ekefew weeks ago, theres: : ; ; odponsibility | ?_. able precisely because we have so many_- Black people who have benefited from theT Black freedom struggle, but suffer from his-torical amnesia " people who have nosense that they are where they are because_ their forebears were willing to wage astruggle against racial oppression and eco-nomic exploitation. .__ There is still a huge income and wealthgap between Blacks and Whites in this-Country, and the inner-cities and rural areasabound with brothers and sisters who areafflicted by poverty, hunger, homelessness .and disease. I need not recite the entireitany of maladies that still plague BlackAmerica. Suffice it to say that despite allthe pr we have made as a people,tacism is still alive and well in America,ing.the dreams and containing the as- we '~ (Guest editorial by Ron Daniels, execu-rations of millions of our people... Regrettably, in the midst of this continu-ing crisis, far too many osuccessfulT Blackec! ,theeyesof _"_folks have succumbed to the negative val-Black America and much of the "_ues of me, myself and I as opposed the pos- |nation were riveted to C-SPAN - _ itive values of we, us and Our; that is to say |.asa celebrated television talk © "_ that far too many Black folks have been se- ||_ = = show host and a renowned radio duced by the materialistic, competitive, in-_ disc jockey convened a State of the Black _dividualistic credo of this capitalist society. |}Union forum at the Washington, D.C.Con- . We-have far too many people who are bi- |vention Center. Attended by. thousands of ologically or cosmetically Black but havepeople, the event featured the whoTs who of _ no sense of allegiance or obligation to ad- |_. Black AmericaTs intellectual, artistic, politi- - vocate for and be responsible and account-__ cal, civil rights/human rights and religious "_able to Black people. Tavis and Tom playedus ip. The mic duo who con- a major role mobilizing Black voters for theceived and se this incredible forum to- 2000 presidential election. ,gether was Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner. I had a conversation with a Black profes-. .What was remarkable about this event is _ sional in Atlanta recently, a sister in her 30s_, that a talk show host and a disc jockey who told me that she had never voted be--. would have the consciousness, commitment, fore the last election, but listening to TomStatus and national following to successfully Joyner persuaded her to vote for the firstimplement such a massive and meaningful "_time. Her information about whatTs goingproject. What this speaks to is the impor- on in Black America in terms of issues does~ tance of having people in key positions who _not come by way of any of the major civilare of the race and for the race, people from _ rights organizations. Her source of informa-all walks of life who are the beneficiaries of tion is Tom Joyner.the Black freedom struggle who understand When Tom and Tavis came under attackthe obridges that brought us over? and are recently because they had the audacity totable and willing to give something back, to _raise questions about Comp-USA's invest-_ use.a portion of their time, talent and re- ments and relationship to Black consumers,- sources to push the str forward inthe this young woman was among the thou-. interest of achieving full 1 for sands of Black people who came to theirAfrican people in the country and the world. defense by flooding the national office of .+ Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner are rematk- _ this recalcitrant corporation with e-mailsand letters. Tavis and Tom were willing totisk their positions to advance the interestof the race. Black folks appropriately re-sponded by protecting their backs.I decided to write this article because sooften brothers and sisters in high profile orpotentially influential positions like TavisSmiley and Tom Joyner take criticism forwhat they donTt do but seldom receivepraise when they do positive work on be-half of Black people.Perhaps, more artists, athletes, entertain-ers, professionals, politicians, ministers andordinary people will be inspired to be of therace and for the race because of the magnif-icent example of advocacy and responsibili-ty that Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner aresetting for all of us.tive director of the Center for ConstitutionalRights.)oWe can never afford to sleepat election time; or betweenhe political season is upon usonce again. Last yearTs presiden-tial election saw approximately. _* 48 percent of Blacks voting, butit was not an overwhelmingturnout because 50 percent failed to vote.: If you want to push your chest out aboutlast yearTs voter turnout, go ahead. But youshould know that during Jesse JacksonTscampaign for president there was an 80 per-- cent turnoutThe most frequent complaint among vot-ers is that our elected leaders are not re-sponsive to our needs. .- There is some validity to that statement.LetTs analyze why. ;Why do some people enter politics? Thejority do because of what we call eco-cere enerto quality of life for their con-stituents, ;* Some then let their egos take over and begiki bullies teic own crocs reloenen aei psteat on thee eentheir egos allow them to focus mostly onthemselves instead of us.And as they move up that proverbial lad-der of success, their concern for the voterlessens. A number of politicians adopt thebelief that they know whatTs best for thevoters. They will tell you the voters nevercall or write with any complaints and sothey do what they think is right.The news media refers to them as leadersso their egos continue to grow. In fact,some politicians become so drunk with theiroperceived? power they say, oWhy shouldanyone run against me??It is my sincere belief that no politicianshould be unopposed, after all, oabsolute power corrupts absolutely.?We must begin to make them understandthat they represent us and not the other wayaround. They must focus on the agenda ofthe people instead of their own personalconcerns.(Guest editorial by Louis HopTKendrick.)UN chief Kofi Annandeserves second termcalls for a denial of a second term of his, the mostly ineffectivetros Boutros-Ghali, five years ago,whose leadership was opposed by many,including the U.S., which lobbied mightily- and successfully " against him.by William Reedhat does it cost to be theBoss Freedom Fighter? Inthe case of Rev. Jesse L.Jackson, it should be called| Jesse Jackson, Inc. and in1999, his operations toward okeepinghope alive? totaled $17 million.Jesse Jackson, Inc., operations arebroad. There are more than 100 employeesand may for-profit and non-profit entitiesbehind the man. oA rising tide can lift allboats,? Jackson often says.There are 12 entities that help floatJesseTs boat. These include: the Rain-bow/PUSH Coalition, Citizenship Educa-tion Fund, People United to Save Humani-ty and Push for Excellence.Rainbow/PUSH sub-divisions include:The Wall Street Project, InternationalTrade Bureau, Rebuild America Commis-sion, the Detroit Bureau and the PeachtreeProject.Tesse JacksonTs freedom-fighting empirehas grown since 35 years ago when heheaded Operation Breadbasket, a programof Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Ts SouthernChristian Leadership Conference that fo-cused on economic inclusion for African-Americans.The current employee group in the 59-year-oldTs freedom fight each make an av-erage of $42,145 annually. Reverend Jack-sonTs $120,000 annual salary actuallymakes him third on the list of top civilrights leadersT salaries.The top guy is the NAACPTs KweisiMfume at $230,000, followed by NationalUrban League President Hugh Price at$150,000. But Rev. Jackson also gets an-other $120,000 a year for hosting oBothSides With Jesse Jackson? on CNN cableCOMMENTSJesse Jackson, Inc.television. When you factor in his speak- "ss| county taxes, make up 92 percent 5| omy of Memphis. and Shelby County. Many ofWhat floats his boat?ing engagements " managed via a for-profit entity called Jacqueline Inc. "acksonTs total estimated income is about:$300,000.The five-year-old Rainbow/PUSHCoalition is a for-profit company thatgrew out of merging Operation PUSH "an offshoot of Operation Breadbasket "and the Rainbow Coalition. In 1999, ithad nine offices and a $5.2 million operat-ing budget. The Rainbow/PUSH Coalitionis the parent organization for the WallStreet Project, International Trade Bureau,Peachtree Project, Detroit Bureau and theRebuild America Commission. The WallT Street Project has been successful in at-tracting capital for Black businesses, suchas $1 billion in bonds from AT&T. PeopleUnited to Save Humanity (which in effectis JacksonTs church), received $1.5 milliontoward helping Black business develop-ment. Push for Excellence received -$199,000 for its motivational educationprograms. Two other non-profits that ac-cept contributions are: the PUSH Founda-tion, an instrument for social service pro-grams, and a Washington-based politicalaction committee called Keep Hope Alive.Has JesseTs rising tide lifted all boats?The results of Mr. JacksonTs fight for so-cial causes that have accrued for the over-all Black Community are incalculable,however, his activities have lifted the for-tunes of his family and siblings. In the1980s, JacksonTs half-brother, NoahRobinson, got ownership of a chain ofMcDonaldTs franchises from the Rev.Ts so-cial agitationTs. JacksonTs son Yusef andJonathan, operate a $30 million-a-year:distributorship in Chicago bought from acompany the civil rights leader fought inthe 1980s, Anheuser-Bush.(Reed is a contributing writer to the Tri-State Defender.)by Frank Lipscombhe Rev. Jesse Louis Jacksonmade more front page news _than. Damien II (PresidentGeorge W. Bush). Yes, theRev. Jackson messed up. Hefathered a child with someone otherthan his wife. That was his sin, not themistake. .The man turned away when the nationneeded his message the most. That wasthe mistake, He withdrew from publiclife, briefly, to oreconnect? with hishave grown louder.The failure to live up to marital vowsis on him. If that turns any citizens ofthis city and country away from what hepreached, then theirs is the shame. It isbut the serious situation callsoegDonTt confuse JesseTs actionswith message we need to hear- high schools, colleges and universitiesthose on the right dub him a racial di-vider, He hollered like Muhammad Alifor healthcare, anti-drug programs andunity with Russia and the Middle Eastwhile many of those who are still inCongress sat silent. ThatTs why he is re-spected throughout the world,Jackson sb at the forefrontof a fight. That is why he is loved.Throughout the past three decades, thecontroversial minister has been a har-binger of hope for youth.Poor youngsters thousands ofhave raised the name of Jesse as a sym-bol for what it means to oKeep HopeAlive? and show the world that oI Am 'Somebody.?was on George Gealiee's list of the 10Whoa the word broke about Jeene'sthan during the dark days of the Depressionman,a large business, the main access road to our -businesses would be closed off. We all know .| that large businesses in Memphis receive...| many benefits and incentives to locate and.|| stay here, such as tax freezes."Small businesses, all of which pay city andTthe econ-them are | , family-run businesses. -In our case, we chose to locate in White- Thaven and to have a diverse workforce, and ithas worked well for us and for our employ- -ees. The proposed closing of Coughlin Drive,off Brooks Road, presented al of us with thereal potential of losing significant business. ~~But we did not know how the City Councilwould see it. Fortunately the City Council ~ -has some strong leaders who examined the «issue carefully and who did the right thing : .despite pressure put of them.We are very grateful to Councilmen Myron:Lowery, Rickey Peete, Janet Hooks, Pat Van-der Schaff, John Vergos, Tom Marshall, Brent:Taylor and E.C. Jones, chairman, for theircourageous votes to keep Coughlin Road| open. This letter is to publicly acknowledge _their efforts and their thoughtful considera- .tion of all parties " regardless of the size of |our businesses. Thank you.Lynn Long, .Preachers shouldn't be |afraid to be auditedDear Editor,. The Rev. Jesse JacksonTs call for Blackministers to reject the faith-based program of-fered by the president is naive. He would de- .ny us federal grants, while trying to projectpreachers that have something to hide.He believes that the federal inspectors will |want to look at the way money is handled bythe churches. Avoiding the program will not _protect preachers from being inspected.Churches that operate under tax exempt sta- |tus already receive something from the gov-ernment and they are subject to be inspected -the privilege of being tax exempt.It is understood that preachers are regularlyexposed to the opportunity and the tempta- -tion to get involved in sex and the mishan-dling of church funds.Blacks tend to forgive these weaknessesand live with them, when they like thepreacher. When handling federal funds, theymay act like Jesse about sex.But they will have to be straight with themoney, hopefully. We will have enough preach-ers who are not afraid of being inspected.Hollis Chester,MemphisBushTs Tax-GateT wouldbe detrimental to BlacksDear Editor, .Nothing about taxation is new. People inthe Bible complained about tax collectors;but nobody knows the tax troubles you willsee until you meet Bush and his draconiantax plan. It is confusing. The presidentTsplan is like Mark TwainTs line about olies,damned lies and statistics.?ont ot ol Bush was not honest when hee to Congress and said, omy tax- eis only $1 trillion? when the ictaal ueover $2 trillion.What television and major newspapers arenot telling the American people is that theworking poor pay 80 percent of all federaltaxes, while the richest one percent only pay20 percent of federal taxes. . _°epee tax-cut will give the top 1percent of our countryTs ation a 43 per-cent cut. And'the an i pce hiefolks in America. What will this mean forpoor Black Americans?ItTs not the amount thatTs important. ItTshow much a working person has after taxes.Those rich folks still will have enough mon-ey left to met their basic needs, whileat the bottom of the 90 percent which in-cludes people of color, will not havemoney to meet their basic needs. Sounds "tax plan is by Co inits present form, it will be the tax-equiva-lent of former President Bill ClintonTs par-oWs wl sla fos anteior o td But, thistime itTs the Republi oTax-Gate? for fourAnd it will be a low-down dirty shamewe poor Blacks will suffer worsteeeeaetneaese6s seaeee &-ea2eeesee ee eeOver 60 years ago.| if anyone ever believes that our City Coun-cil doesnTt listen to the average man, th walemm || son might want to re-think his position. ' ffAili || are a group a small businesses in WhitehavenH}| || who were recently told that in the interest of -ess 64 ee