Ticker tape

Jet, Feb 16, 2004 by Simeon Booker

Confidential: The job reverses Blacks have endured since 2001 have caused the worst turnabout in the labor market in more than 25 years, according to new National Urban League President Marc H. Morial. In a special Jobs Report, he contends that despite the improving economy, Black college graduates suffer greater job losses than their White counterparts at a time when Black unemployment is double that of Whites.

Mapping out a program to expand job training efforts in cities across the country, Morial said his first major organizational project will be to convene a jobs summit this spring with business and labor groups ... Rumors that the U.S. Post Office will withdraw Black commemorative stamps because of poor sales in the Black community were denied in Washington. Federal officials urged more Blacks to buy the stamps and end the wave of rumors ... The sudden retirement of Wisconsin Rep. Jerry Kleczka after 20 years in Congress opened the doors to the election of the state's first Black law-maker. Among the possibilities: acting Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt, Sheriff David Clarke, Jr., Spencer Coggs, and state Sen. Gwen Moore ... Celebrating Black History in the nation's capital: Historic Ford Theater from January 30 to March 7 will feature a one-man play about Alonzo Fields, the first Black White House butler who served Presidents Hoover through Eisenhower. Starring in the role is actor Wendell Wright ... The fabulous quilts of four generations of quilters from Alabama's Gee's Bend will be displayed at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from February 14 to May 17.