Progressive Groups Call On Black Lawmakers To Overhaul Political Action Committee

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WASHINGTON — A coalition of progressive groups is asking the Congressional Black Caucus to overhaul the way its political arm operates, according to an open letter shared with BuzzFeed News.

“The members of the Congressional Black Caucus need to stand up to the corporate lobbyists that currently make up the majority of the Political Action Committee’s board,” the open letter reads. “Between donors and board members, the committee is under the influence of some of the companies and industries with the worst track records of abuse and exploitation of Black people.”

The letter’s signees include Color of Change, Black Lives Matter, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and Million Hoodies for Justice.

The letter takes issue with the PAC’s corporate board, and its ties to private prisons and big tobacco lobbies. Before the South Carolina primary, the CBC PAC endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, following the endorsements of many individual CBC members over the past year.

Rashad Robinson, Color of Change’s Executive director called the political action committee’s relationship to corporations “a danger to Black communities when it allows lobbyists from dangerous industries like private prisons and Big Tobacco to make decisions about who represents black people.”

Alicia Garza, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter, said, "It’s time for the CBC to put the power in the hands of black people, their constituents, the ones who bankroll their paychecks. It’s time for them to stop playing politics and start doing their jobs."

"Our communities depend on leaders in Washington that will protect them against corporate entities such as private prisons, detention centers, and others that harm and exploit us,” Opal Tometi, the executive director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration said.

Dante Barry of Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, said the CBC PAC “aligns itself with private prisons, big tobacco, and anti-worker companies that don't work to ensure that Black lives matter.”

In February, Color of Change slammed the PAC for its non-endorsement of Donna Edwards in the Maryland Senate race.

Source BuzzFeed - Politics http://ift.tt/1qCw0vq