Warnock pushes voting rights back to the forefront
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-GA told a San Francisco audience that voting rights would be his first priority when he returned to Washington and he was true to his word — introducing the Freedom to Vote Act with nine fellow Democratic senators.
His speech on the Senate floor came on the same day that four African-American girls were blown up in Birmingham, AL in 1964, an impetus for the Voting Righits Act to restore the impact of the 15th Amendment.
The previous day, fellow ministers in California propelled a large African-American turnout in opposition to a recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom actually got several percentage points more than he did in his first election in 2018. During a Souls to the Polls conference call Saturday, the point was made that Black voters in California would set the tone for Black voters across the country leading to the November elections in New Jersey and Virginia and the 2022 elections and put pressure on Congress to pass voting rights legislation.
Warnock’s election on Jan. 5 gave Democrats control of the Senate and resulted in $30 billion of direct assistance to African-American businesses so far this year.
From Crispus Attucks to Gen. CQ Brown, African-Americans key to military history
The Journal of Black Innovation announces Gen. Charles Q. “CQ” Brown, the first African-American to head one of the U.S. armed services, will be the Roy L. Clay Sr. Technology Pinnacle winner among the 21st annual 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology.
This group represents more than 560,000 African-American technologists as we have since 1998. The September issue includes the 50 Most as well as a new 50 Most Important African-Americans in Infrastructure as the nation makes the most significant public works investments since the Interstate highway.
Learn about the important decisions ahead during Innovation&Equity21: 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology Jan. 15 as part of your subscription to the Journal of Black Innovation.
During the 18th annual National Black Business Month, we reported that more than 800,000 Black-owned firms participated in the PPP loans this year following changes in policy that we advocated during 2020.
Now, we bring forward the decision-makers who can dramatically increase the number of African-American firms which are federal contractors and which participate in international trade with the African Union and Caribbean Community to follow up on our 31 Ways 31 Days conversations during August.
Vaccine manufacturers urged to boost supplies to Africa
The heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization met with the CEOs of leading vaccine manufacturing companies to discuss strategies to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially in low— and lower middle-income countries and in Africa. The Task Force expressed concerns that without urgent steps the world is unlikely to achieve the end-2021 target of vaccinating at least 40% of the population in all countries — a critical milestone to end the pandemic and for global economic recovery.
