Articles & Op-Eds
Catching Up with Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Essence.com) 9/17/10
September 17, 2010Friday, September 17, 2010 | 10:55 AM by Cynthia Gordy The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference has been dubbed one of the most powerful weeks in Washington. On its opening day this week, ESSENCE.com tagged along (or tried to!) with CBC President, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, one of the city's most powerful women. From the panels to the parties, here's a look at some of the happenings about town, through the bustling schedule of the Wa… Continue Reading
Congressional Black Caucus Empowers Black America (The Tiger's Roar) 9/17/10
September 17, 2010National Town Hall discuss the educational path of the black community By Brittney Anderson Whitney Hunter Published: Friday, September 17, 2010 Updated: Friday, September 17, 2010 15:09 The 40th Congressional Black Caucus held its first town hall meeting aimed at providing solutions to America's educational crisis by examining and producing solutions on how Black America can once again become a leader in education. The panel emphasized the economical and educational status of t… Continue Reading
Nancy Pelosi reassures Congressional Black Caucus on Job Creation (Politico) 9/16/10
September 16, 2010By: Marin Cogan September 15, 2010 12:59 PM EDT Just after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the legislative conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Wednesday, Rep. Barbara Lee offered an endorsement that would warm the heart of any congressional leader facing the prospect of landslide losses this fall. "Everyone here recognizes why we all say you are the greatest speaker ever," Lee, caucus chairwoman, said to cheers from the audience. The warm words und… Continue Reading
The Root Interview: Rep. Barbara Lee on Race in America (The Root) 9/15/10
September 15, 2010By: Cord Jefferson Posted: September 15, 2010 at 12:09 AM The chair of the Congressional Black Caucus says the nation must address disparities in education, employment, health and incarceration that are the legacy of racism and discrimination. As chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Barbara Lee, who represents northern California's 9th District, leads one of the nation's most prominent African-American instruments for social change. On Monday she released a memo in which … Continue Reading
Berkeley Graduate Released by Iran (Berkeley Daily Planet) 9/14/10
September 14, 2010By Dan McMenamin Tuesday September 14, 2010 Iran has released Sarah Shourd, one of three University of California at Berkeley graduates detained in the country for more than a year. Shourd, 32, was captured in Iran on July 31, 2009, along with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 28. The hikers' families and friends say they were detained after they accidentally crossed an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Iran accused the three of espio… Continue Reading
American hiker released on bail by Iran (The Hill) 9/14/10
September 14, 2010By Elise Viebeck - 09/14/10 09:30 AM ET One of three American hikers detained in Iran in July 2009 was released on bail Tuesday by authorities. Bloomberg reports that Sarah Shourd, who was imprisoned on charges of espionage, suffers from depression and recently discovered a lump in her breast, leading an Iranian judge to release her "based on her illness." Iranian national prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi commented that there were still "enough reasons" to … Continue Reading
Ron Walters, expert on race, politics, dies at 72 (AP) 9/11/10
September 11, 2010By: BRETT ZONGKER Associated Press 09/11/10 5:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON - Ronald W. Walters, a longtime political analyst and scholar at Howard University and the University of Maryland who was a leading expert on race and politics, has died. He was 72. Walters died Friday night after an illness, University of Maryland spokesman Lee Tune said Saturday. He had been suffering from lung cancer. Walters spent 25 years at Howard before becoming director of the African American Leadership Institut… Continue Reading
Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Lee's statement on passing of Ronald Walters" (EbonyJet.com) 9/11/10
September 11, 2010Washington Insights Washington by Kevin Chappell WASHINGTON, D.C. - "On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I extend my deepest condolences to the family of Professor Walters, a man whose academic record and analytical insights have contributed to America's understanding of the intersection of race, politics and policy. "Born in Wichita, Kansas, on July 20, 1938, Professor Walters understanding of political science was deepened and enriched by his superior intellect and bols… Continue Reading
Labor Secretary Solis on jump-starting the economy: 'We have a lot of ideas' (The Grio) 9/6/10
September 06, 2010By Anthony Coley I first met Hilda Solis when she was President Obama's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Labor, and I was communications director for Sen. Ted Kennedy and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which would have to approve the nomination. Sen. Kennedy had come to admire Solis in 2000 when she received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for her dogged efforts to end environmental injustice. As a California state senator and Membe… Continue Reading
A Katrina Retrospective: Structural Inequality, Environmental Justice and Our National Discourse on Race (Huffington Post) 9/1/10
September 01, 2010By Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-9) While there will be many essays written upon the 5th anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I am compelled to offer my own contribution because there are important lessons to be learned from those tragedies that must not be lost. In the wake of the Shirley Sherrod affair and in the context of the multitude of debates and controversies (some phony, some legitimate) involving race in the last several months, I called for a national dialogue on r… Continue Reading
Barack Obama says 'time to turn the page' on Iraq (SF Chronicle) 9/1/10
September 01, 2010Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau Wednesday, September 1, 2010 (09-01) 04:00 PDT Washington -- President Obama declared an end Tuesday to the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, saying it is "time to turn the page" on that war, and promised to stick to his timeline for drawing down troops in Afghanistan in July. The rare televised Oval Office address, only his second after his address on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, straddled a fine line between a premature &quo… Continue Reading
Is Obama jobs bill enough for everyone? (NNPA) 8/29/10
August 29, 2010By: Hazel Trice Edney/NNPA Editor-in-Chief Posted: 8/29/10 WASHINGTON (NNPA) - As the Black unemployment rate rose slightly last month, President Obama has signed the long-awaited jobs bill with hopes of turning around employment rates, which for African-Americans still nearly doubles the national average of 9.5 percent. "The Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010 will create jobs, help American companies compete, and strengthen manufacturing as a key driver of our economic recove… Continue Reading
Unfinished business of executive pay reform (The Hill) 8/27/10
August 27, 2010By Sarah Anderson - 08/27/10 10:39 AM ET Most analysts of the high-finance meltdown that ushered in the Great Recession have concluded that excessive compensation was a key causal factor. Outrageously high rewards gave executives an incentive to behave outrageously, to take the sorts of reckless risks that would eventually endanger our entire economy. Our nation's leading political players have sought, sometimes with grand fanfare, to confront this reality. The financial reform package… Continue Reading
Senate again denies justice to America's black farmers (Hudson Valley Press) 8/25/10
August 25, 2010By Marc Morial "Justice delayed is justice denied" For more than 10 years, tens of thousands of black farmers have been denied justice and a share of a $1.25 billion government settlement as compensation for decades of discrimination in federal farm loan programs. Many have lost their farms waiting. Some have died waiting. And on August 5th, before going on its summer recess, the Senate prolonged the wait by failing to once again appropriate the funds to right this egregious wron… Continue Reading
Mr. President: Lift The Travel Ban (Huffington Post) 8/18/10
August 20, 2010By Congresswoman Barbara Lee With reports this week that the Obama administration will announce plans to expand opportunities for Americans to travel to Cuba - the embargo between the U.S. and Cuba has once again become a major topic of discussion. As reported, the administration's plan would loosen restrictions on travel by academic, religious, and cultural groups that were imposed by President George W. Bush's administration and return to the "people-to-people policies&quo… Continue Reading
Ten Years Too Long in Afghanistan (Huffington Post) 8/4/10
August 04, 2010By Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) Soon the war in Afghanistan will enter its tenth year. Already the longest war in our nation's history, one thing remains clear - there is no end in sight. Nine years ago, we were told we had to go to Afghanistan to capture Osama bin Laden and destroy al Qaeda with virtually no discussion of the potential consequences of invading Afghanistan would be. Few people imagined we would have nearly 100,000 troops there a decade later, despite the fact tha… Continue Reading
Higher education is key to success (The Hill) 8/3/10
August 03, 2010By Barbra Kim - 08/03/10 06:12 PM ET The movers and shakers of today credit their pursuit of higher education for their career success and developing their sense of selves. It is easy to forget not all members of Congress followed the yellow brick road to the Capitol. Many remember the challenges of working full-time, balancing a family and working on a post-secondary degree. The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) turned her life around af… Continue Reading
Despite WikiLeaks Revelations, Congress Votes for War Funding (The Nation) 7/28/10
July 28, 2010Tom Hayden | July 28, 2010 Never was the case so weak for throwing another $33 billion into the Afghanistan sinkhole, but that's what a defensive US Congress did anyway on Tuesday evening. The vote was 308-114, with Republicans supplying most of the prowar votes. Washington-based peace groups, after weeks of e-mailing messages to Congress, put the best face possible on the vote, claiming a "significant" gain of fourteen additional antiwar votes over the 100 cast for a s… Continue Reading
Sharp dissent as $37b OK'd for Afghan war (The Boston Globe) 7/28/10
July 28, 2010102 House Democrats break with president By Matt Viser, Globe Staff | July 28, 2010 WASHINGTON - A bitterly divided House approved $37 billion in new spending yesterday for the war in Afghanistan after a heated floor debate about whether the conflict is unnecessary and diverting resources from the larger fight against terrorism. With a 308-to-114 vote, the House provided the two-thirds needed for approval, an indication that there is still support for President Obama's war strat… Continue Reading
House Approves $59 Billion for Afghan War (The Wall Street Journal) 7/28/10
July 28, 2010By NAFTALI BENDAVID WASHINGTON-The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved $59 billion to fund the Afghan war and other emergency spending, sending the bill to President Barack Obama's desk after brushing aside revelations contained in a cache of leaked military documents. The war's unusual politics were reflected in the 308-114 vote. While 102 Democrats defected, objecting to a war prosecuted by a president of their own party, 160 Republicans supported the measure despit… Continue Reading