Hillary Clinton Interviewed by ESSENCE Magazine

An interview with Hillary Clinton is featured in the October issue of ESSENCE magazine. Clinton was interviewed by ESSENCE Editor-in-chief Vanessa K. De Luca, and they discussed how Clinton’s proposals would benefit black women. Clinton spoke about a number of her plans including ensuring equal pay for women, ensuring that students graduate from college debt-free, and her plans to enact criminal justice reform. Read the full interview below.

In ESSENCE Magazine’s October Issue, Secretary Hillary Clinton sat for an exclusive interview with the editor-in-chief Vanessa DeLuca to discuss her agenda for Black America.  She outlined her commitment to support women business owners, equal pay, criminal justice reform and to protect President Obama’s legacy.

ESSENCE: Thank you, Secretary Clinton, for spending time with ESSENCE. Let’s jump right in: In 2012, more than 70 percent of eligible Black women voters went to the polls and 96 percent of them voted for President Obama. How do you plan on energizing this bloc to vote for you in 2016?

HILLARY CLINTON: First, thank you, Vanessa. I’m delighted to be talking with you today. I think what’s remarkable and worthy of great attention is the percentage of Black women who vote. Black women understand that politics and government have a direct effect on their lives. I want to build on the progress that has been made under President Obama. I am absolutely unabashed in saying that I don’t think he gets the credit for what he’s achieved.

There is a very clear set of issues that are particularly important to African-American women. I will continue to reach out to say, “Look, we’ve got to build on the progress. I can’t do it without you. I want to know what you need, and I want you to know that I’m going to do everything I can to respond to those needs.

ESSENCE: In a poll we conducted with civic engagement group Black Women’s Roundtable last year, we asked our audience to tell us the top three issues they found to be the most critical in deciding whether they would vote for a particular candidate. The issues were affordable health care, living wage and college affordability. How can the middle class participate in the affordable health care plan in the ways they are prevented from doing right now?

HILLARY CLINTON: I was thrilled when President Obama got the Affordable Care Act through. I will be looking to see how we make it truly affordable so that the co-pays, the premiums and the deductibles don’t take such a huge chunk out of a woman’s or a family’s budget. Women are eligible for Medicare starting at age 65, but what about the women between 55 and 65 who are maybe facing health challenges but don’t have Medicare? What about caretakers, all the women who cut back on their work hours or stop their work life to care for a child, a spouse or an elderly relative? They are hurt when it comes to social security, so how do we take care of that? I want to look at this broadly to figure out how we help people get the quality affordable health care that everybody needs and deserves to different points in their life.

ESSENCE: Let’s shift to the second issue. Black women with a bachelor’s degree are making $10,000 less than the average White male with an associate’s degree. How do you plan to address the significant pay gaps for us?

HILLARY CLINTON: More good jobs with rising incomes is the centerpiece of how we’re going to provide a higher standard of living for people. There is still too much explicit and implicit bias in employment, hiring and promoting that, again, disproportionately affect the African-American women. I am in favor of raising the minimum wage, and support the efforts that have already been successful in New York and California to raise it to 15$ per hour. I want to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act so that you’re not retaliated against if you try to find out what you’re paid. Right now if you and I are working for the same company and we’re having lunch together and I say, “Well I’m making X an hour or my salary is Y,” and you say, “But we’re doing the same job and I am making X minus or Y minus,” we could both be fired for that.

ESSENCE: A lot of our readers are excited about your student loan plan. How will it assist those of us with college loan debt, especially those who attended historically Black colleges and universities?

HILLARY CLINTON: From the very moment I rolled out my college affordability plan, I made it very clear that I wanted to get back to where we used to be, where it was possible for someone for someone from a modest-income family to afford to go to college. I have a plan to make four-year public colleges and universities tuition-free. If you make less than $125,000 a year, you should not have to borrow a penny to pay for all their other costs. I also have a really strong commitment to historically Black colleges and billion fund set aside that will help HBCUs be competitive, be able to upgrade their laboratories and be able to provide more financial support to make sure they remain a viable option.

ESSENCE: Why is that important to you?

HILLARY CLINTON: My first boss, Marian Wright Edelman went to Spelman, and another great friend of mine, Vernon Jordan, got his law degree at Howard. I’ve has close friends talk about how that experience was so important in their maturing and that they felt very nurtured—challenged, but nurtured. I have visited a lot of HBCUs and the ones that are the public colleges and universities in a lot of states are being shortchanged when it comes to funding, so they’re having to close departments and buildings. It’s not that these schools don’t have the demand; they still do. They don’t have the resources. I want to provide a floor underneath them. I have a plan to help refinance your debt, to get it paid down, to ensure you pay no more than 10 percent of your income for your debt and to provide relief. If you go into public service, and that includes teaching and law enforcement, we will forgive the rest of your debt after ten years.

ESSENCE: How will you deal with the ongoing issue of police brutality and racial profiling should be elected president?

HILLARY CLINTON: I think there are four issues that we have to address simultaneously. One is policing reform and I think President Obama’s policing commission has excellent recommendations. What I intend to do is use the federal budget to incentivize and catalyze the 18,000 police departments we have in America to follow those kinds of recommendations. I want there to be national guidelines on the use of force, particularly lethal force, that every department would accept and that they would then train their police and hold them accountable. I want independent investigations of any police incident that results in the death of any person.

ESSENCE: Beyond a grand jury?

HILLARY CLINTON: New York, after some of our regrettable, terrible incidents, made the right decision by legislating that the attorney general of the state would take over these investigations. I want to have a better approach to accountability and justice. I want to provide second-chance programs for people coming out of jail and prison, but I want to do much more to divert people from ever getting their in the first place. Honestly, young, Black kids, particularly young Black boys, for being kids. I want to replace the cradle-to-prison pipeline with a cradle-to-college or –career pipeline and really emphasize that.

ESSENCE: Obviously the country is in a very precarious state right now. There’s lots of division and failure to see the other side. How would you bring us all together?

HILLARY CLINTON: I hope that by reaching out to people—especially across the aisle to Republicans as I did when I was First Lady, as senator and as secretary of state—I will demonstrate that I’m walking the walk as well as talking the talk. I know that it takes time and investment of your energy to build relationships, but investment of your energy to build relationships, but there’s no substitute for that. I intend to begin doing that as soon as I possibly can. This will determine what kind of lives we have and certainly what kind of lives our children and grandchildren will have. Are we going to be fairer, more just society with opportunity for all, one that builds an inclusive economic prosperity that people can feel is helping them get ahead? Are we going to stand against discrimination, bigotry, bluster and bullying? Those are all core beliefs that I have about the kind of country that I think we must be, and in our better moments, we are.

ESSENCE: Should there be resistance, how will you push back against that?

HILLARY CLINTON: I expect there will be resistance, but you have to work to find whatever common ground you can. I don’t know if you have seen the wonderful musical “Hamilton” but there is a point where George Washington says that he is going to step down and people are shocked.  But he said, “It’s the right thing to do,” and then he said, “History’s eyes are on us.” I think history’s eyes are still on us. We’ve got to keep working together and that means creating common ground and common purpose wherever we can. There will always be naysayers; there will always be haters. But we can’t let them drive our agenda. What we’re trying to do is much bigger than them and much more hopeful than they even understand. I am going to keep reaching out, and based on my experience I think we can make progress.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: ESSENCE

Clinton Campaign Statement on Trump Doubling Down on Insulting African Americans

Hillary for America Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement Marlon Marshall released the following statement in response to comments made by Donald Trump at a rally in Akron, Ohio.

Today during a rally in Ohio, Donald Trump doubled down on his insults to the African American community, which he leveled during a Friday speech in Michigan. There, he posed the question to African Americans, “What do you have to lose? You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs.” Today, in Akron, Trump continued: “You can go to war zones in countries that we’re fighting and it’s safer than living in some of our inner cities… I ask you this. Crime. All of the problems. To the African Americans who I employ so many — so many people… What the hell do you have to lose? … You’ll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Right now, you walk down the street. You get shot.”

Hillary for America Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement Marlon Marshall released the following statement in response:

“It could not be clearer how much African Americans have to lose under Donald Trump. He is doubling down on insults, fear and stereotypes that set our community back and further divide our country. But again this is not surprising, this is a man who questions the citizenship of the first African American president, has a disturbing pattern of courting white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color.

As demonstrated by his bigotry and actions, Donald Trump is unfit and unqualified to be President. We cannot afford this out of touch and divisive thinking in the White House, which is why we must take nothing for granted and work as hard as we can to make sure Hillary Clinton is our next president.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: The Columbus Dispatch

Hillary Clinton Addresses the NAACP

On Monday, Hillary Clinton spoke during the NAACP Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. During her speech, Clinton declared that the violence and “madness has to stop.” She said that as president she would push for reforms in law enforcement, and she condemned the killing of police officers following the murder of three officers yesterday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She said, “There is, as you know so well, another hard truth at the heart of this complex matter: Many African-Americans fear the police.” Clinton vowed to work toward bridging the gap between the African American community and local police forces. A video from the event is below and a transcript of her speech is available HERE.

Following the event, Clinton traveled to the University of Cincinnati where she spoke at a local voter registration drive. She spoke about the importance of the 2016 election, and how important it is for voters to send a clear message that they do not stand for the divisive beliefs of Republican Donald Trump. She urged volunteers to continue registering Ohioans to vote and plans to spread her message across the country. A video of Clinton’s speech is below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The New York Times, Fortune, WCPO

Clinton Speaks at African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia

On Friday evening, Hillary Clinton spoke in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Clinton spoke about the events of the week: the police killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; the police shooting of Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota; and the sniper attack in Dallas, Texas that killed five police officers and wounded several others. Clinton said that each of the killings were “senseless” and condemned violence saying, “We know there is something wrong in this country. There is too much violence, too much hate, too much senseless killing. Too many people dead who shouldn’t be.”

Clinton spoke about the racial divide that only seems to be growing saying, “As we know, there is clear evidence that African-Americans are much more likely to be killed in police incidents than any other group of Americans. And we know there is too little trust in too many places between police and the communities they are sworn to protect.” Clinton said that good law enforcement officers far outnumber those who are bad and a violent response to violence is not the answer. The protest in Dallas yesterday was peaceful and police were there to monitor the crowds and ensure the protesters’ safety when they were fired upon by a sniper. Clinton spoke about her proposal to invest $1 billion in police training across the county to ensure the safety of law enforcement officers as well as the general public. A video of Clinton’s speech is below and a transcript can be read HERE.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Philadelphia Magazine, Penn Live

Hillary Clinton Statement on the Death of Alton Sterling

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton commented on the death of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sterling was shot and killed during an arrest. Videos of the arrest seemingly show that his death was unnecessary. The investigation into Sterling’s death has been turned over to the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights and the two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Clinton released a statement in which she says that she is glad the Department of Justice has taken over the investigation, and called for justice reform to rebuild the trust between the public and law enforcement.

“The death of Alton Sterling is a tragedy, and my prayers are with his family, including his five children. From Staten Island to Baltimore, Ferguson to Baton Rouge, too many African American families mourn the loss of a loved one from a police-involved incident. Something is profoundly wrong when so many Americans have reason to believe that our country doesn’t consider them as precious as others because of the color of their skin.

I am glad the Department of Justice has agreed to a full and thorough review of this shooting. Incidents like this one have undermined the trust between police departments and the communities they serve. We need to rebuild that trust. We need to ensure justice is served. That begins with common sense reforms like ending racial profiling, providing better training on de-escalation and implicit bias, and supporting municipalities that refer the investigation and prosecution of police-involved deaths to independent bodies. All over America, there are police officers demonstrating how to protect the public without resorting to unnecessary force. We need to learn from and build on those examples.

Progress is possible if we stand together and never waver in our fight to secure the future that every American deserves.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: USA Today

Hillary Clinton Second in Wisconsin Primary

On Tuesday, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the Wisconsin primary. The final results had Sanders over Clinton 56.6% to 43.1%. While the vote may not have been as close as Clinton’s camp would like, the delegate count remained in Clinton’s favor with Sanders only gaining a handful of delegates. The next primary event in Wyoming’s Caucus on Saturday, April 9.

Meanwhile, Clinton was in New York campaigning for their upcoming primary on April 19. Speaking at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, Clinton focused on women’s rights and women’s issues. She spoke about topics such as reproductive rights, criminal justice, and economics. Clinton particularly focused on the the minimum wage and how it disproportionality affects women and minority women in particular. Clinton said, “I’m particularly concerned about girls and women, being one myself. But more than that because we still have a long way to go before we can honestly say to our daughters, ‘Yes you can be anything you want to be, including president of the United States.’” A video from the event is below.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Politico, International Business Times, NY1

Clintons Campaign while SC Votes

On the day of the South Carolina primary, Hillary and Bill Clinton attended separate events in different states in preparation for super Tuesday. Eleven states and one Territory will cast their primary ballots on March 1 (Click here to see a full list). Bill attended two events in Oklahoma. The first was in Edmond where he spoke at the University of Central Oklahoma. During his speech, Bill framed his wife as a change-maker with the experience necessary to move the country forward. He referred to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address saying, “That beautiful picture the President painted of the future; still a whole lot of Americans can’t look at that picture and find themselves in it to save their lives. That’s the space in which this election is being fought out. Hillary is running for President to put every single American in that picture without regard of their age, their region, their gender or their race, or religion.”

#BillClinton "other people want to build walls, #Hillary2016 says let's build ladders of empowerment" #FOX23 pic.twitter.com/VZ88eY5tpH

— Tiffany Alaniz (@TiffanyAlaniz) February 27, 2016

Bill’s second event was in Tulsa where he spoke at Booker T. Washington High School. He was introduced by Cherokee Nation Chief Bill John Baker and spoke about Hillary’s broad background and determination to make a difference. He spoke about her plans for health care, higher education, and clean energy. Of Hillary he said, “Here’s what I know — something about being president. I know something about building an inclusive economy and defending the country — you got to do them both. You can’t predict you can do one part of the job and not another. She’s the single best change-maker I’ve ever known.” A video from the event is below.

Bill then spoke at a Get Out the Vote event in Montgomery, Alabama. Speaking at Alabama State University, Bill said that that too many Americans do not share in the country’s prosperity, and that Hillary has plans to change that. Her platform is built on giving everyone an opportunity to better themselves. Bill wrapped up the event early after struggling with hoarseness, but he asked voters to support Hillary on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Hillary was in Birmingham. She began the day by visiting downtown Birmingham for coffee and to chat with voters at the Urban Standard. Then, she spoke at a Get Out the Vote event held on the campus of Miles College. Speaking to the crowd of 2,300, Clinton spoke about her plans to raise the minimum wage, enact criminal justice reform, and fight voting restrictions. Clinton criticized Alabama Republicans for making it more difficult for African-Americans to vote, and she criticized the comments and plans of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. A full video from the event is below.

Tonight, Hillary will be in Columbia, South Carolina as the results from today’s primary are reported. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: AL.com, News On 6, News 9, AL.com, The Plainsman

Hillary Clinton Interviewed by BET

On Sunday evening, Hillary Clinton was interviewed for a BET special called “Black Votes Matter.” For the special, each of the Democratic candidates, Clinton and Bernie Sanders, were interviewed separately. Clinton spoke about her plans to end mass incarceration in the African-American community, improve small business opportunities,  and how she would build upon the progress of President Barack Obama. The full special is available on BET.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: International Business Times, CNN

Clinton Wins Nevada Caucus

Today, Hillary Clinton won the Democratic Nevada caucus over Bernie Sanders. As of this posting, with 87% of precincts reporting, Clinton’s lead over Sanders is 52.5% to 47.4%. Clinton received strong support from women and the African-American community. During her victory speech at the Caesars Palace ballroom in Las Vegas, Clinton dedicated the win to “hotel and casino workers who never wavered” and “the thousands of men and women with kids to raise, bills to pay and dreams that won’t die.” A video from Clinton’s victory party is below.

The next primary is in South Carolina and will be held on February 27. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The New York Times

Hillary Clinton in Iowa and Philadelphia on Wednesday

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton attended a Get out the Caucus event in Iowa before heading to Philadelphia. In Adel, Clinton spoke at the Adel Family Fun Center, a bowling alley whose owner, Bryce Smith, she met last year. She wanted to hold an event at the center because of what Smith has done for the community. Clinton then spoke about her plans for the economy, climate change, clean energy, and heath care. A video from the event is below.

Clinton then went to Philadelphia where she met with African American ministers at Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church in Society Hill. She discussed women’s heath, equal pay, the economy, and criminal justice reform. She told them that, “I want to be your partner, not just your president.” Following the meeting, Clinton then attended a fundraiser in Philadelphia which included a performance by Jon Bon Jovi.

Today, Clinton will attend fundraisers in New York before returning to Iowa. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The New York Times, NBC 10