First Black congressman honored at U.S. Capitol Building

Rep. Joseph H. Rainey, born into slavery in 1832, was honored Thursday for being the first Black member of the House by formally having a room in the Capitol named after him.

No. 3 House Democratic leader James Clyburn, Rainey's great-granddaughter Lorna Rainey and others used the event to say the battle for racial justice and voting rights that Joseph Rainey championed must continue.

“I have children. I have grandchildren," said Clyburn, who like Rainey did represents a district in South Carolina. “I want them to feel as proud of this country as I am."

Clyburn noted that eight African Americans were elected to the House from his home state during the 19th Century but said, “The problem is there's 95 years between No. 8 and No. 9," who is Clyburn himself, first elected in 1992. “Anything that's happened before can happen again."

“If Joseph Rainey could accomplish so much during his time, then certainly you can be the ones to get the people’s work done," his great-granddaughter told the small audience, which included lawmakers. “As we honor this man, please let us remember what he stood for, what he put his life in danger for and why his legacy endures today."

The brief event featured speeches delivered beside a portrait of Rainey, sitting with legs crossed in the Capitol and sporting prominent mutton-chop sideburns and a dark suit.

The modest room now bearing Rainey's name is on the first floor of the Capitol and was used by the House Committee on Indian Affairs, on which he served. A plaque in his honor was placed outside the room.

Pamela Moses, a Black woman, sentenced to six years in prison for illegally registering to vote

Pamela Moses, a Black woman in Memphis tried to figure out if she was a registered voter and eligible to vote. She wound up getting accused and convicted of illegally registering to vote and sentenced to six years in prison while white people convicted of similar crimes tend to get probation.

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Pamela Moses, a Black woman, has been sentenced to six years in prison because of a voting error. Meanwhile, white individuals who are known to have committed blatant voter fraud have only received probation.

There are two criminal justice systems in America. pic.twitter.com/o4UqowdpbF

— Legal Defense Fund (@NAACP_LDF) February 4, 2022

Civil Rights Leaders Request Meeting With NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell To Discuss Hiring Practices

The Rev. Al Sharpton and other prominent civil rights leaders promised “direct action” at this month’s Super Bowl if the NFL does not immediately address allegations of racism and a lack of diversity highlighted in a blockbuster lawsuit.

In a letter on Thursday to National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, the civic leaders said they want to huddle with team and league executives to discuss what the league plans to do to increase the number of Black coaches and general managers.

“Despite continued efforts and commitments, we are still sitting here today with 32 teams, not one Black owner and only one Black coach,” the letter said. “This is an outrage at best, and requires your immediate attention.”

The meeting request comes days after former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores shook up the sports world with a class-action racial discrimination lawsuit against the powerhouse sports league.

The letter to Goodell was signed by Sharpton, National Urban League President Marc Morial, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, Black Women’s Roundtable President Melanie Campbell and Barbara Skinner, co-convener of the National African American Clergy Network.

“In light of the recent lawsuit filed by Brian Flores, it has brought this attention back to the forefront of our community, and it is important that you have an immediate open dialogue with Civil Rights leadership,” the letter says.

“We are being asked to do everything within our power, including direct action at next week’s Super Bowl, as well as appealing to local municipalities that underwrite and give special considerations to stadiums to pressure the NFL and its owners to get more serious about enforcing the ruling law.”

[SOURCE: NY DAILY NEWS]

NAACP calls for federal charges against officer who killed Laquan McDonald

The NAACP on Tuesday sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging him to file federal civil rights charges against the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014.

Former officer Jason Van Dyke was sentenced to six years and nine months after his conviction in October 2018 for the killing of McDonald, who was 17 at the time. Van Dyke is set to be released from prison on Thursday after serving less than half of his prison sentence.

In the letter, NAACP President Derrick Johnson urged Garland to "provide your commitment to move forward with appropriate and applicable federal charges based on the Federal Grand Jury findings and other relevant evidence"

"Given the egregious nature of his crime, the NAACP believes that at a minimum, the murderous officer should be charged with a federal civil rights violation under Title 18, U.S.C., Section 242 - Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law," Johnson added.

He added that over its 113-year history, the organization has "seen unfair and inequitable favor given to law enforcement officers who unjustly take the lives of members of the Black community and have fought fervently in opposition to such favor."

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

NAACP asks DOJ to investigate Bridgeport police handling of the Lauren Smith-Fields case

A Bridgeport, Connecticut, chapter of the NAACP is demanding the Department of Justice investigate the Bridgeport Police Department over the cases of two Black women, Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, who were both found dead in their homes.

The demand comes after two Bridgeport police detectives assigned to both cases, were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the police department's internal affairs office.

Rawls was found dead and alone in her home on Dec. 12, 2021. The cause and manner of death are still undetermined, according to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Smith-Fields was found dead in her apartment that same day, shortly after being with a man she had met on a dating app.

The families of Smith-Fields, 23, and Rawls, 53, claim Bridgeport police failed to notify them of the deaths and say they learned of the deaths from others.

During a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Bridgeport NAACP president Rev. D. Stanley Lord recommended new training, revised hiring practices, community input and oversight, and more in order to address criticisms of "insensitivity" and "prejudicial" treatment toward "Blacks and other citizens of color" from the department.

"The operation within the Bridgeport Police Department seems to be a constant disarray and dysfunction," Lord said.