James Clyburn: Democrats must advertise in the Black Press to win in November

During an interview with NNPA (National Newspaper Publishers Association) Newswire Rep. James Clyburn (Dem, South Carolina) made three suggestions he thinks Democrats should follow to increase black voter turnout so that they can win big in the 2018 mid-terms. One was to advertise in the Black Press

From the NNPA Newswire interview:

...Democrats shouldn’t rely on an anti-President Donald Trump wave to get out the vote. Finally, Clyburn said that candidates must advertise in the Black Press, if they want to win in November.

“We are also talking about districts where Barack Obama won twice and where Hillary Clinton also won, but these voters don’t turn out for the so-called ‘off-year elections,’” Clyburn said. “We can’t let these voters feel like we’re taking them for granted.”

Clyburn, 78, said he was recently taken aback by one candidate, who said that he could win the Black vote by running on an anti-Trump platform.

“Wait one second,” Clyburn said that he told the individual. “We can’t just go around being ‘Republican-light.’ We have to be out there putting forth an alternative message, for our base, and we have to reach out to Black voters and let them know we’re not taking them or any of our base for granted.”

To that end, Clyburn said advertising campaigns must largely include the Black Press.

“It’s very, very important…Chairman Richmond and I have had candidates in and we’ve been telling them that one of the best ways to demonstrate that you’re not taking the Black vote for granted is to advertise in the Black Press,” Clyburn said.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) is the oldest and largest trade group representing the Black Press, comprised of more than 200 Black-owned newspapers operating in the United States.

“I’ve been in [the Black Press]. My daughter and I ran a newspaper down South, so I know that candidates tend to take Black media for granted,” Clyburn said. “They tend to judge Black media the same way they do other media and you just can’t do that, because the business model is totally different.”

Each Sunday after attending Morris Brown A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., Clyburn said he and other churchgoers habitually pick up the local Black-owned newspaper.

“People tend to pay attention to the headlines, the stories and the ads in the Black Press so it’s vitally important that candidates know this,” Clyburn said.

CNN Suspends Paris Dennard Over Past Sexual Misconduct Allegations

CNN has suspended one of its most vocal, pro-Trump commentators after a Washington Post report detailed past alleged sexual misconduct that resulted in his firing from Arizona State University four years ago.

Paris Dennard, who was recently praised by President Donald Trump as “wonderful,” was serving as the events director for ASU’s McCain Institute for International Leadership when he according to a 2014 university report obtained by The Washington Post, “pretended to unzip his pants in her presence, tried to get her to sit on his lap, and made masturbatory gestures.”

Dennard called the allegations “false.”

“I cannot comment on items I have never seen regarding allegations I still believe to be false,” Dennard told WaPo. “This is sadly another politically motivated attempt to besmirch my character, and shame me into silence for my support of President Trump and the GOP.”

After the report was published, CNN suspended Dennard.

“We are aware of reports of accusations against Paris Dennard,” a CNN spokesperson told Mediaite. “We are suspending Paris, effective immediately, while ‎we look into the allegations.”

[SOURCE: MEDIAITE]

NJ Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman questions manhood of men in congress when it comes to Trump

In a series of tweets and in a very NJ way, New Jersey's Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (Dem, New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District) questioned the manhood of the men in Congress when it comes to the willingness of doing their job and checking President Trump on things like Russia and following the law.

For a Congress so full of men, it's incredible that we don't have the balls to check a president that: asks aides to violate protocol and law; praises dictators from Russia to the Philippines; and torpedos relationships with our allies.

— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) August 23, 2018

This is a reckoning, and any member of Congress unwilling to do his or her job should step aside.

— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) August 23, 2018

If making a mockery of the emoluments clause wasn't enough; if comforting confederates and nazis wasn't enough; if rampant racism, collaborating with Russians, and being implicated in federal elections crimes wasn't enough, then WHAT IS ENOUGH for Congress to act?

— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) August 23, 2018

Atlanta renames street after civil rights icon John Lewis

Noting U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ life of “raw courage,” Atlanta officials renamed a street for the civil rights icon Wednesday.

Freedom Parkway, a four-lane conduit to the Carter Center, will now be called John Lewis Freedom Parkway.

“John Lewis is synonymous with freedom,” Atlanta City Council member Andre Dickens said when explaining why that particular street was chosen. Dickens sponsored the resolution — which the council unanimously approved in December — to rename the street after Lewis.

“He has lived a life of raw courage,” Dickens said, calling Lewis the “conscience of Congress.”

Lewis encouraged the crowd to vote and called voting “the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society.”

Renaming the street is just one way the task force assembled by Dickens plans to pay respect to the congressman. Plans to paint a mural of Lewis in the Atlanta airport in January ahead of the Super Bowl are in the works, Dickens said.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also presented Lewis with the Phoenix Award — the city’s highest honor — Wednesday for his work as both a local and national leader.

“We are one people. We are one family,” Lewis said. “We will not give up on each other.”

[SOURCE: WTOP]

Sen. Harris Introduces Bill Aimed at Reducing Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality

Today, U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris and 13 Democratic colleagues introduced the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies (CARE) Act, a bill to reduce the racial disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity. The United States is one of only thirteen countries in the world where the rate of maternal mortality is now worse than it was 25 years ago. For Black women, the risk of death from pregnancy-related causes is three to four times higher than for white women, and Black women are twice as likely to suffer from life-threatening pregnancy complications.

“Health equity for Black women can only happen if we recognize and address persistent biases in our health system,” said Senator Harris. “This bill is a step towards ensuring that all women have access to culturally competent, holistic care, and to address the implicit biases in our system.”

"We applaud Senator Harris on putting forward this critical legislation and appreciate her commitment to ending racial disparities in maternal health care and outcomes,” said Elizabeth Gay, MPH, Co-Director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. “Addressing racial discrimination and implicit bias is an important but often overlooked part of improving maternal health in the United States. We are grateful for Senator Harris’ brave leadership.”

“We are proud to endorse Senator Harris’ legislation, the Maternal CARE Act. This bill gives young people entering the medical field access to implicit bias training, as well as establishes a pregnancy medical home demonstration program,” said Lisa Hollier, M.D., M.P.H, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). “We know that racial and ethnic disparities in women’s health – including in maternal mortality, an issue I have dedicated my ACOG presidency to addressing -- cannot be reversed without addressing racial bias; both implicit and explicit. That’s why, in partnership with the Council on Patient Safety in Women’s Health Care and the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health, ACOG is actively involved in educating health care providers on implicit bias to improve women’s health. We look forward to working with Senator Harris to ensure this legislation becomes law, so we can work toward realizing an equitable health care system.”

“Women of color continue to face disproportionate rates of maternal mortality and morbidity in this country,” said Jennifer Jacoby Altscher, Federal Policy Counsel, Center for Reproductive Rights. “This bill aims to address these racial disparities head-on through the creation of programs that have proven to lead to better health for women of color.” 

The Maternal CARE Act:

• Creates two new grant programs focused on reducing racial health disparities in maternal health: 
• Implicit Bias Training Grants: Addresses implicit bias—bias in judgement or behavior resulting from implicit attitudes and stereotypes—by establishing competitive grants directed to medical schools, nursing schools, and other health professionals training programs to support implicit bias training. Priority is given for training in obstetrics and gynecology.
• Pregnancy Medical Home Demonstration Project: Establishes a demonstration project to assist up to 10 states with implementing and sustaining pregnancy medical home (PMH) programs to incentivize maternal health care providers to deliver integrated health care services to pregnant women and new mothers and reduce adverse maternal health outcomes, maternal deaths, and racial health disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity. 
• Directs the National Academy of Medicine to study and make recommendations for incorporating bias recognition in clinical skills testing for U.S. medical schools. 

Earlier this year, Harris introduced a resolution designating April 11-17 as Black Maternal Health Week in order to recognize the maternal mortality rate among Black women as a public health crisis.

The Maternal CARE Act has received support from the following organizations: American Academy of Nursing, American College of Nurse-Midwives, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Black Women Birthing Justice, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Center for Reproductive Rights, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, March of Dimes, National Birth Equity Collaborative, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center, Planned Parenthood, SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

In addition to Harris, the bill is sponsored by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Doug Jones (D-AL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tom Carper (D-DE), Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

Full text of the bill is available here.