Gloria A. Totten writes: "You're Invited to a Reception Launching an Exciting New Progressive Majority Program: Racial Justice Campaign Fund dedicated to electing progressive people of color Join Representative Raoul M. Grijalva, Representative Mike Honda, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Representative Hilda Solis And other progressive leaders and elected officials on Wednesday, May 12th 7:00 - 9:00 pm B Smith's, Union Station Washington, DC Individual Ticket $50 Friend $100 Host Committee $500 Founder $1,000 Space is limited, please RSVP by emailing Darshan Khalsa at dkhalsa@progressivemajority.org or by calling (202) 408-8603."

"The Bush administration ruled against releasing statistically adjusted census data to help distribute billions of dollars in federal aid across the country, government sources said Wednesday. The decision means the federal government will use the raw head count available now to divvy up over $185 billion for Medicaid, foster care and other social service programs...Bureau officials weighed whether adjusting population figures with statistical sampling would improve the already completed raw head count. Most Democrats and civil rights groups said it would, by offering a better tally of minorities, the poor and children - groups typically missed in higher numbers...Groups like the U.S. Conference of Mayors also supported sampling, which could boost population figures for cities with larger minority populations and, likewise, federal dollars into those cities." So reports the Associated Press.

June 19 is "Juneteenth," which marks the date in 1865 when the Emancipation Proclamation was announced in Galveston, making Texas the last state to free its slaves. The occasion is now celebrated in 200 cities across the nation. However, in Bush's Texas, Juneteenth appears to receive less respect than it deserves. In the Galveston paper, the only mention of June 19 was in the "Today in History" section, where the lead "event" (complete with photo) was the execution of the Rosenbergs on June 19, 1953. The Emancipation proclamation was mentioned in a small list of other events - but as having occurred on June 19, 1862 (Lincoln's original was on Sept. 22, 1863). (See this bizarre "honoring" of history at http://wire.ap.org/?MAIN=todayinhistory). Then read letters to and from Pres. Clinton on the subject of Juneteenth via our link. By the way, Bush has yet to mention Juneteenth that we have seen.

In an online discussion with the New York Times, Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a "civil rights explosion" and addressed a wide range of issues. "White southerners must see that the new stage of the Civil Rights Movement is shared economic security. Forty million Americans have no health insurance. A coal miner dies every six hours, fighting lung disease. Fifteen thousand Americans die each day from cancer. Most of those people are not black. They are white, they are female, and they are young. This is the time for all Americans who want education and health care for all rather than a huge tax cut for the few to come forward and join together."

Here's one reason Al Gore is expected to carry California big time: Minorities, as categorized by the Census Bureau, now outnumber whites in California. At some point in 1999, the 50% threshold was passed. Hispanic and Asians are the fastest growing groups. Despite the window dressing at the GOP convention in Philly, minorities know that only one major party really embraces their issues and respects their dignity. And it's not the one that gave you the Willie Horton commercials.

The DNC convention is launching a new brigade of leaders this week. Some are political candidates, but most are behind the scene movers and shakers. All of them are women with Hispanic family roots.

Despite a Philly convention filled with the facade of inclusiveness, African Americans are sticking with Al Gore. This core Democratic constituency adores Bill Clinton and stuck by him throughout the ferocious Republican personal and policy assaults. African Americans know that the real issue bothering the GOP is the support of the Clinton-Gore administration for a multi-cultural society. A new poll shows that African Americans remain loyal to a party that continues to go to the wall for equal rights and opportunities for all Americans.