Ticker Tape

Jet, May 21, 2001 by Simeon Booker

Confidential: Though none of the 38-plus members of the Congressional Black Caucus accepted his recent White House luncheon invitation, President George W. Bush is expected to address this year's National Urban League (NUL) Convention (July 28-Aug. 1) in the nation's capital. This well may be the president's premiere appearance before a national Black organization. Every four years the NUL, led by executive director Hugh B. Price, holds its conference in D.C. to hear the president ... After winning the 200-meter dash in the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith lifted his fist in a Black power salute, virtually making him an outcast in the world of sports. Now, 33 years later, the Baldwin Hills, CA, native plans to auction his medal this fall for a half- million dollars and use the money to start a foundation for disadvantaged neighborhood youth ... A new Virginia Congressional district with a 40 percent Black vote has lured four possible Black candidates--state senator L. Louise Lucas, Del. Kenneth R. Melvin, Petersburg Mayor Rosalyn Dance and former NAACP state executive Jack Gravely ... When Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA) warned a Black woman not to board a Capitol Hill elevator reserved "for members," she had no idea how the story would spread. The Black woman happened to be Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN), and the accounts of the incident traveled from coast-to-coast ... Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. J. C. Watts (R-OK) teamed up to introduce legislation establishing a national African-American museum on the mall. White senators Max Cleland and Sam Brownback introduced the bill in the Senate.

Simeon Booker, Washington Bureau Chief