Hilliard denies nonprofit group
based in House office
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- Rep. Earl Hilliard said a nonprofit
group that received thousands of dollars in taxpayer money never
operated out of his district office, despite records that indicate the
opposite.
Hilliard, D-Birmingham. would not say whether there was a
link between his office and the organization, the National African
A rru?rioor? f antar Ino
Government funds that went to the
National African American Center and other
groups has come under scrutiny because of
reports tlie njyaey, handed over by Jefferson
County Commissioner Jeff Germany, was
routed though different agencies and not
accfjHeoo^
The National African American Center
Inc. received $10,000 in January 1999 and
$ 11 .SOt) in Fehniaiv ?0hfl. aemntino to IK*
Binninglfam News.
Hilliard The contact listed for the larger grant
was Hilliard. One of Hilliard's employees
and his office phone number weie given as contacts for the center.
Hilliard said the center "is not and never has been located in my
congressional office." mmM ^
But asked if there was any connection between the center and
his office. Hilliard said: "I didn't say there was and I didn't say there
wasn't."
Ethics rules prohibit the use of congressional resources for any
thing but official House business.
The National African American Center was dissolved in July
2(XX). Elvira Williams, who works in Hilliard's Birmingham district
office, was listed as its director and treasurer at the time.
Ethics rules do not prohibit a congressional staffer from holding
outside employment. The rales would not let a staffer use congres
sional resourceMil an outside job. however.
Hilliard saidne had spoken with Germany and was giving him
information requested from Williams.
Sweet Honey in the Rock releases
D.C. vote anthem on latest CD
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On its newest release - "Give the
People Their Right to Vote!" - Sweet Honey in the Rock. D.C.'s
own Grammy Award-winiling a cappella sextet, has created a new
theme song for the drive for full voting representation in Congress
for residents of the District of Columbia.
D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton calls the song's lyrics -
composed by Nitanju Bolade Casel- "a musical history lesson that
encompasses all the indignities that have been heaped upon District
residents since the founding of the nation's capital."
The song, in Norton's words, will make it "easier to educate
people across the country and around the world about our drive for
full congressional v oting rights and full democracy for District res
idents. who suffer the unhappy and unique distinction of being the
only residents of a capital city that are denied their rights of full cit
izenship and representation." The song's chorus declares:
No taxation without representation!
Two hundred years of exploitation
In the capital of this nation!
No representation!
In the capital of this nation
Two hundred years of exploitation
Give the people their right to vote!
The spirited chant "We want the vote!", the other selection on
the compact disc, was composed by Ysaye Maria Barnwell. "I just
felt it was important. Sweet Honey is based here; we were formed
here. D.C. is truly the last colony, and as we travel around, there is
no reason why we can't musically talk to people about this issue. It
has come before the public before; it was voted down. When it
comes before the public again, it needs to be voted up. and we want
people to participate in this by voting for people who will vote for
us to have a vote."
Speaking of "Give the People Their Right to Vote!", on
WAMU's syndicated talk show "Public Interest." hosted by Kojo
Nnamdi. political commentator Mark Plotkin observed that "it
should be our state anthem ...Every mov ement needs a great song.
It's a long time coming but this is the right group to have done it. I
hope it means'the movement takes off-now that we've got a song."
Groundbreaking for Maryland African
American museum set for August
BALTIMORE - Groundbreaking on what is expected to be the
second-largest African-American history museum in the country is
scheduled for August in the city's touristy Inner Harbor area.
The $33 million. 80,tX)0-square-foot Maryland Museum of
African-American History and Culture will feature artifacts, inter
active exhibits, historical documents, clothing, tools and art span
ning 350 years.
The museum w ill not just include slavery-era exhibits but also
information about little-known events and individuals with which
v isitors may not he familiar, said Sandy Bellamy, director of devel
opment for the Maryland African American Museum Corp.. a state
agency created to head the museum effort.
The facility would be the largest on the East Coast and second
nationwide only to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African
American History in Detroit. Two other black history museums in
Fredericksburg. Va.. and Washington also are being planned.
The state museum agency has committed $3 million to the
effort, including $2 million in private funds. The state is paying the
$33 million construction cost, all of which has been allocated except
for $9 million expected to be approved this year, said Sen. Barbara
A. Hoffman, chairman of the state Senate Budget and Taxation
Committee.
The state w ill pay 75 percent of the museum's annual $2 million
operating costs for the first two years. After that. Maryland will be
responsible for 50 percent of the costs, but Hoffman said she hopes
the attraction w ill be self-sufficient.
The five-story museum is scheduled to open in 2004. Officials
said they expect about 300,000 people to visit the museum annual
ly
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by
Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is
published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle
Publishing Co., Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston
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Ford eyes Tennessee Senate seat
KRT Photo
Harold Ford Jr. addresses the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Ford
served as the keynote speaker for the event.
BY DUNCAN MANSFIELD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KNOXVILLE, Tenn -
U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.
said Friday he's prepared to
endorse fellow congressional
Democrat Bob Clement for
the U.S. Senate but remains
interested in running for the
office himself.
"If Bob runs. I will sup
port Bob," Ford said on arriv
ing in heavily Republican
East Tennessee for a full day
of exploratory campaign
meetings with everyone from
the PTA to the NRA.
However, the three-term
congressman from Memphis
clearly is stumping for higher
office and wants to widen his
exposure.
"I hear there is an appetite
for a new kind of leadership
and that Tennessee is ready
for it," he said. "I hope the
people give me a chance to
present my case and why 1
want to be your United States
senator - if it is this time or
another time."
Llement, who has not
officially announced his
plans, has scheduled a news
conference Monday in his
hometown of Nashville.
Republican Fred Thomp
son announced March 8 that
he would not seek re-election
to the Senate, touching off a
flurry of activity among
potential candidates for what
had been a one-man race.
Former Gov. Lamar
Alexander, apparently with
the support of the White
House, and U.S. Rep. Ed
Bryant of Hendersonville are
vying for the Republican
nomination.
Meanwhile a large field of
potential Democratic candi
dates has thinned to Clement
and Ford alter Tipper Gore,
wife of forme* Vice President
Al Gore, decided Sunday not
to run. Ford was active in the
Al Gore presidential cam
paign.
Jim Hall, former National
Transportation Safety Board
chairman, and U.S. Reps.
John Tanner and Bart Gordon
have said they won't .seek the
nomination but will back
Clement.
But Clara Osborne wants
to see Ford make the race. A
supporter from Morris
town, she said Ford offers
"something our party needs -
a mixture of experience, a
hard worker and youth."
Ford, the only black in
Tennessee's congressional
delegation, acknowledges he
mustO overcome mate than
name recognilion to win
votes so far from his West
Tennessee roots.
"There are some percep
tions and some stereotypes
that 1 want to take head-on."
he said. "I am an African
American. I am 31 years old.
I come from Memphis. And
my last name is Ford." ?
However he described
himself as more of a moder
ate than a liberal and said
that East Tennesseans will
find that he shares many of
their values.
"I am a different kind of
Democrat. Somebody once
said, a different kind of West
Tennessean.'" Ford said.
"That is the purpose of this
trip."
Supporting that notion
was Carl Perkins, state presi
dent of the 8.200~tfiember
Fraternal Order of Police.
Perkins, an investigator with
the Knoxville Police Depart
ment, greeted Ford at the
Knoxville airport.
"We won't endorse any
one until after the primaries,
hut Congressman Ford is a
friend of ours." said Perkins,
noting Ford has championed
pro-police legislation,
including giving trained offi
cers the right to carry
weapons anywhere in the
country.
Ford ev en praised Thomp
son as "one of the great inde
pendent voices in the Senate"
and a model for anyone who
follows him.
Pickering back at work after rejection
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
U.S. District Judge Charles
Pickering says he worked in
his chambers in Hattiesburg as
the Democratic-controlled
U.S. Senate Judiciary Com
mittee scuttled his nomination
for a federal appeals court
nnct
Pick
e r i n g
said Fri
day his
immedi
ate reac
tion to
the vote
was dis
appoint
ment.
L?" A s
for the
immediate future, Pickering
said he would "do the things I
been doing - 1 will continue
with my judicial duties."
Pickering said he would
not withdraw his name from
consideration for the appeals
post. That could mean another
vote in the future.
Senate Republican leader
Trent Lott on Friday threat
ened to retaliate against
Democrats for defeating Pres
ident Bush's nominee to the
5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in New Orleans.
"I'm not going to let go of
it for a long time." Lott said.
The NAACP and other lib
eral rights groups, a core con
stituency of the Democrats,
strongly disapproved the nom
ination because they said
Pickering supported segrega
tion as a young man and had
an ultraconservative voting
record as a Mississippi law
maker.
Rep. Bennie Thompson.
D-Miss.. said it was these con
cerns that convinced a majori
ty of the committee to reject
the nomination.
"Th* vote not to confirm
Pickering is, evidence of the
extensive record the judge has
amassed and his insensifivity
to civil rights concerns. " sdid
Thompson.
Pickering said he refused
"to let what hys happened to
me during this process embit
ter me or shape the balance of
my life. Life is too precious."
"I am extremely disturbed
that judicial confirmation has
degenerated into such a bitter
and mean spirited process,"
he said. "I sincerely hope that
no other nominee has to go
through what has happened to
me. The price of public serv
ice should not be so high."
State GOP Chairman Jim
Herring said the rejection of
Pickering would make Repub
licans campaign even harder
to return the judge's son. U.S.
Rep. Chip Pickering, to Con
gress.
Mississippi lost a congres
sional seat and districts repre
sented by Pickering and U.S.
Rep. Ronnie Shows. D-Miss..
were combined. Both have
qualified in the new district
ordered by a federal three
judge panel.
I N D E X
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Q)
ss o
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Winston-Salem. NC
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