Here's What To Expect-- And What To Push For-- This Black History Month

1. Police Reform: Last month, President Biden announced forthcoming executive action to revive the issue of police reform. One of his five biggest campaign promises was to create a national commission to bring activists and law enforcement together to pass police reform, which can be done via executive order. While the DOJ has undone the Trump administration's restrictions on police reform, Congress should pass the budget multiplying the DOJ's ability to conduct pattern-or-practice investigations, and the DOJ should announce more than one of these investigations this month. President Biden should also sign a second executive action increasing DOJ oversight of police and perhaps a third overhauling the federal policing system, which would fulfill his major campaign promises on policing and spur action on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. 
2. Appoint U.S. Marshals: President Biden has been appointing federal judges and U.S. attorneys at record pace. However, he has only appointed two U.S. marshals to date. In the same vein as police reform, appointing more U.S. marshals of color would be a pertinent goal for February 2022.
3. Pass The Build Back Better Act: The Build Back Better Act would be the most significant racial justice bill since the Civil Rights Act. It would provide full funding to HBCUs, reduce the health insurance disparity for black and brown Americans, reduce the high black maternal mortality rate, and provide 40 percent of clean energy benefits to communities of color.
4. Student Loans: According to the White House, President Biden is currently making a decision on whether or not to issue broad student loan cancellation. He has already cancelled $15 billion in student loans for more than 1.2 million Americans, extended the student loan pause through May, and aggressively opposed efforts by student loan companies to defraud consumers; however, he could sign an executive order to wipe out student loan debt entirely for nearly 20 million people if he wanted to, which would especially help Americans of color.
5. Help For Haiti: Congress is finalizing the Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Act, major legislation that provides a path forward in Haiti with input from the Haitian American community.

Done:

1. On January 31st, 2022, President Biden signed the Willie O'Ree Congressional Gold Medal Act, giving the nation's highest civilian honor to the NHL's first black player.
2. On February 2nd, 2022, President Biden appointed his 16th black female nominee, Stephanie Dawkins Davis, to the federal bench.
3. On February 4th, 2022, the House of Representatives included the SAFE Banking Act as an amendment to the America COMPETES Act. It is unlikely to make it into the final legislation, but it serves as a good indication that Congress has not forgotten drug reform. The very same day, Schumer announced that marijuana decriminalization or legalization at the federal level would officially be voted on in April, likely the MORE Act, which would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and may even get some Republican votes. Meanwhile, states acted at a record pace to advance marijuana legislation.
4. On February 18th, 2022, Kim Potter was sentenced to two years in prison for the manslaughter of Daunte Wright.
5. On February 19th, 2022, Elana Meyers Taylor, already the most decorated black female athlete in Winter Olympics history, became the most decorated black athlete in Winter Olympics history, winning a bronze and a silver medal in Beijing. 
6. On February 22nd, 2022, weeks after a federal judge rejected a plea deal for the men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and a day after the prosecution and the defense gave their closing arguments in the federal hate crimes trial, a jury found all three men guilty of federal hate crimes charges carrying life in prison.
7. On February 24th, 2022, J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane were convicted of denying George Floyd access to medical care while Kueng and Thao were also convicted of not intervening to stop Derek Chauvin from murdering Floyd. All now face sentences of up to life in prison.
8. On February 28th, 2022, the House of Representatives ended Black History Month with a bang, passing the long-overdue Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which was passed by the Senate on March 7th, 2022 and was signed into law on March 31st, 2022.
9. President Biden signed the Six Triple Eight Congressional Gold Medal Act, a law to award the nation's highest honor to the only unit of black female soldiers deployed overseas during World War II.
10. Throughout winter and spring 2022, the unemployment rates for black and brown Americans returned to pre-pandemic lows.
11. On April 7th, 2022, the Senate confirmed KBJ as the first black woman, fourth person of color, third black person, first public defender, and sixth woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, bringing the total number of women on the Supreme Court to four for the first time in U.S. history.