The Peacock Elite: A Subjective Case Study Of The Congressional Black Caucus and Its Impact on National Politics

Owens, Major

ISBN 10: 1935316419 / ISBN 13: 9781935316411

Published by GrantHouse Publishers, New York, 2011

About this Item

xviii, 327, [5] pages. Illustrations. Chronology. References. Bibliography. Index. Signed and dated by the author on the half-title page. Major Robert Odell Owens (June 28, 1936 - October 21, 2013) was an American politician and librarian who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing the New York's 11th and then 12th Congressional district. He was first elected to replace retiring Representative Shirley Chisholm. Owens shepherded the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 through the House. He retired at the end of his term in January 2007 and was succeeded by Yvette Clarke. Owens began his career in librarianship. After obtaining his master's degree, Owens settled in Brooklyn, New York and began his career as a librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library from 1958 through the late 1960s. Although having moved from his career in librarianship into his political career, in 1979 and 1991, Owens was a featured speaker at the White House Conference on Libraries sponsored by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. In 1996, Owens received the American Library Association's highest honorā "honorary membership. He was appointed a distinguished visiting scholar at The Library of Congress's John W. Kluge Center for 2007, upon his retirement from Congress. Owens researched and wrote his book "The Peacock Elite: A Case Study of the Congressional Black Caucus" while at the Kluge Center. The book traces the history of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and offers a blueprint for the caucus's future. Former Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) member Congressman Major Owens offers a bold blueprint for a Plan, called for by Ossie Davis, at the first CBC dinner. At this point in the evolution of the CBC, Owens, who served for twenty-four years before retiring, insists that without a Plan the CBC will be Balkanized and shattered by opportunistic predatory peacocks or drift into political irrelevancy as an ornamental, ceremonial institution. Black power as a significant element in national decision-making would be forever doomed if such a shipwreck occurs. Classifying his former colleagues in two major categories as peacocks or workhorses, Owens boldly names names and challenges public relations myths. Along with scathing criticisms there is also generous praise. One chapter offers a Chronology of CBC Triumphs and Blunders. A failure of the CBC to collectively respond to the escalating plunge into greater poverty experienced by their predominantly working class and deprived constituency is highlighted in the chronology. Woven into his tapestry of vital issues Owens has placed spicy and informative anecdotes: 1) How, despite his more than ten years of crusading for the National Martin Luther King Holiday, Representative John Conyers was denied the honor of sponsoring and managing the final passage of the bill because the Democratic Party leadership considered him too independent and too uppity. The accidentally elected Katie Hall from Gary Indiana was awarded this role. 2) How the CBC sat silent while President Reagan began the destruction of the public housing program by slashing its budget in half. 3) How, to achieve maximum sanctions against the racist South African regime, the CBC conducted its own direct negotiations with the Republicans and was thus able to gain the votes necessary to override Ronald Reagan's veto. 4) Despite sabotage within its own ranks how the CBC was able to convince President Clinton to intervene in Haiti and provide a military escort to return legally elected President Aristide. 5) In condemning the feeble support of organized labor for the CBC the book provides a peek into the racist closet of union leadership. 6) It highlights the CBC achievement of federal funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which moved form zero funding in 1986 to a total of four billion dollars over a period of twenty years (2006). 7) It offers penetrating insights. Seller Inventory # 86521

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Peacock Elite: A Subjective Case Study ...

Publisher: GrantHouse Publishers, New York

Publication Date: 2011

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very good

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: Presumed First Edition, First printing.