We just came back from our 33rd ACE trip last week -- this one in Orlando, featuring Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23), a moderate freshman on the powerful Appropriations Committee who represents the largest district in the U.S. that is not a single state. He visited Darren Soto, a moderate 3rd termer serving on the Energy & Commerce Committee. Over the course of the day in FL-9, Reps. Soto and Gonzales built close connections and learned much about the leading ecosystems of manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and technology in Central Florida. Among the stops were: a citrus packing facility, a ride on the SunRail commuter train, a helicopter excursion with the South FL Water Management District to look at the headwaters of the Everglades and restoration projects, a community college advanced manufacturing training center, a new semiconductor plant, the Lake Nona V.A. Hospital, and the construction site of Orlando Airport's new terminal -- and that's all in one day!
Read MoreEngage in a discussion with author Alexander Polikoff, in conversation with Alden Loury, WBEZ
The nation’s current racial reckoning has brought forth a third chance to achieve racial justice for African Americans. Reconstruction failed to bring about justice. The Civil Rights Movement failed to bring about equality. A new book, A Brief History of the Subordination of African Americans in the U.S.: Of Handcuffs and Bootstraps, provides a thorough but succinct history of racial oppression in America.
Join us to hear why the authors believe that knowing and understanding this history is a critical first step to making this third chance different, enabling the nation to achieve meaningful and lasting racial justice.
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