Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the National Spokesperson for Color Us United, Christian Watson to the newsmakers line to discuss his latest piece referencing the absence of Black Republicans from the Black Congressional Caucus.
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The U.S. Census Bureau and the COVID-19 pandemic have created a constitutional issue for Ohio, and a possible change has members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus concerned the public will be excluded.
Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, proposed asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment that gives the state options with critical Census Bureau information not expected until September and Ohio facing a constitutional deadline of Sept. 30 to redraw state House, state Senate and congressional district maps.
That has Black Caucus leaders worried public input could be reduced or eliminated.
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The State Executive Committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party, which is majority white, voted Wednesday to oust respected State Representative John DeBerry, Jr. (formerly D-Memphis, now I-Memphis), who is a strong Christian and black, from the Party. DeBerry has served in the Tennessee General Assembly as the Representative for House District 90 for 26 years, since he was first elected in 1994. Of the 66-member State Executive Committee (SEC), 41 voted for the removal of DeBerry, while 18 voted against and 2 abstained, WREG reported. There are currently five vacancies on the committee. More than two-thirds of the current Tennessee Democratic Party SEC membership is white. While the SEC is designed to have one committeewoman and one committeeman for each of the state’s senatorial districts, the current makeup of the SEC is skewed toward women because four of the five vacancies are committeeman seats. The vote on DeBerry’s status within the TNDP was apparently triggered by a 29-page complaint dated April 1 submitted by a Janeita “Jan” Lentz, an attorney according to her Avvo profile. Ms. Lentz, who appears to be white, also identifies herself as the Co-Chair of Memphis-Midsouth DSA, which is the Democratic Socialists of America. In…
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The House Black Caucus honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 51st anniversary of his death in Memphis, Tennessee with a reading of what is known as King’s final “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech, even as there is division amongst the group. Dr. King came to Memphis for a third time in less than three weeks on April 3, 1968, to support the striking sanitation workers in a non-violent way after the second march erupted into violence and was called off, as explained by Stanford University’s King Institute. King delivered his inspirational and optimistic speech at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple, which he eerily closed by saying he wasn’t afraid to die. The next day, as he waited to go to dinner at Reverend Billy Kyles’ home, King was fatally shot at The Lorraine Hotel located at 450 Mulberry Street, Memphis. Division In The Black Caucus Ironically, over the past week, Rep. John DeBerry has been the subject of reports by Daily Memphian that the Black Caucus is at odds with him over his recent votes which seems to have brought to a head with a vote in favor of Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Accounts (ESA) legislation.…
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On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the duo spoke with Virginia State Senator Bryce Reeves regarding the current state of affairs surrounding Governor Ralph Northam’s “racist” yearbook photos and his most recent “awkward” press conference. As the conversation deepened, the men also touched upon the current abortion bill and how the Republican’s may have a political advantage due to the extreme nature of the bill which is technically pushing infanticide and genocide. Gill: Bryce Reeves is a state Senator from Virginia he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor. Nearly lost that race in a three person race as Jill Vogel went on to lose to Justin Fairfax who now is apparently under some scrutiny himself as he may poised to take over the governor’s office in Virginia. And Bryce good to have you with us! Reeves: Steve and Michael, great to be with you. And looking forward to another crazy day down here in the General Assembly. Gill: When I first called you it was to talk about this whole infanticide bill…
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