Drum Major Institute
{{Short description|American progressive think tank}}
{{Infobox institute
| name = Drum Major Institute
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| founder = Martin Luther King Jr. and
| established = {{start date and age|1961}}
| mission =
| focus = Democracy, Peace and Justice
| president = Arndrea Waters King
| chairman = Martin Luther King III
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| staff =
| key_people = Martin Luther King III, James Forbes, William Wachtel, Andrew Young, Arndrea Waters King, Yolanda Renee King
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| location = New York, New York, and Atlanta
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| country = United States
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| website = {{URL|https://DrumMajorInst.org/}}
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The Drum Major Institute is a non-profit American organization which focuses on democracy, peace and justice. It began in 1961, as a progressive think tank and community action group.{{cite news|last1=Radnofsky|first1=Louise|title=City's Payout Lags Others in Federal Stimulus Funding|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704471204575210260871446330|accessdate=22 April 2015|publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=April 28, 2010}} The group was founded by Martin Luther King Jr, with his legal counsel Harry H. Wachtel, in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. It later became defunct until it was relaunched in 1999.{{cite news|last1=McIntire|first1=Mike|title=Institute Once Led by Ferrer Forms Base of His Support|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/nyregion/metrocampaigns/20ferrer.html?pagewanted=all|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=New York Times|date=October 20, 2005}} It is headquartered in New York City.{{cite book|last1=Arturo Rosales|first1=F.|title=Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryoflati0000rosa|url-access=registration|date=2006|publisher=Arte Publico Press|isbn=9781611920390|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryoflati0000rosa/page/166 166]}} DMI's stated mission is "creating commonsense solutions to drive social progress for all American citizens."{{cite web |title=Our Mission |url=https://www.drummajorinst.org/our_mission |website=Drum Major Institute |access-date=26 March 2025}}
Leadership
The current leadership comprises a group of individuals who make up the Drum Major Institute's Board of Directors, including: Martin L. King III, Arndrea W. King, William B. Wachtel, Esq., Sec. Jeh C. Johnson, Scott Rechler, Norman Ornstein,
Daniel Roberti, Eric N. Gioia, Frederick Davie, Lisa Gioia, Verna J. Cleveland.
History
The Drum Major Foundation (later Institute) was founded in 1961 during the American Civil Rights Movement by Martin Luther King Jr. and his legal counsel Harry H. Wachtel, who was a New York City lawyer who advised the organization. The Institute became more or less defunct after the King's assassination in April 1968, but was relaunched in 1999 by King's son Martin Luther III, Wachtel's son William, and King confidant Andrew Young.[http://www.nndb.com/org/344/000122975/ Drum Major Institute for Public Policy]
Martin Luther King Jr. often used the phrase "drum major instinct," meaning the instinct to be a leader. In his sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 4, 1968, he said: "If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice, say that I was a drum major for peace, say that I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter... I just want to leave a committed life behind."[http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/680204.000_Drum_Major_Instinct.html MLK Papers Project Sermons: "The Drum Major Instinct"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711031721/http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/680204.000_Drum_Major_Instinct.html |date=July 11, 2007 }}
The director of the institute from 2002 through 2004 was Fernando Ferrer, the former Borough president of the Bronx, who resigned from the institute at the end of 2004 to run for mayor of New York City. Donations to Ferrer's mayoral campaign helped pay for DMI's operations. From 2004 through 2010, Andrea Batista Schlesinger was the institute's executive director. P.J. Kim was named the organization's executive director in 2010.{{cite news|title=New Band Leader|url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100429/INS/100429814/port-authoritys-ward-crafts-cuomo-connection|accessdate=22 April 2015|publisher=Crain's New York Business|date=April 29, 2010}}
Past Activities
According to its website, DMI focuses on a few main areas: immigration policy, combating tort reform, and, more generally, policies that they feel benefit the middle class. DMI has issued legislative scorecards for the United States Congress and the New York Legislature which grade elected officials on their votes relating to issues that DMI perceives as being important to achieving a middle class standard of living.{{cite news|last1=vanden Heuvel|first1=Katrina|title=A Middle Class Scorecard|url=http://www.thenation.com/blog/middle-class-scorecard|accessdate=22 April 2015|publisher=The Nation|date=May 22, 2004}}
DMI's Civil Justice Fellowship, originally called the Milberg Weiss Fellowship[http://www.milbergweiss.com/newsevents/publicationsdetail.aspx?pubtype=5280&pubid=770 Milberg Weiss press release] 9 May 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610040531/http://www.milbergweiss.com/newsevents/publicationsdetail.aspx?pubtype=5280&pubid=770 |date=June 10, 2007 }} because it was funded by the indicted plaintiffs' law firm Milberg Weiss, was created to oppose tort reform.
Since 2002, the Drum Major Institute has hosted a series of discussions called the Marketplace of Ideas, progressive speakers series which highlights a public policy which is presented by the official who helped put it in place.{{cite web|title=Marketplace of Ideas|url=http://hazanco.com/drum-major-institute-for-public-policy/|publisher=Hazan & Co.|accessdate=22 April 2015}}
DMI supported New York City's mandatory paid sick leave law.{{cite news|last1=Howard Saul|first1=Michael|title=Bloomberg: Sick Leave Bill Is 'Disaster'|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/10/07/bloomberg-paid-sick-leave-bill-is-disastrous/|accessdate=22 April 2015|publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=October 7, 2010}}
DMI has hosted events featuring Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Howard Dean and Eliot Spitzer.
In 2008, as part of a joint project with the magazine The Nation, DMI interviewed mayors across the country on urban issues. The goal of the project was to help add urban issues to the presidential race.{{cite news|last1=Moyers|first1=Bill|title=America's Cities|url=https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03282008/profile3.html|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=Bill Moyers Journal|publisher=PBS}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://drummajorinst.org DMI Official page]
Category:Organizations established in 1961