Since its establishment in 1971, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has been committed to using the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the federal government to ensure that African Americans and other marginalized communities in the United States have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.
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 »
It’s not about the Confederate statues or the re-emerging debate over reparations for slavery.
The struggle for black equality, 400 years after the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, isn’t just about disparity in wealth, education and treatment by the criminal justice system, although those are top priorities of the Congressional Black Caucus in a U.S. House of… Read more »
The topic of reparations for slavery is headed to Capitol Hill for its first hearing in more than a decade with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover set to testify before a House panel.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is scheduled to hold the hearing next Wednesday, its stated purpose “to examine, through open and… Read more »
Rep. John Lewis and several of his Democratic colleagues broke down in tears during a closed-door meeting Tuesday after a historian described the congressman’s reaction when he saw his great-great-grandfather’s voter registration card for the first time.
The House Democratic caucus invited Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr., who heads the Hutchins Center for African &… Read more »
What was billed as a town hall for the “State of Black America in Brooklyn” Friday night at Brownsville’s P.S. 156 Waverly, morphed into a panel discussion about criminal justice reform featuring members of the Congressional Black Caucus, local legislators and community activists, including Assemblymember Latrice Walker and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Led by Congressmembers… Read more »
