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Posts tagged as “Washington DC”

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Announced as a 2015 Recipient of Nation’s Highest Museum and Library Honor

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY, 10037 (Photo: nypl.org)
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd., New York, NY, 10037 (Photo: nypl.org)

The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research center of the New York Public Library, as one of 10 recipients of this year’s National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries for service to the community. For 21 years, the award has celebrated institutions that present extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service to make a difference for individuals, families, and communities. The award will be presented at an event in Washington, D.C., on May 18. 

The Schomburg Center, located in Harlem, NY, is one of the world’s leading research facilities devoted to the preservation of materials on the global African and African diasporan experiences. A focal point of Harlem’s cultural life, the Center also functions as the national research library in the field, providing free access to its wide-ranging noncirculating collections. It also sponsors programs and events that illuminate and illustrate the richness of black history and culture. The Schomburg Center contains over 10 million items and provides services and programs for constituents from the United States and abroad. In 2015, the Schomburg Center will be celebrating its 90th anniversary year. 

“These National Medal recipients have demonstrated a genuine understanding of their communities and are committed to addressing community needs,” said Maura Marx, acting director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. “IMLS believes museums and libraries are vital community anchors that enhance civic engagement, cultural and educational opportunities, and economic vitality. The remarkable community contributions these institutions have made are proof positive of this.”

“The Schomburg Center is honored to be the recipient of this year’s IMLS Award,” says Schomburg director Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad. “Since 1925, the Schomburg Center has been home to many of the world’s greatest writers, historians, and artists, from James Baldwin to Maya Angelou to Harry Belafonte, and thousands in between. As we celebrate our 90th year and in recognition of the National Medal, we are strengthening our foundation so as to be an indispensable resource for the next generation of storytellers, history-makers, and world-changers.”  

End Racial Profiling Act 2015: Democratic US Lawmakers Re-Introduce Minority Protections Bill

John Conyers
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D- Mich., is pictured during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. On Wednesday, Conyers and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., re-introduced the End Racial Profiling Act in Congress.  (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
Democratic lawmakers are making yet another attempt to pass legislation against racial profiling in local law enforcement. On Wednesday, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., announced they would re-introduce the End Racial Profiling Act for at least the third time in the last three sessions of Congress. Previous bills have failed to get hearings or clear the Senate and House committees with law enforcement oversight.
The latest measure, coming as tensions rise between police and communities of color amid a wave of police killings of black men, would stop police officers from racially profiling African-Americans and Latinos, as well as Muslims, Sikhs and other minority groups that have long complained of targeting by law enforcement. Last year, the Department of Justice expanded policies that protect racial and religious minorities from profiling by federal law enforcement agencies.
The DOJ rules don’t apply to state, county and local law enforcement; the proposed law would expand on them by requiring states to certify their compliance with policies discouraging racial profiling. The announcement by Cardin and Conyers was welcomed Wednesday by civil rights leaders and activists.
“Racial profiling robs people of their dignity, undermines the integrity of our criminal justice system and instills fear and distrust among members of targeted communities,” Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement.
Studies have shown how generally ineffective and counter-productive racial profiling has been as a law enforcement tool, Henderson said. Officers can become overly distracted by racial stereotypes and overlook individuals posing serious threats to public security, he said. But despite the evidence of its ineffectiveness, racial profiling expanded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., in the guise of counterterrorism and immigration enforcement.
Senate and House versions of the law were introduced one day after the “March 2 Justice,” a group of activists against racial profiling and police brutality who walked 250 miles from New York to the U.S. Capitol, arrived in Washington. The group met Wednesday with members of Congress to urge passage of the racial profiling ban.
article by Aaron Morrison via ibtimes.com

Philadelphia Native Deesha Dyer Named White House Social Secretary

Deesha Dyer (Image: LinkedIn)

On April 16th, the White House announced that Deesha Dyer, 37, would become the Obama administration’s third social secretary, and second African-American woman in history to hold the esteemed position.
Dyer, who is a native of Philadelphia, first came to the White House in 2009 as an intern in the Office of Scheduling and Advance. She was hired full-time in 2010 for the role of associate director for Scheduling Correspondence and was later promoted to deputy director and hotel program director. In this role, Dyer traveled with the President and First Lady and worked on matters pertaining to press, lodging and site logistics. In 2013, she was promoted to her current role as director and deputy social secretary.
“Deesha shares our commitment to a White House that reflects America’s history, highlights our culture, and celebrates all Americans. Michelle and I look forward to working with her in this new role as we welcome visitors from across the country and around the world to the People’s House,” said President Obama in a statement.
Prior to starting her career at the White House, Dyer worked at Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust from 2001 to 2010. From 2003 to 2010, she also worked as a freelance journalist covering hip-hop for several different media outlets including The Philadelphia Citypaper. In addition to her years of work experience, the Philadelphia native has also served in several community advocacy roles including her work with young adults at the Youth Health Empowerment Project, her role as creator of a hip-hop AIDS program based in Philadelphia and as a CARE advocacy volunteer and board member at Action AIDS. Since moving to that nation’s capital, Dyer has also volunteered with the homeless community in Washington, D.C. and served as a mentor in the First Lady’s mentee program.
First Lady Michelle Obama congratulated Dyer on her new position and said in a statement that she has always been impressed by her work and is “thrilled that she has agreed to continue her service as [their] Social Secretary.”

National Society of Black Engineers National Advisor Dr. Gary S. May Honored by President Obama

Gary S. May, Ph.D., national advisor, lifetime member and former national chair of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), has been honored by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). Dr. May, dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech, received news of the award on Friday, March 27, during his attendance at NSBE’s 41st Annual Convention, in Anaheim, Calif. He will receive the award during a White House ceremony later this year.
The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring is given to individuals and organizations to recognize “the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science and engineering — particularly those who belong to groups that are underrepresented in these fields,” a White House news release stated. “By offering their expertise and encouragement, mentors help prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers while ensuring that tomorrow’s innovators represent a diverse pool of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics talent throughout the United States.”
“These educators are helping to cultivate America’s future scientists, engineers and mathematicians,” President Obama said. “They open new worlds to their students, and give them the encouragement they need to learn, discover and innovate. That’s transforming those students’ futures, and our nation’s future, too.”

Dr. Olivia Hooker, 1st Black Woman in U.S. Coast Guard, Honored with Training Facility & Dining Hall Dedications

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In 1945, Olivia Hooker, a 30-year-old black woman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, joined the U.S. Coast Guard. The now-Dr. Olivia Hooker holds a PhD in psychology, worked until she was 87, and just turned 100 in February. But 70 years ago when she enlisted she became the Coast Guard’s first African-American woman on active duty.
Screen Shot 2015-03-16 at 1.00.06 PMThursday, Coast Guard brass honored her by naming a dining hall on Staten Island in her honor. But the commandant of the Coast Guard announced that a training center at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., would also bear the name of this 100-year-old pioneer.
“Oh, this is beyond my wildest dreams. I’d never even imagine,” Dr. Hooker said. “It’s still astonishing to me. I’m so grateful that the sun was shining today and we were able to get here.”
To see Fox5NY video of this story, click here.
Hooker grew up in a home that Klan members ransacked during the Tulsa race riot of 1921.
Basic training in Manhattan Beach and the duties of a yeoman first class at the Boston separation office where she worked — and from which she later wrote her own separation letter — looked and felt a lot different than Tulsa in 1921 or White Plains, N.Y., in 2005.
“I learned a lot more about people who grew up in different kinds of situations,” she said. “There are many, many more opportunities but there are still more challenges.”
Hooker’s goddaughter Diane Harris and a roomful of Coast Guard leadership traveled to Staten Island for Thursday’s ceremony.
“She doesn’t act like a 100-year-old to me,” Harris said.
“When I try to reach my toes and I can’t quite reach them, then I’m reminded,” Dr. Hooker said.
Five years ago, at age 95, Dr. Hooker joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the service’s civilian reserve.
article by Mac King via myfoxny.com

Thousands March on Washington to Protest Police Killings

Demonstrators march on Pennsylvania Avenue toward Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All march. More than 10,000 protesters are converging on Washington in an effort to bring attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police. Civil rights organizations are holding a march to the Capitol on Saturday with the families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two unarmed black men who died in incidents with white police officers. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march on Pennsylvania Avenue toward Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All march. More than 10,000 protesters are converging on Washington in an effort to bring attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police. Civil rights organizations are holding a march to the Capitol on Saturday with the families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two unarmed black men who died in incidents with white police officers. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 10,000 protesters converged on the U.S. capital Saturday to help bring attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police and call for legislative action.

Led by several civil rights organizations, the crowd will march to the Capitol on Saturday afternoon with the families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two unarmed black men who died in incidents with white police officers. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights advocate, also will be part of the march. The groups and marchers — with signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Who do you protect? Who do you serve” — are calling for law enforcement reforms after several high-profile cases of what they call police brutality.
At Freedom Plaza, the rally was interrupted briefly by a group of protesters who took the stage with a bullhorn. They announced that they were from Ferguson, Missouri — where Brown died — and demanded to speak.
Rally organizers called the interruption unnecessarily divisive. Speakers were delayed about five minutes as supporters of the interruption chanted, “Let them speak.”
Protests — some violent — have occurred around the U.S. since grand juries last month declined to indict the officers involved in the deaths of 18-year-old Brown and Garner, 43, who gasped “I can’t breathe” while being arrested for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes in New York. Some protesters held signs and wore shirts that said “I can’t breathe” Saturday.
Politicians and others have talked about the need for better police training, body cameras and changes in the grand jury process to restore faith in the legal system.

Congressional Staffers Walk Out of U.S. Capitol in Protest of Police Killings

congress walkout
WASHINGTON — Dozens of congressional staffers walked out of their offices Thursday afternoon to show solidarity with demonstrators who are protesting the decisions not to indict police officers who killed Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Just after 3:30 p.m., the staffers stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with their hands raised in the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture. In interviews, the staffers said they felt the need to express their support for demonstrators calling for police accountability for officers who take the lives of unarmed black men and women.
“We’re coming out here to let them know, no, it’s not business as usual, our lives matter, we’re asserting our humanity and our dignity,” one congressional staffer told The Huffington Post.
“Even though we go to work in these prestigious buildings among prestigious people, we go home and we’re still profiled, we still are part of those statistics,” the staffer added. “It could have been any one of us who was Eric Garner, who was Mike Brown.”
Most staffers did not speak to the press, and none who did agreed to give their names.
Another staffer said that while there may be longterm changes that come about as a result of the protest movement, it was important to assert that it was wrong to allow police officers to take lives without being held accountable.
“They want to put cameras on police officers, which is a great idea, but the Eric Garner case was seen on live TV; the entire world saw it,” said one young black congressional staffer who participated in the walkout. “President Obama said protests are necessary. This is a necessary protest.”
congress walkout
Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas), who took part in the demonstration, said the protest represented “the best of American democracy.” He said he hoped the effort had bipartisan support, and pointed out that a majority of Americans now support some reforms, like having body cameras on police, even in places “thought to be conservative,” like Texas.
The walkout was planned by the Congressional Black Associates, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association and the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association.
article by Dana Liebelson and Ryan J. Reilly via huffingtonpost.com

GOP Staffer Elizabeth Lauten to Resign After Writing Facebook Rant Slamming Obama's Children

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A GOP staffer will resign after launching a verbal assault on Malia and Sasha Obama in the wake of their appearance at the president’s annual turkey pardoning ceremony last week at the White House.
Elizabeth Lauten, who served as a communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), criticized the two girls in a Facebook rant which eventually went viral. “Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events,” wrote Lauten.
She also said that the Obama daughters, who largely stay out of the limelight, should show “a little class.”
Many have argued Malia and Sasha were behaving like typical teenagers at the event. They appeared unamused by their father’s corny jokes and at one point Malia declined to pet the Thanksgiving turkey by simply saying, “Nah.”
RELATED: Obama family goes book shopping
Lauten has since apologized for her post, admitting, “When I first posted on Facebook I reacted to an article and I quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager.” Lauten’s name became a trending topic amid the controversy, with over 22,000 mentions in 24 hours. She had previously been responsible for a gaffe this summer when she accidentally tweeted about “shagging” on Fincher’s official Twitter account. Now, her resignation is “in the works.”
article by Adam Howard; read more at msnbc.com

Tree Planted at the U.S. Capitol in Memory of Emmett Till

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The Capitol building sits on a 59-acre park that includes hundreds of trees.  The newest, a sycamore, was planted Monday, in memory of a black teenager who, nearly 60 years ago, was murdered for whistling at a white woman, helped spark the civil rights movement.
imagesHis name was Emmett Till.
On August 28th, 1955, the Chicago teen was taken by a group of white men from his great-uncle’s home while visiting Money, Miss. His shot and battered body was found three days later in a nearby river. Two white men were acquitted. At Till’s funeral, his mother Mamie proclaimed: Let the world see what they did to my boy.
Fifty thousand people filed by his open casket.

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A plaque is seen at the base of a tree planted in honor of Emmett Till on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, 11/17114. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson says Till’s murder served as a catalyst for supporters of civil rights.
“All those people who are about his age, you are about 14 in 1955, then became the front ranks of the civil rights movement,” said Nelson.
Perhaps this young American Sycamore Tree will help keep Till’s memory alive.
article by Elaine Quijano via cbsnews.com

President Obama and the First Lady Encourage Americans to Apply for 2015-2016 White House Fellows Program

the-obamas-racist-tweet-puerto-ricoPresident Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are encouraging Americans to apply to the White House Fellows Program. The 2015-2016 application was launched on Nov. 1 and became accessible online. The program has become the nation’s leading fellowship for public service and leadership, gearing in exposing individuals to first-hand experience and a better understanding of operations performed in the Federal government. The White House Fellows Program consists of one working full-time in the offices of the Cabinet Secretaries, Senior White House staff, and other high-power Administration officials in Washington D.C.  This opportunity will provide a very exciting and rewarding year to the chosen candidates, showcasing a behind-the-scenes insight into the inner workings of how our government functions.

President Obama and his wife are quoted saying, “In the 50 years since its founding, the White House Fellows Program has helped prove that those who love their country, can change it. Our Nation needs your drive and talent, and we hope you consider applying to the program.”
To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen, you cannot be a current Federal government employee (with the exception of career military personnel), and you must have received a Bachelor’s degree and be currently working in your chosen profession. The selection process will be based on professional achievement, evidence of leadership and management skills, commitment to public service, and skills to succeed and have potential for growth. The application is available here from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15, 2015.
article by Cristie Leondis via blackenterprise.com