Raising Up Kamala
BY: TAMARA E. HOLMES (B.A. ’94) When Kamala Harris shattered the political glass ceiling to ascend to the vice presidency, the swell of Bison pride reached a fever pitch heard across the nation. Howard is used to experiencing #BisonPride for many of its notable alumni across the public sphere – Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, Vernon Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, to name a select few. But this time, it was different. “Because of the moment we find ourselves in right now – the post-Trump moment, the Black Lives Matter moment and what we can say are the dual pandemics of COVID and systemic
Biden goes all in to try to defuse Democrat-on-Democrat war with his agenda on the brink
By Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox, President Joe Biden may have started this week with a foreign policy-heavy schedule, but his decision to launch intensive in-person engagement at the White House on Wednesday makes clear the reality: The stakes for his domestic agenda simply could not be higher at this moment, nor the impasses more complicated to reconcile. Biden will meet with a series of Democrats throughout the day on Wednesday, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. It will mark the most expansive in-person engagement Biden has undertaken since he took office and underscores just how critical this moment
Progressives say they plan to vote against bipartisan infrastructure bill next week
By Annie Grayer and Phil Mattingly, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is standing by her claim that her members will not vote for the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill without passing the $3.5 trillion package that is aimed at enacting President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. To those who think progressives are bluffing about voting down the bipartisan package, Jayapal told reporters Tuesday, “Try us.” The Washington state Democrat made the remarks after meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who can only afford to lose a handful of votes in order to pass anything through the narrowly divided chamber. The
Biden administration expresses horror over images of Border Patrol confronting migrants
By Chandelis Duster and Maegan Vazquez, The Biden administration is expressing horror over recent images that appear to show US Border Patrol agents on horseback confronting migrants along the Rio Grande. Videos taken by Al Jazeera and Reuters appear to show law enforcement officers on horseback using aggressive tactics when confronting migrants, who are largely Haitian, to prevent them from crossing into the US. A law enforcement officer on horseback is seen in the Al Jazeera video swirling long reins near a group of migrants. Shortly beforehand, another individual on horseback is heard yelling at the migrants, saying, “You use your women?
Biden makes the case at the UN for using ‘relentless diplomacy’ instead of military might to solve global crises
By Kate Sullivan, Maegan Vazquez and Kevin Liptak, President Joe Biden on Tuesday detailed his vision for leading the United States into a new era of diplomacy as he sought to reassure allies — some freshly skeptical — he was moving past the “America First” era of foreign policy. He used his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly to describe a world where American civic leadership, rather than military power, acts as the driving force to resolve persistent problems like coronavirus, climate change and cyber war. And while he didn’t single out China as the dominant global threat, he insisted
Pelosi faces internal Democratic strife as key deadline could sink Biden agenda
By Lauren Fox and Manu Raju, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing a major dilemma: September 27 — the day she promised a vote on a trillion-dollar infrastructure deal that passed the Senate last month — is fast approaching. But no matter how she maneuvers from now until then, a new problem emerges. If, by that date, the House and Senate have not approved a separate, $3.5 trillion package to expand the social safety net, progressives have vowed to sink the infrastructure bill crafted by a bipartisan group of centrists. Yet there is little chance both chambers can reconcile their vast intraparty differences to
Biden set to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly
By Maegan Vazquez, President Joe Biden on Tuesday is set to deliver his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly since taking office, where he’s expected to present his long-term vision for the global community, defend the withdrawal from Afghanistan and emphasize the importance of reestablishing alliances. Biden’s appearance at the assembly in New York comes as he continues to deal with a number of foreign policy crises, including blowback from the French over a recent deal to give Australia nuclear-powered submarines, the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and a bungled US drone strike in Kabul that killed Afghan civilians. Biden’s speech, which will come
Clyburn says there is a ‘possibility’ infrastructure vote could be delayed
By Daniella Diaz, Aaron Pellish and Devan Cole, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Sunday that there is a “possibility” the vote on a bipartisan infrastructure package will be delayed, despite Democratic House leaders promising moderate members a vote by September 27. “There’s always a possibility that the vote would get delayed, but the question is, ‘Are we going to work to get to our goal for September 27?’ Yes, we’re going to work hard to reach that goal, and sometimes you have to kind of stop the clock to get to the goal. We’ll do what’s necessary to get there,” Clyburn,
One of America’s oldest cities has only elected White men as mayors. In November, that changes
By Nicquel Terry Ellis, Boston is poised to make history in November with two women of color competing for a mayor’s seat that has been won by White men for the last 200 years. City Councilors Michelle Wu, an Asian American, and Annissa Essaibi George, a first-generation American whose father emigrated from Tunisia and whose mother was born in Germany to Polish parents, claimed the two top spots in Tuesday’s primary, forcing City Councilor Andrea Campbell and Acting Mayor Kim Janey to concede. Campbell and Janey’s losses dashed the hopes of many Boston residents and community leaders who believed it was time for a Black
North Carolina court blocks state voter ID law, citing ‘intent to target African American voters’
By Tierney Sneed, Dianne Gallagher and Rachel Janfaza, A North Carolina state court panel on Friday blocked a voter identification law, citing discrimination against Black voters. The law, known as SB 824, was passed in 2018 after Republicans lost their supermajority in the legislature but before the new legislature took over. It was already on hold under a preliminary injunction, after North Carolina’s Court of Appeals said voter ID provisions could negatively impact Black voters. But now the state court has permanently blocked the law, which required photo identification to vote. The majority of the three-judge panel said Friday that the law