NASA 'Hidden Figures' to be awarded Congressional gold medals

Four African American women known as the "Hidden Figures" who worked at NASA during the Space Race are being awarded Congressional Gold Medals, the highest civilian award in the US.

Engineers Christine Darden and Mary Jackson, as well as mathematician Katherine Johnson and computer programmer Dorothy Vaughan were awarded Congressional Gold Medals.

Vaughan and Jackson, who passed away, were both awarded posthumously.

A fifth gold medal was granted in honor of all women who contributed to NASA during the Space Race.

Democratic Senator Kamala Harris from California, one of the people who introduced the bipartisan bill, called the women "pioneers" and an inspiration to black women across the US.

"The groundbreaking accomplishments of these four women, and all of the women who contributed to the success of NASA, helped us win the space race but remained in the dark far too long," said Harris in a press release.

The four trailblazers paved the way for women of color to make history in fields including science, math, and technology.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Charniele L. Herring: First African American Majority Leader of the Virginia General Assembly

After flipping both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly, Democrats made a historic leadership selection on Saturday November 9, 2019.

Del. Charniele L. Herring (Alexandria) was selected be the new majority leader, becoming the first woman and the first African American to serve in that post.

“To me, everyone’s a leader in that room,” Herring said. “We are unified and ready to get to work.”

Maryland city elects first African American mayor

Bowie, Maryland elected its first African-American mayor, Tim Adams. He is also the first person with a physical disability to be elected a mayor.

Bowie, is situated in Prince George’s county which is known as the wealthiest Black county in the United States of America.

Adams is the city’s first new mayor in 20 years and also its first Black mayor. The new mayor has been wheelchair-bound after he was involved in accident years back.

Adams reacted to his election thus: “I think being the first Black mayor of Bowie, in particular, is something that is historic. It’s very humbling.”

Adams is a successful entrepreneur who provides support to customers of the department of defence. He has been a resident of Bowie for 25 years.

History made as Ohio city elect first African American mayor

Tuesday’s election in North College Hill, Ohio was nothing short of historic as voters elected Tracie Nichols the first African American mayor of North College Hill.

Nichols, who has served on the North College Hill board for several years, is also the third woman to hold the city’s top office.

“I’m just elated and happy that the people chose me,” Nichols said. “I’m ready to go out and do great things.”

As mayor, Nichols says she plans to make North College Hill a model for neighborhoods across Cincinnati.

“We’re a family-oriented community. We want things for our residents in our community and to bring people in and say, ‘hey they’re doing this over in North College Hill. I want to be a part of that,’” Nichols said.

[SOURCE:WCPO]

NAACP statement on COMCAST attack on the Civil Rights Act of 1866

While Trump's shenanigans continue to capture the headlines this story about an attack on the Civil Rights act of 1866 is one that we all should be paying attention to.

The NAACP has released the following statement on a very important civil rights case involving Byron Allen and Comcast case to be heard on Wednesday November 13, 2019. The statement is in reference to attempts by COMCAST to roll back protections against discrimination given by the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

In a few days the United States Supreme Court will hear one of the most important civil rights cases to come before it this term. Comcast – the second largest broadcasting and cable television company in the world – is poised to take an unprecedented step. Because of a dispute with a Black businessman, the company has urged the Supreme Court to roll back the crucial protections of one of the nation’s oldest civil rights laws, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

For more than a century, Section 1981 has been used as an important tool to combat race discrimination, particularly for employment discrimination claimants. Throughout the NAACP’s history, standard-bearers of justice like Thurgood Marshall have harnessed the power of Section 1981 to fight various forms of discrimination. Yet now, in a situation that has become all too familiar during this era, an upcoming Supreme Court decision has the potential to reject these lessons of history by rolling back the clock on basic civil rights.

Although the NAACP takes no position on the underlying dispute, we have decided to take the lead on this issue. We urge Comcast to cease its attack on Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866; a bedrock civil rights statute that has been in place for more than 150 years.