Thanks to all the attendees at the 2013 African American Legislative Summit

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The Texas Legislative Black Caucus truly appreciates all of the great people in attendance at the 2013 African American Legislative Summit. As native Texans and new friends from South Africa gathered for an amazing time, over 3,000 attendees were present during the 2013 African American Legislative Summit. From highly acclaimed international guests, rising young leaders from across the United States, and world-class comedians and performers; the Summit was a sight no one wanted to miss! Most importantly, none of this was possible without all of the wonderful people in attendance and for that the Texas Legislative Black Caucus thanks you dearly! Thanks again for all your kind support and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2015!!

Check out some of the pictures below from the 2013 African American Legislative Summit!

Join us at the 2013 African American Legislative Summit from Feb. 24th thru 26th in Austin

Dear Friends:

The 2013 African American Legislative Summit is almost here! You won’t want to miss next year’s event. The African American Legislative Summit, which is sponsored by HEB, will take place from Sunday evening, Feb. 24th through Tuesday afternoon, February 26th. The theme of the upcoming Conference is “the building of our Community starts with me”. With an expected 4,000 attendees, the 2013 Summit is slated to be better than ever.

Check Out the 2013 Summit Agenda Here!

We are proud to announce that the keynote speaker at the Scholarship Awards Banquet on Monday, February 25th will be none other than the young, bright, innovative and accomplished Mayor of Atlanta, Kasim Reed.

2013 African American Legislative Summit Details

The Conference will kick off on Sunday evening, February 24th with the Black-tie invitation only, Chairman’s Dinner at the Hilton Hotel Downtown in Austin. On Monday morning, the Conference will begin in earnest in the House Chamber at the State Capitol. Following the opening plenary session, we will have a series of riveting panel discussions in the Capitol, then a luncheon on the Capitol Grounds. After the lunch, the Conference will shift to our host site, the beautiful Hilton Hotel in Downtown Austin where we will have dignitaries and noted celebrities to bring you even more stimulating panels and discussions. Later that evening, the TLBC Scholarship Awards Banquet will commence in the Hilton Hotel Ballroom, where we will honor the 2013 TLBC Scholarship Recipients. On Tuesday morning, the well-received Community Awards Banquet takes place at the Hilton Hotel and then the Conference wraps up with our final series of panels at the Hotel. With the roster of noted personalities and events planned, this Summit will be one to remember!

Chairman’s Award Dinner honoring Milton Carroll

The Chairman’s Award Dinner honoring Milton Carroll, underwritten by Blue Cross Blue Shield & CenterPoint Energy, will take place at 7p on Sunday, February 24th at the picturesque Bob Bullock State History Museum a mere 3 blocks away from the State Capitol. This invitation-only black-tie affair, will honor the multitude of achievements of Mr. Milton Carroll. An innovator in the Oil & Gas industry, Mr. Carroll also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors at CenterPoint Energy, Inc. & Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. A native Texan, the accomplishments of Mr. Carroll’s stellar business career are second to none. He is well deserving of this token of appreciation by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus for his inspirational achievements as an African American business man, who has excelled in a variety of endeavors in the business world. The Texas Legislative Black Caucus proudly salutes a fellow trailblazer at the inaugural Chairman’s Award Dinner.

Host Site- Hilton Hotel Info & Reservations

For your convenience, a very special room rate of $199/night is available for Sunday, February 24th and Monday, February 25th for a limited time only at the Hilton Hotel (a savings of $130), so please take advantage now. Room reservations at the Hilton Hotel Downtown for Sunday, February 24th and/or Monday, Feb. 25th are available now online at: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/TexasLegislativeBlackCaucus. If you are interested in a multi-night stay at the Hilton Hotel, please call 800.445.8667 (make sure to mention Group Code: TLB) and they can handle your reservation.

REGISTER NOW FOR FREE TO ATTEND!

Stay tuned for more updates and we look forward to seeing you there!

For questions, please email: texaslegislativeblackcaucus@gmail.com.

2011 African American Legislative Summit A Resounding Success!

The Texas Legislative Black Caucus is pleased to thank all those in attendance at the recently held African American Legislative Summit, helping the event to become a wonderful success. This year’s Summit held in Austin from Feb. 27th through March 1st, under the direction of Chairman Sylvester Turner had a record 3,000 plus attendees from all over Texas. A great time was had by all in attendance as numerous elected officials, scores of grassroots activists, business professionals, college students, reknowned academics and citizens alike came together for an eventful time of collaboration, networking and an opportunity to exchange ideas. The Summit was highlighted by Ms. Debra Lee, CEO of B.E.T. as the keynote speaker at the Scholarship Banquet where over $120,000 in scholarships were awarded. An overwhelming attendance of successful recipients, all of whom were high school seniors, made the night a special occasion as Debra Lee punctuated the night with her remarks which thrilled all those in attendance.

Those who arrived early on Sunday evening were treated to a musical performance by none other than DJ Biz Markie. The Summit started in earnest early Monday morning at 9am in the House Chamber, as the Summit provided a unique opportunity for attendees to sit at House members desks and hear from TLBC members. Following the opening session, a series of riveting panel discussions in the Capitol on Monday morning rounded out the early morning events. Those there for the panels were treated to a packed house as people listened with picqued interest as a host of topics were covered. Next we followed with a barbeque luncheon on the Capitol Grounds as all those in attendance were treated to a great meal under tents as they all enjoyed the beautiful weather. As the afternoon began, the Summit shifted to the host site, the Sheraton Hotel at the Capitol as we enjoyed more powerful panel discussions. As evening fell, people excitedly awaited the Scholarship Banquet as many gathered for a cocktail reception before the formal events ensued.

AUSTIN, Texas — In connection with the African and African Diaspora Studies Department, The University of Texas at Austin has appointed King Davis founding director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis.

Davis, professor and Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy in the School of Social Work and former executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, served as interim director of the institute in 2010 and 2011, and will begin his new role effective immediately. Davis joined The University of Texas at Austin in 2000 after serving as commissioner of the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse and as a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“The investment by The University of Texas in this new institute reflects the personal commitment of President Powers and his administration,” Davis said. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to help shape the mission and vision of the institute and its initial research projects.” The institute’s initial focus will be on the state of Texas.

“Despite our iconic rural image, more than 80 percent of Texans live in cities. Texas needs better urban policy, and we can’t improve that without good data on the populations that make up our cities, especially populations of color,” said President Bill Powers. “King Davis is the perfect leader for this important new effort. His academic and professional background — and the enormous respect he commands from his colleagues — bodes well for the institute’s future.”

Developed in 2010 through collaborative efforts of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, the African and African Diaspora Studies Department and the College of Liberal Arts, the institute’s mission is to conduct and promote the production of policy-relevant research with the aim of enhancing the lives of African-Americans and other communities of color.

“I applaud the selection of Dr. Davis to lead this vitally important institute,” said Rep. Sylvester Turner, chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. “His expertise and dedication will bring the institute to the forefront of positive change in the African American community in Texas.”

Join us at the 2011 TLBC Golf Classic!

Texas Legislative Black Caucus

REGISTER NOW (click here)

Chairman Sylvester Turner

& Members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus invite you to participate…

2011 TLBC Golf Classic

November 7, 2011 Grey Rock Golf Club in Austin
11:30 a.m. Registration
1 p.m. Shotgun Start
6:00 p.m. Awards Dinner

Sponsorship Levels: Diamond $20,000 Sapphire $15,000 Platinum $10,000 Gold $5,000 Silver $3,000 Bronze $1,500 Single $500* *Not a corporate sponsorship level.

Additional sponsorship opportunities: Bars, beverages, hole signs and title banner; shirts, hats, goody bags, boxed lunches, bev carts, contests and prizes.
REGISTER NOW!

Call Christine Garrison at (512) 292-3000 or email christine@scgtexas.com . TLBC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Corporate contributions are permitted by State law.

Not distributed at State expense.

Chairman Sylvester Turner Issues a Report Card on the 82nd Legislature with a Special Emphasis on Public Education

Check out Rep. Sylvester Turner’s Report Card on Public Education Here!

As the 82nd Legislature and Special Session draws to a close, Chairman Turner, Chairwoman Senfronia Thompson, and Rep. Helen Giddings were joined by concerned parents, teachers, and fellow Texas Legislators as they issued a Report Card for the 82nd Session. The special emphasis of the Report Card was on an issue near and dear to everyone’s heart and conscience, an issue whose importance is both long lasting and the true barometer of how we has a society view our future generations – Public Education. This Legislative Session has seen historic cuts and changes to the Public Education system in Texas which will harm our school children for years to come, and the time is here for those who made such shortsighted decisions face accountability.

Rep. Sylvester Turner Issues Report Card on 82nd Session

Chairman Deshotel Requests Disaster Declaration from President Obama

State Representative Joe Deshotel of Port Arthur, who currently serves as Chair of the House Business and Industry Committee and is also a TLBC member, has sent a request to President Obama seeking a federal disaster declaration in response to the persistent wildfires in Texas.

Since the fire season began in Texas, local and state responders, including many volunteers, have battled more than 10,500 fires, which have burned more than 2.7 million acres and destroyed more than 400 homes. Over the past three years, farmers, ranchers and residents across Texas have been heavily impacted by wildfires. The most recent bout of fires, which have been occurring since December 21, 2010, are consideredby many to be the worst in Texas history.

Please find the formal request to President Obama here.

For more information, please contact the office of State Representative Joe Deshotel at 512.463.0662.

Black Texas Lawmakers Say New Redistricting Maps Don’t Fairly Reflect Population Shifts – Article Courtesy of BET.com

Black Texas Lawmakers Say New Redistricting Maps Don’t Fairly Reflect Population Shifts

Black and Latino groups will challenge the maps in court.

By Joyce Jones

Posted: 06/07/2011 11:15 PM EDT

Filed Under redistricting

(Dallas Rep. Helen Giddings)

Redistricting maps are a topic of bitter partisan debate in states across the nation, and Texas is no different. A second map drawn by the Republican-led state legislature has local African-American and Latino lawmakers crying foul. It’s only natural that the state’s GOP would create a map that works to their advantage, but the population growth reported in the most recent census, minority lawmakers argue, warrants a different approach.

Dallas Rep. Helen Giddings represents a district that has one of the highest Black voter participation rates in the nation. Although her district would retain most of its original configuration, she believes that the proposed House and Senate maps do not accurately reflect the population shift that has occurred in the past 10 years. She told BET.com that it would preserve the current number of local representatives and senators but limits what she calls “opportunity seats.” She is referring to districts that have a large enough proportion of African-American and Latino voters to make a significant impact on who is elected to serve them, regardless of the official’s race or ethnicity.

AUSTIN– On March 15th, the House Appropriations Committee approved HB 275, legislation to use the Economic Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund) to cover the shortfall in the 2011 budget, and HB 4, a “supplemental” budget bill to make cuts and new appropriations for the current budget. Democratic members unanimously voted for HB 275 and against HB 4. The vote was delayed until the Governor released a statement accepting use of the Rainy Day Fund for the current budget but vowing to veto the 2012-2013 budget if it uses the Rainy Day Fund.

In the next biennium, state aid to public schools is reduced by $9 billion or more than $800 per student, forcing districts to increase class sizes, eliminate pre-kindergarten, terminate up to 100,000 teachers and school personnel, and consolidate and close schools. There will be 800 fewer caseworkers within child protective services to keep children safe from abuse and neglect and already inadequate provider rates within the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs will be further reduced leaving children no access to primary, specialty or preventative health care. Seventy-thousand senior citizens will be left with no home or essential medical and attendant care with the proposed $1.6 billion cuts to nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities and hospices.

“Although I support paying the state’s bills in the current fiscal year, I cannot encourage false illusions that Texans will be protected in the future by the use of a small portion of the $9.4 billion rainy day fund,” said Vice- Chairman Sylvester Turner (D-Houston). “There has not been any genuine effort to find solutions to the $27 billion deficit we face in 2012 and 2013.”

“In many cases, the cuts in Health and Human Services are making life and death decisions. Texas children, senior citizens and disabled Texans deserve better,” said Representative Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin). ” The legislature should look at all options, from the Economic Stabilization Fund to new revenue sources, in order to do what our constituencies have sent us to do: to protect our citizens, to care for those who no longer can care for themselves, to provide services to those who have nowhere else to turn.”

“At a time when families in Texas are struggling and using up their savings, this budget cuts funding for community colleges they depend on,” said Representative Scott Hochberg (D-Houston).

The Texas House, as a whole, will vote on HB 4 and HB 275 on Thursday, March 31st.

TLBC Members Take Key Committee Positions

As the current 82nd Session begins to heat up in earnest, Texas Legislative Black Caucus members hold key committee assignments with the ability to influence key decisions on legislative matters.

HOW’D THE DEMOCRATS DO?: A Conversation About the 82nd Legislative Session

Event Details

Date: Thursday, May 19, 2011
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. The conversation will begin promptly at 8 a.m.
Location: The Austin Club
110 E. Ninth Street, Austin, TX 78701 (map)
Questions?: rsvp@texastribune.org or 512-716-8626
RSVP: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 – 1 p.m.
A reservation is required

TLBC pleased announce special guest for Summit, Actress Loretta Devine

The Texas Legislative Black Caucus is pleased to announce a special guest for the African American Legislative Summit, acclaimed and reknowned actress Loretta Devine. Ms. Devine, a Houston-native, has appeared in over 93 films and television shows in a superb career that has spanned almost 30 years. She currently appears in the hit-TV show, Grey’s Anatomy and the all-time favorite Waiting to Exhale. Her roles have touched the lives of many and inspired countless others to pursue a craft that through her hard work she has made look very easy. At the Summit, the TLBC will name a scholarship in her honor to a worthy high school student who will attend college in the fall.

TLBC Reaches Out to New Members

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Legislative Black Caucus welcomes 2 Republicans

By R.G. RATCLIFFE
AUSTIN BUREAU

Dec. 25, 2010, 9:24AM

The Legislative Black Caucus, founded by liberal Democrats, did not want him as a member. Nor did the Republican caucus, which at the time had only about 40 members, all white.

“No one wanted me to succeed because they didn’t want what I represented,” Givens recalled recently. “Everyone was trying to exterminate me.”

Givens served two terms before returning to Lubbock and his real estate business. In the next 22 years, no other black Republican was elected to the Legislature.

That changed in November. Come January, newly elected black Republicans Stefani Carter, of Dallas, and James White, of Hillister near Lufkin, will be among 101 party members in the Texas House. Hispanic Republicans also gained five seats where they had had none.

This time around, Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, was quick to ask the new members to join.

“We are not the Democratic caucus. We are not the Republican caucus. We are the Legislative Black Caucus,” Turner said.

MLB & Urban Youth Academies make an impact on Houston youths at Sylvester Turner Park

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Houston UYA brings baseball to urban teens

By Moisekapenda Bower / Special to MLB.com | 11/13/10 11:49 PM EST

For more information on Major League Baseball and the current activities of their Urban Youth Academies, please check out the MLB’s new UYA website at: http://mlb.mlb.com/community/uya.jsp

Check out the story below on MLB’s Urban Youth Academy in Houston at Sylvester Turner Park.

HOUSTON — Mornings like the one on Saturday return Daryl Wade to the days of his youth, and opportunities that slipped away while reared in Acres Homes.

Middle schools in this urban neighborhood did not offer baseball to students, so those accustomed to playing Little League were forced into a temporary hiatus lifted only when they came of age in high school. For Wade, those three years lost were critical to his development, and likely spelled the difference between his flourishing as a teenager instead of as a sophomore first baseman at Paul Quinn College.

If there was a facility where Wade could have honed his skills as an adolescent, perhaps he might have burnished his abilities at a younger age and blazed an altogether different career path, one completely entrenched in baseball.

The Houston UYA hosted more than 130 local teens during a showcase. (Daryl Wade/Houston Urban Youth Academy)Wade could not help but contemplate what might have been as he gushed over what was. As the manager of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy, Wade beamed with pride as the seven-month-old facility hosted more than 130 local teenagers in a showcase orchestrated by two dozen scouts representing 26 franchises. When Wade accepted the position as manager of the Houston UYA, he had intimate knowledge of the influence it could have in Acres Homes.

“It’s a major impact,” Wade said. “There are kids out here who can play. A lot of the volunteers who are involved are former Little Leaguers from this community that I played with back in the day. It’s a great impact.”

The Houston UYA is the second of its kind developed by MLB, joining an academy built in Compton, Calif., more than four years ago. The Compton UYA has been wildly successful at connecting urban youth with baseball through multiple avenues from the 50 Academy alums playing professional baseball, the 150 who have earned college scholarships, and the 25 umpires and 10 groundskeepers in the Minor Leagues.

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Please join us on February 28th & March 1st, 2011 as the Texas Legislative Black Caucus proudly presents the 11th African American Summit in Austin, Texas. This perennial event brings

Black Texas Lawmakers Say New Redistricting Maps Don’t Fairly Reflect Population Shifts

HOW’D THE DEMOCRATS DO?: A Conversation About the 82nd Legislative Session

Legislative Black Caucus welcomes 2 Republicans

By R.G. RATCLIFFE AUSTIN BUREAU

Dec. 25, 2010, 9:24AM

By R.G. RATCLIFFE
AUSTIN BUREAU