Ticker tape

Jet, Dec 10, 2001 by Simeon Booker

Confidential: Quietly spearheading a comeback for the National Baptist Convention, at one time the nation's largest Black religious organization, Philly cleric William J. Shaw brought together a roster of national leaders in Nashville to finalize a strategy. At one time the convention boasted 8.5 million members and a multimillion-dollar treasury and was a major force in Black political and economic life.

However, the organization was crippled by a scandal involving former president Henry Lyons. But now, as the 16th president, Rev. Shaw is determined "to erase the past" and "build a new image." ... The first Black to take a troupe of artists to Afghanistan to entertain the troops and people may be Janet Langhart Cohen, the wife of a former Secretary of Defense. She established a Citizen Patriot Organization in Washington to carry out the mission ... The NAACP formed a Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel to review the overall progress of election reform nationwide. Heading up the project are President Kweisi Mfume and board chairman Julian Bond ... Black Caucus Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson asked President George Bush to extend humanitarian aid to Haiti, described as the Western Hemisphere's poorest people. "Just as we have helped other nations," Rep. Johnson told the House, "we must also help Haiti." ... Tenn. Rep Harold Ford introduced a bill that would give every American a temporary two-week grace period for the payment of credit card bills, mortgage payments, bank loans and other financial service obligations ... Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore established the first memorial to an African-American on the grounds of the State Capitol by dedicating a tree and plaque to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.