Rep. Yvette Clark & Sen. Warnok Want To Honor Shirley Chisholm With Statue In U.S. Capitol Building

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Senator Raphael Warnock (GA) introduced H.R. 2198 / S. 1032, a bill previously introduced in the 116th Congress by then-Senator Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Clarke, to direct the Joint Committee on the Library to obtain a statue of Shirley Chisholm for placement in the United States Capitol.

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm was elected to represent New York’s 12th District, the heart of Brooklyn, in the United States House of Representatives. In doing so, she became the first Black woman to serve in Congress.

“Shirley Chisholm fought tirelessly from her first day in the New York assembly to her last in the United States House of Representatives and beyond to deliver justice and equality to all Americans. Next year will mark 50 years since her historic campaign for the American presidency began. Today, our country has a Black woman serving in our Executive Branch. We need to show young people this is not something that happened by accident. It took passion and dedication. It took someone who was unbought and unbossed,” said Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke. “Honoring Shirley Chisholm with a statue in the halls of the Capitol does more than memorialize her life. It proves to the millions of Black girls and women in this country that if they achieve, if they strive for greatness, if they better their country and this world, they too may be honored eternally in the United States Capitol. Chisholm was not just the first Black woman to hold a seat in Congress, she was the first Black woman and the first Caribbean American woman to hold my seat in Congress. She showed millions of Black children what was possible. She showed me what was possible. For this and countless other reasons, Congress should honor Chisholm’s life and living legacy and her contribution to advancing civil and human rights by among other defining figures in our nation’s history.”

“As the first Black women ever elected to Congress and one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Shirley Chisholm wasn’t just a trailblazer, she was an architect of the progress our nation has made toward justice and equality. Always speaking truth to power, Congresswoman Chisholm pushed our nation to secure the blessings of liberty for all of its citizens, and the rich legacy of her work and influence is imbedded across our country, all the way up to the White House. It is only fitting for a statue of Shirley Chisholm to reside in the halls of Congress, the institution she changed forever with her wit, passion, vision, and determined leadership,” said Senator Raphael Warnock.

Today, the United States Capitol houses one full-length statue of a Black woman, that of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Within the year, it is expected to honor Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the National Council for Negro Women, with her own full-length statue. Beyond these two statues, there are no current plans to memorialize Black women in this manner in the Capitol.

72 Black executives sign letter urging corporate America to stand against voter suppression

72 Black former and current business executives including Ken Chenault, Ursula Burns, Mellody Hobson, Robert F. Smith, and more signed a full-page ad in the New York Times Wednesday pushing for corporate America to stand up against voting rights restrictions after lawmakers in Georgia passed a controversial new voting bill.

Ken Chenault, the former CEO of American Express, and Ursula Burns, the former CEO of Xerox, join "CBS This Morning" to discuss what role corporations have in protecting the rights of Americans.

Delta Air Lines CEO calls new Georgia voting law unacceptable

After initially supporting the new Georgia voting law and now facing a movement to boycott his company, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo to employees Wednesday that the law was “unacceptable” and “based on a lie” of widespread fraud in last November’s election.

Read his memo below:

Ed Bastian to Delta Colleagues Worldwide

Your Right to Vote

Just two weeks ago, we honored civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young by naming a building on our campus in his honor and establishing a permanent exhibit to his lifelong work in the lobby. The building was chosen because it is the first place most new Delta employees visit when they come to work for us, and we wanted them to see, on their first day, just how closely our mission of connecting the world intertwines with the work of heroes like Ambassador Young, a former Delta board member whose steady hand helped save our airline in the dark years following 9-11.

For all the pride we take in the achievements of Ambassador Young and other civil rights heroes – many of them from our hometown of Atlanta – we know that much work remains to be done to truly establish a just and equitable society. Last week, the Georgia legislature passed a sweeping voting reform act that could make it harder for many Georgians, particularly those in our Black and Brown communities, to exercise their right to vote.

Since the bill’s inception, Delta joined other major Atlanta corporations to work closely with elected officials from both parties, to try and remove some of the most egregious measures from the bill. We had some success in eliminating the most suppressive tactics that some had proposed.

However, I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values.

The right to vote is sacred. It is fundamental to our democracy and those rights not only need to be protected, but easily facilitated in a safe and secure manner.

After having time to now fully understand all that is in the bill, coupled with discussions with leaders and employees in the Black community, it’s evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. That is wrong.

The entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 elections. This is simply not true. Unfortunately, that excuse is being used in states across the nation that are attempting to pass similar legislation to restrict voting rights.

So there is much work ahead, and many more opportunities to have an impact. I want the entire Delta family to know that we stand together in our commitment to protect and facilitate your precious right to vote. That’s why we invested heavily in our get-out-the-vote efforts last year, and we can all be proud of Delta’s contribution to the historic voter turnout in 2020.

In the weeks and months ahead, we will be working with leaders across the political spectrum in states nationwide in this effort. We’re also closely monitoring legislation in Congress – named after the late Atlanta civil rights hero and Delta friend John Lewis – that will expand voting rights nationwide and working with the Representatives and Senators that represent our communities.

I know this result in Georgia has caused frustration, anger and pain for many members of our Delta family. I commit to you that as we move forward, Delta will continue to do everything in our power to hear and protect your voice and your rights, both in Georgia and nationwide.

Thank you for all you do for your communities, your loved ones, and for our Delta family, every day.

Ed

Nike honoring Jackie Robinson with special edition sneaker

Nike is honoring the late Jackie Robinson with a special shoe. The sneaker is a special version of Ken Griffey Jr.'s signature sneaker.

Griffey Jr.'s sneaker, the Air Griffey Max 1, has a No. 24 on the ankle strap. The Robinson version has a No. 42 instead of Griffey Jr.'s number.

The sneaker will also have one of Robinson's iconic quotes written on it, "There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free."

No word yet on when the sneaker will be available, but a release date could be expected soon. Jackie Robinson Day is on April 15 so some are noting that would be an appropriate day to announce the release date, or make them available for purchase.

[SOURCE: CBS SPORTS]

Black church leaders calling for boycott of Coca-Cola

Leaders of the AME Sixth Episcopal District, which encompasses more than 500 predominantly Black churches in Georgia, have criticized Coca-Cola , an Atlanta-based company for not aggressively voicing its opposition to the changes in the state’s election laws. The new measures include additional identification requirements for absentee ballots and restrictions on drop boxes for collecting absentee ballots. Critics of the law have argued it represents a new effort at voter suppression, with President Joe Biden referring to it as “Jim Crow in the 21st century.”

Bishop Reginald Jackson, presiding prelate of the AME Sixth Episcopal District, told a rally in Atlanta, “If Coca-Cola wants Black and brown people to drink their product, then they must speak up when our rights, our lives and our very democracy as we know it is under attack.

“Boycotting is not something we really want to do. Coca-Cola is a fine company. But at the same time, we think all of these major companies have responsibilities on issues of social justice.”

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