Readout of White House Meeting with Black Leaders of Civil Rights Organizations on Police Reform

On October 21, 2021 senior officials from the White House and the Department of Justice met with Black leaders of Civil Rights organizations to discuss police reform.  The meeting is part of broader outreach and engagement by the Biden-Harris Administration with members of the civil rights and law enforcement communities, members of Congress, and victims’ families to define a path forward on meaningful police reform, including through executive actions.

Officials from the Biden-Harris Administration taking part in the meeting included Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond, White House Counsel Dana Remus, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. The administration officials stressed the President’s belief that this moment demands action to hold accountable law enforcement officers who violate their oaths, and that we cannot be deterred by individuals who are trying to block progress.

The civil rights leaders underscored the urgency for action given the lack of progress in Congress, and proposed a number of ideas for advancing meaningful reforms through executive actions, including to advance accountability for police misconduct, and to improve data collection about interactions between police and individuals. The leaders stressed to Administration officials that federal law enforcement should serve as a model and that steps should be taken to encourage reforms at the state and local levels.

The meeting participants included:

• Melanie Campbell, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
• Joi Chaney, National Urban League
• Alicia Garza, Black Futures Lab
• Wade Henderson, Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights
• Damon Hewitt, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Sherrilyn Ifill, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• Derrick Johnson, NAACP
• Janice Mathis, National Council of Negro Women
• Jesselyn McCurdy, Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights
• Rashad Robinson, Color of Change
• Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network

Minnesota delegation looks to honor Prince with Congressional Gold Medal

Minnesota’s Congressional delegation on Monday is introducing a resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Prince, citing his “indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture.”

The resolution for Prince is led by Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who represents Minneapolis in the House. The full Minnesota delegation serves as original cosponsors, including Sen. Tina Smith and Reps. Jim Hagedorn, Angie Craig, Dean Phillips, Betty McCollum, Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Pete Stauber and Omar.

“Prince is a Minnesota icon,” said Omar in a statement. “He showed that it was OK to be a short, Black kid from Minneapolis and still change the world. He not only changed the arc of music history; he put Minneapolis on the map.”

The bill also puts into the Congressional record the glyph he used instead of his name for a time that Prince called “The Love Symbol.”

Under the rules, Congressional Gold Medals require the support of at least two-thirds of the members of both the Senate and House of Representatives before they can be signed into law by the president. The Prince legislation will be introduced in the House and Senate.

If the gold medal is approved and made, the bill asks that it be given to the Smithsonian Institution, which should make it available for display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture or on loan.

HBCU Harris-Stowe University using pandemic funds to cancel student debt

Harris-Stowe University in St. Louis is using federal pandemic relief funds to eliminate student debt owed to the university from the previous academic school year, school officials said.

Harris-Stowe, one of Missouri’s two historically Black universities, announced in September it is using the funds to cancel about $330,000 in debt, an average of about $1,076 per student.

Dr. LaTonia Collins Smith, Harris-Stowe’s interim president, last week told KCUR, the public radio station serving Kansas City, the burden of student debt caused by the pandemic led to low enrollment at the school this fall.

“Many of our students were saying they couldn’t work — because of COVID-19, they lost their jobs,” Smith said. “As a result they could not make payments towards their balances for the previous semester or the semesters which were impacted by COVID-19.”

Smith said the school officials spent most of the week after it made the announcement convincing students and their parents that it wasn’t a hoax. Eventually the school received numerous calls and letters of gratitude, she said.

[SOURCE: AP NEWS]

Huey P. Newton Sculpture Unveiled In Oakland California

The Black Panther Party marked its 55th anniversary with the unveiling of a new bronze sculpture of Huey P. Newton on Dr. Huey P. Newton Way and Mandela Parkway in Oakland, Calif. The site is near where the Panther co-founder was murdered in 1989. The Oct. 24 event was hosted by the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation. Produced by Oakland artist Dana King, the sculpture is the first permanent public artwork in the city dedicated to the Panthers.

Rep. Anthony Brown to run for Maryland attorney general

Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) on Monday said that he will run for Maryland Attorney General in 2022.

In a video announcement, Brown called himself a “champion for progress.”

“Sure, we’ve made progress over the years, but too many barriers exist for too many Marylanders, from health care and housing to the environment and education, to workplaces, policing and the criminal justice system,” Brown says. “I’m running for attorney general to dismantle those barriers.”

Brown is seeking to replace Brian Frosh (D), a two-term incumbent who said last week he would retire in 2022.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]