Vol. 50 No. 35
December 19, 2019 -December 25, 2019
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or words or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
Publisher’s Corner Email: sbamericannews@gmail.com Clifton Harris Editor in Chief Publisher of The San Bernardino AMERICAN News
House Judiciary Committee Approves Impeachment of Trump
Congressional Black Caucus Members Talk Impeachment, HBCU Funding
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent@StacyBrownMedia
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
President Donald J. Trump is introduced on stage Saturday, March 2, 2019, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour House Democrats have had their say and history has been made. After a marathon session that began on Wednesday with the consideration of two articles of impeachment, The House Judiciary Committee gave its final approval on Friday to impeach President Donald J. Trump. Making Trump one of only three presidents in the nation’s history to share the same fate. By a 23-17 party line vote, the committee voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power. In the second article, the committee voted 23-17 to impeach the president on charges of obstructing Congress. The full House will now consider – and is expected to pass – the legislation to impeach Trump which would ignite a Senate trial in January and will, ultimately, determine whether the president is removed from office. Only three other presidents have faced impeachment in American history – Richard
Nixon, who resigned from office in 1974 to avoid a House vote to impeach him, Bill Clinton, who in 1998 was impeached by the House of Representatives, and Andrew Johnson whom the House leveled 11 articles of impeachment against in 1868. The Senate failed to convict Johnson and Clinton, and both remained in office. The GOP-controlled Senate isn’t expected to convict Trump either and some leaders have threatened to not convene a trial at all. The two articles of impeachment against Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — are stem from charges that the president used the unique authority of the office of the President of the United States to pressure Ukraine’s then newly-elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, into announcing an investigation of the actions of Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Trump is said to have ordered the withholding of vital aid to Ukraine, previously approved by Congress, denying Zelensky’s request for an Oval Office meeting with the president unless Zelensky agreed to conditions set by the president. Democrats on the Committee, and several of the witnesses that gave testimony, maintain that the president’s request is inconsistent with the official foreign policy of the United States and amounts to a request that will directly benefit the president in his bid for re-election. Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee attempted to block the impeachment vote against Trump by appealing the wording in the articles, and by trying to add amendments to them. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio sought to remove language of the first article of impeachment and to substitute words that emphasized what he said was an account of the Ukraine affair that
underscored how Trump had done nothing wrong. Another Republican from Ohio, Steve Chabot, said Trump was innocent. “There simply wasn’t a crime committed here and there shouldn’t be an impeachment here, either,” Chabot stated. Democrats shot back. “There are no crimes here? That is the defense? How about the highest crime that one who holds public office can commit—a crime against our Constitution,” said California Democrat Eric Swalwell. USA Today noted that Trump appeared to have tuned in to Thursday’s hearing, lashing out on Twitter at Democrats Veronica Escobar and Sheila Jackson Lee, both of Texas. He said the two women “purposely misquoted” his July 25 call with Ukraine’s Zelensky. The call, and other communications from the president and several members of his administration, sparked the (continued on page 3)
The San Bernardino Community Mourns The Death of Bonnie Sheree Johnson Community News
Bonnie Sheree Johnson Bonnie Sheree Johnson was born on Christmas day 1934 in Kansas City, Missouri to Oscar and Mary (Celestine) Buckles. Her family moved to San Bernardino when she was 10 years old and attended Mills Elementary School, Sturgis Jr. High School and San Bernardino High School. Bonnie enrolled in San Bernardino Valley College and received a Certificate in Stenography. She also received her AA degree from a state college in San Francisco. Bonnie married Arthur R.D. Johnson and raised three
children, Larry, Deborah, and Kae Johnson. Art was the breadwinner and Bonnie was content as a wife, mother and homemaker. From the time of Bonnie’s birth into her early adult years the civil rights movement was nonexistent. Even though the Founding Fathers had labored years before to devise a document that would be humane and just for all, it didn’t apply to all. During her childhood Bonnie saw the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, and a Great Society; however, for blacks, there was no deal at all. This situation became apparent to Bonnie when her children entered the public school system. As a ‘stay at home mom’ Bonnie was enthusiastically engaged in the P.T.A and other activities involving her children. That’s when she noted the disparity in segregated schools. Bonnie adamantly refused to deny her children the “American Dream”. By this time, the Civil Rights movement had begun. Led by
Martin Luther King Jr.’s example, Bonnie was inspired. Before Dr. King’s famous “I have a Dream” speech, Bonnie had a dream. Her dream was to educate her children and to reach that goal, Bonnie challenged the school system. Working side-by-side Bonnie, along with Francis Grice and Valerie Pope formed the Community League of Mothers, where she was elected President. They led an anti-segregation boycott of the San Bernardino School District. The Dynamic Trio instituted “Freedom Schools” and took their children along with other students out of the public school system. Newspapers ran articles regarding the Community League of Mothers’ claims that “Black Schools” were inferior to “White Schools” and were not giving their children a chance at the “American Dream”. The White Schools had better books, better teachers, and a wealth of resources. The School Board and Local Politicians kept saying
‘Everything is okay… or will be tomorrow’. While at the same time policies were perpetuated that denied Blacks the rightful chance to the “American Dream”. This became a dangerous fight of personal sacrifice to the members of the Community League of Mothers, with threats of hanging, cross burning, KKK activities and shootings as the protests heated up. With the aid of the NAACP, many court battles ensued, ending with the California Supreme Court’s ruling that San Bernardino was guilty of segregation and discrimination and mandated an end to segregation in the San Bernardino public school system. In the 1970’s, Bonnie became the owner of Greenwood Bail Bonds. A business that she had ran successfully for over 40 years. Often, she has looked outside her office window and remarked how she remembers when Waterman Avenue was just a dirt road. She keeps those (continued on page 7)
Shortly after the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to impeach President Donald Trump on Friday, December 13, members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) held a conference call with publishers of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade association of Black Press publications from around the country. While CBC members addressed the impeachment proceedings, the call was a reminder that Congress continues to work on other pressing issues. The call included CBC Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.), and Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Val Demings (D-Fla.), Alma Adams (D-North Carolina), and Bobby Scott (D-Virginia). The members discussed the passage of the FUTURE Act, legislation that provides needed funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other educational institutions. “Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges or Universities, and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) play a significant role in expanding access to higher education for low-income students and students of color,” said Scott, the Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor. “Unfortunately, despite their outsized role in serving our nation’s most underserved students, these schools have historically been under-resourced compared to other institutions of higher education,” Scott stated. “The FUTURE Act won’t only guarantee at least $250 million per year for HBCUs and MSIs; it will simplify the Free Application for Student Aid (FASFA) and makes it easier for students to access student aid and repay their loans,” Scott continued. The FUTURE Act, which stands for Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education, unanimously passed the Senate. The bill has been sent to the president for his signature. Through the FUTURE Act, HBCUs will receive $85 million per year – about $1 million per school. American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities will receive $30 million annually, while Hispanicserving institutions will get $100 million per year. Also, predominately Black institutions will continue to reap an annual payment of $15 million, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions will receive $15 million each year.
The FUTURE Act, which stands for Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education, unanimously passed the Senate. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)
Asian American and Native American Pacific Islanderserving institutions and Native American-serving nontribal institutions each will continue to receive $5 million annually. “HBCUs and MSIs provide pathways of opportunities for millions of Americans who come from low-income families. As a two-time graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, and a retired professor of 40 years at Bennett College for Women, I as well as all the pupils that I had the pleasure of teaching, are a testament to the power of these schools which mold their students into the leaders of tomorrow,” said Adams, the Chair of the House Higher Education and Labor subcommittee on Workforce Protections “This agreement will secure $255 million a year for these institutions to serve over eight million students of color, preparing them for careers in our STEM professions,” Adams stated. The legislation also reduces FAFSA by 22 questions and allows the Internal Revenue Service to directly share applicants’ tax information with the U.S. Department of Education. “The simplification in the provision was to get information from the IRS to make the applications more accurate,” Scott stated. “If you can get the necessary information from the IRS, there would be more accuracy.” Meanwhile, Jackson-Lee addressed the impeachment vote against Trump. “Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress,” she said of the two articles of impeachment that the House Judiciary Committee voted in favor of on Friday, December 13. “What the president was essentially caught doing was attempting to interfere in the 2020 election. So, in terms of the significance of this for our community, the idea that the president would cheat on the election and attempt to get himself re-elected, I think, would change our lives for generations,” (continued on page 6)
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