Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Moves Into the Leadership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
Originally from Jacksonville, Kevin Derby is the editor of Florida Daily and covers politics across Florida. Reach Kevin at
December 26, 2022, 6:00 am
Last week, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), named U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., as part of the group’s leadership.
Cherfilus-McCormick will be one of the CPC’s deputy whips for the 118th Congress.
“I’m honored to have been appointed by Rep. Jayapal to serve as deputy whip on the CPC Executive Board for the 118th Congress,” said Cherfilus-McCormick. “I’m proud to be a part of the most diverse leadership and the largest Progressive Caucus in history. I look forward to the road ahead as we continue to deliver for working families.”
“I am thrilled to announce these appointments today and complete our CPC Executive Board for the 118th Congress,” said Jayapal. “These members represent the diversity of the progressive movements, our caucus, and our country: they are immigrants and first-generation Americans, freshmen and senior members, state legislators and organizers, people of color and women, from working-class backgrounds and diverse geographies. Each of them is committed to our progressive values and to leaving no one behind.”
“The Progressive Caucus was founded in 1991 by Senator Bernie Sanders, Rep. Peter DeFazio, and Rep. Maxine Waters. Since its founding, the caucus has continued to grow, organize, and build. It will enter the 118th Congress with its largest membership to date. The diverse composition of the new CPC executive board includes 50 percent women, 73 percent people of color, and LGBTQ members,” the CPC noted.
In a special election held at the start of the year, Cherfilus-McCormick replaced longtime U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., who died in April 2021. She took 79 percent of the vote while Republican Jason Mariner got 19 percent,Libertarian Mike ter Maat garnered 1 percent and two candidates–Jim Flynnand Lenny Serratore–who were both running with no party affiliation–each pulled around .5 percent.
Cherfilus-McCormick had a much tougher time winning the primary in that special election. After several recounts, Cherfilus-McCormick prevailed over Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness and a large crowd to win the Democratic nomination. After recounts were finished and with all votes in, Cherfilus-McCormick beat Holness by five votes–11,662–23.76 percent–to 11,657 votes–23.75 percent.
After taking 26 percent of the Democratic primary vote against Hastings in 2018 and 32 percent of it last year, Cherfilus-McCormick ran a third time and she and Holness outpaced the field. Holness drew heavily in Broward County, taking 29 percent of the vote there, while Cherfilus-McCormick pulled 21 percent, enough for second place there. But she ran away in Palm Beach County, taking 30 percent while he garnered only 8 percent there.
Facing Holness in a rematch in the primary in August 2022, Cherfilus-McCormick won by a far larger margin. She won with 65 percent of the vote, while Holness finished a distant second with 29 percent of the vote.
In November, Cherfilus-McCormick routed Republican businessman Drew-Montez Clark, besting him 72.3 percent to 27.7 percent.
National Center of Haitian Apostolate |
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HOMILY OF THE NEW YEAR 2012 (Feast of the Solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God)
Num 6, 22-27; Ps 67; Gal 4, 4-7; Luke 2, 16-21
Msgr. Pierre André Pierre
A. Happy New Year to all of you.
May the grace and peace of God
accompany you throughout the year
that we begin today and may the Lord Jesus be with you always, every day.
B. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Ps 132,1. As we gather in this beautiful Cathedral of St Agnes in Rockville Center, I would like the first words of my homily to be words of gratitude, for the great opportunity given to us to celebrate to welcome us as a sign of unity
C. Today begins a new year it is a day of Blessings.
And we sincerely wish each other all God's blessings:
good health, well-being, harmony in the family, happiness...
In the Church’s tradition, it is a day of Blessings.
May the Lord extend his hands of tender mercy upon each and every one of you! May in every family, the father or in his absence the mother lay hands upon their children imploring peace and God’s favor upon their family!
D. January 1st is also PEACE DAY!
On this day, as we celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of God, we also include, with seriousness and insistence, wishes and prayers for a sense of deep and lasting peace, in a world beset by violence, conflicts, and fratricidal struggles, since Mary gave us Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace.
May our sense of justice and unity, of mutual forgiveness and acceptance, create the right atmosphere in which peace can grow in our hearts, in our homes, and throughout the world.
On this first day of the year, people exchange wishes for peace and joy. I do wish the same for you too.
There are so many wars, so many inequalities and so much misery in the world. God made us responsible. He put us in charge of the world when he asked Adam “to tilt the soil, cultivate and subdue it.” That did not simply involve the material development of the world but also its societal order. The present state of the world shows that we have fallen short of our societal duties. There are all too many street crimes in our neighborhood. Peace is a permanent pursuit. It ought to be pursued unceasingly otherwise it declines as happens to the bird when it stops flipping its wings. “Happy are the peace-makers, they will be called children of God.” Let us all be involved in deeds of peace.
E. Today January 1st, the octave day of Christmas, the Church likes to honor in a special way, Mary,
the predestined woman who made Christmas possible through her trustful “YES” to the angel. She is the new Eve, the Icon of Redeemed mankind, the Blessed One for whom the Almighty has done great things. As Salomon placed his mother in charge of all his affairs on a throne next to him, Mary is in the words of the Psalmist: “The Queen Mother standing next to the King dressed in Gold of Ophir.” (Psalm 45) We do not worship her for she is not God but we revere her with exquisite devotion. As we gaze at her we appreciate the words of St Paul saying that “we have been created for the praise of God’s glory.” She stands as the showcase of God's magnificent mercy toward his faithful servants!
May she walk with us on the narrow paths of the future and teach us to love and serve her divine Son!
The witness of our lives is crucial to the development of God’s plan. He destined us to be his co-heirs but first, we must be his partners in establishing on earth his kingdom of peace and love. “We are ambassadors for Christ, God as if it were appealing through us. We implore you in Christ’s name, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5, 20)
If like Mary, we trustingly say YES to the Lord, the year will be good and prosperous and there will be peace on earth.
With love and prayers.
Haiti faces famine – but its troubles are rooted in a brutal colonial past | Kenneth Mohammed
“Toussaint was a mighty man and to make matters worse he was black / Black and back in the days when black men knew their place was in the back / But this rebel he walked through Napoleon who thought it wasn’t very nice / And so today my brothers in Haiti, they still pay the price / Haiti, I’m sorry, we misunderstood you / One day we’ll turn our heads and restore your glory.”
The haunting song by David Rudder flooded my mind as the aircraft touched down at Toussaint Louverture international airport.
Later, as my taxi weaved through Port-au-Prince, the sight of mountains of rubble lining every street was overwhelming. Makeshift tents occupied every space. It was 2012, two years after a 35-second tremor from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake left an estimated 220,000-316,000 people dead and another 300,000 injured. Some 1.5 million were made homeless in one of the deadliest natural disasters in the world. Poor construction practices and high population density were blamed for the astonishing fatalities.
Fast forward to December 2022 and Haiti is rocked by a different disaster, a perfect storm of violence, poverty, corruption and poor governance, all built on foundations of slavery, colonialism, brutality and exploitation.
The head of the World Food Programme in Haiti, Jean-Martin Bauer, said this week that, with gangs in control, the country faces an unprecedented crisis and could soon see famine. Haiti has run aground.
The streets are owned by heavily armed criminals, while the law enforcement agencies are underequipped, undermanned and undermotivated. Kidnapping is a business model, with more than 1,500 recorded in the last 18 months. Any available fuel sells on the black market at more than $35 a gallon. Food is a desperate challenge for most.
To fully understand a nation’s anguish, examine its history. What has been done to Haiti in the name of “the race for wealth” is the deepest wound to the Caribbean.
Christopher Columbus landed in 1492 on the coast of Hispaniola, then called Ayiti and inhabited by the Taíno and Arawak people. Columbus renamed the island and claimed it for Spain. Then the French settled to the west and called it Saint-Domingue. By 1767, sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton were booming for the European economies, as Haiti’s labour accounted for a third of the transatlantic slave trade.
Inspired by the French Revolution, in 1791 the enslaved people rose in revolt, a struggle that continued for just over 12 years, despite invasions by the British, Spanish and French, and led to the creation of Haiti, the first independent black republic outside Africa. It was the world’s only successful slave revolt with the indomitable Louverture defeating the Napoleonic armies. His general, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, authorised a constitution calling for freedom of religion, for all citizens to be known as “black” to dispel colour hierarchy, and for white men to be forbidden from possessing property.
In 1825, France, backed by several warships, demanded from Haiti 150m francs as indemnity for claims over the loss of property during the revolution and, in addition, for diplomatic recognition as an independent state. Reparations for the loss of their “property” – their slaves.
The debt choked Haiti’s economic development as interest mounted, snatching a significant share of GDP and restricting development. Haiti was forced to take loans from Crédit Industriel et Commercial bank, enriching French shareholders. The remainder of Haiti’s debt was financed by the National City Bank of New York, now Citibank, and, in 1915, US President Woodrow Wilson responded to complaints from US banks about Haiti’s debts by invading. Never had a country been invaded for debts owing. That occupation lasted until 1934, deeply resented by Haitians who staged numerous revolts. France only repealed the debt in 2016, however no reparations were forthcoming despite being the root cause of Haiti’s decimation.
Haiti has produced a portentous rogues’ gallery of leaders and coups d’état. From 1911 to 1915, there were six different presidents, each either killed or forced into exile. But the most notorious in the island’s history was François Duvalier or “Papa Doc”, elected in 1957. His regime came to be regarded as one of the most repressive in modern history and, after his death in 1971, his son, Jean-Claude or “Baby Doc”, presided over Haiti’s further economic and political decline. The first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, faced two coups d’état, alleged to be US-backed, undone by the second in 2004.
US involvement was seen again in Jovenel Moïse, elected in 2016, whose links, along with predecessor Michel Martelly, to grand corruption in the Petrocaribe scandal brought unrest and protest again to Haiti’s streets. That same year, Hurricane Matthew hit the island, causing more than 500 deaths and destruction of over 200,000 homes. A cholera outbreak was also brought in by UN peacekeepers.
Moïse’s presidential term ended in assassination in July 2021, followed by another natural disaster in August 2021 when a 7.2 earthquake struck. It killed more than 2,200 people.
This year has brought more storms and more cholera. Violence has intensified with rival gangs fighting for control in Cité Soleil, the most impoverished and densely populated neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince. Thousands have been affected, afraid to leave their homes for food or water. Many have been killed by stray bullets. One week in July left 89 dead.
In October, the acting president, Ariel Henry, was forced to plead for the deployment of foreign troops to oppose the gangs and the anti-government demonstrations.
Now Haiti is an “aid state”, almost totally dependent on foreign governments and institutions and remittances from the diaspora. Its underdevelopment can be attributed to corruption and geopolitical manipulation.
The longsuffering but resilient Haitian people have been victims of centuries of corrupt dictatorial governments. The fortunate have fled Haiti, contributing to a debilitating brain drain. The complicity of the colonists and successive French governments have been fundamental to Haiti’s demise, and the US’s neocolonialist role in enforcing debt repayments and the subsequent 19-year annexation of Haiti’s sovereignty is nothing short of diabolical.
Many believe that Haiti’s problems were ancestral and self-inflicted but there is more to this story. The propensity of the US to prop up strongmen contributed over and over to the sad state of Haiti, and let’s not forget the opportunistic siphoning of aid by the very agencies that collected donations from around the world.
What can be done to fix Haiti? The answer lies in forming a government of integrity and substance without allegiance to any gangs. Eradicating Port-au-Prince of the violence means severing existing ties between gangs, politicians and law enforcement. A robust anti-corruption unit with muscle, a reformed police service and legislative arm is fundamental. Aid must be conditional on showing intent to rebuild a modern nation from ground up. Above all, Haiti cannot be held to ransom by the US’s whims any longer.
In 2013, I travelled to another area of the island and swam in a sulphur spring in the ocean a few metres from shore. I ate the best seafood I have ever had, prepared by the warmest people I have ever met. For that moment this could have been any stable Caribbean island. This is the Haiti we need to see, a Haiti where the people can finally prosper in peace. Haitian lives matter and they are not disposable.
As Rudder sang: “When there is anguish in Port-au-Prince it is still Africa crying … the middle passage is gone so how come overcrowded boats still haunt our lives?”