Biden to honor Liz Cheney, Bennie Thompson with top civilian award
By Tamara Keith President Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who led the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6 , 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Presidential Citizens Medal honors Americans who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. It is the second-highest civilian honor a president can bestow and awarding it to Cheney and Thompson sends a signal to President-elect Trump. Trump has criticized the pair repeatedly, falsely accusing them of breaking the law with their investigation into his
Senate Democrats render a verdict on Supreme Court ethics
By Josh Gerstein Senate Democrats wrapped up their extensive investigation of Supreme Court justicesâ ethics practices Saturday, issuing a report blasting two conservative justices for accepting expensive gifts from wealthy benefactors and slamming Chief Justice John Roberts for a lackadaisical response to ethical lapses by his colleagues. âNow more than ever before, as a result of information gathered by subpoenas, we know the extent to which the Supreme Court is mired in an ethical crisis of its own making,â outgoing Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin said in a statement. âWhether failing to disclose lavish gifts or failing to recuse from cases with
Jimmy Carter’s single term in office was a springboard for Black women in politics
By Donna M. Owens When Alexis M. Herman first met Jimmy Carter back in the 1970s, she never imagined how their fates would intertwine, nor the heights to which their careers would rise. âHe was governor of Georgia then, and I was just a few years out of college,â Herman said. Herman, an Alabama native and Xavier University alumna, was a volunteer on civil rights leader Andrew Youngâs congressional campaign when âAndy introduced me to Jimmy Carter and told him of the work I was doing.â At the time, Herman was involved in an experimental project to create a minority womenâs employment program
Protecting Black Students During the Second Trump Presidency
By Shaun Harper One day after Donald Trump was re-elected president of the United States, Black students across the country received racist text messages. This same thing happened within 10 days following the 2016 presidential election: Black freshmen at the University of Pennsylvania received messages via GroupMe with threats of being lynched; I was a professor there at the time. That it happened againâthis time on a larger national scaleâis one indicator of what is likely to ensue on college and university campuses over the next four years. As I insisted at Penn eight years ago, I maintain now that Black students
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art Presents We Say What Black This Is, an Exhibition Featuring MacArthur Award-Winning Artist Amanda Williams
Courtesy of Spelman University Spelman College Museum of Fine Art presents We Say What Black This Is, an exhibition showcasing mixed media and watercolor paintings by MacArthur award-winning artist Amanda Williams. The new exhibit opens February 7, 2025, and will be on view through May 24, 2025. We Say What Black This Is challenges reductive definitions of Blackness, instead celebrating its diversity, resilience and depth. The exhibition features works from Williams’ series What Black is this, You Say?, created in response to the âBlackout Tuesdayâ social media moment in 2020. The exhibit will include a new abstract painting by Williams and student-written didactic labels.
The 2028 Democratic primary is already underway. But the first real moves are just around the corner.
Kamala Harris is weighing whether to run for president again, and some Democrats seem open to the idea. But sheâs hardly likely to clear the field next time. Potential rivals on Democratsâ deep bench were already beginning to maneuver for 2028 during her short-lived second candidacy. And itâs widely expected that the earliest stages of the partyâs next primary will start to pick up not long after Donald Trumpâs inauguration next month. With 2024 drawing to a close, we pulled together five of our plugged-in politics reporters to talk about Harrisâ political future, how the rest of the partyâs most ambitious
Biden has appointed more Black federal judges than any other president
By Char Adams President Joe Biden has appointed more federal judges of color than any president before him, and overtaking Donald Trump’s record for overall federal judge appointments in the process. On Friday the Senate confirmed Biden’s judicial nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California Benjamin Cheeks. With Cheeksâ confirmation, Biden has appointed 63 Black federal judges, the most of a presidency of any length, according to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Earlier this month, the Senate confirmed Tiffany Johnson, Bidenâs judicial nominee for the Northern District of Georgia, making her the 40th Black
Social Security measure passes Senate, sending it to Biden
By Anthony Adragna The Senate broadly approved a measure expanding Social Security payments to millions of certain public sector workers, sending the measure to President Joe Biden for his signature. The vote on the Social Security Fairness Act was 76-20. It previously passed the House in an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 327-75 in November after rank-and-file lawmakers used a procedural measure, known as a discharge petition, to force a floor vote without House GOP leadersâ blessing. “We will vote on taking up the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal flawed policies that eat away at the benefits of those who’ve
Donald Trump Named Herschel Walker Ambassador To Bahamas, Setting Black Twitter on Fire
By Candace McDuffie On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump once again shocked the country with another one of his appointments. He officially named former NFL star Herschel Walker as the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas. Walker ran for a Georgia Senate seat in 2022 and lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Trump announced the news on his social media platform Truth Social. âI am pleased to nominate Herschel Walker as United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nationâs youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home