Avoice Salutes President-Elect Barack Obama A Historic Election and a Legacy of Environmental Advocacy President-Elect Barack Obama As a former senator and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, President-Elect Barack Obama made history with his successful bid to become the 44th president of the United States.  Not only is he the country's first black chief executive, Obama is a public servant with a history of advocacy on behalf of the environment and environmental justice.  He served on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in the 109th Congress and continued working to achieve environmental equity and sustainability through the 110th Congress.  Demonstrating his commitment through a high environmental voting score , he led numerous environment-focused conversations including an issue forum titled “Climate Change: Are We Ready?” at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 2007 Annual Legislative Conference. On November 4, 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama's victory marked 138 years after the first African American, Hiram Rhodes Revels, was elected to the United States Senate and 42 years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to guarantee the rights of all Americans to vote regardless of race. Avoice congratulates Obama for starting yet another chapter in African American political history. Watch President-Elect Obama’s 2007 forum, “Climate Chance: Are We Ready”. To learn more about the CBC’s work on environmental issues visit the Avoice exhibit on Environmental Justice.

New Exhibit: The Congressional Black Caucus and Environmental Justice!

Did you know that the Congressional Black Caucus members have been at the forefront of the environmental justice movement?  Through their efforts to call national attention to the disproportionate burden of pollution on the most vulnerable members of our society, they have challenged the myth that African Americans are not concerned with the environment.  Their consistently high environmental voting average and strong advocacy efforts show that the environment remains a top concern for African American leaders in Congress.

This sixth exhibit in the Avoice Virtual Library will highlight the major milestones in the environmental justice movement and spotlight the contributions of CBC members to the fight for environmental equity. Exhibit resources include a comprehensive environmental justice timeline, photographs, audio recordings, digitized legislation, press releases, and CBC member correspondences.

Visit the new Environmental Justice exhibit!

Keep Up with Avoice: Subscribe to our RSS Feed

Click on the RSS button to your right at the top of the Avoice News section to be notified when new content or news is added to the Avoice Virtual Library.

Avoice Photo and Document Galleries Now Work with Zotero!

Conducting research on Avoice and need to organize your sources? The Congressional Black Caucus’ Virtual Library photo and document galleries now work with Zotero! A free, easy-to-use extension to the Firefox web browser, Zotero is a research tool that lets you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), as well as letting you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. Just download Zotero at www.zotero.org, visit the Avoice photo and document galleries, and then look for the page symbol in your address bar. With one click store the reference information for any Avoice photo or document so it will be easy to site later.

To download Zotero click here

More Avoice Exhibits:

Trace the history of the CBC with an in-depth look at exactly how, when and why the Caucus was initially formed.

Learn how the CBC has spent years fighting tirelessly to protect the voting rights of underrepresented people

Look back at how the CBC led the charge for the creation of a federal holiday honoring the civil rights hero.

Look back at how the CBC led the charge for the creation of a federal holiday honoring the civil rights hero.

Read about the important role that African American women played in the advancement of healthcare.

Learn how members of the CBC have been at the forefront of the Environmental Justice Movement.