ABSTRACT
The demise of the short-lived Los Angeles program, the best PUSH/Excel sites were those in Denver and Chattanooga, in the opinion of several federal officials. The most prominent businessman to object to Reverend Jesse Jackson's trip to the Middle East was Joseph Coors, owner of Coors Brewery and supporter of arch-conservative causes. Jackson had begun PUSH/Excel as a means of reestablishing moral authority in the lives of black teenagers. Ironically, authority in the Denver public schools was distributed in such a way as to prevent the program from ultimately succeeding. The national coordinator of PUSH, William Thurston, was invited to speak to the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, and both the Chattanooga superintendent of schools and the Tennessee commissioner of education endorsed the program. The national coordinator of PUSH, William Thurston, was invited to speak to the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, and both the Chattanooga superintendent of schools and the Tennessee commissioner of education endorsed the program.
