Project 21: Press Releases

Activists with the African-American leadership network Project 21 are demanding that Jesse Jackson support a promising black driver who currently lacks the financial sponsorship needed to advance in the sport. Jackson has publicly complained that black drivers have been excluded from NASCAR. In 1999, according to the National Legal and Policy Center, Jackson told a conference attended by NASCAR's then-CEO "The fact of the matter is there is frustration because of exclusion. We were qualified to play baseball before 1947. We are qualified to race cars now." Since then, Jackson's organizations have received a reported $250,000 from NASCAR and NASCAR ...
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A renewed financial relationship between NASCAR and the Reverend Jesse Jackson is drawing a sharp rebuke from members of the African-American leadership network Project 21. Last year, public criticism from Project 21's black activists and the National Legal and Policy Center provoked an outcry among NASCAR fans that led the professional racing organization to discontinue their funding of Jackson's groups. NASCAR recently sponsored a Jackson-affiliated luncheon, with a NASCAR executive explaining, "we would want to be in step with other sports and corporations" in supporting Jackson. "I think it's a disgrace that NASCAR is once again aligning itself with Jesse ...
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In the wake of Secretary of State Colin Powell's historic visit to Sudan, members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 commend the Bush Administration for its efforts to prevent further violence in the African country that some call "ethnic cleansing." "I applaud President Bush and Secretary Powell for taking a leadership role in this attempt to end what I call pure ethnic cleansing in the Danfur region of Sudan," said Project 21 member Kevin Martin. Martin joined other black activists in a human rights demonstration outside the Embassy of Sudan on July 1. Paralyzed by decades of civil war, ...
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In recognition of the 138th celebration of Juneteenth, members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are calling upon black Americans to shake off the shackles of dependency and "victim mentality." Juneteenth, observed on June 19, is the oldest celebration of the end of slavery in America. "The knowledge gained on June 19, 1865 symbolized newly-acquired freedom," notes Project 21 member Gregory Parker. "On June 19, 2004, let us - as a people - acquire freedom from the victim mentality that stifles our progress." Juneteenth commemorates the arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. The soldiers ...
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Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 commend the U.S. Supreme Court for dismissing a decision forcing the removal of "one nation, under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance recited by children in public schools in the West. They caution, however, that the effort to alter the Pledge is far from over. Project 21 members note activist judges make it all too likely the High Court will be forced to rule on this issue in the near future. "What's really at the heart of this case is judicial activism," said Project 21 member Mychal Massie. "Liberals are using courts ...
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Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are taking issue with remarks being made by members of the television news media who are reporting that the Reagan Administration did not help black Americans during the 1980s and that Ronald Reagan himself had a poor relationship with blacks. For example, during the coverage of memorials for the late president, ABC News host George Stephanopoulos said Reagan "did not reach out to African-Americans." ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, commenting on the public visitation at the Reagan Library, said, "we haven't seen many African-American faces." Project 21 member Mychal Massie, who waited ...
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As the nation's capital prepares for the public viewing and state funeral of former President Ronald Reagan, members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are expressing their profound sympathies to the late president's family and friends and celebrating his achievements in making America stronger and spreading freedom and liberty throughout the world. To follow are personal comments from Project 21 members about President Reagan and his legacy: * Ak'Bar Shabazz (Atlanta, Georgia): "We all mourn the passing of a great leader. As Americans, we bask in the freedoms that Reagan had the clarity of vision to secure. All future ...
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In observance of the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision, members and staff of the Project 21 African-American leadership network are available for comment. On Monday, May 17, Project 21 director David Almasi will be addressing the Brown legacy on the CNNfn program "Market Call" at approximately 9:50 am eastern. In addition, Almasi is the author of the Brown-related essay "Providing Opportunity" featured in the May 2004 issue of The World and I magazine. "Brown brought opportunity," said Almasi in his essay. "By tearing down racial barriers to education, the ...
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Project 21 National Advisory Council member Michael King is scheduled to appear on the Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes" program on Tuesday, April 27 at 9:00 pm eastern to discuss Jesse Jackson's recent criticism of the liberation of Iraq. In comments made before and during a speech at the 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference in Boston on April 3, the Boston Herald reports, Jackson condemned U.S. efforts to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power. He called the U.S. liberation of Iraq "a crime against humanity" and said Iraqi deaths resulting from the actions of U.S. forces are "murder." ...
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Black activists from Project 21 are criticizing Reverend Jesse Jackson for comments he made earlier this month in which he claimed U.S. military action in Iraq constitutes "murder" and said U.S. troops are committing "a crime against humanity." In comments made before and during a speech at the 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference in Boston on April 3, the Boston Herald reports, Jackson condemned U.S. efforts to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power. He called the U.S. liberation of Iraq "a crime against humanity" and said Iraqi deaths resulting from the actions of U.S. forces are "murder." He encouraged ...
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Minority activists and environmental experts are joining together on Earth Day 2004 to condemn domestic and international environmental regulations that destroy economic opportunity, encourage neo-segregationist housing policies, endanger public health and generally pit human welfare against regulatory goals. Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 will be joined by distinguished environmental scientists and activists in the National Press Club's First Amendment Room (529 14th Street NW, 13th floor) in Washington, D.C. at noon on Thursday, April 22, Earth Day, to discuss the need for environmental justice policies that assess the economic and social costs of regulations before they are ...
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Mychal Massie, a member of Project 21's National Advisory Council, participated in a CNN focus group watching National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the September 11 commission. His reactions will be broadcast on Thursday, April 8 on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" program at 8 pm and 2 am eastern. Project 21, an African-American leadership network, has been a leading voice in the African-American community since 1992. In the wake of the testimony, fellow Project 21 member Darryn "Dutch" Martin said of Rice's testimony: "If there were any doubts about Condoleezza Rice's ability as a capable and competent national security ...
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In response to actions and comments by members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) regarding American policy toward Haiti, the African-American leadership network Project 21 endorsed a letter to Chairman Joel Hefley (R-CO) asking the U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to conduct a formal investigation of the CBC. The letter was originally sent on April 1, 2004 by the Brotherhood Organization for a New Destiny, a family-focused, community-based organization in Los Angeles, California founded by Project 21 member Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson. The call for an investigation comes after members of the CBC alleged the ...
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Elitist environmental activists observing "Earth Day" on April 22 are promoting a regulatory agenda hostile to minority ambitions for economic and social advancement. Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 prefer an alternative environmental justice agenda that ensures human welfare is not sacrificed to meet regulatory goals. "Most people in our country favor things such as clean air that are raised on Earth Day. However, I believe that Earth Day has changed into an opportunity for socialists and others with interests in slowing down our economy to suppress the resource development, exploration and production that our country needs to ...
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Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are asking U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd to resign his seat in the wake of inappropriate comments he made commemorating fellow senator Robert C. Byrd's 17,000th Senate vote. Senator Dodd said: "I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia that he would have been a great senator at any moment. Some were right for a time. Robert C. Byrd, in my view, would have been right for any time." "How could Senator Dodd have made the comments he did with a straight ...
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Critical of current tax law that effectively encourages American companies to keep their foreign profits abroad, members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 applaud efforts to lower this specific tax rate and allow these companies to bring their profits home and help grow the American economy and rebuild its infrastructure. The "Invest in the U.S.A. Act," co-sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), would lower the tax of foreign profits earned by American companies from the current rate of 35 percent to 5.25 percent. According to a study by the financial services ...
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Members of the black conservative organization Project 21 are applauding the NAACP for "seeing the light" by determining that a morals clause may be warranted for future NAACP "Image Award" nominations. The goal of the NAACP's annual Image Awards is to honor "those who strive for the portrayal of positive images and meaningful opportunities for African-Americans." Project 21 played a leading role in bringing public attention to the NAACP's nomination of controversial musician R. Kelly for an Image Award this year in the best album category. R. Kelly -- Robert Sylvester Kelly -- was nominated in the "Outstanding Album" category ...
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In response to allegations of unethical conduct among U.S. senators - including the possible exchange of votes for campaign contributions - The National Center for Public Policy Research has joined other organizations in asking the U.S. Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section to begin an immediate investigation. Also participating in the call for an official investigation are National Center programs Project 21, an African-American leadership network, and its American Criminal Justice Center, which covers judicial issues. Manuel A. Miranda, a former counsel to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, has informed Senate Ethics Committee Chief Counsel Robert Walker that he, Miranda, ...
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Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 say the unexpected resignation of NAACP Legal and Defense Education Fund, Inc. president and director-counsel Elaine Jones - in the wake of Project 21's ethics complaint against her with the Virginia State Bar - provides justification for the investigation of charges of inappropriate influences by special interest groups while Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that Elaine Jones cast herself on her sword in light of the ethics complaint against her," said Project 21 member Mychal Massie. "While this ...
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Members of the Project 21 African-American leadership network praised President George W. Bush for his recess appointment of Judge Charles Pickering to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Pickering, who was originally nominated in May of 2001, has over 40 years of judicial experience. During his legal career, he testified against the Ku Klux Klan, defended black clients during the Jim Crow era and helped set up the Institute of Racial Reconciliation at Ole Miss. "President Bush should be commended for the courage that he has shown with Judge Pickering's appointment," said Project 21 National Advisory Board member Horace Cooper ...
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