For this week’s roundup, I’m starting with the 2nd of VP Kamala Harris’ public events (Tues. Feb. 6), the White House Reception in Recognition of Black History Month, because Black History IS American History and many of the rights and freedoms Republicans have abolished locally and strive to abolish nationally, derive from the fruits of the Civil Rights movement. It could be argued that what they’d most prefer is to take us back to the antebellum era.
This month and every month, we celebrate Black history as America’s history — living, breathing history that we create every day — (applause); history that must be taught in full. (Applause.)
History has also taught us that we must see clearly and speak truth about the moment we are currently in. And today, that means we must speak truth about the full-on attack we witness in states across our nation on our most fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nation’s true and full history. They censor history textbooks and cancel history classes. Tracie Hall, the first Black woman to serve as executive director of the American Library Association, reminded us last year, “Free people read freely.”
And, yet today, we see extremists, who pass book bans — book bans in this year of our Lord, 2024. And these extremists not only try to erase the past.
Let us be clear, and I know we are: To build a brighter future for our nation, we must learn from our past. Let us not be seduced into believing that, somehow, it will be better to forget — if we edit out the bad parts.
No, we will be stronger when we remember. We will be better when we remember. Only if we learn the lessons of our history can we ensure that the wrongs and injustices will not be repeated.
Earlier in the day, VP Kamala Harris held her 3rd. "Fight For Reproductive Freedoms" event in Savannah, Georgia and she was on fire!
Freedom is fundamental to the promise of America. Freedom of speech. Freedom of worship. Freedom of assembly. The freedom to vote.
In America, freedom is not to be given. It is not to be bestowed. It is ours by right. (Applause.) By right.
And that includes the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body and not have the government — (applause) — telling people what to do.
And the extremists are not done, In the United States Congress, extremists tried to pass a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state.
On Friday, Feb. 9, VP Kamala Harris met with Community Violence Intervention Leaders at the culminating ceremony of White House Community Violence Awareness Week. I encourage everyone to read and/or watch her speech, as it’s a masterclass in intersectionality.
VP Haris’s remarks start at 6;25.
After her remarks, VP Harris called on the graduates of the inaugural graduating class of the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) to take a group picture.
It was during the group picture taking that VP Harris was asked: Vice President Harris, as a former prosecutor, do you think the special counsel’s report is fair?
The Vice President: I’m glad you asked.
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Don’t mess with President Biden and our democracy on VP Kamala Harris’s watch.
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