African-Americans

June 29, 2007 -- Across the country, people expressed dismay at yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that turned back the clock on 53 years of work by schools around the country to provide all children with a quality education. Editorial boards echoed the sentiment saying that the Court “repudiated the last half-century of race-conscious efforts to overcome that tortured racial legacy,” “will accelerate the trend toward school resegregation in many parts of the country,” and that in the “name of abiding by the letter of Brown, the court has dishonored its spirit.”    » read more »

6/27/2007 -- The Hillary Clinton campaign today announced that Traci Otey Blunt has joined the communications team as the director of African American media.

"We are excited to have Traci join the communications team because she brings experience in several areas, most importantly working with African American media, as well as her experience working with leaders in the African American community at the local, state, and national level," said Howard Wolfson, campaign communications director.    » read more »

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – The John Edwards for President campaign announced today the support of a growing list of African American leaders from around the country. In addition to prominent members of Congress, several state representatives, civil rights leaders and community activists are endorsing Edwards for president.    » read more »

June 27, 2007-- WASHINGTON, DC – Today U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) introduced the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2007, designed to preserve over 300 Underground Railroad-related programs and sites in 28 states – including 9 in Delaware – over the next several years.    » read more »

Concert featuring black artists honors jazz, R&B, soul and hip-hop music

22 June 2007 -- Washington -- The White House celebrated Black Music Month with an afternoon concert that included jazz, rhythm and blues (R&B) and classical-rap fusion music. At one point, the 220 guests, many of them prominent persons in Washington, stood up from gold-painted chairs to clap, tap and even dance.    » read more »

Fund Predominately Black Institutions; Bill increases $100 million in college aid to Illinois students

June 20, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today praised fellow members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for incorporating his proposals to establish teacher residency programs and to recognize and fund predominantly black institutions into The Higher Education Amendments that today passed the Committee.    » read more »

June 19, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) issued the following statement on Juneteenth Independence Day, the anniversary of June 19, 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news the Civil War had ended, effectively emancipating slaves in the Southwest. Obama is a co-sponsor of a resolution commemorating Juneteenth that is expected to be considered by the Senate today.

The text of the statement is below:    » read more »

June 19, 2007 -- Washington, DC — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada made the following statement today, honoring the 142nd anniversary of Juneteenth Independence Day:

“We celebrate an important anniversary today, one that allows us to both remember the cruelty of slavery so many endured and celebrate the freedoms we now enjoy.    » read more »

June 19, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in honor of Juneteenth, the day in 1865 that news spread that the Civil War was over and that all slaves were free:

“In his famous Gettysburg address, President Abraham Lincoln promised a new birth of freedom in our nation. And today we commemorate the day of new birth in which all people in America were made free: June 19, 1865.    » read more »

June 19, 2007 -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Black Caucus Chair Virgie Rollins issued the following statement commemorating Juneteenth, the oldest emancipation celebration held throughout the country.    » read more »

19 June 2007 -- Today’s observance of Juneteenth marks the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. America’s civil war had ended at Appomattox, Virginia in April, 1865. But on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the news finally reached Galveston, Texas: masters could no longer consider slaves their private property.    » read more »

June 15, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – A federal jury in Mississippi found James Ford Seale, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, guilty for his role in the kidnapping, abductions and eventual slayings of two African-American men in 1964.

Seale and other Klansmen conspired to abduct, interrogate, beat and eventually murder Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charlie Eddie Moore, both 19 years old at the time. According to evidence presented at trial, Seale and his co-conspirators believed that Dee might have knowledge about African Americans importing firearms to Franklin County.    » read more »

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

May 31, 2007 -- During Black Music Month, we recognize the outstanding contributions that African-American singers, composers, and musicians have made to our country, and we express our appreciation for the extraordinary music that has enriched our Nation.    » read more »

5.29.07 - Columbus, Ohio – Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and former state Sen. C.J. Prentiss, the Governor’s Special Representative for Closing the Achievement Gap, will host a conference tomorrow, May 30, in Columbus focused on increasing the graduation rate of African American males.

“The low graduation rate of African American males is a problem with widespread implications for our state,” Strickland said. “We need to work to keep these young people in school -- for the benefit of themselves, our communities and the economic strength of the state.”    » read more »