prisoners a second look at their cases, potentially impacting thousands of incarcerated people who were imprisoned as a result of the war on drugs. The legislation, titled the Matthew Charles and William Underwood Second Look Act allows these prisoners to petition judges for a reduced sentence or… Read more »

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and members of the Congressional Black Caucus have been working to make sure that a Maryland man is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Omaha Beach in World War II. Van Hollen issued a statement in support of the effort to award the honor to Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson, an African American who was a U.S. Army medic. After being hit by… Read more »

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is pushing for an African American soldier to be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on D-Day. The CBC, along with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), sent a letter to acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy Wednesday asking him to open a formal review of Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson Jr., an Army medic assigned to the 320th… Read more »

Call it better living through politicking. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus emphasized the importance of political power as the key to positive change locally, statewide and nationally Saturday afternoon at the State of Black America Town Hall. The town hall, which drew hundreds of people, was part of the Arthur Ashe Boulevard renaming celebration and hosted by 4th District… Read more »

It started with check-ins on her social media pages. Usually she hears from constituents about charged topics like taxes and health care, just as lawmakers have for years through old-fashioned mail. But what Bonnie Watson Coleman started to see on Facebook and Twitter disturbed her: heartbreaking stories of black elementary school-age children dying of suicide. “I kept seeing… Read more »

Thousands of people spilled into the newly re-christened Arthur Ashe Boulevard here on Saturday for a celebration that also marked the unveiling of an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on the struggle for black equality and to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first captive Africans to English North America. Members of the Congressional Black… Read more »