In the News
When Michael Stern was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago he was shocked. He'd had no idea a disease was attacking him from the inside. Multiple surgeries later, Stern, an Aventura, Florida Commissioner, began to realize how lack of access and information contributes to the health disparities among different ethnicities in the United States. Now, he advocates for others by raising awareness.
Gun violence, diabetes, colon cancer, hypertension, mental illness, and lack of access to healthcare. Those are some of the challenges Black men and boys face in the United States, according to U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson.
The Democrat from Miami-Dade County, who is the chairwoman of the Caucus on the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, hosted a briefing Thursday alongside representatives from the Howard University College of Medicine. The doctors and politicians highlighted the importance of knowing one's family history to prevent health issues.
Florida's members of the Congressional Black Caucus are putting the Florida Department of Education on blast for its new African American history standards, which among other things require students to learn how slavery was beneficial to Black people.
They're calling for an immediate reversal of the Board of Education's decision to adopt the lesson guidelines and excise the "racist tropes" and "lies" it would perpetuate.
Markenzy Lapointe was confirmed by the United States Senate Tuesday night as the U.S. attorney for South Florida, making him the first Haitian American lawyer to serve in the region's most powerful federal law enforcement position. Lapointe, a former U.S. Marine and ex-federal prosecutor who was raised in Haiti and Miami, was nominated in September by President Joe Biden to fill the position, which is responsible for directing about 250 prosecutors in a district extending from Key West to Fort Pierce.
Haitians crossing the southern border of the United States without proper documentation are being subjected to arbitrary detention and discriminatory and humiliating ill treatment that amounts to race-based torture, Amnesty International says in a new report marking the first anniversary of the migration crisis at the U.S.
The group of U.S. House Democrats asking the chamber's leaders not to include environmental permitting changes in a stopgap spending deal this month comprises 76 members, including senior leaders of budget and spending committees and factions across the caucus' ideological spectrum.
The 76 signers on a letter sent late last week make up a third of the House Democratic caucus, which currently stands at 219.
Florida Daily Article
At the end of last week, the Florida congressional delegation, led by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Fla., called on U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai "to initiate a Section 301 investigation of fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico, and to secure trade relief for Florida growers."
Miami attorney Markenzy Lapointe, a former U.S. Marine and federal prosecutor who was raised in Haiti and Liberty City, was nominated Thursday by President Joe Biden to become the next U.S. attorney in South Florida.
If confirmed by the Senate, Lapointe, 54, would become the first Black lawyer to serve in the most powerful federal law enforcement position in South Florida.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., introduced the "Lowering Obstacles to Achievement Now (LOAN) Act."
Mary McLeod Bethune on Wednesday became the first Black American to be represented with a state statue in National Statuary Hall, a central room of the United States Capitol, honored for her work championing education and civil rights.