Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
Alabama
The South Region Minority Supplier Development Council (SRMSDC) recently named George Perdue Jr. as its president. SRMSDC is an affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), and is located in Birmingham. Perdue brings more than 30 years of legislative, management, financing, contract writing, grant writing, supply chain and procurement, and minority business development experience to SRMSDC, and has served as both chair and past chair of the SRMSDC board of directors.
District of Columbia
President Barack Obama recently signed H.R. 6118 into law. It names the United States Postal Service office located on Massachusetts Avenue in northeast D.C. after civil rights pioneer Dorothy Height. “This bill, (marks) the first time a federal building in the nation’s capital has been named for an African American woman, and is cause for celebration,” Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a statement. “Dorothy Height was an icon for social justice who lived here, and the Congress has recognized that she deserves a visible place of honor and distinction in the nation’s capital. Renaming the post office next to Union Station will remind D.C. and the nation alike of the achievements of one of America’s great women.”
Georgia
Savannah State University (SSU) President Earl G. Yarbrough Sr., Ph.D. has named Marilynn Stacey-Suggs as director of Intercollegiate Athletics effective at the start of 2011. Suggs, who has served as interim director of Intercollegiate Athletics since early January, will be responsible for all matters related to managing Savannah State’s 16 NCAA Division I sport teams for men and women including budgeting; compliance with university system of Georgia and NCAA policies and rules; and fundraising for programmatic needs. Prior to serving as interim director of athletics, Suggs was SSU’s assistant athletics director/senior women’s administrator, a position she held since 2008. Yarbrough’s announcement, made during an afternoon media conference at Tiger Arena, ended a four-month, nation-wide search that attracted more than 50 applicants for the director position.
Maryland
Rep. Elijah Cummings was recently named ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for the 112th Congress by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “I am honored by the trust shown in me by my Democratic colleagues,” Cummings said in a statement. “Oversight and Government Reform will be a committee of great importance over the next two years, as we continue to seek the causes and solutions of our economic downturn as we attempt to stem the tide of fraudulent foreclosures in America and as we ensure our citizens’ money is spent effectively and efficiently by the Federal Government.” The committee is the primary investigative committee in the House. It has the authority to investigate any federal program and any matter that affects federal policy. As ranking member, Cummings will now become the highest ranking Democrat on the committee putting him in a difficult position as Republicans take control of the House in the new session.
