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95 SOUTH… Twenty of the now-24 Democratic candidates running for president head to Miami this week where they will face off, for the first time, in the NBC News-hosted debates Wednesday and Thursday. WAIT -- 24 CANDIDATES?? Yep. Former PA Congressman Joe Sestak joined the crowded field over the weekend. ICE COLD… After the president threatened ICE raids a week ago, he postponed. However, he said they would resume if Democrats didn’t agree to change the country’s asylum laws within two weeks. TORTURE… The postponement comes as children are being held captive in U.S. detention centers in inhumane conditions. More on that below. HER TOO… In a New York Magazine article posted Friday, advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accuses Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room 23 years ago. SCOTUS… The Supreme Court, approaching the end of its current term, is due to issue rulings in the coming days in major cases, including the Trump administration’s bid to add a contentious citizenship question to the 2020 census and efforts by voters to curb the partisan manipulation of electoral district boundaries. BEAT BITERS… At Sunday night’s BET Awards, filmmaker Tyler Perry stole our line! “We stopped asking for a seat at the table and built our own.” HAIL MARY… And singer Mary J. Blige received the Lifetime Achievement Award, where she performed her own tribute, blessing us with appearances by Lil Kim and Method Man. It was all we needed to get by. WHAT’S THE 411? The Real Love we feel when we drop this Beat. We’re kicking off your Monday with this...
- Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) intros a bill to improve community-police relations.
- New report: people of color were elected at the same rate as white men in 2018.
- Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI) wants to offer low-income women doula training.
- Latinx voter registrations are growing in key 2020 states.
- Seriously, what is up with Justice Clarence Thomas? Read to the bottom!
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|  | ABC’s Robin Roberts and filmmaker Spike Lee at the NBA draft in NYC last week.
| |  | MSNBC’s Frances Rivera with her son at the New York Athletic Club over the weekend.
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Lawmakers Push for Alternatives to Inhumane Detention Centers
Lawyers recently visited a detention center in Clint, TX, and what they reported back was subhuman treatment. Children as young as seven and eight -- many of them wearing clothes caked with snot and tears -- were caring for infants they had just met, the lawyers said to the NYT. Toddlers without diapers were relieving themselves in their pants, and teenage mothers wore clothes stained with breast milk. They also described a stench, since most have not been allowed to shower or wash their clothes since they arrived at the facility, and they have no access to toothbrushes, toothpaste, or soap. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced legislation to create a presumption in favor of the use of alternatives to detention for asylum seekers, migrant children and families, and other vulnerable groups. The Alternatives to Detention Act would direct these individuals toward alternatives to detention (ATD) programs, including community-based supervision and community support, as they await the outcome of their immigration cases. “Every day we learn more about the inhumane conditions in our nation’s immigrant detention centers and the deadly consequences of this Administration’s mass detention system,” said Cortez Masto. “We must take immediate action to safeguard immigrant and refugee families and other vulnerable individuals. This bill is an important first step toward a fairer, more humane immigration system.” ATD programs can cost as little as $4.50 per day, a fraction of the cost of traditional detention facilities, which in comparison, cost taxpayers more than $133 per day for adult detention and $319 per day for family detention. She was joined in introducing the legislation by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Congressman Anthony Brown (D-MD) introduced the companion bill in the lower chamber earlier this year. More on the inhumane conditions here.
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Tammy Duckworth Moves to Help Restore Trust Between Law Enforcement and Communities & Provide Justice to Families
From a Black family violently held at gunpoint in Phoenix, AZ, to an officer fatally shooting a Black man last weekend in South Bend, IN, there continues to be a rash of police-related incidents that have led to accusations of police misconduct and racism. In light of incidents such as these -- and many, many others -- people of color continue to express concern that they are subjected to different and often harsher treatment by law enforcement. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) has introduced legislation that she says would help restore trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve by helping prevent police-involved deaths and encourage independent, impartial investigations into law enforcement officials’ use of deadly force. The Police Training and Independent Review Act would create a financial incentive for states to require training for law enforcement officials on fair and impartial policing as well as best practices for working with members of the community who are disabled and mentally ill. The bill would also encourage communities to use independent prosecutors to investigate law enforcement officials’ use of deadly force by authorizing the Attorney General to award grants to states that require an independent investigation and, if warranted, prosecution in cases where one or more of the alleged offenses result in death or serious bodily harm. “We’ve lost too many young men and women—from Chicago to Champaign to Ferguson and around the nation—in tragic and preventable police-involved deaths,” said Duckworth. “Families like Laquan McDonald’s that have experienced heartbreak are no less deserving of justice than any other family, but too often they don’t get it. The vast majority of our nation’s law enforcement officers do their best each day to protect and serve their communities.” More here.
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CBS News’ Lynda Tran with CBS contributor Leslie Sánchez over the weekend in South Carolina at Congressman Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) fish fry during the state’s Democratic Party convention.
| |  | ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel with CNN’s Jim Acosta last week in LA on Kimmel’s set after an appearance promoting Acosta’s book, The Enemy of the People.
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Can’t Complete College in Four Years? Marcia Fudge Has a Plan
Not everyone completes their college degree in four years. And unfortunately, tens of thousands of community college students who earn certificates or degrees are classified as “drop-outs” because they don’t complete their studies in the timeframe currently prescribed by the federal government. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH) has introduced legislation to change this. The Time to Completion Act, which she introduced with Congressman John Curtis (R-UT), would extend the graduation rate benchmark requirements under the Higher Education Act to better reflect community college success. “It is critical that we understand that many students take the non-traditional path to obtain their degrees,” said Fudge. “Students working while attending classes, part-time students, and students with children face unique challenges that can contribute to longer times for program completion. I am proud to introduce legislation that will properly count every student earning a degree and allow potential enrollees to make more informed decisions when choosing an institution of higher learning.” This measure aims to ensure that the millions of community college students who graduate with certificates or degrees are appropriately recognized by the federal government as college completers. More here.
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Linda Sánchez Aims to Launch an Apprenticeship Program with New Bill
Apprenticeships frequently provide solutions for businesses’ most urgent skills needs while expanding opportunities for people seeking hands-on, rewarding careers. That’s why Congresswoman Linda Sánchez (D-CA) introduced the bipartisan Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act with Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). Their bill would create a $5,000 tax credit based upon wages paid by companies who hire individuals enrolled in a federal or state registered apprenticeship programs. For employers participating in a multi-employer apprenticeship program, the credit rate would be $3 per hour. A worker must be employed for seven months before the credit can be claimed and continues to be available as the apprentice works through the program for a maximum of three years. The bill also allows veterans to apply their previous skills and experience towards education hours so they can be put to use more quickly. “The potential for workers to succeed and provide for their families is limitless if they are given the right tools,” said Sánchez. “The Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act would ensure that more hard-working Americans are able to learn the skills necessary to compete for good paying jobs in today’s most in-demand industries. Expanding apprenticeship programs will help our middle class thrive by closing our skills gap and raising household wages.” A skilled workforce is a critical component to a continued productive economy, but in recent decades employers have been experiencing a shortage of properly trained, available workers. More here.
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Gwen Moore Wants to Offer Low-Income Women Doula Training
Doulas are trained professionals who can help women make the transition from pregnancy to motherhood. Though frequently viewed as a luxury for higher-income women, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI) has been a champion of connecting the service to more women. With her latest bill, she wants to provide low-income women with education and training in the doula and midwifery professions. The Opportunities to Support Mothers and Deliver Children Act would create a new demonstration project within the Health Professions Opportunity Grant, which provides education and job training for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are in high demand for Temporary Assistance to Needy Family (TANF) recipients. “Before I was elected to Congress, I was a working-class mother who struggled to make ends meet. I know firsthand how TANF stifles economic and educational growth for low-income women, so I came to Congress to fight for them by reforming TANF, which creates a permanent underclass by denying impoverished women the training and education needed to advance into family-supporting careers,” Moore said. “This bill aims to solve that by connecting low-income women in family-sustaining careers in the health sector that are critical to supporting women through their pregnancies and assisting in the safe delivery of healthy babies and reducing the alarmingly high infant and maternal mortality rates that plague our communities.” Low-income women may experience fewer instances of preterm birth and costly birth complications if they opt for a doula's services, according to the research. Because doulas support the women they care for before, during and after birth, those who used doula care lowered their odds of preterm birth by 22% and decreased the risk of C-section by 56%. According to a study published in The Journal of Perinatal Education, people who have a doula present when they give birth are two times less likely to experience a birth complication involving themselves or their baby and significantly more likely to initiate breastfeeding. More here.
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|  | Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) with Puerto Rico gubernatorial candidate and San Juan, PR Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Capitol Hill last week.
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Chicago, IL Mayor Lori Lightfoot on set with Stephen Colbert last week in NYC.
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Report: People of Color Elected at Same Rate as White Men in 2018
A new report from the Reflective Democracy Campaign -- a group that studies the demographics of elected officials in the U.S. -- found that women and people of color won their races at similar rates to white men. Researchers looked at the more than 30,000 candidates in races for federal, state, and county offices in 2018 and found that women of color, white women, men of color, and white men all won seats in close proportion to their share of candidates. Specifically, women of color were 4% of 2018 candidates and 5% of winners; men of color were 6% of candidates and 7% of winners. White women were 28% of candidates and 29% of winners, while white men were 61% of candidates and 60% of winners. White men still over-index in elected positions. They are 30% of the population but hold 62% of elected offices at the local, state, and federal levels. “While white men still hold a monopoly on political power, they definitely do not hold a monopoly on electability,” said Brenda Choresi Carter, director of the Reflective Democracy Campaign. The report also found that there was a significant increase in women -- and particularly women of color -- who ran, and won, in 2018 compared with previous elections. According to the report, in the race for Congress, there was a 105% increase in candidates who were women of color. The report shows that diversity has a clear partisan divide -- people of color currently hold 27% of Democratic seats at the federal, state, and county levels, while less than 3% of GOP seats are held by nonwhite people. Note to pundits and everyone else -- rethink what electability means. More here.
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Cancer Researcher Mounts Second Congressional Bid
Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, an emergency room physician and cancer research advocate, is launching another congressional bid -- this time in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District. The 51-year-old Democrat ran unsuccessfully in the 2018 special election for the state’s 8th Congressional District, where she still currently resides. Tipirneni is aiming to unseat Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ) in a heavily Republican district. She is once again making healthcare a major theme of her campaign. Last year, Tipirneni advocated for expanding Medicare to serve as a public insurance option for more than seniors and said she wants to increase Social Security revenue. Tipirneni said she would do that by raising the withholding tax or increasing the amount of income subject to that tax. Tipirneni favors allowing the government to compete with the private insurance market as a public-sector insurance option. At the age of three, she came to America from India with her family, where she grew up in a suburb of Cleveland. Hiral attended Northeast Ohio Medical University. After she served as chief resident of the University of Michigan’s Emergency Medicine program, Tipirneni moved to Phoenix with her husband. She will face Anita Malik in the Democratic primary. More here.
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Out on Bail, Fresh Out of Jail, Congressional Dreaming
Eric Stevenson, the former Bronx assemblyman who was previously convicted on bribery charges, announced at a press conference last week that he is running for Congress. He’s planning to enter a crowded field to go after the seat currently occupied by retiring Congressman José Serrano (D-NY). Stevenson was found guilty in 2014 of taking $20,000 in bribes in exchange for pushing legislation to benefit an owner of adult day care centers. Federal prosecutors said he took bribes in exchange for drafting, proposing, and agreeing to enact legislation to aid his co-defendants' businesses. He was sentenced to three years in prison but still maintains his innocence. “Look at the Central Park Five,” he said. “Whatever they did to me isn’t going to change what I believe.” Stevenson has an educational background in labor organizing, electronics systems technology, and international business. He has been a community coordinator and liaison to Community Board 3 for Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and working as a legislative researcher for the City Council Speaker and as a committee clerk. Other contenders in this race include City Council members Ritchie Torres and Ruben Díaz Sr., Obama veteran Michael Blake, and several other long-shot aspirants either have entered the campaign or are considering a bid. More here.
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DJ Envy, Big Daddy Kane, Charlamagne tha God, and Rakim in NYC last week.
| |  | Writer Gyasi Ross in Seattle last week recording his podcast, Breakdances with Wolves.
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Latinx Voter Registrations Growing in Key 2020 States
Latinxs are poised to become the second largest voting bloc in 2020 -- the largest minority bloc. Voto Latino last week released the results of its 2018 voter registration program, which showed historic gains in voter registration and voter turnout in the midterm elections. Voto Latino found a 295.1% growth in new registrations between 2014 and 2018, with nearly 90% coming in critical 2020 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. In 2018, Voto Latino registered 202,399 voters leading up to the midterm elections, a 14.2% increase of voters registered from 2016 presidential elections. Nearly a quarter of young Latinxs who voted in 2018 cast a ballot in a midterm for the first time, according to a Voto Latino/Change Research poll. And 77% percent of voters registered by Voto Latino cast a ballot in the midterms. “Our numbers prove that myth wrong — if you engage Latinos, we register and we vote,” said President and CEO María Teresa Kumar. “Our goal by 2020 is to register a total of one million new voters. We know that our voice at the voting booth can be the decisive factor in the 2020 elections.” More here.
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Tim Scott to Help Recruit GOP Candidates of Color
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), the only Black person in the Senate’s Republican Caucus, is partnering with Jimmy Kemp of the Jack Kemp Foundation on a new group that aims to diversify GOP ranks by recruiting, training, and supporting candidates of color. The Empower America Project recently began a “multimillion-dollar” fundraising effort. A person familiar with the effort told The Wall Street Journal that a handful of big-dollar checks have started to come in. The group plans to host boot camps for prospective Republican candidates and potentially offer them resources such as advertising. Scott will serve as the honorary chair. He said Trump’s policy agenda is a message that could appeal to minority voters, referencing the criminal justice system efforts. “I think that it’s hard for some people to look beyond what they don’t like about the president,” Scott said. The Senator has previously said he felt Trump has “some racial insensitivities” but is not a racist. The Empower America Project hopes to back three to six candidates in 2020, including Michigan senatorial candidate and military veteran John James. More here.
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House Dems Launch Campaign Focused on People of Color and Young People
The campaign arm of the House Democrats is kicking off a campaign to engage the base of the party with a strategic laser focus on people of color and younger people. DCCC Chairwoman Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-IL) announced the “Cycle of Engagement” last week, saying it’s the largest early investment House Democrats have ever made. The program began with a major early investment in grassroots organizers across the country and has continued with digital ads targeting Republicans. Some Democrats have been criticized for hoping to court Trump voters in the next election cycle. The program will be run by Spelman College grad Tayhlor Coleman (pictured), who has worked for the DCCC since 2017. “People of color and young Americans are much more than just a turnout audience. To protect the House, it’s not enough for us to show up at churches and on college campuses 5 weeks from election day,” Coleman said. “The DCCC’s multimillion dollar investment to engage these voters on issues that impact them the most, and doing so earlier than ever, couldn’t be more important ahead of the 2020 election and I’m honored and humbled to lead such an important effort.” Bustos has committed to working primarily with political consultants of color on the project. “We’ll have the most diverse staff of candidates, vendors, and advisers that anyone has ever seen come out of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,” she said. More here.
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O’Rourke Campaign Names Director of African American Messaging
Ian Wilhite has been named director of African American messaging for former TX Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s 2020 presidential campaign. He will also serve as deputy national press secretary. Before joining the campaign, Wilhite served as the press secretary and spokesperson for Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest LGBTQ legal organization. During O’Rourke’s senatorial campaign, Wilhite also served the communications director for African American outreach. He also worked on Capitol Hill for both Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Additionally, Wilhite did a stint with FTI Consulting Strategic Communications as a senior consultant. The Michigan native is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a law degree from Boston College Law School. More about him here.
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|  | Fresno, CA mayoral candidate Andrew Janz with a supporter over the weekend.
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NYC Public Advocate Jumanee Williams last week calling for an investigation of Central Park Five prosecutor Linda Fairstein.
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Return of The Oprah Winfrey Show?
Is Oprah reviving her record-breaking iconic daily talk show? "I would love to make that happen, let me tell you. But maybe not every day," Winfrey said recently to Entertainment Tonight. "For 25 years, it was perfect." The Oprah Winfrey Show launched in 1986 and aired its final episode nearly ten years ago. “The only time I missed it was during the election or when something really big happens in the news. I think, 'Oh, gee, I wish I had a show.'" The media mogul is currently in Canada promoting her new book, The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Direction and Purpose. Sales from the book will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Attala County, MS, where she grew up. She also recently got a plea from HBO’s Bill Maher who said on Friday she is the only certainty who could defeat Donald Trump. In polls released earlier this year, Oprah was favored considerably over the current president. She came in second place right behind former first lady Michelle Obama. FLOTUS44 had a 13-point edge over Trump, and Winfrey a 12-point advantage. Both have said they have no plans to run for president. More here.
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The Nation Staffs Up
Jeet Heer has joined The Nation as its national-affairs correspondent, where he will write commentary several times a week for TheNation.com and frequent features for the print edition of the magazine. His first column for The Nation tackled the crisis of editorial cartooning. The University of Toronto graduate -- who has a Ph.D. from York University -- is a former staff writer for The New Republic, and Heer has previously written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The Guardian, and The Boston Globe. He is the author of several books including In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles. “I’ve read The Nation since I was a teenager,” adds Heer. “I couldn’t be more thrilled at joining the magazine at this crucial juncture, when the progressive politics it has long upheld are now coming to the fore. In the era of The Green New Deal and rising labor militancy, The Nation is the perfect venue for exploring the battles that will define the future.” The outlet also named Jane McAlevey as strikes correspondent and D.D. Guttenplan as its new editor. More here.
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NYT Adds VP of Philanthropy
Sharon Pian Chan is joining The New York Times as VP of philanthropy, where she will develop editorial initiatives to work in partnership with nonprofits, foundations, and other organizations to foster independent journalism. The NYT said Chan would also work with the newsroom leadership team to expand their fellowship and institute programs and launch editorial startups with the support of outside partners. She is currently at The Seattle Times, where she serves as VP for Innovation, Product & Development, and previously served as a deputy managing editor and an opinions editor at the outlet. Chan also was a reporter for The Seattle Times, where she covered beats ranging from city hall to technology to diversity, and was a reporter at Orange Coast magazine. She is multilingual and in addition to English, has a professional working proficiency in French and Cantonese; limited working proficiency in Mandarin; and an elementary proficiency in Nepali. The Pomona College graduate, who holds a Masters from MIT, also served as national president of the Asian American Journalists Association in 2009 and 2010 and also served as vice president of UNITY: Journalists for Diversity in 2011 and 2012. Chan will join the NYT in August. More here.
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|  | Political commentator Angela Rye with Queen Latifah at the BET META Conference in LA over the weekend.
| |  | World-renowned surgeon Dr. Denis Mukwege and Rockefeller Foundation President Raj Sah at Rockefeller Foundation headquarters in NYC last week.
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Clarence Thomas Argues for Racial Jury Discrimination
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the highly publicized murder conviction of Curtis Flowers, a Black man from Mississippi who had been tried six times for the same murders. The court found that Mississippi District Attorney Doug Evans had intentionally struck potential Black jurors from serving on the case. Justice Clarence Thomas, the lone African American member of the court, offered a scathing dissent suggesting that racial discrimination in the jury selection process should not be regulated. Thomas' dissent arguing that racial jury discrimination should effectively be legalized was eight pages long. "Flowers presented no evidence whatsoever of purposeful race discrimination by the State in selecting the jury during the trial below," Thomas wrote. “Any competent prosecutor would have exercised the same strikes as the State did in this trial. And although the Court's opinion might boost its self-esteem, it also needlessly prolongs the suffering of four victims' families." Flowers, who has no criminal record and has been on death row for 22 years, could potentially be tried for the seventh time. The crime was a quadruple murder at a store in Winona, MS, where Flowers once worked. More here.
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| FOMO
Wednesday, June 26th, 9A-5P: Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Congressman A. Donald McEachin (D-VA), and the House Natural Resources Committee will host an all-day Congressional Convening on Environmental Justice to mobilize support for environmental justice and spur legislative action. U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, DC. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, June 26th - Sunday, June 30th: The National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women's Annual Legislative Conference, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, and stakeholders for thought-provoking conversation around real issues that directly affect Black women and their families. Chicago, IL. Click here for more information.
Thursday, June 27th, 7P: Management Leadership for Tomorrow’s 15th Anniversary Awards Gala Dinner, celebrating underrepresented minorities who are advancing to senior leadership roles in their organizations and communities. The evening honors those working to advance African American, Latinx, and Native American women and men. Grand Hyatt, 109 E 42nd Street, NYC. Click here for more information.
Tuesday, July 9th, 6:30P: The Multicultural Media Correspondents Dinner. Honorees include Congresswoman Val Demings (D-FL). National Press Club, 529 14th St N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Saturday, July 20th - Wednesday, July 24th: The 110th NAACP Annual Convention, convening policymakers, activists, and organizers to strategize about the work NAACP has to do to ensure that the integrity of our democracy and shape the wellbeing of our communities. Cobo Center, 1 Washington Blvd, Detroit, MI. Click here for more information.
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