VOL. 53, NO. 16 • FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018
We Honor the Jewish People and Victims of the Holocaust during International Remembrance Day
State of the Union: Trump Ramps up Mostly False Rhetoric
UNION Page 38
Pages 28-32
Blacks Boycott, Berate and Blast Trump’s Address
NAACP Joins Roland Martin, Others to Resist New Agenda
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address Tuesday night predictably contained a myriad of untruths, exaggerations and attacks on immigration. Trump addressed tax reform, strengthening the military, infrastructure, trade and national security. Naturally, immigration remains Trump’s mission. The New York businessman outlined “four pillars” of his administration’s immigration reform, claiming they include a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrations brought into
Black History Month
By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
Johnson to formally sign a memorandum of understanding for the two organizations to work closely on issues that affect African-American and minority communities. “Sometimes you have to take a step back and reconnect in order to move forward,” Russell said. “Signing this agreement is taking that step back and it says it’s time for us to recommit to each other and work together to move our people forward.” Chavis, who once served as president of the NAACP, called the partnership historic.
While Donald Trump presented his first State of the Union Speech on Tuesday, Jan. 26, the third-longest address given by any president in the modern day, several dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus [CBC], as well as civil rights groups like the NAACP, chose to stay home to display their discontent. Here in the Greater Washington Area, scores of citizens who stand in opposition to Trump’s agenda, as well as his words deemed by some as racist and exclusionary, viewed the president’s address from afar while participating in conversations that examined his words and message. Nationally-known journalist Roland Martin served as the moderator for a panel discussion at Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest while Trump addressed members of Congress for an evening of frank conversation titled “The Real State of the Union” that drew a healthy crowd of dissenters including Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO. “We know what a racist nationalist agenda and president look like – we’ve had them before,” Johnson said. “It’s clear from his tax giveaways to the wealthy and subsequent $13 million takeaway from healthcare to his failure to protect the vote and civil rights,
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5 The NAACP held a counter State of the Union event on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest. A large audience gathered for a discussion on the plight of people of color under the Trump presidency moderated by TV One host Roland Martin with guest panelists (L-R) Elizabeth Copeland - president and founder of Urban Conservative Project, Inc., William Spriggs – Howard University economics professor, Derrick Johnson – NAACP President & CEO, Greg Carr – Howard University professor of Africana Studies, Kristen Clarke – president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Melanie Campbell - convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter
NNPA Conference Focuses on ESSA, State of Black America
5 (From left-right) Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP; Leon Russell, the chairman of the NAACP; Dorothy Leavell, the chairman of the NNPA, and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., president and CEO of the NNPA, sign a strategic partnership agreement to join forces in focusing on key issues that affect the Black community, during the 2018 NNPA Mid-Winter Conference in Las Vegas. /Photo courtesy of Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), special announcements by Ford and Nissan and comprehensive dialogue on the State of Black America were among the items that dominated the agenda at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual Mid-Winter Conference in Las Vegas. Also, at the conference held from Wednesday, Jan. 24 through Saturday, Jan. 27, NNPA President Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and Chair Dorothy Leavell joined NAACP Chair Leon Russell and President Derrick
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