Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 September 2000 — Page 5

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22,2000

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE A5

10th District Candidate hosts party for children at Indianapolis Zoo

Marvin Scott said that if he is elected as the 10th Congressional District's representative he will name an Administrator of Children's Affairs who will be a major part of the Scott staff. "Children and their parents today, especially those living in urban areas, have issues that must receive attention." Scott said. "For instance, Indianapolis continues to have a huge disparity in household income levels. Children from homes in the lower brackets must have the same opportunities as ones from higher income residences." Specifically, Scott said his Administrator of Children's Affairs

will help Scott identify problem areas, including education opportunities, and work to influence policy both in Indianapolis and Washington. Scott announced his intentions at the Indianapolis Zoo, where he hosted a party for children from lower income families. "Me Administrator of Children's Affairs is just one example of how I will work differently for the people of Indianapolis than does Julia Carson," Scott added. "There is no real local evidence of our current Congressional representative working to influence policy in Washington for the betterment of 10th District constituents."

NAACP unit to support campaign finance as civil rights issue

Special to The Recorder

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Delegates to the 64th annual convention of the Michigan State Conference of the NAACP became the first NAACP unit to adopt a resolution unanimously to support the concept of campaign finance as a civil rights issue. The Fannie Lou Hamer Project, which is a now non-partisan organization dedicated to creating a national grassroots movement to redefine campaign finance reform as a civil rights issue, worked closely with members of the Michigan State NAACP in passing the resolution earlier this month. “The Fannie Lou Hamer Project applauds this historical step taken by the Michigan State NAACP in passing this resolution as we believe that fundamental reform of our campaign finance system is imperative in order to address fundamental issues in the areas of political, economic, and social justice,” Stephanie Wilson, director of the Fannie Lou Hamer Project, said. The resolution passed by the Michigan State NAACP specifies that 95 percent of those making campaign contributions of $20QjjDr more to/ candidates are whije and, therefore, these wealthy interests are able to exercise undue influence over the policy process and affect the outcondie'of issues of grave concern to African Americans, including gun control, health care and economic justice. The resolution tecognizes that the current campaign finance

Voter registration drive hits high gear With just a few weeks remaining to register new voters and those who have moved since the last election, 20 Democratic officials and workers met recently in the Brightwood neighborhood to sign up eligible voters for the Nov. 7 election. Leading the door-to-door campaign were judge candidates. Judge BarbaraCollins and Commissioner Linda Brown, along with Aaron Haith, coordinator of the voter registration effort. “The election of Bart Peterson as mayor last year was due, in great part, to the success of our voter registration drive, followed up by a tremendous get-out-the-vote effort on election'day,” said Haith. “We hope to duplicate that effort this year.” lj ■ “We have onjy a few weeks left to reach potential voters,” Haith continued. f ‘While in one sense this is a non-partisin effort, in that we don’t ask anyone what party or candidate he or she supports before we register them, naturally we hope that those who we register will look kindly on the party going to the trouble to seek them out” Registration efforts for the next three weekends will concentrate on CentW and Washington townships areas where the greyest num- £ bers of DerWcfatic voters are found. 7 / Volunteers are not only welcomed, but also needed. Anyone Chairperson, Bumetta Sloss-Tan-ner, 3529 N. Central Avenue, at 9:30 am. Cm Saturday, Sept. 23. supphes will be

ment

system — because it dilutes the

political strength of African Americans — needs to be

overhauled and replaced with a voluntary system of full public

financing for elections.

“As the theme of our recently concluded convention was the ‘Race to Vote,’ we believe that passing this resolution further underscores the Michigan State NAACP’s commitment to the

right to vote, and that that

commitment includes having a

meaningful vote, not one

drowned out by big money,” said Carey Whitfield, president of the Battle Creek branch of the NAACP, who introduced the

resolution to the state conference.

The Fannie Lou Hamer

Project’s overarching goal is to build support for the resolution among NAACP branches over the next six to 12 months and have the resolution placed on the

floor for consideration at the

NAACP’s annual convention in July 2001 in New Orleans. The project is focusing its efforts in

six priority areas: Florida,

Georgia, North Carolina, Northern California, and Wisconsin.

The Fannie Lou Hamer Project is a non-partisan, non-profit organization. The project is headquartered in

Atlanta, with several members of

the executive committee and founding members living and working in other parts of the

country.

The executive committee is comprised of Randall Merritt of the Georgia Rural-Urban Summit, president; Stephanie Anthony of the Louisiana Democracy Project, vice president; Dexter Wimbish of Democracy South, treasurer; Heidi Becker formerly of the National Voting Rights Institute, secretary; and Spencer Overton, serving in an at-large capacity. The project’s Web site address is www.flhp.org.

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