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More than 40 Baltimore organizations and small businesses call on Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine

THE AFRO — “Thousands of Baltimoreans have made phone calls and participated in protests against Israel’s genocide in Palestine, and still our elected officials ignore us” said Anna Evans-Goldstein, who helped coordinate the letter following a Jewish-led sit-in at the office of Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) that helped move the congressman to call for a ceasefire on November 8.
The post More than 40 Baltimore organizations and small businesses call on Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 years ago

December 6, 2023

AFRO Staff

By AFRO Staff

Baltimore, MD – On Dec. 5, more than 40 organizations and businesses representing more than 200,000 people in the Baltimore area sent a letter urging Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), and Rep. John Sarbanes (MD-03) to join a growing list of members of Congress calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine.

The letter’s signatories include leading civil rights, student, Jewish, veteran, faith, and street violence prevention organizations.

“Thousands of Baltimoreans have made phone calls and participated in protests against Israel’s genocide in Palestine, and still our elected officials ignore us” said Anna Evans-Goldstein, who helped coordinate the letter following a Jewish-led sit-in at the office of Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) that helped move the congressman to call for a ceasefire on November 8.

“In a time when Torah and Jewish values are being weaponized by many to call for greater violence, my Jewish community and so many Jewish Marylanders uplift that our tradition honors pikuach nefesh—saving a life, as a value that supersedes all else,” said Rabbi Ariana Katz, the founding rabbi of Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebl. “Immediate ceasefire is the only way to pikuach nefesh in the face of the heinous bombardment and invasion of Gaza.”

“The catastrophic carnage, death, and devastation in Gaza, funded by billions of U.S. tax dollars, is reminiscent of some of the darkest periods in human history,” said Zainab Chaudry, Maryland director for the Council on American–Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil liberties organization in the U.S. “We are urging members of congress to demonstrate moral courage in this critical moment and take immediate action to help save innocent lives by supporting an immediate, permanent ceasefire and the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid.”

“As an organization of over 100 public school students in Baltimore City, we stand unequivocally for peace and an end to our government’s complicity in Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of civilians and public infrastructure—including a number of schools—in Gaza,” said Ethan Eblaghie, a member of the Baltimore Student Union.

“We need a lasting ceasefire and a full hostage exchange as the first step towards a long-term political solution that ends occupation, apartheid, and siege and ensures equality, justice, and safety for all Palestinians and Israelis,” said Zackary Berger of IfNotNow Baltimore, a Jewish organization dedicated to ending the occupation of Palestine.

“Billions of dollars have been willingly provided to support Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza,” said Ashley Hufnagel, Executive Director of United Workers. “But when it came time to extend the pandemic era protections and benefits that cut child poverty in half, decreased hunger, and kept people on life-saving Medicaid, there was no money? For poor people in Palestine and poor people in America, the outcome is the same—death and misery.”

“As a citizen of the world, I understand that oppression, trauma, and misunderstandings that lead to violence painfully impact the whole of us—while peaceful, equitable, and humane problem-solving helps to heal the whole of us,” said Erricka Bridgeford, founder of Baltimore Peace Movement (formerly Baltimore Ceasefire), which works to end violence in the city. “Please honor our humanity by calling for a ceasefire between Israel and occupied Palestine.”

“More than 15,000 Palestinians, almost half of whom have been children, have been killed by the Israeli military since October 7,” said Ida K., a member of The Greater Baltimore Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. “We desperately urge our political representatives to sign on to official demands for a permanent ceasefire and put an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people. We will keep organizing until peace is achieved in occupied Palestine.”

Rep. Mfume remains the only Baltimore-area member of Congress to call for a ceasefire, despite polls showing 80% of registered Democrats and 66% of all voters supporting one. Complete List of Signers: Anti-Imperialist Action UMBC, Baltimore Abortion Fund, Baltimore City Green Party, Baltimore Palestine Solidarity, Baltimore Peace Movement, Baltimore Phil Berrigan Memorial Veterans For Peace, Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy, Baltimore Student Union, Baltimore Youth Arts, Black Theology Project, Bloom Collective, Community College of Baltimore County Muslim Student Association, Community Play Project, Council on American Islamic Relations Maryland, Fruit Camp Studios, Greater Baltimore Democratic Socialists of America, Greater Baltimore Residents for a Ceasefire, Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebl, IfNotNow Baltimore, Islamic Community Center of Laurel, Jewish Voice for Peace Baltimore, June and July Therapy, Malaya Movement Baltimore, Maryland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Mera Kitchen Collective, MICA Organizers & Activists, NLife, NoMuNoMu, Our Time Kitchen, Peace Action Baltimore, Peace Action Maryland, Present Company, Red Emma’s Cooperative, Students and Labor Against Police, Station North Tool Library, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Towson Freedom School, Tubman House, United Maryland Muslim Council, United Workers, Women Leading Baltimore.

The post More than 40 Baltimore organizations and small businesses call on Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers .

The post More than 40 Baltimore organizations and small businesses call on Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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#NNPA BlackPress

Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

2 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

5 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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PRESS ROOM: NBA Hall of Fame Nominee Terry Cummings Joins 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to Launch Victory & Values Initiative

NNPA NEWSWIRE — NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th.

Published

5 days ago

February 27, 2026

admin

Cummings becomes an honorary member, joining other role model sports stars

NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings has officially become an honorary member of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, marking a powerful new chapter for the 100 Black Men and youth development across the region.

Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th. The moment signified more than membership — it marked the launch of the organization’s transformative new platform, the Victory & Values Initiative.

The Victory & Values Initiative is a groundbreaking youth development program designed to empower elementary and middle school students through a dynamic blend of sports, mentorship, and STEM exposure. The initiative focuses on building health, discipline, character, leadership, and access to opportunity — creating pathways for long-term academic and personal success.

“This is about more than sports,” said Cummings during the ceremony. “It’s about using the platform of athletics to teach life lessons, create access, and build the next generation of leaders.”

The induction ceremony also featured notable guests including NASCAR’s newest Star Driver, Lavar Scott and NASCAR Director of Athletic Performance, Phil Horton, who joined Cummings for a powerful Victory & Values Town Hall discussion. The Town Hall was moderated by renowned Sports Emcee John Hollins and focused on leadership, resilience, discipline, and the importance of mentorship in shaping young lives.

A “Day at NASCAR” for 75+ Youth

Cummings wasted no time getting to work. On his first full day as an honorary member, he joined his new brothers of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to host a “Day at NASCAR,” escorting more than 75 youth to a once-in-a-lifetime experience at EchoPark Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).

The youth participants received behind-the-scenes access including: an exclusive tour of Pit Row, access to the Garage Area and exploration of the interactive Fan Zone.

The experience culminated with a surprise meet-and-greet and Q&A session with NASCAR Superstar Bubba Wallace, who shared insights on perseverance, preparation, and breaking barriers in professional sports.

The day served as a living example of the ‘Victory & Values’ Initiative in action — exposing youth to new industries, expanding their vision for the future, and connecting them directly with high- level mentors and role models.

Building Leaders Through Access and Mentorship

The 100 Black Men of DeKalb County – a chapter of the largest, national mentoring organization in the county – continues to expand its footprint with programs focused on academic excellence, economic empowerment, leadership development, and health & wellness.

The launch of ‘Victory & Values’ represents a strategic expansion of the organization’s impact

intentionally integrating athletics and STEM to engage youth at an early age while reinforcing core principles such as integrity, accountability, teamwork, and perseverance.

“Our mission has always been to mentor the next generation,” said Vaughn Irons, President-Elect of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. “With Terry Cummings joining the brotherhood, along with partners in NASCAR and professional sports, we are creating unprecedented access and exposure for our youth. Victory & Values is about turning inspiration into structured opportunity.”

By connecting elementary and middle school students to professional athletes, executives, STEM professionals, and community leaders, the initiative aims to:

Increase youth exposure to careers in sports business, engineering, and performance science
Strengthen mentorship pipelines
Promote physical wellness and mental resilience
Build character-driven leadership at an early age

Open Invitation to Youth and Families

All youth are invited to participate in the Victory & Values Initiative, along with the other countless, impactful programs offered by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.

Parents and guardians seeking mentorship, leadership development, academic enrichment, and transformative exposure opportunities for their children are encouraged to connect with the organization.

As NBA Legend Terry Cummings’ induction demonstrates, Victory & Values is more than a program — it is a movement designed to build champions in life, not just in sports.

For more information about the Victory & Values Initiative or to enroll a student, contact: 100 Black Men of DeKalb County at Phone at 404.241.1338, info@100bmod.org or Tee Foxx at 404.791.6525,