Washington, the reverend of St. Mark's Missionary in south-central Los Angeles, offered a critical view of Black power in America.

He said the trial of O.J. Simpson showed that no matter how far Blacks advanced, their skin color held them back.

"You don't have enough money--there is not enough education in Harvard to buy you what you want in life," Washington said. "You will always be the one who is sent before the judge, regardless of how much you've accomplished."

But at the same time, the reverend said Blacks are also to blame for the problems of some African-Americans because many successful Blacks are not giving back to the community. He said many Blacks are "blaming the white man" too often.

"If you fail to share with your brothers and sisters, then you have failed the course," Washington said.

"My oppressor isn't the white man," he added. "My oppressor is my own brother."

Washington, who grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, recently helped negotiate a truce between the Crips and the Bloods, two of the city's most prominent gangs.

"My first question is, 'Why are you killing each other?' Nobody has an answer," he said.

Preston, the final panelist, offered a personal account of her life. She grew up in a public-housing project in Brooklyn, she said, and still lives in the same neighborhood.

After attending the City University of New York, Preston said, she decided to join the ranks of corporate America.

"Yes, it's a white company," she said of her current employer, Chase Manhattan Bank. "But I didn't care. I was going to break that glass ceiling. That was my mission in life."

Preston, who is 30 years old, said she was content with her position until early this year, when she decided to start a beauty-consulting firm rather than work for Chase.

"If you're working for somebody else, how successful can you really be?" she asked.

She also said Blacks have been negligent in building centers for their own businesses.

"Orientals will come in and have Chinatown.... Why is it that people who are not African-American can come here and do so much for themselves?" she asked.