News

Join Avoice for an issue forum honoring her historic leadership – September 25, 2009. Friday, September 25, 2009 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Room 202-A, Walter E. Washington Convention Center 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, DC 20001 As part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference, Avoice will showcase the historic […]

Teachers, Students Will Have Primary Sources for Congressional Historical Research WASHINGTON – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) announced today that its acclaimed virtual library – Avoice: African American Voices in Congress (Avoice) – has launched a new portal that offers educators the flexibility to incorporate African-American congressional history into various curriculums. The lesson units […]

August 20, 2008 On August 20, 2008, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones suffered a fatal aneurysm while in her home district of Cleveland, Ohio. Her sudden passing was a shock for our nation and was felt deeply by her family, friends, and fellow members of congress. With over 26 years of service on the municipal and […]

June 24, 1972 On June 24, 1972, Yvonne Braithwaite Burke was approved by the Democratic National Convention’s Rules Committee to serve as vice chairperson for the Platform Committee at the Democratic National Convention later that summer. Deliberations at the 1972 DNC were often heated as Mrs. Burke led convention delegates through the longest debate of […]

In the fall of 2009 the Avoice Virtual Library will launch a new resource section for educators featuring lesson units, classroom activities, bibliographies and other resources for teachers. These teaching aids will meet national education standards and draw on the extensive primary sources in the Avoice collection to give teachers a way to incorporate documents, […]

May 9, 2009 On Saturday, May 9, 2009, South Africa inaugurated Jacob Zuma its new president just a day shy of exactly 15 years from the date Nelson Mandela was sworn in to the country’s highest office after winning South Africa’s first all-race elections in 1994. Zuma, member of the African National Congress, was jailed […]

How Do You Celebrate Earth Day? April 22, 2009 – Avoice and Environmental Justice Earth Day is a time to show support for the protection of our environment. Over the past 39 years since the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970, progress has been made in the effort to shift public opinion and ensure […]

Avoice Celebrates the Life and Work of John Hope Franklin Historian John Hope Franklin, author of the landmark book From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, died of congestive heart failure Thursday, March 25th, 2009 at the age of 94 in Durham, North Carolina. “We all grew up reading his books which helped […]

Avoice Celebrates Woman’s History Month March 2009 – CBC Women Leading the Way for the Environment Twenty-seven African American women have served in Congress since Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) became the first black woman elected to Congress in 1968. These women have demonstrated great leadership in many diverse issues including health care, education, foreign affairs and […]

Avoice Celebrates Black History Month February 2009 – Black History Month – The Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, first proposed the idea of “Negro History Week” in February 1926. Since then the idea has evolved into […]