Thursday, November 26, 2020

Michael Jordan donating $2M to Feeding America, food banks

NBA legend Michael Jordan donated $2 million in proceeds from the ESPN documentary "The Last Dance" to the nationwide hunger-relief charity, Feeding America.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Jaime Harrison launching PAC to boost Democrats

Former South Carolina senatorial candidate Jaime Harrison has launched a political action committee to help Democrats get elected. Read his statement on the launch of the new PAC beliw:

POSSIBILITY & PROMISE

When we started this journey to bring hope back to our politics, we knew it would be hard and it would be long. Nothing worth doing is ever easy. We started a movement, a cause that brought millions of people together on this journey for unity and the future of America.

That journey— to heal our divisions, remind ourselves there is more that unites than divides us, that the real battles aren’t between right and left but between right and wrong, that journey, no matter how hard, must continue. That’s why today I am launching “Dirt Road PAC” to make sure the work goes on to protect democracy, elect leaders who will bring us together, and restore a belief in the promise of America.

The mission of the “Dirt Road PAC” will begin in the Senate runoffs in Georgia, continue to the 2021 elections in Virginia, work on voter registration and build to help candidates and parties across the country in the mid term elections in 2022.

For me, this journey started on a dirt road in rural South Carolina. To some that dirt road could be failing schools, shuttered hospitals or simply the hardships we are all facing these days. But make no mistake: While so many challenges remain, to me, we still travel on a road of possibility and promise.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins Dies at 93

David Dinkins, New York City’s first and only Black mayor, has died at 93.

Two senior NYPD officials confirmed to NBC New York that Dinkins' health aide found him unresponsive in his Lenox Hill apartment Monday night, having apparently died of natural causes. The former mayor died a little more than a month after his wife, Joyce Dinkins, passed away.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Dinkins briefly practicing law in New York City before he began his career in politics as a district leader and was elected a Harlem state Assemblyman in 1966. He went on to serve as President of the Board of Elections and City Clerk before winning election as Manhattan Borough President in 1985.

Dinkins, who also served in the Marines in Korea, ran for mayor in 1989 and defeated Mayor Edward I. Koch and he went on to defeat Rudy Giuliani by the narrowest electoral margin in New York City history: 47,000 votes.

During his term as mayor from 1990 to 1993, Dinkins vowed to be "mayor of all the people of New York," and declared: "We are all foot soldiers on the march to freedom."

He once called the Big Apple the "gorgeous mosaic." The former mayor lead the crackdown on violence crime, revitalization of Times Square, established Restaurant Week and Fashion Week.

Dinkins is survived by his two children and two grandchildren.

[SOURCE: NBC NY]

Monday, November 23, 2020

President-Elect Biden names Shuwanza Goff Deputy Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs

President-elect Joe Biden announced new members of his White House senior staff. He announced that Shuwanza Goff will be his Deputy Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

The Office of Legislative Affairs is responsible for advancing the President’s legislative agenda on Capitol Hill. Every day, the Legislative Affairs team is on the front lines, working with Senators, Representatives, and their staffs to promote the President’s priorities. Interns will work alongside staff members in the Senate and House liaison offices by helping notify Senators and Representatives about Administration initiatives, assisting with research on legislation and floor activity, and staffing legislative events.

Shuwanza Goff served as Floor Director for the House of Representatives under House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer. The first Black woman to hold the position, Goff determined which bills came to the House floor, set the legislative schedule, and helped craft the overall House Democratic agenda. Prior to that, Goff was Director of Legislative Operations for Representative Hoyer when he was minority whip. Goff has also served as Floor Aide, Floor Assistant, and Staff Assistant for Representative Hoyer. Originally from Virginia, Goff is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and American University.

Biden to nominate Linda Thomas-Greenfield to serve as United Nations Ambassador

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service who has served on four continents, will be nominated to serve as United Nations Ambassador and elevated the role to his Cabinet.

Retired Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat, is returning to public service after retiring from a 35-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service in 2017. From 2013 to 2017 she served as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, where she led the bureau focused on the development and management of U.S. policy toward sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to this appointment, she served as Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012-2013), leading a team in charge of the State Department’s 70,000-strong workforce.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s distinguished Foreign Service career includes an ambassadorship to Liberia (2008-2012), and postings in Switzerland (at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations), Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Jamaica. In Washington, she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of African Affairs (2006-2008), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (2004-2006).

Since 2017, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has led the Africa Practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategic commercial diplomacy firm chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She was also the inaugural Distinguished Resident Fellow in African Studies at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy from fall 2017 to spring 2019. She joined ISD in spring 2017 as a Senior State Department Fellow. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield earned a B.A. from Louisiana State University and a M.A. from the University of Wisconsin, where she worked towards a PhD. She received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Wisconsin in May 2018.