by Erica Brown

WASHINGTON (NNPA) —Members of Congress and distinguished guests packed the Rayburn Room of the U.S. capitol, anxiously awaiting Con­gress’ first formal commemoration of the African-American slaves who built the capitol.

Rep. John Lewis D-Ga., a renowned leader in the Civil Rights Movement and chairman of the Slave Task Force, an organization dedicated to commemorating the African-American contributions to the capitol, unveiled two plaques June 16, honoring the slaves whose labor greatly contributed to the alluring framework of the capitol building.

FORMAL COMMEMORATION—Plaques recognizing the contributions of slave labor in the construction of the U.S. Capitol Building will be placed in Emancipation Hall in the Congressional Visitor’s ­Center.

“With these plaques…we recognize the blood, sweat and toil of the enslaved African-Americans that helped construct this embodiment of our democracy,” said Lewis. “…We are one step closer to realizing a dream of an all-inclusive and more perfect union.”

by Julie Pace

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP)—Talk about a meaty agenda.

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took a break from bilateral meetings at the White House June 24 to make a burger run.

BURGER RUN—President Barack Obama and Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev eat burgers during an unscheduled visit to Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., June 24.

Traveling by motorcade, the two presidents ventured to Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., a popular hamburger joint just outside the nation’s capital. Obama ate there last year with Vice President Joe Biden.

A cheer went up from customers when the presidents walked in.

During their meal, Obama and Medvedev sat at a table with their interpreters, sharing a conversation through them.

by Bruce Smith

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP)—Voters in South Carolina nominated a Black Republican lawmaker for an open congressional seat June 22, rejecting a legendary political name and adding diversity to the national party.

State Rep. Tim Scott defeated Paul Thurmond, an attorney who is son of the one-time segregationist U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond. Scott, who won the runoff with 69 percent of the vote, is now poised to become the nation’s first Black GOP congressman since 2003.

TIM SCOTT

Scott, 44, owns an insurance business and became the first Black Republican in the South Carolina Legislature in more than a century when elected two years ago. Before that, he served 13 years on Charleston County Council and was elected chairman four times.

Week of July 2-8

July 2

1777—Vermont becomes first U.S. territory to abolish slavery. By 1783, New Hampshire and Massachusetts had followed Vermont’s lead. The abolition of slavery was formally placed in the Vermont Constitution which was formally adopted on July 8, 1777. A major force in the early abolition movement was a group known as the Rights of Man Movement.

1822—Denmark Vesey and five of his co-conspirators were hung in Charleston, S.C. Vesey’s “crime” had been the organization of the largest slave rebellion in American history. But the insurrection was betrayed by a “house slave” before it could be implemented. Vesey was actually a former slave who had purchased his freedom.