Resolution apologizing for Boston's role in slavery approved by city council

Boston’s city council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday apologizing for the Massachusetts capital’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The resolution, which is non-binding, pledges the city will remove “prominent anti-Black symbols” and educate residents on the history of Boston’s slave trade, among other things. But it stops short of committing the city to funding any specific policies or programs to atone for slavery’s harms, such as paying reparations.

Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who proposed the resolution, said in her remarks to the council that the formal apology represents a necessary first step as the city looks to address the harms caused by slavery.

The council is currently weighing a separate proposal creating a city commission to weigh reparations and other forms of atonement for Boston’s legacy of slavery and racial inequality.

Anderson’s resolution states slavery was first legalized in Massachusetts in 1641 and that the developing Boston economy depended on slaves who “served as butlers, maids, courtiers, beer makers, drivers, cooks and producers of clothing.”

Slavery, the resolution continues, led to “present-day trauma and economic, political, social and racial disparities” such as poorer housing and public education options and income inequality.

[SOURCE: MASSLIVE]

"Grandmother of Juneteenth" Opal Lee reflects on her journey to secure a national holiday

At 95 years old, Opal Lee is showing no sign of stopping. Her life's story — including her famous trek from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to call on lawmakers to make Juneteenth a national holiday — has since become legendary, earning her the name "Grandmother of Juneteenth.". Watch her discuss her work yo make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Attorney General Garland Announces Hate Crimes Charges Against Buffalo Mass Shooting Suspect

Following a meeting with families of the ten African Americans shot and killed at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo in May, Attorney General Merrick Garland announces that the Justice Department has charged 18-year-old Payton Gendron with 26 counts of hate crimes and weapons violations. The attorney general also provides details of the accused gunman's planning and execution of the attack.

Keisha Lance Bottoms to join White House staff

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) will join the White House in the coming days as director of the Office of Public Engagement, a White House official confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.

Bottoms will replace Cedric Richmond, who left the White House last month, as one of President Biden’s top advisers in the West Wing. The Office of Public Engagement is tasked with engaging with the public about the White House’s agenda.

Bottoms has committed to serve at least through the November midterm elections.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Rep. James Clyburn wins Democratic nomination in South Carolina Democratic Primary

South Carolina’s sole Democrat in Congress Jim Clyburn easily fended off two Democratic challengers with 88% of the vote in his primary race Tuesday to secure his 16th term.

“I hope that I am able to continue to serve the people of South Carolina in a way that will make all of them proud, and maybe get that other 10 or 12% that I didn’t get tonight,” Clyburn told reporters virtually after his race was called by the Associated Press with nearly 90 percentage points.

Clyburn will face Republican challenger Duke Buckner, an attorney from Walterboro, in November after results showed Buckner with more than 70 percentage points.

Primary Results

James Clyburn 48,215 votes 88.0%

Michael Addison 4,098 votes 7.5%

Gregg Dixon 2,445 votes 4.5%