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African_American
Village Daily News
Obama's convention crowd: Biggest phone bank ever
By NEDRA PICKLER and RON FOURNIER
DENVER (AP) _ Those 75,000 supporters who will pack an American football
stadium for Barack Obama's convention speech will not be there just to
cheer their candidate on television. They will form the world's largest
phone bank to boost voter registration _ fired_up supporters using
computer targeting the campaign has spent months putting together.
The move to the Invesco Field at Mile High stadium for the Democratic
National Convention's final night next month _ at an additional cost of
$5 million _ will capture a huge crowd the Obama campaign plans to put
to work. They will be armed with data gleaned through "microtargeting''
unregistered voters the campaign believes are ripe to back Obama if
pressed to get on board.
"This convention is going to look different and feel different and be
different,'' says Steve Hildebrand, the Obama adviser overseeing the
effort, during a recent visit to Denver. "We're here to win an election,
not throw a party.''
One key to Obama's victory plan is to expand the electorate, bringing in
more young voters, minorities, suburban women, seniors on fixed incomes
and people who have been disaffected by politics and might respond to
the freshman Illinois senator's message of change over the more
experienced Republican John McCain.
President George W. Bush also used microtargeting techniques to find
potential supporters among likely voters in 2004. Obama's focus is more
on finding people who are not registered to vote and figuring out how to
persuade them to sign up and back him.
Hildebrand said the campaign has identified 55 million unregistered
voters across the country, by comparing registration lists with lists of
potential voters gleaned by mining consumer databases the same way
credit card companies track people's spending. They say their research
estimates more than two_thirds would vote for Obama if they were
registered and motivated.
"If we do this right, we'll be unbeatable,'' Hildebrand says
optimistically.
The campaign is already holding voter registration efforts across the
country, and the convention will be followed by a big drive on the
following Labor Day holiday weekend in early September.
The campaign is convening the 4,439 convention delegates in
state_by_state meetings during the next couple of weeks, and they will
be asked to commit hours each week before the Nov. 4 election to
register voters and persuade them to back Obama. That includes delegates
who supported Hillary Rodham Clinton, some of whom still have hard
feelings from the primary but are being asked to work diligently for the
ticket.
The delegates will be part of a massive audience expected at Invesco on
Aug. 28, when Obama becomes the first Black presidential nominee of a
major political party. The campaign wants to use the hype surrounding
the historic moment to build a volunteer force in all 50 states.
The Democrats plan to hand out 60,000 stadium tickets to state party
leaders, with instructions to distribute them in a way that helps drive
up Obama's support. That might mean rewarding local organizers who are
volunteering their time for voter registration, or perhaps identifying
independent or Republican voters who might be persuaded by hearing Obama
accept the nomination on the 45th anniversary of slain civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream'' speech.
Not all states will be treated equally. Battleground states where voters
are being targeted and Western states within driving distance of Denver
will be given more tickets, with host Colorado getting the most. The
Obama campaign sees the convention as a chance to put him on top in a
state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since
1992.
The campaign has identified more than half a million unregistered
potential voters in Colorado _ one_fifth of the state's eligible
population. The numbers are even higher in some other battleground
states.
Hildebrand points to Georgia as a prime example, where nearly a third of
the voting_eligible population is unregistered _ more than half of those
being Black, Hispanic or under 24. He says Obama could win the state
with a muscular drive to enroll them and with McCain losing Republican
votes to Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia running
for president as a Libertarian.
The campaign recognizes that people who live in battleground states will
be more effective at persuading their neighbors than the traditional
advertising campaigns, which is why it's important to send the masses
who will be in Denver out with instructions and training to bring in
votes.
In the past half_century, technology has replaced peer_to_peer,
ground_game politics with the broader weapons of hitting opponents in
television commercials and other mass advertising. The Obama campaign
wants to use technology and microtargeting techniques to return to the
political roots.
"What has won elections for 200 years is a neighbor talking to a
neighbor, some peer talking to a peer,'' said Obama campaign manager
David Plouffe. "People need other people to do their validating,
especially young voters who are more resistant to ads and mainstream
media reports.''
Enter the 75,000 people who will have to come hours early for Obama's
acceptance speech to get through security, most carrying cell phones. As
they settle in their seats, campaign aides will be on stage asking them
to text message their friends and use call sheets to get people to
register. "There will be a lot of idle time. We put idle people to
work,'' Hildebrand said.
The campaign effectively used similar organizational tactics in the
Democratic primary, such as when tens of thousands gathered to see TV
talk show host Oprah Winfrey campaign with Obama in Iowa and South
Carolina. But this will be on a much larger scale and focus on voter
registration besides persuasion.
The Obama campaign is using microtargeting not just to identify voters
and their chief issues _ much as Bush did _ but as a way of going after
the untapped resource of unregistered people.
"New technologies and the data that's available to us makes me
fundamentally believe that we do not need to accept the electorate as it
is,'' Plouffe said. "It can be greatly expanded.''
The campaign has found about 8.1 million unregistered yet eligible
Blacks, another 8 million unregistered Hispanics and nearly 7.5 million
unregistered people between the ages of 18 and 24. Officials also are
looking at more women versus men, more highly educated voters, people on
fixed incomes and those who have moved across state lines in recent
years and could change the voter makeup.
Obama benefits from a highly motivated group of supporters _ more than 2
million people living across all 50 states have volunteered to help
elect him _ and a record_breaking fundraising operation that can fund
these efforts nationwide.
"This is not smoke and mirrors,'' Hildebrand said. "We're just the first
campaign with the capacity to do it.''
He compares Obama's potential to change the party to former President
Ronald Reagan, who remade the Republican Party for a generation. "If we
do it right, we can be the dominant party for the next decade,''
Hildebrand said.
___
On the Net:
http://www.demconvention.com
Obama campaign rejects rapper Ludacris' rhymes
By DEANNA BELLANDI
CHICAGO (AP) _ Barack Obama's presidential campaign said Wednesday that
a new rhyme by supporter and rapper Ludacris is "outrageously
offensive'' to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republican Sen. John McCain
and President George W. Bush.
The song brags about an Obama presidency being destiny. It uses an
expletive to describe Clinton, calls Bush "mentally handicapped'' and
says McCain doesn't belong in "any chair unless he's paralyzed.''
The lyrics also don't spare the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights
activist who recently apologized for making crude comments about Obama.
"If you said it then you meant it,'' intones the rapper.
Obama's campaign blasted "Politics As Usual,'' which is on the "Gangsta
Grillz: The Preview'' mixtape with Atlanta spinner DJ Drama.
"As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today
too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he
doesn't want his daughters or any children exposed to,'' campaign
spokesman Bill Burton said in an e_mail statement.
"This song is not only outrageously offensive to Sen. Clinton, Rev.
Jackson, Sen. McCain and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us
who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While
Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these
lyrics.''
Ludacris' publicist and manager did not immediately return calls
Wednesday for comment.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Obama included
Ludacris when he talked about hip_hop moguls and rappers he thought were
"great talents and great businessmen.'' Obama met privately with
Ludacris, talking with him in Chicago about young people in 2006 before
he announced his run for president.
In the two_minute track, the song makes a pitch for Obama to pick
Ludacris as his vice president, rhyming "Hillary hated on you, so that
(expletive) is irrelevant.''
In the song, Ludacris also encourages Black people to vote on Election
Day.
"The world is ready for change 'cause Obama is here,'' he says
repeatedly.
___
On the Net:
Obama: http://www.barackobama.com
Milwaukee's Black Holocaust Museum to close
By CARRIE ANTLFINGER
MILWAUKEE (AP) _ Financial problems are causing the museum started by
lynching survivor James Cameron _ America's Black Holocaust Museum _ to
close its doors Friday after 20 years.
But museum board chairman Reggie Jackson said he is certain
reconfiguring the board, a new fundraising effort and increasing
awareness will allow the museum to eventually open again.
"We have every intention of reopening the museum once we get a plan in
place,'' Jackson said Wednesday.
The lagging economy, building debt, a revolving door of executive
directors over the past eight years and the passing of its founder have
all contributed to the museum's state, said Bethany Criss, the museum's
interim executive director.
One of the first of its kind in the country, the museum explores the
struggles of Blacks in America from slavery to the present. It was
founded in 1988 by Cameron, who, in 1930, survived a lynch mob in his
hometown of Marion, Ind. Cameron died in 2006 at the age of 92.
William Billingsley, executive director of the Association of African
American Museums, said cultural and all small_budget museums are having
financial problems, especially over the past few years. Donors would
rather give to major projects, he said.
The Milwaukee museum was the first he's heard of recently that has
closed.
Criss said people haven't stopped being interested in African_American
culture, especially with the possibility of having a Black president in
Barack Obama. But it hasn't helped that the museum lost its biggest
ambassador in Cameron, she said.
"Dr. Cameron was such a strong voice in the community, nationally,''
Criss said. "He had a real passion and fire for not just sharing his
story but sharing the story of Black history and that passion tended to
spur people into action.''
The museum is in discussions with its bank and the Department of City
Development, which already was working to revitalize the houses and
businesses in the historically Black neighborhood.
Neither Criss or Jackson would say how much debt the museum has, but
Criss said visitor and membership revenue and private donations have
decreased about 40 percent over last year and dropped 20 percent from
2006 to 2007.
Corporate donations and grants this year are about half of the $40,000
the museum has attracted in recent years, Jackson said. And, the museum
does not have an endowment to help it through lean times.
This year's budget would have been about $110,000, said Criss, the
museum's only full_time employee. Eleven people worked there when it
opened in 1988 with about 15 volunteers. There are seven volunteers now.
Over the years, the museum has hosted a number of high_profile exhibits,
including the "A Slave Ship Speaks: the Wreck of the Henrietta Marie,''
which brought in 65,000 visitors in 1999. It had a $1 million renovation
and expansion the same year.
But, an average of only 25,000 people have visited the museum in recent
years, and they are mostly students, Criss said.
The museum will reopen within two years with three full_time employees,
a part_time worker and an operating budget of around $350,000, Criss
said.
Jackson said they plan to increase the volunteer board from four people
to possibly 16, with people who have expertise in grant writing,
marketing and corporate fundraising.
The museum now has only about 400 museum members but hopes to increase
that to 10,000 and attract more traveling exhibits, he said.
Last year, the museum received $73,000 in federal money to upgrade
technology in its education departments. It will keep that money until
it reopens, Criss said.
Jackson said museum officials will restructure its educational programs
and complete the catalog of its archives while it's closed.
Mayor Tom Barrett said he would do whatever he could, along with the
community, to support the historical institution.
"America's Black Holocaust Museum is culturally important not just in
Milwaukee but throughout the entire country,'' Barrett said in a
statement. "Its founder, James Cameron, dedicated his life to promoting
civil rights, racial unity and equality through his many works including
the museum.''
Jackson said he hoped people around the nation would help the museum.
"It is America's Black holocaust museum not just Milwaukee's,'' he said.
__
On The Net:
http://www.Blackholocaustmuseum.org/
At 100, librarian's life is an open book
By RACHAEL SCARBOROUGH KING
GUILFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Surrounded by friends, family and colleagues,
Edith Nettleton celebrated her 100th birthday recently at the place
where she has spent much of her adult life _ the Guilford Free Library.
The party on July 22 could not take place at the main Park Street
library, where Nettleton became the first librarian in 1934. The
building is under construction and due to reopen in early September.
But that didn't stop well_wishers from filling the temporary library on
Carter Drive for the occasion, which included punch and her requested
chocolate cake and coffee ice cream.
"It's overwhelming,'' Nettleton said of the party. "It's lovely.''
She started working at the library 75 years ago, and retired from her
role as library director in 1978. Since then, she has continued as a
volunteer librarian, often working on special projects on Guilford
history or genealogy.
She can still be found at the library a few days a week, where the main
reading room _ the Edith B. Nettleton Historical Room _ is named for
her.
Many townspeople remember Nettleton as the helpful librarian who guided
them through history projects and book reports.
First Selectman Carl Balestracci said he met Nettleton when he was a
kindergartener. When he was in seventh grade, she helped him research
the history of the Guilford unit of the Connecticut National Guard.
"She was always so sweet and so supportive. She was so encouraging to
kids using the library,'' Balestracci said. "I'm doing a research
project now on African_American history in Guilford ... and guess who's
helping me research it? She's over at the temporary library and she's
digging out all kinds of books for me to get information and
everything.''
At the party, Balestracci read a proclamation from the Board of
Selectmen making that Tuesday Edith Nettleton Day in thanks for the
"many contributions she has made to our quality of life in Guilford.''
Library Director Sandra Ruoff called July 22 as a "thrilling day for
us.''
"Next year, we'll have her 101st in the renovated library at 67 Park
St.,'' Ruoff told the party guests.
Ruoff said before the party that Nettleton has continued to work as a
volunteer during the library's stay in the temporary building, where it
moved last year. The Park Street building's Edith B. Nettleton
Historical Room, the original part of the library, will remain largely
the same, Ruoff said, with only the addition of new windows and lights.
"She's a lovely person and she's a very dedicated and professional
librarian,'' Ruoff said. "She will research something until she gets the
answer. She probably helped five generations of Guilford citizens as
they used the library from 1933 til now.''
In addition to her work at the library, Nettleton is co_historian with
her sister_in_law, Ruth Nettleton, for the First Congregational Church.
The church, where she has been a member for more than 80 years, also
held a celebration for her after Sunday services July 13.
Senior Minister Kendrick Norris described Nettleton as a "real worker''
in researching the history of the nearly 370_year_old church.
"She has done an amazing job,'' Norris said. "Our church goes back to
1639, so, you know, she has found this stuff, she's saved the stuff,
she's preserved the stuff, she's catalogued the stuff and she's indexed
it three different ways. She's usually still in once a week to do work
on all our historical things.''
Norris used words like "humble,'' "unassuming'' and "understated'' to
describe the longtime librarian.
"The bottom line is, she's great and everyone loves her,'' he said. "She
does have a twinkle in her eye and she's a very special lady.''
Nettleton was born in Washington, Conn., July 22, 1908. When she was a
child, her family moved to a farm on Clapboard Hill Road in Guilford.
Today, she lives in a house on the same street.
She graduated from high school in Guilford and earned a degree as a
librarian in Springfield, Mass., before returning to Guilford to begin
working for the library in 1933. She was the first librarian at the Park
Street facility, which opened in 1934.
In addition to her sister_in_law, she has a sister who also lives in
Guilford.
Nettleton said that reaching her 100th birthday did not make her feel
any different.
"You get up and wake up in the morning _ it's just like any other day,''
she said of her recent birthday. "You're thankful you can do it.''
Sharpton defends Jackson despite Obama comments
By BECKY BOHRER
KENNER, La. (AP) _ New York civil rights leader Al Sharpton on Tuesday
defended the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has come under fire for his recent
crude off_air criticism of Democratic presidential candidate Barack
Obama.
"We have all made mistakes. We have all erred, and we ought not try to
sugar coat when we err,'' Sharpton told a gathering of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference in this New Orleans suburb. "But we
should not throw away everything when we err, and to say that Rev.
Jackson made a mistake is correct, but to act like Rev. Jesse Jackson is
not pivotal to our movement, our history ... is wrong.''
"Jesse Jackson,'' he added, "is somebody.''
Jackson had been scheduled to address the SCLC's 50th anniversary
convention Tuesday morning, but his press office said he was on vacation
and a representative was sent in his place.
Jackson apologized twice earlier this month for "regretfully crude''
comments about Obama during what he thought was a private conversation
during a taping break for the news show "Fox & Friends.''
In a fiery speech that was part political rally and part big tent
revival, Sharpton, also a reverend, applauded Obama's success and
promised to do what he could to get him elected.
But he also said there is room for more than one leader in the ongoing
fight for civil rights.
He called the Illinois senator a product of the civil rights movement _
not the end to it.
"The bias in the media is they try to act like we can't have multiple
strategists,'' Sharpton said. "We have never had a one_man movement.''
Sharpton urged the group not to forget the history of their movement and
to stay involved.
Even the election of Obama would not constitute "achievement of the
dream,'' Sharpton said, because inequality would remain in health care,
education and criminal justice.
He said a long fight was waged to get Blacks the right to vote and now
it is imperative to "protect this vote.''
"This vote is soaked in the blood of our martyrs,'' he said.
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