Facebook appoints first African American to its Board of Directors

Facebook announced today the addition of Kenneth I. Chenault, CEO of American Express, to its board of directors. His appointment becomes effective Feb. 5, 2018.

“I’ve been trying to recruit Ken for years,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a press release. “He has unique expertise in areas I believe Facebook needs to learn and improve — customer service, direct commerce, and building a trusted brand. Ken also has a sense of social mission and integrity I admire and the perspective that comes from running an important public company for decades.”

Chenault, who joined American Express in 1981, has been chairman and CEO of the massive financial services company since 2001. In addition to serving on Facebook’s board, Chenault serves on the boards of IBM, Procter & Gamble, the Harvard Corporation and others.

Unlike Facebook’s other board members, Chenault is black. In fact, Chenault is the first black person to serve on Facebook’s board of directors.

“I’m delighted to join the board and look forward to working with Mark and the other directors as Facebook continues to build communities that help bring people closer to friends, family and the world around them,” Chenault said in a press release.

[SOURCE: TECHCRUNCH]

Congressional Black Caucus Introduces Resolution to Censure Trump for Racist Comments

Today, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the House Judiciary Committee – led by CBC Chairman Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-02) and Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10) respectively – introduced a resolution to censure President Trump for the racist “shithole” comments he made about Haiti and African countries during a bipartisan January 11, 2018, meeting on American immigration policy. The resolution currently has nearly 150 Democratic co-sponsors.

Specifically, the resolution censures President Trump for the following:

·         Questioning whether Haitians needed to be included in the compromise. “Haitians, why do we need more Haitians? Take them out,” President Trump said.

·         Referring to African countries as “shitholes” or “shithouses;” and

·         Suggesting that instead of accepting immigrants from predominately black Haiti and African countries, the United States should instead allow more immigration from predominately white countries like Norway.

Joint Statement from CBC Chairman Richmond and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Nadler:

“We were deeply disturbed and offended by President Trump’s remarks regarding Haiti and African countries. The countries he called ‘shitholes’ produce immigrants that are remarkable and make significant contributions to our country. A high percentage of those immigrants have college degrees and when they get here they create businesses and jobs.

“These remarks have compelled us to prepare a resolution of censure with our colleagues, to condemn President Trump for his racist statements. This censure resolution is important because America is a beacon of hope. We have to show the world that this president does not represent the real feelings of most of the American people which is part of the reason why he lost the popular vote.

“The President’s bigoted fearmongering is not acceptable and his remarks completely warrant total condemnation and censure from Congress. American immigration policy cannot and should not be guided in any way, shape or form by racism.  

“We will be asking Republican Leadership to bring our resolution of censure up for swift consideration and approval. Congress must speak with one voice in condemning these offensive and anti-American remarks. There is no excuse for it.”

In addition to Chairman Richmond and Ranking Member Nadler, co-sponsors include House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn, House Democratic Chairman Joe Crowley, and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

Constituents can become “community co-sponsors” of the resolution by clicking here.

In August, a majority of the CBC and House Judiciary Democrats co-sponsored a resolution to censure President Trump for his “both sides” response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. That resolution was led by Ranking Member Nadler, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), a House Judiciary Committee member, and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), a CBC member.

Trump lies: His African American approval rating has not doubled.

Here's more confirmation of President Trump's delusional views about the relationship between himself and the African American community.

President Donald Trump bragged on Twitter that his approval rating with black Americans has doubled. It hasn't.

Only 15% of black Americans said they approved of Trump's job performance in the days following his inauguration last January — and it's only gone downhill from there. In the most recent Gallup weekly numbers, only 6% of black Americans said they approved of the President's job performance.

The most recent CNN polling, from December, shows that only 3% of black Americans said they approved of how Trump is handling his job nearly a year into his White House tenure.

A whopping 91% said they disapproved.

But that didn't stop Trump from tweeting on Tuesday morning that his approval among black Americans had doubled. "Unemployment for Black Americans is the lowest ever recorded. Trump approval ratings with Black Americans has doubled. Thank you, and it will get even (much) better!" he wrote.

It is true that black unemployment has fallen to 6.8% in the most recent data — the lowest since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the number in 1972 but still higher than the 4.1% national unemployment rate among all races.

[SOURCE: CNN]

'Black Lightning' is CW Network's biggest premiere in 2 years

The CW’s latest superhero series Black Lightning is looking to be both a critical and ratings hit for the network, and the pilot boasted the network’s highest-rated premiere in two years.

TV Line reports Black Lightning’s pilot episode, “The Resurrection,” scored 2.31 million total viewers and a very solid 0.8 demo rating, the network’s best series premiere in two years behind the launch of Legends of Tomorrow (3.2 million/1.2 demo rating).

Based on the DC Comics property, Black Lightning tells the story of Jefferson Pierce, who retired as Black Lightning after the life of a vigilante became too much of a burden on his family life. Almost a decade later, Jefferson, now a high school principal, must don the costume yet again to fight the evil gang known as The One Hundred. The series premiere has met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Black Lightning stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning, China Anne McClain as his younger daughter Jennifer Pierce, Nafessa Williams as his older daughter Anissa Pierce, Christine Adams as Lynn Pierce, James Remar as Peter Gambi, Damon Gupton as Henderson, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III as Tobias Whale and Chantal Thuy as Grace Choi.

Simone Biles admits that she was molested by USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nasar

All around Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles stepped forward Monday to allege she also was abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Biles joins 140 other women who have accused Nassar of abuse in his roles at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State. Read her statement below: