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Art by Nefertiti
Martin Luther King Jr.
Bennie G. Thompson (D - MS)
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
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Business World Index
---GOP Convention: Drop in Black delegates---
After seating a record number of African American delegates in 2004, the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul will have the lowest Black representation in 40 years, according to a convention guide that will be distributed to delegates at the Convention by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (Joint Center). Blacks and the 2008 Republican Convention, released by the nonpartisan research institution that focuses on minority issues, notes that African Americans will comprise only 1.5 percent of the total number of GOP delegates, substantially below the record setting 6.7 percent in 2004. The 36 Black delegates in 2008 represent a 78.4 percent decline from the 167 Black delegates at the 2004 GOP convention. "This guide scientifically documents the historical shift of Black voter allegiances over the past 50 years, and places Black voter attitudes and preferences in the context of the pressing issues of our day," said Ralph B. Everett, President and CEO of the Joint Center.
---“Obama, Making Waves” - artist releases tribute to Obama---
Nefertiti, a painter and printmaker who has exhibited her works throughout the U.S., Eastern Europe, and South America via top museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Montclair Art Museum, Smithsonian (SITES), Studio Museum, Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, and the Schomburg, recently released her newest work, "Making Waves" in tribute to Barack Obama. According to Nefertiti, "Being in the moment of a living transformer, observing a political dynamo who has not only buoyed my spirit and rejuvenated my hope to more than a glimmer but also soothed the angst in my being and has allowed me to believe again that perhaps this nation’s soul will be rekindled is what moved me to create this artwork, "Making Waves." Barack Obama is making waves, transforming the political landscape positively, and possibly changing the inertia that has pacified our dreams to be a better world. In my work, Obama's abstract face is to give the feeling of Obama’s spiritual essence as a deep thinker reflecting upon making change now and for the future. And, also, in the piece the repetition of Obama’s name reflects my hope that his message of change will be our nation’s inspirational mantra, if not the world’s. Anyone interested in viewing the print of "Obama, Making Waves" or other art by Nefertiti contact her via the following blog: http://nefertiti9.wordpress.com or send email to: nefer.nefertiti@verizon.net. For the full story, go to www.unityfirst.com/pressreleasenefertiti2008.html
---From Martin Luther King III---
Here is an excerpt from Martin Luther King III’s remarks during the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, August 28, 2008: “While waiting to come to the podium, I could not help thinking how proud my father would be: proud of Barack Obama, proud of the party that nominated him and proud of the America that will elect him.On this day, exactly 45 years ago, my father stood on the National Mall in the shadow of Abraham Lincoln and proclaimed, "I have a dream! ... That one day, this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed." We're all children of the dream, and he is in all our hearts and minds. But not only that, he is in the hopes and dreams, the competence and courage, the rightness and readiness of Barack Obama. But my father would be quick to remind us that realizing his dream is not Barack Obama's job alone. America needs more than a great president to realize my father's dream. What America needs is a great America. Let me paraphrase my father: The ultimate measure of a nation is not where it stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where it stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
---Bennie Thompson remembers the late congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones ---
Here is an excerpt from remarks made by Bennie Thompson at the Democratic National Convention: “I stand before you today saddened because of the passing of my dear friend and colleague, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. As a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I was overjoyed to be a part of history at the beginning of the 110th Congress with Stephanie. We became two of the five CBC members who would chair full committees in the House of Representatives. Her life and legacy is full of history making-as the first black woman to become a member of Congress in Ohio and the many "firsts" she accomplished as a successful attorney in the state. One thing is clear: to be a first in so many areas, to be such a trailblazer in public service you have to be strong. You have to be committed to making a difference in the lives of others. We don't need to create any more opportunities that die with an individual. We need more legacies like Stephanie's- the kind of legacy that lives on. Her legacy demands that we do what Gandhi once said-to "be the change you want to see in the world." This is the change we see in Barack Obama.
---Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference---
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) is planning what may be the largest organized gathering of people watching a presidential debate as part of the 38th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC), September 24-27, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. CBCF's "Presidential Debate Watch" will enable as many as 2,000 ALC registrants to come together on Friday, September 26, to watch on large screen televisions this year's first general-election debate sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The major-party presidential nominees, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Sen. John McCain(R-Arizona), will square off at a 90-minute debate focused on foreign policy issues at 9 p.m. (EDT) at the University of Mississippi. Overall ore than 18,000 people focusing on issues impacting African Americans and the African diaspora attend ALC each year at the convention center.
---Parents in prison---
An estimated 809,800 prisoners of the 1,518,535 held in the nation's prisons at midyear 2007 were parents of minor children, according to a report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Parents in prison – 52 percent of state inmates and 63 percent of federal inmates report having an estimated 1,706,600 minor children. Among state inmates, the percent of parents in prison decreased from 55 percent in 1997 but has remained stable for federal inmates. About 2.3 percent of the 74 million children in the U.S. resident population who were under the age of 18 on July 1, 2007, had a parent in prison. Black and Hispanic children were about eight and three times, respectively, more likely than white children to have a parent in prison. Among minor children in the U.S. resident population, 6.7 percent of black children, 2.4 percent of Hispanic children, and 0.9 percent of white children had a parent in prison. State inmates who were parents reported that nearly a quarter of their children were age four or younger and reported having two children on average.
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