However the Biden administration has engaged with the private sector and seems to have shown an appreciation of employers’ struggles to rebound from the Covid-19 disaster and the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

Representatives of Orange County’s business communities, unions and veteran outreach alliances met with U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to discuss how President’s Infrastructure bill will benefit Orange County residents.

Secretary Walsh chief priority this year is working to enact the president’s push for multi-trillion-dollar legislative packages on infrastructure and social programs.

During the roundtable Labor Secretary Walsh listened intently as a diverse group of Orange County CA business, military veterans advocates and academic leaders lended their expertise to advise how federal monies should be targeted.

“Secretary Walsh was engaged,” says Bobby McDonald, president and executive director of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County. “His attendance helped raised the level of importance of minorities in Orange County.”

McDonald was the organizer of the roundtable at UC Irvine to discuss investing in the homecare workforce, veterans and minority businesses.

Representatives from to UCI to discuss improving veterans’ opportunities with members of the Black Chamber of Orange County, Hispanic Chamber of Orange County, and Asian Business Association, as well as Union Bank and Southern California Edison.

“He saw that we are united and we have the values of the schools, community and veterans working together,” McDonald said. “We hit a home run today.” That was his take-away.

McDonald says he was contacted by the Chief of Staff of Veterans’ Employment Julian Purdy. According McDonald Purdy asked him to set up a meeting with the Secretary of Labor doing his visit. The intent was to  provide some diverse voices to the greater needs of minority businesses, jobs, labor care economy, housing and veterans of Orange County.

He also included representatives from two of the largest employers in the county, Southern California Edison and UCI. Union bank was also a participant.

McDonald was please with the outcome  because Secretary Walsh got a chance to have a conversation met with a select group of leaders in a relaxed atmosphere. “You felt the energy and comfort,” McDonald recalls.

The message from those in attendance seemed critical.Transforming how the federal government invest  money locally while encouraging the growth of minority businesses and resolve the myriad of military veterans concerns.

“Everyone around the table today is exactly the America the President wants to make a difference” said Secretary Walsh. “This meeting was about investment in people, job training, investing in our veterans and education.”

Fred Flores, who is a member of the OC Black and Hispanic Chamber says he has encounters with many individuals who are not employed or have minimum skills. “They need a hand up not necessarily hand out. I see the infrastructure bill as a tremendous opportunity to match good people with great jobs.”

Nationally about two dozen business and labor groups backed the infrastructure proposal last Thursday.  In a joint statement the organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO, said they “urge Congress to shift this framework into legislation that could be signed into law.” Adding also they are “committed to helping push this cross the finish line.” This endorsement would potentially give infrastructure package a boost as the Senate tries to bring it to a vote.

Members of the Biden administration have been traveling across the country to rally support for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure proposal, which would include billions to repair and improve airports, railways, roads and bridges. The proposal also includes spending to improve broadband, electric, water, and electric vehicle infrastructure.

Chase Wickersham, Orange County Veterans and Military Families Collaborative-Mental Health & Senior Veterans, “I’m a businessman not a social worker. There is a lot of creativity coming out of Orange County. We have a lot of programs that are unique.”

He recalls partnering with Bobby McDonald and California State Sen. Josh Newman to created the ‘Veterans Business Network’ out of total frustration because of the lack of resources in Orange County. It started will 20 vets however today it has 5 thousand members. It provides opportunity and “illustrates to veterans that networking is critical,”says Wickersham. He adds that outreach programs need to be funded. “We need more programs that identify veterans in trouble that are under the radar.”

No doubt the bipartisan infrastructure plan and the separate Democratic bill to expand the social safety net are crucial for President Biden. It could also broaden new federal investments in the next decade, money that could profoundly change how many Americans live.

Secretary Walsh calmly signaled “if the infrastructure bill does not pass the people in this room and the constituents they represent are the ones who will be left behind.” “If these bills don’t pass, that’s a shame because an individual or group of individuals put themselves above the country.”

He made an assurance that the Labor Department can address these inequalities through job training, apprenticeships, work programs and targeting industries that have the ability to hire people today and tomorrow.

“There was a lot of passion in the room,”declares Davina Samuel, director branch manager Union Bank. Also she’s “hopefully the Secretary will continue to stay connected and hear the voice of the people.”

The post UC Irvine Host Minority Business Round Table Featuring U.S. Labor Secretary appeared first on First Source.

The stunning petite Los Angeles native, dressed in a daffodil-colored coat and strawberry-colored headband, captured the nation’s attention with her emotional recital.

Gorman’s nearly six-minute free verse poem echoed the rhythms of spoken word rap with a fluid, emotional recital.

Read a transcript of her poem below.

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl

descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into

and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy

and change our children’s birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

The post Historic and Showstopping, Her Words Captivated A Nation appeared first on First Source.

The whole voting universe was turned upside down by Covid19. While an overwhelming emphasis was on electoral strategy, and on the problems the coronavirus pandemic and racial justice movement are major stories that have impacted last November’s general election. 

Weeks after the November 4th election political strategists are reviewing how voters approached the election during a period of extraordinary turmoil. 

“Early voting was a much more significant during this election cycle than any cycle I had ever seen,” says Kerman Maddox, managing partner Dakota Communications. The political strategist adds that people didn’t want to stand in line and be close to people because of the coronavirus epidemic. 

As the United States confronted several crises and the urgency of that mission has never been more important. Local, state and national campaigns had no choice but to articulate the tangible impact a pandemic and the racial movement on everyday life. 

Still this last tumultuous voting cycle put a spot light on Southern politics. 

While autopsies of the 2020 election results are underway, Florida 

Democrats are assessing lessons from their 2020 electoral losses. 

There were clear signs in the weeks leading  up the election that Republicans could turn out in high numbers in parts of Florida where Democrats needed to win: Miami-Dade County. 

“Florida is such an unstable political landscape,” claims Gayle Andrews, president of Andrews Plus corporate and political media consulting. 

According Ms. Andrews national campaigns are notorious for sending people into Florida from out of state “and that’s just not fair.” She says “you could spend four or five months trying to educate them on who the players are in north, central, and south Florida.” 

Florida State Senator Perry Thurston said Covid-19 affected democratic volunteers ability to canvas “including our souls to the polls as well as our traditional ability to politic in churches”.  

However Andrews and Thurston agree without question Broward is a solid democratic county. On the other hand Miami Dade Countyi s a wildcard.  

According to political experts fighting misinformation was most frustrating to the democratic party. Republicans’ argument was simple, bring up people’s fears……Biden is a socialist….Democrats are socialists.  Some Democrats conceded they were not able logically engage with people that refuse to believe or even entertain alternative messaging. It particularly resonated with members of the Cuban community, many of whom fled a socialist regime. 

Decisions regarding how much attention and investment from the national party can Democrats expect if they are serious about winning Florida. Miami-Dade County, one of the largest Democratic counties in the nation, would be a high priority. 

For years, national Democratic campaigns wrestled with whether

Georgia and other Southern states were worthy investments. 

the culmination of on-the-ground organizing and voter mobilization efforts in Georgia years in the making resulted in high yields. Reaching out to minority communities and getting them energized triggered tens of thousands of young voters who turned 18 during this runoff election season.  

Stacey Abrams, the former state lawmaker and candidate for governor who founded a voter registration group called the New Georgia Project and the other black women organizers made Georgia the place that democrats had to all focus on.  

Also democratic groups where effective in reminding voters why it was so critical that Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock represent the state of Georgia and help determine the future of our country.  

Not everyone knows that Mitch McConnell has been the reason they haven’t received unemployment benefits that he’s the block against most of the resources and the support that we need to survive COVID. 

Last November’s and this month’s elections could not ignore rural Georgia where pockets of Democrats largely Black rural voters are too often left out of the process and get left out of the efforts of candidates. 

For Black Georgians, the conditional recognition of one’s citizenship rights, policed through terror, continues to be the historical default for voting.  

However the success of a candidate like Raphael Warnock is a product of years of voter engagement and Black women who laid the organizing framework. 

A blue Georgia is vindication after years of close calls. 

The post A Retrospective of 2020 Elections California, Florida and Georgia  appeared first on First Source.

A crowded room at the Los Angeles First A.M.E. Renaissance heard six experts testified before members of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and the Congressional Black Caucus.

Accompanying Rep. Bass were Reps.Ted Lieu (D-CA), Hank Johnson(D-GA), G. K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Steven Horsford (D-NV).

Despite an all democrat panel Rep. Bass asserted that republicans were invite but scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending. She also said the two parties agree that criminal justice reform is a priority.

Rep.Bass said democrats and republicans “may come to the table for different reasons” however criminal justice reform is a top agenda item.

California was once known for its tough criminal justice laws and led the nation in mass incarceration.

Criminal justice advocates weighed in on the potential impact of California’s attempts at criminal justice reform.

“People directly impacted by incarceration are leaders in their own experience,” says the Director of Initiate Justice, Taina Vargas Edmonds. “They understand what it takes to make our community safe.”

She also suggested that voting rights be restored to those who have served time.

According to a 2018 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), in 2016 nearly 2.2 million adults were held in America’s jails and prisons. Today approximately 241,000 are behind bars in California.

However in 2011 California voters passes Assembly Bill 109 (AB 109), also known as “realignment”to divert people convicted of certain classes of less serious felonies from state prisons to local county jails.

Another reform measure, Proposition 47, was passed by California voters 2014. It changed certain low-level crimes from potential felonies to misdemeanors.

Hank Johnson(D-GA) said “the California experience in criminal justice reform could be translated to other states.”

Criminal justice advocates urged lawmakers to examine California’s criminal justice reforms and determine whether or not the lessons learned from past policies can be applied on a national scale.

According to US Dept. of Justice National Prisoner Statistics program, state prisons accounted for nearly 57% of the total U.S. adult incarcerated population in 2012 including those serving time for felony convictions and parolees reincarcerated for violating their parole terms.

Rep. Bass says lawmakers need to consider why people of color are overrepresented in the nation’s prisons and jails and how incarceration affect their immediate families.

Committee members and panelist agree that California is far from finished in efforts to reform its over-crowded prisons.

The post House Judiciary Subcommittee Field Hearing on Criminal Justice Reform in Los Angeles appeared first on First Source.