Free Market Social Security Reform Would Benefit Minorities – December 1998
African-Americans are being short-changed by the existing Social Security system. The African-American leadership network Project 21 says President Bill Clinton should use the White House symposium he has convened this week to ponder the future of Social Security as a forum to consider popular reform proposals that privatize the existing ...
Who’s a Leader? by Kimberly Wilson
It has been said that there is a crisis in black leadership. I agree. But as a black woman, more and more, I find myself questioning the term "black leader." Who really is a black leader? Is it Al Sharpton at his most outrageous? Is it Khalid Abdul Muhammad when ...
The Ring Does Matter, by Mike Ramey
Lots of good news was broadcast over the nation's airwaves during the past few months. Drug use among young people decreased. More young adults are discovering the joys of marriage. The number of out-of-wedlock births is also trending downward. Of the three, the social custom of marriage becoming increasingly "acceptable" ...
The Money Trail to Better Education, by Star Parker
In recently donating $100 million to allow 50,000 needy children to attend private school, investment banker Ted Forstmann and Wal-Mart executive John Walton will do far more to improve the education of inner-city youths than philanthropist Walter Annenberg's much-vaunted $500 million gift to public schools could ever do. To understand ...
Black Folks and Bill Clinton, by Kimberly Wilson
One of the more frequent comments made during the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal is that black people are solidly in the President's corner. Polls show as many as 85% of us support Bill Clinton. I'm one who's not so sure about that. Polls are not are the final word. I don't recall ...
A Taxing Proposition: Should the Working Poor Finance New Government Spending? by Faye Anderson
On November 3, California voters will cast their votes for or against Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative. If passed, the measure would increase the tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack to fund early childhood development programs. California's status as a bellwether state gives every American ...
Protect the Black Middle Class: Cut Taxes Now! – September 1998
STATEMENT OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERSHIP NETWORK PROJECT 21 AT A SEPTEMBER 8, 1998 PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB IN WASHINGTONIt must be the duty of our elected leaders in Congress to act quickly and decisively to provide tax relief to the American people. It is absurd that the ...
New Cool vs. Old School, by Mike Ramey
We have heard a lot of talk about the youth of today. We have heard how "unreliable" or "unrespectful" they can be toward adult authority. Yet, how many of us "old folks" have actually taken the time to sit down with our youth to find out what makes them tick? ...
The Moral Cost of Political Unity, by J. Douglas Minor
Past persecution of African-Americans by our own government and the bull's-eyes historically painted on our leaders plays a significant role in the African-American community's unyielding support and affinity for President Clinton. "They're out to get him," is the mantra, "just like they were out to get Huey, Malcolm, Martin," etc ...
Black Leadership Network Warns Color Chasm in Cyberspace is Real Threat to Black Progress – August 1998
Two recent studies, by Vanderbilt University researchers and the Commerce Department, have found a major disparity between black and white Americans in the digital world.The studies show that white families are more than twice as likely as black and Hispanic families to own home computers. The Commerce Department report, "Falling ...
We are Part of an Abusive Family, by C. Mason Weaver
In 1996 and 1997, I predicted on the radio show I host that Bill Clinton would be brought down by actions committed before he moved to Washington. I was right. The Paula Jones lawsuit, concerning actions Clinton took while he was governor of Arkansas, led to Monica Lewinsky. The President's ...
Our Private Sex Lives Matter, by Patricia Funderburke Ware
As a recently re-married African-American woman who was a single mom for about twenty years, I strongly believe our private sex lives do matter. I believe they have an indirect but significant impact on many of the economic, educational, health, racial and criminal justice problems in this country. Our inability, ...
It’s OK to Leave the Plantation: A Book Review, by Kimberley Wilson
Author and commentator Clarence Mason Weaver has a message for Black America: It's OK to Leave the Plantation. That's the title of his new book, and the sum of his message. Some people might wonder just what Weaver means. After all, the classic plantation system was destroyed at the end ...
Blacks say Shays/Meehan Campaign Reform Bill Would Have Chilling Effect on Minority Political Speech – July 1998
Black Leadership Network Project 21 says that H.R. 3526 would make it harder for ethnic and racial minority, women and non-mainstream voices to be heard Members of the Black leadership network Project 21 say that the campaign finance reform legislation by Representatives Chris Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA), which ...
Black Leadership Drops the Ball on Minority AIDS Epidemic – July 1998
Devastating Families and Communities Black leadership network Project 21 says AIDS among minorities is a public health emergency that can no longer be ignored by the black community and its leadersWhile thousands of experts on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland for the World AIDS Conference, many ...
Do Standardized Tests Add Up? by LisaRose Blanchette
As a teacher preparing to enter my 11th year at the front of the classroom, I feel the need to comment about the weight placed on standardized test scores. It's not about improving the students. Instead, it is all about getting more money. A standardized test has little to do ...
Congress Takes a Byte Out of the FCC, by Faye Anderson
The millennium computer bug has bitten Vice President Al Gore. I'm not talking about the Y2K programming crisis. Gore's gigabyte-size problem stems from his role as head cheerleader for the Clinton administration's plan to wire all schools and libraries to the Internet by the year 2000. Under the Federal Communication ...
Marion Barry: Last of the Black Emperors, by Kimberley Wilson
On May 21, 1998, Marion Barry announced to the world that he would not be a candidate for a fifth term as mayor of Washington, D.C. I hardly know whether to laugh or cry. Marion and the city of Washington have been locked in a long and sometimes torturous embrace ...
Morality Over Money, by Mike Ramey
I recently saw a very interesting and funny video entitled "Afros and Bellbottoms." It featured the well-known African-American comic and television talk show host Sinbad. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical. With many comics making fortunes by tossing around jokes about bodily functions, four-letter words and sexual situations like ...
Blacks Say New Study Gives Cause for State of Emergency Over Minority Reading Skills – May 1998
Black Leadership Network Says Study Shows Drastic Measures Must Be Considered to Increase Reading Capabilities of Minority Children Responding to the shocking results of a study on educational quality in New York State, members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are calling for a state of emergency to be ...
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