This month is not only a celebration of Black artists whose musical expressions “paved the way for generations of musicians across all races, creeds, colors, religions, sexual orientations, and identities,” but also an opportunity to recognize and continue “eliminating barriers that Black creatives face in producing and maintaining ownership of their music and other creations.” “Our Administration will not stand by when confronted with any effort that keeps Americans from voting.”īlack Music Appreciation Month: President Biden honors the influence of Black music and culture on the ‘American songbook’ by proclaiming June 2021 as Black Music Appreciation Month. And we will also work with members of Congress to help advance these bills,” she said. VP Harris to lead voting rights work: As voting rights are under attack in Georgia, Texas, and several other states, Vice President Kamala Harris was tapped to lead the White House’s effort to protect voting rights: “In the days and weeks ahead, I will engage the American people, and I will work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector to help strengthen and uplift efforts on voting rights nationwide.
Update on infrastructure plan: President Biden met with Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) amid “bipartisan negotiations with Republicans on a potential infrastructure deal.” Racial equity in the budget: In a press call, Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Shalanda Young told reporters that while racial equity isn’t a “line item” in President Biden’s budget for Fiscal Year 2022, it’s “built in” and they’ve “given clear direction to our agencies that they are to use that lens as they implement these programs.” She also noted that agencies “should be looking at racial equity with everything that they do” and “this is something that should be pervasive in how the government does its business.” See additional coverage of the call by The New York Times.
Read the full fact sheet on President Biden’s racial equity plan here. While victims of the 1921 attack have not received reparations, at the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial, President Biden revealed his plan for racial equity, which includes taking “action to address racial discrimination in the housing market, including by launching a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to address inequity in home appraisals, and conducting rulemaking to aggressively combat housing discrimination,” using “the federal government’s purchasing power to grow federal contracting with small disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent,” and creating “jobs and build wealth in communities of color” through the American Jobs Plan. As a result of the violent act, African Americans suffered a massive financial setback of $1.8 million in property loss claims, or $27 million in 2020.
We will resume our more robust roundup next week.Īmerica’s atonement: On Tuesday-the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre-President Joe Biden became the first sitting president to visit Tusla, Oklahoma, and address the racially motivated mass killings of many African Americans and the destruction of the thriving community known as Greenwood or Black Wall Street. Due to this week’s holiday, the Joint Center is releasing an abbreviated roundup.