The new rights agenda.

The Urban League is the latest to take aim at removing economic barriers from the pursuit of the American Dream 

ARE YOU AMONG THE CURRENT GENERATION OF African Americans who, while enjoying the rights of inclusion the civil rights movement helped to secure, see little or no value today in the organizations that delivered the goods? "I respect these organizations a great deal," says 40-year-old Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, a research scientist with the New Jersey Department of Health, "but they seem to be best at putting out fires. We need something new."

Ironically, it's Nsiah-Jefferson's generation that the NAACP, Urban League, SCLC, Rainbow/PUSH and other civil rights organizations are counting on most to help breathe life into their new agendas for the 21st century.

Yet Nsiah-Jefferson isn't active in any civil rights organization, nor are many of her friends, despite a vague sense of wanting to do something. Her parents, now in their 70s, are extremely active lifetime members of the NAACP. They sometimes wonder why their daughter hasn't made better use of the lifetime membership they purchased for her as a child.

If civil rights organizations are to regain the dominance they enjoyed during the '50s and '60s, they'll have to convince people like Nsiah-Jefferson to follow in their parents' footsteps--a challenge they have come to view as an opportunity.

Armed with ambitious plans and strategies, the premier civil rights organizations have issued a clarion call to a new civil rights arena--economic empowerment. But before they can win back the hearts, minds--and pocketbooks--of those who have defected, today's leaders must convince African Americans that their vision is right for the 21st century.

The National Urban League has proclaimed itself "ready to dive deeply into the issue of economic development," with a multifaceted plan to help African Americans increase their economic self-sufficiency. Packaged under the theme "Economic Power: The Next Civil Rights Frontier," the League's agenda is expected to signal a clear direction for the 21st century. It will be fully laid out for members and other constituents at the Urban League's national convention in Washington, D.C., on August 3-6.

Focusing specifically on ways to "shape the economic future of African Americans," participants will receive how-to advice on becoming entrepreneurs, accessing capital, getting involved in urban revitalization and partnering with large companies to engender self-sufficiency and wealth-building in the African American community.

"Our program is really a refinement of the objectives the Urban League has had since its inception in 1910," says Milt Little, senior vice president of affiliate development, programs and policy. Little, who was brought onboard in January to implement the new initiatives, says the Urban League has always endeavored to "build individual and collective wealth, increase business and home ownership, prepare people for gainful employment and promote academic excellence." His background in corporate philanthropy with Lucent Technologies, AT&T and Manpower Demonstration Research Corp., a nonprofit organization in New York City, gives important clues to the key strategies to be used--corporate partnerships and job training.

Working through 115 affiliate Urban Leagues across the nation, the national office plans to roll out its economic initiatives within the next 18 months.

"This has been a time of serious soul searching for civil rights organizations," says Hugh B. Price, CEO and president of the National Urban League. "We all have been asking ourselves how we can best serve our constituencies."

In most cases, this "soul searching" has led to a more sharply defined and targeted approach to achieving basically the same objective--economic rights. The NAACP, for example, is seeking economic reciprocity agreements from industries and is acting as a consumer advocate; Rainbow/PUSH is applying pressure to corporate America through Wall Street and the media; and the SCLC continues to threaten direct action to force corporate commitment to the black community.

SHIFTING THE HEAT TO CORPORATIONS

Why is economic development now the agenda of choice for the Urban League and so many other organizations? David Bositis, a senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C., believes that the current environment has much to do with the timing. The reasoning is simple: it's far more effective these days to lean on corporate America to support black America's economic agenda than it is to lean on the government.

"Washington, D.C., is a lot more inhospitable now than in the past, and it's tougher getting laws passed," Bositis says. "Since times aren't conducive for government activism, self-sufficiency has become the watchword."

The concept of establishing agreements, covenants and partnerships with companies to achieve black hiring, promotion and contractual objectives is not new. Rainbow/PUSH, when it was Operation Breadbasket, was the first organization to wrest an economic covenant from a national corporation, using the powerful technique of boycotting.

However, despite past successes, Bositis cautions against relying too much on this strategy to accomplish economic goals. "These days, the white working class is suffering from anxiety too. To just make a statistical statement about needing to hire more black people won't necessarily work," he says. "White workers may view this as a power grab, which lessens the public relations benefit [and] the moral authority, but the tactic is much more effective if you can catch a company with its pants down, as in the case of Texaco."

A PLAN FOR PLAYERS

The Urban League's plan is devoid of any references to "boycotting," although Price agrees there is room for a range of tactics within the economic movement. Based on an 87-year-old history of partnering with corporate America, the Urban League plan exhorts African Americans to demonstrate the same entrepreneurial zest that existed for blacks from the end of the Civil War through the 1920s. It urges African Americans to lessen their dependence on a weekly paycheck by saving and pooling their individual and collective resources and investing them wisely. Other points are to build up local business districts in black neighborhoods ("instead of standing around like tourists in our own communities as others cash in," says Price); increase home ownership; produce more executives in income-producing divisions of corporate America; and convince young people that academic excellence is the key to competing at a world class level. "It's a plan for players, not bystanders," says Price.

Marcus Alexis, professor of economics, management and strategy at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, hopes the Urban League's plan and those of other civil rights organizations will help keep retail and business loans flowing to the black community. For instance, "our civil rights organizations should be involved in the merger proceedings if banks plan to merge, so they won't fail to make provisions to establish credit pools for African Americans," he says.

Alexis, a member of the BE Board of Economists, also suggests that the Urban League make more effective use of the brokering abilities of the senior corporate executives who sit on its board of directors. "These executives should work on pilot programs and then make successful models available to other companies," he says.

A more strategic, less direct approach appeals to franchise owners like Warren Thompson, president and chairman of Thompson Hospitality L.P. (No. 57 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list). "Whenever the 1989 lawsuit against Shoney's is mentioned in the media in a historical context, it still hurts my business," says Thompson, whose firm owns and operates several Shoney's and Bob's Big Boy restaurants. "People can't tell the difference between my stores and the white-owned stores."

Thompson also applauds Rainbow/ PUSH's plan to impact publicly traded companies as being a "surgical strategy" that affects a franchiser's bottom line without harming black business. "If Jesse [Jackson] says to an analyst that African Americans are planning to boycott the XYZ company during, say, the Christmas holiday, just the threat of devaluation moves the company to protect its shareholders' interests, whereas an actual boycott can result in loss of business that might impact black franchisees too," he explains.

STARTING WITH STRUCTURE

According to Price, the success of any economic rights agenda largely depends on whether an adequate amount of resources is in place to support it. Milt Little, who oversees a staff of 30, has four people with the day-to-day responsibility of implementing the National Urban League's initiatives. Specific goals for the next 18 months include identifying three to five major partnerships with private employers to help move people into good jobs, locating capital for home and business ownership and helping the affiliates use the Internet to post jobs and swap success stories. "I won't say how much it will cost to do all that we plan, but it won't be done cheaply," says Little.

An ambitious fund-raising campaign called "Welcome Back to the Urban League" is planned for later this year to raise donations to help underwrite the cost of the program. "Our objective also is to reach the largely untapped black middle class and encourage people to share resources, volunteer and become board members," says M. Gasby Greely, the Urban League's senior vice president of development and communications.

AFFILIATE MODELS FOR SUCCESS

The real work, of course, will be done by the 115 affiliate Urban Leagues, many of whom have already developed innovative models that support the self-sufficiency agenda. For example, the Louisville, Kentucky, affiliate is part of a venture capital fund, while the Albany, New York, affiliate operates an incubator for emerging businesses and helps them access services and capital.

The Los Angeles affiliate demonstrates the Urban League's mission to be at the intersection of society, helping "people in the street" as well as the middle class. On one end, the affiliate oversees an automotive training center with partners Pep Boys Inc., the Los Angeles County Private Industry Council and Toyota Motor Sales, USA. The customized program has trained and placed nearly 500 minorities in local jobs ranging from auto maintenance to customer service.

On the other end of the scale, Nissan Motor Corp., U.S.A. has retained the LA Urban League (for a cool $250,000) to bring to the table interested African American candidates capable of purchasing multiple Nissan dealerships. Carlton Jenkins, CEO of Founders National Bank of Los Angeles (No. 14 on the BE FINANCIAL 25 list), has agreed to help candidates with financing, and Nissan has also committed to help put financial packages together.

The Greater Cleveland Urban League (along with the national office) focused its first National Economic Development Conference on franchising. More than 30 franchisers, financial institutions and legal advisors were on hand during the last week in May to show nearly 1,000 attendees how to get started. In exchange, national franchisers who participated, including McDonald's, Marriott, Pepsico and The Athlete's Foot, walked away with names of hundreds of solid candidates to work with.

In Trenton, New Jersey, the affiliate there builds houses and then sells them for nearly half the cost of construction, granting low-interest HUD loans to people who otherwise couldn't afford a home.

New Orleans CEO Clarence Barney, now retired, recently demonstrated yet another role for the Urban League to play--dealing as power brokers to help support community redevelopment and entrepreneurial development. "Black people need someone working with local government and the five percenters (top influential business and civic leaders) to help bring about economic power, particularly in terms of inner city agendas," says Barney.

When plans were announced two years ago to construct a new $350 million convention center project, Barney lobbied tirelessly for a fair share of subcontracts to be awarded to black-owned construction companies. After several unsuccessful rounds with the lead contractor, Barney pulled in the National Urban League and other groups who organized a boycott and a picket line, which resulted in more than $37 million being awarded to minority subcontractors since last year.

When the $88 million Super Dome project came up earlier this year, Barney decided to try offering incentives instead of threats. He offered a 1% discount on the lead contractor's standard retainer fee for every $5 million in business awarded to black subcontractors, giving no timetables or goals. While Barney isn't entirely happy with the open-ended nature of the compromise, the incentive approach is proving to be almost as effective as the demands for fairness employed earlier.

Indeed, while tactics may--many would say must--change, the push for economic parity and equal opportunity remains the bottom line objective of the Urban League. "Civil rights organizations should be helping people to better understand how not to let racism interfere with their ability to see and go after the opportunities that are out there," says Northwestern's Alexis.

The Urban League's Price agrees. "It's about getting to the table, whether we're invited or not," he says. "We have too much to put on it not to be there."

RELATED ARTICLE: Ready To Join?

If you're interested in "coming back" to the civil rights movement and would like to know more about joining, volunteering or donating, check your local Yellow Pages for the nearest chapter or affiliate or contact the organizations' headquarters. Below are five organizations you may have an interest in knowing more about:

National Urban League 120 Wall St., Eighth Floor New York, NY 10005 212-558-5300 Contact: Milton Little, Senior Vice President Affiliate Development, Programs and Policy

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) 334 Auburn Ave. NE Atlanta, GA 30312 404-522-1420 Contact: Rev. E. Randel T. Osburn, National Administrator, Membership, Stop the Killing and the Violence Campaign

The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition 930 East 50th St. Chicago, IL 60615 773-373-3366, ext. 218 Contact: Axel Adams, Deputy Director

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 4805 Mt. Hope Dr. Baltimore, MD 21215-3297 410-358-8900 Contact: Membership Department (Reciprocity Initiative) Tammy Hawley, COO

National Center for Neighborhood Enterpise 1424 16th St. NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036-2211 202-518-6500 Contact: Robert Woodson, President