Page 6 The Skanner January 11, 2017
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Freddie Allen (Man-
aging Editor/NNPA
Newswire)
D
uring the Ceremo-
nial Swearing-In
event a few blocks
from The White
House, the Congressio-
nal Black Caucus Foun-
dation, Inc., honored
Rep. Cedric L. Richmond
(D-La.), the new chair-
man of the Congressio-
nal Black Caucus (CBC)
and members of the CBC
that will serve during the
115th Congress.
A. Shuanise Washing-
ton, the president and
CEO of the CBCF, said that
115th Congress will have
the largest CBC in histo-
ry with 49 members.
“While the CBC grows
in numbers, there re-
mains a lack of diversi-
ty and inclusion when
it comes to senior staff
placement in senate and
congressional offices,”
said Washington. “The
CBCF is committed to do-
ing its part to change the
landscape of Capitol Hill
and we’re doing so with
one of our newest initia-
tives: Emerge 535.”
Launched in 2013, the
Emerge 535 program
will enable the CBCF to
expand
opportunities
for young people of color
by providing 535 schol-
arships and fellowships
to work on Capitol Hill.
During her comments
at the CBC ceremony,
House Minority leader
Democratic leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) blasted
Republican lawmakers
for blocking President
Barack Obama’s last
Supreme Court justice
nominee and efforts to
pass an updated Voting
Rights Act (VRA).
Pelosi also noted the
irony in the fact that
some of the same Repub-
licans, who attended the
opening of the Nation-
al Museum of African
American History and
Culture and the fiftieth
anniversary of “Bloody
Sunday” in Selma, Ala.,
refused to work with
Democrats on Capitol
Hill to restore the protec-
tions of the VRA.
“It’s not about Dem-
ocrats, it’s not about
Republicans, it’s about
America,” said Pelosi.
“The greatness of Amer-
ica is affected by how
[Republicans] have re-
jected the ability of our
president to appoint a
[Supreme Court] justice,
how they have rejected
our calls for correcting
the injustice of the Su-
preme Court decision [in
Shelby v. Holder]. It’s all
about justice.”
Pelosi called the CBC
the “conscience of the
Congress and indeed
of the country,” and she
added that it was exciting
to see that some of the
newest members of the
CBC were representing
districts who had never
elected a Black lawmaker
to serve in the U.S. Con-
gress.
The newest members
of the CBC are: Senator
Kamala Harris, who is
California’s first African
American senator; Rep.
Val Demings (D-Fla.);
Rep. Lisa Blunt-Roch-
ester (D-Del.), the first
African American and
woman to serve in Con-
gress from Delaware;
Rep. Anthony Brown (D-
Md.); Rep. Dwight Evans
(D-Pa.) and Rep. Donald
McEachin (D-Va.).
After the ceremonial
oath of office was per-
formed, outgoing Chair-
man G.K. Butterfield
(D-N.C.) said that 2016
is now in our rearview
mirror.
“We find ourselves fac-
FREDDIE ALLEN/AMG/NNPA
The CBC Celebrates History with 49 Members in the 115th Congress
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus participate in the Ceremonial Swearing-In event for the 115th
Congress at The Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.
ing a difficult, political
and legislative environ-
ment, unlike any that we
have ever seen before,
but I promise you that
the CBC will rise to the
occasion and we will
meet these new challeng-
es,” said Butterfield. “The
consequences are too
enormous for us to be
indecisive and to allow
conservative forces and
forces of the alt-right to
defend our nation. We
will be strategic and we
will be unified in our
work.”
While many of the
CBC members are “baby
boomers,”
Butterfield
said that there is no
question that Richmond,
who is a part of Genera-
tion X, is well-suited and
well-prepared to lead the
CBC in confronting these
new challenges.
During his remarks at
the ceremonial swear-
ing-in event, Richmond
said that CBC members
represent 78 million
Americans, 24 percent
of the population and
17 million Blacks repre-
senting 41 percent of the
African American popu-
lation in this country.
“There are many Amer-
icans, especially Black
Americans, who can’t
understand how we
got hear today, coming
off eight years of hope,
pride and inspiration,”
said Richmond. “They
are fearful of the current
state of division, hate
and pettiness.
Richmond continued:
“Many of our young peo-
ple are frustrated with
the fact that they seem to
be fighting the same caus-
es that Dr. King and Rev-
erend Jackson and John
Lewis and many others
galvanized the country
behind during the Civil
Rights Movement; and
that’s jobs justice and
common humanity.”