Democratic takeover could bring first black speaker of the house

Upheaval in the Democratic caucus could pave the way for a historic House leader — and some potential names are already being discussed.

The next speaker of the House could be a black Democrat. And Congress would never be the same.

In 230 years, there’s never been a black speaker, or any black lawmaker seriously in the running for the post. That could change after voters go to the polls in November.

Democrats are their closest to winning back the House in years. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said she will run for speaker again, but after 16 years at the top, some lawmakers — and a rising number of Democratic candidates — want someone else to take over.

The prospect of a black speaker, which seemed like a long shot just months ago, has started to bubble up more in private conversations in recent weeks, particularly among Democrats in the influential, 48-member Congressional Black Caucus.

After Rep. Joe Crowley of New York, a potential Pelosi successor, went down in a shocking primary defeat in June, the questions about who might replace her have only grown. And that raises the possibility of an African-American Democrat being sworn in as the 55th speaker on Jan. 3.

The members with the likeliest shot, according to more than 20 Democratic lawmakers and aides, include Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, currently the No. 3 House Democrat; Hakeem Jeffries of New York; Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, current chairman of the CBC; Elijah Cummings of Maryland; and Marcia Fudge of Ohio.

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh statement on disturbing video of police officer beating man

Baltimore Mayor, Catherine Pugh released the following statement following the disturbing video of a police officer beating an unarmed black man this past weekend because the man refused to show his I.D.

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My statement on the video of the Baltimore Police Officer pic.twitter.com/Wp5GJk80zt

— Mayor Catherine Pugh (@MayorPugh50) August 11, 2018

Watch the sickening video below:

NASA’s Johnson Center Appoints First Black Deputy Director

NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Director Mark Geyer announced Wednesday the selection of Vanessa Wyche as the next deputy director of Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Wyche will assist Geyer in leading one of NASA’s largest installations, which has nearly 10,000 civil service and contractor employees – including those at White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico – and a broad range of human spaceflight activities.

“Vanessa has a deep background at JSC with significant program experience in almost all of the human spaceflight programs that have been hosted here,” Geyer said. “She is respected at NASA, has built agency-wide relationships throughout her nearly three-decade career and will serve JSC well as we continue to lead human space exploration in Houston.”

Wyche recently served as director of the Exploration Integration and Science Directorate (EISD) and completed a detail as the JSC deputy director in February 2018.

“I am incredibly humbled to take on this role at JSC, and also excited to assist Mark with leading the home of human spaceflight,” Wyche said. “I look forward to working with the talented employees at JSC as we work toward our mission of taking humans farther into the solar system.”

Before joining JSC in 1989, Wyche worked for the Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C. She began her career with NASA in the Space Life Sciences Directorate as a project engineer. She has held several key center leadership positions including assistant center director, associate director of EISD and acting director of Human Exploration Development Support.

She also served in the Constellation Program as director of operations and test integration and in the Space Shuttle Program as a flight manager for several space shuttle missions. She was manager of the Mission Integration Office, and she completed a detail in the Office of the NASA Administrator.

A South Carolina native, Wyche is a graduate of Clemson University with both a bachelor of science in materials engineering and a master of science in bioengineering. Wyche is the recipient of two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals and two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals. Wyche is the first African-American to hold the JSC deputy director position.

For more information about Wyche, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/about/people/orgs/bios/wyche.html

NAACP president on Trump: 'I have no other conclusion but to say he is a racist'

Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP, said President Donald Trump "is a racist" and bashed his administration for its racially charged rhetoric and policies in an interview with Politico published Friday. Listen to that interview below:

Charlottesville mayor: Trump "bringing to light" hate in America

A year after violence sparked by white supremacists in Charlottesville claimed the life of a young civil rights activist and touched off a national conversation about race relations, the city's new mayor, Nikuyah Walker, says she is still so personally angered by President Trump that she has not been able to bring herself to even refer to him by name. The mayor holds him responsible for encouraging the rise of hate in America.