"War on the Poor" or a fight for big oil?

[kgrandia]

Here's a piece I wrote on Huffington Post today on a group that called the "Congress of Racial Equality" and a heavily publicized pro-coal, pro-drilling campaign they've launched called "Stop the War on the Poor"

Many of you have seen the so-called "Stop the War on the Poor" campaign that launched this week with a rally in Washington by a civil rights organization called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

With major corporate donations in the past to CORE from big players like Monsanto and ExxonMobil, I hope you can pardon me for being more than a little cynical about their latest campaign.

To say that CORE has enjoyed a cozy relationship with big industry would be an understatement. In fact, here's a photo of Monsanto's Chairman and CEO, Hugh Grant chairing CORE's celebratory reception in honor of Martin Luther King Jr in 2005.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-grandia/is-this-a-war-on-the-poor_b_115969.html

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. CORE is not really a player...

In the African American community anymore. Roy Innis really trashed its reputation.

[kgrandia]

2. But the press

They're getting the press on this campaign though. It has to be countered.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Well, who's their publicist?

Or: Who's the reporter acting, in a de facto sense, as their publicist? Because at the end of the day, they don't amount to a bucket of warm spit in the 'hood.

[bananas]

4. Thanks - prwatch and sourcewatch have some more info

Sourcewatch.org has a long entry on them at http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Congress_of_Racial_Equality

Prwatch.org has several articles:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/7579
Drilling Away at Poverty
... was organized by the self-described civil rights group Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the pro-drilling front group Americans for ...
Spin of the Day - Diane Farsetta - 07/25/2008 - 09:56 - 0 comments - 0 attachments

http://www.prwatch.org/node/4006
Like-Minded Groups Across a Rising Pond
... oppose action on climate change . They include the Congress of Racial Equality , once "the 'shock troops' of the civil rights movement" ...
Spin of the Day - Diane Farsetta - 09/20/2005 - 11:06 - 0 comments - 0 attachments

http://www.prwatch.org/node/3549
The CORE of Biotech PR
... reported . One reason may be Monsanto's extensive use of PR. GM Watch 's Jonathan Matthews looks at the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a U.S.-based civil rights group with ties ...
Spin of the Day - Laura Miller - 04/06/2005 - 10:43 - 0 comments - 0 attachments

[DCKit]

5. Another fake group with all the wrong answers....

claiming to represent the downtrodden. What a novel approach.