NEWS

One of the highlights of The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc.’s 40th Annual Symposium Workshop & Awards Luncheon was the announcement of a $50,000 donation to BWA made by Patricia A. Maryland, Dr.PH, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascension Healthcare, Vice President, Ascension, and BWA’s 2017 Health Award recipient.

Ascension, the nation’s largest non-profit health system, is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care.

On May 17, 2017, this bi-partisan proposed bill introduced in the U.S. House and Senate called the Credit for Caring Act, (S.1151/H.R. 2505) would amend the Internal Revenue Code to create a federal, nonrefundable tax credit of up to $3,000 for family caregivers who work while also financially help and assist in caring for their parents, spouses, children with disabilities or other loved ones. Introduced by Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Representatives Tom Reed (R-NY) and Linda Sánchez (D-CA), this bill is an important step toward supporting caregivers…

On January 23, 2017 Representative Steve King of Iowa introduced H.R.610 – a bill that would distribute Federal funds for elementary and secondary education in the form of vouchers for eligible students and to repeal a certain rule relating to nutrition standards in schools.
This bill threatens funding to public schools and equal opportunity in education. This bill is designed to take federal funds from public schools by dismantling Block Grants programs and other programs that are in place to assist communities of color.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. (BWA) recently hosted its 39th Annual Symposium Workshop & Awards Luncheon, honoring the achievements of five women and encouraging the more than 1,200 attendees to exert their influence in areas of critical importance to their communities. The organization also welcomed Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton, who addressed participants in the morning workshop.

The Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 and is named after the Zika Forest in Uganda. It is primarily spread to people through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. It can also be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby during pregnancy, and it can be sexually transmitted by a man to his partners. While most people who contract the virus have very mild or no symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has established a link between Zika infection during pregnancy and serious birth defects and other poor pregnancy outcomes.

Harriet Tubman, a former slave, and abolitionist who, as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad helped hundreds of African-Americans escape slavery, will replace former U.S. President Andrew Jackson on the face of the $20 bill. The makeover was announced by U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jacob J. Lew.