Democrats
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Source: CECILIA SANCHEZ / Getty
The Democratic Party saw some huge wins nationally on election night, with Black candidates including Yusef Salaam factoring in as part of the success.
Defying predictions from various pundits, voters around the country turned out to choose Democratic candidates and policies in major battleground states on Tuesday(November 7), turning back Republican efforts in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia. In three of those races, Black candidates stood out, making significant history with their wins.
In New York City, Dr. Yusef Salaam was elected to the City Council, representing a district in upper Harlem after winning his primary election in a landslide and running unopposed on election night. A member of the Exonerated “Central Park” Five, Salaam along with four other Black and Latino teens were charged and wrongly convicted of beating and raping a white jogger in 1989. The Democratic politician spoke about how the experience of serving 7 years before his conviction was thrown out in 2002 “guides me and informs me and allows me to be a humble servant for the people.”
Another historic victory featuring a Black candidate came to fruition in Philadelphia as Democrat Cherelle Parker became the city’s first-ever woman mayor, soundly defeating Republican challenger David Oh. Parker’s win continues the streak of Democratic leadership in the city in the position since 1952 as she becomes its 100th mayor. The former Philadelphia City Council member ran on a platform of reinforcing public safety. “I’m uniquely prepared to make the city the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all,” she said during her campaign.
In another landmark moment, Gabriel Amo won his special election to become the first Black person to represent the state of Rhode Island in Congress. His robust victory over Republican Gerry Leonard earned him the seat vacated by former Representative David Cicciline. The son of Ghanaian immigrants, Amo previously served as deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Biden and Obama presidential administrations. He recognized the impact of his win in speaking to the press afterward. “I certainly believe I am part of a generational shift that has been underway before me,” Amo said.
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In a shocking display, the Republican-led House in Tennessee’s state legislature voted to expel two Black Democrat lawmakers over their support of gun control reform.
On Thursday (April 6th), the House chamber led by members of the Republican Party voted 72-25 to expel Rep. Justin Jones, who represents a district in Nashville. They went on to vote 69-26 to oust Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis. Their effort to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson failed by a single vote with the count being 65 – 30. When questioned by the press about the differences in the voting outcomes between her and Pearson and Jones, she replied: “I’ll answer your question; it might have to do with the color of our skin.”
Pearson told reporters before taking the floor for the vote: “This is a first in American history. And we are losing our democracy to white supremacy. We are losing our democracy to patriarchy.” He and Jones would lambast the GOP membership in their remarks before the vote. “The world is watching Tennessee,” Jones said. “What is happening here today is a farce of democracy.” He would go on to call the Republican members a “lynch mob” and point out their hypocrisy. ‘For years, one of your colleagues, an admitted child molester, sat in this chamber – no expulsion’, he said in his speech that has gone viral.
The three lawmakers were singled out for their participation in a protest led by students and parents at the state capitol a week earlier, days after a horrific school shooting in Nashville that claimed the lives of six people including three 9-year-olds. Jones, Pearson, and Johnson used megaphones to lead the chants of protesters that called out GOP lawmakers for obstructing efforts to reform gun control laws.
The resolutions to expel “The Tennessee Three” were practically identical, and claimed their protests “reflects adversely upon the integrity and dignity” of the House. Biographical information for Jones and Pearson was wiped from the legislative body’s website and both seats were listed as vacant. The expulsion votes have only occurred three times in Tennessee House history according to a report – for contempt, bribery, and sexual misconduct. Despite the alarming situation, there is hope – the empty roles would normally be filled by special election, and Pearson and Jones can run again in their districts and be appointed to fill the slots. If both regain their seats, state law prevents them from being expelled for the same offense.
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Source: Pacific Press / Getty / Mayor Eric Adams
NYC’s Mixxy Mayor, Eric Adams, is again picking a fight with “Woke” Democrats.
Adams double-downed on his initial remarks while directing criticism toward the New York City Council members. Following President Biden’s State of The Union address to the nation, Adams appeared on Morning Joe on Wednesday morning.
The Mayor, who doesn’t miss an event in NYC, was at SOTU as a guest of Representative Adriano Espaillat and was asked about the so-called disconnect between working-class voters and the Democratic Party.
Adams, a former registered Republican for several years, claims “a hemorrhaging of our Latino community, our AAPI communities that’s leaving the traditional Democratic base,” is happening because of “woke” policies.
The New York Mayor claims the “woke” Dems are “the loudest and those who consider themselves to be ‘woke,” and blames them for the trend.
Adams says the Democrats “have to speak at those issues that are important: jobs, public safety, educating our children, good health care. Just these common kitchen-table issues that we moved away from.”
“We’re Not For Defunding The Police”
He followed that up with an interview with CNN This Morning on Thursday, telling Don Lemon that a “small number” of the “loudest” Democrats have “hijacked the true meaning of the Democratic Party.”
“We’re not for defunding the police.” He points out. “We’re not for attacking businesses.”
He continues, “We’re for jobs. We’re for growth.”
The NYC Mayor also spoke on an ongoing matter with the City Council. Per the New York Post, the council’s Progressive Caucus asked members to sign onto a two-page “Statement of Principles.”
It read: “We will do everything we can to reduce the size and scope of the NYPD and the Department of Correction, and prioritize and fund alternative safety infrastructure that truly invests in our communities.”
According to the Gothamist’s reporting, nine caucus members left following the statement’s release.
“They’re calling for removing members of their own caucus if they don’t sign a pledge to defund the police,” Adams claims. “That is not who we are as Democrats.
The Progressive Caucus defended its policy, stating:
“Unlike the mayor, we want guidance counselors supporting our students with mental health crises instead of cops; we want social workers to get homeless New Yorkers the support they need instead of the NYPD. The mayor is cutting essential services that working New Yorkers rely on the most, and we think that approach threatens the safety of our communities,” said Progressive Caucus co-chairs Shahana Hanif and Lincoln Restler and vice-chairs Carmen De La Rosa and Jennifer Gutieěrrez.”
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Photo: Pacific Press / Getty
There’s some good news for the music business in Washington DC: House Democrats seem to have found their next caucus chair in Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a champion of music creators who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for New York’s 8th congressional district. Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, co-sponsored the Music Modernization Act, the most important copyright law passed in decades, as well as the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020, a.k.a. the CASE Act. He’s also known as a big hip-hop fan, who once gave The Notorious B.I.G. a shout-out from the House floor on the 20th anniversary of his death.
A formal vote has not yet been taken. But the party seems to be coalescing around Jeffries, who was endorsed as a successor by outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). If chosen, Jeffries would become the first Black leader of a Congressional caucus, as well as the presumptive Speaker if the Democrats were to win back the House majority. And although it’s hard to say if serious copyright legislation will come in front of Congress, having a supporter of creators and copyright in such an important role could only help rightsholders.
“Mr. Jeffries has been a steadfast supporter of songwriters, and as an original cosponsor of both the Songwriter Equity Act and the Music Modernization Act, he has fought for fairness for creators throughout his career,” said NMPA president and CEO David Israelite. “His leadership in this powerful role will bode well for the future of songwriters.”
Jeffries was honored by the RIAA in September, along with hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash and MC Lyte. (Billboard sponsored this event.)
“It’s hard to think of two potential leaders with more experience working in the trenches of music policy and shaping bipartisan consensus for the digital streaming era than Kevin McCarthy and Hakeem Jeffries,” said Mitch Glazier, chairman and CEO of the RIAA. “A House led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries would feature a dynamic duo for the music community.”
Before entering politics in 2007, Jeffries worked as a lawyer, first in New York for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison – where he worked down the hall from NMPA general counsel Danielle Aguirre – then for Viacom. At Paul Weiss, he worked on some copyright cases, and he represented Lauryn Hill in a case brought by some of her collaborators. “He has a deep understanding of copyright law,” Israelite said. “He may know the subject better than anyone else in Congress.”
Jeffries may also be one of the bigger music fans in Congress. Besides giving Biggie a shoutout, he’s written about his favorite female rappers, and hosted an annual “Hip-Hop on the Hill” political fundraiser. “Watching hip-hop develop — with Grandmaster Flash, and then Run-DMC, and then the artists of the ‘80s and ‘90s — has been a fantastic journey,” he told Billboard in a 2018 interview about his history as a fan of the genre. “What’s been most compelling to me is how hip-hop has been a vehicle to tell the story of urban America and black America in such an artistic, poetic, and authentic fashion.”
Jeffries is involved with a number of issues, of course. He advocates police reform, and he co-sponsored the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, a.k.a. the First Step Act, which reformed prison and sentencing laws. He voted to impeach Pres. Donald Trump, but he’s also known for working well with Republicans, including former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), with whom he co-sponsored the Music Modernization Act, as well as the First Step Act. (The two also put together a summer playlist.) Jeffries has also been a leading Democratic fund-raiser.
Some of this has put Jeffries at odds with some of his more radical colleagues, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Jeffries is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but his politics are more centrist, as well as more pragmatic. His ability to compromise could be important, since he will have to work with both the Republican House majority as well as the progressive members of his own party. He recently told CNN that “while we can have some noisy conversations at times about how we can make progress for the American people, what we have seen is that under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, we have constantly been able to come together.”
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