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The media are part of the Bill of Rights. Innumerable journalists, including many of color, have died separating falsehood from truth. Facts are not partisan. The Beat salutes the thousands of members of the media who comprise the content of this tipsheet. You illuminate impartial truth in our global community. We thank you. This President’s Day marks one month since Donald J. Trump assumed office. Here’s your Monday morning read...
Day of Remembrance
Sunday, February 19th marked the annual Day of Remembrance, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the forced internment of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry -- more than two-thirds, or 70,000 -- were American citizens. This year is the 75th anniversary of that executive order.
Memos Signed By DHS Secretary Describe Sweeping New Guidelines for Deportations
Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly has signed sweeping new guidelines that empower federal authorities to more aggressively detain and deport undocumented immigrants inside the United States and at the borders. In a pair of memos, Kelly offered more detail on plans for the agency to hire thousands of additional enforcement agents, expand the pool of immigrants who are prioritized for removal, speed up deportation hearings, and enlist local law enforcement to assist in making arrests. More here.
Two Cabinet Secretaries Head to Mexico this Week
Secretary Kelly is taking his message on the road. He joins Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as they both head to Mexico on Thursday. It’s expected the duo will meet with counterparts to discuss border security and trade. A potential trade war with Mexico could seriously impact the more than $500 billion dollar business relationship between the countries, and millions of jobs in the U.S. More here.
All Immigrant Communities At Risk
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is bracing for the worst. Chairwoman Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM) said that she and other members of the CHC left a meeting with ICE Acting Director Tom Homan with a feeling that the changes ordered by Donald Trump through his executive orders means "all immigrant communities are at risk." More here.
CBC to Meet with Trump
According to Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the Congressional Black Caucus will likely meet with Trump the week of Feb. 27th. Cummings said the CBC will discuss with Trump the need to bring down the cost of prescription drugs -- a goal Trump endorsed during the campaign when he talked about using the federal government’s negotiating power to reduce prices -- as well as voting rights and job growth. More here.
DNC Chair Brief on Elections
On February 25th, at the DNC Winter Meeting in Atlanta, GA, there will be elections to fill the following positions: Chair, Vice Chair at-Large, Vice Chair for Civic Engagement and Voter Participation, Secretary, Treasurer, and National Finance Chair. On Tuesday, February 21st, at 11:00A, DNC Interim Chair Donna Brazile and DNC staff will hold a press conference call to brief the media on procedures for the election. Click here for dial-in information.
DSCC Hires Women of Color
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced Tracey Lewis as its Deputy Executive Director. Lewis previously worked as Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) Deputy Campaign Manager in 2012, and was the Primary States Director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Missayr Boker, who was the Assistant Political Director at NARAL Pro-Choice America, will take over as the DSCC's Campaign Director. More here.
DCCC Names Lieu Regional Vice Chair
The DCCC announced that Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) would be one of five regional vice chairmen, completing a months-long process of the House Democrats’ expansion of their leadership circle to include more perspectives. “With the election of five new regional vice chairs, we will have more hands on deck in the DCCC’s effort to go on offense with recruitment and Republican accountability, all across the map,” DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján said. More here.
Booker Heads to TX
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) ventured to Odessa, TX to visit a private prison as part of a fact-finding mission. Booker has been one of the leading voices of the congressional effort to overhaul the criminal justice system. More here.
EX-FCC Commissioner to Policy Role
Former FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani is joining the National Hispanic Media Coalition as a Special Policy Advisor. Tristani, an attorney and native of Puerto Rico, was only the second Latina on the FCC when she was appointed by President Clinton in 1997. Tristani is a graduate of Barnard College and the University of New Mexico Law School, and is the granddaughter of Dennis Chávez, who represented New Mexico in the U.S. Senate from 1931 to 1962. More here.
Trump Winery Seeks Immigrant Labor
A Virginia winery owned by Trump’s son Eric is seeking permission to import almost two dozen additional foreign workers, according to a petition posted by the Department of Labor on Thursday. The Trump Winery, also known as Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC, is asking to bring in 23 workers this spring to plant and harvest grapes. More here.
NBA on Social Justice Issues
The NBA has been working closely with the NBPA (the Players Association) to support players in taking action to respond to issues affecting the country. In the last seven months, the NBA and the NBPA have spearheaded over 70 initiatives surrounding social justice issues in three main areas: 1) Community Conversations, 2) Building Bridges with Basketball, and 3) Mentoring and Economic Development. More here.
DeVos Gets Schooled
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has no professional experience in public education, is an avowed proponent of voucher schools, charter schools, online schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools. She criticized DC teachers by saying they are in “receive mode,” waiting to be told what to do. The teachers replied and took her to school in a series of tweets. Click here to read them.
NEA President Pens Letter to DeVos
But the schooling was not over. NEA President Lily Eskelsen García replied to a voicemail left by DeVos via an open letter reiterating some probing questions asked during the Secretary’s confirmation hearing. Eskelsen García closed with this, “Privatizing and profiting from public education has not moved us toward equity, equal access, non-discrimination, and opportunity for all students.” To read the letter, click here.
Michelle Obama on Master Chef
First Lady Michelle Obama is making a TV comeback on the fifth season of “MasterChef Junior” later this month. The show is a cooking competition for children aged 8-13 and will have various guest appearances throughout the season as it looks to replace Chef Graham Elliot. In addition to the former first lady, Martha Stewart and the Muppets are also expected to make appearances. More here.
HBCUs Under President Obama
Some Trump surrogates have suggested HBCUs suffered under President Obama. Dr. Ivory Toldson, Executive Director of President Obama’s initiative on HBCUs, offers some factual data. “When accounting for profits and losses, HBCUs netted a $200 million gain in Pell during President Obama’s years in office, with a $330 million gain occurring in his second and third year,” Dr. Toldson says. Click here to read his comprehensive findings.
The Quad
Speaking of HBCUs, BET’s Debra Lee draws ire from some college presidents over the new series The Quad, a show intended to be about HBCU life. Hampton University President William R. Harvey penned a letter to Lee slamming the series for what he says is its misrepresentation of HBCU leadership, student culture and the challenges faced by the institutions. More here.
On the Frontline
There are few places tenser than the demilitarized zone that separates North Korea and South Korea. Standing on that frontline is Army Gen. Vincent K. Brooks. 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker interviewed Brooks about the possibility of a North Korea nuclear missile. Brooks replied, “If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, it will be met with an effective and overwhelming response.” Brooks is a member of the only African American family to have three generals within two generations (father, brother, and Vincent Brooks are all Army generals). More about Brooks here.
NUL Delivers Résumés to the Hill
Last week, the National Urban League delivered résumés of qualified African Americans ready to assume senior positions as Chiefs of Staff, Legislative Directors, and Communications Directors to Senate leaders and members representing states with a high percentage of minority residents. In a letter accompanying the résumé drop, National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial wrote, “At the core of economic civil rights is the idea that all people should have access to jobs for which they are qualified.” Read more here.
Remembering Gwen Ifill
USA Today remembers Gwen Ifill for Black History Month. Friends say Ifill remained the same as her career soared, from reporter stints at newspapers in Boston and Baltimore to covering national politics for The Washington Post, and the White House for The New York Times. Her colleagues reflect fondly here.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne star in the film, which tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, the African American woman whose cells were unknowingly used to create the first “immortal” human cell line. The HBO presentation of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” based on the book by Rebecca Skloot, is slated to debut Saturday, April 22nd, at 8P EST. More here.
The Obama Legacy
Only a month after leaving office, President Barack Obama‘s legacy is already shining bright, as he was ranked 12th out of all United States presidents in a C-SPAN survey of 91 presidential historians published on Friday. It’s the highest showing for any president this soon after leaving office since Ronald Reagan, number nine on the list. More here.
Other Boys
Growing up, queer Guyanese filmmaker Abdool Corlette did not see himself represented in media. In 2014, he finally decided to do something about it. Along with co-producer Adam Vázquez, Corlette created the series "Other Boys," and now the project is finally ready to be shared with the world. "Other Boys" is a 50-part documentary showcasing the stories of a wide variety of queer men of color. Each episode spans five to seven minutes, and centers on an individual subject who discusses his personal experience. More here.
TV Black Out
African Americans’ influence on mainstream United States stands out in a new study from Nielsen. The 2016 Diverse Intelligence Series Report delves into the spending and viewing habits of African Americans overall, and quantifies their greater appetite for television content as one driver of the dramatic increase in diverse television programming. Between 2011 and 2015, broadcast network TV ad spending that focused on Black audiences (defined as ad dollars placed on programming with greater than 50% black viewers) increased by 255%. More here.
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Videos of the Day
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| Jeanette Vizguerra, mother of four, finds out she is to be deported.
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| Joy Ann Reid ends a segment with former Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) after he was invited to weigh in on recent sweeps by immigration officials that have rounded up undocumented immigrants of all ages. Instead, he proceeded to lecture actor and immigrant activist Rosie Pérez and journalist María Hinojosa, calling them “hysterical.”
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| What Friday’s Real Time With Bill Maher lacked in vitriol, the show’s YouTube Overtime segment more than made up for it. Breitbart Editor Milo Yiannopoulos falsely claimed that transgender people suffer “a psychiatric disorder,” prompting Larry Wilmore to weigh in with an expletive. Twice.
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| CNN’s Don Lemon abruptly ended the last segment of his show Friday night after GOP strategist Paris Dennard continued to refer to a true story as “fake news.”
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| Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), an Iraq War veteran and the first Asian American woman in the U.S. Senate, delivers the Democratic weekly address.
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| Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) joins Katy Tur to discuss Trump and his advisor, Steve Bannon, who Jeffries calls "a stone cold racist and a white supremacist sympathizer."
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| Actor George Takei on The Day of Remembrance.
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| A Dallas CBS affiliate caught up with former United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who says he is not yet finished.
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| On February 1st, Nicole Turner-Lee (l), from the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation, hosted a roundtable discussion with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny to discuss how these independent agencies will function, and what issues will be prioritized under the new Trump administration.
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Pics of the Day
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Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Congressman Rubén Kihuen (D-NV) pose with attendees at a Black History Month event in Las Vegas over the weekend. | |
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CHC Chair Congresswoman Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM) with New Mexico tribal leaders Raymond Concho Jr., Lieutenant Governor of the Acoma Pueblo, and Lorissa García of Acoma Pueblo's Board of Education, who met with the congresswoman to discuss Native American education. | |
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 | Women's March co-chair Bob Bland speaking with Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) at a small business hearing last week. | |
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March 8th, 6P: A reception honoring "Top Latinos in Foreign Policy Under 40," at The Raben Group, 1341 G St. NW, Suite 500.
Friday, March 24th, 12P: The Congressional Staff Association Fair takes place in the Rayburn Foyer. The event is open to all current Senate and House staff.
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