Black Members Of Congress Wearing Kente Cloth For The State Of The Union Address (2019)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about some members of the United States Congressional Black Caucus wearing kente cloth stoles or sashes for President Donald Trump's State Of The Union Addresses (2018 and 2019)

Part II presents video documentation of some members of the United States Congressional Black Caucus wearing kente cloth stoles or sashes for President Donald Trump's State Of The Union Addresses (2019)

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/02/black-members-of-congress-wearing-kente.html for Part I of this series. Part I present article excerpts and video documentation of some members of the United States Congressional Black Caucus wearing kente cloth stoles or sashes for President Donald Trump's State Of The Union Address (2018).

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these articles and YouTube videos.
-snip-
Click https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kente_cloth for general information about kente cloth. Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/kente-cloth-worn-by-american-gospel.html "Kente Cloth Worn By American Gospel Choirs" for one of several previous pancocojams post about the African American custom of wearing kente cloth to symbolize African heritage and as an expression of achievement.

****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
Far fewer Black Congressional Caucus members wore kente cloth for President Trump's State Of The Union Address in 2019 than wore kente cloth at the State Of The Union Address in 2018.

I've found no articles or videos about wearing kente cloth for the 2019 State Of The Union Address and only one comment within an article (found below) about kente cloth and the STOU 2019.

In 2018 kente cloth was worn by many Black Congressmen and Congresswomen as a protest against Trump. It appears that in 2019 wearing a kente cloth stole or sash* was meant to serve as a statement of pride in the person's African heritage, a remembrance of and homage to certain Black women activists, and/or a fashion accessory.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-nancy-pelosi-apos-sotu-193600309.html points out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wore a white suit along with the freshman class of Democratic women in Congress "in solidarity with women's rights."

That article clarifies that, besides House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it was only the new (Democratic) Congresswomen (regardless of race) who planned to wear white suits (including pants suits) or white dresses for the 2019 State of Union Address. Some of these women chose to accessorize their white clothing with scarfs or jewelry, or shawls, or wore white suit jackets with black bordering. And, as this post documents, some of the incoming Black Congresswomen wore a kente cloth stole.

I also noticed at least one Black Congressman wearing a kente cloth stole. However, he (and others) could have done for other purposes.

As was the case in 2018, it appears that in 2019 no non-Black Congressperson wore kente cloth at the State Of The Union Address.
-snip-

A "stole" is placed around a person's neck with both ends hanging down in the front.

A "sash" is the cloth doubled up so that one end hangs over one shoulder.

****
VIDEO EXAMPLES OF BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS WEARING KENTE CLOTH FOR THE STATE OF THE UNION 2019
Video #1: President Donald Trump Acknowledges Largest Number Of Women In Congress In History | NBC News



NBC News, Published on Feb 5, 2019

President Trump paid several tributes to the contributions of women in America in his State of the Union address and acknowledged the largest number of women in Congress in U.S. history.

****
Video #2: Female House Dems organize 'white out' at State of the Union



Fox News, Published on Feb 5, 2019

Congresswomen wear white as a sign of unity, support for women during Trump's SOTU address; Ed Henry explains. #Tucker #FoxNews
-snip-
.022 - A Black Congressman can be seen wearing an orange kente cloth stole over his suit at .022 in this video

.036 - Two Black congresswomen can be seen wearing different color combination kente cloths stoles.

****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.