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condemned Planned Parenthood’s support of “Black genocidal politics.” 50 A closer
examination of the conservative faction of Black Nationalism reveals the active
participation of many women. For instance, Mary Van Buren, running on a platform
centered on Black capitalism, received the endorsement of Indianapolis’s Republican
establishment in her 1972 run for state senator. 51 In 1971, the OMBE sponsored its first
National Conference on Business Opportunities for Black women. 52 Gloria Toote, the
granddaughter of Garvey associate Frederick Toote and an economic advisor for
Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, used her influence in all three administrations to
promote increased government expenditures for Black businesses. 53 Similarly, Elaine
Jenkins emphasized that “the root of Black entrepreneurship is in the Black community”
and criticized traditional liberal Black leadership for failing to support the development
of Black businesses. As an influential member of the Republican National Committee
from the 1960s through 1980s, she was adamant in her support for the maintenance of
party’s Black capitalism platform. 54
Jewel Rogers-Lafontant, who was also active in business circles and served in the
Nixon administration, vigorously pressed the OMBE to include Black women in its
funding. A board member of Trans World Airlines (TWA), Rogers-Lafontant told the
Republican Platform Committee in 1972 that “a primary goal” of the party should be to
50
Devin Fergus, Liberalism, Black Power, and the Making of American Politics, 1965-
1980 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2009), 235; Ross, 153.
51
“Prominent GOP Candidate to Attend Minority Women Meet,” Indianapolis Recorder,
June 10, 1972.
52
Clipping, “Women’s Confab in Session at Washington, D.C.,” n.d., Folder:
Administration Initiatives Receiving Top Coverage in Minority Publications, 11/3/71, Box
1, Stanley S. Scott Papers, Gerald R. Ford Library.
53
Gloria Toote, “Black Political Power,” in J. Clay Smith Jr., ed., Rebels in Law: Voices in
History of Black Women Lawyers (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998), 169-
170; Manning Marable, How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America, updated edition
(London: Pluto Press, 2000), 151; “Gloria E.A. Toote,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed.,
Notable Black American Women, Book II (Detroit: Gale Research, 1996), 653.
54
Helena Carney Lambeth, “Elaine B. Jenkins,” in Smith, ed., Notable Black American
Women, 331.