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1) Racial discrimination and auto loan finance charges
2) Merrill Lynch announces new $500 Million initiative for under-served California communities

---National Urban League names Milton J. Little, Jr. Interim President and CEO---The National Urban League announced the appointment of Milton J. Little, Jr., the organization's current Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, as its Interim President and CEO effective April 14th, 2003. Little will replace Hugh B. Price, who resigned from the current position last fall and officially leaves office on April 11th. The Executive Committee of the National Urban League Board of Trustees made the appointment. Little was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the League in 1997. Little is a former Vice President for Foundation Programs at Lucent Technologies, and a former Vice President for Health and Human Services Programs at the AT&T Foundation.

---State of Black Massachusetts---
Boston's State Senator Dianne Wilkerson convened a statewide conference, "21st Century Black Massachusetts: Honoring the Legacy: Building the Future…A Call to Action," on April 11-12 in Boston, MA. Over 1,500 African Americans, people of color and supporters of all backgrounds attended the event and took part in workshops focused on issues affecting the Black citizenry of Massachusetts. As attendees focused on realizing the Black vote in Massachusetts, they welcomed the attendance of Al Sharpton, and took notice of the missed visits by several other invited Democratic Presidential candidates including Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts. The conference moved along with an agenda that included workshops on criminal justice, power and politics, role of the Black clergy, perspectives on Black youth, as well as sessions on business, health, media, education and community development from across the Commonwealth. One Tufts University professor James Jennings, observed, "I think we are living in a state of crisis in Massachusetts." He referred to the rising numbers of the working poor, gloomy economy and significant budget cuts." Other speakers pinpointed numerous issues facing the Black community, such as healthcare, education, financial empowerment and housing. Insights shared during a recent Unityfirst.com poll on the state of Blacks in Massachusetts are: 1) Racism is much more prevalent in Massachusetts than people are willing to believe, 2)Access to a quality education and to instructional and support services remains a critical concern 3) 'Segregation' in Massachusetts seems to be worse than in many other states across the U.S. 4)Whites seem to have a more difficult time dealing with middle and upper class Blacks 5) Class issues in the Black community are clearly evident and heightened in many social situations and groupings."

---Statement on the 35th Anniversary of Civil Rights Act of 1968---
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones released the following statement marking the 35th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act: "As we watch Iraqis celebrating their new found freedom half a world away, it is hard to imagine that just 35 years ago, African-Americans and other minorities were aggressively discriminated against in this country and relegated to living in select areas of cities, counties and towns across the country. Many African-Americans were squeezed into areas too small to house the local black population, prevented from moving into neighborhoods that were considered to be 'white-only.' "The Fair Housing Act, contained in Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination in the sale, financing or rental of housing because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. This legislation is less well known than the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, but it strikes at the heart of the American dream -- the freedom to provide a safe and happy home for your family. "The Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson on April 11, 1968. It was amended in 1988 to provide the Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development a larger role in enforcing the law, in an effort to better combat the discrimination in housing that persists across the country.

---AMISTAD America announces Amistad's 2003 Great Lakes Tour--
For the first time since its launch in 2000, Freedom Schooner Amistad will bring its message of reconciliation and harmony among races to the Great Lakes. After completing successful visits along the United States' East and Gulf coasts, AMISTAD America, Inc. has dedicated itself to bringing the historic lessons of perseverance, cooperation, leadership, and justice inherent in The Amistad Incident of 1839 to cities in America's heartland. Freedom Schooner Amistad will launch her 2003 Great Lakes Tour with a much anticipated visit to Portland, Maine in May. Amistad will then proceed to Cleveland, Ohio; Toledo, Ohio; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Muskegon, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, MI; Sandusky, OH; Ashtabula, OH; Buffalo, NY and the 2003 Great Lakes Tour will culminate with a September visit to Oswego, NY. In every city, Amistad will offer educational tours to school children and the general public. For more information on Freedom Schooner Amistad's 2003 Gulf Coast Tour, please visit www.amistadamerica.org or call (866) AMISTAD.

---Veteran charter schools outperform non-charter public schools on student achievement---California charter schools that have been in operation for at least five years are outperforming non-charter public schools when it comes to student achievement scores (as measured by the API), according to a new analysis. This analysis of the API, conducted in March by the Charter Schools Development Center (CSDC), is based on the 2002 API base scores, which were publicly released in February 2003. The data shows that overall, charter schools operating for five or more years outperformed all public schools, as well as their younger charter peers. The 80 "veteran" charter schools that have been open for at least five years and have received API base scores this school year, had an average score of 708. This is above the average score of 689 for all public schools and the average score of 667 for all active charter schools. The API (Academic Performance Index) is a public school ranking system based primarily on state test scores. All public schools are expected to score 800 out of 1000 points or to be making five percent growth toward that target each year. "These results demonstrate that charter schools are indeed making a difference," said Dr. David Patterson, Interim Executive Director for the California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC). "This shows that when educators are given the freedom from excessive regulations to create programs that work for their students, and the time to implement them, positive results happen." This CSDC analysis follows the findings of a recent study by Cal State University, Los Angeles (2002), which found that student achievement (as measured by the API) in charter schools serving predominately low-income students is improving at a faster rate than in their non-charter school counterparts. For more information, contact Gary Larson, 916/996-3089.

---Tom Joyner to hold's first National Family Reunion at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida---Fun, music, laughter and love are all part of the American institution known as the family reunion. And syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner is inviting families from around the country to join him and his "family" from the "Tom Joyner Morning Show" at his first family reunion event at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. "Tom Joyner's Family Reunion" is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend, Aug. 28- Sept. 1, and promises to bring three days of entertaining, thought-provoking and uplifting events that will engage the entire family. And all of this fun and family bonding takes place at America's No. 1 vacation destination, Walt Disney World Resort.

---Health disparities among under-served ethnic populations in U.S.---
The Alliance of Minority Medical Associations will formally invite Congress, the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, and private sectors to join a collaborative effort to work with the Alliance to eliminate health disparities in minority populations. This organization -- a new collaborative effort of the Asian and Pacific Physician's Association, the Association of American Indian Physicians, the National Hispanic Medical Association and the National Medical Association -- was recently founded to work toward eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in health in the U.S. and improving the quality of health care and access to health care for minority populations. As a first step, the Alliance of Minority Medical Associations will invite leaders from governmental and private sectors to participate in a National Health Leadership Summit to develop proactive and measurable initiatives that will eliminate health disparities. More than 82 million Americans, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans are at significantly higher risk for some of the most serious and deadly diseases facing our nation today. At the same time, access to health care for many of these people is severely limited, and the resulting cost of under treatment to society is immense. Prominent diseases that disproportionately affect minorities include heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, immunizations, mental health and obesity. Treatment of these diseases alone cost the United States approximately $645 billion each year. Chronic kidney disease affects an estimated 20 million Americans -- many of whom are undiagnosed and untreated -- and 20 million more are at risk. Ethnic/minority populations are also under treated for diabetes and hypertension, the two leading causes of end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure.

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