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January 20th, 2016 
Awake Goy From the other side, Melina Abdullah, one of the original members of the Black Lives Matter movement, said that members of the CBC have been supportive of their efforts and have advocated for them. But she said more work is needed.
“We need black elected officials and representatives to authentically represent black communities. We believe Black Lives Matter has been a part of the conversation to make it all right again to say the word ‘black’ and to be unapologetically black,” said Abdullah, who chairs the Department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. “We want our black officials to be unapologetically black and need them to advocate for the specific empowerment of black people.”
While Butterfield said the caucus’ top priority is to “reflect the goals of our constituents,” others have expressed skepticism that congressional lawmakers can fully reflect the concerns and desires of the people.
Professor James Peterson, director of Africana studies at Lehigh University who speaks frequently about the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, said the CBC has a hard time functioning in a way that best benefits black Americans. He pointed to the pernicious effects of big money in politics, the gerrymandering of congressional districts and the lack of effective accountability to the voters.
In fairness, Peterson said, there are “a lot of good people in the CBC. They are still extremely relevant to black lives … [and] they are suffering the same injustices as all of us.”
But, he said, the CBC “is not very representative. Black folks are far more progressive and far more leftist than those that represent us. The Senate and House aren’t representative of the crux of the American people. I’m not singling them [CBC members] out. They are a part of the institution.”
With the plight of black America back in the spotlight, however, there is general agreement that a dual-pronged attack on the street and in the halls of Congress can achieve more.
The CBC and Black Lives Matter both have things they’d like to see from the other group this year.
Many CBC members, including Payne and Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), said the way to obtain truer representation in government is to get out and vote. Rose and Abdullah want more engagement and face time between the caucus and black millennials, and they’d like to see lawmakers physically standing on the front lines.
Butterfield said that the CBC is a part of Black Lives Matter, just one that is pushing for change in a separate way.
“I learned when I first got to Congress we are not the minority caucus. We are the black caucus. And we will promote that everyday,” Butterfield said. “We have identical values with Black Lives Matter. We understand the importance of peaceful confrontation and to confront injustice. We must join hands and do even more.”
Source Article from https://www.popularresistance.org/black-lives-matter-wants-more-help-from-congressional-black-caucus/
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