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Posts tagged as “Joe Biden”

Learn More About Karine Jean-Pierre, Political Strategist, Activist and New White House Press Secretary (LISTEN)

Learn More About Karine Jean-Pierre, Political Strategist, Activist and New White House Press Secretary (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on May 7, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

A few days ago, Karine Jean-Pierre made history when she was announced as the next White House Press Secretary, taking over from current Press Secretary Jen Psaki on May 13. Jean-Pierre will be the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ+ person to hold the high-profile position.

To read about her, read on. To hear about her, press PLAY:

[You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website. Full transcript below]:

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Karine Jean-Pierre (photo via Twitter)

Hey, this is Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a bonus daily drop of Good Black News for Saturday, May 7th, 2022, based on the format of the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

Earlier this week, Karine Jean-Pierre was named the new White House Press Secretary after serving as the Principal Deputy Press Secretary for the Biden Administration. Jean-Pierre will be the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ-plus person to serve in this position.

Jean-Pierre, the daughter of Haitian parents, grew up in New York City from the age of five and attended the New York Institute of Technology before earning her Masters in Public Administration at Columbia University.

After working in a few different political positions and then the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign and in Obama’s administration, Jean-Pierre joined the faculty at her alma mater Columbia, where she was a lecturer in international and public affairs.

In 2016, Jean-Pierre became MoveOn.org’s national spokesperson and on June 1, 2019, Jean-Pierre famously intervened during a MoveOn Forum where then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris was rushed by an audience member who grabbed her microphone.

Jean-Pierre put herself between the man and Harris until security and Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff removed the man from the stage.

Jean-Pierre then worked as a senior advisor on the Joe Biden presidential campaign, and after the election, was appointed to serve as Principal Deputy Press Secretary. On May 13, 2022, Jean-Pierre will take over from Jen Psaki and officially begin her new duties.

Here’s a clip from Jean-Pierre speaking about her new appointment and its importance overall:

“Wow, I am still processing it. Because as Jen said, at the top, this is a historic moment, and it’s not lost on me.

I understand how important it is for so many people out there. So many different communities that I stand on their shoulders, and I have been throughout my career. And so, it is an honor and a privilege to be behind this podium in about a week or so when Jen is ready.

And that, that is something that I will honor and, and do my best to represent this President and the First Lady the best that I can, but also the American people. And so it is, you know, it’s a very emotional day.

That’s probably the best way that I can explain it a very emotional day. And I just appreciate this time in this moment, and I hope that I make people proud.”

To learn more about Karine Jean-Pierre, check out her 2019 book Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America, her 2020 interview on the Today show and links to more sources provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

This has been a bonus daily drop of Good Black News, written, produced and hosted by me, Lori Lakin Hutcherson.

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Amanda Gorman, 22, Set to Become Youngest Known Inaugural Poet in U.S. History

Amanda Gorman, 22, Set to Become Youngest Known Inaugural Poet in U.S. History

By goodblacknews on January 19, 2021

Amanda Gorman, 22, is set to become the youngest inaugural poet in memory when she recites her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at President-elect Joe Biden‘s inauguration tomorrow, according to thehill.com.

In 2014, Harvard University graduate Gorman became the the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. Three years later she was named the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate. She will carry on the tradition for Democratic presidents of having celebrated poets read an original piece at inauguration ceremonies.

According to The Associated Press, Gorman said she had been recommended to Biden’s inaugural committee by incoming first lady Dr. Jill Biden. 

Gorman’s poem will follow in the line of noteworthy works by celebrated poets such as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning,” written for the 1993’s inauguration of President Clinton, sold more than 1 million copies when published in book form.

To read more: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/534419-biden-chooses-black-female-activist-as-youngest-known-inaugural

“Black Americana”: Traditional and Modern Takes on Patriotic Songs by African American Artists (LISTEN)

“Black Americana”: Traditional and Modern Takes on Patriotic Songs by African American Artists (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on November 8, 2020

[Photos: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock; Marian Anderson at Lincoln Memorial; Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV]

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Yesterday was a good day. As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris became President-Elect and Vice President-Elect of the United States of America, in several cities across the nation literal dancing broke out in the streets. So many people from all stripes of life — Black, Brown, white, Asian, Indigenous — were together exhibiting their joy at the victory.

The massive turnout — in the middle of a surging pandemic, no less — to celebrate the repudiation of the path towards division and exclusion in favor of the path towards inclusivity and diversity was the most patriotic thing I’ve witnessed on a national level in a long time. And so many were carrying and waving American flags.

It’s being acknowledged in the media – as well as in President Elect Biden’s speech – how vital the African American community was in saving this nation’s democracy.  The visuals and the fireworks brought home for me just how much at heart Black people are patriots.

Even though from jump we have been treated unjustly, cruelly, unfairly — we have worked tirelessly to fight for the ideals America is supposed to stand for. Justice. Freedom. Equality. Perhaps we believe in democracy the most because we have always been the most vulnerable when it doesn’t exist.

Hearing Vice President-Elect Harris strut out to Mary J. Blige‘s “Work That” and President Elect Biden sprint out to Bruce Springsteen‘s “We Take Care of Our Own” before their respective speeches, then enjoy the crowd and fireworks to some Jackie Wilson, Coldplay, Hall & Oates and Tina Turner, made me think about some of my favorite takes on patriotic American songs by African American artists that could have been cool to play as well. (My most recent favorite from the past few years? Jon Batiste‘s inventive, unexpectedly moving version of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”)

When my sister Lesa texted me a song she’d been listening to all day — “This Land Is Our Land” by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings — my thoughts turned to action and I started making the playlist below I call “Black Americana” for inspiration now and in the months to come:

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:5X7NWDviuh5ITT9e22wD2a”/]

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Elected to Presidency and Vice Presidency of United States of America

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Elected to Presidency and Vice Presidency of United States of America

By goodblacknews on November 7, 2020

By now, you’ve all heard. All the major news outlets have called the 2020 election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the next President and Vice President of the United States of America.

Good Black News is sharing this momentous piece of news as well, and of course the biggest part of it from our perspective is that the first Black person and the first Black woman ever has been chosen by the majority of voters of America to be their Vice President.

It is a historic and momentous occasion and will today and always be honored as such. Tomorrow, even harder work begins, but today, we sit in this moment, celebrate and rejoice!

ELECTION DAY: Change Is Gonna Come… If We Vote!

By goodblacknews on November 2, 2020
GBN Co-Editor Lesa Lakin and Editor-in-Chief Lori Lakin Hutcherson voting in 2020

We have been living through the 2020 pandemic, protests, economic crisis and all too real and recent attempts at voter suppression happening across the U.S.

And the last thing anyone needs right now is another long article on the importance of voting. So here it is as succinctly as we can put it:

VOTING the one thing we can do to help ourselves and to help others.

To create the opportunity for change that embraces and includes instead of divides and excludes.

GBN supports the Biden/Harris ticket, because they are about embracing, including, bettering.

The other is not.

So if you haven’t already, please, get to a voting center… and help! (IWillVote.com can tell you where if you don’t know)

Onward and upward,

The Good Black News Editorial Staff

 

VIDEO: “Michelle Obama’s Closing Argument” on Why It’s So Critical to Vote (A MUST WATCH)

VIDEO: “Michelle Obama’s Closing Argument” on Why It’s So Critical to Vote (A MUST WATCH)

By goodblacknews on October 6, 2020

“The one thing this President is really, really good at is using fear and confusion and  spreading lies to win.”

Released today, in a blistering, no-nonsense, direct video to the American people, former First Lady Michelle Obama spends 24 minutes and 12 records clearly, concisely and directly laying out why it’s so important to vote in the November election.

While Obama offers empathy for those suffering from Covid-19, including those in the White House, she also points out how “the President” has provided little to know direction or leadership during the crisis and how he continues to downplay the severity of the issue.

She also offers real talk to voters on the racial divisiveness afoot from the top:

You’ve worked hard all your life and for too long you’ve watched the rich get richer. You’ve lost your farm and your livelihoods to corporate greed. You’ve seen your beloved towns shattered by joblessness. You’ve watched families destroyed by drug addiction and mental health challenges – all of this long before this virus hit. And it is frustrating to hear some folks say that you’ve been the beneficiary of white privilege, that the color of your skin gives you a head start. That is the reality for far too many hardworking, decent Americans.

But right now, the President and his allies are trying to tap into that frustration and distract from his breathtaking failures by giving folks someone to blame other than them. They’re stoking fears about Black and brown Americans, lying about how minorities will destroy the suburbs, whipping up violence and intimidation. And they’re pinning it all on what’s been an overwhelmingly peaceful movement for racial solidarity. It’s true. Research backs it up. Only a tiny fraction of demonstrations have had any violence at all. So what the President is doing once again is patently false. It’s morally wrong and yes, it is racist.”

Obama also offers words of support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and then breaks it down even further:

As a Black woman who has — like the overwhelming majority of people of color in this nation — done everything in my power to live a life of dignity, and service, and honesty, the knowledge that any of my fellow Americans is more afraid of me than the chaos we are living through right now, well, that hurts. It hurts us all…  So I want to appeal for some empathy here, too. I want everyone who is still undecided to think about all those folks like me and my ancestors…

The millions of folks who look like me and fought and died and toiled as slaves and soldiers and laborers to help build this country. Put yourselves in our shoes for just a moment. Imagine how it feels to wake up every day and do your very best to uphold the values that this country claims to holds dear — truth, honor, decency — only to have those efforts met by scorn, not just by your fellow citizens, but by a sitting president.”

Obama continues to lay out the way racism is being used to destroy the nation and appeals to everyone, conservative and liberal alike to search their hearts and figure out what they truly value.  Then go to iwillvote.com to save democracy and “get the job done.”

Watch every minute and share. The message is worth it.

“Surprise! We’re Still Making Great Music!” – Playlist of New Songs to Savor from 30 R&B/Soul Favorites (LISTEN)

“Surprise! We’re Still Making Great Music!” – Playlist of New Songs to Savor from 30 R&B/Soul Favorites (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on September 26, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

Many of our Spotify playlists on Good Black News celebrate the songs of years past – but today we’re going to twist it up a little.

With our “Surprise! We’re Still Making Great Music“ playlist, we’re going to spotlight 30 favorite artists from throughout the years who you maybe didn’t know had something new to offer.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:0X0ZZTJ6z2yxX5Uu7R7j3G”/]

With major record companies so focused on the youth/hip hop market, it’s often just part of the accepted path of a musician that after the hit-making years are over, an artist’s career shifts – sometimes concerts/touring, sometimes acting/performing in musicals, sometimes just retiring or changing careers.

But as the technology for recording gets less expensive, and the ability to distribute music electronically becomes simpler – more and more favorite acts are deciding to record new music.  However, just because they’ve made new music, doesn’t mean its been easy for us to find out about it.  Not many radio stations play new soul from veteran artists, and on the streaming services, these tracks are often not well-promoted – even to their likely audiences.

So we started exploring, and we’ve stumbled across dozens of fresh recordings from artists that we haven’t checked out in awhile, often in decades! Some artists have been recording all along – and we didn’t realize it. Some seem to be testing the waters – can they reignite their fanbase? And, this year in particular, with musicians stuck at home – and with news events and protests inspiring the artistic desire to say something, many are using their art to address the politics of today.

So, here are 30 favorite artists (+ one bonus artist) – a mixture of men, women, and groups with recent music from the last couple years you can check out now electronically.  Let us know in the comments who you are happy to see back in action behind the mic:

Senator Kamala Harris Accepts Democratic Nomination for U.S. Vice Presidency (READ FULL SPEECH)

Senator Kamala Harris Accepts Democratic Nomination for U.S. Vice Presidency (READ FULL SPEECH)

By goodblacknews on August 19, 2020

Making history as the first Black woman and nominated by the Democratic Party for Vice President, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris from California accepted the nomination tonight at the Democratic National Convention from Delaware, where she is working with Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The daughter of Shyamala Gopalan Harris, her an East Indian immigrant mother, and Donald Harris, a, Jamaican immigrant father, Harris gave a heartfelt, powerful speech acknowledging the support and love of her family as well as so many of the women who blazed the trail ahead of her, such as Mary Church Terrell, Mary McLeod Bethune, Fannie Lou Hamer, Diane Nash, Constance Baker Motley and Shirley Chisholm.

Harris also pointed to structural racism for the inequities in America — “education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation” — as heightened by the coronavirus, and how she and Biden are committed to doing the work to fulfill the promise of “equal justice under the law.”

To read Harris’ acceptance speech in full, see below:

CA Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris Overwhelmingly Wins State Democratic Party Endorsement for U.S. Senate Campaign

By goodblacknews on February 28, 2016

Kamala Harris (photo via latimes.com)
California Attorney General and U.S. Senate hopeful Kamala Harris (photo via latimes.com)

article by Phil Willon via latimes.com
Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris won the coveted California Democratic Party endorsement for U.S. Senate on Saturday, solidifying her status as the front-runner and delivering a setback to her top rival, Rep. Loretta Sanchez.
Harris captured 78.1% of the votes to earn the state Democrats’ official seal of approval. It’s a prize that provides her with a clear edge in the June 7 primary and, most likely, financial support from the party.
The endorsement came after the two Democratic Senate candidates, running to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, made their final pitches to local activists and other elected officials.
Harris asked Democrats to help her deliver a “more perfect union” and Sanchez asked them to trust her experience and record over other candidates’ “talk.”
But Harris prevailed in a landslide. Of the 2,139 ballots cast, 19.3% were for Sanchez and 2.6% voted for no endorsement at all.   Their back-to-back speeches, the warm-up acts before Vice President Joe Biden took the stage, capped a furious two days of campaigning by both women.
Sanchez spoke of her hardscrabble upbringing, cleaning homes to help one of her brothers pay for college, and how her Mexican immigrant parents’ hard work and perseverance allowed them to achieve the American dream. The congresswoman emphasized her record and experience in Washington and received the warmest response when extolling her votes against the Iraq war, the bank bailout and the Patriot Act.
“While other candidates talk about boldly changing in Washington, I’ve done it for 20 years,” Sanchez said, taking a subtle dig at Harris. “Experience matters, and I will hit the ground running in the Senate.”
Harris walked onto the stage to rousing applause and described the life-shaping experience of growing up in the Bay Area as the daughter of two civil rights activists. Harris’ speech hewed to the high ideals of the Democratic Party and the “poison” politics consuming the Republican presidential race. She vowed to protect and restore the fundamental rights of all Americans.
“For far too many, liberty and justice for all is a promise we have failed to keep,” Harris said.
Winning the party endorsement required at least 60% of the votes from credentialed party delegates or their proxies, a mark that historically has been difficult to reach because delegates also have the option of checking a box for “no endorsement.”

Standing by Her Story: Anita Hill Is Celebrated in the Upcoming Documentary "Anita"

By goodblacknews on March 14, 2014
Anita Hill, photographed at Brandeis University, is the subject of a documentary, “Anita.” (CreditTony Cenicola/The New York Times)

WALTHAM, Mass. — On the day in 1991 that the Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, Anita Hill — the little-known law professor who riveted the nation by accusing him of sexual harassment — faced news cameras outside her simple brick home in Norman, Okla., with her mother by her side, and politely declined to comment on the vote.  In the nearly 23 years since, Ms. Hill, now a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis University, has worked hard, she likes to say, to help women “find their voices.” She has also found hers — and she is not afraid to use it.

“I believe in my heart that he shouldn’t have been confirmed,” she said in a recent interview, acknowledging that it irritates her to see Justice Thomas on the court. “I believe that the information I provided was clear, it was verifiable, it was confirmed by contemporaneous witnesses that I had talked with. And I think what people don’t understand is that it does go to his ability to be a fair and impartial judge.”

It was a surprisingly candid comment from a deeply private woman who has long been careful in the spotlight. But the quiet life Ms. Hill has carved out for herself is about to be upended — by her own choice — with the release of a documentary, Anita, opening on March 21 in theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.