The Congressional Black Caucus unveiled its “Day One” priorities for the next session of Congress in 2025 at a press conference this week, discussing top issues impacting Black communities, including protecting voting rights, diversity, equity and inclusion, and reproductive freedoms.
TheGrio’s D.C. Bureau Chief and senior White House correspondent, April D. Ryan, on Wednesday moderated the “CBC Black Media Salon” with CBC Chairman U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md.
The event was held at the Washington, D.C., office of the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way. Black reporters from various outlets attended to hear from CBC leaders about what’s next for their policy agenda.
“The issues of Black America are very important,” Ryan, the longest-serving Black female White House reporter in U.S. history, told theGrio. “We’re watching our laws be eroded. We’re watching a time now called the post-affirmative action era.”
Ryan added, “It was important for people, including me, to hear what they had to say.”
During the panel, CBC members discussed how they plan to advocate for reproductive rights, combat efforts to defund Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), lower the cost of housing, protect voting rights, reform the U.S. Supreme Court, and ensure diversity, inclusion, and equity are upheld in the workplace.
“There are forces working to take away the very tools of economic opportunity and freedoms that we have fought so hard to advance,” said CBC Chairman Horsford. “We are going to hold everyone accountable. We don’t have permanent friends or permanent enemies. We have permanent interests.”
Earlier this month, House Democrats held their annual retreat. They told reporters that their motto for 2024 is “Finish the Job,” as they attempt to win back the House majority in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
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