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“Black Vote, Black Power,” a collaboration between Keith Boykin and Word In Black, 
examines the issues, the candidates, and what’s at stake for Black America in the 2024 presidential election.

“There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.”  

That’s what it felt like this week when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race for re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s new nominee.

Now the party must unite behind Kamala Harris, allow her to pick a new running mate, and move on to defeat Donald Trump.

RELATED: With a Trump Win, Republican Judges Will Rule the Courts—and Our Lives

After weeks of Democratic in-fighting, Biden’s historic withdrawal shifts the momentum away from the Republican Party and back toward the Democrats heading into their convention in Chicago next month.

The great stunt queen, Donald Trump, thought he won the publicity wars last week when he dramatically announced his new running mate, the inexperienced freshman Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and told the world the story of surviving an assassination attempt in his rambling 90-minute convention speech.

Now that’s old news, and we have a fundamentally different race. Instead of a contest between two unpopular, old white guys, the new race pits a 59-year-old Black woman against a 78-year-old convicted felon. 

RELATED: How Will Project 2025 Affect Black America?

It’s the past versus the future. An all-white-male Republican ticket or a Democratic ticket led by an accomplished Black woman. A party that carries the heavy baggage of scandals, impeachments, indictments, and 34 felony convictions from Donald Trump or a party that has an opportunity to reinvent itself with Kamala Harris.

I’ve said all along that I will support the Democratic nominee for president, but I’ve publicly worried about the donor class and wondered if they would accept Harris as the new nominee. 

Some floated ideas of an open primary or a “blitz primary” with candidate forums moderated by Republicans like Condoleezza Rice. And TV producer Aaron Sorkin even suggested the ridiculous idea that Democrats should nominate Republican Mitt Romney for president.

No, no, and no.

All those Democratic donors and party insiders who spent the past few weeks pushing Biden out of the race better pony up their money, time, and energy and start contributing to Kamala Harris’s campaign and the Democratic Party. This is the new Plan B.

We’ve heard a lot of Democratic names floated for president in the past few weeks: Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Pete Buttigieg, Wes Moore, Andy Beshear, and Mark Kelly. But now that President Biden has endorsed Vice President Harris, I hope and expect those leaders will stand down and support her, if for no other reason than loyalty to President Biden. 

But also because there are financial obstacles if Democrats nominate someone other than Harris. Harris was Biden’s running mate, so she can tap into the $96 million Biden has in the  bank. Any new candidate may have to start from scratch. Let’s not make this any more complicated than it needs to be.

Now is the time for the Democratic Party to step up. You say you are an inclusive party of women and people of color. It’s time to prove it and get behind Kamala Harris. The Congressional Black Caucus quickly announced its support for Harris.

Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. He must be defeated. We have the power to stop Project 2025 and Agenda 47. 

The wind is finally at our backs. Let’s get to work.

Keith Boykin is a New York Times–bestselling author, TV and film producer, and former CNN political commentator. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Keith served in the White House, cofounded the National Black Justice Coalition, cohosted the BET talk show My Two Cents, and taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York. He’s a Lambda Literary Award-winning author and editor of seven books. He lives in Los Angeles.

The post Kamala Harris for President appeared first on Word In Black.

The post OP-ED: Kamala Harris for President appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

“Black Vote, Black Power,” a collaboration between Keith Boykin and Word In Black, 
examines the issues, the candidates, and what’s at stake for Black America in the 2024 presidential election.

“There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.”  

That’s what it felt like this week when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race for re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s new nominee.

Now the party must unite behind Kamala Harris, allow her to pick a new running mate, and move on to defeat Donald Trump.

RELATED: With a Trump Win, Republican Judges Will Rule the Courts—and Our Lives

After weeks of Democratic in-fighting, Biden’s historic withdrawal shifts the momentum away from the Republican Party and back toward the Democrats heading into their convention in Chicago next month.

The great stunt queen, Donald Trump, thought he won the publicity wars last week when he dramatically announced his new running mate, the inexperienced freshman Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and told the world the story of surviving an assassination attempt in his rambling 90-minute convention speech.

Now that’s old news, and we have a fundamentally different race. Instead of a contest between two unpopular, old white guys, the new race pits a 59-year-old Black woman against a 78-year-old convicted felon. 

RELATED: How Will Project 2025 Affect Black America?

It’s the past versus the future. An all-white-male Republican ticket or a Democratic ticket led by an accomplished Black woman. A party that carries the heavy baggage of scandals, impeachments, indictments, and 34 felony convictions from Donald Trump or a party that has an opportunity to reinvent itself with Kamala Harris.

I’ve said all along that I will support the Democratic nominee for president, but I’ve publicly worried about the donor class and wondered if they would accept Harris as the new nominee. 

Some floated ideas of an open primary or a “blitz primary” with candidate forums moderated by Republicans like Condoleezza Rice. And TV producer Aaron Sorkin even suggested the ridiculous idea that Democrats should nominate Republican Mitt Romney for president.

No, no, and no.

All those Democratic donors and party insiders who spent the past few weeks pushing Biden out of the race better pony up their money, time, and energy and start contributing to Kamala Harris’s campaign and the Democratic Party. This is the new Plan B.

We’ve heard a lot of Democratic names floated for president in the past few weeks: Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Pete Buttigieg, Wes Moore, Andy Beshear, and Mark Kelly. But now that President Biden has endorsed Vice President Harris, I hope and expect those leaders will stand down and support her, if for no other reason than loyalty to President Biden. 

But also because there are financial obstacles if Democrats nominate someone other than Harris. Harris was Biden’s running mate, so she can tap into the $96 million Biden has in the  bank. Any new candidate may have to start from scratch. Let’s not make this any more complicated than it needs to be.

Now is the time for the Democratic Party to step up. You say you are an inclusive party of women and people of color. It’s time to prove it and get behind Kamala Harris. The Congressional Black Caucus quickly announced its support for Harris.

Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. He must be defeated. We have the power to stop Project 2025 and Agenda 47. 

The wind is finally at our backs. Let’s get to work.

Keith Boykin is a New York Times–bestselling author, TV and film producer, and former CNN political commentator. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Keith served in the White House, cofounded the National Black Justice Coalition, cohosted the BET talk show My Two Cents, and taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York. He’s a Lambda Literary Award-winning author and editor of seven books. He lives in Los Angeles.

The post Kamala Harris for President appeared first on Word In Black.

The post Kamala Harris for President appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

National Action Network (NAN) Executive Vice President and General Counsel Michael Hardy, Esq. has died.

NAN released the following statement:

It is with profound sadness that civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton announces the passing of his longtime attorney, confidante and brother in the movement, Attorney Michael Hardy.

From the infancy of NAN’s inception in 1991 to the present day, he had an enormous impact on the evolution of the organization. For over thirty years, Attorney Hardy stood beside Rev. Sharpton as a brilliant legal counselor and steadfast friend who was a legal architect behind some of the most important civil rights cases of our time. Even while seriously ill, he walked with NAN until his very last step.

While memorial service arrangements have not been formalized, many in the movement pause today to acknowledge Michael’s memory and to thank a higher power that he was such a great human being. We are praying for his widow, Dr. Robin, and his family. 

The post Longtime National Action Network EVP and General Counsel Michael Hardy, Esq. passes away appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Representatives of the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BC/BS) Foundation, EngageWell IPA, and Housing Works leadership joined elected officials, including Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, in a formal grant presentation and ribbon-cutting at a new health facility in East Harlem recently. The event was in celebration of Housing Works’s new Community Health Center at 145 East 125 th Street in Manhattan.

The grant will support EngageWell IPA’s Care Your Way digital intervention, a model that delivers fresh, healthy food boxes, and prepared meals to the doorsteps of people experiencing food insecurity and other chronic conditions. 

“The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation works to promote health equity by

focusing on improving the wellbeing of New Yorkers with the greatest health-related social

needs through our community partnerships and collaborative programs,” said Dr. Lisa

Thompson, plan performance medical director at Anthem. “We at Anthem are thrilled that this innovative grant is being commemorated alongside the ribbon-cutting for Housing Works newest health center. The center will increase access to much-needed resources.” 

EngageWell’s Care Your Way program is an integrated model that provides clients a choice in how and where they receive care and treatment—either face-to-face or virtually. It addresses common socioeconomic barriers to positive health outcomes, such as food insecurity and medication adherence, which leads to higher patient satisfaction, improved engagement in preventive care and treatment, and reduced avoidable healthcare spending. Moreover, as food insecurity grows due to COVID-19, post-pandemic inflation, and rollbacks on emergency SNAP benefits, EngageWell is leveraging smartphone technology to modernize and destigmatize residents’ experience with an outdated food safety net system.

Housing Works’s new East Harlem Community Health Center will bring primary care, psychiatry, and psychotherapy services to the corner of 125 th Street and Lexington Avenue, for expanded access to compassionate care that addresses a number of chronic conditions and other needs in the community.

The post Housing Works receives $300,000 grant from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here