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February 06, 2017 | SUBSCRIBE The drive back to Atlanta from Houston down I-20 won't be nearly as much fun today as many Super Bowl fans thought in the first half of last night’s game, but the New England Patriots may have given America's real patriots-- those who defend liberty, justice and equality-- some hope for the future. Down by a historic margin, the Pats came back to win in the second half of the Big Game. A Tom Brady fan or not, it was inspiring. For the real American patriots, this is not a game. We can never give up... Happening this Week On Tuesday, the Senate votes on Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. Still short a Republican willing to break from party politics, it looks like she will be confirmed. Strategically, a vote on Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for Attorney General will happen later in the week so he can stay in the Senate just long enough to vote yes for DeVos. More here. NYC Gets a Champion in Cleve Mesidor Former Obama appointee, Raben Group’s Global Solutions guru, and founding designer of The Beat, Cleve Mesidor is taking her Black girl magic back to her roots -- New York City. She will be serving as Communications Director for the First Lady of NYC (ok, the co-mayor), Chirlane McCray. From being a champion for Haiti to running for office, Cleve’s long list of accolades could take up an entire issue of The Beat. So we’ll just say Cleve, your vision, hard work, dedication, and passion are unmatched and when you’re being named as a CEO or preparing for a Senate confirmation hearing of your own, please give The Beat an exclusive. We love you and the thousands of people who read The Beat thank you for seeing this vision through. Happy trails! To learn more about this multi-lingual talent, click here.  This “So Called” Illegal Executive Order Lawyers for the Trump administration are  submitting a brief today defending Trump’s order temporarily banning refugees from around the world and all visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. An appeals court refused on Sunday to reinstate the ban after a lower court blocked it. More here. Tech Companies Resist Ninety-seven companies, from Apple Inc. to Zynga Inc., filed an impassioned legal brief condemning the president’s executive order on immigration, stepping up the industry’s growing opposition to the policy. The amicus brief was filed late Sunday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and emphasizes the importance of immigrants in the economy and society. More here. A Patriot Won't Be at the WH New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett wasted little time revealing whether he'd join his team when it visits the White House to be honored by the president. He told reporters following New England's win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday that he will decline the invite from Trump. More here. Now…About That “Voter Fraud” The president said in an interview that he will have Vice President Mike Pence oversee a special commission to investigate voter fraud, which he alleges helped Hillary Clinton win the popular vote. No word yet on the president’s response to Russia interfering with the election. Trump figured he’d start with the citizens of his own country first. More here. Identity Politics At Work? Apparently some CBC members aren't happy about a CHC member joining their ranks. Congressman Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) identifies as "Afro-Latino" and wants to join the Black Caucus, but Politico reports that a few CBC members are upset he twice challenged founding member Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY). More here. Rice Signs with CAA Remember when we reported Valerie Jarrett had signed with CAA? Well she won’t be lonely there. Politico reports that former National Security Advisor Susan Rice has also signed with the California talent agency. Lawmakers Get Busy The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is launching 12 task forces chaired by CHC members to develop policy priorities and legislation that will be incorporated into the annual caucus legislative agenda. Immigration and Border Issues will be chaired by Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (IL); Education and Labor will be chaired by Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ); Health Care and Mental Health will be chaired by Congressman Raúl Ruíz (CA); Diversity will be chaired by Senator Robert Menéndez (NJ); Economic Development, Tax Reform and Business Formation will be chaired by Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA); Agriculture will be chaired by Congressman Jim Costa (CA); Environment, Public Lands and Water will be chaired by Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA); Transportation, Infrastructure and Housing will be chaired by Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY); Veterans and Armed Services will be chaired by Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24); Civil Rights and Voting Rights will be chaired by Congressman Darren Soto (FL); Accountability will be chaired by CHC Chairwoman Michelle Luján Grisham (NM); and Latin America and Foreign Affairs will be chaired by Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA). A complete list of task force members can be found here. Defund DAPL Growing The Navajo Nation is joining a growing number of Native American tribes divesting from financial institutions that have invested in the Dakota Access pipeline project. It’s a cohort that at first glance appears to have some strange bedfellows: radical academics and Wall Street professionals. More here. Repeal…Wait a Year…Replace Trump is giving an extended timeline for when his administration could be expected to roll out a new plan to replace the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act (ACA). In an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that aired yesterday, Mr. Trump made the vague assertion that it could take "'til sometime into next year.” More here. Fiery Town Hall Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters descended on a town hall meeting hosted by California Republican Congressman Tom McClintock on Saturday, peppering him with questions about an ACA replacement and putting him on notice that they didn't want him falling in line with the Trump administration. The congressman had to be escorted out by the police. More here. AAJC President Stepping Down Asian Americans Advancing Justice President & Executive Director Mee Moua announced she is stepping down from her position after five years. During her tenure, Advancing Justice was the principal lead in the Asian American civil rights community to engage with the White House and congressional leaders to push for family reunification as part of the permanent solutions to the broken immigration system. More here. HBCU Players Honored at Super Bowl Pro Football Hall of Fame players from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were honored before Sunday's Super Bowl. Among the loudest cheers were for Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State) and the late Walter Payton (Jackson State). Michael Strahan (TSU) was also among those honored. More here. HBCU Fly In The NFL isn’t the only one trying to uplift HBCUs. Congressman Mark Walker (R-NC) and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) are co-hosting a fly-in with HBCU presidents to discuss ways to advance their platforms. Republicans say they will listen to the needs of universities and their students, while also learning how Congress can help black colleges. The meeting will include other congressional members and Omarosa. Congresman Walker recently published video stating his wife is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, an HBCU, and that he is personally invested in helping black colleges. There are rumors of a forthcomimg executive order for HBCUs.  We'll see. More here. Breitbart Editor Starts Scholarship Just for White Men Milo Yiannopoulos, Breitbart editor, provocateur, and occasional person you see on TV, has officially opened up a college scholarship exclusively for young white men. According to the scholarship's website, The Privilege Grant "is available exclusively to white men" who want to pursue college "on equal footing with their female, queer and ethnic minority classmates." More here. Linda Sarsour on Suing Trump Linda Sarsour is the executive director of the Arab-American Association of New York, and was one of the lead organizers of the Women’s March on Washington. Now, Sarsour is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s executive order that bans citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. Complex sat down with Sarsour to discuss the basis of the suit against Trump, how the Muslim ban affects all of us, and everyday actions we can take to fight fascism. Read it here. MALDEF Sues Wells Fargo The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is suing Wells Fargo, alleging it denied loans to qualified applicants based on their immigration status. More here. NBC Agrees to Meet wit NABJ NBC News has responded to criticism of the exit of “Today” co-anchor Tamron Hall by indicating that it would accept an offer by the National Association of Black Journalists to discuss the issue. “NBC News has a long and proven history as an industry leader in newsroom diversity,” the network said in a statement. “We will continue to engage in the running dialogue we’ve had for many years with the National Association of Black Journalists and other advocacy groups to advance those goals.” More here. Omarosa Gets the Boot Walking boot that is. Omarosa Manigualt was taken to the hospital last week for a bum leg. She was injured last month and had her leg placed in a walking boot. On Friday it appears that she reinjured her leg and ended up going from the White House to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She is back up and moving again -- with her walking boot. More here. Off to Haiti Now she's off to Haiti. The president announced Omarosa will be part of the presidential delegation to the Republic of Haiti to attend the inauguration of His Excellency Jovenel Moïse tomorrow, in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. ICYMI: Kal Penn Raises Money for Refugees Actor and former White House staffer Kal Penn has raised more than $500,000 for Syrian refugees after a person left a message on one of his Instagram posts saying that he "doesn't belong in this country." More here. Can the Real Olivia Pope Help Steve Harvey? Judy Smith, a crisis control expert, can now add Steve Harvey to her list of clients. Harvey’s missteps include a recent racially insensitive joke when he said that neither Black women nor white women find Asian American men attractive, as well as his meeting with Trump -- already a divisive figure, especially in racial matters. More here. Collective PAC Founder is 28 Under 28 Quentin James is the Co-Founder of Vestige Strategies, LLC, a top civic and community engagement consulting firm in the nation. Quentin has created outreach initiatives that recruited over 50,000 African American donors. He is one of 28 game changers featured in NBCBLK’s trendsetters under 28. See the full list here. I Am Not Your Negro Tops Box Office The Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro packed in audiences over the weekend, putting it on track to be one of the year’s highest-grossing non-fiction films. The film, directed by Raoul Peck, grossed $709K this weekend.  More here. Trayvon Martin’s Parents Weighing Run for Office Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, the parents of the late Trayvon Martin, have released a book coinciding with the fifth-year anniversary of his death, and one of the biggest headlines to emerge from its rollout is the news that they are considering a future in politics. More here. Love Army A month after the election, social justice champion and longtime civil rights activist Van Jones announced a #LoveArmy campaign to fight Trump. So far, more than 100,000 people have signed up online. Jones sits down with Yes Magazine to discuss what it is and how you can join. Read it here. Immigration and Crime -- What the Research Shows Research has shown virtually no support for the enduring assumption that increases in immigration are associated with upticks in crime. This is according to a group of experts who recently sat down with The Conversation to discuss the issue.  Read their findings here.  Kellogg Reflects on Week One of Trump’s Presidency The Kellogg Racial Equality Anchors issued a statement on how week one of the Trump presidency had a detrimental impact on communities of color. “With the brush of a few pen strokes, the first week of the Trump administration waged unprecedented and wholesale attacks on various communities of color through legislative action," it reads. To see the entire statement, click here. Painting A Closed Matter The House Office Building Commission has supported a decision by the Architect of the Capitol to take down a controversial painting by student David Pulphus, who was inspired by the police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. The Architect of the Capitol announced on Jan. 13th that it would take the painting down, shortly after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) called for it to be removed. More here. Brothered Up May Be Trumped Out The CBS sitcom Brothered Up centers on an emotionally guarded African American police officer who is partnered with an emotionally available Pakistani cop, and they are forced to find a way to connect as they patrol a Detroit neighborhood. But this pilot may be affected my Trump’s travel ban. More here. Spotted Some folks abandoned the Beltway and headed to where they do it big for the Super Bowl -- Houston, TX. Here’s who we spotted: CBC PAC ED Ben Branch, The Raben Group’s Christina Weaver, Tharon Johnson, Shari Sheffield, Brandon Garrett, Jarvis Stewart, NFLPA’s Joe Briggs, Shavannia Williams, Priscilla Clarke, Tammy Boyd, and FedEx executives Gina Adams and Lance Magnum.                Videos of the Day                     (click images to play) Roll Call’s Black History Month series talks with lawmakers and Hill figures to explore the intersection of Black history and life in Congress, and the Capitol building itself. CBC Chair Cedric Richmond (D-LA) kicks it off here. Columnist David Andreatta visits Frederick Douglass in Rochester, NY to ask him about his doing "an amazing job." SNL’s take on Sean Spicer’s press conferences featuring Melissa McCarthy. Part 2 of the 84 Lumber Super Bowl commercial contained content deemed too controversial for the original ad and banned from broadcast. See what lies ahead as a mother and daughter’s symbolic migrant journey continues to its moving conclusion (the ad crashed the company's website). The Leadership Conferenceon on Civil and Human Rights presents Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) on voting rights. Pics of the Day (click image for more info) The amazingly talented Cleve Mesidor, founding designer of The Beat, is off to run communications for the First Lady of NYC. DNC Chair candidate Tom Pérez poses with supporters at Saturday's DNC forum at Wayne State University in Detroit. Emerge America's Ashanti Gholar, Vice President of the College Democrats Ellen Lindblom with DNC Vice Chair Candidate LaToia Jones. Texas MOCs Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green speak at a brunch in Houston during pre-Super Bowl activities. Congressman Greg Meeks (D-NY) and Lonnie Johnson during the Super Bowl. HBCU Pro Hall of Famers honored at Super Bowl 51. CHCI unveils its 2017 winter intern class. Omarosa posted this pic to show she is moving again after being taken to the hospital for a leg injury. The Raben Group's Christina Weaver attends a charity bowling event in Houston with fiancée Indianapolis Colts D’Qwell Jackson and CBCF’s Tasha Cole. The Other Twitterverse Top Five  As millions of people watched the Atlanta Falcons fall to the New England Patrtiots, a popular theme Sunday night echoed in living rooms and across social media platforms—“this feels like election night all over again.”  Here are the top five tweets that resurrect emotions from the 2016 political upset.  HRC Staffer Voter Pundit DNC Truth Blah Blah Blog Four Areas Republicans Have Moved to Uproot Obama’s Legacy (The Hill) Birthing My Half-Black, Half-Pakistani, Full-Muslim Son in the Era of Trump (The Root)  How ‘Voter Fraud’ Crusades Undermine Voting Rights (The Conversation)  Frederick Douglass’s ‘Amazing Job’ Started With His First Book (WaPo) FOMO Alert! LOOK AHEAD Tuesday, February 7th, 10A: Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly will testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security in a hearing entitled “Ending the Crisis: America’s Borders and the Path to Security” 210 House Capitol Visitor Center. Tuesday, February 7th, 8:30A: Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council’s 8th Annual Broadband and Social Justice Summit. More info here. Tuesday, February 7th, 7PM: Alvin Ailey Opening Night Gala. Invite only. Thursday, February 9, 2:30P: Alex Amparo, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Office of Response and Recovery Assistant Administrator for Recovery, will testify before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in a hearing entitled “Emergency Management in Indian Country: Improving FEMA’s Federal-Tribal Relationship with Indian Tribes” 628 Dirksen. Thursday, Feb. 16th, 8:30A: Senators Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Representatives Bobby Scott, Gerry Connolly, Don Beyer, and Donald McEachin host a Commonwealth Coffee with Virginia's African American Leaders in the Russell Senate Office Building, Room SR-253. Powered by The Raben Group SUBSCRIBE. Got this as a forward? Sign up here to receive our future emails. View this email online

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