My God, there really IS a Connie Rice??!!?!!

[rocktivity]

I'm listening to AirAm's^®©TM Unfiltered show, and they promised an interview with Connie Rice, Condi Rice's second cousin and "a big thinker." I thought it was going to going to be a comedy skit, but she's for real! She's an LA-based civil rights lawyer talking about how she's helped the public school system there ("80,000 school children have no place to sit...Donald Trump took my payroll taxes"). As for Condi, she just said, I'm trying to close the gap between the lower and middle classes, and she's trying to close the gap between the millionaires and billionaires!"

:headbang:
rocknation

[maddezmom]

1. she's great, the hosts are trying to get her to be a regular

I think she'd be a great addition. :)

[Brewman_Jax]

2. She's a regular guest on "The Tavis Smiley Show"

on NPR, see www.npr.org

[Wickerman]

3. I'm trying to close the gap

There is a bad pun there...

[rocktivity]

4. I stand corrected and humbled (and I think a star has been born)

Constance Rice, (Civil Rights) Lawyer

...Always a studious tomboy, Rice gained admission to Harvard, only to be physically beaten during her freshman year by a fellow student whom she had refused to date. Left with a broken nose and a determination never to be that powerless again, Rice began studying tae kwon do and became a national champion. With a degree in government from Harvard and a degree in law from New York University, she also is a champion fighter for women's rights, minority rights and community rights.

...During her tenure...(with the) NAACP Legal Defense Fund('s)...Los Angeles office (she) won more than $1.6 billion worth of injunctive relief and damages through class action lawsuits on behalf of multi-racial coalitions of clients...

The Advancement Project, which Rice co-founded, is responsible for a dramatic court victory that required the state to spend the funds it had to build new schools in the districts that needed them. Also, her firm was deeply involved in efforts to expose the recent Ramparts corruption scandal and it now has a contract to advise the city's police union...

Unlike her second cousin, Condoleezza Rice, Constance Rice avoids party affiliations and political labels...

:headbang:
rocknation

[maddezmom]

6. what a great smile!

;)

[myrna minx]

5. Connie Rice has been on NOW with Bill Moyers...

http://www.pbs.org/now/thisweek/index_022004.html

[K8-EEE]

7. WOW!!!

Woohoo, will be listening to this later here in LA thanks for the thumbs up!!

[rocktivity]

8. From the Advancement Project Web site

Clearing The Path For Just Democracy!

Determined to ensure that the notorious Florida debacle does not occur again, we at Advancement Project intend to...work with a diverse array of community groups, voter registration campaigns and pro bono lawyers...in at least eight states...where minority voters faced obstacles to voting in 2000 and 2002...(We will) monitor election preparations so that problems can be identified and fixed in advance of the general election. We must hold election officials accountable NOW...in order to prevent the mass structural disenfranchisement that occurred in 2000!

:headbang:
rocknation

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. Best quote ever!

"We're stuck on stupid."