Nikema Williams wins John Lewis' congressional seat

Democratic State Senator Nikema Williams won the race for U.S. Representative John Lewis’s seat, representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District.

Nikema Williams is also Georgia’s Democratic Party chairperson. She received more than 90% of the vote, beating out Republican Angela Stanton King. She says she’s proud to succeed her hero and civil rights icon Representative Lewis.

“To think that voters in this district could deliver for the presidency and get Donald Trump out of the White House is just poetic justice,” she said.

Williams says she plans to make addressing the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic her number one priority in Congress, specifically drawing attention to the healthcare disparities hurting the black community.

“We have to get this right. Our economy is hurting. Our education is hurting. Our healthcare is at risk, because we have not had leaders willing to address this pandemic,” said Williams.

She says she also plans to address voting rights, advocating for standardized processes nationwide to make sure all votes are counted equally.

[SOURCE: CBS Atlanta]

Naval Academy announces first African American female brigade commander

History will be made at the Naval Academy in Annapolis next year.

When spring semester midshipman leadership positions were announced last week, they included Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber, of Lake Forest, Illinois, who will become the academy's first African American female brigade commander.

Barber will be the sixteenth woman selected for brigade commander in the 44 years women have been attending the Naval Academy.

Barber is a mechanical engineering major and aspires to commission as a Marine Corps ground officer. She is also on the Navy Women’s Varsity Track and Field team, and has lettered all three years of competing. She is a USNA record holder for the outdoor 4x400m relay. She is the co-president of the Navy Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club, secretary for the National Society of Black Engineers, and a member of the USNA Gospel Choir and Midshipman Black Studies Club.

“She is a catalyst for action, a visionary, a listener, a doer, and a person driven by compassion, by faith, by a fierce sense of passion and heart full of love,” said Midshipman 1st Class Ryan Chapman, who currently holds the semester-long brigade commander position. “Sydney is the perfect person to lead the brigade.”

[SOURCE: WJLA]

Rep. Donald Payne Jr. thanks voters for re-electing him

NJ Congressman Donald Payne Jr. released the following statement thanking voters for his re-election:

I want to thank all my constituents in New Jersey's 10th District for electing me to represent you in the halls of Congress again. It is an honor and a privilege I don't take for granted for a second. Again, I thank you for your confidence to represent your will.

Dr. Marcella Nunez Smith to co-chair Biden coronavirus task force

As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, he announced a new COVID-19 task force as he plans to make coronavirus a priority.

Among those hired for the newly formed advisory board include Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, serving as co-chair. She works as a professor at Yale and advisor to Connecticut’s state response to coronavirus.

According to her official bio provided by Yale, Dr. Nunez-Smith is an Associate Professor at the Yale Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Deputy Director for Health Equity Research and Workforce Development for the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Core Faculty in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, and Research Faculty at Yale’s Global Health Leadership Institute. She earned a BA from Swarthmore College, an MD from Jefferson Medical College, and an MHS from Yale University.

[SOURCE: YAHOO NEWS]

The Congressional Black Caucus Statement on Presidential Victory of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris

The Congressional Black caucus released the following statement congratulating President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris on their historic victory:

Congratulations to President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris on your historic victory today. You fought for the soul of America. Today marks a new dawn in our country and the beginning of our journey on the road to repair after four long years of repressive policies towards communities of color.

The Congressional Black Caucus is proud of our very own, Sen. Kamala Harris who will be the first woman Vice President and the first Black and South Asian Vice-President. Vice President-Elect will be the second member of the Congressional Black Caucus to ascend to the White House after President Barack Obama.

A graduate of Howard University, an HBCU, and a Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a Black sorority, VP-Elect Kamala Harris is a product of these long-standing institutions in our community. We are confident that her zeal for improving the upward mobility of marginalized groups in America will continue to be a priority in this next phase.At a time when democratic backsliding is being experienced in different parts of the world, our ability to defend our democracy in the midst of unprecedented obstacles including voter suppression and COVID-19, is a win for democracy everywhere. Black America's commitment to freedom and democracy runs so deep that even when we were denied the right to vote, we formed resistance movements to challenge discriminatory and racist laws. We marched, we stood in long lines, we beat the odds. As we waited for election results in key battleground states, Black Americans in cities such as Philadelphia, Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Detroit, overwhelmingly voted for President-Elect Biden and Vice-President Elect Harris. It was these cities that got us through the finish line.

We show up every election season because to us there is nothing more important than leading this nation to its highest ideals: liberty and justice for all. Today’s victory is a testament to this.

The Congressional Black Caucus looks forward to working with this new Administration to increase the upward mobility of Black families in America.