NJ Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman questions manhood of men in congress when it comes to Trump

In a series of tweets and in a very NJ way, New Jersey's Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (Dem, New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District) questioned the manhood of the men in Congress when it comes to the willingness of doing their job and checking President Trump on things like Russia and following the law.

For a Congress so full of men, it's incredible that we don't have the balls to check a president that: asks aides to violate protocol and law; praises dictators from Russia to the Philippines; and torpedos relationships with our allies.

— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) August 23, 2018

This is a reckoning, and any member of Congress unwilling to do his or her job should step aside.

— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) August 23, 2018

If making a mockery of the emoluments clause wasn't enough; if comforting confederates and nazis wasn't enough; if rampant racism, collaborating with Russians, and being implicated in federal elections crimes wasn't enough, then WHAT IS ENOUGH for Congress to act?

— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) August 23, 2018

Atlanta renames street after civil rights icon John Lewis

Noting U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ life of “raw courage,” Atlanta officials renamed a street for the civil rights icon Wednesday.

Freedom Parkway, a four-lane conduit to the Carter Center, will now be called John Lewis Freedom Parkway.

“John Lewis is synonymous with freedom,” Atlanta City Council member Andre Dickens said when explaining why that particular street was chosen. Dickens sponsored the resolution — which the council unanimously approved in December — to rename the street after Lewis.

“He has lived a life of raw courage,” Dickens said, calling Lewis the “conscience of Congress.”

Lewis encouraged the crowd to vote and called voting “the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society.”

Renaming the street is just one way the task force assembled by Dickens plans to pay respect to the congressman. Plans to paint a mural of Lewis in the Atlanta airport in January ahead of the Super Bowl are in the works, Dickens said.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also presented Lewis with the Phoenix Award — the city’s highest honor — Wednesday for his work as both a local and national leader.

“We are one people. We are one family,” Lewis said. “We will not give up on each other.”

[SOURCE: WTOP]

Sen. Harris Introduces Bill Aimed at Reducing Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality

Today, U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris and 13 Democratic colleagues introduced the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies (CARE) Act, a bill to reduce the racial disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity. The United States is one of only thirteen countries in the world where the rate of maternal mortality is now worse than it was 25 years ago. For Black women, the risk of death from pregnancy-related causes is three to four times higher than for white women, and Black women are twice as likely to suffer from life-threatening pregnancy complications.

“Health equity for Black women can only happen if we recognize and address persistent biases in our health system,” said Senator Harris. “This bill is a step towards ensuring that all women have access to culturally competent, holistic care, and to address the implicit biases in our system.”

"We applaud Senator Harris on putting forward this critical legislation and appreciate her commitment to ending racial disparities in maternal health care and outcomes,” said Elizabeth Gay, MPH, Co-Director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. “Addressing racial discrimination and implicit bias is an important but often overlooked part of improving maternal health in the United States. We are grateful for Senator Harris’ brave leadership.”

“We are proud to endorse Senator Harris’ legislation, the Maternal CARE Act. This bill gives young people entering the medical field access to implicit bias training, as well as establishes a pregnancy medical home demonstration program,” said Lisa Hollier, M.D., M.P.H, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). “We know that racial and ethnic disparities in women’s health – including in maternal mortality, an issue I have dedicated my ACOG presidency to addressing -- cannot be reversed without addressing racial bias; both implicit and explicit. That’s why, in partnership with the Council on Patient Safety in Women’s Health Care and the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health, ACOG is actively involved in educating health care providers on implicit bias to improve women’s health. We look forward to working with Senator Harris to ensure this legislation becomes law, so we can work toward realizing an equitable health care system.”

“Women of color continue to face disproportionate rates of maternal mortality and morbidity in this country,” said Jennifer Jacoby Altscher, Federal Policy Counsel, Center for Reproductive Rights. “This bill aims to address these racial disparities head-on through the creation of programs that have proven to lead to better health for women of color.” 

The Maternal CARE Act:

• Creates two new grant programs focused on reducing racial health disparities in maternal health: 
• Implicit Bias Training Grants: Addresses implicit bias—bias in judgement or behavior resulting from implicit attitudes and stereotypes—by establishing competitive grants directed to medical schools, nursing schools, and other health professionals training programs to support implicit bias training. Priority is given for training in obstetrics and gynecology.
• Pregnancy Medical Home Demonstration Project: Establishes a demonstration project to assist up to 10 states with implementing and sustaining pregnancy medical home (PMH) programs to incentivize maternal health care providers to deliver integrated health care services to pregnant women and new mothers and reduce adverse maternal health outcomes, maternal deaths, and racial health disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity. 
• Directs the National Academy of Medicine to study and make recommendations for incorporating bias recognition in clinical skills testing for U.S. medical schools. 

Earlier this year, Harris introduced a resolution designating April 11-17 as Black Maternal Health Week in order to recognize the maternal mortality rate among Black women as a public health crisis.

The Maternal CARE Act has received support from the following organizations: American Academy of Nursing, American College of Nurse-Midwives, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Black Women Birthing Justice, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Center for Reproductive Rights, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, March of Dimes, National Birth Equity Collaborative, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center, Planned Parenthood, SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

In addition to Harris, the bill is sponsored by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Doug Jones (D-AL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tom Carper (D-DE), Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

Full text of the bill is available here.

Simone Biles wins every gold medal at U.S. Championships

Simone Biles, in the second meet of her comeback, won her record fifth U.S. all-around title and swept the four apparatus titles, combining scores from Friday and Sunday at TD Garden.

She never thought it would be possible, but she also wants to work on pre-meet nerves, consistency and confidence.

“I’d give it a B-plus,” Biles told Andrea Joyce on NBC.

The four-time Rio Olympic gold medalist became the first woman to win all five golds at the national gymnastics championships since Dominique Dawes in 1994.

She won the all-around by 6.55 points over 2017 World all-around champion Morgan Hurd, the largest margin since the perfect-10 system was thrown out in 2006. That gap is larger than that separating Hurd from the 11th-place gymnast.

“I knew I was capable of [scoring this well], but I kind of thought I was going to be a nervous wreck and maybe fall apart,” said Biles, who wore a teal mint leotard in part to stand with fellow Larry Nassar sexual-abuse survivors (teal ribbons were worn at NCAA meets in the winter and spring). “Going into these events, I know I kept telling my family like I don’t know if I’m going to be able to calm myself down the way I did before and handle the nerves, but so far, so good.”

[SOURCE: NBC SPORTS]

Black Shreveport Louisiana Mayoral Candidate Threatened With Lynching

The FBI and Louisiana State Police are investigating a Shreveport an African American mayoral candidate's claims that he was anonymously threatened with lynching if he did not drop out of the race, a state police spokesman said Thursday.

Caddo Parish Commissioner Steven Jackson said Wednesday that he was threatened anonymously with lynching if he did not drop out of the race for Shreveport mayor. He said he reported the threat online to state police.

Trooper Glenn Younger, a state police spokesman in Bossier City, said his agency received Jackson's report Thursday morning. He said that state police and the FBI would handle the investigation, with the FBI taking the lead.

Jackson, in a news conference Wednesday, said someone placed an envelope containing a sheet of paper with a threatening message at the Jackson family home on Ashton Street.

A copy of the sheet, which Jackson provided, depicts Jackson's face crudely placed on top of a head in a noose. The word "Rope" appears at the bottom.

These type-written words then appear below the image: "LEAVE OUR STATUE & PROPERTY ALONE & GET OUT OF THE RACE N-----."

The image mimics a famous poster promoting former President Barack Obama, although the word "Hope" on the original has been changed to "Rope."

Eric Rommal, special agent in charge for the FBI in New Orleans, said the agency is aware of "incident in Shreveport" and is contact with state and local authorities.

"If in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal offense, the FBI is prepared to investigate," Rommal said in an email. "The FBI takes seriously all acts or threats of violence and is committed to investigating crimes that are potentially motivated by hate."

The use of the word "statue" is an apparent reference to Jackson's October vote as a parish commissioner to remove the Confederate monument that stands on the Texas Street side of the Caddo Parish Courthouse in downtown Shreveport. The commission voted 7-5 for removal.

Jackson has said he does not personally live at the Ashton Street house where the envelope and threatening message were left.

The paper does not identify who made or left it at the home. Nor did the envelope, Jackson said.

Jackson said he also received a threatening call earlier this week. The call was from an unknown number, he said.

“I’ve also received harassing calls saying ‘Get out of the race, N word, or we will release these reports on you,” he said.

Jackson said the message left at his home was evidence of a "hate crime."

He said he did not report the threatening message to the Shreveport Police Department or the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office. One reason he didn't report it to the police department, he said, is that as a candidate for mayor he has criticized Police Chief Alan Crump.

“We feel comfortable putting this either at the state or federal level. I think they have the resources best to investigate it,” Jackson said.”SPD needs to be working on the crime issue.”

Jackson added that he will not drop from the mayor's race.

"We're not afraid," said Jackson, a Democrat. "This is hate. That's what this is. And Shreveport and Caddo Parish should be about love. It should be about unity.

“To the persons who place these racist messages at our doorstep, we love you,” he said. “We want to let you know we love you.”

Jackson was elected to the Caddo Parish Commission in 2016 and is one of eight candidates for Shreveport mayor.

[Shreveport Times]