Black lawmakers press Justice and Education Departments to investigate Florida's race curriculum
The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing the White House, Justice Department and the Department of Education to look into whether Florida school districts are violating federal discrimination law following changes to the state's Black history curriculum.
Biden welcomed back to Georgia after lying low in midterms
During the 2022 midterm campaign, President Joe Biden steered clear of Georgia as Sen. Raphael Warnock, like other battleground-state Democrats, sought to distance himself from the White House amid an inflationary economy and the president’s lagging approval ratings.
Warnock win makes it official: Georgia is a '24 battleground
Fresh off Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s runoff victory, Georgia Democrats are embracing -- and Republicans are reluctantly accepting -- the state’s transition from GOP stronghold to premier battleground as the political calendar turns to the 2024 presidential cycle.
Walker, Kemp campaign in Ga. together for the 1st time
Fresh off his commanding re-election victory, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Saturday is playing the role of dutiful Republican soldier campaigning for the first time alongside Senate hopeful Herschel Walker after spending months steering clear of his ticket-mate.
Democrats sue for Saturday voting in Georgia Senate runoff
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign and Democratic groups are suing the state of Georgia to overturn guidance by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that counties can’t offer Saturday voting ahead of next month’s Senate runoff election.
Warnock, Walker in tight race in Georgia; runoff possible
Sen. Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker were locked in a tight race night in Georgia as elections officials continued to count ballots in the state that determined partisan control of the Senate nearly two years ago and could do so again in these midterm elections.
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Federal holiday pressures companies to give Juneteenth off
The declaration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is putting the pressure on more U.S. companies to give their employees the day off, accelerating a movement that took off last year in response to the racial justice protests that swept the country.
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Shooting victim's husband says police detained him for hours
(AP Photo/Ben Gray)ATLANTA – A man who survived the shooting that killed his wife at an Atlanta-area massage business last week said police detained him in handcuffs for four hours after the attack. Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said in an emailed statement Monday afternoon that his office would not have any further comment on the case and is focusing on the investigation and prosecution. In all, seven of the slain victims were women, six of them of Asian descent. Gonzalez said they put him in handcuffs and detained him for about four hours, according to the website. “Only when they finally confirmed I was her husband, did they tell me that she was dead," he said.
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Rallies in Atlanta, nation against hate after spa shootings
A 21-year-old white man is accused of killing eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, at three Atlanta-area massage businesses Tuesday. Hundreds of people of all ages and varied racial and ethnic backgrounds gathered in Liberty Plaza in Atlanta, and in similar rallies across the country, waving signs and chanting slogans. Otis Wilson, a 38-year-old photographer who's Black, said people need to pay attention to the discrimination those of Asian descent face. They moved to Atlanta four years ago and got involved in community organizing, last summer pulling together an event to support Black women victimized by police violence. AdHunt, who's Black, joined Saturday's rally to “show Black and Asian solidarity,” adding “I think it’s amazing.
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Warnock: GOP voting restrictions resurrect ‘Jim Crow era’
“We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights and voter access unlike anything we have seen since the Jim Crow era,” Warnock said Wednesday. Democrats cast their legislation as a way to render most of the state GOP moves moot. AdBoth the Voting Rights Act restoration and the wider bill face an uphill path in the 50-50 Senate as long the current filibuster rule requires major legislation to get 60 votes to pass. His bid will test whether Democrats have staying power in Georgia after decades of Republican dominance in federal elections. AdIn that same era, Warnock said, his mother worked in tobacco and cotton fields — generations after the Civil War and the 13th Amendment had ended slavery.
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A Biden edge in COVID-19 bill: Dems reluctant to wound him
Internal Democratic disputes remain over raising the minimum wage, how much aid to funnel to struggling state and local governments and whether to extend emergency unemployment benefits another month. The issue that's provoked the deepest divisions is a progressive-led drive to boost the federal minimum wage to $15 hourly over five years. More ominously, the Senate parliamentarian is expected to rule soon on whether the minimum wage provision must be tossed from the bill. Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., his chamber's chief minimum wage sponsor, said Democrats must “act boldly” and approve a package with the minimum wage increase. AdRepublicans said the measure's higher minimum wage and increased unemployment benefits would cost jobs or discourage people from seeking work, and said much of the spending was wasteful.
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Senate filibuster fight cools for now, but battles ahead
The pivotal Georgia runoff election this month was decisive in handing Democrats the majority in the Senate. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Easing off a stalemate, the Senate moved forward Tuesday with a power-sharing agreement in the evenly-split chamber after Republican leader Mitch McConnell backed off his demand that Senate Democrats preserve the procedural tool known as the filibuster. The stand-off between McConnell and new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had all but ground the Senate to a halt in the early days of the Democratic majority and threatened President Joe Biden's agenda. “I'm glad we're finally able to get the Senate up and running,” Schumer said Tuesday as he opened the chamber. Schumer's office said the Republican leader had no choice but to set aside his demands.
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New Georgia senators carry John Lewis' influence with them
Sen. Raphael Warnock was Lewis’ pastor and stood at his bedside before Lewis died. It seeks to restore portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013. Democrats and voting rights groups argue that the ruling has led to a cascade of changes in many states that have disenfranchised voters, including polling place closures. They are the first Democrats to win a U.S. Senate election in Georgia since 2000. “My friend John Lewis planted the foundation of this Georgia over his career,” Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey said in a tweet.
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Senate confirms Biden 1st Cabinet pick as Democrats control
In a first vote, the Senate confirmed Biden's nominee for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines. The new Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged colleagues to turn the spirit of the new president’s call for unity into action. The three Democrats complete a Senate narrowly split 50-50 between the parties, but giving Democrats the majority with Harris able to cast the tie-breaking vote. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to soon transmit to the Senate the House-passed article of impeachment against Trump, charged with incitement of insurrection, a step that will launch the Senate impeachment trial. Progressive and liberal Democrats are eager to do away with the filibuster to more quickly advance Biden’s priorities, but not all rank-and-file Senate Democrats are on board.
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Senate confirms Biden 1st Cabinet pick as Democrats control
In a first vote, the Senate confirmed Biden's nominee for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines late Wednesday, overcoming Republican opposition to approve his first Cabinet member. They are a diverse group bringing several firsts to the Senate, along with Schumer's rise as the first Jewish majority leader of the Senate. They join a Senate narrowly split 50-50 between the parties, but giving Democrats the majority with Harris able to cast the tie-breaking vote. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to soon transmit to the Senate the House-passed article of impeachment against Trump, charged with incitement of insurrection, a step that will launch the Senate impeachment trial. Progressive and liberal Democrats are eager to do away with the filibuster to more quickly advance Biden’s priorities, but not all rank-and-file Senate Democrats are on board.
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Poster artist helped connect candidates, voters in Georgia
(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)ATLANTA – For some, helping to get out the vote during Georgia's U.S. Senate runoffs meant writing checks for campaigns. Brandon Litman took a different approach by making thousands of pieces of art to connect the Democratic candidates with voters. After arriving in Atlanta last month, Litman started showing up at Ossoff and Warnock campaign rallies, painting custom yard signs for supporters. Litman soon connected with the Ossoff campaign, which let him tag along to events in other Georgia cities. But he said none of them were as popular as his work centered on the Georgia Senate races.
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Georgia certifies Democrats Warnock and Ossoff's Senate wins
The certification by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger officially seals Warnock and Ossoff's victories over their Republican opponents in the Jan. 5 runoffs. Once Warnock and Ossoff are sworn in, there will be a 50-50 partisan divide in the Senate, giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote. Biden in November became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992, while Warnock and Ossoff are the first Democrats to win a U.S. Senate election in Georgia since 2000. Loeffler gave a farewell speech from the Senate floor Tuesday, where she thanked her supporters and wished Warnock well. Perdue's term ended Jan. 3, while Loeffler remains in the Senate until Warnock is sworn in because she was appointed to fill Isakson's unexpired term.
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Inauguration updates: Joe Biden calls on Americans to remember those who lost their lives to COVID-19
President-elect Joe Biden and Jill listen during a COVID-19 memorial, with lights placed around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. ___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN’S INAUGURATION:President-elect Joe Biden appeared at a memorial for COVID-19 victims at the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday evening. A person familiar with Pence’s schedule cited “logistical challenges” in getting from the air base to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremonies on Wednesday. The information was passed from the National Guard Bureau to the D.C. National Guard. ___10:45 a.m.Three new Democratic senators are set to be sworn into office after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday.
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Inaugural event to celebrate resiliency of Black Americans
Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris campaigns for Democratic U.S. Senate challengers the Rev. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is slated to speak at Tuesday's event, “We Are One,” which will also honor the historic nature of her being the first Black and South Asian woman to become U.S. vice president. Black voters nationwide helped deliver Biden’s presidency, overwhelmingly supporting him from the start of his White House bid. The event will pay homage to the legacy of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Black sororities and fraternities. It'll be hosted by Terrence J and feature Leslie Jones, DJ D-Nice, and Black cultural icons such as Frankie Beverly, The O’Jays, and Rapsody.
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King Day service calls for nonviolence amid turbulent times
Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, in Atlanta. “This King holiday has not only come at a time of great peril and physical violence, it has also come during a time of violence in our speech — what we say and how we say it,” said the Rev. Bernice King, the slain civil rights leader's daughter. His family was among a sparse group wearing masks and sitting far apart amid mostly empty pews as others delivered remarks remotely. That means that our destiny is tied together.”Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Inaugural event to celebrate resiliency of Black Americans
Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris campaigns for Democratic U.S. Senate challengers the Rev. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is slated to speak at the event, “We Are One,” which will also honor the historic nature of her being the first Black and South Asian woman to become U.S. vice president. Black voters nationwide helped deliver Biden’s presidency, overwhelmingly supporting him from the start of his White House bid. The event will pay homage to the legacy of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Black sororities and fraternities. It'll be hosted by Terrence J and feature Leslie Jones, DJ D-Nice, and Black cultural icons such as Frankie Beverly, The O’Jays, and Rapsody.
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Warnock condemns Capitol rioters in post-election sermon
Raphael Warnock delivers a sermon during a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Warnock is senior pastor at Ebenezer, the church where the late Dr. Martin Luther King once also pastored. (AP Photo/John Amis)In his first sermon since being declared a winner in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff election, the Rev. Raphael Warnock on Sunday addressed last week’s deadly Capitol Hill riot that all but overshadowed his historic victory. Sunday’s sermon showed Warnock falling back on a prophetic tradition of the Black American church in which preachers weave Scripture with criticisms of racism, militarism and poverty.