OpEd

EDITORIAL

Political Affiliation is the Wrong Way to Guarantee the Right to Vote

In all but six states, the 2021 legislative sessions have begun. And already state lawmakers have introduced hundreds of bills aimed at election procedures and voter access – far greater than the number of voting bills introduced by this time last year.

But many believe this rash of bills to be more about partisanship than streamlining the process of equal access to the right to vote as guaranteed by the Constitution.

In a backlash to historic voter turnout in the 2020 general election and based on a plethora of foundationless and racist allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities, legislators have introduced three times the number of bills to restrict voting access as compared to this time last year. Twenty-eight states have introduced, pre-filed or carried over 106 restrictive bills this year, compared to 35 such bills in 15 states on Feb. 3, 2020).

American electoral politics has been dominated by two major political parties since shortly after the founding of the republic. Since the 1850s, they have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Since the last major party realignment in the mid-20th century, the Democratic Party has been the center-left and liberal party while the Republican Party has been the center-right and conservative party. Since the 1990s, both the Republican and Democratic parties have shifted further apart. However, this two-party system is based on laws, party rules and custom, not specifically outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

Several third parties also operate in the U.S., and from time to time elect someone to local office. The largest third party since the 1980s has been the Libertarian Party. Besides the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian parties, there are many other political parties that receive only minimal support and only appear on the ballot in one or a few states. But it should be noted that the need to win popular support in a republic led to the American invention of voter-based political parties in the 1790s. Party realignments have recurred periodically in response to social and cultural movements and economic development.

Ironically, the United States Constitution is silent on the subject of political parties. The Founding Fathers did not originally intend for American politics to be partisan. In Federalist Papers No. 9 and No. 10, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, respectively, wrote specifically about the dangers of domestic political factions. In addition, the first President of the United States, George Washington, was not a member of any political party at the time of his election or throughout his tenure as president. He hoped that political parties would not be formed, fearing conflict and stagnation, as outlined in his Farewell Address.

But following the 2020 elections in which we saw an unprecedented numbers of voters casting their ballots by mail, legislators across the U.S. have shown particular interest in absentee voting reform, with most bills aimed at altering absentee voting procedures in some way. Other bills would seek to modify how presidential electors are allocated or seek to adopt the national popular vote compact.

In reviewing the more restrictive bills, 28 states seek to: limit mail voting access; impose stricter voter ID requirements; limit successful pro-voter registration policies; and enable more aggressive voter roll purges.

These bills are an unmistakable response to the unfounded and dangerous lies about fraud that followed the 2020 election. Americans should not yield to partisanship or follow the tide of baseless allegations.

Voting should be made easier for citizens – all citizens – not made more difficult. WI

Celebrate Women in March for Life-Time Achievements

March is Women’s History Month, which places the spotlight on women and celebrates their achievements. It is a time to recognize women breaking glass ceilings, beating down doors and pushing away barriers to progress. It is the month to raise awareness that women are growing in their determination not to let anything hold them back.

This month marks 30 years since Congress passed the law authorizing the establishment of Women’s History Week. It was not until 1987 that Congress voted to designate March as Women’s History Month and approved the president’s decision to proclaim it. Women did not need a designation or approval to make a difference in the U.S. or around the world. And 2020 proved to be an outstanding year of progress. Women assumed leadership roles in every sector previously denied them. Many did so despite additional barriers, including nationality, ethnicity, gender pref-

Pandemic's Lost Ones Not Forgotten

Rest in peace to the over 500,000 people in the U.S. who died from COVID-19 and the countless people around the world. I always wonder if this pandemic could've been prevented if we had competent leadership a year ago. May we learn from the mistakes that were made.

Constance Taylor Washington, D.C.

TO THE EDITOR

Take It to the Bridge

I love the cover of last month's issue of the WI Bridge. Whoever the artist is, shout to them. It was just genius to have Marvin Gaye with the Howard Theatre as the backdrop. Shout out to all the creatives and artists.

Brittany Logan Washington, D.C.

erence, age, disability, language, faith, or whatever issues others may have put in their way.

Some of these women are familiar, while others are not well known. Still, we celebrate them and name a few of them, including Kamala Harris, the first woman U.S. vice president. Sarah McBride, the first openly-transgender woman elected to Congress. Jennifer King, first Black woman Washington Football Team NFL coach. Cori Bush, first Black woman representative to U.S. Congress from Missouri. Bianca Smith, the first Black woman pro baseball coach. Dr. Namandjé Bumpus, the first Black woman department chair at Johns Hopkins Medical School. NASA Astronaut Jeanette Epps, the first Black woman to join an International Space Station Crew. Nia DaCosta, the first Black woman to direct a Marvel Universe film. Tamara Moore, the first Black woman to serve as head coach of a men’s college basketball team. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African director-general of the World Trade Organization. Rashida Jones, the first Black woman to run a major cable news network, namely MSNBC.

Where women are not pursuing positions for themselves but decide to organize on behalf of others, they win. Ask President Joe Biden.

With women leading, policies impacting women are expected to change, as well. It is partly the reason for them being there. Just as Black people don’t believe a blind eye should be given to public policy impacting Black people, women expect a gender-sensitive approach to public policies that affect women.

That’s why Women’s History Month matters. WI

Guest Columnist

Julianne Malveaux

Black Women's Organizations Matter

March is Women's History Month, and this month is the perfect time to lift the Black women's organizations that make such an essential difference in our lives. Last year, both the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women (NANBPW) celebrated their 85th anniversary. Thanks to COVID-19, neither organization had the opportunity to celebrate in the way they planned; now they are celebrating by Zoom. The differently scaled celebration does not diminish the importance that these organizations have.

When I think of NCNW, I think of the late Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, who used to say, "If I tap you with my finger, you may or may not feel it, but if I combine these five fingers into a fist, you will definitely feel it." Dr. Height was not a pugilistic woman, but she was a fervent believer in the power of the collective. And NCNW, an "organization of organizations," certainly fits that bill. Too many times, in modern history, NCNW, the collective, has been present. Many of us, for example, attended Labor Secretary Alexis Herman's confirmation hearings, many wearing the crimson and cream colors of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Ms. Herman's sorority (and also mine). Deltas were not the only people in the house. Other Divine Nine sisters joined us, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho. We made an impression, and those senators prepared to grill Herman had to think twice because we were there.

Black women had a tremendous impact on this current election. I think of LaTosha Brown, a Black Votes Matter leader, and the tireless work she did to get voters out. I think of Melanie Campbell and the sisters of the Black Women's Roundtable. There are so many more Black women and Black women's organizations that made a difference in this election. President Biden has acknowledged the Black community and Black women in particular.

It is crucial, though, that our coalition continues to stay active and connected. One Black woman, Kristen Clarke, has been nominated to serve as assistant attorney general for civil rights. Already, the right wing is going after her with their usual smear campaign tactics, taking comments out of context and blowing them up. The same coalition that worked to get the vote out now must work to support this exceptional woman.

Similarly, two other women of color are being smeared. Vanita Gupta, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, has been attacked by rabid right-wingers. Another woman of color, Neera Tanden, who leads the Center for American Progress, has been attacked for her tweets. Really? Her tweets, some say, are vicious. When have tweets

MALVEAUX Page 45

Guest Columnist

Hazel Trice Edney

On Rare Disease Day, Black Families Use Their Stories to Empower Others

It was about 10 a.m. about six months ago, Aug. 18. Jamie and Tonya Nash and their two sons were in class and at work inside their house in Newnan, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.

It was a scene being played out in millions of homes across the nation as the days of the coronavirus pandemic wore on. But, as if the international quarantine wasn't enough, the life of the Nash family was about to take on a whole new dimension.

Their older son, Daniel, 13, was at his computer in the dining room and their youngest son, Nicholas, 7, was at a desk in the kitchen. Nicholas, a good-natured, warm and jovial son who loves to sing and record himself playing with toys, was playing around as Mrs. Nash chided him, encouraging him to focus on a worksheet. "All of a sudden his head dropped down and I thought to myself, I know this boy ain't going to sleep. So, I pulled his head up and I said, 'Boy you better wake up. What are you doing? And then when I pulled his head up, I could see his eyes. They were rolling around and moving fast.'"

Mrs. Nash, who has a master's degree in public health, recognized immediately what was happening. "I knew it was a seizure. But the mama in me was like, 'This is not happening. What is going on?'"

She grabbed Nicholas with one hand and her phone with the other and was trying to dial 911, but she couldn't get the number right as she struggled to balance. So, she cried out for her husband, Jamie, who was in the bedroom teaching an online JROTC class.

The Nash family story is harrowing and emotional even as she recounts it. But they are telling their story anyway as Sunday, Feb. 28, the last day of Black History Month, has been designated as Rare Diseases Day by the National Organization of Rare Diseases (NORD). Though their situation is more unusual than most, they are hoping to impart awareness to other Black families who may have to deal with rare conditions like epilepsy.

Both of their sons began showing signs of autism when they were 2 years old. But the Nashes had learned to manage two autistic children. Medical science sometimes connects autism and epilepsy — both being neurological disorders — but, given the advanced ages of their sons, there was no reason to believe either would be diagnosed with epilepsy. So, the Nash family had

EDNEY Page 45

Guest Columnist

Keith Magee Ending the Cycle of Racial Trauma

When the managers at Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial showed video footage of the Capitol riot some of our lawmakers must have relived the visceral panic they experienced that day. Millions of citizens watching at home will have been overwhelmed once more by fear and disgust. It must have been especially hard for Jewish people, reminded of the thug in his "Camp Auschwitz" T-shirt, and for Native Americans, for whom marauding white men brandishing firearms conjure up ancestral horrors. Black Americans were shuddering — for us, noose-bearing mobs bring to mind brown bodies hanging from trees.

Almost 60 years ago, when my mother, Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds, was 19, she went to Tennessee to help register folks to vote. Having unwittingly entered a whites-only inn, she and her friends were threatened and hounded out of town by members of the KKK. The events of Jan. 6 took her back to the terror of that chase; for days after the storming of the Capitol she felt in fear for her life again.

Tragically, for most non-white Americans, trauma and its consequences are part of everyday life and the triggers come thick and fast. Just walking past a Confederate general's statue in my native Louisiana is enough to make my blood run cold. My heart always pounds in my chest if I notice a police car behind me when I'm driving with my little boy. Then I feel guilty — am I passing my anxiety on to him?

The murder of George Floyd shone a global spotlight on the issue of race in America. But our collective pain began four centuries ago, when the first Africans were enslaved and transported across the Atlantic to a life of unimaginable cruelty. Abolition did not bring healing. Instead, the trauma of freed slaves and their descendants has continued to be compounded to this day, as every subsequent generation has faced ongoing racism, injustice, and police brutality.

Dr. Joy DeGruy has given this historical racial trauma a name: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. She points out that it is deeply embedded, community wide and multi-generational. As a result, countless Black Americans suffer symptoms similar to those of PTSD — which can include anger issues, sleep problems, stress, and anxiety — often without being aware of the root cause and at great cost to themselves, their families, and society.

MAGEE Page 45

Guest Columnist

Charlene Crowell

Advocates Demand Racial Equity as Key PPP Changes Begin

Over the past year, COVID-19 and its variants have plagued the globe taking lives and interrupting normal activities in virtually all areas of life. For Black America, already plagued with steep health, income and wealth disparities, coping with the pandemic has been even more painful.

With less income, higher unemployment, and less access to financial resources, both businesses and consumers alike strive to hold on for much-need relief. In many cases, modest financial resources are either gone or near their end, and the patience to cope has worn thin.

In response, an unparalleled coalition of more than 100 national, state and local advocates are pressing Congress and the Biden administration for substantive changes to deliver equitable relief to underserved communities. Foremost in the coalition’s concern was getting Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds to deserving but largely left-out businesses from earlier funding rounds.

“The design of PPP strongly disfavored businesses owned by people of color, who generally do not have established banking and face greater obstacles in capital access,” the coalition wrote. “Moreover, the incentive for lenders to fund large loans, which yielded larger fees, has proved to be a barrier to entry for the vast majority of businesses of color.”

Fortunately, it was announced Feb. 22 that new PPP approvals will be restricted to businesses with 20 or fewer employees for two weeks in order to target smaller businesses with relief. The SBA will also implement new rules in the coming days that will lessen barriers for small businesses in several areas. These key changes will provide better access and equitable assistance, using gross income instead of net profit as an eligibility measure, improved practices collecting demographic data and eliminating student debt defaults/delinquency from borrower applicants.

Despite these changes, however, more must be done to aid businesses that were already underserved by PPP.

“Many Black, Latino, Asian and immigrant business owners are sole proprietors and independent contractors — vital to their communities,” said Ashley Harrington, director of federal advocacy with the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). “Congress should make increased loan amount eligibility for sole proprietors and independent contractors retroactive, as they did when the rule changed for small farmers and ranchers. We must ensure all vulnerable businesses have equitable access to the relief they need to weather this crisis.”

Well-known national organizations such as the NAACP, National Action Network and the National Fair Housing Alliance, are partnering with Black business organizations like U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, along with local partners including the

CROWELL Page 46

Guest Columnist

Ben Jealous

Biden's Win Means a Civil Rights Lawyer Will Lead Civil Rights Enforcement

Black voters who turned out to elect President Joe Biden were hoping for some real change. We're getting it.

Kristen Clarke is one of the country's most effective civil rights lawyers. She has tackled issues like police accountability, fair housing, educational and economic opportunity, and the school-to-prison pipeline. And Biden has nominated her to lead civil rights enforcement for the federal government.

That is a big change.

Clarke is president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a historic and important civil rights group. She has worked at the U.S. Justice Department and headed the civil rights bureau in the New York attorney general's office. She helped expose Trump's sham Election Integrity Commission, which was designed to create justifications for voter suppression. And she resisted the Trump administration's efforts to corrupt the 2020 census.

Clarke says she is inspired by Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to argue a case at the Supreme Court and the first to serve as a federal judge.

Clarke will be the first Black woman to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. At times in our history, that division has played a powerful role in protecting the constitutional principle of equal justice under law. Under former President Donald Trump, the division became a shell of its former self.

That is changing. When Biden announced the nomination of Clarke and other senior Justice Department officials, he called the Civil Rights Division "the moral center of the Justice Department."

In her remarks accepting the nomination, Clarke pledged her commitment to the core constitutional principle of equal justice. "The clarion call of equal justice under law is what binds us together as a nation," she said. "Now, it's my honor to return to work alongside the dedicated career professionals who give of themselves every day to make that principle real in the lives of families like mine, in my son's life, and in the lives of all of our sons and daughters."

As an experienced civil rights advocate, Clarke knows the forces that she is up against and she is not afraid to challenge them.

In January, she announced that the Lawyers' Committee was suing the violent, extremist Proud Boys and their members for the racist attack on the historic Metropolitan AME Church

JEALOUS Page 46

Askia-At-Large

Askia Muhammad

White House Anti-Black Muslim Press Bias

For 28 years I made my journalistic rounds in Washington with a coveted White House “hard pass.” Basically, that credential permitted card-holders virtually unlimited access to the White House Press Office from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., seven days a week.

For the first 16 of those years—from 1977 until 1993—my tenure was mostly trouble free. I first represented the Chicago Daily Defender newspaper group. Access was aided by the fact that Louis E. Martin, my editor, was on good terms with official Washington, particularly with Democratic President Jimmy Carter.

Once, I asked Carter an embarrassing question at a nationally televised press conference, about how could he presume to challenge Leonid Brezhnev, the president of the Soviet Union about “human rights” at an upcoming summit meeting, while the Rev. Ben Chavis and the Wilmington 10—innocent ting him invited once to a briefing and photo session with the president.

But then, sometime during George H.W. Bush’s term, my past, my reputation began to catch up with me. The renewal of my credential was not routine as it had been. I investigated and insisted that I met the written requirements: accreditation with one of the Congressional Press/Radio-TV/ Periodical Galleries; and ability to pass a Secret Service background check. That sufficed for a time.

When Bill Clinton took office, I felt like I was being targeted, targeted because of my religious identity. My patron Louis Martin was off the scene, but I had won reliable friends. Sharon Farmer, the Chief White House Photographer, a personal buddy who even took a photo of me and Clinton in the East Room one day, and made sure I got a copy of it; Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), destined to become chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), all

U.S. citizens—languished in prison on trumped up political charges.

Again, during the Iran hostage crisis, after the failed attempt to rescue U.S. diplomats held by Iranian Revolutionary Guards at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, I asked Carter why didn’t he pursue peaceful negotiations, rather than a belligerent military attack?

Later, I transitioned to the National Scene News Bureau through the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and even upped to profile the National Scene magazine publisher L.H. Stanton, get- ASKIA Page 46