Kamala Harris & Yvette Clarke Call For Statue of Shirley Chisholm In U.S. Capitol

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) are sponsoring legislation to put a statue of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, in the U.S. Capitol.

Multiple Democratic senators are already co-sponsoring the measure, including Cory Booker (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Tim Kaine (Va.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.). Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is also on board. The bill would direct the Joint Committee on the Library to enter into an agreement to obtain a statue within five years of the bill’s passage.

On the heels of Black History Month and at the beginning of Women’s History Month, Chisholm is perhaps the perfect candidate for the honor. Over her groundbreaking political career, she became the first black candidate for a major party’s presidential nomination and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s nomination. She served seven terms in the House from 1969 to 1983.

Now the question is whether a Republican-controlled Congress will honor this “unbought and unbossed” black woman.

[SOURCE: HUFFPOST]

Black Female Democrats Pen Open Letter About Lack of DNC Support

Dozens of black, female Democratic activists and leaders have written an open letter to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Tom Perez about the lack of support they receive from the party. Signatories include state and federal lawmakers like Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).


Read that letter below:

Dear Chairman Tom Perez:

Black women have consistently shown up for Democrats as a loyal voting bloc, demonstrating time and again that we are crucial to the protection of progressive policies such as economic security, affordable healthcare and criminal justice reform.

We have voted and organized our communities with little support or investment from the Democratic Party for voter mobilization efforts. We have shown how Black women lead, yet the Party's leadership from Washington to the state parties have few or no Black women in leadership. More and more, Black women are running for office and winning elections — with scant support from Democratic Party infrastructure.

Well, like civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, who testified at the 1964 Democratic convention demanding Blacks have a seat and voice within the Party, we are "sick and tired of being sick and tired."

The Democratic Party has a real problem. The data reveals that Black women voters are the very foundation to a winning coalition, yet most Black voters feel like the Democrats take them for granted. The Party's foundation has a growing crack and if it is not addressed quickly, the Party will fall even further behind and ultimately fail in its quest to strengthen its political prospects.

Investing in Black women's political leadership is a solid return on investment, one that is rooted in facts and data. In recent years, Black women have proven to be the most active voting demographic in the nation. In 2008 and 2012, 70 percent of eligible Black women cast ballots, accounting for the highest voter turnout of any racial or gender group, proving that our voting power can and has determined elections. A closer look at the data shows that in 2012 Barack Obama won re-election by 4.9 million votes.

The 115th Congress has 20 Black women—the largest number in history. The group includes Kamala Harris, who is the second Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, a body that has not had a Black woman's voice in 20 years. In addition, Lisa Blunt Rochester became the first woman and Black person to represent Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives.Black women cast a total of 11.4 million ballots, providing the margin he needed to win. This past November, even with a clear lack of voter mobilization investment and a decrease in overall Black voter turnout, 94 percent of Black women voted to keep this country moving forward by casting ballots for Hillary Clinton. In addition, on November 8th we saw important elected-office gains by Black women despite the otherwise dismal defeat of progressives during the general election.

Black women also made important progressive wins in Minnesota, where IIhan Omar became the first Somali-American Muslim elected to the state legislature; Kentucky, where Attica Scott became the first woman elected to the state legislature in 20 years; Cook County IL, where Kim Foxx was elected state's attorney; Orange County FL elected Aramis Ayala the first Black state's attorney in the Florida's history; the state of Texas elected its first woman Sheriff, Zena Stephens; and Jefferson County, AL elected nine Black women to the judicial branch.

This February, in the DNC elections, we saw an increase in overall diversity within the officer ranks, but no increase in leadership representation of Black women. Since taking office, you have met with and listened to key constituencies. But you have yet to host a Black women leaders convening.

Organizing without the engagement of Black women will prove to be a losing strategy, and there is much too much at stake for the Democratic Party to ignore Black women. Following your recent announcement of your top staff hire, we are left with significant concerns about how the Party is developing its strategies and allocating its resources. In the absence of our inclusion in discussions about the Party's forward movement, we question whether the Party values our loyalty and takes our commitment seriously.

In this termed "movement building moment," how will you lead the Democrats forward? Will Black women be among those at the helm, helping to design the strategies, craft the message, mobilize troops, and lead the way - as policymakers, political strategists, activists, and elected officials?

We respectfully request that you convene a meeting with Black women leaders and activists where you can hear not only our concerns, but also our thoughts on how the DNC can invest in Black women's engagement and leadership moving forward from hiring of key staff and consultants to investment in training and leadership opportunities.

The time is now for progressive power brokers and the very Party that we have carried on our back to the voting booth, year in and year out, to make a sustained and substantial investment in our leadership and priorities.

We have demonstrated our commitment to the Party. It is time for the Party to demonstrate its commitment to us. We stand ready to join you, your team, and Party leadership on the front lines — but not as silent partners.

In service,

Anita Estell

Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D. - Founder, Exceptional Leadership Institute for Women

Carol McDonald

Christina M. Greer, PhD

Dana Vickers Shelley

Glynda Carr - Co-Founder, Higher Heights for America

Kimberly Peeler-Allen - Co-Founder, Higher Heights for America

Khalilah Brown-Dean, PhD

L. Joy Williams

Marcela E. Howell

Melanie L. Campbell

Nakisha M. Lewis - Co-Founder #SheWoke Committee

Roslyn M. Brock - Chairman Emeritus, NAACP

Star Jones

Sydney Kamlager-Dove - Vice President, Los Angeles Community College District

Tamika Mallory

Zina Pierre

Delegate Lashreces Aird - Virginia

Delegate Marcia Price - Virginia

Delegate Pam Queen - Maryland

State Senator Holly Mitchell- California

State Representative Kathy Sykes - Mississippi

State Representative Laura Hall - Alabama

State Representative Rena Moran - Minnesota

Honorable Marcia Fudge - (D-OH)

Honorable Joyce Beatty - (D-OH)

Honorable Bonnie Watson Coleman - (D-NJ)

Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson - (D-TX)

Honorable Barbara Lee - (D-CA)

Honorable Stacey Plaskett - (D-NY)

Honorable Yvette Clarke - (D-CA)

Milk River PAC Focus on Black Female Political Empowerment

On March 30 in Washington DC, Milk River PAC hosted a dialog on the Impact of Women in Politics that featured Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and political commentator Ana Navarro.

The goal of Milk River PAC is to inspire more African American women to run for Congress. Along with The Collective, Democracy in Color, and Higher Heights, Milk River PAC is another effort focused on galvanizing support behind people of color running for office.

Milk River PAC and Higher Heights are specifically focused on Black women. Black women were number one of any group on America in voting percentage for the 2008 election cycle. But exactly how to create political power at at time when Republicans control Congress and the White House was one of many challenges.

The piece of the puzzle that has yet to be perfected is the money. But with the growing influence and power base of Black women in politics may soon fix that problem.

The specific goal of Higher Heights is to “identify, educate, and engage Black women across the socio-economic spectrum to elect Black women, influence elections and move public policy.”

As these political organizations grow stronger the money is soon to follow.

[SOURCE: POLITICS 365]

Black Congresswomen form Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.

Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ)

Today, Congresswomen Robin Kelly (IL-02), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), announced the creation of the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls, the first caucus devoted to public policy that eliminates the significant barriers and disparities experienced by Black women.

Despite more than 430 registered congressional caucuses and Member organizations, no group on Capitol Hill has sought to make Black women and girls a priority in the policy debates that occur here. The Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls will fill that gap, and provide the same attention for women that President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative has given to Black men and boys.

Read more: Reps. Kelly, Watson Coleman, Clarke Announce Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls