Rep. Mike Levin Leads Community Forum on Black History Month with Rep. Karen Bass
San Juan Capistrano, CA – U.S. Representative Mike Levin (CA-49) led a virtual forum on Tuesday with Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), to hear from Black constituents about their challenges and priorities and to discuss their work in Congress to support communities of color. Reps. Levin and Bass answered questions from constituents on COVID-19, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, voting rights, and more. The conversation was moderated by Satia Austin, President of the North San Diego County NAACP, who was also named as Rep. Levin’s “Constituent of the Month” for February.
“Black History Month is an important time to recognize the extraordinary contributions of Black Americans throughout our history, but we must also take this time to recommit to action focused on justice and opportunity for Black communities,” said Rep. Levin. “As we discussed during the forum, Black Americans are suffering disproportionately from this pandemic, underscoring the systemic racial inequality in our country and the need to target relief to communities of color. With President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House, the prospect for real reforms that advance justice and equality are brighter than ever, and I’ll continue to partner with Rep. Bass and Black leaders in my District to advance that important work.”
“I want to thank Congressman Levin for inviting me to participate in such an important discussion today,” said Rep. Bass. “It is vital for the health of the nation that we develop a constructive way to discuss race and troubling areas of our nation's history. I am grateful President Biden has chosen to place racial equity at the top of his Administration's agenda. I am hopeful this is the beginning of an opportunity to learn about and remove barriers that have prevented people of color from obtaining equal access to the benefits of our society. In the upcoming COVID relief package, we will address the needs of communities hardest hit by the virus and the economic fallout. In addition, we will address voting rights with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, police reform with the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, climate change with environmental justice legislation as well as many other areas of inequity that have been historically ignored.”
Rep. Levin has supported a number of bills to address systemic racial injustice in law enforcement and voting rights. He cosponsored the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a comprehensive bill introduced by Rep. Bass to reform law enforcement, improve policing and community safety, and hold bad actors accountable. He also cosponsored the Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act of 2019, introduced by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) to amend civil rights law to prohibit the use of chokeholds by law enforcement across the nation. He also cosponsored the For the People Act, which lays the groundwork to restore the Voting Rights Act, end racist voter suppression schemes, establish automatic national voter registration, end partisan gerrymandering, and much more.
The forum discussion is also available as an episode of Rep. Levin’s new podcast, “Listening with Levin.”
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