by Eric Ture Muhammad

WASHINGTON(FinalCall.com)�The National Black Leadership Roundtable (NBLR) sponsored an Emergency Leadership Summit on Voter Rights Denial on Jan. 4 at the Howard University School of Law, challenging Black leadership to develop a proactive response to the suppression of the Black vote, the denial of people�s constitutional right to vote and to have those votes count. The event, led by its president, Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, and treasurer, radio activist Joseph E. Madison, comprised four major components: reporting on Black voter suppression; mobilization; voter education targets and objectives; and legislation�the development of a voting rights reform package. The day-long session included a working lunch with discussions between leaders, constituencies and the public.

By its conclusion, the Summit had: endorsed former Atlanta Mayor Maynard H. Jackson Jr. (see related story on this page) as its candidate for the new Democratic National Committee chairman; called for a nationwide Black voter registration drive on Jan. 15, honoring slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and two Jan. 20 marches�one in Washington to be led by Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, and the other in Tallahassee, Fla., to be led by Rainbow/PUSH president, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.; and a host of follow up town hall meetings and mobilization efforts. The Jan. 20 marches occur the same day George W. Bush Jr. is to be sworn in as the nation�s 43rd president.

"This (election) is worse than a robbery," Rev. Sharpton declared. "You catch a man stealing, throw him to the ground and arrest him. Then, he goes to court and is let go with what he stole?"

Rev. Sharpton said the anger and frustration among the masses of Blacks should not be trivialized or ignored. "This is a fight that we must engage in because our very existence is at stake. If they can wipe this out now, then all of the basic decisions for our lives and our children�s lives are lost. This is not optional, this is mandatory," he said.

"I cannot call him president- elect, he was selected by the courts, not elected by the people," said Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Martin Luther King III. "Certainly Martin Luther King Jr. and others gave their lives so that we may have the precious right to vote. We need to transform our anger to action. In a real sense, that would be a present to Martin Luther King Jr., to register all of those who are not registered," he said.

"Mississippi almost has a forty-percent Black population. How in these areas where Black folks make-up close to one third of the vote, voting 9 to 1 on the Democratic side, how then can we lose the entire Black Belt?" he inquired. That needs to be looked at, he concluded.

"America now suffers from a crisis in democracy based on the corrupt use of power to install an illegitimate regime," said Prof. Ron Walters, a political analyst, addressing the forum of over 300 persons. "Nevertheless, the media, segments of the political class-Democrats and Republicans, are rushing frantically ahead to try to establish normalcy, calling peace. But there is no peace and there will be no normalcy because many people have been violated. We are called in this place today because Black people are not only angry, but outraged," he charged.

Meanwhile, members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on the House floor denounced the confirmation of the Electoral College 271-261 vote that put Mr. Bush in office. One by one, members of the CBC rose to voice their disapproval when it came time to count Florida�s vote. And Vice President Al Gore, the loser in the presidential sweepstake, gaveled each of them down citing them out of order.

In the end, nearly 20 members of the CBC walked out of the session in protest.

"It�s a sad day in America," Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said as he turned toward Mr. Gore. "One Missouri Compromise in America�s history is enough. There is an attempt by some members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to turn �bipartisanship� into a code word for compromising on justice."

Immediately after his election, Mr. Bush wasted no time developing a celebrated cross-section of appointments to his cabinet and expects swift confirmations. Much of the Black leadership sees the appointment of Blacks, Hispanics, women and white Democrats to his cabinet as window dressing, used to pacify those who were robbed.

According to recent CNN post election polling of Blacks, 50 percent of Blacks believe the election was stolen. Seventy-five percent said the way votes were cast and counted were discriminatory; 68 percent felt cheated by the outcome; and 70 percent believe that Mr. Bush cannot represent their interests as president.

"Righteousness exalts a nation," began Million Family March (MFM) National Director Benjamin F. Muhammad, representing the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan at the Summit. Min. Benjamin said that although the session dealt with voter denial, it also identified areas of "self denial." The Million Family March will soon reconvene the National Organizing Committee and will broaden to include all of the political forces among Black and Indigenous peoples, he said.

"You are going to see in the next few years Black voter strength break out of the previously assigned political structures. A grassroots movement must be built with the strengthening of family at its core," he told The Final Call. "Most of those gathered at the Summit were Democrats who now have to appeal for party accountability that by all accounts has proven inflexible."

With 92 percent of the Black vote going to the Democrats and watching the political turmoil unfold, Min. Benjamin said many are now reminded of "the prophetic words the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan uttered during the call for the Million Family March: �You have an activated Black vote, but you also have an insensitive government structure that shows no signs of flexibility and must now find a way to move forward, but not within the contours previously availed to us,�" he said, quoting Min. Farrakhan.

Min. Benjamin predicts that the leadership now sees the need for the MFM National Agenda of Public Policy Issues which many of them helped to craft and distribute nationwide during Min. Farrakhan�s national tour to promote the march.

"We now see the need for an agenda that goes beyond the election. One that we can mobilize around and channel our frustrations into to produce a proactive movement," he said.

He offered greetings and conveyed the thanks of the Nation of Islam leader for the prayers and support of those gathered and pledged the commitment of the Nation in the fight against voter denial.

Rev. Fauntroy in his introduction recognized the long-standing accomplishments of Min. Benjamin in the civil rights movement and declared his belief that the Million Family March had much to do with the tremendous Black voter turnout in this past election.

Some of the criticisms from the leaders gathered included the lack of youth represented at the summit. In a give-and-take discussion of ideas, others raised concern regarding the tactics organizers are looking to implore in their quest for justice.

"You cannot win a political victory by just playing in politics. Why not attack the economic system, why not deal with the oil monopolies, the high price of gas, or develop a program against Wall Street and inflation?" asked researcher, activist Steve Cokely. Mr. Cokely told The Final Call that the theft of Election 2000 was a "coup de tat".

"This election proved � that every vote may not count and that scares me more," he said. Mr. Cokely said the forum still suffers from a mis-analysis that may result in a continuation of election ills. He hopes to correct that problem with a Jan. 27 follow-up session to be held at ROOTS in Washington. Several of the Summit participants have already confirmed plans to attend.

"We are in a system of racism, white supremacy. We are not in a system of democracy as is often stated," commented observer to the session, Dr. Francis-Cress Welsing.

The election in Florida was strategized, with people in position, so that they could in fact structure the disenfranchisement of Blacks, Dr. Welsing said. "If we understand this system, we really should not be surprised. It�s like the game of chess: The moves are made from the aggressor�s side of the game, which is white, always moving first � to checkmate the Black King," she concluded.

The Summit also challenged the recent appointments of Ms. Linda Chavez as Labor Secretary, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd-Whitman as Environmental Protection Agency head and former Senator John Ashcroft for chief of the Justice Department.

"What happened in Florida is tragic, but it was a wake up call and now the whole world gets to see what is going on in this country," Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL), told The Final Call in an exclusive interview. "We are going to go through the courts, but we are also going to use the streets, because there are many problems. America has dealt us a lemon and we have to make it lemonade," she said.

Participants and observers in this summit included Hugh B. Price, National Urban League; Dr. Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich, National Black Leadership Forum; Melanie Campbell, National Coalition of Black Civic Participation; Hilary Shelton and Angela Ciccolo, NAACP; Barbara Arnwine, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Michael S. Rosier, National Bar Association; Kimberley Alton, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; Carol Y. Clark, Councilwoman, East Orange, N.J.; Nation of Islam Minister Abdul Khadir Muhammad and General Counsel Min. Abdul Arif Muhammad; Sabrina Marie-Wilson, D.C. Center for Independent Living and Berry A. Cuffee, C4 Foundation. CBC participants at the Summit included Reps. Earl Hilliard (D-Ala.), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Donna Christian-Christesen (D-VI) and Maxine Waters. Rep. Waters introduced former Atlanta Mayor Jackson who announced his candidacy for chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The session also heard from Dr. Asa R. Gordon of the Douglass Institute of Government, and concluded with analysis from activist Dick Gregory.