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On this day in 1976

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On this day in 1976

JULY 12, 1976

U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan on House Judiciary Committee during Watergate hearings. Credit: Wikipedia

U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan, who first came to the forefront in the Watergate hearings, became the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention.

In high school, she heard a career day speech by Edith Sampson, a black lawyer. Sampson’s words inspired her to become an attorney, and she attended Texas Southern , a black college hastily created by the Texas to avoid having to integrate the University of Texas. While there, she became part of the debate team, which famously tied Harvard University debaters.

After graduating magna cum laude in 1956, she was accepted at Boston University’s law school. After graduating, she returned to Houston to open a law office in the Fifth Ward. In 1972, she became the first black woman from the South to be elected to . Four years later, she told those at the Democratic National Convention, “We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community. We are a people not only to solve the problems of the present, unemployment, , but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal. …

“Many fear the future. Many are distrustful of their leaders and believe that their voices are never heard. Many seek only to satisfy their private work — wants; to satisfy their private interests. But this is the great danger America faces — that we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: against suburb, region against region, individual against individual; each seeking to satisfy private wants. If that happens, who then will speak for America? Who then will speak for the common good? …

“We cannot improve on the system of handed down to us by the of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny.”

Her own destiny had been impacted a few years earlier when she was diagnosed with the debilitating disease of multiple sclerosis. In 1979, she stepped away from and began teaching at the University of Texas. She delivered the keynote address again in 1992, this time from a wheelchair. Not long after, she received the Presidential Medal of , and in 1996, she died of pneumonia and leukemia. The University of Texas and Austin airport have both honored her with statues.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1750

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-11-04 07:00:00

Nov. 4, 1750

A painting of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable by Blackshear II. Credit: National Postal

Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the “Father of Chicago,” was born. 

A man of African descent, he became the first known settler in the area that became the of Chicago. He married a Potawatomi woman, Kitiwaha (Catherine), and they had two

According to , the property included a log cabin with two barns, a horse-drawn mill, a bakehouse, a poultry house, a dairy, a smokehouse, a fenced garden and an orchard. At his trading post, DuSable served Native Americans, British and French explorers and spoke a number of languages. 

“He was actually by the British for being thought of as an American Patriot sympathizer,” Julius Jones, curator at the Chicago History Museum told WLS, but DuSable beat those charges. 

In Chicago , a school, street, museum, harbor, park and bridge bear his name. The place where he settled near the mouth of the Chicago is now a National Historic Landmark, part of the city’s Pioneer Court.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Podcast: Mississippi’s top election official discusses Tuesday’s election

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mississippitoday.org – Geoff Pender, Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance – 2024-11-04 06:30:00

Secretary of Michael Watson talks with Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender, Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance ahead of Tuesday’s election. He urges voters to remember sacrifices many have made to protect Americans’ rights and get to the polls, and he weighs in on whether a recent court ruling on absentee vote counting will impact this year’s elections.

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Insurance chief willing to sue feds if Gov. Reeves doesn’t support state health exchange 

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mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2024-11-04 04:00:00

Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney is willing to sue the federal Centers for Medicare and Services if it does not allow Mississippi to create a state-based insurance exchange because of Republican Gov. Tate Reeves’ potential opposition.

Federal , who must approve of a state implementing its own health insurance exchange, want a letter of approval from a state’s governor before they allow a state to implement the program, according to Chaney.  

“I don’t know what the governor’s going to do,” Chaney told Mississippi . “I think he’ll probably wait until after the election to make a . But I’m willing to sue CMS if that’s what it takes.” 

The five-term commissioner, a Republican, said his requests to Reeves, also a Republican, to discuss the policy have gone unanswered. The governor’s office did not respond to a request to comment on this story. 

Earlier this year, the passed a law authorizing Chaney’s agency to create a Mississippi-based exchange to replace the federal exchange that currently is used by to obtain health insurance. The bill became law without the governor’s signature.

States that operate their own exchanges can typically attract more companies to write health insurance policies and offer people policies at lower costs, and it would likely save the state millions of dollars in payments to the federal .

Chaney also said he’s been consulting with former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, who also supported some version of a state-based exchange while in office, about implementing a state-based program. 

Currently, 21 states plus the District of Columbia have state-based exchanges, though three still operate from the federal platform. Should he follow through and sue the federal government, Chaney said he would use outside counsel and several other states told him they would join the .

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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