Shirley Chisholm Presidential Accountability Commission

Political scientist Ron Daniels formed the Shirley Chisholm Presidential Accountability Commission in late 2008 as a mechanism to hold the nation's first black president accountable. Eventually, the group hopes to issue a report card that grades the administration on how well it is doing in closing racial disparities. The commission is named after the first African American woman elected to Congress and the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination for president. The Chisholm commission, which is still in its formative stages, includes Julianne Malveaux, a political economist and president of Bennett College for Women; Michael K. Fauntroy, an associate professor of public policy at George Mason University; and Tricia Bent-Goodley, a professor of social work at Howard University. According to Daniels:

"The subtext is that there seems to be some hesitancy - to put it mildly - on the part of the Obama administration to overtly address issues of race. There is talk about a rising tide lifts all boats. But if there is unevenness in terms of how the boats are situated, then maybe you should look at that, instead of some across-the-board notion."

AAEA is concerned that Blacks do not own energy infrastructure and resources in the United States: no offshore oil rigs, no coal mines, no natural gas wells or pipelines, no oil wells, no oil tankers engaged in the international oil trade, well, you get the idea. We hope the Commission will put this issue on its agenda. AAEA has approached every energy sector in trying to increase minority ownership of energy infrastructure and resources, but have been repeatedly rebuffed.

AAEA's latest legislative venture is proposing the ‘Minority Energy Partnership Act of 2010’ or the ‘MEP Act of 2010.’ The MEP Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow Expensing of all costs related to stimulating mentor/protégé partnerships in the energy sector. The deductions would equal $500 billion and cover a period of ten years. (Wash Post, 9/18/2010) More:

AndersonatLarge

Tracking Change

Dr. Boyce Watkins