Spotted: Alicia Keys speaking with Pres. Obama

Getty

Singer Alicia Keys was in Washington, DC yesterday to commemorate World AIDS Day and also had an opportunity to meet Pres. Obama. They were both guests at an event hosted by the ONE Campaign and (RED) at George Washington University. During the event, President Obama announced new funding of $50 million to support treatment of AIDS here in the US. Also spotted in the crowd were Rep. Barbara Lee and singer Bono, both HIV/AIDS activists.  

Spotted: Eleanor Holmes Norton participating in the National Food Stamp Challenge at Safeway

Tom Williams

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was spotted at Safeway grocery store yesterday with local DC resident Vanessa Sherrie to kick off the National Food Stamp Challenge. The challenge asks participants spend $31.50 on a week's worth of groceries, which is the average allotment of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly called Food Stamps. Also seen with Del. Norton was Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky, (D-Ill), and Donna Christensen, (D-V.I).

Photos: Congressional Black Caucus celebrates 40 years

Spotted: Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee at the Libyan Embassy

Around the Web: Women Politicians in The New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine

The New York Times Magazine wrote a great piece called, "Tough Cookies" (love the name) on how many political women often get overlooked in today's media. Most Americans are familiar with names like Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi or even a Michelle Bachmann who recently made a name for herself in the past couple of months, but what about the many other women who are standing on the front lines fighting to get things done in our nation's capitol. This article actually reminded me of why I started Political Girl in the first place - to highlight the great work of political women that the mainstream doesn't cover and to encourage more young women to get involved.

Political women like Pelosi, Lee and Boxer are the main event because they work hard for majority issues, stay civil in the face of opposition and benefit from the gender gap; that is, the difference between male and female voting patterns on issues that are even more critical to women than to men. So do senators like Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, as well as Congresswomen like Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Maxine Waters of California, Carolyn Maloney of New York and Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia — to name a few.

You can go here to finish reading the article.

President Obama names Post Office afer Civil Rights Leader Dr. Dorthy Height

President Barack Obama signed into law a bill naming a Washington, DC post office after civil rights leader Dr. Dorothy Height earlier today. The bill, H.R. 6118, was introduced into legislation by Eleanor Holmes Norton and was supported by other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who are pictured above. Dr. Height was the president of the National Council of Negro Women and died in early April. The post office will now be named Dorothy I. Height Post Office. This is the first time a federal building in Washington, DC has been named for an African American woman.

I had the chance to meet Dr. Height a couple of months before she passed and I must say she was everything that I thought she was. Even at 98, she was so kind and full of wisdom, and gladly took questions from our group. I pray that she is resting in peace.