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Susan
Mangatal - susan@ariousentertainment.us
Greetings
On-Line Family!
As you know last week was
the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war, and I shared with you my
feelings about this war. (Click
here to view last week's e-mail blast)
Now, this past Tuesday, March 25th, the 4,000 mark was reached for the
total amount of soldiers & loved ones we've lost in this
war, and sadly it's constantly growing. As I stated last week our families,
friends and loved ones who make up these troops
must be brought home. THIS WAR IS NOT WORTH THESE
VALUABLE LIVES!!!
Thanks to the
many of you who wrote me about the tribute song by Alexandra Lajoux.
I neglected to share her contact information with you last week,
so per many of your request her website is as
follows: American Classics Recordings - http://www.alexismusicstudio.com/bio/.
Click the picture to again view Ms. Lajoux's tribute to the Troops "We Thank You" written and performed by Alexandra
Lajoux.
Alexandra Lajoux pays tribute to the
troops by singing "We Thank You" 
 Recognizing and Celebrating Women's
Accomplishments throughout
History -
This past month
we have recognized, celebrated and honored women around the
world. We have celebrated their diverse and historic
accomplishments, as well as their rich and varied contributions
to the history and culture of the United States and around the
world. For
this last week we continue celebrating a few more women of African-American decent who are
“FIRSTS” and who have contributed to the advancement of
women and paved the way for many who have become successful.
As you know, the challenges today are smaller in comparison
to the challenges these women faced in previous years as they pursued
their goals, and you can just imagine what they endured during their life as they
moved towards obtaining their goals and achievements from the
problems of intense racism (not only being a woman, but also
being black), segregation, and normalized sexism.
However despite their race, gender, class and age, these
women drew something deep inside their souls and stayed
motivated and succeed with pursuing their goals.
This week we celebrate women who are
"FIRSTS" during the years of 1991-Current.
1991:
Sharon Pratt Dixon was the first black woman to serve as
Mayor of a major U.S. City.
She was the elected mayor of
Washington, D.C. from January 2, 1991 – January 2, 1995
making her the first for a woman of any race to do so and
the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a
major American city.
From 1991 to 1994, the difficult job of running
Washington, D.C., belonged to Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon
Kelly, a successful utilities attorney who had had no
previous experience in city government. Kelly was voted
mayor in the wake of Marion Barry's fall from political
grace. During her uphill campaign, Kelly portrayed herself
as a squeaky-clean political outsider, even though she had
strong connections to the national Democratic Party.
Kelly, a middle-class African American who was born
and raised in the District of Columbia, promised to reduce
crime, cut the city's bloated budget, and clean up corrupt
government. Although she was turned out of office after just
one term, Kelly earned herself a permanent place in history
by becoming the first female mayor of the nation's capital.
For more details click here:
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/kelly-sharon-pratt-dixon-1944
1992:
Mae Jamison became the first black female astronaut.
Dr. Jemison was born in
Alabama on October 17, 1956, and raised in Chicago. She did
well in school from a young age and was able to go to
Stanford University on scholarship at the age of 16. She
graduated in 1977 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a
B.A. in African-American Studies. She attended medical
school at Cornell University and became an MD in 1981. While
in medical school, she traveled to Cuba, Africa and Asia to
help sick people. After medical school, she spent time in
the Peace Corps supervising medical staff in Sierra Leone
and Liberia. In 1987, Dr. Jemison fulfilled a lifelong dream
of being an astronaut when she was accepted into NASA’s
astronaut training program out of over 2000 applicants.
After flying in space, Dr. Jemison taught at
Dartmouth College on the topics of developing countries and
advanced technology. She then created the Jemison Group,
which works to bring advanced technology to people worldwide
and foster a love of science in students. She divides her
time between speaking engagements and serving as president
for two technology companies. Ms. Jemison encourages
women and minorities to enter scientific fields "I want
to make sure we use all our talent, not just
25%.". In
1999 Jemison accepted appointment as the President's Council
of Cornell Women Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at
Cornell University.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/TODTWD/jemison.bio.htm;
http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/astronauts/a/bio_maejemison.htm
 1992: Carol Mosely Brawn became the first black woman Senator
(serving from the State of Illinois from 1992-1998).
A woman of extensive achievements and
a pioneering entrepreneur, Carol Moseley Braun has
established herself as an agent for change passionate about
preserving the American Dream for the next generation.
Carol Moseley Braun formerly served her country as
Ambassador, United States Senator, County Executive Officer,
State Representative and Assistant United States Attorney.
Her extensive and constructive legislative record reflects a
commitment to social justice, fiscal prudence and good
government. The hallmark of her public service has been
courageous dedication to the harmony of the whole community,
and she has worked to build an inclusive society that taps
the talent of all people. A woman of extensive achievements,
she is passionate about preserving the American Dream for
the next generation. Amb. Braun was a candidate for
the 2004 Democratic nomination for President of the United
States. As a candidate she qualified for more states’
ballots than any woman in the history of this country.
For more details click the following link: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m001025
or http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=17&category=politicalMakers
1993:
Toni
Morrison - The first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize
for Literature.
Born Chloe Anthony Wofford, in 1931 in Lorain
(Ohio), the second of four children in a black working-class
family. Displayed an early interest in literature. Studied
humanities at Howard and Cornell Universities, followed by
an academic career at Texas Southern University, Howard
University, Yale, and since 1989, a chair at Princeton
University. She has also worked as an editor for Random
House, a critic, and given numerous public lectures,
specializing in African-American literature. She made her
debut as a novelist in 1970, soon gaining the attention of
both critics and a wider audience for her epic power,
unerring ear for dialogue, and her poetically-charged and
richly-expressive depictions of Black America. A member
since 1981 of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she
has been awarded a number of literary distinctions, among
them the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. http://aalbc.com/authors/toni.htm
or http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/biographies/morrison.html
1993-1995:
Rita Dove became the first black women Poet Laureate.
In 1993 Rita Dove was appointed
Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant in
Poetry at the Library of Congress, making her the
youngest person — and the first African-American —
to receive this highest official honor in American
letters. She held the position for two years. In 1999
she was reappointed Special Consultant in Poetry for
1999/2000, the Library of Congress's bicentennial year,
and in 2004 Virginia governor Mark Warner appointed her
as Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a two
year position. To learn more about Ms. Dove (in
detail), please click the following link: http://people.virginia.edu/~rfd4b/compbio.html
or http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/185
1993:
Dr. Barbara Ross Lee become the first African American
woman to be appointed dean of an American Medical
school.
As a child, Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee and her
siblings sang in a church choir. Her sister, Diana Ross,
left the projects as the celebrity lead singer of the
Supremes. Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee earned a degree in
science and chemistry in 1969. She went on to join the
National Teaching Corps. This is a program in which she
could study for free, while she taught in the Detroit
public school system. In 1969, Michigan State University
opened a College of Osteopathic Medicine. Osteopathic
Medicine is a branch of medicine which views the human
body holistically; it emphasizes the prevention and
treatment of illness and injury through the use of
manual and physical therapies along with traditional
practices such as drugs and surgery. As a single mother,
Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee needed help with childcare, so she
sold her house and moved back in with her mother. In
1973 Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee graduated from Michigan State
University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
For the next 10 years, she ran a hectic family business
in inner city Detroit. In
1984, Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee left the family business and
joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
as a health professions consultant on education. In
1993, she was honored to become the first African
American woman to be appointed dean of an American
Medical school. She remained dean of the College of
Osteopathic Medicine of Ohio University until 2001.
In 2001 Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee became the vice president
for Health Sciences and Medical Affairs at the New York
College of Technology. In 2002 she became the dean of
New York Institute of Osteopathic Medicine. Currently,
she remains one of seven women deans of medical schools
in the United States, as well as the first African
American to hold the title. http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/barbara-ross-lee-1942
or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_279.html
1997: Kate
Okikiolu becomes the first Black to be awarded
Mathematics' most prestigious young person's award, the
Sloan Research Fellowship. She also won the new $500,000
Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and
Engineers and in 2001 she was the first Black woman to
publish in the best mathematics journal. Ms. Okikiolu comes
from a mathematical family, her father is a
mathematician and inventor and her mother is a high
school mathematics teacher. Her parents met when her
father left Nigeria to study mathematics at the same
college in England where her mother was studying
physics. Her father, the Nigerian George Okikiolu, has
written more mathematics papers than any other Black
mathematician. She is married to mathematician Hans
Lindblad. Ms. Okikiolu earned her B.A. in
Mathematics from Cambridge University in England before
coming to the United States in 1987 to attend graduate
school mathematics at UCLA (the University of
California, Los Angeles). There, she worked with two
mentors, Sun-Yung (Alice) Chang and John Garnett, and
was able to solve a problem concerning asymptotics of
determinants of Toeplitz operators on the sphere and a
conjecture of Peter Jones, characterizing subsets of
rectifiable curves in Euclidean n-space. She earned her
Ph.D. at UCLA in 1991, and she has been exhibiting first
rate mathematical abilities. After her doctorate,
Kate went, in 1993, to Princeton University where she
was an Instructor and an Assistant Professor until 1995.
From 1995 until 1997 she was a visiting Assistant
Professor at MIT. She became a resident status in the
U.S. at this time. Since 1997, she has been on the
faculty in the Mathematics Department of the University
of California, San Diego (UCSD), first as an Assistant
Professor. Also in 1996, Dr. Okikiolu spoke as part of
the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration for Association
of Women in Mathematics (AWM). In 2002, she gave the
Claytor-Woodard lecture at the NAM
meetings. Note: The
Annals of Mathematics
A
collection of research papers published before 1980 and
written by black mathematicians, there is no central
mathematical theme to this book. The range of the papers
is wide, from mathematics education to group theory.
However, it is a strong statement about the professional
diversity in the field of mathematics. Blacks have made
major contributions to the advancement of science and
mathematics and this book is a partial
description of
that fact.
1999: Cathy Hughes is The
First African American Woman to head a firm publicly
traded on the stock exchange in the United States with
an initial public offering of 6.4 million shares of
Class A Common Stock at $24.00 a share. Ms.
Hughes is founder and Chairperson of Radio One, Inc.,
the largest African American owned and operated
broadcast-company in the nation, (a national chain of
approx. 71 radio stations in 22 markets, valued at $2
billion with 16 million listeners.)
The First African American company in radio
history to dominate several major markets
simultaneously, and the first woman-owned radio station
to rank # 1 in any major market.
Ms. Hughes company eventually became the
nation’s largest black-owned radio chain.
In 2004, her company launched a new cable
channel, TV One, aimed at African Americans.
Cathy Hughes was born in Omaha, NE in 1947.
Beginning her career in radio in 1969, Hughes' first
position was with KOWH, a black radio station in Omaha.
Her successes there prompted the Howard University
School of Communications to offer her a position as a
lecturer and as Assistant to the Dean of Communications.
In 1973, Hughes was named general sales manager to
WHUR-FM in Washington, D.C, and by1975 was hired
as the general manager of the station. Under her
guidance, WHUR-FM, which had been struggling along with
$300,000 in annual sales revenues, increased its annual
revenues to more than $3.5 million. In 1978,
Hughes left WHUR for WYCB Radio, where she served as the
vice president and general manager of the station.
Hughes and her husband at the time, Dewey Hughes,
decided they wanted to buy their own radio station in
1979, and after being rejected by thirty-two banks, they
found a lender. With their loan, they purchased WOL, a
small Washington, D.C. station and Radio One was born.
While Hughes wanted a talk format for the station, the
bank was pressing for music. A compromise was reached
permitting Hughes to have a morning talk show program
that was followed by music programming throughout the
day. Hughes' marriage ended shortly after
purchasing the station and she began her path as a
single mother. She purchased her husband's share in the
station, but hard times soon forced she and her son,
Alfred, to give up their apartment and move into the
station to make ends meet. Over time, however, the
station began turning a profit, largely due to the
success of her talk show. Since the early days of
being a station owner, Hughes' rise has been
remarkable. http://www.tvoneonline.com/shows/show.asp?sid=123&id=1126
or http://www.blackperspective.com/pages/mag_articles/sum01_soulofthecity.html
2001: Dr. Condoleezza Rice becomes the first
black female National Security Advisor - Appointed by
President Bush. Dr.
Condoleezza Rice became the Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as
the National Security Advisor, on January 22, 2001.
Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, she
earned her bachelor's degree in political science, cum
laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver
in 1974; her master's from the University of Notre Dame
in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of
International Studies at the University of Denver in
1981. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates
from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of
Alabama in 1994, the University of Notre Dame in 1995,
the National Defense University in 2002, the Mississippi
College School of Law in 2003, the University of
Louisville and Michigan State University in 2004. She
resides in Washington, D.C.
2001:
Ruth Simmons, President of Brown University became the
first African American to lead an Ivy League institution.
Ruth Simmons 1945-,
American educator and college president, b. Grapeland,
Tex., grad. Dillard Univ. (B.A., 1967) and Harvard
(A.M., 1970; Ph.D., 1973). As a scholar she was
primarily concerned with the francophone literature of
Africa and the Caribbean. On the faculty and in the
administration at Princeton Univ. from 1983 to 1990, she
was associate dean of the faculty (1986-90). From 1990
to 1991, she was provost of Spelman College. She
returned to Princeton in 1992, serving as vice provost.
In 1995 she was named president of Smith College,
becoming the first African-American woman to head a
top-ranked college or university. While there she
established the first women's college engineering
program and founded Meridians, a journal
addressing the concerns of minority women. Simmons left
Smith in 2001 to become president of Brown Univ. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-68504364.html
or http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/schools/simmons.asp
2002:
Halle Berry is the first black woman to win an Oscar for
Best Actress in Monster's Ball. First
black American in the miss World Competition (She
didn't win a prize but her dress did.) Born
on August 14, 1966, in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up
in a single-parent household which was somewhat
though (Halle’s father walking out on the family when
she was 4.)
Ms. Berry in high school was a cheerleader, an
honor society member, editor of the school paper, and
class president; she was also crowned her high school's
prom queen.
In 1983, Halle's boyfriend entered her name
in the Miss Teen Ohio beauty pageant, and she was
crowned Miss Teen Ohio in that competition.
Ms. Berry won many other high-profile
competitions, including Miss Teen All-American, Miss USA
(first runner-up) and Miss World. Halle continued
her education at Cleveland's Cuyahoga Community College
in 1986, studying broadcast journalism, but she didn't
complete her degree in college instead she left the
program to pursue a career in modeling and started
studying acting in Chicago. Ms.
Berry moved to Manhattan, where she immediately landed
her first TV gig in Living Dolls and in 1991 she
got her first big break in Spike Lee's "Jungle
Fever" as a crack-addicted woman. Soon
thereafter Ms. Berry reverted to television with a
recurring role on the popular prime-time soap opera Knots
Landing in 1991.
Her next movie role was “The last Boy Scout”
where she played Damon Wayans’ exotic girlfriend.
In 1992, Halle landed a starring role opposite
Eddie Murphy, in Boomerang. In 1993, she
married Atlanta Braves right fielder David Justice (they
divorced in 1996). In 1994, Halle starred in The
Flintstones, but her riveting big-screen role as an
illiterate addict who abandons her child in a garbage
can in 1995's Losing Isaiah shot her star up
higher.
Other movies Halle starred in include Executive
Decision (1996), Race the Sun (1996), B*A*P*S
(1997), Bulworth (1998), and Introducing
Dorothy Dandridge (1999), for which she won a Golden
Globe and an Emmy for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV
movie.
In 2000, Halle starred as Storm/Ororo Munroe in
the live film adaptation of the cartoon strip X-Men.
She also returned to modeling as a spokesperson
for Revlon, and because Halle was diagnosed with
diabetes, she became an avid volunteer for the Juvenile
Diabetes Association.
In 2001, Halle married soul singer Eric Benet
(divorced in 2003.)
In 2002 she made history at the Oscars as
the first black actress to receive a Best Actress
Academy Award for “Monster’s Ball”, and a SAG
award for Best Actress in Monster's Ball as well.
This Best Actress Academy Award. Her Oscar
triumph cemented her as an A-list actress, and she
appeared as Bond Girl Jinx in the film Die Another
Day (2002), as well as in X2 (2003), the
second installment of the X-Men franchise.
In 2003 she appeared in the psychological
thriller “Gothika and in 2004 as “Catwoman”.
In 2005, Halle appeared in the TV movie Their
Eyes Were Watching God and lent her voice to the
animated film Robots. Her projects for 2006
included the third X-Men installment, X-Men:
The Final Stand, and the thriller Perfect
Stranger.
Halle was also named the new face of
Versace. During a photo shoot for the designer,
Halle met her boyfriend top model Gabriel Aubry.
In 2007, after starring in “Things We Lost in
the Fire”, Halle confirmed reports that she was
pregnant with boyfriend Gabriel Aubrey’s baby.
Most recently 2008, Ms. Berry had a baby girl.
For more details on Ms. Halle Berry click the
following link: http://www.hallewood.com/
2003: Sheila Crump Johnson became the
first black female billionaire.
A
businesswoman, a musician, a philanthropist,
and the first African-American woman to become a
billionaire. She is also one of the few women in the
United States who owns a professional sports team:
She is president and managing partner of the Washington
Mystics women's basketball team. Sheila Crump
Johnson is the cofounder of BET with former husband
Robert L. Johnson. The two equally split $1.5 billion in
proceeds after BET was sold for $2.3 billion in stock.
(They divorced in 2002). She also has extensive
real estate holdings, including the 200-acre Salamander
Farm in Virginia and another farm and a condo in
Florida. She also owns 18 show horses. She is the
visionary entrepreneur who purchased former ambassador
Pamela Harris man's 350-acre tract (reportedly for $7
million) to build the resort. She is the
philanthropist who supports the UNCF and has given $7
million to Parsons School of Design (she's a board
member), $1 million to the State University of New York
at Morrisville and $3 million to the Hill School in
Middleburg. She is president of the Washington
International Horse Show, which under her leadership
made a profit for the first time in its history.
She is a photographer whose work is displayed in
galleries and restaurants around Virginia. She is a
designer who has created her own line of luxury linens
that is manufactured in Italy. One pattern was inspired
by her photograph of iceladened trees on the farm.
She is an accomplished violinist, former music teacher
and author of a music textbook. She is the proud
mother of 22-year-old Paige Johnson, a champion
equestrian and Olympic hopeful, and 18-year-old
Brett. She is a savvy businesswoman who employs 25
people. Sheila Crump Johnson is a busy
woman, one who has always been productive and creative,
but who seems to have gotten a new lease on life in
recent years. She has come into her own as her own
person, out of the shadow of her former husband, their
33-year marriage and the giant media company they
founded together. In 2005 Ms. Johnson married the
Hon. William T. Newman Jr., the Arlington judge. http://www.theconferenceforwomen.com/speakers/johnson.html
2005: Dr. Condoleezza Rice becomes the
first black female Secretary of State (2005 to present)
appointed by President Bush (66th Secretary of
State). In June 1999,
Dr. Rice completed a six year tenure as Stanford
University's Provost, during which she was the
institution's chief budget and academic officer. As
Provost she was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual
budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty
members and 14,000 students. As professor of
political science, Dr. Rice has been on the Stanford
faculty since 1981 and has won two of the highest
teaching honors -- the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for
Excellence in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities
and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching.
At Stanford, she was a member of the Center for
International Security and Arms Control from 1981-1986
(currently the Center for International Security And
Cooperation), a Senior Fellow of the Institute for
International Studies, and a Fellow (by courtesy) of the
Hoover Institution. Her books include Germany Unified
and Europe Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The
Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin, and
Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the
Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has written numerous
articles on Soviet and East European foreign and defense
policy, and has addressed audiences in settings ranging
from the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Moscow to the
Commonwealth Club to the 1992 and 2000 Republican
National Conventions. From 1989 through March
1991, the period of German reunification and the final
days of the Soviet Union, she served in the Bush
Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of
Soviet and East European Affairs in the National
Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs. In 1986, while
an international affairs fellow of the Council on
Foreign Relations, she served as Special Assistant to
the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1997, she
served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender --
Integrated Training in the Military. She was a
member of the boards of directors for the Chevron
Corporation, the Charles Schwab Corporation, the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the University of Notre
Dame, the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan
and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors. She
was a Founding Board member of the Center for a New
Generation, an educational support fund for schools in
East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California and was
Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of the
Peninsula . In addition, her past board service has
encompassed such organizations as Transamerica
Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the Carnegie Corporation,
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Rand
Corporation, the National Council for Soviet and East
European Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and
KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco. http://www.state.gov/secretary/
2006: Dr. Helene Gayle,
President & CEO of Care USA.
The First African-American and the First Woman Entrusted
to lead this Organization in its 61 year history.
Dr. Gayle joined CARE USA as
president in 2006. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York,
she received her B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia
University, her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania
and her M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University. After
completing her residency in pediatric medicine at the
Children's Hospital National Medical Center in
Washington, D.C., she entered the Epidemic Intelligence
Service, a training program in epidemiology at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, followed by
a residency in preventive medicine, and then remained at
CDC as a staff epidemiologist. At CDC, she studied
problems of malnutrition in children in the United
States and abroad, evaluating and implementing child
survival programs in Africa and working on HIV/AIDS
research, programs and policy. Dr. Gayle also served as
the AIDS coordinator and chief of the HIV/AIDS division
for the U.S. Agency for International Development;
director for the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB
Prevention, CDC; director of CDC's Washington office;
and health consultant to international agencies
including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the
World Bank and UNAIDS. Prior to her current position,
she was the director of the HIV, TB and reproductive
health program for the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, responsible for research, program and
policies related to HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted
diseases, reproductive health issues and
tuberculosis. Dr. Gayle has published numerous
articles on public health, especially related to
HIV/AIDS, and has received many awards for her
scientific and public health contributions. She attained
the rank of rear admiral (assistant surgeon general) in
the U.S. Public Health Service. She is also on the
boards of the Institute of Medicine and the Council on
Foreign Relations.
2007: Paula Madison is the First
African American Woman to be General Manager at a
Network-owned Station in a top five Market.
Ms. Madison is President
General Manager of KNBC; Executive Vice President
of Diversity of NBC Universal. Ms. Madison,
Executive Vice President, Diversity, NBC Universal &
Company Officer, General Electric. Madison,
an 18-year GE veteran, was named an officer in June
2007. In May 2007, NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff
Zucker appointed her as the company’s chief diversity
officer. When the announcement was made, it was the
first time in the history of NBC Universal that a senior
executive has had diversity as his or her sole
responsibility. As the liaison between the company and
key national and local leaders, Madison also serves as
the diversity spokesperson for NBC Universal. Madison is
responsible for working with the company’s business
executives to ensure the organization is an industry
leader in developing the programs and culture that will
enable the company to better reflect the makeup of its
increasingly diverse, globally-based customers, clients
and audiences. From November 2000 to May 2007,
Madison was the President and General Manager of KNBC,
NBC's owned and operated station in Los Angeles. She was
the first African American woman to become general
manager at a network-owned station in a top five market.
In April 2002, when NBC purchased the Telemundo network,
Madison added a new title and responsibilities to her
repertoire when she was named Regional General Manager
of the Spanish language network’s Los Angeles
stations, KVEA and KWHY. In July 2006, she added yet
another role to her existing responsibilities – that
of Executive Vice President, Diversity, NBC Universal.
She was no stranger to this role, however. Madison held
the position of Vice President, Diversity, and then
Senior Vice President, Diversity, for the NBC network
from February 2000 to May 2002. For more details
on Ms. Madison click the following link. http://www.answers.com/topic/paula-madison
 
Thanks for
all your e-mails regarding the comments I made about the
"Race" issue Senator Obama spoke about last week
during his historical address to the nation, and the issue with
Pastor Wright, as well as the "Black Church".
It's rewarding to know so many of you are on the "same
page" as I am, and it seems you are absolutely
"feeling me". The more I write, the more I
become enlighten by many of you. Thanks for the knowledge
and for sharing your feelings on all these issues. It's a
joy to know you are reading and appreciate receiving the
e-mails, and most importantly feel the e-mail blasts contain
lots of important information. Thanks again!!!
On the
negative side of things the media is still talking about this
Rev. Wright's issue, they are still "bashing" and
trying to intensify the issue in an effort to keep it
alive. They just won't give it a rest and let it go.
Why can't they focus on the positive and important issues taking
place on the campaign trail with the democratic
candidates? Why haven't they gone exceedingly
"crazy" over Senator Clinton's over exaggerated
tale/statements (during several speeches) about her Bosnia trip
while she was First Lady? Actually, many in the media is
claiming she misspoke and/or just brushed it off. Well, I
guess as they say in Jamaica "so it ah go".
After a
quick vacation over the Easter weekend with his family Senator Barack
Obama is back on the campaign trail. Below you will
find the speech he made on Thursday-3/27/08 regarding the
Economy. One important thing I learned this week was more
than 4 million voters registered to vote as Democrats in the
Pennsylvania Primary (approximately a total of 4,044,952 people
are now registered to vote in the Democratic primary). The
most exciting news is more than 120,000 new voters joined since
Jan. 1st, and more than 86,000 others switched from other
parties to register as Democrats. As far as campaigning in
PA, I understand Senator Obama, plans on touring the state
vigorously by bus, just as he did in Iowa. I believe his tour
will start Friday in Western Pennsylvania and work its way
east.
The overall
delegate count as of today per CNN and MSNBC for each Democratic
candidate is as follows. A friend told me Senator Obama
received one (1) more super delegate this week, and it looks
like he has because (per CNN) his total is now 1,622
(1413 Pledged and 209 Super delegates, and Senator
Clinton's total per CNN is 1,485 (1,242 Pledged and 243 Super
delegates. MSNBC's count as of today is: Senator Obama's total
1,626 (1408 Pledged and 218 Super delegates), and Senator
Clinton's total is 1,506 (1,251 Pledged and 255 Super
delegates). The total delegates needed to get the
nomination is
2,025.
Please
remember to
judge Senator Obama on his words, his actions and the content of
his character.
As I've told you every week, kindly continue standing up and do not
accept the same old tactics, rhetoric
and old politics. I encourage you to continue talking about race and
the hurtful issues you might have experienced throughout
life. Most importantly let's continue building this movement
and voting for Senator Obama. You must know by now that with your support and votes Senator
Obama will continue succeeding. We know he is "the
one". Yup, "the one" who absolutely has the
ability and wisdom to move us forward; "the one"
who has the answers to all of the many issues plaguing America
currently, and we know he is "the one" who can take us
forward towards that change we are seeking in a positive
manner. I hope you are looking forward to
the overall change as I am, so lets continue making history
together!!!!
October 6, 2008,
is the deadline for registering to vote in
the General Election that will take place on November 4,
2008. Click the following link for some very important
information regarding voting and to register. http://www.declareyourself.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=8#how
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Renewing
the American Economy Senator Barack Obama at New York's
great Cooper Union Hall on March 27, 2008.
Senator
Obama was
introduced by New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
and during his speech Senator Obama said "tougher
government regulations that reflect the realities of
modern finance are needed to get a grip on the economy
before it gets even worse". Click the Picture
to view the entire speech the Senator delivered on
Thursday 3/27/08. Courtesy of www.msnbc.com
(33 minutes. & 18 Seconds) If you
want to read the Senator's speech CLICK
HERE to enter his site to read it in its entirety.
Picture
by: (AP Photo/Richard Drew) |
Senator Obama
discusses the economy in an interview on March 27, 2008,
with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo
Ms. Bartiromo
talks to Democratic presidential candidate Senator
Barack Obama about his plans to revive a sagging U.S.
economy and help reverse the rise in mortgage defaults
and foreclosures.
Courtesy of www.msnbc.com
- (13 minutes & 52 seconds)
Click the picture to view.
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To all of you
our on-line family, thanks for reading, sharing your thoughts
and comments with us, and for always supporting
us. As you know without you there would be no us.
So thanks very much for your support and One Love!
For All Events
Go To
Our "Events"
Page
Check out our
"Featured Events" and PSA listed below. Many are taking place
this weekend, so log on to our "Events Page" above to
view all the events, and please go out and Support!
Also, there are
several taking next weekend and beyond, so to view all the Events please log on
to our "Events" Page above!
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Memphis,
Tennessee
April
2-4, 2008
ANNUAL
NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK CONVENTION
TO MARK THE 40TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF DR.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.,
Hosted
by: REV.
AL SHARPTON. MLK, III
AND OTHERS WILL JOIN SHARPTON
Appearances
by: Martin Luther King, III,
Myrlie Evers-Williams, Earl
Graves, Sr., Michael Baisden, Tom
Joyner, Sean Hannity, Harry
Belafonte, Marc Morial, comedian
Mo’Nique, and many others to
appear
Details:
Reverend Al Sharpton and the
National Action Network (NAN) will
host its 10th annual convention at
the Peabody Memphis from April 2nd
to April 5th to coincide with the
40th anniversary of the death of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The
historic gathering will be an
impressive who’s who in civil
rights, business, politics, labor,
entertainment and the religious
community and thousands from
across the country will assemble
for the “Recommitment March”
on Friday, April 4th to the
Lorraine Hotel to pause in silence
while remembering Dr. King at the
moment he was shot 40-years-ago.
The
“Recommitment
March” to be led by Rev.
Sharpton and Martin Luther King,
III, will serve as an opportunity
for people to recommit themselves
to fighting for the ideals that
Dr. King envisioned 40-years ago.
The march will show a new
generation led by them that are
prepared to lead the fight for
social justice going forward the
next forty years. According to
Rev. Sharpton: “Just as the
children of Israel wandered in the
wilderness for forty-years after
Moses brought them across the Red
Sea, Dr. King was our Moses, and
forty years later, Martin Luther
King, III, myself, and many others
will commit ourselves to going
forward to make a pledge to better
ourselves and our community. Click
here for highlights and to
register for the convention. |
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Temple
Hills, Maryland
You
Are Cordially Invited to an
International Reunion
with
Gerri
"Ms Peasie" Adams,
as she and many of
her friends Celebrate the Late
Legend Marvin
Gaye, Jr.'s Birthday
Friday,
April 4, 2008
from
9:00 pm - 1:30 am
@
Camp
Springs Elks Lodge 2332
7550
Temple Hills Road, Temple Hills,
Maryland
Donation:
$22.00
Contact
#'s: 301-322-6827 and 202-583-3021
Music
by Bobby's Music Machine
Dress
Attire is "All White Tonight"
- Cash Bar - Buffet
- "Open Mic"
LET'S
HAVE A GOOD TIME...FOR OLD TIME
SAKE!
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PSA
Want
to travel to Jamaica for FREE?
Journey
to Jamaica May 2-9, 2008
to
encourage, inspire and spark children’s
interest in reading!
·
Do
you have a passion for
helping children?
·
Do
you want to help make a
difference in the lives of
children all over the world?
·
Become
a Literacy Ambassador and
participate in various
Education Week events as we
travel throughout the island
to celebrate Read Across
Jamaica Day (May 8).
Thanks
to a CLASS grant from NEA
Student Programs, two lucky
college students will have
their travel expenses
paid to journey to
Jamaica as "Literacy
Ambassadors".
Applications are now being
accepted. Deadline
to apply is April 11, 2007.
For
an application or more
information, visit www.readacrossja.com or
Contact: Ja'nice Wisdom,
Project Coordinator at
301-806-2984.
“Share
a book with a child and you
have given illiteracy a dose
of cure!”
Volunteer
today!
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