‘Should President Obama have a Black Agenda?’ is the title of debate taking place Monday, April 19, 5:30 p.m., at the University of Michigan-Flint in the William S. White Building, room 1205. It will be hosted by State Rep. Woodrow Stanley. Contact Kizzi Montgomery at (517) 373 8808 for more information.
Barack Obama
www.michronicle.com
WHAT’S INSIDE
VOLUME 73 – Number 31★
Business Leaders to address Pancakes and Politics Friday
On Friday, April 16, the
Michigan Chronicle’s Pan- cakes and Politics at the Detroit Ath- letic Club will feature “Forum Two: Business Leaders for Michi- gan” with Lorenzo Creighton, president
Peter Karmanos
and COO of MGM Grand Detroit; Michael J. Jander- noa, principal of of Bridge Street Capital Partners; Peter Karmanos, president and CEO of Compuware Corp.; and Cynthia J. Paskey, president and CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions. For tickets call 313 963 8100
Former South African president blamed for thousands of deaths (A-2)
A recent Harvard School of Public Health Study in South Africa said 330,000 deaths were caused by former President Thabo Mbeki’s 1999 decision to declare available drugs toxic and dangerous.
Attorney General Holder to speak at Keith ceremony (A-3)
Attorney General Eric Holder will speak at the groundbreak- ing ceremony for the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University Law School on May 17. The Keith Center honors the life and legacy of Judge Keith.
WSU Communication School to honor outstanding journalists (A-3)
Wayne State University’s Dept. of Communications will honor five journalists for their work on the question of diversity at the 2010 Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Media Awards April 16. The award is named after Thomas dean of the White House Press Corps and will be held at St. Andrews Hall.
The Michigan Democratic Party is at the crossroads as many wait to see if the Democratic ticket this year will be diverse
By Bankole Thompson
CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR
When the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed af-
firmative action during the bitter battle at the University of Michigan, the high court of the land submitted to an undeni- able truth that “diversity is a compelling interest.”
COMMENTARY
In 2008, when America
What you should do now and what can wait (B-1)
If you miss the April 15 tax deadline and believe you owe taxes for 2009, Accounting Aid Society advises its clients to file an extension to avoid being charged with penalties and interest.
Tigers spotlight: Austin Jackson (C-1)
Rookie Tiger Austin Jack- son speaks about coming to Detroit, including how it was an honor to be compared with Curtis Granderson and how it felt to be making his Major League debut.
Playing the name game (D-1)
A look at the real names and stage names of famous recording artists.
stepped out in faith and bestowed the presidency into the hands of a man named Barack Obama, whose father hailed from the East African nation of Kenya, the world watched in shock and awe at this compelling display of di- versity. That at some point people of goodwill and faith can look beyond one’s skin color and cul-
Bankole Thompson
Harvey Hollins Dennis Archer
tural and ethnic background and appreciate the intellect, honesty and competence of a person.
In 2010, in the age of Obama,
the party that delivered such a presidency is now been asked in Michigan to make diversity a com- pelling interest in this year’s elec- tion season. It should not come as a shock that an African American or person of any other ethnicity should be thrust to the higher levels of state government. Therefore the Michigan Democratic Party, this all encompassing political institu- tion that brands itself as the party
Hartford to host GM ride and drive function
The newest Chevrolets,
Buicks, GMCs and Cadillacs will be available for a ride and drive at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church on Sunday, April 18, following worship services.
Organizers say this will be
the first event of its kind to be held at a Detroit church. Hartford members and the general public will have the opportunity to see and test drive the latest, top-of-the- line GM vehicles. The new, highly-anticipated
Chevy
Volt will also be available for review.
The purpose of the event,
www.michronicle.com
6 89076 06419 4
sponsored by GM Minority Suppliers and Dealers, is to give attendees an opportuni- ty to experience GM vehicles and ask questions without pressure. But if there are questions about purchasing or leasing a vehicle, loan of- ficers from Comerica Bank and Chase Bank will be on hand. Also, GMAC will dis- cuss financial literacy. The
goal of the event is to build new relationships in the community and highlight the contribution of minority suppliers and dealers to the community and local econo- my.
“Minority suppliers play
an important role in the au- tomotive industry by provid- ing complex and sophisti- cated goods and services,” said Leon C. Richardson, president of ChemicoMays, recently named a 2009 GM Supplier of the Year.
“We also play an intricate
role in our community by providing employment op- portunities, academic schol- arships and leadership de- velopment. General Motors also believes in community outreach and the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church 2010 GM Ride & Drive will allow consumers to directly experience how corpora- tions, minority suppliers,
See HARTFORD page A-4 Conrad Mallett Lonnie Joe Herbert Smitherman Karen Fulton
Health industry leaders, political heavyweights to address historic health care legislation
The University of Michigan
-Dearborn Office of Multicul- tural Affairs has announced that it will host a symposium titled “Health Reform Bill: Who Benefits?” featuring a bevy of leaders from the health care industry and political stal- warts who have been support- ing as well as critical of the legislation that passed under President Obama.
The town hall style conver-
sation will be held April 19 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in
the 1500 Social Science Build- ing on the campus of the uni- versity and will be moderated by Bankole Thompson of the Michigan Chronicle.
The forum, free and open to
the public, includes Conrad Mallett, former Michigan Su- preme Court Justice and president of Sinai Grace Hos- pital; Dr. Herbert Smitherman, author of the book “Taking Care of the Uninsured: A Path to Reform” and assistant dean of Wayne State Univer-
sity School of Medicine; Karen Fulton, CEO of Triumph Hos- pital-Detroit; Dr. Lonnie Joe, former president of the Detroit Medical Society.
The symposium is present-
ed by the university’s Issues in Diversity and Social Change lecture series, sponsored by Chancellor Daniel Little and the Office of Multicultural Af- fairs, headed by the universi- ty’s institutional equity offi- cer, Eric Boling.
Carmen Harlan Faye Nelson
of the disenfranchised, should live to its creed of diversity. It makes sense, like Howard Dean once said at a Democratic leadership summit in downtown Detroit, that those who come asking for votes in com- munities of color should be held accountable if their ticket is not di- verse.
This request should not even
be up for discussion because the Democratic Party has succeeded in painting Republicans as the po- litical group that is an anathema to diversity and its accompanying attributes. Whether that is true or
Linda Forte
not, the party that boasts of allow- ing everyone to have a seat at the table of equity despite their status in society should take the lead in making that claim a reality.
Democratic Party bosses should
not have to be reminded to live up to the historical obligation the party has been committed to. The party that championed the 1964 Civil Rights Act cannot now aban- don its moral and historical obli- gation to addressing the needs of people of color. If African Ameri-
See DIVERSE TICKET page A-4
Give Us A Diverse Ticket
April 14-20, 2010 479 Ledyard • Detroit MI 48201 313.963.5522
Practice What You Preach
$1.00
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