TICKERTAPE

Jet, July 5, 1999 by Simeon Booker

Confidential: For the first time, U.S. Blacks have raised more than a million dollars at one time in a political fund-raiser, ending the myth that all Black Democrats can do is vote. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus accomplished this important step in a new direction when they honored President Bill Clinton at a huge gala in Washington and prodded the well-heeled guests "to lay some green on the line." The avalanche of cash instantly caught the attention of civil rights leaders who have been complaining of a financial cutback. Credit for the new trend is being shared by Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel, Ms. Dorothy Jackson and others on the Democratic National Committee staff... Should a federal prison be located in the predominantly Black nation's capital? Eleanor Holmes Norton, the city's non-voting representative in Congress, says "No" and has written a letter to the Justice Department to seek a site for the prison outside of the city ... Not even Congress has a monopoly on the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor; word quickly circulated that less than 300 guests could be accommodated in the Capitol Rotunda for Rosa Park's ceremony and the Republicans controlled the few available tickets. So what happened? Democrat-oriented civil rights groups held a program the day before the official presentation ... Summer's bestseller -- Patti LaBelle's Recipes to Sing About, a collection of dishes that include: "Make you want to holler Maryland crab cakes." EBONY editor Laura Randolph helped Patti in editing ... Now that Kweisi Mfume has decided to keep his NAACP post, his cousin, City Council President Lawrence Bell, and former council member Carl Stokes (no relation to the former Cleveland congressman) are the favorites in the mayor's race in Baltimore.

Simeon Booker, Washington Bureau Chief