Submitted by Because of Them We Can

President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris announced their advisory council to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic with some of the nation’s leading doctors and scientists. At the helm is Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith with her co-chairs Dr. David Kessler and Dr. Vivek Murthy.

“Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts,” President-elect Biden said in a press release. “The advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations.”

Dr. Nunez-Smith comes from Yale University, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Public Health, and Management at the Yale School of Medicine. Her research focuses on marginalized communities’ health and creating an equitable and accessible healthcare system for all.

“Everyone is affected by this pandemic, yet the burden is disproportionate,” Nunez-Smith said in a statement. “We know communities of color are grieving at high rates and are facing substantial economic impact. The transition advisory board is setting a course for everyone in our country to experience recovery.” 

According to the Yale press release announcing her appointment, “Munez-Smith is an internist and an expert in healthcare equity, is the founding director of Yale SOM’s Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership, which trains healthcare practitioners to address disparities in healthcare access and outcomes that affect people of color and other vulnerable populations. She is also the founding director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center at the Yale School of Medicine.”

Her official Yale bio lists Dr. Nunez-Smith as the Deputy Director for Health Equity Research and Workforce Development for the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Core Faculty in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, and Research Faculty at Yale’s Global Health Leadership Institute. She comes from the Virgin Islands, earned a BA from Swarthmore College, an MD from Jefferson Medical College, and an MHS from Yale University.

We’re glad to have you on our nation’s team on this road to recovery! Congratulations, Dr. Nunez-Smith.

Source: Because of them we can

By Derek Major

Former Vice President Joe Biden has now become President-Elect after being named the projected winner of the 2020 presidential election. Supporters were quick to show their support.

“Finally, I want to thank everyone who worked, organized and volunteered for the Biden campaign, every American who got involved in their own way and everybody who voted for the first time,” Obama wrote. “I know it can be exhausting, but for this democracy to endure, it requires our active citizenship and sustained focus on the issues—not just in an election season, but all the days in between.”

Biden was declared the winner Saturday morning, after days of ballot counting, protests, and Donald Trump’s wildly false claims about election fraud. Biden won states on both coasts, including Washington, California, Oregon, and Nevada as well as New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Jersey. But it was the states in the middle of the country that made the difference. Biden and Harris also took Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, the last two of which flipped from Republican.

The former first lady also congratulated Biden and his wife, Jill, as well as Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff.

I’m beyond thrilled that my friend @JoeBiden and our first Black and Indian-American woman Vice President, @KamalaHarris, are headed to restore some dignity, competence, and heart at the White House. Our country sorely needs it. pic.twitter.com/yXqQ3tYRoa

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) November 7, 2020

“I’m beyond thrilled that my friend @JoeBiden and our first Black and Indian-American woman Vice President, @KamalaHarris, are headed to restore some dignity, competence, and heart at the White House. Our country sorely needs it,” the former first lady wrote on Twitter.

Hillary and Bill Clinton also expressed their congratulations to Biden’s and Harris for winning the White House.

“America has spoken and democracy has won,” tweeted former President Bill Clinton, less than an hour after the Associated Press officially called the election for Biden after receiving the 270 electoral college votes necessary. Hillary Clinton wrote “It’s a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America.”

CNN reported Sunday Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) both called and congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory. They were the only two Republicans to express their support to Biden and Harris.

via CNN News

Former Vice President Joe Biden named Sen. Kamala Harris to be his running mate this fall.

The moderate former prosecutor from California has spent her career breaking barriers.

Here’s what we know:

• She is the first Black and South Asian American woman chosen for national office by a major political party.
• Harris, 55, follows Democrat Geraldine Ferraro, in 1984, and Republican Sarah Palin, in 2008, as only the third woman to be chosen as the running mate on a presidential ticket. 
• In California, she was the first woman, and first Black woman, to serve as the state’s top law enforcement official. She is the first Black woman from California to serve in the US Senate, and second from any state, after Illinois’ Carol Moseley Braun. Harris is also the first person of Indian descent to appear on a presidential ticket.
• If Biden defeats President Trump in November, Harris would become the first woman in US history to serve as vice president.

In response to President Biden announcing key members of his economic team, including appointing Joelle Gamble as deputy director of the National Economic Council, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies issued the following statement:

“We commend President Biden for selecting Joelle Gamble to be a senior member of his economic team. Joelle is an outstanding economic policy leader who will work to ensure the needs of all Americans are represented in our nation’s economic recovery,” said Joint Center President Spencer Overton. “This appointment is also an important step forward for the Biden Administration in improving Black representation in senior economic policy roles. The Joint Center looks forward to continuing to work with the Biden Administration on this important issue.”

Joelle Gamble currently serves as chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor. Prior to this role, she was special assistant to the president for Economic Policy for the National Economic Council and served as an economic policy advisor role on the presidential transition. Before joining the administration, she served as a principal at Omidyar Network. She was senior advisor to the president and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute and national director of the Roosevelt Institute’s network for emerging leaders in public policy. Gamble is a graduate of UCLA and Princeton University.

By Lila Brown | California Black Media 

On February 21, President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of $1.2 billion in student debt for almost 153,000 borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan.

Biden shared the news during a campaign stop while on a tour of California. From Feb. 20 to February 22, the President visited Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Los Altos Hills.

“There were existing programs in the law for fixing and adjusting the programs. We had to change them to make people eligible. And that’s what I’ve done,” Biden said, speaking at the Julian Dixon Library in Culver City.

After the President referenced the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his administration’s original debt relief plan, Biden summed up some of the benefits of his executive action.

“It helps everyone, not just the people whose debt is relieved, but when people in student debt are relieved, they buy homes, they start businesses, they contribute, they engage in the community in ways they weren’t able to before. It actually grows the economy,” he said.

The Biden-Harris Administration first introduced the SAVE plan with the belief that education beyond high school should unlock doors to opportunity, not burden borrowers with unmanageable debt.

Biden expressed gratitude for being able to make progress as he promised to borrowers and thanked Culver City Mayor Yasmine Imani-McMorrin for her support in helping to roll out the plan.

So far, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved nearly $138 billion in student debt cancellation for almost 3.9 million borrowers through more than two dozen executive actions. The borrowers receiving relief are the first to benefit from a SAVE plan policy that provides debt forgiveness to borrowers who have been in repayment after as little as 10 years and took out $12,000 or less in student loans.

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, students, particularly those from less-advantaged backgrounds, have had to rely on substantial student loans to finance their education. Similarly, college graduates who are the first in their family to go to college are more likely to incur debt to complete their degree than their peers. Over the past 40 years, college tuition has significantly outpaced many families’ incomes.

Early in his administration, Biden pledged to reform the student loan system and make sure higher education would be a pathway to the middle class.

“This is what the American dream is all about, and this is exactly what the President is advocating for. When people are financially insecure, they are unable to feel when the economy is good. Our economy is stronger than ever, but that is hard to notice when you’re in the quicksand of student loan debt,” said Congressmember Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), who spoke at the press conference.

Other elected officials attending the news briefing included Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Mayor McMorrin, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.

 “Black college graduates have, on average, $25,000 more in student debt than white college graduates,” Kamlager-Dove added. “This is evidence of something we all already knew: that the cost of success is higher if you’re Black.?Combating this disparity?must?be part of the conversations we have around student debt, just like it is around wealth creation. And President Biden gets it.”

The Biden-Harris Administration introduced the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan in August 2023. This new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, like its predecessor, is voluntary and bases monthly student loan payments on the borrower’s earnings. However, the new formula includes adjustments such as (but not limited to) shielding more income from being used to calculate student loan payments and waiving unpaid interest at the end of each month to lower monthly payments.

As the full SAVE regulations go into effect on July 1, 2024, the Department of Education has implemented three key benefits starting with the amount of income protected from payments on the SAVE plan which has risen to 225% of the Federal poverty guidelines (FPL). Next, the Department has stopped charging any monthly interest not covered by the borrower’s payment; and finally, married borrowers who file their taxes separately are no longer required to include their spouse’s income in their payment calculation for SAVE.

“Addressing student loan debt should be thought of as a job’s initiative, said Bass, who hosted Biden at CJ’s Cafe in Baldwin Hills before the announcement.

“This should be thought of as a housing initiative. This should be thought of as an economic motivator for young people throughout the country,” Bass continued.  “Student loan debt cripples our workforce – especially when it comes to addressing homelessness. We need more social workers, more mental health specialists, and more service providers.”

During his remarks, President Biden thanked Mayor Bass for her partnership and friendship.

While introducing the President, Dr. Jessica Saint Paul, a Physician Assistant, and public health practitioner spoke about the importance of receiving student debt relief. She said her loans ballooned from $90,000 to $145,000 even though she was making monthly payments.

Dr. Saint Paul, a Haitian immigrant, said the inability to repay back loans delayed her plans to start a family but after her debt had been forgiven, she was able to follow through on her dreams. Now, the proud mother to a baby daughter, she currently works as an adjunct professor at the Los Angeles Community College District.

“I’m proud to have been able to give borrowers like so many of you the relief you earned. I’m never going to stop fighting for hardworking American families. If you qualify, you’ll be hearing from me shortly,” the President concluded. “It’s about your dignity. It’s about opportunity.”

By McKenzie Jackson | California Black Media

African Diaspora Network (ADN) founder and executive director Almaz Negash has uplifted and championed investment in businesspersons, entrepreneurs, and innovators of African descent in

U.S. communities and across the African continent for 13 years.

Negash, a native of the East African country Eritrea, who resides in the Bay Area, is now set to do similar work for the administration of President Joe Biden.

Negash was appointed to the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement (PAC-ADE) in late September.

Last month, Negash told California Black Media that PAC-ADE can help Africans in the Diaspora be a bridge between the U.S. and the African countries they hail from.

“The African Diaspora Network has been bringing Africans and friends of Africa together to talk about things we can do on the continent,” she stated. “Whether it’s through entrepreneurship, investment, and other ways. If you really look at it, you can reverse it and do the same thing in the United States.”

ADN is based in the Silicon Valley city of Santa Clara. Most of the organization’s leaders are affiliated with the Bay Area’s tech and business communities, even though the impact of the work they do is felt far beyond that region.

Negash, who has a background in international business, hopes the committee can change policies that will allow Black entrepreneurs in the U.S. and in Africa to thrive.

“The same thing that African Americans face here is also faced by Black entrepreneurs on the continent,” she said. “I want to share knowledge and resources but also shed light on the challenge Blacks face like access to funding.”

Negash was one of 12 people selected for the inaugural advisory group for terms that run until 2025. The appointees represent the diversity of the African Diaspora from Black and African communities. PAC-ADE members have distinguished backgrounds from a variety of industries including academia, business, creative industries, faith-based activities, government, sports, and social work.

Delaware’s Silvester Scott Beaman, the 139th elected and consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is the council’s chair.

Another Californian, Ugandan-born Ham K. Serunjogi, the co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash, a cross-border money transfer platform, is also a councilmember.

Along with Negash and Serunjogi, the other PAC-ADE board members are:

• C.D. Glin, of Connecticut, who is the President of the PepsiCo Foundation • Osagie Imasogie of Pennsylvania, who is Chairman of the investment bank Quoin Capitol and co-founder of the private equity firm PIPV Capital
• • Chinenye Joy Ogwumike of Texas, who is a two-time WNBA All-Star for the Los Angeles Sparks and a full-time, multi-platform ESPN host and NBA analyst.
• • Patrick Hubert Gaspard of New York, who is President and CEO of the Center for American Progress
• • Viola Davis of Rhode Island, who is actress, artist, activist, producer, philanthropist, and New York Times best-selling author

• • Mimi E. Alemayehou of Washington, D.C., who is the Founder and Managing Partner of Semai Ventures, LLC
• • Kevin Young of Washington, D.C., who is the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
• Helene D. Gayle of Georgia, who President of Atlanta’s Spelman College • Rosalind Brewer of Georgia, who until August served as Chief Executive Officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.

The PAC-ADE board will have in-person meetings three times a year and do other committee work in between.

The council was established following the Biden administration making a commitment to enhance dialogue between the U.S. government and the African Diaspora during last year’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit held at the White House.

Vice President Kamala Harris told council members during their October swearing-in ceremony that their work is an extension of what the U.S. does to improve global partnerships.

“This is critical in reinforcing relationships and our democratic principles,” she said. “I am also excited that the council will be a way to reintroduce the U.S. to the continent.”

Africa — a continent over 50 nations — has an abundance of natural resources such as arable land, renewable fresh water, and mineral wealth. Forty-two percent of the planet’s 15-to-35-year-olds will live on the continent by 2030.

Negash said Africa will play have central role in the world’s future because of the youth and talent on the continent and in the diaspora.

“That is an incredible opportunity to bring the world together,” she said noting the investments governments across the globe have made in

African nations. “Resources have been going out of the continent. This is an opportunity to help the community thrive, so many leaders around the world or interested in the continent. The numbers are powerful.”

Negash’s ADN has promoted business and economic development in Africa and throughout the diaspora since 2010. The nonprofit announced last month that it is partnering with Arizona State University to manage $80 million in funding from the Africa Bureau of the U.S. Agency of International Development’s (USAID) to assemble a coalition committed to empowering Africa’s youth with tools, education, and networking opportunities.

In October, ADN held a graduation ceremony for its Accelerating Black Leadership and Entrepreneurship program, a six-week workshop focused on community building, mentorship, and training for 11 Black entrepreneurs. Each participant received a $10,000 grant.

Additionally, by 2028, Negash noted, ADN hopes to have raised $35 million in funding.

“The most important thing we do at ADN is bringing people together,” she said. “Supporting entrepreneurs in Africa and supporting entrepreneurs in the United States, and really showcasing the diaspora and the role we play in the U.S. and on the continent of Africa

By McKenzie Jackson |California Black Media

Last summer, the White House offered Southern California small business owner Kerman Maddox a unique opportunity to serve on a national committee set up to advise President Joe Biden’s administration on educational matters.

The Los Angeles resident declined.

Maddox, who is also a communications specialist — most recently a member of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s transition team — felt he did not have enough expertise in the educational space.

Then, this month, the right opportunity came for Maddox to take his expertise, passion and ambition to Washington. The White House appointed Maddox, along with 14 others, to serve on the United States Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

“I’m an African American male. I’m a small business owner. There is nothing in my background that ever would have indicated this was even in the realm of possibilities,” he stated. “I am going to do the best to represent other African American small business owners. When you get an opportunity like this, you want to do a good job — not embarrass folks.”

Maddox, president and majority owner of K&R Hospitality and managing partner of Dakota Communications, told the official he would be interested in serving on any commission that dealt with United States’ commerce, small business, trade, or other related fields if a position became available.

Maddox, who President Barack Obama once appointed to serve on the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee, says he is excited about his new role.

The other new advisory body appointees are Revathi Advaithi, Manish Bapna, Timothy Michael Broas, Thomas M. Conway, Erica R.H. Fuchs, Marlon E. Kimpson, Ryan LeGrand, Sean M. O’Brien, Javier Saade, Shonda Yvette Scott, Elizabeth Shuler, Nina Szlosberg-Landis, and Wendell P. Weeks.

Along with the other appointees, Maddox will provide policy advice to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who spearheads American trade policy across the globe.

The new committee members were recommended by Tai’s office and appointed by Biden. They make up one of several advisory committees established by Congress to ensure U.S. trade policy and trade negotiating objectives adequately reflect American public and private sector interests.

In a March 10 statement announcing the appointees, Tai said she looked forward to working with the new appointees.

“Developing a worker-centered trade agenda means bringing together a range of perspectives and backgrounds to design and implement our policies,” she stated. “The Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations is an important forum to guide USTR’s work and ensure that the benefits of trade are equitably distributed across our economy and to all people. President Biden has nominated a diverse group of men and women that will help us carry out his vision for sustainable, inclusive and durable trade policy in 2023 and beyond.”

Maddox wants to align with the trade agenda set by the Biden administration. He also has his own objectives he aims to rally for.

“Number one, I’m really going to play a space as a small business guy to see if we can get small businesspeople to export products overseas — whether it is technology or manufacturing or retail or professional services,” he noted. “Number two, figure out a way to rein in climate change. What can we do to get people to understand that it is real and what should we be doing by the way of trade polices to combat the escalation of global warming and climate change?”

Maddox received a call from the White House late last year inquiring whether he would be interested in joining the committee. He jumped at the opportunity. In January, he learned his position on the panel was finalized.

Maddox now has a lot of homework to do on trade policy before the group meets in April. Tai’s office is introducing the new committee members to trade experts.

“I’m trying to quickly study to get up on this,” Maddox noted.

Maddox founded Dakota Communications, the marketing, public relations, and public affairs consulting firm, in 1996. In 2010, he started K&R Hospitality, a food and beverage concession business. He had a role in Obama’s historic 2008 campaign and was part of Biden’s presidential campaign 12 years later. Maddox worked as an aide and advisor to past L.A. mayors Tom Bradley and Antonio Villaraigosa and for Bass when she was in Congress. He was also an adjunct professor of Political Science at USC and a full-time Political Science professor for the L.A. Community College District. Maddox has several honors from community service organizations and radio and television awards under his belt.

Maddox described himself as an “activist entrepreneur.”

“I do a lot of community stuff,” he said. “I’m very active in my church, but I’m also a businessman. I’m interested in making money, but I’m also interested in hiring as many people that look like me as possible. I’m interested in growing my business and bringing people along at the same time.”

Due to his business experience, Maddox brings a breadth of viewpoints to the commission.

“I have a unique perspective to talk about professional service businesses and how that works and discuss retail, food, and beverage concussion-oriented businesses,” he explained. “One is people, food, merchandising, quality standards, and more. The other is professional services — you are brainstorming and creating.”

Maddox will meet with other committee members via video conference, but expects to also assemble with the group in Washington, D.C.

He said being involved with Obama’s initial presidential run was his greatest professional experience. However, having the chance to pitch Biden, who Maddox has met before, trade policy insights is a close second.

“There is nothing in my background that would indicate I would be talking to the president, let alone advising the president,” Maddox declared. “If I can make it, anyone can make it. I’m a pretty regular guy that worked his way up.

By Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

On Thursday, October 13 President Joe Biden and Congresswoman and mayoral candidate Karen Bass visited the site of the future Metro Purple Line stop at the VA Medical Center in Los Angeles and spoke about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Joining Biden and Bass were Sen. Alex Padilla, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Reps. Maxine Waters, Nanette Barragan Ted Lieu, and Brad Sherman.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the largest long-term investment in infrastructure in the nation’s history. It provides $550 billion per year through 2026 for updating transportation including improving public safety and climate resilience. Grants can be awarded to projects across a broad swath of infrastructure including maritime, aviation, highways, and railroads.

“A law that’s going to deliver clean air; safer water systems, eliminating lead pipes; electric grid to deliver clean energy; high-speed Internet; electric charging stations all across America; the power to fleet — to take care of the fleets of new electric vehicles,” said President Biden. “It’s the most significant investment America has made in our infrastructure — literally, not figuratively — since the Interstate Highway System built by Dwight D. Eisenhower.”

Section 25019(a) of the law allows recipients of grants to “implement a local or other geographical or economic hiring preference relating to the use of labor for construction of a project funded by the grant, including pre-hire agreements, subject to any applicable State and local laws, policies, and procedures.”

“The local hire provision that we passed and that the President signed into law, allows local transportation agencies like L.A. Metro to prioritize the hiring of local Angelenos for projects that are taking place in their own backyard,” said Bass.

The Purple line extension runs from Koreatown, through Beverly Hills and Century City, to the Westwood VA hospital.

“A trip from Koreatown to the VA campus, which now takes over an hour on a bus — sometimes longer than that — it’s going to shrink to 25 minutes on rail,” said Biden. “Plus, this project is a job creator.  More than 100,000 workers — union workers — more than 100,000 workers— hard at work on the entire Purple Line extension, all three sections.”

Other projects benefiting from the Infrastructure Law include the electrification of Los Angeles’ bus fleet by 2030, upgrading the electrical grid and internet, increasing lanes at the Port of Los Angeles, upgrades to Los Angeles International Airport, replacing lead pipes and expanding water recycling.

More than 350 projects have already been announced across California. Many of the projects in Los Angeles are targeted to be complete by the time the city hosts the 2028 Olympics.

President Biden pointed out that Republicans “who voted against the Infrastructure Bill, called me and the bill “socialist” and then attacked — all Democrats who passed it — “socialist,” “radical spending,” “rushed,” and “irresponsible.” “Well, now they’re quietly and privately sending letters to my administration asking for money.  They’re talking about how important projects are in their districts and for all Americans.  Well, guess what?  I’m going to give them the money because it’s not about them, it’s about the people they represent.”

New HIT Strategies poll shows that even older Black voters, typically stalwart supporters of Democratic party candidates, are falling off

a HIT Strategies feature

President Joe Biden’s job performance approval numbers continue to decline among Black voters, including now older Black voters, a traditionally stalwart constituency primarily responsible for his presidential win.