Pubdate: Sat, 28 May 2005
Source: Daily Review, The (Hayward, CA)
Copyright: 2005sANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.dailyreviewonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1410
Author: Chauncey Bailey

STUDENTS GET INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS

Lawrence Traylor Jr. of East Oakland, who wants to be a senator some day,
got a good dose of politics last week when he met lawmakers and lobbyists.

The 17-year-old Skyline High School student was among 175 youths from
Alameda and Contra Costa counties who went to Sacramento for Young Leaders
Advocacy Learning Day.

The Wednesday event was sponsored by Chevron, SBC and the Training Institute
for Leadership Enrichment, a project of a statewide, Oakland-based nonprofit
called Black Women Organized for Political Action.

"I learned a lot about politics," Traylor said. "Most of the legislators
don't have college degrees in political science. You need to major in
banking or business administration so you can have expertise to serve on a
committee.

As for lobbyists? They "have to register what they spend," he recounted.

Black Women Organized for Political Action, headed by former Oakland Vice
Mayor Dezie Woods Jones, was formed in the mid-1970s when blacks began
organizing grassroots political campaigns. Today, with no African-American
California legislators from any district north of Los Angeles, their mission
is far from complete.

LaNiece Jones, the organization's executive director, said one goal is to
expose the next generation to the inner workings of politics, community
organizing, and leadership needed to address urban issues.

"We want to stay engaged in civic learning."

The group plans to send 10 young leaders to Washington, D.C., in September.
It has sponsored numerous field trips to the capitol over the years to give
neighborhood leaders and concerned residents access to decision makers and
an understanding of the political system.

Oakland young people who attended last week's field trip included students
from the Leadership Academy on the Castlemont High School campus, the Law
Academy at McClymonds High School, and Laney and Merritt colleges. BWOPA
chapter leaders Lillie Litzsey of Hayward and Rhonda Harris of Richmond also
went with the students.

They met in Assembly and Senate conference rooms for briefings with
lawmakers such as Assemblymembers Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, and Meryvn Dymally,
D-Los Angeles, and state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough.

Among the topics they discussed were a proposed bill by Dymally to equalize
sentences for persons convicted of crack and powdered cocaine use. According
to arrest records, whites tend to use powdered cocaine and serve less jail
time than blacks who use crack, which is cheaper but viewed by law
enforcement as a more powerful drug, said Simeon Gant, deputy director of
Drug Policy Alliance.

Traylor met Gant, Eric Garris, an aide to state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland,
and Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, the only black woman in the
Legislature, who offered him an internship.

"I want to make a difference in my community," Traylor said. "That's why I
want to get into politics." 
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MAP posted-by: Josh