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by TheaGood
on 26/2/17
FEW THINGS ABOUT THE NEW DNC CHAIRMAN
Thomas Edward "Tom" Perez was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, to parents Grace (née Altagracia Brache Bernard)
NAME INDICATES SHEPARDI ANCESTRY
and Rafael Antonio de Jesús Pérez Lara, who were both first-generation Dominican immigrants.
His father, who earned U.S. citizenship after enlisting in the U.S. Army after World War II, worked as a doctor in Atlanta, Georgia, before moving to Buffalo, where he worked as a physician at a Veterans Affairs hospital.
His mother, Grace, came to the United States in 1930 after her father, Rafael Brache, was appointed as the Dominican Republic's Ambassador to the United States. Brache was initially an ally of Rafael Trujillo, but after a falling out he was declared an enemy of the state, forcing he and his family to remain in the United States.

Perez is the youngest of five brothers and sisters, all of whom but Perez followed their father in becoming physicians.

Perez received his Bachelor of Arts in international relations and political science from Brown University in 1983.
He covered the cost of attending Brown with scholarships and Pell Grants and by working as a trash collector and in a warehouse.He also worked in Brown's dining hall and for the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights.
In 1987, Perez received a Juris Doctor cum laude from Harvard Law School and a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
In 1986, while a student at Harvard, Perez worked as a law clerk for Attorney General Edwin Meese.
From 1989 to 1995, he worked as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division where he prosecuted civil rights cases.
From 1995 until 1998, Perez worked as Democratic Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy's principal adviser on civil rights, criminal justice, and constitutional issues
For the final two years of the Clinton administration, he worked as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
From 2001 to 2007, Perez was a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, where he taught in the clinical law and law and health program.
In March 2013, Perez was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States Secretary of Labor, replacing outgoing Secretary Hilda Solis. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 18 and sworn in on July 23, 2013.

Perez announced his candidacy for Chair of the Democratic National Committee in the 2017 election on December 15, 2016. On February 25, 2017, Perez was elected Chairman on a second ballot. Minutes after being elected, Perez named Keith Ellison as deputy chair.

Perez was backed by Maryland's State Teachers Association and the Service Employees International Union(SEIU) & AFL-CIO and other labor groups.
Perez revamped Justice Department efforts in pursuing federal settlements and consent agreements under the Americans With Disabilities Act.One of Perez's main focuses was on the discrimination of individuals with HIV/AIDS.
n 2009, the Civil Rights Division under Perez's tenure filed suit against two schools in New York for "alleged violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The plaintiff, a 14-year-old high school student from Mohawk, New York, who "dyes his hair, and wears make-up and nail polish,"was subjected to verbal sex-based harassment and was "threatened, intimidated, and physically assaulted based on his non-masculine expression."( J.L. v Mohawk Central School District)
This was the first time since the Clinton administration that Title IX was applied to gender identity discrimination.
The Civil Rights Division reached a settlement with the Anoka-Hennepin School District in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, after the districts school board voted to repeal its policy prohibiting teachers from mentioning homosexuality in the classroom.Students who brought the lawsuit accused the district of creating a "hostile, anti-gay environment" and not doing enough to protect LGBT students
http://www.ibtimes.com/gay-bullying-protections-agreed-minnesota-school-district-422006
--WIKIPEDIA