Skip to Content

In the News

Congressional Black Caucus wants posthumous Medal of Honor for African American soldier

| Posted in In the News

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…

Voting is Key to Change, CBC Members Say

| Posted in In the News

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…

Harrowing stories of black youth suicide moved Bonnie Watson Coleman to act

| Posted in In the News

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…

Confederacy’s Former Capital Gets A Street Named After Arthur Ashe — And Some Hope For A More Inclusive Look

| Posted in In the News

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…

For Congressional Black Caucus Members at Richmond Forum, Solving Problems Comes Down to Elections

| Posted in In the News

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…

House Hearing on Reparations for Slavery Set for Next Week With Ta-nehisi Coates

| Posted in In the News

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…

John Lewis’s Tears Over Ancestor’s Voter Card Stir Emotions in Democratic Caucus

| Posted in In the News

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 &…

State of Criminal Justice in Focus at Congressional Black Caucus Panel in Brownsville

| Posted in In the News

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…

Nipsey Hussle's Plan to Fight Gentrification in South L.A. Has Made It to Congress

| Posted in In the News

Inside the U.S. Capitol, in a historic room where Abraham Lincoln forged friendships with colleagues from both parties, members of the Congressional Black Caucus huddled Wednesday with an unlikely coalition that included an L.A. city councilman, an Atlanta rapper, a New York radio host and a South Los Angeles developer. The discussion veered from public policy to the personal…

Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson Puts Focus on Social Status of Black Men and Boys

| Posted in In the News

On May 15, Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson introduced H.R. 1636, the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act of 2019. Wilson’s legislation would mandate the establishment of an advisory body that will study the societal forces that have a disproportionately impacted black males in America. The board will then make recommendations to address them. Rep. Wilson was…

Back to top