Project 21: Archives

"As AIDS continues to ravage black communities in America, we as members and associates of the black leadership group Project 21 are urging you to give serious attention to provisions contained in the 'HIV Prevention Act of 1997' as a means of combating AIDS in the black community," wrote 28 affiliates of the African-American leadership group Project 21 in a May 6 letter addressed to Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Maxine Waters and sent to the entire Caucus. "The difference in treatment of AIDS from all other contagious diseases is impeding early detection of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS," said ...

The Honorable Maxine Waters Chairwoman Congressional Black Caucus 2344 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Madam Chairwoman: As AIDS continues to ravage black communities in America, we as members and associates of the black leadership group Project 21 are urging you to give serious attention to provisions contained in the "HIV Prevention Act of 1997" as a means of combating AIDS in the black community. Key components of the legislation include the following: 1) A confidential national HIV reporting effort. Currently, states do not report cases of HIV infections, but of AIDS, the endstage of HIV to the Centers for ...

by Roderick Conrad A New Visions Commentary paper published May 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.When names like Arthur Ashe, Rock Hudson, and Kimberly Bergalis are mentioned, people automatically think of AIDS or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The fact that most Americans would know that Ashe, Hudson and Bergalis died of AIDS is in no small part due to the enormous attention HIV and AIDS have received in the press for over a decade ...

by Camille Harper A New Visions Commentary paper published May 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited. A recent publication of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) offers "...help in applying advertising, marketing and public relations strategies to create more effective programs..." The use of these strategies, according to the publication, results in a community which "absorbs the information, understands the supporting resources available, and is motivated to act." This particular publication deals with child ...

by Michael Sharp A New Visions Commentary paper published May 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited. By now I'm sure that you've heard about golfer Fuzzy Zoeller's comments regarding Tiger Woods. When asked about Tiger's possible choice of a menu for the Champion's Dinner picked by the winner of The Master's golf tournament, Zoeller warned Tiger not to pick fried chicken and collard greens. Predictably, the media is appropriately disgusted and the corporate entities involved are ...

President Clinton is in a funny mood these days. On June 23 he gave a gloomy speech complaining that official Washington is: gloomy. Saying "You listen to some of these people talk in the nation's capital, you'd think that they spent the whole morning sucking lemons," the President boasted of his own unifying influence: "I have done everything I can as president to heal the kind of divisive, destructive political climate that has come to dominate too much of the discourse in Washington." But has he? Nine days before his "gloomy" speech the President's topic du jour was race, and ...

For Immediate Release: April 25, 1997 Contact: Arturo Silva 202/543-4110 or [email protected] An impending Executive Order by President Clinton will exclude many black Americans from competing equally for contracts or subcontracts on federal construction projects, say members of the African-American leadership group Project 21. "The Executive Order will make it extraordinarily difficult for smaller non-union firms to get federal contracts," says Project 21 member Peter Kirsanow, Labor Counsel for the Cleveland law firm of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff. "It is akin to a Davis Bacon Act on steroids, effectively barring black-owned firms, the majority of which are non-union, from ...

For Release: April 22, 1997 Contact: Arturo Silva (202) 507-6398 or [email protected] The recent documentary "When We Were Kings," depicting the issues and events surrounding the historic 1974 Muhammed Ali-George Foreman championship fight in Zaire had me thinking "Who Are Our Queens?" There's not a doubt in my mind, if you're talking about the queens of American history, especially the history of blacks in America, Sojourner Truth is one of our queens. While she may have not been respected as a queen in 1921 when the suffrage statue of three white feminists was built, I'm here in 1997 to make ...

by Faye Anderson (Faye Anderson, a member of the national Advisory Committee of the African-American leadership group Project 21, is President of the Douglass Policy Institute, a tax-exempt public policy education and research organization.)A New Visions Commentary paper published April 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.With the unveiling of President Clinton's race initiative and the introduction of the Civil Rights Act of 1997, affirmative action is once again on the national public policy agenda. The call for ...

"Repeal Affirmative Action Now!" screamed the headline of a recent article by Ward Connerly, the man primarily responsible for California's passage of the controversial Proposition 209, which ended racial preferences state-wide. Connerly argues that now is the perfect time for opponents of racial preferences to make their move -- and, indeed, it is. Ever since President Clinton's speech calling for support of racial preferences, the country has been awash in editorials decrying the practice, and polls have come out showing widespread disapproval. To quote Connerly, "If the President's opponents are unable to capitalize on this opportunity, there are only two ...

by Michael Sharp (Michael Sharp, a member of the national Advisory Council of the African-American leadership group Project 21, is a freelance writer and hydrogen plant operator in Freemont, Ohio.) A New Visions Commentary paper published April 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail project[email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.When I became 15, my family life was turned upside-down. My parents divorced. After the divorce my sister and I remained in the custody of my mother. Everything remained basically the same. We stayed ...

by C. Mason Weaver (C. Mason Weaver, a member of the national Advisory Committee of the African-American leadership group Project 21, is President of The Committee to Restore America located in Oceanside, California.) A New Visions Commentary paper published April 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.The "Ebonic Plague" has reached epidemic proportions. When school administrators in Oakland, California, proposed teaching "Ebonics" as a second language, many citizens did not know that "Black English" was already part ...

by Michael Sharp (Michael Sharp, a member of the national Advisory Council of the African-American leadership group Project 21, is a freelance writer in Freemont, Ohio.) A New Visions Commentary paper published March 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.There is no feeling quite like the sensation that you get when you are truly in tune with nature. I have to admit, though, that nowadays that feeling is getting harder and harder to re-capture. Due to everyone's ...

by Stuart PiglerA New Visions Commentary paper published March 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Ct., N.E., Washington, DC 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax 202-543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.The following is a statement entered into the Congressional Record by Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI), the only statement given by a United States Senator of either party in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day: "I rise today in recognition of a great man who did much to change our nation for the better. Before he was struck down by an assassin's bullet, ...

(Delivered at a Capitol Hill press conference on March 20, 1997)Contact: Arturo Silva at (202) 543-4110 or [email protected] Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the African-American group Project 21, I have spoken on tax and other issues that do not usually strike my opponents as being "black issues." The capital gains tax is one of those issues. It's a rich man's tax, my critics say, why are you opposed to it? Besides resenting the implication that black people as a whole are poor, I object to the capital gains tax, the estate tax, and similar taxes because I believe they're ...

A ground-breaking new research study surveying 441 charities serving low-income communities has found a whopping 89% report that government regulations impede their ability to serve the poor. The two-year study by the African-American leadership group Project 21 is an in-depth research survey cataloging the substantial burden borne by charities that find themselves caught between the competing needs of low-income communities and the demands of government bureaucrats. The report, Black America 1997: How Government Harms Charities... and How Some Are Succeeding Anyway, also highlights groups that are effective despite regulatory roadblocks. Black America 1997, the fourth annual Project 21 report, focuses ...

by C. Mason WeaverC. Mason Weaver, a member of the national Advisory Council of the African-American leadership group Project 21, is President of The Committee to Restore America (Oceanside, CA). A New Visions Commentary paper published January 1997 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected],Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.What is the goal of the black community? Economic power or political power? Political power is a group experience; it is usually acquired through a structured organization, run by clearly defined leaders, for the purpose ...

The two young ladies waiting for the el had been my students the year before. Now they were seniors, and I had been bused to another school. I asked them about the old school and other students. Unenthusiastically, they replied. I asked what the problem was. "Why did you leave us?" one of them demanded. The hurt and anger in her tone was unmistakable. The question -- as well as the hurt and anger -- was surprising. These kids knew about busing and affirmative action; they knew about federal quotas and guidelines. One of their friends had even remarked on ...

A New Visions Commentary paper published November 1996 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 20 F Street NW, Suite 700 , Washington, D.C. 20001, (202) 507-6398, Fax (301) 498-1301, E-Mail [email protected]. Spike Lee is viewed as the premier African-American movie director in the U.S. He is noted for his unique style of presenting the issues facing Americans in general, and African-Americans in particular, whether it be in "She's Gotta Have It," "Do The Right Thing," or "Malcolm X." He has a knack for carrying the audience through the plot of his films, sprinkling in his brand of humor ...

Diversity should be achieved through non-discriminatory outreach efforts, not preferences or quotas for special groups, says the African-American leadership group Project 21. Project 21's California members say that the California Civil Rights Initiative (Proposition 209) seeks to achieve this goal by prohibiting the state from using race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin to determine who should be favored or discriminated against by the state with respect to public employment, public education or public contracting. "The arguments made by many minorities for maintaining racial preferences show a complete lack of confidence in their abilities," says Project 21 member James Coleman, ...