Project 21: Press Releases

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Project 21 members are organizing and taking part in a "National Day of Repudiation of Jesse Jackson" that will be highlighted with a rally outside of Jackson's Los Angeles offices (1968 West Adams Boulevard) on Monday, January 19 from 10am until noon (Pacific time). This annual repudiation of Jackson's activities and his right to be considered a reliable representative of the thoughts and aspirations of black Americans, now in its fifth year, is timed to coincide with the federal observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Brotherhood Order of a New Destiny (BOND), which was founded ...

Mychal Massie, a member of the conservative African-American leadership network Project 21, is scheduled to appear on the Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" on Wednesday, January 14 at 8pm eastern. He will discuss the NAACP's nomination of musician R. Kelly for one of the group's "Image Awards." According to the NAACP, its Image Awards (to be presented March 11 on Fox) "are given to those who strive for the portrayal of positive images and meaningful opportunities for African-Americans in motion pictures, television, literature and recording." R. Kelly was nominated in the "Outstanding Album" category for his 2003 "Chocolate Factory" ...

BACKGROUND: The EPA this month announced a draft proposal to use a "cap and trade" model to regulate mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants. The President's political opponents immediately attacked the plan. A "cap and trade" model would permit power plants to trade mercury "emissions credits" among themselves while limits would be placed on total mercury emissions in the U.S. The White House said the "cap and trade" system would "cut mercury emissions by 70 percent from power plants."1 EPA spokesman Cynthia Bergmann said December 2: "We do believe that a type of cap-and-trade approach will allow us ...

Deroy Murdock, a member of the national advisory council of the black leadership network Project 21, will discuss proposals to pay reparations to the descendents of slaves on an ABC News "Nightline" segment scheduled to air at 11:30 eastern time on Wednesday, December 3. Murdock and other Project 21 members have spoken against the idea of paing such reparations. In a past commentary on reparations, Murdock wrote, "While challenges remain - especially for low-income, poorly educated blacks - from sea to shining sea, millions of blacks have overcome or are working hard to do so. Sadly, so-called 'black leaders' clam ...

Every once in a while, you hear a story you know you will remember for the rest of your life. On July 5, 2002, Tony Dyess of Mississippi, a father of two, suffered head injuries in an auto accident. He was rushed to the hospital, but the only doctor able to relieve pressure on Tony's brain had been forced to quit just days before. Because of rising legal costs brought on by lawsuit abuse, the doctor's malpractice insurance carrier had stopped writing policies. Tony was airlifted to another hospital, but it took six hours, during which time the damage continued ...

Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 applaud the majority of U.S. senators seeking an end to obstructionist tactics that are keeping many federal judicial nominees from receiving a timely vote on their nominations. To draw attention to this judicial crisis, these senators will participate in a 30-hour marathon session beginning at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, November 12 and running through the following evening. Project 21 member Mychal Massie, a Pennsylvania small business owner, will take part in a 3:30 AM press conference and Project 21 director David Almasi will take part in a 12:30 AM press conference, both ...

Reverend Al Sharpton's dramatic 24-hour reversal on federal judicial nominee Janice Rogers Brown is strongly criticized by members of the African-American leadership network Project 21. 48 hours ago, Sharpton agreed with Project 21 that Brown deserves fair treatment, including a vote. Yesterday, apparently under political pressure, Sharpton changed his mind. Members of Project 21 question Sharpton's commitment civil rights in now seeking to deny the black judge a fair and timely confirmation process, especially as Sharpton's new position violates not only the U.S. Constitution but Sharpton's own views. In a November 5 interview with Sinclair Broadcasting, Sharpton opposed plans by ...

Janice Rogers Brown, a black associate justice serving on the California Supreme Court, is the latest Bush judicial nominee to face the intense criticism of liberals. Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are calling upon senators to give her fair and timely consideration as she faces the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, October 22. "The Senate's job is to give its advise and consent, not to make the judiciary into its own political image," said Project 21 member Jerry Brooks. "Justice Brown is more than qualified as a jurist. If some senators would actually embrace fairness rather than ...

Commissioners of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 17, 2003 to vote on the endorsement of a staff report that proposes changes to the federal government's "environmental justice" policy. Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 say the proposals will hurt the nation's economy and put poor and minority citizens who are supposed to be protected by these policies at further disadvantage. The report also overlooks how government regulations can impose undue burdens on these same at-risk communities. "Environmental justice" policy is supposed to ensure that all communities receive equal environmental ...

Black Conservatives Available for Comment on California Race Initiative Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are available for comment on Proposition 54 - the "Racial Privacy Initiative" - that will be decided by California voters on October 7. Proposition 54 would prohibit California state agencies from classifying individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, color and national origin. Exceptions are made for compliance with federal rules and for select medical and law enforcement purposes. The Racial Privacy Initiative will appear on the same ballot as the California gubernatorial recall. Project 21 is a non-partisan organization that does not ...

Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are encouraged by the peaceful night in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere following yesterday's hung jury verdict in the trial of a former Inglewood, California police officer who was charged with police brutality and the not guilty verdict of his partner for filing a false report. While emotions surrounding the case could have led to community violence similar to the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King trial, Project 21 members are pleased that community leaders and residents seem to be accepting the verdict and letting the legal process run its course ...

NASCAR has severed its financial ties to the Reverend Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, ending what members of the African-American leadership network considered little more than a shakedown of the professional auto-racing organization. Project 21 members encourage NASCAR to continue its outreach to minorities, but consider Jackson's past relationship more hurtful than helpful. On July 29, USA Today reported that a NASCAR insider confirms the organization has not and will not make a financial donation to Jackson groups in 2003. "This is a major win," said Project 21 member Horace Cooper. "Supporters of NASCAR and advocates for good government ...

Citing racial insensitivity and the inappropriateness in using the name of a highly-decorated group of black servicemen in a portrayal of corrupt soldiers, members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 are demanding that the Miramax Film Corporation and its parent company The Walt Disney Company rename its upcoming film "Buffalo Soldiers." The movie "Buffalo Soldiers," based on a novel of the same name by Robert O'Connor and set to open in theaters on July 25, sarcastically portrays the U.S. Army in Germany in the late 1980s as filled with smugglers, drug abusers, fools and bigots. The movie has been ...