Project 21: Press Releases

Black activists from the Project 21 leadership network are condemning the Philadelphia City Council's decision to evict the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) from its regional headquarters after the city failed to reach a compromise with the Boy Scouts on a gay rights policy. "I live close to Philadelphia and am aware of the problems plaguing the city," said Project 21 member Jimmie Hollis. "The fact that the City Council is taking exception to the Boy Scouts is an outrage. With so much to fix, why are they so willing to instead hobble an organization trying to help people?" On ...
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Washington, D.C. - Deneen Borelli, a fellow with the Project 21 black leadership network, is condemning the jailing and likely deportation of a female British teacher in Sudan because she allowed the children in her class to name a teddy bear "Muhammed."  Borelli is also critical of American feminists for their uncharacteristic silence on this issue. Gillian Gibbons was arrested and tried in Khartoum, Sudan this week after a secretary at the Unity High School where Gibbons taught reported her to Sudanese authorities.  Gibbons was arrested for allowing the seven-year-old students in her class to name a stuffed bear with ...
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Washington, D.C. - The Lakota East High School dramatic production of the Agatha Christie novel Ten Little Indians -- initially cancelled by school administrators after it was called racially insensitive by a local NAACP leader -- is back on, but with changes that imply the play will be compromised by political correctness. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network call the actions of Butler County NAACP president Gary Hines inappropriate and detrimental to race relations.  They say it presents the appearance of a shakedown of the southwestern Ohio school system.  They are also critical of school officials for buckling ...
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Washington, D.C. - Activists affiliated with the Project 21 black leadership network support proposed sanctions for the unrepentant members of a women's bridge team who disparaged President George W. Bush while representing the United States in international competition.  Project 21 activists say team members betrayed their responsibility to remove their personal politics from their professional responsibilities. "Any team representing the United States that diminishes the presidency and embarrasses the American people should have been immediately sent home, and remorseless members now deserve the punishment their sanctioning organization deems appropriate," said Project 21 member Joe R. Hicks.  "We already endure near-treasonous ...
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Washington, D.C. - After a Louisiana state representative called a noted local civil rights activist "Buckwheat," Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie is criticizing both the lawmaker for saying it and the media for once again appearing to take a pass on reporting about a liberal politician's racial foible. Hazel Boykin, a 75-year-old civil rights activist who helped desegregate Louisiana restaurants and schools, helped Democratic State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez get voters to the polls earlier this month.  At the end of a private telephone conversation thanking Boykin for her efforts, Representative Dartez said, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat." Buckwheat was ...
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Washington, D.C. - Legislation introduced by Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) to prohibit photo ID requirements for voting in federal elections would promote election fraud, say members of the black leadership network Project 21. "Representative Ellison's proposal is fundamentally flawed and potentially harmful to the integrity of our democratic process," said Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie.  "Why invite that which can only lead to unimaginable fraud and corruption?" Imposing existing Minnesota election law on a national scale, the "Voter Access Protection Act of 2007" (H.R. 4026) would ban the use of photo ID for voter verification in federal elections.  Rep. Ellison ...
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Washington, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a far-reaching bill that would create a race-based government with substantial power over the affairs of the state of Hawaii. The "Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007" (H.R. 505, also called the "Akaka Bill") was adopted by a 261-153 vote. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network say the legislation directly conflicts with the spirit of inclusion and equality that civil rights activists fought so hard to create. "It is contemptibly dishonest, not to mention completely disingenuous, for the very politicians who are best known for decrying racial ...
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Calling voting "one of the most fundamental rights we have," members of the Project 21 black leadership network are calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to provide a clear and unmistakable ruling on the constitutionality of states requiring voters to show photo identification at polls before the 2008 general elections. Proponents of voter ID requirements say they want to lessen the likelihood of voter fraud.  Opponents, such as Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, say that asking for a driver's license or passport at a polling station is the equivalent of a "modern-day poll tax." "While I am appalled that the Supreme ...
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With the nomination of retired federal judge Michael B. Mukasey to become the next attorney general, members of the black leadership network Project 21 are demanding liberal senators not hijack the confirmation process as a means of advancing partisan attacks on the White House. "By engaging in political parlor games and reckless rhetoric instead of doing their constitutionally-mandated duty, the Senate would be abandoning their responsibility to conduct a fair hearing to evaluate Mukasey's qualifications," said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli. Roll Call reported on September 10 that liberal members of the Democratic Senate leadership are considering holding up the ...
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Project 21 member Darryn "Dutch" Martin made the following statement with regard to the lawsuit for slander and defamation of character filed by Rutgers women's basketball team member Kia Vaughn again Don Imus, former Imus co-host Bernard McGuirk, CBS Corporation and CBS Radio: "As a race, blacks endured hundreds of years of slavery and then legalized segregation, brutal racism and other forms of discrimination well into the 20th century.  We emerged from this hardship a stronger and better people.  Now, after all that we've been through, a few unkind words from one largely irrelevant white man is causing so many ...
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Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie today applauded a statement by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin confirming that the so-called Fairness Doctrine is obsolete. "It can't make our case any stronger than when the agency that once administered the Fairness Doctrine says it is no longer needed," said Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie, who has hosted a talk radio show. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin says his agency has no intention of reinstating the Fairness Doctrine it dropped 20 years ago.  Furthermore, he says, the need for such regulation "has lessened even further" since it was repealed. Martin made his comments ...
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Congress should not put the lives of law enforcement officials at risk to benefit its trial lawyer contributors, says Deneen Borelli of the national black group Project 21. Congress is now considering overturning the Tiahrt Amendment, a measure that restricts certain gun data from being shared outside of the law enforcement community.  Project 21 members are opposing any action that allows trial lawyers, politicians, criminals and others from accessing federal gun trace information. "The only possible purpose served by overturning the Tiahrt Amendment is to aid the anti-gun lobby and make it easier for trial lawyers to sue gun manufacturers," ...
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Black and Hispanic organizations appear to be lining up on different sides of the Fairness Doctrine debate. Domingo Garcia, the national co-chairman of the civil rights commission of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), announced at the group's annual convention last week that he has asked U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to introduce legislation to re-regulate broadcasters through the "Fairness Doctrine." But Mychal Massie, chairman of the black leadership network Project 21, says the Fairness Doctrine is harmful because it substitutes government influences for popular expression in what should be a free market of ideas ...
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The Bush Administration is commended for announcing that it would veto any legislation reinstating the so-called "Fairness Doctrine." The Administration's announcement came following media reports of support for reimposing the Fairness Doctrine by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Dick Durbin, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton, and others.  Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) intends to re-introduce legislation "to restore the Fairness Doctrine" in coming weeks.  Hinchey's "Media Ownership Reform Act (H.R. 3302)," better known as MORA, had 16 co-sponsors in the 109th Congress, but got nowhere due to GOP control. "It's the 'Hush Rush' crowd at it again, and it has nothing to do with ...
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Project 21 members say the liberal Senate leadership, which has embarked on an overnight session to "highlight Republican obstructionism" on consideration to legislation to withdraw troops from Iraq, is hypocritical, as these senators have used the same tactics they now condemn to block the confirmation of President Bush's judicial nominations over the past six-and-a-half years. "The immoral duplicity of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his henchmen once again unambiguously shows there are no depths too low for liberal politicians to plumb," said Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie.  "It is extraordinarily incongruous that, on one hand, Reid would complain about ...
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In a speech to the nation’s largest teachers' union, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) criticized school vouchers as a means of improving American schools.  The black leadership network Project 21 says the senator supports taking away needed education options for children whose only option often is failing public schools. Local programs already in operation allow parents with children enrolled in consistently failing government-run schools to use a "voucher," much like a scholarship, to place their children in other area public, private or parochial schools they believe will better educate their children. Speaking to a crowd of about 9,000 at the annual ...
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Members of the Project 21 black leadership network applaud the defeat of legislation in the U.S. Senate earlier today that would have created a path to legalization for millions of foreigners residing illegally in the United States without solid guarantees regarding border security and the enforcement of current immigration law. "The defeat of the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill shows the American people can still have their say in the legislative process if they are loud enough," said Project 21 member Kevin Martin.  "When it appeared that so many of our elected officials were going to turn their backs on the overwhelming ...
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Today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the use of racial preferences in public school admissions is being hailed by members of the Project 21 black leadership network as a necessary step in breaking down existing racial resentment and promoting true equal access to educational opportunity. "It's refreshing that the Supreme Court decided race-based admission standards are unconstitutional," said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli.  "Racial quotas are harmful because they reinforce resentment towards minorities and increases racial tensions.  Parental judgment and educational needs should be the basis for choosing what schools children should attend." The ruling combined two cases: Community Schools ...
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Members of the Project 21 black leadership network hail President George W. Bush's veto of a bill that would allow federal funding to be used for embryonic stem cell research.  Project 21 members stand firmly with the large numbers of Americans who support research in this field of science that does not destroy human life in the process. In a June 20 White House ceremony that was attended by Project 21 staff director David Almasi, President Bush announced his veto of congressional legislation to allow the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.  Bush also announced the issuance of an ...
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Members of the Project 21 black leadership network are asking that the oldest and most recognized commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States - "Juneteenth," observed on June 19 - be used as a day for reflection on the struggle for freedom and the ongoing quest for self-empowerment. Project 21 members urge black Americans to use this day to embrace their inherent talents and strengthen their ties with family and community for the betterment of themselves and future generations. "The abolishment of slavery paved the way for blacks to empower themselves and opened the doors for freedom ...
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