Legendary civil rights and political leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., speaking at the Urban Issues Forum on Monday, drew a comparison between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s to the Occupy movement of today.

Jackson was the keynote speaker at the monthly event, and by way of metaphors explained the correlations between the Civil Rights Movements of 40 years ago and the biblical movements for social justice.

Although initially somewhat subdued, the audience warmed up to Jackson with chants and frequent “amens.”

Physicians Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins are lucky to be alive. Surrounded by negative influences and having few positive role models as teenagers, they made a pact in high school to stick together, go to college, graduate and become doctors. That premeditated decision helped to determine the fate of these Newark, N.J., natives.

While survival, not scholastic success, was the priority for many of their peers, these three could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison.

Physicians Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins are lucky to be alive. Surrounded by negative influences and having few positive role models as teenagers, they made a pact in high school to stick together, go to college, graduate and become doctors. That premeditated decision helped to determine the fate of these Newark, N.J., natives.

While survival, not scholastic success, was the priority for many of their peers, these three could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison.

Getting into business can be hard enough but managing its growth successfully can be even harder. Recently, members of California Association For Micro Enterprise Opportunity (CAMEO) assembled a small group of minority businesswomen to build a coalition and discuss their challenges and successes.

Keynote speaker Sheila Brooks, CEO of SRB Communications, explained to those in attendance that minority women-owned businesses represent the fastest growing segment of new companies in California and the nation.