By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA White House Correspondent and Washington Bureau Chief
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are hosting their annual legislative conference, addressing issues such as a looming government shutdown, the impacts of budget cuts on healthcare, and federally funded programs like SNAP.
Another ever-present focus is redistricting. Texas, Missouri, and Louisiana are three states currently in a public fight over redistricting, expected to create representation problems for majority Black districts.
Illinois congressman Jonathan Jackson says a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Louisiana versus Callais, focuses on Louisiana redistricting, which could further gut the 1965 Voting Rights Act and eliminate 20 majority Black districts,” changing representation.
Jackson, the son of civil rights icon Jesse Jackson Sr., says his father believes, “It’s time to resist with all your might,” as “we’re seeing an end to reconstruction.”
Congressman Jackson acknowledged that his father, who currently has difficulty with speech, said his dad was firm, saying, “Don’t talk about back in the civil rights days.” The elder Jackson says, “You’re in the civil rights fight of your life, and it’s today!”
Karen Boykin-Towns, Vice Chair of the NAACP’s National Board of Directors, says, “The Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference has always been more than a gathering…it is a call to action.”
The theme of this 54th annual legislative conference is ‘Made for This Moment.’
Boykins-Towns says, “It could not be more fitting. At a time when our democracy, our freedoms, and our very presence in the American story are being challenged.”
“The NAACP stands strong alongside the CBC to say that we are indeed built for this fight,” adds Boykin Towns.
Regarding the looming shutdown, CBC members confirm Democrats plan to be on the hill as Republicans canceled votes for next week. The shutdown will be extremely hurtful as there are already hundreds of thousands of DODGE-fired federal workers and over 300,000 Black women who have lost their jobs over the past four months.
Also on the Conference agenda is the fight for HBCUs. Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott warned that HBCUs are not getting their “appropriated money,” stating, “the president has to faithfully execute the law, like the law says.”
The long-time Harvard-educated congressman fighting for HBCUs says these schools will have to use “some kind of enforcement mechanism” like court action to ensure Historically Black Colleges and Universities get their “appropriated” funding intended for the majority Black serving schools.
