Black History Month

Floor Speech

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Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you tonight to honor and to celebrate Black History Month.

Black History Month is not just a celebration, but a reminder of the struggles, achievements, resilience, and contributions of Black Americans throughout our Nation's history.

In New Mexico, it is the opportunity to honor and celebrate that Black history is not only American history, it is New Mexico history, especially as so many Black leaders are blazing the way for future generations: Judge Shammara Henderson, the first Black judge to serve in the New Mexico Court of Appeals; Senator Harold Pope, the first Black State senator to serve in the history of the State of New Mexico; Councilor Nichole Rogers, the first Black woman to serve on Albuquerque's City Council; and Representative Pamelya Herndon, who is the first Black State house representative to represent New Mexico State House District 28, which is my State house representative in Albuquerque.

These are just a few of the New Mexico leaders who are making history as we stand on this floor tonight, who are leading the way, whose voices are not only needed but necessary and who must be at all the tables where decisions are being made.

As we know, these voices are currently being threatened by systemic attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as thousands of Federal employees have been fired and put on leave, funding for programs has been gutted, schools and public institutions have been threatened, and leaders like General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., who have proudly served this great country with the highest levels of distinction, have found themselves targeted and dismissed.

We must be real about the moment that we face. These policies and cuts are not just policy decisions. They are about undermining the fundamental justice and equity of the United States, about erasing our history and turning back the clock on the progress of countless generations who have struggled and marched and fought to move this country forward.

That is why we must and we will continue to fight back in Congress, in the courts, and in our communities, and to continue that work of bending the arc of the moral universe and this country toward justice because this is the work ahead for all of us and the work we will and must do.

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