[P2P-F] Fw: Press Release: Martin Luther King, Jr. Economic Justice and Empowerment Summit (1/14/12)

[robert searle]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Norman Kurland <thirdway at cesj.org>
To: Anastasia Pittman <Anastasia.Pittman at okhouse.gov> 
Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2012, 2:50
Subject: Press Release: Martin Luther King, Jr. Economic Justice and Empowerment Summit (1/14/12)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2012
 
Contact: Russell Williams, Connecticut Coalition for Capital Homesteading
at 860-597-2724
 
Russell Williams, a Hartford activist and former President of the Greater Hartford NAACP who serves as one of the National Field Directors for the Center For Economic and Social Justice, has organized a Martin Luther King Jr. Economic Justice & Empowerment Summit to be held in Hartford on Saturday, January 14, 2012. The event is being hosted by the Connecticut Coalition for Capital Homesteading, the Connecticut State Baptist Convention and Service for Peace at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts on 166 Capital Avenue in the city.
 
The opening speaker is Dr. Norman Kurland, a lawyer-economist, pioneer of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and co-founder and president of the Center for Economic and Social Justice, a non-profit thinktank and social action catalyst headquartered in Arlington, VA.  He is a leading global advocate for "the Just Third Way," a post-scarcity development model developed by ESOP inventor Louis Kelso that transcends both capitalism and socialism by combining free markets with the democratization of economic power and capital ownership. (See background.)

Also featured will be Jerry Peloquin, a member of the national Steering Committee of the newly formed Justice Party, whose presidential candidate is Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's former mayor and an internationally recognized human rights lawyer. Peloquin will address the failure of all major parties to target our flawed economic system and offer bold proposals to reform our Federal Reserve, banking, tax, inheritance and other basic laws to make government again more economically dependent on its citizens, rather than the other way around. (See background.)

Jimmie Griffin, an activist from Waterbury who was recently appointed as Connecticut Coordinator of the Connecticut Coalition for Capital Homesteading, a co-host of this event, said, "This will be our first big event to introduce our Capital Homesteading concept to the state.  We have invited leaders from all sectors to participate in this new venture, Waterbury being one of the first cities to develop a local Center for Economic and Social Justice.  We think it would be fitting to hold this in conjunction with the King holiday. We'll call for major system changes to lift unjust institutional barriers to faster rates of growth, new jobs and more equal ownership and economic empowerment opportunities for every man, woman and child in America."
 
According to Russell Williams, "We are hoping for a lively and spirited debate. We will ask participants to join us in round table discussions to learn about the "Just Third Way" and how various movements like Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party and the new Justice Party could come together to unite all Americans to work together to realize Dr. King's 'Dream'."
 
The event is open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the doors of the Bushnell will open at 9 AM. The Summit will start at 10 AM and last until 2 PM. There is no admission fee but donations will be accepted. All donations should be made out to CESJ, a tax-exempt, non-profit educational and research organization. For further information, visit www.capitalhomesteading.org  or www.mlkchallenge.org and RSVP to Russell Williams at 860-597-2724 or by email at rcwjj at aol.com.

*****************************************

Background on Dr. Norman G. Kurland

In the 1960s, Norman Kurland, became deeply involved as a Federal civil rights investigator in the Mississippi "one-person, one-vote" movement (1962-1964) where he worked closely with Medgar Evers, other key Mississippi activists and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He met with Dr. King, and strategized with other national civil rights leaders.  In 1964 he joined the core group that shaped grassroots economic empowerment initiatives in President Johnson's "War on Poverty."  Once he learned of Louis Kelso's "solution" in 1965, Kurland left his position as a Federal official to become the director of planning of the Citizens Crusade Against Poverty. This coalition of liberal and grassroots leaders was chaired by UAW president Walter Reuther and was organized to challenge the top-down poverty programs of the government.  He became CCAP's in-house advocate of Kelso's ideas, serving as an economic development consultant to grassroots
 organizations in Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Applalachia, and other poverty communities. In 1968 he officially joined Kelso serving both as the director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Systems as well as Kelso's Washington Counsel for what the New York Times described as the ESOP's "one-man lobbying campaign."  His work on Capitol Hill led to the passage in 1974 of the first of over 20 laws encouraging ownership for 11 million worker-owners in over 11,000 companies, several wholly owned by workers and purchased on credit repaid with future profits, without reducing takehome pay or savings.  In 1985 he was appointed by President Reagan as deputy chairman of the bipartisan Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice.  Kurland graduated with honors from the University of Connecticut in 1952, and served five years as an Air Force officer. Before coming to Washington, he received a Doctor of Laws degree in 1960 from the University of
 Chicago, where he studied law and economics and was awarded the Walter Wheeler Cook Prize for legislative drafting. He has authored many articles, including "A New Look at Prices and Money: The Kelsonian Binary Model for Achieving Rapid Growth Without Inflation" published by The Journal of Socio-Economics and co-authored Curing World Poverty: The New Role of Property (1994) and Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen (2004). 

Background on Jerry Peloquin

Jerry Peloquin is a senior executive and an Organizational Psychologist. He has been a member of organizational strategy and operating teams measuring and improving financial and organizational performance. Mr. Peloquin has both private and public sector experience. He served as Technical Training Manager for Honda America Mfg. and as Senior Human Performance Consultant to US. AID (Agency for International Development) His social activism
began in the early 60's when he was a founding member of the now fabled rock band, The Jefferson Airplane. In recent years he has been Managing Editor US for The Microfinance Focus
Magazine, a Consultant to The Grameen Foundation teaching business process management to micro bankers in the developing world. At present Jerry Peloquin is President of The Family Fish Farms Network, a social business planning to build 400 Urban Aquaponic Farms and creating 10,000 new green jobs. Mr. Peloquin is also Executive Director of The National Capital Jobs Coalition an advocacy group working to assure just decent jobs to the residents of the District of Columbia and advocates for DC Statehood. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Ukimwi Orphans Assistance Organization a non_profit that provides
support to care givers of orphans in Tanzania.


-- 
Norman G. Kurland, J.D.
President
Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ)
P.O. Box 40711, Washington, DC 20016
(O) 703-243-5155, (F) 703-243-5935
(E) thirdway at cesj.org (Web) http://www.cesj.org "Own or be owned."
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