|
Juneteenth
Event - 6th Annual Deliverance Ball, Commemorating the 50th
Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education - Jacque Andre
DeGraff, MSNBC
Jacques
Andre De Graff has emerged as one of the country's most
articulate voices on national politics, strategy and analysis.
De Graff most recently served as Bill Bradley's national
deputy campaign manager and director of delegate
selection. He stunned political pundits by expertly
developing the most successful state-by-state delegate slating
record for an insurgent candidate in Democratic Party history.
De
Graff’s acumen for organizing and negotiating difficult
assignments has gained him widespread recognition. Over the
years, he has honed his organizing skills in urban mayoral
politics -- playing a pivotal role in high-profile democratic
races from Atlanta (Maynard Jackson) to Chicago (Harold Washington)
and New York (Reverend Al Sharpton and David Dinkins). On
both the national and state levels, De Graff has compiled
an enviable record with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter,
New York Governor Hugh Carey, Secretary Andrew Cuomo, Presidential
candidate Walter Mondale, former California Speaker Willie
Brown and insurgent candidate for the Democratic Presidential
Nomination Senator Bill Bradley.
His
thoughtful analysis and quick witty commentary has earned
him praise with pundits and numerous guest appearances on
local and national television and radio programs, including:
CNN’s Larry King Live, FOX News Network’s
Hannity & Colmes and The O’Reilly Factor, and MSNBC’s
Morning Line with Chris Jansing, Morning Blend with Soledad
O’Brien and HardBall with Chris Matthews.
De
Graff has impressed observers with his command of information
and penetrating insights. He has been featured in
Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Post and The New
Republic. De Graff has been quoted in an array of print
articles, communicating in the country’s top media markets.
Included are such newspapers and periodicals as The New
York Times, The Hotline, The Times-Picayune, Los Angeles Times,
Daily News (New York), The Buffalo News, Dayton Daily News,
The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The VillageVoice,
The Weekly Standard, The Palm Beach Post, The Washington Times,
The Boston Goble, The Ethnic NewsWatch, The San Francisco
Examiner, The Bulletin’s Frontrunner, Chattanooga Times/Chattanooga
Free Press and Cox News Service.
No stranger behind the scenes of media and politics, in 1998
De Graff was an on-air election night commentator
for the Bloomberg Television Network. While serving as press
secretary for the New York City School Construction Authority
in 93’ and 94’, his lead spokesman services were
needed--and utilized--around-the-clock to deal with the highly
publicized citywide asbestos crisis.
De Graff was frequently quoted in news articles during both
the remediation and follow-up periods.
Jacques
Andre De Graff is a native New Yorker and graduate of
Hunter College were he had a dual major in Broadcast Journalism
and Mass Communication and is currently pursuing his Masters
in Divinity at New York Theological Seminary. An ordinated
Pastor, he serves on the pastoral staff of Canaan Baptist
Church in Harlem under Reverend Wyatt Tee Walker, Pastor Emeritus.
Active in numerous civic and social justice initiatives, he
also serves on the Board of the 100 Black Men of New York.
His courage was spotlighted in the Amsterdam News, when he
was named to its Hall of Fame, for his leadership role in
protesting police misconduct in the shooting of an unarmed
African immigrant, Amadou Diallo in New York City.
Jacques
Andre De Graff has served as the Executive Adjunct to
the president of the prestigious Hampton University Ministers
Conference, Reverend Suzan Johnson-Cook. Its 10,000 members
make up the nation's largest interdenominational gathering
of African American clergy. He has served as chief of protocol
for the National Action Network, on a fact-finding tour of
the war torn Sudan, investigating its slave trade. Additionally,
he served in the same capacity for Reverend Al Sharpton and
a delegation to Cuba meeting with Fidel Castro and discussing
the human rights issue of the U.S. blockade.
Education:
New
York Theological Seminary Master of Divinity (currently)
Harvard
University Community Development Finance (1981)
Development of Real Property (1980)
New
York University Real Estate Institute
(1980-81)
Hunter
College B.A. - Mass Communications/Broadcast Journalism (1975)
|
