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Harrowing stories of black youth suicide moved Bonnie Watson Coleman to act

| Posted in In the News

It started with check-ins on her social media pages. Usually she hears from constituents about charged topics like taxes and health care, just as lawmakers have for years through old-fashioned mail. But what Bonnie Watson Coleman started to see on Facebook and Twitter disturbed her: heartbreaking stories of black elementary school-age children dying of suicide. “I kept seeing…

Congressional Black Caucus Commemorates the Sixth Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder Decision

| Posted in Press Releases

Today is the sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision. Congresswoman Bass, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Marica Fudge, Chair of the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections, and Congresswoman Terri Sewell issued the following statement to highlight the current state of voting rights in America and…

The Trump Administration's Plan to Change the Poverty Line Would Hurt Communities Who Need Help the Most

| Posted in Opinion Pieces

For decades our country has suffered from systemic inequality and racial segregation that continues to prevent millions of African Americans from gaining access to new opportunities. Now, President Trump is once again attempting to rob African American communities of basic assistance, access to education and quality health care. The Trump administration is on the verge of…

Confederacy’s Former Capital Gets A Street Named After Arthur Ashe — And Some Hope For A More Inclusive Look

| Posted in In the News

Thousands of people spilled into the newly re-christened Arthur Ashe Boulevard here on Saturday for a celebration that also marked the unveiling of an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on the struggle for black equality and to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first captive Africans to English North America. Members of the Congressional Black…

For Congressional Black Caucus Members at Richmond Forum, Solving Problems Comes Down to Elections

| Posted in In the News

It’s not about the Confederate statues or the re-emerging debate over reparations for slavery. The struggle for black equality, 400 years after the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, isn’t just about disparity in wealth, education and treatment by the criminal justice system, although those are top priorities of the Congressional Black Caucus in a U.S. House of…

Tri-caucus Members Oppose Hud Secretary Carson’s Effort to Evict Immigrant and Mixed-status Families

| Posted in Press Releases

The Tri-Caucus – which includes the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and Congressional Asian-Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) – called on Department of Housing (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson to reverse his decision to target immigrant and mixed-status households by barring them from federal housing subsidies, which would exacerbate the affordable housing…

House Hearing on Reparations for Slavery Set for Next Week With Ta-nehisi Coates

| Posted in In the News

The topic of reparations for slavery is headed to Capitol Hill for its first hearing in more than a decade with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover set to testify before a House panel. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is scheduled to hold the hearing next Wednesday, its stated purpose “to examine, through open and…

John Lewis’s Tears Over Ancestor’s Voter Card Stir Emotions in Democratic Caucus

| Posted in In the News

Rep. John Lewis and several of his Democratic colleagues broke down in tears during a closed-door meeting Tuesday after a historian described the congressman’s reaction when he saw his great-great-grandfather’s voter registration card for the first time. The House Democratic caucus invited Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr., who heads the Hutchins Center for African &…

State of Criminal Justice in Focus at Congressional Black Caucus Panel in Brownsville

| Posted in In the News

What was billed as a town hall for the “State of Black America in Brooklyn” Friday night at Brownsville’s P.S. 156 Waverly, morphed into a panel discussion about criminal justice reform featuring members of the Congressional Black Caucus, local legislators and community activists, including Assemblymember Latrice Walker and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Led by Congressmembers…

Actress Taraji P. Henson to Testify at Second CBC Youth Suicide Forum on June 7

| Posted in Press Releases

 On Friday, June 7, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)’s new Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health will convene for a second time in Washington, DC to hear from award winning actress and mental health advocate Taraji P. Henson. Henson founded The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in 2018 to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental illness in the African…