Project 21: Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Members of the Project 21 black leadership network are joining millions of Americans in mourning the senseless and tragic murders at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston Wednesday night. Among their comm "A sanctuary of worship and spiritual devotion in Charleston, SC was interrupted by senseless violence. At this time, it is imperative that prayers and a spirit of unity be offered to families and a community experiencing grief and sorrow. We are painfully reminded that evil still seeks to destroy, but with God's grace and help, good will still triumph." - Demetrius Minor, Project ...
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Washington, D.C. - On "Juneteenth," the oldest and most popular observance of the end of slavery in the United States, members of the Project 21 black leadership network call upon their fellow black Americans to use the civil rights-themed holiday as a tool to assess how they can take full advantage of the freedoms and opportunities their predecessors lacked. They also call upon all Americans to consider how their liberties must be secured against ever-expanding government policies that can limit them. Juneteenth, now an official holiday or observance in at least 40 states, is Friday, June 19. "Because of their ...
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Black Conservatives Call Senator Durbin's "Back of the Bus" Comment "Truly Shameful" "True Racial Harmony Is Holding This Woman's Feet to the Fire" Washington, D.C. - Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) last week injected the issue of race into the Senate confirmation process of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network are condemning those seeking to advance the troubled nomination through bullying tactics while other Senate proceedings are being delayed and serious questions remain. "This is truly shameful. Instead of letting Loretta Lynch's nomination rise or fall on the merits, Washington liberals in the House ...
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Washington, D.C. - March 7 is the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when civil rights activists were attacked by Alabama law enforcement as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma at the beginning of a march to the state capitol. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network are commenting on this civil rights milestone that brought increased national attention to the civil rights cause and helped to secure voting rights protections. Noting the great strides forward that have been made in the promotion of civil rights for all, Project 21 members cautioned against using the solemn ...
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Eric Holder's DOJ Reportedly Plans a Lawsuit Against the Ferguson Police for Racial Discrimination Any DOJ Lawsuit Would "Ultimately Be a Lawsuit against the Taxpayers" Ferguson, MO / Washington, D.C. - With the U.S. Department of Justice rumored to be on the verge of filing a lawsuit against the Ferguson Police Department for alleged racial discrimination, members of the Project 21 black leadership network are calling such an act a cynical move by outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder to get a "pound of flesh" before he leaves his post. "When the grand jury came back with no indictment, and Attorney ...
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Jesse Jackson Wrong to Claim U.S. Supreme Court Made Voting Rights Act "Null and Void" "Resorting to Hyperbole… Unnecessarily Divides People," Says Project 21's Cherylyn Harley LeBon Washington, D.C. - Jesse Jackson's false claim that a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision made the 1965 Voting Rights Act "null and void" is being refuted by legal and civil rights experts with the Project 21 black leadership network. Project 21 members are demanding Jackson tell the truth about the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Shelby County, Alabama v. Eric H. Holder, Jr. "Jesse Jackson is certainly entitled to criticize how ...
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Black Conservatives Critique President Obama's State of the Union Address Washington, D.C. - Commenting on President Barack Obama's State of the Union address tonight, members of the Project 21 black leadership network saw a presidency lacking new ideas that suggested Obama may be "running out the clock" on his presidency without much vision but with plenty of continued class warfare and big government rhetoric. "President Obama really did not offer anything new in his address to Congress. All he did was present the American people with the same old clunker policies sprayed with a new car scent," said Project 21 ...
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Washington, D.C. - Black activists with a conservative political perspective are now available for media interviews to discuss the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s thoughts and actions. With the national holiday approaching marking the late civil rights icon's birthday, members of the Project 21 black leadership network can discuss Dr. King's legacy and how they feel others have honored and dishonored that legacy. "The holiday celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. King should cause us all to pause and reflect on his historic importance. One of Dr. King's most important contributions was that he exhorted Americans to ...
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Project 21 Black Leadership Network Joins Pacific Legal Foundation, Others in Charging the City of Buffalo, New York "Allowed the Fire Department's Promotional Lists to Expire, Because the Next Applicants in Line for Promotion Were all Caucasian" Washington, D.C. / Albany, NY - Black activists and legal experts with the Project 21 leadership network are supporting white firefighters in court against a city's "racially motivated" decision that deprived the white firefighters of promotions they earned. "It is axiomatic that city government can't cancel promotions because they don't like the race of the applicants – black or white. In 2014, one ...
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Washington, D.C. - Members of the Project 21 black leadership network are criticizing Al Sharpton's planned weekend protest in Washington, D.C., saying the protest likely will do nothing but stir up tension while the root causes of high crime and low hope in black communities go unaddressed. On December 13, Sharpton plans to bring thousands of protesters to the nation's capital for his National March Against Police Violence. He reportedly hopes that the protest, capitalizing on the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, will promote legislation to give the U.S. Department of Justice enhanced power to prosecute local police ...
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"A Man Died over Cigarettes and Tax Revenue" Washington, D.C. - As members of the Project 21 black leadership network mourn the regretful loss of Eric Garner's life during a confrontation with New York City police officers, they see the root problem in government overreach. Garner died at least in part from a chokehold administered by a police officer last July after he was accused of selling "loose" untaxed cigarettes outside a New York City storefront. On December 2, a grand jury did not indict the officer who put Garner in the apparently deadly hold. While most protesters are focused ...
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Ferguson, MO / Washington, D.C. - After a grand jury chose not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death last August of local resident Michael Brown, members of the Project 21 black leadership network are speaking out about the ruling, what it means for the black community and how protestors might redirect their energies to find some redemption from the loss. "Now that we have a grand jury decision, may the process of healing begin in earnest," said Project 21 member Stacy Washington, a St. Louis resident who hosts a local radio talk show. "I truly ...
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To Book an Interview with Any of the People Listed below or Other Members of the Project 21 Black Leadership Network, Contact Judy Kent at (703) 759 7476 or [email protected] or David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 X11 or Cell (703) 568-4727 (Text-Enabled) or [email protected] Washington, D.C. - These and other members of the black conservative network Project 21 are available to discuss breaking news events in Ferguson, Missouri. Project 21 experts in the Ferguson/St. Louis area: Christopher Arps: Project 21's Christopher Arps lives near Ferguson and attended perhaps the first prayer vigil related to the shooting. He has been a ...
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Washington, D.C. - Black activists with the Project 21 leadership network are continuing to speak out against President Barack Obama's unilateral action on illegal immigration. Joe R. Hicks , former executive director of the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference: "President Obama strode into the White House promising to give the American people the audacity of hope. What we are witnessing instead, with his immigration agenda, is an audacious grab for power and an evisceration of the Constitution. With the stroke of a pen, Obama rewards those who arrogantly mock our border laws while simultaneously telling ...
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Washington, D.C. - Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network are critical of just-announced executive action by President Barack Obama to grant amnesty to non-citizens illegally in the United States. "What President Obama did is reward those who broke our laws. This will only embitter and endanger the citizenry and legal immigrants who are similarly looking for work, just scraping by and worried about their economic future," said Project 21 Archbishop Council Nedd II of St. Alban's Anglican Church. "God has blessed America with abundance, and I cannot fault those seeking a better life here. But the unregulated surge ...
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U.S. Supreme Court Urged to Curtail Use of Race in Redistricting Old Law Demanding Racial Considerations Not a Help to Minority Voters Washington, D.C. - At the U.S. Supreme Court today, legal experts with the Project 21 black leadership network are supporting the state of Alabama and its elected legislature in a defense against partisan and special interest groups unhappy with the state's recent redistricting plan created by the state's elected lawmakers. In a legal brief submitted to the Court, Project 21 argued legislators were compelled by federal law that was in force at the time to include race in ...
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Washington, D.C. - Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network say a new Washington Post report that the Eric Holder-led Department of Justice will not charge Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson with federal civil rights charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown is evidence that the time has come for healing. "Protestors called for the Eric Holder-led Justice Department to investigate this case. It seems to have concluded its investigation. What more is there to protest?" asked Project 21's Christopher Arps, who lives near Ferguson and attended perhaps the first prayer vigil related to the shooting. "It is ...
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Black Scholar Deconstructs Liberal Myths About Affirmative Action, Voter ID Washington, D.C. - Derryck Green, a member of the Project 21 black leadership network, is the newest member of the faculty of Prager University, an "online resource promoting knowledge and clarity" that partners with high schools and universities nationwide. Green's first posted lecture is "Who Are the Racists: Liberals or Conservatives?" "We are very proud that Project 21's Derryck Green is now included among some of the best political thinkers of our time at Prager University," said National Center for Public Policy Research Executive Director David Almasi. "Derryck possesses a ...
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Calls on Jesse Jackson to Retire from Public Life "In 2009, I was one of the first people in America to suffer from H1N1 swine flu... My doctor initially refused to believe I had swine flu because no one else in Pennsylvania had it... My misdiagnosis was not rooted in race, and I can't believe Thomas Eric Duncan's was either..." Washington, D.C. - Project 21's Archbishop Council Nedd II of the Episcopal Missionary Church has the following response to Jesse Jackson's effort to inject race into the discussion about the treatment of Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan: For Jesse Jackson ...
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DOJ's George Zimmerman Intervention Exposes Politicized Obama Justice Department Former Head of Zimmerman Investigation on Rumored Short List to Replace Eric Holder Washington, D.C. - Responding to a report that the U.S. Department of Justice will not file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman for the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, a legal expert with the Project 21 black leadership network said federal intervention was a mistake from the beginning and something any new nominee for attorney general should pledge to avoid during his or her tenure. Understanding the Obama Administration's politicization of the case could become extremely important if ...
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