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Anyone else send an email to the work team this morning that they're feeling "under the weather" (pun intended) and won't be coming into the office, but really you're headed to find a cocktail and a rooftop on this unseasonably warm Friday? With a high of 75 expected -- in February(!!!) -- enjoy! But fair warning, you may be "spotted" in Monday's Beat. Happy Friday! We've got info on the DNC votes happening tomorrow, an update on Obama's Presidential Library, and some disturbing stories about ICE. Let's get started. Here's your read for the weekend...
Mexico Says Deporting Non-Mexicans to Mexico Is a ‘Non-Starter’
We're not the only ones feeling the heat this February. Mexico has flatly rejected the idea that any migrant from the region caught illegally crossing the U.S. southern border would be sent to Mexico regardless of their nationality, saying Mexico will never accept the Trump administration’s plan to return Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Hondurans and others who traveled through Mexico on their way to the United States. “It’s a non-starter. We are not going to accept it because we don’t have to accept it,” said Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray. More here.
Extremist Push to End DACA
Meanwhile, back in the states, Trump has explicitly avoided terminating President Obama’s Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has allowed about 750,000 young people brought to the United States illegally as children to work or study legally in the U.S. The decision is a disappointment to groups such as Numbers USA (an organization that lobbies for limited immigration), which hopes to end the program. More here.
Obama 2017? Oui, S'il Te Plaît!
Across the pond, a group of Barack Obama devotees in France aren't happy with the homegrown contenders vying for the country's presidency. Sound familiar? So they're hoping that the former U.S. president will step in and run for office this spring. "OBAMA17" posters have been spotted plastered across Paris, urging citizens to visit the group's website and sign a petition to convince Obama to enter the race. The goal is to get one million people to sign the petition. Why Obama? "Because he has the best résumé in the world for the job," reads the website. More here.
New President at National Women’s Law Center
The Board of Directors of the National Women’s Law Center announced that it has named NWLC Senior Vice President for Program Fatima Goss Graves as the organization’s next CEO and President. She succeeds NWLC’s founders and Co-Presidents Marcia D. Greenberger and Nancy Duff Campbell, who will step down on July 1st. More here.
Trump’s Potential Envoy to New Delhi
Chicago industrialist Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar, one of Trump’s major donors and a tireless surrogate, has been quietly waging a behind-the-scenes campaign to be the U.S. envoy to India. Indian officials and diplomats -- who prefer their U.S. ambassadors to be statesmen -- are dismayed that Kumar is on Trump’s short list. WaPo explores why here.
Uber’s Diversity Report
Sources say former HRC staffer and DNC operative Bernard Coleman III is scrambling to put together a new and innovative kind of diversity report that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had vehemently opposed -- until former company engineer Susan Fowler posted explosive claims of sexism and sexual harassment during her year-long stint at the company. Coleman joined Uber in January as Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion. Frying pan, meet fire. More here.
Google Funding Racial Justice Projects
Meanwhile, another tech giant is putting money behind their mission for equality. Google's charitable arm is pumping $11.5 million into ten organizations fighting for racial justice. The largest of Google's new grants, $5 million, will go to the Center for Policing Equity, a think tank based in NY that's working with police departments and communities to create a database which tracks police interactions with citizens across the country. More here.
Obama Presidential Library
The designer behind the NMAAHC will lead the planning of the exhibits at Barack Obama’s presidential library. Ralph Appelbaum Associates will be in charge of a team that includes several Chicago firms which will design how the exhibition spaces in Obama’s library and museum will function and be laid out when it’s built in Jackson Park. More here.
Call with MBKA’s Broderick Johnson
Today at 11A, Black44 hosts a call with Broderick Johnson as he discusses the future of the My Brother's Keeper Alliance. The discussion will be moderated by Karen Evans. Broderick was recently named the Chairman of the Board of Directors of My Brother's Keeper Alliance. This discussion will be off-the-record, and is limited to former appointees of the Obama administration. If that’s you, click here.
Table for 44 Please
Starting this March, Black44 members across the nation will be hosting and attending small group dinners based on common geography, industry, and interests. Registration is required and is limited to Black44 members only. The first one takes place Friday, March 3rd, and is being hosted by Andria Oliver -- former CoS at the Department of Labor. There are others coming up in San Francisco, Pasadena, and Baltimore. If you would like to host a networking dinner for Black44, click here.
Dems in the A-T-L
Today’s DNC general session in Atlanta will feature California Attorney General Xavier Beccera, who will be on the front lines of resisting Donald Trump's agenda in the courts. Interim Chair Donna Brazile will share her thoughts on the state of the party and the road ahead as they prepare to welcome a new Chair. Attendees will also hear from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. On Saturday, Rev. Bernice King will speak. For full schedule, click here.
DNC Elections Tomorrow
The DNC will elect its new leadership tomorrow at the conclusion of their winter meeting. Candidates for Chair: Sally Boynton Brown, Pete Buttigieg, Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), Jehmu Greene, Peter Peckarsky, Tom Pérez, and Sam Ronan. Candidates for Vice Chair: Michael Blake, Melissa Byrne, Mitch Ceasar, María Elena Durazo, Liz Jaff, Latoia Jones, Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY), Rick Palacio, and Adam Parkhomenko. Candidates for Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation: Karen Carter Peterson, Melissa Fazli, Chris Reeves, and Yasmine Taeb. Candidates for Secretary: Ana Cuprill, Roberta Lange, Jason Rae, and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Candidates for Treasurer: Joyce Amico, Bill Derrough, and Lorna M. Johnson. And one candidate for National Finance Chair: Henry Muñoz III. See where the candidates stand here.
Harrison Drops DNC Bid
Jamie Harrison, chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party, announced Thursday he is dropping his bid for the Democratic Party’s top job and throwing his support behind Tom Pérez. He also said he began to realize that many of the leaning-but-undecided supporters were beginning to succumb to what he called “external pressure” to support someone else. More here.
Ellison v. Pérez
It appears Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) has the edge over former Labor Secretary Tom Pérez in The Hill’s new survey of DNC members. But a poll from the AP gives Pérez the edge. W hile both men claim they are close to securing commitments from the majority of the 447 voting members, neither candidate is assured victory. More here.
Ivanka Trump Patriciates in NUL Roundtable
On Wednesday, Ivanka Trump participated in a roundtable discussion with minority business owners, mostly from the Baltimore area with the Greater Baltimore Urban League. National Urban League President Marc Morial invited Trump, who has stressed her interest in working on policies to benefit women in business. He said he wanted to show her "a highly successful program that is supported by the federal government that makes a difference in the success of small entrepreneurs." More here.
Blacks for Trump 2020
According to The Grio, the frontman for Blacks-for-Trump is a shadowy figure, Maurice Symonette, also known as Maurice Woodside aka “Michael the Black Man.” Symonette was a follower of the Yahweh Ben Yahweh cult and was a self-proclaimed “warrior against the whites.” It’s unclear exactly when he made his ideological pivot away from his Black supremacist cause toward his more contemporary sheen of ultra-conservative conspiracy theorist. Is anyone taking this seriously? More here.
She Was A Muslim in Trump’s WH
In 2011, Rumana Ahmed, a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, was hired straight out of college to work at the White House and eventually the National Security Council. She stayed on the NSC staff during the Trump administration, hoping to give the new president and his aides a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America's Muslim citizens. She lasted eight days. Read her story here.
Ryan Tours Border on Horseback
On Wednesday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) spent part of his tour of the U.S-Mexico border on horseback. Ryan also toured the Rio Grande and surrounding areas with Homeland Security officials by boat and helicopter. Several other members of Congress are also visiting the border this week while the House and Senate are in recess. More here.
SCOTUS Overturns Death Sentence
SCOTUS blocked the execution of Duane Buck, who murdered his former girlfriend in 1996. He was sentenced to death following the testimony of a defense witness who said Buck would be more dangerous in the future because he is Black. The 6-2 ruling was the second in the court's new term to overturn a death sentence. More here.
Obama Lawyers Team Up To Fight Trump
Top lawyers from Barack Obama’s White House are launching a group aimed at keeping Trump from breaking ethics rules. United to Protect Democracy has already built a $1.5 million operating budget and hired five staffers, a number it expects to double soon. More here.
From the Church House to the White House -- Protests
Last Sunday, Omarosa delivered her final sermon at Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. The event was met by protestors who gathered outside. Members of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, Local 36, and other labor groups came to peacefully denounce the Trump administration. More here.
Come All Ye Faithful -- To The District
Speaking of church, the Reid Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church moved out of DC and into the suburbs nearly 30 years ago. Now they’re returning to the heart of the city. District officials estimate that the city is gaining close to 900 residents every month. And so this megachurch, with more than 15,000 members at its two suburban locations in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, wants to be where the people are. More here.
DC Parking Is Ridiculous
But where will everyone park? DC just “tweaked” prices. Again. Starting Monday, the top rate in Penn Quarter/Chinatown will be $3.25 an hour. The low end will be $1.50. The prices will be tweaked again in three months. Transportation officials can legally keep raising the rate to $8 an hour, but a DC official said the city is taking “a very incremental and conservative approach to our price adjustments.” More here.
New Poll Shows Trump’s Approval Ratings At New Low
A Quinnipiac University survey released on Wednesday says that only 38 percent of Americans approve of Trump's job performance, while 55 percent disapprove. According to Quinnipiac, the 17-point difference in Trump's approval rating is the worst he's fared in a poll since taking office in January. More here.
Prison Profits
AG Jeff Sessions sent a memo Thursday to the Bureau of Prisons rescinding the Obama administration's order that advised the bureau not to renew any contracts with private prisons. Then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates had instructed officials to either not renew private prison contracts or substantially reduce the scope of such contracts to ultimately end the department's use of privately operated prisons altogether. More here.
Few Left to Protest DAPL
Months after a protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline swelled into a movement that drew thousands of people and national attention, most of the remaining demonstrators left the protest camp ahead of a deadline Wednesday, leaving a few dozen to face possible arrest. Video footage and images on cable news and social media showed structures up in flames that protesters had apparently set in the encampment’s final hours. More here.
ICE Agents Remove Woman With Brain Tumor from Hospital
An undocumented immigrant diagnosed with a brain tumor while under ICE custody was returned to a detention center from a Texas hospital. The woman, a Salvadoran national identified only as Sara, was released from Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth,Texas, and taken to Prairieland Detention Center against her will, according to her lawyers. More here.
A Suicide Moments After Deportation
Guadalupe Olivas Valencia made his last, desperate attempt to cross the border from Tijuana, Mexico into the U.S. on Monday. Border officials stopped him. Unable to show legal documents to enter the U.S., he was detained, and the following morning, deported. A half an hour later, he was seen on a bridge just a few hundred feet away from where he had been deported, jumping into the dry channel below. More here.
NHMC Gala
Tonight, the National Hispanic Media Coalition will host its star-studded 20th-annual Impact Awards Gala at the historic Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, honoring Latinos who make outstanding contributions to the positive portrayals of Latinos in film and TV. More here.
Steele Waiting for Her to Get Woke
ESPN anchor Sage Steele spoke on a panel to "discuss the intersection of race and faith in America today." While discussing the current racial divide in our country, Steele, who is biracial and married to a white man, asked Black people to look within themselves before blaming others. Speaking from her own experiences, Steele said that the "worst racism" comes from Black folks. More here.
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Videos of the Day
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| During Wednesday night's DNC Chair debate on CNN, candidate Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) says Trump has done enough to be impeached..
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| DNC Chair Candidate Tom Pérez talks transparency for the DNC and addresses concerns about the primary process being rigged.
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| DNC Chair candidate Jehmu Greene says the presidential election was rigged.
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| Congressman Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) shares his personal story with CNN “New Day” co-anchor Alisyn Camerota and discusses Trump’s anti-immigration policies and the impact on the immigrant community.
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| Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). That’s all.
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| A message from National Women's Law Center's (from left) Marcia Greenberger, Nancy Duff Campbell, and Fatima Goss Graves as they transition leadership.
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| Actress Jurnee Smollett talks season two of Underground at the NMAAHC on Wednesday night.
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Pics of the Day
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| Anyone else get flutters when Michelle Obama posts on social media? She posted this Throwback Thursday pic yesterday at the historic Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, KS.
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| Ivanka Trump participates in NUL roundtable with President Marc Morial in Baltimore on Wednesday.
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| Congresswoman Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM) poses with former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) in New Mexico.
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| Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) poses with Dropbox staff as she spoke at the company's Black History Month event.
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| Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) hosted the Elected Officials Council on Veterans, in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.
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| Solidarity Strategies' Vice President Vanessa Moyonero (l) with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and a constituent after a roundtable with Chispa & the League of Conservation Voters in Nevada.
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| DNC Vice Chair candidate LaToia Jones poses with supporters before Wednesday night's debate in Atlanta.
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| Actress Jurnee Smollett works the red carpet at NMAAHC Wednesday night.
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| The cast of Undergound pays homage to the iconic Olympics moment at the NMAAHC Wednesday night.
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| March on Washington Film Festival
Student Journalist Competition
The March on Washington Film Festival announced its first-ever Freedom’s Children Student Journalists Competition. Winners of this competition will have the opportunity to serve as student reporters for the myriad of events taking place throughout the 5th-annual March on Washington Film Festival, which begins July 14th and runs through July 22nd in DC.
Learn more details here.
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Tonight, 9P: Senate aide Lorenzo Olvera, former Energy Department official Edwin Luévanos, and The Raben Group's Daniel Herrera perform as Los Gallos Negros at Haydee's Resturant. It’s a scene! Click here to RSVP.
Sunday, February 26th, 2P: DC Mayor’s Office on African American Affairs, Urban Film Review & Lamman Rucker present the 2017 DC Black History Film Festival. Click here for more info.
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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