VOL. 52, NO. 12 • JANUARY 5 - 11, 2017
Battle Intensifies as Election for DNC Chair Approaches - Hot Topics / Page 4
Martin Luther King, Jr. Events Page 5
Former Mayor Among Six Sworn-in to D.C. Council By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Six men were sworn in Monday as members of the D.C. Council, including three who won in a contentious primary to unseat incumbents supported by Mayor Muriel Bowser. One of those three was former Mayor Vincent Gray, who will represent Ward 7 and assured residents Monday that health care will be brought to those east of the Anacostia River. "Too many people in our city have watched while some neighborhoods benefit from prosperity
and others remain stagnant," said Gray, who will chair the council's Health and Human Services Committee. "Refuse to accept anything less but success." Among the hundreds of attendees at the ceremony at the Walter E. Convention Center in northwest D.C. was former Councilwoman Yvette Alexander, who lost her seat to Gray in the Democratic primary. "This is still my city that I love so well," said Alexander, who plans to do health care consulting. "I am not leaving this city, so I am going to still hold them accountable."
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5 Council member Trayon White, Sr. (Ward 8) delivers his inauguration after being sworn in as a new D.C. council member at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest on Tuesday, Jan. 3. / Photo by Lateef Mangum
Farewell, Barack Obama: You'll Be Missed CBC Celebrates Historic By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer Supporters and critics alike may eventually come to view President Barack Obama's two-term White House tenure the same way. His determination for change never appeared to cause him to stumble on his goals, be it Obamacare or commuting the sentences of so many who were imprisoned for so long — primarily because of antiquated laws that punished mostly low-level minority drug offenders. Even as Obama is set to leave office, he took unprecedented steps to retaliate against alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. In an executive order. Obama labeled Russia's action as significant, malicious cyber-enabled activities and sanctioned six Russian individuals and five Russian entities while ordering dozens of Russian diplomats
OBAMA Page 11 5President Barack Obama will leave office on Jan. 20. / Courtesy photo
Day with 49 Members By Freddie Allen NNPA Newswire Managing Editor During the ceremonial swearing-in event a few blocks from the White House, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc., honored Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), the new chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and caucus members who will serve during the 115th Congress. A. Shuanise Washington, president and CEO of the CBCF, said that the 115th Congress will have the largest CBC in history with 49 members. "While the CBC grows in numbers, there remains a lack of diversity and inclusion when it comes to senior staff placement in senate and congressional offices," Washington said. "The CBCF is committed to doing its part to change the landscape of Capitol
Hill and we're doing so with one of our newest initiatives: Emerge 535." Launched in 2013, the Emerge 535 program will enable the CBCF to expand opportunities for young people of color by providing 535 scholarships and fellowships to work on Capitol Hill. During her comments at the CBC ceremony, held at the Warner Theatre in Northwest, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) blasted Republican lawmakers for blocking President Barack Obama's last Supreme Court justice nominee and efforts to pass an updated Voting Rights Act. Pelosi also noted the irony in the fact that some of the same Republicans who attended the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the 50th anniversary of "Bloody
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Celebrating 52 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area