The Rev. Jesse Jackson holds fifth annual Wall Street Project in New York City

Jet, Feb 18, 2002

The Rev. Jesse Jackson recently hosted his fifth annual conference of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Wall Street Project in New York City, which focused on expanding opportunities for minorities in business.

Jackson said: "Blacks are more than consumers, they are talented employees and executives, as well as capable business partners for corporate America. But the playing field must be even in order for these opportunities to be realized."

The theme of the conference, which was held at the Hilton New York, was "A Time To Heal And A Time To Rebuild." The conference addressed a variety of issues, including the expansion of corporate entrepreneurship among the hip-hop generation, the role of community churches in developing financial literacy and the practice of some insurance companies reportedly keeping two sets of books--one for Whites and one for Blacks.

During the conference, Jackson also pushed for minority firms to receive 10 percent of asset management fees for managing pensions and 401 (k) funds at corporations. "We have qualified money managers, but those who are locked out can't get opportunities."

Jackson said the Wall Street Project's goal to increase opportunities for minority business firms and consumers "is the unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement to get access to capital."

He noted "over the past five years, the Wall Street Project has worked to even that playing field, and a new study by (accounting firm) KPMG illustrates that we are having an impact. But there remains a lot of work to be done--research from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University shows that Black homeowners and car buyers pay more, and get less than Whites."

Among the business leaders honored were hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons (Hip Hop Entrepreneur of the Decade); John A. Thain, president and co-Chief Operating Office of Goldman Sachs (Trading Partners Award); Antoinette M. Malveux, president and CEO, National Black MBA Association (Reginald Lewis Trailblazer Award); and Harold O. Levy, chancellor, New York City Board of Education, (Lamond Godwin Bridge Builders Award).