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Good Park, Des Moines Driving by Good Park on 17th and University on the west side of Des Moines, always brings back beautiful memories of summers I spent there. “The Park” as we called it back in the day, was always full of black folks. On any given day “the Park” displayed various celebrations […]
Reflection on the Past Black History Month always motivates me to think about my youth. As a very young child, my parents would always find a babysitter for me so that they could attend a show on any given evening, on Center Street. Beginnings of Center Street Started in the early 1900’s by the Negro […]
Black History Month Speech for the Iowa House of Representatives It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in the fall of 1955 when my mother, my aunt, and I returned home from church. As I ran upstairs to change my clothes, my mother yelled at me, saying that I should keep on my good clothes. That we […]
Iowa’s Legislative Black Caucus On January 27th, the five Democratic Legislators elected me as the Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. I am anxious to take the lead on this very important and much needed initiative. Founding the Black Caucus Representative Ako Abdul-Samad first introduced the idea of forming a Black caucus to me in […]
Celebrating Black History Month in 2022 February is Black History Month in the United States, and it is a time to celebrate the triumphs, history, and perseverance of the Black community. However, Black History Month hasn’t always been a nationally recognized, month-long designation. In the 96 years since its inception, the movement has seen several […]
I am an African-American in the Iowa State Legislature. I have lived in this state all my life. I am so proud of Iowa’s record of laws and court decisions that have established precedents that expanded civil right and equality for my race before they were adopted on the national level. First, we have the […]
As an Iowa Legislator, there are many bills that I would like to work on. One piece of legislation that has my attention and support is marijuana reform. Many states have passed some form of medical marijuana program, and 18 states have comprehensive adopted medical and adult marijuana programs. A comprehensive program is considered to be […]
The racist threats made against Rep. Wilburn have no place in our state, and must be addressed seriously. In order to fully address the threats made, we have to examine the culture in which they occurred, and the politicians who use bigoted, dog whistle politics to further their partisan agenda. Unfortunately, the statements made by […]
History is written by the victors, and education about that history is usually determined that way, too. And the truth comes out when that power is challenged. In 2020, Nikole Hannah-Jones, an Iowa native and reporter for New York Times Magazine, won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her introductory essay for the 1619 Project, […]
The Iowa Legislative Black Caucus, led by Rep. Ras Smith, has issued a response to Gov. Kim Reynolds, calling on her to put forward anti-racial profiling legislation, and to veto legislation that has been stripped of that language that she’s currently considering. Smith started the conference with this statement: “The path to racial equality is […]