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Mourners Attend Wake And Funeral For Sandra Bland In Illinois

Source: Jonathan Gibby / Getty

2016 is already shaping up to be a major #BlackGirlMagic year and we’re not even four months in!

Thanks to the tenacious work from U.S. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) and Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), there is finally a Congressional Caucus for Black Women and Girls.

This will be the first out of 430 registered caucuses that will focus solely on the issues that many African-American women face, the Huffington Post reported.

In a press release, Rep. Kelly said that Black women and girls are disproportionately affected by numerous “socioeconomic issues that diminish their quality of life and threaten the well-being of their families and communities.”

The Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls gives black women a seat at the table for the crucial discussion on the policies that impact them while also providing a framework for creating opportunities and eliminating barriers to success for black women,” she said. 

Rep. Clarke. added that even though these disparities are well-known, millions of African-American women and girls are still often left out of ” the national dialogue.”

“This caucus will be purposed to ensure that the infrastructure of inclusion fully incorporates the varied and unique needs of Black women.  Our experiences must and will inform the direction we take as a nation and we can no longer afford to be excluded from important conversations.  I am proud to stand with my colleagues at the inception of this caucus to be a vehicle for change and look forward to the great work that we will do,” she emphasized.

Being left out of that national dialogue can also be referred to President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative, which this caucus hopes to achieve the same type of success for women and girls that  POTUS’ program has done for Black men and boys.

This Caucus was also brought into fruition thanks to the #SheWoke Committee, which “is a seven-member group of women leaders who petitioned Congress to create spaces to prioritize black women and girls,” NYMag.com noted.

Sandra Bland’s sister, Sharon Cooper, is also a member of the group said that this caucus is for all of us, living and gone too soon. “We lift up all the Black women and girls who have lost their lives without press coverage, all the Black women and girls who are fighting for our collective liberation, and the Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls, who responded in the way all elected officials should: with urgency,” she stressed.

Well said.

RELATED LINKS: 

Welp: Texas Dept Of Safety Admits Trooper Brian Encinia Botched Sandra Bland’s Traffic Stop

What Black Women Living With HIV Want You To Know

Black Girl Magic: 9-Year-Old Brooklyn Girl Becomes Youngest Published Author In History

Yaaaaas! There’s Finally A Congressional Caucus For Black Women And Girls  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com

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