---New Report on 50th Anniversary of Brown V. Board of Education---
On the 50th anniversary of the landmark school desegregation decision, Brown v. Board of Education, a report commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation has found that Brown, measured purely by its effects on the poor schoolchildren of color at its center, is "a disappointment-in many respects a failure." The report, authored by Contributing Editor Ellis Cose, is excerpted in the May 17 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, May 10). "A half century later, school segregation is far from dead and the goal of educational equality is as elusive as ever," writes Cose. "Since the early 1990s, despite the continued growth of integration in other sectors of society, Black and Latino children are increasingly likely to find themselves in classes with few, if any, non-minority faces." Indeed today, most Blacks are no longer convinced their kids necessarily do better in integrated settings, writes Cose. According to an exclusive Newsweek Poll, some 57 percent of Black parents say the schools' racial mixture makes no difference, significantly more than the 41 percent who said that in a 1988 Newsweek Poll. But they also know resource allocation is not colorblind. Hence, 59 percent of Blacks, 52 percent of Hispanics and 49 percent of whites agree that it will be impossible to provide equal educational opportunities for all "as long as children of different races in this country basically go to different schools." And while most White and Hispanic Americans (59 percent for each group) think their community schools are doing a good or excellent job, only 45 percent of Blacks feel that way, according to the Poll. "That is up considerably from the 31 percent who thought their schools were performing well in 1998, but it means a lot of people are still unhappy with the deck of skills being dealt to Black kids," writes Cose, who on May 16 will moderate a town hall meeting and panel discussion reflecting upon Brown's legacy, its influence on the current educational climate and its future implications at Harlem's historic Apollo Theater. In too many ways, when it comes to children of color, we continue to ask the wrong questions, writes Cose. "We poke and probe and test those kids as we wrinkle our brows and ask, with requisite concern, "Why are you such a problem? What special programs do you need?" when we should be asking, "What have we not given to you that we routinely give to upper-middle-class white kids? What do they have that you don't?" "The answer, writes Cose, is simple. "They have a society that grants them the presumption of competence and the expectation of success; they have an environment that nurtures aspiration, peers who provide support and guardians who provide direction. If we are serious about realizing the promise of Brown, about decently educating those who begin with the least, we will have to ponder deeply how to deliver those things where they are desperately needed."

---Boston's first African American -owned hotel---
The new Hampton Inn & Suites at Boston Crosstown Center has announced it has hired minorities to five of the hotel's top seven senior management positions. Opening in June 2004, Hampton Inn & Suites is located at 811 Massachusetts Avenue, off Exit 18 on I-93, across from Boston Medical Center and close to the Longwood Medical Area. The 175-room Hampton Inn & Suites is being developed and is owned by a partnership that includes Boston developers Kirk Sykes, Tom Welch, Gene Sisco and Corcoran Jennison Company. A majority of the hotel's owners are African American, making this Boston's only African American owned hotel. This is one of only 37 African American owned hotels, less than 2%, of the nearly 2,100 hotel properties within the Hilton Family of Hotels. The hotel announced last month the hiring of Phillip Tucker as General Manager. In addition to Mr. Tucker, the Crosstown Hampton announces the following positions have been filled; Wanda Green, Director of Human Resources; Charice Cleckley, Accounting Manager; Palmira Teixeira, Executive Housekeeper; and Fred Newton, Chief Engineer.

---Cinco de Mayo---
Recently, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined millions of Americans in celebrating Cinco de Mayo. The day marks the historic triumph of the Mexican people over the French Army in the battle of Puebla in 1862. Pelosi released the following statement: "On May 5, 1862, untrained, outnumbered, and outgunned Mexican forces determined to protect their land successfully defended the town of Puebla against the French. In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo represents freedom and self-determination for the people of Mexico, and it is a symbol of Mexican unity, patriotism and pride. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is also a celebration of the rich cultural heritage Mexican Americans have brought to this country and the contributions of all Hispanics in the United States."

---Black Public Relations Society of Greater New York to honor African American Pioneers in Theatrical Marketing and PR---Three of the most accomplished marketing and public relations professionals on the performing arts scene today - Irene Gandy (National Black Arts Festival), Marcia Pendleton (Walk Tall Girl Productions), and Donna Walker-Kuhne (Walker International Communications Group) - will be honored by the Black Public Relations Society of Greater New York as African-American pioneers in the field on Monday, May 17, 2004 at the Manhattan offices of Burson Marsteller, located at 230 Park Avenue South, at 6:00pm. Admission to the event is $15.00 for members, ($20.00 at the door). To RSVP and for more information, call (516) 377-6146.

---Soul Plane---
Jessy Terrero, the noted Latino music video and motion picture creator, will make his major motion picture studio directorial debut with MGM's new urban comedy "Soul Plane" which will be released on Friday, May 28, 2004 at the start of the Memorial Day weekend. "Soul Plane," Terrero's first major motion picture, is an urban comedy based on the 1980 hit movie "Airplane." It is about a passenger who creates the full-service airline of his dreams, complete with sexy flight attendants, funky music, a dance club and a bathroom attendant. The comedy stars Tom Arnold, Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Method Man, D.L. Hugley, Sofia Vergara and Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson. Jessy Terrero, Producer and Director of MGM's "Soul Plane" and President of Terrero Films, commented: "Soul Plane is a refreshing, entertaining, comical experience, much like Friday's urban humor meeting Austin Powers' eclectic style." Terrero Films is dedicated to creating films, which represent views of the ever growing English speaking Latino and Urban communities, and that are genuine, sensitive and attractive to all audiences.

---What are you watching?---
The announcement by Nielsen Media Research that they will implement the largest increases in its samples of African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans does not address errors in its tracking of minority viewership, according to the "Don't Count Us Out Coalition." Paul Williams, President of 100 Black Men of New York, said "Adding more people to the system will not fix the problem. It is further indication that Nielsen has no clue how to accurately measure African-American television viewership. Rather than take the time to work with coalition members to get it straight beforehand, Nielsen would rather implement a system that unfairly undercounts people of color as if it doesn't matter. Well, it does matter, and I was raised to think that issues of justice and fairness always mattered in this country." As its prepares to roll out its Local People Meters, Nielsen Media Research has yet to undertake a study to determine the cause of its systemic flaws in accurately tracking minority viewing. While the Don't Count Us Out Coalition was encouraged that Nielsen acknowledged the flaws in their system and delayed the launch of LPM's, Nielsen can not mask the fact that they are miscounting African Americans and Latinos by simply counting more of them.

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