ABSTRACT
PUSH/Excel was more a message than a program, and a strongly Calvinist message at that, but the media supported Rev Jackson's crusading efforts. In 1975 and 1976 the Chicago Sun-Times and the Washington Post ran several articles about PUSH/Excel and syndicated columnist William Raspberry wrote a series of columns lauding the effort. The development of PUSH/Excel as a program was not simple or straightforward. For one thing, Excel had been launched as a movement— a grass-roots, self-help effort to achieve a broad set of goals through personal and community commitment. The organizational base for the crusade was Operation PUSH, which was given the task of running the fund-raising and promotional activities while local staff developed and managed local operations. A PUSH/Excel national director and administrative aide were hired to design the program, coordinate local project activities, develop a structured approach, and expand the resource base. PUSH/Excel had become a national phenomenon.
