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Virginia Democrats Enter the War on Maps After GOP Moves to Kill Black Political Power

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — “Democrats are going to take back control of the United States House of Representatives. It’s the reason why we see Republicans in full-blown panic right now,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 22.

Published

4 months ago

October 24, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

“Democrats are going to take back control of the United States House of Representatives. It’s the reason why we see Republicans in full-blown panic right now,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 22. Democrats have been strategizing on redistricting strategy with leaders in Democratic states since Republicans in Texas. “We’ve never seen this level of extraordinary gerrymandering attempts take place across the country. Why do you think it’s happening? It’s happening because the Republican ship is sinking. It’s sinking right now because they failed to deliver anything for the American people. Just pay attention to what’s going to happen two weeks from now in Virginia,” Leader Jeffries asserted. With the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will destroy Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, events are moving quickly, and now Democrats in Virginia are set to enter the war on maps and redistricting. In August, Republicans in Texas, led by Donald Trump, changed their maps to target congressional seats held by Black Democrats.

In mid-2025, Trump publicly urged Texas Republicans to focus on a rare mid-decade redistricting of congressional maps. “We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas,” Trump told CNBC’s Squawk Box on August 5. Democrats in Illinois, California, Maryland, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Virginia have been in discussions on possible districting to counter Trump-led Republican moves to eliminate congressional seats. Trump’s directive to Republicans in Texas quickly turned into a decision by the Texas GOP to change the congressional maps in a way that would make it much harder for three Black members of Congress to win. They include the congressional seats now held by Reps. Al Green (D-TX-9), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30), and Marc Veasey (D-TX-33). On top of the Republican attempts to control the 2026 elections by eliminating the seats of Black members of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, controlled by Republican nominees, is set to destroy Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is one of the most powerful protections against racial discrimination in voting. Section 2 prohibits any voting practice or policy that results in the dilution of voting power based on race. Unlike other parts of the law, Section 2 applies nationwide and allows individuals and groups to challenge maps that decrease Black voting power and election rules in court. It has been crucial in ensuring fair representation for Black, Latino, and other minority voters—especially since the Supreme Court weakened Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was designed to prevent racial discrimination before it happened by requiring certain states and localities—mostly in the South with histories of voter suppression—to get federal approval, or “preclearance,” before changing any voting laws or practices. This safeguard ensured that new election rules, district maps, or voting procedures did not weaken minority voting power. But in 2013, the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision ended Section 5’s enforcement by striking down the formula for preclearance, which led to many Black communities becoming once again vulnerable to discriminatory voting practices.

In the 2013 ruling striking Section 5, Republican appointed U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts argued that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was no longer necessary because the conditions that once justified it—widespread, state-sponsored racial discrimination in voting—had largely disappeared. Roberts maintained that America had changed and no longer needed extraordinary federal intervention in election laws. But actions in Republican controlled southern states proved that Roberts’ argument against Section 5 was wrong.

In North Carolina, in August 2013, the legislature passed House Bill 589, which reduced early voting, eliminated same-day registration, banned out-of-precinct voting, and imposed a strict photo ID requirement. The changes specifically impacted voting rules that Black voters were utilizing. In Alabama, a new photo‐ID law was implemented in 2014 that significantly restricted the types of identification accepted (eliminating options like Social Security cards, birth certificates, EBT cards), soon after the Shelby decision. In Texas, officials immediately moved to enforce a strict voter‐ID law the day of the Shelby decision, which had previously been blocked under pre‐clearance. In Georgia, the passage of the Election Integrity Act of 2021 (also known as Senate Bill 202) imposed limits on absentee ballot drop-boxes, changed the timeframe for requesting absentee ballots, increased legislative control over election administration, and made it a crime for third parties to provide food or water to voters waiting in line.

Additionally, in multiple former Section 5 jurisdictions, there were hundreds of polling-place closures after Shelby — for example, one report found 1,688 polling-place closures between 2012 and 2018 in formerly covered areas. But now Democrats appear to be prepared to bring the same energy to the war on maps as Republicans have for years.

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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

3 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

6 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

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

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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,