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Minyon Moore, key political strategist
prefers working behind scenes
PR WASHINGTON, D.C.
_Minyon Moore, the first Afri
;,%p;Ameficm woman to serve
&‘?olitical director at the Dem
ocratic National Committee
(DNC), is a different type of po
litieal activist. She shies away
from the limelight and is more
comfortable working behind the
sgenes.
Working hard, putting in long
hours, focusing on minute de
tails, thinking always in strate
gic terms, pushing forward to
achieve specific goals — this is
the modus operandi of Moore.
Her political philosophy is root
éddin both her grassroots and
pragmatic perspectives, which
she achieved through her back
ground as a civil rights and polit
ical field organizer.
“"About her professional past,
Moore takes particular pride in
working with all kinds of people.
‘This has been a great asset to
me,” she said. In her capacity as
political director at the DNC,
Moore oversees the political op
eration that focuses singularly
on'winning elections. This in
cludes managing DNC’s coordi
fated campaign effort, advanc
ing Democratic Party policies and
politics through increasing voter
participation, constituency out
rédch, training, advocacy, pro
mioting President Clinton’s leg
islative priorities and support
ing Democratic candidates run
ning for local, state and national
office. Add to this awesome re
gplf)'nsibility Moore’s normal,
lay-to-day public liaison and
gutreach activities with Demo
cratic elected officials and party
activists, and the constituents
they represent.
><Bvery day presents a new set
of vhallenges for the soft-spoken
political veteran, who can also be
tough. She agrees that profes
sional politics is not a field for
the insecure and timid.
¢ “F never planned a career in
politics,” said the DNC strate
fist. “There are negative percep
ions about politics, but I think
you can be involved and main
tain your character, integrity and
™ iy ! , ¢ .
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Minyon Moore (left), the first African-American woman to serve as director of the political
division at the Democratic National Committee, holds a briefing with members of her staff.
Shown are Bill Kaneko (center), director, Aisian Pacific American outreach; and (right) Jocelyn
Woodard, deputy director, office of voter participation. Moore is responsible for public liason
and constituency outreach activities at the Democratic National Committee.
honesty and help raise the moral
tones of politics, without being
compromised. You don’t have to
tear into each other and try to
build yourself up by tearing oth
ers down.”
Priortojoiningthe DNC, Moore
served as project director for the
National Rainbow Coalition,
where she coordinated organiza
tional outreach and communica
tionbetween elected and appoint
ed government officials, senior
corporate executives, labor offi
cials and religious and commu
nity representatives.
Inher previous National Rain
bow Coalition post as deputy field
director and national convention
coordinator for the Reverend
Jesse L. Jackson’s presidential
bid, she traveled to more than 20
states, managed the field staff,
set up travel budgets and field
activities, served as liaison be
tween state campaigns and the
national officein arranging Jack
son’s schedule, was responsible
Clark Atlanta University
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October 19, 1996 2:00 p.m. Butler Stadium
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for the candidate’s 1,200 dele
gates, assisted the floor manag
er in managing the whip opera
tion,and was theliaison between
Jackson and his 'BB convention
manager, the late Ron Brown.
Inbetween those assignments
she served a four-month stint as
the national deputy field direc
tor for the Dukakis/Bentsen
presidential campaign, where
she assisted in scheduling the
candidates and field activities
and merged the Jackson’Bß cam
paign network into the Dukakis/
Bentsen general election cam
paign. ler initial service as ex
ecutive assistant to Jackson, as
sisting him with staff operations
and developing a weekly com
munity forum for national radio
broadcast, paved the way for her
expanded activities in the na
tional political arena.
Moore gives high marks to
President Clinton, especially for
those issues of importance
toAfrican-Americans:
“I'think the president has done
an outstanding job in trying to
do the right thing in serving a
very diverse American public.
He is committed to meeting the
needs of all segments of the
American population, especial
ly those in greatest need, and
not to the [detriment] of any
others.”
The political pragmatist also
stresses that African Americans
have a lot at stake in the upcom
inglocal and state congressional
and presidential elections. “The
African-American vote is ex
tremely important, especially in
certain key electoral states in
the presidential and in specific
senatorial congressional races
where the control of the U.S.
Congress will be determined.
Our challenge is getting our
message to African-American
voters about the accomplish
ments of the Clinton Adminis
tration and Democratic Party on
behalf of African Americans.”
AUGUSTA FOCUS September 26, 1996
Going through state, GAE
head stops in Augusta
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
Last Friday (Sept. 20), Grady
Yancey, the new president of the
Georgia Association of Educators
(GAE) passed through Augusta. He
was touring the schools of the state,
hoping to “learn first-hand” what is
happeningintheclassrooms. Among
thelocal schools he visited were A.R.
Johnson Magnet School (“That was
just an impressive school.”),
Wilkinson Gardens Elementaryand
Murphey Middle School.
And, hesaid, Richmond Countyis
not the only school system bursting
attheseams. “...I'mseeingportables
all over the state.” He said there are
20-25,000 new students per year
statewide. According tothe U.S. De
partmentof Education, hesaid, there
will be over 100,000 new kids in
Georgia by 2006.
On that note, he is in favor of the
new amendment that will appear
on the November ballot — to allow
local school boards to levy a 1-per
cent sales tax.
With all the students entering the
system, Mr. Yancey is especially
concerned about the shortage of
teachers in Georgia. He said, “... In
the next three to five years, there
will be a big exodus of teachers from
the field,” and attributes that to
baby-boomers reaching retirement
age.
To remedy that, he said, the GAE
isattempting toencourage the “best
and the brightest” of Georgia’s stu
dents to major in education by offer
ing not one but three scholarships to
education majors. They also try to
appeal tostudents’sense of altruism
and concern for their community.
“... Wetrytospeak toyoung people
about the positive aspects of serving
others,” he said.
He insisted that the state govern
ment understands education, and
cited the commitment to cffer teach
ers a 12-percent pay raise over the
next two years.
Asaveteran educator, heis famil
iar withthe problemssomany school
systems have of turning out stu
dents that can’t perform basic tasks
like reading and simple mathemat
ical computations. He feels one rea
son for this is kids are left behind
when they are assigned to alterna
. F
.
5 R i
Grady Yancy
tive schools, and that those schools
should have reading and math spe
cialists on hand to help those stu
dents keep up with their peers. He
says it’s a catch-22 situation, be
cause “most often the reason [the
students] arein alternative school is
their inability to function in a regu
lar class.”
He says that, if they are helped
to improve their performance,
these students will belesslikely to
return to an alternative setting.
He would also like to “encour
age parents’ active involvement”
in their children’s education. He
suggeststhat teacherscan help by
visiting worksites where many
parents are employed, and hold
ing conferences.
“In order for us to make the
changes we need to make we need
the support of parents,” he said.
He also suggests that parents
simply spend time with their chil
dren — by reading to them, for
example. Not only would their
schoolwork improve, he said, but
discipline problems would decline
as well.
Mr. Yancey taught social stud
ies and coached debate in Georgia
for over 25 years in Swainsboro
High School in Emanual County,
where he also served as social
studies department head. He was
honored as Teacher of the Year in
Emanuel County in 1979 and in
1984. He edited the textbook An
Introduction to Law in Georgia in
1991.
17