NAACP CONDEMNS SENATE VOTE ON DONALD TRUMP IMPEACHMENT

Today, the NAACP condemned the Senate’s votes on the impeachment of Donald Trump. Derrick Johnson, President and CEO, made the following statement:

“Today’s votes to cover up Donald Trump’s crimes against our democracy will be a permanent stain on our nation’s history. This is the same democracy for which many of us have sacrificed in order to participate fully and equally.

The Senate votes constitute a dereliction of duty of the highest order. Our Constitution was designed to address precisely this crisis. Donald Trump abused the powers of the presidency by sacrificing his own country for personal political gain and then obstructed the investigation by Congress. Yet a majority of Senators defied their oaths to the Constitution by refusing to protect the integrity and security of our elections and to remove Donald Trump from office.

Donald Trump is not acquitted. Donald Trump is not exonerated. The Senate refused to hold the type of trial required by the Constitution. Therefore, there can be no verdict. Donald Trump will be remembered by history as an impeached president who believed he was above the law. Of course, no one is above the law, not even the president.

For months, the NAACP has been on record in support of impeaching and convicting Donald Trump. He represents a clear and present danger to the nation for a host of reasons. From his reversals of civil rights policies and positions, to telling congresswomen of color to go back to their countries, to separating families and caging immigrant children without food or water, to his attempts to not count everyone in the Census, to his failure to enforce the Voting Rights Act, to his installing the most ideologically extreme and least diverse federal judges, this president has led the most racist and xenophobic administration since the Jim Crow era. We will continue to hold Donald Trump accountable for all of his offenses and encourage everyone to do the same.

Elections are the core of our democracy, and they are still under threat. To reclaim our democracy, we must work harder than ever to protect the integrity and legitimacy of our elections and to ensure that everyone can cast a vote and have that vote count. It’s on us now. And we are up to the task. We have no choice.

Meet Kamali Thompson, the medical student with dreams of Olympic gold in fencing

Kicking off “Breaking Through,” a month-long series marking Black History Month, TODAY’s Craig Melvin spotlights Kamali Thompson, a medical student with big dreams of competing in Tokyo this summer as a fencer. She acknowledges there are not a lot of African-Americans in fencing yet, “but it’s growing” – and she gives Craig a lesson in the sport.

Sen. Booker's full statement on Trump's impeachment trial

On Feb. 4, senators weighed in for a second day on whether they would vote to remove President Donald Trump from office. The speeches come one day before the Senate decides whether to convict or acquit Trump on two articles of impeachment -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said impeachment is a "profoundly sad time" for the country, saying that President Donald Trump is "guilty of committing high crimes and misdemeanors." He asked how the United States would heal from such a dark day, but that the hopes of the nation would lie with its people.

Watch his speech below:

Edward Alexander Bouchet: First African-American to earn a Ph.D. from American university

Black History Month Person Of The Day

Edward Alexander Bouchet was an African American physicist and educator and was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from any American university, completing his dissertation in physics at Yale in 1876. On the basis of his academic record he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Although Bouchet was elected to Phi Beta Kappa along with other members of the Yale class of 1874, the official induction did not take place until 1884, when the Yale chapter was reorganized after thirteen years of inactivity. Because of the circumstances, Bouchet was not the first African American elected to Phi Beta Kappa as many historical accounts state; that honor belongs to George Washington Henderson (University of Vermont). Bouchet was also among the first 20 Americans (of any race) to receive a Ph.D. in physics and was the sixth to earn a Ph.D. in physics from Yale.

Help other black students arm a Ph.d by donating to our Close the Gap Fundraiser today: Black History Month help Black students finish college fundraiser

Rep. Payne, Jr. Skips State of the Union address

Congressman Donald M. Payne Jr. (NJ 10th District) released the following statement regarding his decision not to attend President Trump’s State of the Union address tonight.

“I refuse to support a President who has spent his entire term promoting his interests ahead of the public good,” said Congressman Payne, Jr. “Traditionally, the State of the Union address has been a time for the President of the United States to be accountable to the people for the job he is doing. But the Republican Senate has proven that President Trump is not accountable to the people and that his actions to solicit election interference from Ukraine do not constitute a serious violation of public trust. This is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Constitution and created American democracy. So I will not attend the State of the Union to protest the president’s actions as well as support my House colleagues who voted to impeach the president and hold him accountable. I go to a State of the Union address to hear the President. I do not go to hear a self-appointed King.”