Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have elected New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as their party leader.
The congressman, who once quoted the late Notorious B.I.G. during one of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings and has maintained a vow to oppose Republican extremism, becomes the first Black American to lead a major political party in Congress.
Jeffries said he hopes to find common ground with the G.O.P. where possible.
He takes over the reins from longtime Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
The 52-year-old leads a changing of the guard for Democrats, a party long headed by its most senior members, including Pelosi, 82, and South Carolina’s James Clyburn.
The new leaders include Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, 59, and Pete Aguilar, 43, of California.
Clark takes over for Clyburn, 82, as Democratic whip, while Aguilar replaces Steny Hoyer, 83, of Maryland.
“It’s a solemn responsibility that we are all inheriting,” Jeffries remarked.
“And the best thing that we can do as a result of the seriousness
and solemnity of the moment is lean in hard and do the best damn job that we can for the people.”
While Democrats will represent the House minority, “they will have a certain amount of leverage because the Republican majority is expected to be so slim and [presumptive
“The House’s two new potential leaders, Jeffries and McCarthy, are of the same generation but have almost no real relationship
to speak of,” Mascaro wrote.
“The Democrat is known for leveling political barbs at the Republican from afar, particularly
See Jeffries on Pg. 5
In September, lawmakers in Washington rushed through major legislation that would reward massive, legacy media corporations at the expense of smaller community-focused and minority-owned newspapers. While the Journalism Competition Preservation Act (JCPA) is meant to protect publications like those in the National Newspaper Publishers Association, it would ultimately threaten our ability to inform our communities, line the pockets of massive media conglomerates and hedge funds, and lead to the proliferation of harmful misinformation. Good intentions sometimes have negative and counterproductive consequences.
The goal to foster quality, local journalism and journalist jobs is wellintentioned. Local news outlets provide Americans with important information about the political, economic and cultural issues that matter to them. The news industry has reached an inflection point, and much work is still needed to secure a bright and sustainable future for minority-owned publications.
Newspaper employment has fallen by 70% in the past 15 years, and 20% of America’s counties are at risk of becoming news deserts. The top 25 media chains now own a third of all U.S. newspapers. Thousands of newspapers have been acquired by hedge funds and private equity firms like Alden Global Capital or by media behemoths like Gannett, Lee Enterprises and McClatchy. For these media companies, a local newspaper is an asset for profit – not a valuable source of local information. Big media chains acquire newspapers, lay off journalists and staff, drive down wages and shutter publications forever – as they spend millions on executive salaries and stock buybacks.
Now, these same media companies and hedge funds are a step closer to receiving huge payouts – without any accountability or transparency to direct funds to local journalism and journalists. The JCPA would require tech platforms to carry and pay any eligible news publisher for “access”
to content. While this may, again, seem well intentioned at first look, upon deeper inspection the law defines “access” so broadly it will require payment for simply crawling a website or sharing a link. Similarly, while a number of conglomerates are scoped into the bill, true independent or small newspapers are explicitly excluded from the legislation because the bill says that an eligible publisher must earn more than $100,000 per year.
Many African American and other BIPOC news outlets are independently owned. Furthermore, these news outlets have developed and grown their audiences because mainstream media publications excluded the perspectives of minority voices. The Black Press built our own news outlets to support our own voices. As a result, this legislation would only further reinforce harmful racial exclusion trends, rather than actually help smaller local publications like those in the NNPA.
Similarly, recent amendments to the bill requiring non-discrimination would require platforms to carry and pay for hate speech and objectionable content that could be harmful to BIPOC communities. If passed, the JCPA would boost misinformation and extremist content. News publications from either side of the aisle that support extremist views will not only receive money, but tech platforms will be required to carry them on their services. This will make it even harder for platforms to moderate harmful and false content. We know that communities like ours will suffer most.
Congress and the Senate should reject the current draft of the JCPA and go back to the drawing board on real solutions for America’s local news problems – solutions that benefit all Americans, instead of just giving handouts to the biggest media corporations in the nation.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) based in Washington, DC representing the interests of the Black Press of America since 1940.
By ShareAmerica U.S. State Department
Africa is a major geopolitical player and boasts some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
From December 13 to December 15, President Biden will host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. The three-day Washington event will bring together leaders from across the African continent to discuss bold, practical ways to strengthen ties and advance shared priorities.
“I look forward to working with African governments, civil society, diaspora communities across the United States, and the private sector to continue strengthening our shared vision for the future of U.S.-Africa relations,” the U.S. president said.
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored during his August trip to Africa, the continent “shaped our past, is shaping our present, and will shape our future.”
The summit will include sessions on the African diaspora and young African leaders, global health and food security, climate change and energy as well as infrastructure investments.
During the summit’s U.S.-Africa Business Forum, African heads of state and U.S. and African business and government leaders will discuss ways to advance mutually beneficial partnerships to create jobs and drive inclusive and sustainable growth.
At the summit, Biden will promote the stable and reliable partnerships and investments the United States has to offer that enable businesses in Africa and the U.S. to flourish.
Since June 2019, the U.S. government helped close more than 800 two-way trade and investment deals across 45 African countries, worth an estimated $50 billion in exports and investments.
Those deals were implemented through Prosper Africa, a U.S. initiative that leverages the services and resources of 17 U.S. government agencies to increase two-way trade and investment between the United States and African countries.
The United States and African countries have partnered in many ways to address global challenges and will build on those relationships during the summit. Some current highlights include:
Climate change: Africa bears the brunt of climate change: 16 of the 20 most climate vulnerable countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of the Biden administration’s PREPARE Action Plan, the U.S. teams up with African countries and communities to “climate-proof” their infrastructure, water, health and food systems.
Global health: The U.S. partners across the African continent through programs such as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative. U.S.-African investments have helped
strengthen health systems, increase economic resilience and address the COVID-19 pandemic, monkeypox, Ebola and other public health threats. The U.S. has donated more than 194 million vaccine doses to sub-Saharan African countries in partnership with COVAX and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.
Food security: The U.S. government works with local governments and agricultural organizations throughout the continent to reduce global hunger and invest in agricultural resilience and innovation. One U.S. program,
called Feed the Future, recently expanded in Africa, and now 16 of the current 25 Feed the Future countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.
“There is so much more for African nations and the United States to do together across so many fields, including some we may not even have discovered yet,” Secretary Blinken said. “As partners, that horizon is ours to make.”
ShareAmerica is the U.S. Department of State’s platform for sharing stories and images about American society, culture, and life.
over the G.O.P.’s embrace of former President Donald Trump.”
Jeffries served as a House manager during Trump’s first impeachment and dropped a few bars from the late Notorious B.I.G. to underscore how prolific the former president’s crimes appeared.
“And if you don’t know, now you know,” Jeffries said in the quintessential mic drop moment. “We’re still working through the implications of Trumpism and what it has meant as a very destabilizing force for American democracy.”
Washington insiders – and many outsiders – have argued for some time that old-school Democrats needed to give way to a younger generation of leaders.
One journalist pointed out the “oldest member of the incoming Democratic leadership team is nearly a quarter-century younger than the youngest member” of the current Democratic leadership team.
“The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) extends its highest respect and congratulations to the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries,” said NNPA President and C.E.O. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
The NNPA is the trade association of 235 African American-owned newspapers and media companies.
“Congressman Jeffries exemplifies the transformative leadership and vision to strengthen American democracy for all who stand for freedom, justice, equality, and equity,” Chavis asserted.
Jeffries said Democrats must continue to work together towards meaningful progress.
“The thing about us is that while we can have some noisy conversations at times about how we can make progress for the American people, what we’ve seen is that under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, is that we’ve constantly been able to come together,” Jeffries insisted.
Maxwell Frost, the 25-yearold from Florida, perhaps best summed up the changing of the guard in the Democratic party.
Frost won the election this month as the first member of Generation Z to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he’ll serve under Jeffries’ leadership.
“I think it’s important that we have a government that looks like the people,” Frost stated.
The change in Democratic leadership comes at a time when their Republican counterparts have seized control of the House, weaponized the U.S. Supreme Court, gerrymandered congressional maps throughout the country, and have used their pulpits to spark and spread messages of hate and division.
“Americans have tended to see younger candidates as less qualified to serve in office relative to a middle-aged or older candidate,” Damon Roberts, a political scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, told CBS News.
That view partly comes from age requirements.
To serve in the U.S. House, a candidate must be at least 25. A U.S. Senator must be at least 30, while a presidential hopeful
can’t be younger than 35.
“People do seem to be pretty positive toward having a younger representative,” Roberts asserted.
Stressed and sickened by thoughts of their rights and democracy slipping away, young Americans across gender, racial, geographic and education lines banded together last week to help save the Democrats from what many foresaw as a sizable midterm defeat, John Della Volpe, the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, wrote in an editorial.
“In the eyes of many young voters, this is how America meets its destiny: when the passion of the grassroots melds with the power of institutions to forge progress,” Della Volpe asserted.
“As political analysts methodically review the numbers after an election
for the ages, anyone interested in the winning formula for 2024 should closely examine those between the ages of 18 and 39.”
Gerald Warburg, a professor of public policy practice at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, noted that turnover in the youth-challenged leadership of the Democratic House and Senate caucuses had frozen for decades.
Until now, all Democratic legislative leaders were over 70 years of age.
Warburg contended that both parties might now welcome the opportunity to pass the torch to a new, post-baby boomer generation with fresh ideas.
Pelosi and Democrats, Warburg said, “had the courage to step back, making way for new leaders and new ideas.”
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The African Career, Education & Resources, Incorporated (ACER) brought together community members Saturday in Brooklyn Park for a day of fun, food and opportunities to learn how to be proactive about their health.
Dubbed Winter Family Day, the event was held at Zanewood Recreation Center in the suburban city outside Minneapolis and included COVID-19 vaccinations.
“This is part of our ongoing health equity work to eliminate health disparities by bringing culturally responsive health services and resources to the community,” said Nelima Sitati Munene, the executive director of ACER.
Organizations like ACER are trying to reduce racial and economic disparities that exist in accessing health care in the United States. The gap became more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected nearly 100 million people and led to more than 1 million deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For example, Black Americans had the highest COVID-19 mortality rates in 2020, with about 98 deaths per 100,000 people, a rate that was double that of whites, according to research published in the Health and Human Rights Journal. A COVID-19 impact survey conducted by the City of Brooklyn Park also found
that even within the Black community, immigrants from more African ranked lower economically. According to the study, people who identified themselves as “West African” or “African” were more likely to report trouble affording food, medications, and essential household
items than those who checked “Black American” in the study questionnaire.
Winter Family Day featured a partnership with Health on the Go, a Brooklyn Park-based project that works to make healthcare services more
accessible to the city’s residents.
“Sometimes the issue is not knowing that these resources exist, and
“I always tried to run away from music, but it always called me back.”
Carolyne Naomi, singer-songwriter, born and raised in Lagos Nigeria, now based in Minneapolis, described the magnetizing draw music had on her even as she pursued an undergraduate degree in English and a Masters in Communication in Nigeria.
The guitar she first picked up at age nine finally stuck for good when she moved to Minnesota in 2014. “Even when I had [earned] my Masters,” Carolyne Naomi explained, “the self-fulfillment wasn’t complete. There were other things I wanted to accomplish. I still felt empty.” She admitted to herself, “it’s the music,” she was seeking and in pursuit of the music, she landed in Minnesota.
After several forays into the word of music: choir as a teenager, a competitor in the first season of Project Fame West Africa in 2008, Carolyne Naomi, having earned two degrees not related to music, started an online course with Berklee Online to solidify her skills in teaching guitar. She transferred to McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“Moving to Minnesota particularly was [because of] my brother,” she said. “He lived here with his family 20 years.” He dissuaded her from going to Boston because she didn’t know anyone there and in Minnesota Carolyne Naomi also had cousins.
Gigging at Open Mics and other small venues happened quickly for this AfroFunk artist. “Right away I was able to get on stage,” she said. “I went to coffee houses, small stages, and did a lot of networking.” Among the influencers she met, Carolyne Naomi sang backup for Neo Soul Dominican musician, Samantha Moon.
Nowadays, she’s
“My style is heavily influenced by R&B, AfroPop, AfroBeats, Reggae, and Gospel,” Carolyne Naomi said describing her unique integration of sound.
As recently as November 4th, Carolyne Naomi used her influence to promote herself, her band, and other African musicians, doing her part in supporting fellow musicians working to gain an audience.
Her debut EP ‘Miss Naomi’ release concert at the Icehouse in Minneapolis included fellow Nigerian singer Anjy bey; Reggae artist, Ryan Liestman; and Congolese Dia Toti who took the spotlight and energetically led us in several songs that were irresistible dance numbers.
Carolyne Naomi also included Korma Afrocontigbo Danse, an Afrobeats Dance Company that lead the audience of about 200 people, in Congolese style dancing.
The four-hour show was curated by Carolyne Naomi to offer a contemplative first set followed by a dance party
sometimes it’s an issue of accessibility,” said Aru Sasikumar ACER’s program manager for health equity. “We’re working alongside other organizations to combat these barriers.”
Despite their target to reach African communities, Winter Family Day was open to people of various backgrounds. Tomiko Thomas stood in a line in the center’s gymnasium with her two children as they awaited to receive their COVID-19 vaccines. Thomas said that when she saw the opportunity to get vaccinated at the event, she was overjoyed.
“I’m here because getting vaccinated is the right thing to do, and I want to protect my children” Thomas said.
health fairs. Data from the Pew Research Center indicates that in 2021, only 42% of Black Americans said they would be willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The low rates can be partly attributed to the mistrust because of a history of the U.S. government using Black people as guinea pigs in experiments, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund.
Thayer said that when institutions fail, it is up to the communities to supply their people with the resources and services they need for their wellbeing.
of 48 local organizations classed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) as a COVID-19 Community Coordinator (CCC). MHD defines CCCs as communitycentered organizations and groups that connect underserved populations in Minnesota to Covid relief resources, including testing kits, vaccinations, and post-pandemic support.
resources and co-create solutions to persisting problems. ACER regularly collaborates with other groups across the Twin Cities metro area to fulfill its mission of addressing disparities among African communities.
Adrienne Thayer, a registered nurse at Richfield Health Center, noted the historic racial trauma caused by the American healthcare system that might draw diverse communities to community
“If you’ve had a bad experience at a clinic, you’d be unlikely to go back, but maybe an event like this can alleviate those fears,” Thayer said.
ACER was founded in 2008 to address issues pertaining to African immigrants in Minneapolis’ northwest suburbs. It is one
In addition to COVID-19 prevention and recovery services, CCCs are unique in that they offer a holistic wellness approach, meaning that they consider multiple factors to inform how they help the people they serve. Additional resources include but are not limited to food support, housing and rental assistance, health care and mental health services, and employment services. Currently, ACER works with hundreds of African immigrant communities to provide these
Community member Youmei Hou stressed the importance of accessible COVID-19 prevention and recovery resources. During the pandemic, she volunteered with multiple organizations to connect individuals to free testing kits. She said events like Winter Family Day can transform communities by narrowing the gaps.
“It’s so important for us to do our part to protect ourselves and those around us,” Hou said. “When we invest in the health of our communities, everyone thrives.”
While walking the red carpet or speaking from the stage of the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday (Dec. 4), a number of celebrities referenced faith as they praised the awardees. Here are some tidbits:
1. Singer Ellie Holcomb on her childhood with crossover contemporary Christian singer Amy Grant.
Holcomb attended the black-tie gala with her parents — music producer Brown Bannister and his wife Debra Bannister — and her husband, singer Drew Holcomb.
“My dad produced her first record,” she said in an interview on the red carpet about Grant. “I will never forget walking in her home, her at the farm, while she was filming a video for her Christmas record, ‘Home for Christmas.’”
The scene was set with candles and dozens of people working on the film crew.
“There’s a dolly and a camera filming around, and she sees me walk in. I’m a little 7-year-old girl. And she says, ‘Stop.’ And she goes ‘Ellie, I’m so glad you’re here!’ runs and wraps me in her arms.”
Holcomb, who recorded “A Woman” with Grant on the 2021 “Faithful” album, said that memory proved to be a lesson about how to deal with celebrity status.
“She is an expansive soul who genuinely believes that every story matters. And she’s helped me know that my story matters. And I think everyone that she ever encounters feels seen. And maybe they’re reminded that they’re loved, too. So I think it’s just taught me to be a ‘there you are person’ rather than a ‘here I am person.’ And a person who welcomes and expands a widening circle with a song and a smile.”
Asked on the red carpet about her trajectory from children’s choir to singing with the Pips and, later, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Grant’s fellow honoree Gladys Knight provided insight into that first phase of her musical life.
“Girl, we were kickin’ it,” she said, recalling the time with laughter. “We put these little friends of ours together. And that’s how we ended up with the Sunbeam Choir.”
She said they got their minister’s permission to sing particular songs. But they also found time to explore their sanctuary in other ways.
“So here we are — I mean, it was so fun, but we were bad little kids then. We were playing around in the pulpit, and down in the baptismal pool and all that. But you got to remember, we were 6, 7, 8 years old. Mischief was what it was.
”
one example of Knight’s genre-bridging: performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
“She tells ’em, ‘Hey, come on, get some snap to this music here,’” the senator recounted Knight sharing over the weekend. “She’s fantastic.”
His wife, who saw Knight as she was in town attending Honors-related events, said they have also witnessed Knight sing with the choir.
4. LL Cool J on Knight’s singing.
The rapper, a 2017 honoree, praised Knight’s ability to keep faith in her varied performances.
“No matter what Gladys is singing, she connects you on a deeper spiritual level,” he told the audience of more than 1,900. “I once heard Gladys sing the ABCs and I thought I was in church — true story.”
5. Howard Gospel Choir on Knight and Grant.
“It is a true honor to celebrate our heroes, trailblazers, the ones that really showed us how to do what we’re doing,” said Kristen Taylor, who walked the red carpet before performing at the event along with other Howard Gospel Choir members.
6. Borat on Ye and anti-semitism.
On the stage, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen portrayed his alter ego Borat and brought up Kanye West during the segment honoring U2 and citing the group’s efforts to confront oppression across the globe.
Using his portrayal of a TV journalist from Kazakhstan, Borat joked that Ye would not be welcome as a citizen in the country located in both Asia and Europe: “We said no, he too antisemitic even for us,” he said, drawing some applause.
7. Composer Tania León on those who are with her in spirit.
to do anything that I would set my mind to.”
“All of that comes back to my mind,” she added. “And I hear their voices.”
8. George Clooney’s friends on bar life.
Julia Roberts, decked out in a flowing dress that featured framed images of acting colleague George Clooney, talked about how he likes to gather with friends
in a bar for a time that is “almost sacred.”
Continuing that theme, Don Cheadle, another acting colleague — all three were in “Ocean’s Eleven” — gave him another title beyond actor, filmmaker and humanitarian.
“George, you truly are a man of peace, an inspiration, my ride or die,” Cheadle said to Clooney. “And you prove that saints aren’t just in heaven, they can also be found in a bar.”
3.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and a wellknown member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Ann, talked briefly on the red carpet about
“This award means to me something that my ancestors were not able to witness, but they are witnessing, spiritually speaking,” she told journalists on the red carpet. “And they had so much faith in me when I was a child, and they contributed so much, specifically giving me hope, and actually making me believe that I was able
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian Associated Press
When Baaba Maal released his last album “The Traveller” in 2016, the Senegalese singer and guitarist wasn’t sure he would put out another record.
Six years on, he is back with a new single celebrating the fishermen of his local community in northern Senegal, the first track released from the new album coming out in 2023.
“I thought...I did so many albums and I’m going make a break and just focus on all the engagements with my family and then suddenly, my body, my soul, my heart, my spirit, everything did remind me that I’m an artist,” he said in an interview.
“I want to write songs.”
The 69-year-old last week announced his new album “Being”, out in March. The seven-track record, mixing traditional African instruments with electronic touches, addresses themes like technology and the environment.
The uptempo song “Yerimayo Celebration”, released last week, salutes the cultures of fishermen, the profession of Maal’s father.
“It’s music not just to listen to but to think about all the engagements that we have right now in the world and especially in Africa, like climate change, like protecting the environment,” Maal said.
“All these young people who take the boats, they have to go because there is sometimes no opportunity for them here.”
In 2005, Maal founded the Blues du Fleuve festival in his hometown of Podor on the Senegal River. The annual event has grown into a hugely popular gathering providing music and cultural offerings as well as forums for discussing topical issues like climate change and its impact on local communities.
This year’s edition begins on Friday and features a packed agenda, including Maal unveiling a new solar irrigation project via his NANN-K Trust charity.
“I wanted just to bring back something home...But I never expected it to become so big and so popular now,” Maal said.
“Sometimes I (joked) with my friends (saying) ‘I want this festival to be like the Glastonbury of Africa’. I don’t know if it’s possible, maybe, let’s hope.”
Maal has also lent his vocals to the “Black Panther” movie soundtracks, becoming the “voice of Wakanda”, the fictional African nation in which the films are set in.
“Wakanda, if ever it existed, it might be Africa...and to be the voice of Africa, it’s great for me. It’s a very positive Africa.”
for the second set.
It’s not lack of collaboration, creative juices, talent, or even time that Carolyne Naomi faces. “One of the main challenges, I think,” said Carolyne Naomi reflecting on her long journey to success, and this is true for nearly all budding musicians, she asserted, is “getting financial resources. It takes a lot of money to pay for everything. At so many venues, they want me to play for free, as if exposure was sufficient.”
In fact, as a novice, she did play for free, but those days have been spent. Carolyne Naomi perseveres despite “people not valuing [the musician] as creator.”
“I’m looking for patrons to invest in Carolyne Naomi Music Production,” she said. Until she finds more backing by way of sponsorship or other funding, she’ll continue to promote what’s already produced and make more videos of her work with a goal of completing 12 to 14 songs that she can release on an album.
“You just have to pick yourself up and go do it,” she said with resolve.
Denna, adopted 16-year-old
We live in a world where divisions and poverty affect everyone but when we unite as changemakers we can create a community where all people thrive.
