Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 1-20-17 Edition

White House News
Inauguration Boycott Grows As Trump Prepares To Become Nation’s 45th President
More than 30 members of Congress are boycotting Donald Trump’s inaugura- tion on Friday (today), amid escalating outrage over al- leged connections between the president-elect’s team and Russia and disparaging remarks about civil rights veteran John Lewis.
As the U.S. marked its na- tional holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, the number of Democrats pledging to shun Friday’s ceremony and cele- brations rose.
Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress and a candidate for chair of the Democratic National Committee, joined them. Their extraordinary step was praised by progressive lead- ers.
A little before 1p.m., Mon- day, however, Martin Luther King, III, the oldest child of Martin Luther King, Jr., arrived at Trump Tower in New York to meet the president-elect.
Around 50 minutes later,
As the nation celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and legacy, his son, Martin, III was meeting with president-elect, Donald Trump.
King emerged from the building’s elevators and spoke to reporters. Asked why he had met Trump, who did not talk to the press, but was seen shaking his guest’s hand, he said it was a constructive meeting and added: “We have got to move forward.”
King and William Wachtel, a New York lawyer, said they spoke to Trump about voter partici- pation and how to carry for- ward King’s father’s legacy by making it “easier for
everyone to vote”. “President-elect Trump
has committed to working with us,” Wachtel said.
In 2013, a supreme court decision struck down key ele- ments of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a central achieve- ment of the civil rights move- ment designed to protect minority voters.
“This president may well” be in adherence with the spirit of the Voting Rights Act “and once again make it easy for all Americans to vote”, Wachtel said.
President Obama’s Last News Conference:
‘I Will Be Back Into Fray’
WASHINGTON — When President Obama arrived in office eight years ago, the departing President George W. Bush essentially with- drew from public life, declar- ing that his successor “deserves my silence.” It was an approach that Mr. Obama greatly appreciated but did not follow.
At the final news conference of his presidency, Mr. Obama made clear on Wednesday that he finds some ideas advanced by Pres- ident-elect Donald J. Trump so alarming that he laid out markers that would draw him back into the fray.
“There’s a difference be- tween that normal function- ing of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake,” Mr. Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room.
Mr. Obama continued: “I put in that category if I saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fash- ion. I put in that category ex- plicit or functional obstacles
President Obama gave his final news conference as POTUS on Wednesday. Donald Trump will be sworn into of- fice today. (Friday)
to people being able to vote, to exercise their franchise. I’d put in that category institu- tional efforts to silence dis- sent or the press. And for me at least, I would put in that category efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and for all practical purposes are American kids, and send them someplace else, when they love this country.”
Over $600,000 Raised To Send Talladega College’s Band To Inauguration Parade
More than $1 million has been raised on GoFundMe by groups and individuals plan- ning to attend Friday's inau- guration of President-Elect Donald Trump, and Tal- ladega College's Marching Tornado Band has raised the majority of that.
GoFundMe announced that 85 campaigns have been formed on the fundraising site to raise inaugural travel funds.
Talladega College opened its page on Jan. 3. As of Tues- day night, the page had raised more than $607,000 - far above the original $75,000 goal. The money comes from almost 10,500 donations.
More than $300,000 in do- nations poured in last Friday, after Talladega College Presi- dent Billy Hawkins ap- peared on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Thursday night.
Approximately 3 million viewers tune into O'Reilly
Talladega College’s band was cheered as they left for Washing- ton, D.C. to participate in the inauguration parade.
each night. In a Friday news conference, Hawkins called the response "probably the single-greatest fundraising effort" for the school.
Hawkins said the band could use new uniforms, there's the possibility of scholarships and other uses for the money around cam- pus. In a few weeks, the Tal- ladega College administration expects to break ground on a new dor- mitory, a new student center and announce plans for a
museum for the school's his- toric Amistad murals.
About 225 members of the band are expected to take part in the trip. The band ap- plied to participate in the pa- rade before the election, but took heat on social media by some, including alumni, who said performing would be tantamount to an endorse- ment of Trump. Hawkins said he and his family have received death threats as a re- sult of making the decision to allow the band trip.
President Obama Sends $500M To Green Climate Fund After Trump Threatens To Cut Funding
Three days before leaving the White House, President Barack Obama sent a $500 million check Tuesday to the Green Climate Fund, an inter- national organization designed to help poor countries adopt clean energy technologies.
The check was the second payment from the Obama ad- ministration, marking a total of $1 billion in contributions to help developing nations cope with the threat of climate change, the State Department said in a statement.
The Green Climate Fund is a part of the $3 billion pledge made by President Obama
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA back in 2014, which helped
bring together pieces of last year’s Paris Climate Change act. It's projected to reach $200 billion by 2020 thanks to public and private donations.
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