Connect with us

Politics and Current

What you may not know about “Father of Juneteenth” Al Edwards

Published

on

Although Juneteenth is now recognized nationwide, many individuals do not know the story of the person partially accountable for making it a federal holiday.

While Opal Lee, referred to as “Grandma Juneteenth,” brought national attention to the vacation through her actions – including a 4.5-mile commemorative walk across the Lone Star State – Texas State Rep. Al Edwards, known to many as “Father of Juneteenth” – engineered a legislative victory.

President Joe Biden, who enacted Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021, nominated Congressman Edwards in his Juneteenth Observance Day proclamation for 2023 and 2024. Biden notes that Edwards “authored the bill” that made June 11 a statewide holiday in Texas. It was this laws and the support of Edwards, Lee and others that expanded the vacation to states across the country.

Edwards, who represented parts of Houston within the state Legislature for greater than 30 years, dedicated his political profession to recognizing June 11 as a federal holiday. Through his nonprofit Juneteenth USA and his work as chairman and vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee’s Black Caucus, Edwards was determined to make his dream a reality.

During 2007 interview in an interview with The History Makers he said: “We will make it a national holiday” and added: “If God leaves breath in my body and people continue to work as they have worked.” Unfortunately, his health declined following a automobile accident in 2014 and he died in 2020, only one yr before Biden signed the bill.

Al Edwards II, Jason Edwards and Alana Edwards-Holoway now carry the baton of their late father’s organization and strive to maintain his name and legacy alive.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Opal Lee (2nd from left), an activist referred to as Grandma Juneteenth, watch as President Joe Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on June 17, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Jim WATSON/AFP) (Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The push to federalize the Juneteenth holiday wasn’t easy for Al Edwards, who literally ran for office in 1978 with that mission in mind. Before the vacation eventually spread to 45 states, lawmakers faced political opposition at home, including from some white Texans.

“People were leaving a red soda on his desk on the floor of the Statehouse to make fun of him, and Black people were telling him he shouldn’t do it because it brought back an old story,” Jason Edwards recalled.

In 1979, Al Edwards was forced to compromise with one other Texas legislator who opposed making June 11 an official state holiday.

“He had to stand for a lot of unsavory things,” Jason Edwards said, recalling his father’s story about a state senator who said, “I can’t take your black holiday to my district.” When Rep. Edwards pressed for negotiations, he was asked to support a bill commemorating the Sons of the Confederacy. He reluctantly agreed. If he had not done so, his June bill would have been dead on receipt.

“He was glad he did it, because ultimately each (the memory of June 11 and the Confederation) were consistent with the facts. It definitely didn’t make him feel any higher, but he desired to win the war, not the battle,” Jason Edwards said.

After Texas adopted Juneteenth as a statewide holiday, Rep. Edwards used his own funds to launch a nationwide Juneteenth campaign and organization within the US, including refinancing his home. He intended to make June 11 a national holiday, advocating for and supporting other state legislators who passed versions of his Texas bill.

Rep. Al Edwards (left), D-Houston, speaks with Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, through the 79th term of the Texas Legislature on May 29, 2005, in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle) (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

“He knew Juneteenth wouldn’t be federally recognized like Martin Luther King Jr. Day was because the states didn’t like it,” Jason Edwards said, noting that some states had not adopted MLK Day earlier. “Dad knew it needed to be passed on a state-by-state basis. As a state legislator, he understood how the system worked.

With tens of millions of Americans off work for the federal holiday, Jason Edwards noted that many can have a likelihood to reflect on the history of Juneteenth and the rationale for its celebration – just as his father all the time intended.

“He wanted America to take a moment every year to recognize our ancestors and their impact on the country,” he said. “America cannot turn its face away from American slavery.”

And while many Americans may not enjoy celebrating a vacation commemorating America’s dark history, Jason Edwards said it’s mandatory – irrespective of how inconvenient it may be. He added: “Let’s lean on our history and let it be (a reminder) why we are where we are today.”

Featured Stories

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics and Current

Missouri police officer fatally shot 2-month-old baby and her mother after relative called police for help, family says

Published

on

By

A Missouri family and community are mourning the tragic death of a 34-year-old woman and her infant daughter who were killed in an officer-involved shooting earlier this month.

Family members say Maria Pike and her 2-month-old daughter, Destinii Hope, were shot to death on November 7 after police were called to an apartment in Independence, Missouri, in response to a domestic disturbance.

Two-month-old Destinii Hope died together with her mother in an officer-involved shooting in Independence, Missouri on November 7, 2024. (Photo: Facebook/Talisa Coombs)

In the weeks for the reason that shooting, local law enforcement has released few details, but eyewitnesses have provided local media with their accounts of what happened.

said Talisa Coombs, the baby’s grandmother Kansas City Star that she was the one who called the police after a physical altercation with the kid’s mother. Family members say Maria Pike has had mental health issues, anger issues and most recently suffered from postpartum depression.

Coombs said that when she called the police, she thought authorities would arrive, arrest Pike and get her the assistance she needed. She told her son and Destinia’s father, Mitchell Holder, that she desired to press charges against Pike for assault.

When police arrived, Holder initially refused to allow them to inside, however the apartment constructing’s assistant manager persuaded him to let two officers inside.

Assistant manager Gavin Delaney told The Star that when police entered the apartment, Pike was sitting within the bedroom closet, holding Destinia, not doing or saying anything.

Destinia’s father, who witnessed the shooting, recounted the moments leading as much as the shooting to his sister, Ashley Greenfield.

Greenfield told The Star that when officers entered the apartment, she and Holder tried to take the baby from Pike as she moved from the closet to the bed. Greenfield stated that when Pike reached for an object on the nightstand, the officer shot the baby in the top while he was still in his mother’s arms.

Holder later recalled his horrified response to the shooting of “The Kansas City Defender.”

“They shot my baby,” Holder said outlet. “It looked like her head had exploded. Her blood splattered throughout my glasses and throughout me. All I could do was scream. I just kept repeating three words – the identical three words – “You killed her!” I screamed it. Time and time again.”

He added that Pike jumped after the primary shot and the officer opened fire on her.

Accounts vary as as to if Pike had a gun when officers entered the apartment.

Local news outlets reported that among the many few details police have released up to now concerning the shooting is that Pike was armed with a knife.

“When we arrived, officers encountered a woman who was ultimately armed with a knife,” said Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman. “As a result of this encounter, two people died, one was an armed woman and the other was a child.”

However, family members say otherwise. Before calling the police, Destinia’s grandmother stated that there have been no weapons in the home. Holder also said he never saw Pike holding a knife in the course of the encounter with police.

“Yes, I was in the room when it all happened,” Holder he said. “From what I saw, I never once saw Maria armed with anything. Honestly, I do not even know where that got here from. I heard crazy things like she held a baby hostage in a closet, that she had a knife, and all this crazy stuff that is not true. I mean, all I can say is that it’s possible she had a knife and I didn’t see it, but all I do know is that I never saw her holding anything – and I used to be there within the room.

Independence police said the investigation has been turned over to the Jackson County Police Involvement Investigative Team (PIIT), a team of detectives that investigates police shootings and use of force incidents.

Chief Dustman said just one officer, a “long-time law enforcement veteran,” fired in the course of the incident. The officer and two other people on the scene were placed on administrative leave.

Capt. Kyle Flowers, who heads the PIIT team investigating the shooting, said last week that investigators had reviewed body camera footage and planned to interview witnesses. According to KMBCthe team will turn over the findings of the investigation to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, but Flowers didn’t specify exactly when that will occur.

Family members have called on authorities to release the body camera footage, which is able to hopefully reveal once and for all whether Pike was armed with a knife on the time of the shooting. They also call for punishment of the officers involved within the shooting.

“Why hasn’t the body camera footage been released?” Amber Travis, cousin of the victims, he said at a community vigil for Pike and her daughter. “Give my family a break.”

“It means a lot that the community feels the same way we do,” Holder he said. “It means the world. It won’t bring her back, but no less than we all know now we have loads of support here.

AND GoFundMe page was created to assist pay for Destinia’s funeral. As of Wednesday afternoon, greater than $3,000 had been raised.

On November 22, Destinii would have turned 3 months old.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
Continue Reading

Politics and Current

Jasmine Crockett blasts Republicans for so-called white “oppression” over anti-DEI bill

Published

on

By

Jasmine Crockett, theGrio.com

On Wednesday, during a passionate speech before the committee, Sen. Jasmine Crockett, R-Texas, chided her Republican colleagues for the content of an anti-DEI bill that calls for eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices within the federal government.

Crockett, a 43-year-old congressional student who has change into a star within the Democratic Party because of her quite a few viral committee appearances, condemned the Dismantle DEI Act of 2024. The bill, H.R. 8706 – first introduced by Republican Vice President-elect J.D. Vance – essentially prohibit all DEI-related activities within the federal government, including all related positions, offices, training, and funding. Strikingly, the bill also prohibits federal employees working in DEI positions from transferring to a different federal position.

During a House Oversight Committee hearing wherein she responded to Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who repeatedly called DEI policies “oppression” — seemingly aimed toward white people, as many Republicans suggested — Crockett used the committee’s speaking time to criticize the suggestion that white individuals are oppressed in consequence of efforts to shut racial disparities in sectors resembling business, education, and health.

“You don’t understand the definition of oppression… I would ask you to just Google it,” said Crockett, who moments later read the dictionary definition of the word, adding: “Oppression is long-term cruel or unfair treatment or control, that’s the definition of oppression.” The congresswoman emphasized: “There was no oppression of the white man in this country.”

Referring to the history of chattel slavery and racial segregation within the US, the Texas lawmaker said: “Tell me which white men were dragged from their homes. Tell me which one was dragged across the ocean and that you will go to work. We will steal your wives. We will rape your wives. It didn’t happen. This is oppression.”

Attempting to further explain the importance of DEI, Crockett noted that she is barely the fifty fifth Black woman elected to Congress in its 235-year history, unlike the 1000’s of white men who’ve served on Capitol Hill.

“So if you want to talk about history and pretend it was that long ago, it wasn’t,” Crockett said, citing data showing that corporations perform higher and are more profitable after they are more diversified.

The anti-DEI movement, championed exclusively by Republicans, has led to several lawsuits invalidating federal programs, including debt forgiveness for Black farmers and business loans to Black and other disadvantaged businesses. Many states led by Republican governors have indicated that DEI – especially teaching about slavery and racism – is harmful to students, namely white students. In response, they banned such topics from public classrooms.

Jamarr Brown, executive director of Color of Change PAC, the political arm of the civil rights organization, said Congresswoman Crockett’s statements on DEI were “poignant and necessary.”

Jordan Brand amplifies Black storytelling with StoryCorps'

While the Dismantling DEI Act actually won’t be passed while Democrats control the Senate and President Joe Biden stays in office, it signals what may very well be a priority for Republicans next yr, as outlined within the pro-Trump “Project 2025” political manifesto “.

“According to Project 2025, diversity, equity and inclusion is synonymous with ‘White lives don’t matter,’” Brown noted. “Now more than ever, we at Color Of Change PAC, as well as advocates and activists across the country, must work to protect Black people and other people of color from harm resulting from anti-DEI attacks.”

Brown continued, “Civil rights protections have helped reduce mortgage discrimination, increase the number of Black physicians to counter problems such as Black maternal mortality, and provide financing for Black-owned businesses.”

He added: “Our country thrives and everyone benefits when diversity, equality and inclusion are valued rather than stifled.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
Continue Reading

Politics and Current

Why is Trump delaying signing the ethics agreement?

Published

on

By

Trump, election, Vanity Fair, cover


The campaign’s legal department reports that President-elect Donald Trump is stalling the presidential transition process by refusing to sign an ethics pledge that is legally required of each sitting president

Under the Presidential Transition Act, Trump and his transition team must sign a document ensuring he avoids any conflicts of interest once he takes office. Only after the document is signed and sent to the General Services Administration (GSA) can the incoming administration gain access to federal agencies.

The transition, which President Joe Biden has promised will likely be “orderly and peaceful,” sets the tone for the Trump-Vance administration’s approach to transparency, accountability and earning the trust of Americans, all of that are seen as essential to making sure the administration fulfills its responsibilities to the U.S. people mean .

The reasons for withholding Trump’s documents are unknown, but some speculate it has to do along with his latest financial disclosure reports and for one reason particularly. Many of his holdings might be considered conflict of interest red flags, equivalent to his latest cryptocurrency business, a majority stake in his social media platform Truth Social, real estate, books and licensing deals.

It’s not only the GSA that the president-elect is avoiding. According to , Trump also refused to make use of the State Department’s secure phone lines and interpreters and kept away from using the FBI’s security clearance system. That’s why House Democrats issued latest laws on November 19 requiring Executive Office employees to have FBI security clearances. If not, Congress will likely be warned.

Democratic lawmakers and powerful Trump opponents like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are baffled by his transition team’s refusal to sign an ethics agreement.

“Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law. I would know because I wrote the law myself,” Warren wrote in X on November 11. “Future presidents are obliged to prevent conflicts of interest and sign an ethics agreement. This is what illegal corruption looks like.”

Skepticism towards the bill, presented by Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA)persists. The upcoming GOP-controlled Congress is seemingly leaning toward Trump. Once back in office, Trump will give you the chance to issue security clearances to anyone he wants, no matter the FBI’s objections or whether the person faces legal charges. This latest situation involves two of Trump’s Cabinet picks – Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, each of whom have faced allegations of sexual misconduct.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending