In the News

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Tuesday marked the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first African slaves in North America, according to USA Today.

“All of our history is what makes this country a great country,’’ CBC Chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) said at the Tuesday event held at the U.S. Capitol's Emancipation Hall.

“Today we complete the journey that we began in Ghana,’’ she added, referencing a trip by several caucus members over the summer to the African nation to commemorate the anniversary.

Actress Alfre Woodard commemorated African slaves and their descendants, saying they not only survived but “flourished,” according to the newspaper.

She proceeded to read a list of accomplished African Americans, including former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama, former Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.), ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick and civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who was present at the ceremony.

“You are the dream and the hope of the slaves,” the Oscar nominee concluded, paraphrasing Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise.”

“This really is encouraging as a black woman from the ancestors of slaves … to honor them and what they went through and what they endured and to know that we’re still here,” the Rev. Dr. Leslie Copeland-Tune, an attendee and the CEO of the National Council of Churches, told the newspaper. “We are still rising.”