Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus endorses Joe Biden for president

The Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus, which previously supported Senator Kamala Harris, is endorsing Joe Biden for President of the United States.

“We have seen Donald Trump wreak havoc in our communities, create division and inflame hate for three years. The stakes in this election could not be higher. This is not the time for experimentation. This is the time for steady leadership from the White House. Joe Biden fought for our communities as Barack Obama’s Vice President. Together, they passed and implemented Obamacare, expanding health care to millions of Michigan residents, protecting millions more with pre-existing conditions. And, together they saved the auto industry and strengthened the United Auto Workers, putting our workers first," said Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus Chair Keith Williams.

The endorsement of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus adds to endorsements that Biden already garnered in Michigan — including from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, State Representatives Joe Tate, Karen Whitsett, and Tenisha Yancey, and State Senator Marshall Bullock.

The Congressional Black Caucus Outraged at Trump's Budget

"The Congressional Black Caucus is appalled by President Trump’s proposed budget, which includes callous cuts to social safety net and healthcare programs in exchange for increased defense spending and a border wall. This is from a President representing a “fiscally conservative” party while adding almost $1 trillion in deficit spending.

By targeting the social safety net and healthcare, the President has singled out programs designed to provide support for American families in the greatest need. The President’s proposed budget would cut healthcare spending, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, by $844 billion. His budget would also cut SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) by $182 billion, and cut social security disability benefits by $70 billion. In addition to significantly slashing the budget for these programs, President Trump intends to make access to these programs harder, which will disproportionately affect the minority communities who access these programs.

Other disastrous cuts include a 9% decrease to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the middle of a global Coronavirus outbreak, leaving low income communities in America the most vulnerable.

While Americans will lose out on critical economic, social, and healthcare support, the President’s budget depends on unrealistic economic predictions to make ends meet. So, what can we be sure of? President Trump’s budget will lead to higher deficits, a weaker economy, and a widening wealth gap.

President Trump has shown Black America once again that we are not his priority. The Congressional Black Caucus vehemently opposes this budget and will fight for policies and programs that improve the lives of hard working Americans by closing the wealth gap, instead of increasing it."

HAIR LOVE wins Oscar for best animated short film

Chicago filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry took home the Oscar for best animated short film for “Hair Love,” a six-minute film about an African American father attempting to do his daughter’s hair for the first time.

In accepting the award alongside co-producer Karen Rupert Toliver, Cherry — who also directed and co-wrote the film — dedicated his statuette to the late Kobe Bryant, saying ‘may all our second acts be as great as his,’ and to his special guest in attendance, DeAndre Arnold, saying, ‘I want to say “Hair Love” was done to normalize black hair.”

The win is an incredible accomplishment given that the film originated as a Kickstarter organized by Cherry, who spoke of his desire to make a movie about an African-American father’s relationship with his daughter and figuring out how to do her hair. Cherry cited a lack of representation in mainstream animation as a reason for doing the project.

Watch Cherry and Toliver’s acceptance speech below:

Watch the Oscar winning film ‘Hair Love below.

Jennifer King: NFL’s first full-time black female coach

Ron Rivera has hired Jennifer King to join his staff in Washington as a full-time assistant, a historic move for the newly Redskins head coach, according to The Athletic’s Rhiannon Walker.

King will become the first African American woman to coach full-time in NFL history, and just the fourth full-time woman assistant. She joins Buccaneers assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust, Buccaneers assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar and 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers as the only full-time women in the league.

King served as an intern under Rivera with the Carolina Panthers for four months before the 2017 season. She joined the Dartmouth College staff as an offensive assistant in September following a brief stint as an assistant wide receivers coach in the Alliance of American Football, which has since shut down. She was the third female assistant in the AAF and the only offensive one, too.

It’s not clear what role King will have on Rivera’s staff, though she is expected to work on the offensive side of the ball.

[YAHOO.COM]

Kweisi Mfume wins Democratic nomination to replace the late Elijah Cummings

Kweisi Mfume took a major step toward reclaiming the Baltimore-area U.S. House seat he held for 10 years, capturing the Democratic nomination to succeed his longtime friend, the powerful Elijah Cummings.

The former NAACP leader, 71, topped a field of 24 Democrats Tuesday to advance to an April 28 special general election to fill the remainder of Cummings’ 7th Congressional District term.

Mfume represented the district, which includes parts of Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County, until stepping down in 1996 to lead the NAACP.

“I want to thank all the many people of the 7th Congressional District. I accept your nomination,” Mfume told an audience of a few hundred cheering supporters at The Forum, a banquet hall in northwest Baltimore. A half-dozen American flags were positioned on the stage where he spoke.

Mfume enjoyed high name recognition, particularly among older voters who remembered him as a congressman and, earlier, a member of Baltimore City Council. That helped him in an 11-week campaign in which most other candidates struggled to get attention.

Mfume was able to raise money for the race — he had more than $200,000 on hand as of Jan. 15 — and he spent much less than his competitors.

He told voters his congressional priorities would include lowering the cost of prescription drugs, improving the Affordable Care Act health care system, and reinstating a federal assault weapons ban.

[SOURCE: Baltimore Sun