Leaders of the New School: America's Young Civil Rights Heroes (Page 2 of 2)
By Monét Cooper, Special for AOL BlackVoices
Kendrick Meek
You could say that Kendrick Meek inherited the family business. His mother is Carrie P. Meek, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for almost a decade and an elder stateswoman of Florida politics. Meek remembers staying up with his mother, reading bills and other pieces of legislation into the early hours of the morning. That's why it's no surprise that, in 1994, he was elected to the Florida state congress. Eight years later in 2002, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, winning the same seat his mother held for several terms. Now a member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and the Select Committee on Homeland Security, he is an avid supporter of Haitian causes, the voting rights of felons and other issues facing minorities.
Alisha Thomas Morgan
Alisha Thomas Morgan has grown accustomed to doing the unbelievable. In November 2002, Thomas Morgan, a Democrat, became the first black elected to the Georgia House of Representatives from the predominately white Cobb County, a county north of Atlanta that was the former stomping ground of stalwart conservative politicians like Newt Gingrich and Bobb Barr. But her election also marked another milestone, one not just colored by race, but also by age. Thomas Morgan became the youngest serving member of the Georgia General Assembly at the age of 24. Since her term began, she has opposed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Georgia, drawing criticism from fellow legislators and constituents. Thomas Morgan has been able to keep the confidence of her constituents, garnering 64 percent of the vote to beat a Republican opponent who attacked her position on the gay marriage ban. During her time in office, she has focused largely on the issues of prison reform for juveniles, education and health care.
Alicia Reece
In her hometown of Cincinnati, where turmoil between the police and its black residents have frequented national headlines in the past few years, Alicia Reece is as controversial as she is loved. In November 1999, Reece, 28 at the time, became the youngest woman in Cincinnati history to be elected to an at-large city council post. She later became the city's acting vice-mayor and was appointed vice-mayor in 2003 by Mayor Charlie Luken after placing second in the Cincinnati City Council elections. In 2002, she helped settle a racial profiling lawsuit filed against the city. The settlement provided a blueprint to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the community, including policies on the use of weapons, and a joint $20-million commitment from the city and the Department of Justice to fund the new initiative. The daughter of entrepreneurs, Reece has also made changes to help business owners and has been an advocate for health care, lobbying for additional funding that kept community clinics open for people with little or no health insurance.
Omar Wasow
When Omar Wasow clicks his mouse, everybody listens. It goes with the territory of being one of the leading voices in technology and the Internet. As executive director and founder of Blackplanet.com, an online community for African Americans, he helped to attract more blacks online. When Oprah needed help as she made her maiden voyage into cyberspace, she called Wasow, who guided her in the 12-part series 'Oprah Goes Online.' New York television station NBC-4 and MSNBC tapped him to explain Internet trends to their viewers. When he’s not debunking myths about cutting-edge technology, Wasow remains vocal in education reform and serves as a co-chair of The Coalition for Independent Public Charter Schools. Programming since he was 11 and online at the age of 12, Wasow wants children to have access to the opportunities -- and technology -- he did at a young age.
B. Michael Young
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 281.4 million people living in the United States. Of that number, 36.4 million of those people were African American. B. Michael Young's greatest concern is for those 21 to 40 years old, which total about 15 million people. As president of the National Urban League Young Professionals (NULYP), an auxiliary of the National Urban League, Young wants blacks to help themselves by building wealth, becoming politically active and aware, improving their health and rallying together for "racial justice." Young has served on the executive board of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Urban League as treasurer, vice president and, from 1998 to 2000, two consecutive terms as president. Before becoming NULYP's president in September 2003, Young was a regional vice president for four consecutive years.
About the Author
Monet Cooper is a writer living in Atlanta.
Jan. 11, 2005