Help the CBC combat the kakistocracy
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
Given the results of the 2024 election, and the racist assault by the President-elect and his current crop of prospective cabinet and administration members on all the progress we have made since the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, it is difficult to find joy these days. However, there is some good news on the horizon. CBS news reports:
Congress will have a record-setting number of Black members in its ranks next year
The Congressional Black Caucus, with 62 Democratic members, plans to act as a counterweight to the Trump administration, says Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York.
The Congressional Black Caucus will boast a record 62 members for the next session of Congress, contributing toward the highest number of Black federal lawmakers in history, according to a post-election report by the organization shared with NBC News.
In all, 67 Black people will serve in Congress. Five Republican members are not listed as members of the CBC.
While the caucus's members had planned to uphold a policy agenda for Black and marginalized people under a Kamala Harris administration, instead Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said the CBC's role will be to hold President-elect Donald Trump and his congressional supporters accountable.
“We’ve always been the conscience of the Congress, and that’s no matter who’s in charge,” Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told NBC News. “We always try to work with folks where we can. But we call them out also. And now we have more of these leaders to call truth to power, to make sure that the voices of the voiceless are heard.”
The Congressional Black Caucus, established in 1971, is not tied to a political party, though all members are Democrats. Its mission has been to represent Black and marginalized groups through voter enfranchisement, health care access, broader educational opportunities, jobs, reform of the criminal justice system and foreign relations with predominantly Black nations around the world. According to its website, members of the CBC currently represent 120 million people in the U.S. and 41% of Black Americans.
It should be obvious that we need voices raised from the floor of both the House and the Senate, to challenge the kakistocracy we will be subjected to. Though we did not achieve our dream of seeing Madame Vice President Kamala Harris as POTUS, through no fault of her own (frankly those people engaged in Kamala blaming need to STFU) there are two new additions of Black women to the Senate:
The CBC is gearing up for battle. Staff writer for The Hill, Cheyanne Daniels reported:
The Congressional Black Caucus PAC has vowed to expose what it calls a “dangerous agenda” from “extreme Republicans” following the GOP’s success at the ballot box this year.
The PAC announced Monday that it plans to fight back against any proposed legislation aligning with Project 2025.
“The CBC will hold the line to protect Americans from the danger of extremist Republicans and their hate-filled Project 2025 agenda,” the PAC said in a memo Monday.
“In the streets, the courtroom, and in Congress, the CBC will build coalitions with Americans of goodwill to fight for a fair economy and defend freedom. House and Senate Republicans should be on alert, we will expose and define their dangerous, reckless agenda out the gate — Americans will have a clear-eyed-view of the stakes next November.”
The PAC added that the caucus has a mandate to fight for economic and social justice.
The group’s stance against Project 2025 isn’t surprising — every member of the CBC is a Democrat. Both the caucus and its PAC have pushed back against the conservative blueprint, often highlighting the impact it would have on Black Americans. But with the largest CBC class in history, the PAC hopes the caucus can successfully push back on Republicans’ agenda.
Our job is to help them. We know the mainstream media is going to be Dump and his Dumpsters 24/7. We also know that attacks on the CBC, and its members will continue, not just from MAGA, but also from ADOS, and other right wing white-funded Black MAGAs on social media.
Because there are now 5 CBC members “who will be ranking members in committees: Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) on Foreign Affairs; Rep. Bobby Scott (Va.) on Education and the Workforce; Rep. David Scott (Ga.) on Agriculture; Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.) on Homeland Security; and Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) on Financial Services,” we need to ensure that we cover their role in hearings that surely will be forthcoming.
The good news here at Daily Kos, is that DKos contributor and Black Kos community member lpeacock, who is @LindaLeePeacock on Twitter, and @lindaleepeacock.bsky.social on Bluesky is planning to launch a CBC roundup story series. We regularly post CBC news here in Black Kos, but given our limited readership I think it is important that the activities of CBC members are seen more frequently on the site, as well as on social media. Thank you Linda.
Back in 2019 I wrote “The Congressional Black Caucus has expanded in size and clout” which covered CBC history that some of you may not be aware of so I’ll repeat part of it here.
The History:
During the late 1960s, Rep. Charles Diggs (D-Mich.) created the Democracy Select Committee (DSC) in an effort to bring black members of Congress together. Diggs noticed that he and other African-American members of Congress often felt isolated because there were very few of them in Congress and wanted to create a forum where they could discuss common political challenges and interests.“The sooner we get organized for group action, the more effective we can become,” Diggs said.
The DSC was an informal group that held irregular meetings and had no independent staff or budget but that changed a few years later. As a result of court-ordered redistricting, one of several victories of the Civil Rights Movement, the number of African-American members of Congress rose from nine to 13, the largest ever at the time, and members of the DSC decided at the beginning of the 92nd Congress (1971-1973) that a more formal group was needed. “The thrust of our elections was that many black people around America who had formerly been unrepresented, now felt that the nine black members of the House owed them the obligation of also affording them representation in the House,” Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) said. “In addition to representing our individual districts, we had to assume the onerous burden of acting as congressman-at-large for unrepresented people around America.”
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) was established in 1971 by 13 founding members.
In 1977, 15 of the Congressional Black Caucus members posed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, from left to right: (front row) Barbara Jordan of Texas, Robert Nix, Sr., of Pennsylvania, Ralph Metcalfe of Illinois, Cardiss Collins of Illinois, Parren Mitchell of Maryland, Gus Hawkins of California, Shirley Chisholm of New York; (middle row) John Conyers, Jr., of Michigan, Charles Rangel of New York, Harold Ford, Sr., of Tennessee, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of California, Walter Fauntroy of the District of Columbia; (back row) Ronald Dellums of California, Louis Stokes of Ohio, and Charles C. Diggs, Jr., of Michigan.
Shortly after the CBC was established, its battle with President Nixon began. After President Nixon refused to meet with the group, the CBC decided to boycott the 1971 State of the Union Address, which made national headlines. “We now refuse to be part of your audience,” Rep. William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-Mo.) wrote to President Nixon on behalf of the caucus, explaining that President Nixon’s refusal to meet with the caucus was evidence that the Administration wasn’t interested in helping the African American community.
The CBC’s decision to fight its battle with President Nixon publicly worked in the caucus’ favor and became a strategy the CBC would return to again and again. President Nixon eventually agreed to a March 1971 meeting with the caucus. During the meeting, the CBC presented President Nixon with 61 recommendations to eradicate racism, provide quality housing for African-American families, and promote the full engagement of African-Americans in government. “Our people are no longer asking for equality as a rhetorical promise,” Diggs said. “They are demanding from the national Administration, and from elected officials without regard to party affiliation, the only kind of equality that ultimately has any real meaning—equality of results.”
Press coverage of the meeting and the events leading up to it introduced the CBC to the nation. A few years later, in 1973, the CBC would be among the first members of Congress to call for President Nixon’s impeachment.
Before I close, I have a few questions.
How many members of the CBC are you familiar with? How many have been elected from your state? How many do you follow on social media?
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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After a devastating and decisive loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris is keeping her “options open” about her political future once she leaves office next year.
Harris has told her advisors and close allies, “I am staying in the fight,” Politico reports. What that fight looks like, however, remains up in the air.
According to Harris’ inner circle, the vice president is considering running for governor of California when Gov. Gavin Newsom’s term-limited time in office comes to an end in 2026. Harris is also not ruling out running for president again in 2028. However, insiders told the news outlet that it is unlikely Harris can do both.
While Harris, who left Washington, D.C. last week to vacation in Hawaii with family and advisors, has plenty of time to decide on her next move, those close to the vice president make clear she will remain a critical voice against Trump and his incoming administration.
Politico notes that another option for Harris is setting up an independent entity as a former vice president, in which she would continue to travel across the country, deliver speeches, and maintain her political relationships in the event she seeks public office again.
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As President Joe Biden prepares for his first visit to the African continent in the oil and resource-rich Angola on Dec. 4, it remains to be seen if his successor, President-elect Trump, is as committed to diplomacy in Africa as previous U.S. presidents have been.
During his first term, Trump showed no commitment or interest in true engagement with Africa, nor has he shown any during his presidential transition before taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2025.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, senior advisor and spokesperson for Biden, told theGrio the president’s trip to Angola is intended to foster “shared interests” between the United States and Africa. Those shared interests include American businesses participating in Angola’s economy, as well as Angolan companies doing business in the U.S., including the oil industry and construction. There’s also a goal of establishing digital connectivity that reinforces Angola’s goals of renewable energy and food self-sufficiency.
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President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is expected to consider formally recognizing Somaliland’s independence, a former UK defense secretary indicated, following successful elections in the self-declared republic on Tuesday.
Former MP Sir Gavin Williamson, a leading supporter of Somaliland within the Conservative Party, expressed confidence that Trump’s new administration would address the issue, following discussions with members of Trump’s foreign policy team. “It will probably all take a little longer than we hope,” he added.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate in the Horn of Africa near the Gulf of Aden, declared independence from Somalia in 1991 following years of civil war. Though unrecognized internationally, Williamson and others often view the de facto state as a rare example of stability and democracy in a turbulent region.
NOTE: [This comes at a time of growing tension between Somalia and Ethiopia over a port deal Addis Ababa signed in January with Somaliland, a breakaway region. Mogadishu sees Somaliland as a part of Somalia.]
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