This was the very first year that I got to attend this parade, and I had a blast! It’s one of those moments that I’m glad to have Guyanese heritage in my veins. The music is intoxicating and I love to see people from all over the Caribbean celebrating their heritage and giving others a glimpse through music, food, and more!
I’ve been going to Caribana in Toronto for years, but I kind of preferred at least the parade portion of this event because you could actually get there about any time of day and find a decent spot to watch the parade along Eastern Parkway. It’s not as large as Caribana, but a nice alternative or addition to your summer festival fun.
I spent the afternoon checking out vendors, munching on a mango, and texting friends trying to figure out where I was in proximity to them. In the end, I spent the afternoon alone, but I didn’t feel alone with all of the energy and music in the air. I took lots of photos and even snuck into the parade to get some better shots at one point.
Thanks to KG who forward this info to me in an email. I haven’t heard about it until now and I’m thinking that may be the case for some of you, too.
(August 12, 2009) Interactive One today announced the launch of BlackPlanet Rising (www.blackplanetrising.com), the first comprehensive platform to provide tools, information and connections for African Americans to give back their time and resources to the community. Interactive One will seek to activate African Americans through a broad cross-platform outreach program leveraging the Radio One stations, and its own robust online platform which reaches more than nine million monthly unique visitors and includes the original social networking site, BlackPlanet.com (www.blackplanet.com).
“This is the first platform that allows African Americans to connect around services for and by the community,” says Maria Weaver Watson, who as head of marketing oversees the community outreach program for Interactive One. “It also allows organizations, communities and individuals to tap into the largest African American audience across our various platforms to seek volunteers, board members, employees, and donations.”
In order to provide users with a vast number of volunteer opportunities that reflect their geographic location, skills, and areas of interest, BlackPlanet Rising has partnered with VolunteerMatch one of the Web’s most popular volunteer network (www.volunteermatch.org) with more than 68,000 nonprofit organizations to help Americans easily find where and how they can give back. This will enable users to go onto the site, enter their zip code, skills and interests, including education, public service, etc., and secure a list of active local volunteering opportunities.
“Times are tough in our communities, but it’s clear that more Americans than ever want to help solve local problems. We’ve already seen an increase of more than 12% in community service activity this year alone,” said Robert Rosenthal, Director of Communications of VolunteerMatch.
“Our hope is that we are giving a community that is inspired to contribute the tools and information to make an impact on the causes that are most important to them,” said Tom Newman, President of Interactive One. “Community service is at the heart of Radio One’s mission and history and we felt that in these challenging economic times we needed to be front and center as leaders. I am very excited to see how BlackPlanet Rising will mobilize the community further by introducing and encouraging acts of service and social change online. There is really nothing out there like this.”
Additionally, BlackPlanet Rising will put a strong emphasis in the area of education by partnering with DonorsChoose.org (www.donorschoose.org), a non-profit website that connects users to public schools in need. This provides BlackPlanet Rising’s community with the chance to help build the next generation of future leaders, and provide funds to support critical resources, including books, computers, supplies, field trips, and much more. The user chooses an educational project written by a public school teacher to support and DonorsChoose.org delivers materials directly to the school. In return, the user receives photos and thank you notes from the teacher and students whose lives were impacted.
“We are grateful that BlackPlanet Rising has chosen to highlight the importance of education and offer their users the opportunity to give back to their local schools and students,” said Yaritza Olmeda, East Region Associate Director, of DonorsChoose.org.
Other highlights of the site will include the Riser of the Month, which will profile individuals who have done exceptional work and made a difference in their community; a News section to provide briefs on community service; and an Upcoming Events section to highlight large scale and regional events that encourage users to get involved.BlackPlanet.com will host the BlackPlanet Rising group for members to share stories, insights and personal recommendations for community involvement.
From AllHipHop.com… Rapper MC Lyte will host The 1st Annual Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) Awards on Friday (September 25) in Washington, DC. The event will pay homage to Vivica A. Fox, author Hill Harper and actor/philanthropist Malinda Williams, Chief Global Diversity Officer of McDonald’s Corporation. Also being honored during the 1st annual award ceremony include Pat Harris; EVP of Urban Marketing for Universal Motown, Shanti Das; and HIV/AIDS Activist, Maria Davis. WEEN is a worldwide coalition of women of all ages and races, aims to support the positive portrayal of women in media and in society in general. The non-profit is led by former Hip-Hop Summit Action Network Executive Director Valeisha Butterfield, along with co-founders Kristi Henderson, Sabrina Thompson and Lauren Lake. Angie Martinez, Rocsi, Big Tigger, Jeff Johnson and Alesha Renee will serve as presenters during the awards, which take place from 5:00-9:00 PM at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
From the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (www.paff.org)…
Now Playing
“Just Us” a Film by Kwabena Haffar
LA Screening of “Just Us”
(Short Film)
Written and Directed by Kwabena Haffar
Produced by Tash Moseley
Starring:
Theo Perkins, Dick Gregory, Dierdre Downing-Jackson, Dinora Walcott, Janvie Cason
Date:
Tues. September 29, 2009
Screening:
6:30pm, 7:00pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm
Location:
The Culver Studios
DeMille Theater
9336 W Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
Admission:
$15 Minimum Donation
Parking:
Free On-Site Parking
Enter Culver Studios on Ince Blvd., (Gate 2) off Washington Blvd
RSVP with screening time:
haffar_tamakloe@att.net
AS SOON AS I CAN FIND A SYNOPSIS OR MOVIE TRAILER, I’LL UPDATE THIS POST.
About Pan African Film & Arts Festival
Established in 1992, The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression.
It is PAFF’s goal to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. We believe film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.
3775 Santa Rosalia Drive Los Angeles, CA 90008
(323) 295-1706
info@paff.org
www.paff.org
Wish I could feel sorry for Chris Brown….BUT I DON’T!!! I have some work for him outside my house. Send him to Ohio, and I’ll make sure he gets some work done.
What I haven’t figured out is why he is in Virginia? Is that considered where he lives?
I wrote about Caster Semenya on my Examiner.com women’s column when the news first broke about her testosterone results being significantly higher than what is found in women (see “Caster Semenya: When a vagina is not enough“). I tried to put myself in her shoes. 18 years old, always raised as a female, but probably told very often that she resembles a man which is a blow in itself to her self esteem. She finds something that she can excel at an international level, breaks a world record, and then now clouded with having to undergo sexual identity testing.
I often wonder had she not broken the world record if people would have been as concerned? I also wonder if they do this testosterone testing all the time on athletes because there’s no doubt in my mind that Caster Semenya is alone. Then of course there’s the issue of race which South African leaders have pointed to from the very beginning claiming that they’re going after her because she doesn’t fit the European standard of beauty.
Now the results have been leaked to the press that while she has a vagina, Caster Semenya does not have ovaries or a uterus and has male sex organs that have not descended. All of this unbeknownst to her and probably would be for most of her life until she perhaps decided that she wanted to have children.
What I struggle with now, is what Caster Semenya should do now? Does that mean she has to compete with the men? Does she leave her God given talent alone from a competitive standpoint? If I had soccer skills like Mia Hamm or Abby Wambach and then found out that I didn’t qualify to play on the US Women’s team because I had too much testosterone and had been told I was a hermaphrodite, I’d be absolutely devastated. Talk about an identity crisis! People speak of hermaphrodite’s with a giggle and judgment. I just hope this sparks a conversation amongst all athletic competition, particularly at the national and international level, and perhaps some compassion for an 18 year old young woman having to deal with a startling revelation.
How absolutely devastating. Just days before Yale doctoral student Annie Le was supposed to enjoy one of the biggest moments of her life, she disappears somewhere in the building of her lab of all places. Now the news is reporting that a body has been found but not officially naming it as Annie Le’s pending formal identification (I dread ever having to be called to identify the dead body of a loved one). My heart goes out to Annie Le’s family, extended family, and friends as they now have to deal with a homocide investigation.
This has undoubtedly drawn unwanted attention to a prestigious ivy league school as well as the New Haven, Connecticut community. I found this video clip below about the school’s reaction to increased media attention.
I am just getting to listen to this speech and want to know your thoughts.
Info on video shared on YouTube link…
The President gives a speech directly to Americas students welcoming them back to school. He emphasizes their hope and potential but makes clear they will need to take responsibility for themselves and their education to reach that potential. September 8, 2009. (Public Domain)
Did your child attend a school that aired the speech? What were your thoughts?
I’d love to know if you were at Wakefield High School student in Arlington, VA that was able to watch this live. Were you inspired?
Link to the transcript of this speech can be found by clicking HERE.
Hats off to Tim Spicer who probably had the best moment of his life being chosen to introduce Barack Obama.
Dayton, OH (August 18, 2009) – In recognition of their work chronicling human rights in Asia, Africa, and the developing world, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Committee today announced that authors and journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn will receive the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
Celebrating the power of literature to promote peace and nonviolence, The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is the only international literary peace prize awarded in the United States. It was founded in 2006 as an outgrowth of the Dayton Peace Prize, which commemorates the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords ending the war in Bosnia. Winners receive a $10,000 honorarium and runners-up receive $1,000.
Since becoming the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests for the New York Times, Kristof and WuDunn have collaborated on such influential, milestone books as China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Powerand Thunder from the East: Portrait of a Rising Asia. In 2006, Kristof received a second Pulitzer Prize for his New York Times op-ed columns on Darfur. Their latest book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, will be released in September 2009.
“Kristof and WuDunn share a passion for peace and justice that inspires both readers and leaders to pay attention to difficult issues that are too often ignored and overlooked,” said Sharon Rab, chair of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Committee. “Their writing and reporting exemplifies the power of the written word to create change and spur people and nations to action.”
Organizers also announced the fiction and nonfiction finalists for the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. The finalists include both first-time authors (Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner and My Father’s Paradise by Ariel Sabar) and veteran writers (A Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich, Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker and Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman) and explore a diverse range of issues ranging from modern-day slavery (A Crime So Monstrous by Benjamin Skinner) to America’s role in the world (The Great Experiment by Strobe Talbott) to the morality of war (Peace by Richard Bausch).
Reflecting the Prize’s mission to promote global understanding, the finalists also hail from countries around the world – from China (Beijing Coma by Ma Jian) and Israel (Writing in the Dark by David Grossman) to Africa (Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan) and Canada (Dust from our Eyes: an Unblinkered Look at Africa by Joan Baxter). The full list of finalists can be found below and online at www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/2009-finalists.htm.
The 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize fiction finalists are:
Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan (Little, Brown & Company): A Nigerian-born Jesuit priest, Akpan humanizes the perils of poverty and violence facing children in Africa in this stunning collection of five short stories.
Peace by Richard Bausch (Random House): Set among American soldiers in Italy during World War Two, Peace is a compelling meditation on the moral dimensions of warfare.
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (Harper Collins): A violent act of racism haunts generations of Native American and white families living in rural North Dakota.
Beijing Coma by Ma Jian (Farrar, Straus and Giroux): Emerging from a coma caused by a bullet during the Tiananmen Square protests ten year earlier, a man recounts the horrors of the Mao era and senses the massive changes underway in China.
Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner (Scribner): The story of American executives and their families driven out of Cuba in 1958, Kushner’s powerful debut novel is a riveting exploration of colonialism, corporate America, and revolution.
Song Yet Sung by James McBride (Penguin Group): The haunting story of a runaway slave and a determined slave-catcher in pre-Civil War Maryland, Song Yet Sung explores both the moral choices faced by both blacks and whites and the meaning of freedom.
The 2009 nonfiction finalists are:
Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization by Nicholson Baker (Simon & Schuster): In this wide-ranging, fresh perspective on the political and social landscape that gave rise to World War II, Baker makes a clear, compelling case in defense of pacifism.
Dust from our Eyes: An Unblinkered Look at Africa by Joan Baxter (Wolsak & Wynn): Baxter draws on more than two decades of living in and reporting from Africa to reveal that there is more to the continent than poverty and suffering, and far more to Western involvement than benevolent charity.
Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux): Taking a provocative look at the crises of climate change and rising competition for energy, Friedman proposes a national strategy to make America healthier, richer, and more secure.
Writing in the Dark by David Grossman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux): In six essays on politics and culture in Israel, including his speech on the 2006 Lebanon War, which took the life of his son, Grossman addresses the conscience of a country that has lost faith in its leaders and its ideals.
My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for his Father’s Past by Ariel Sabar (Algonquin): Traveling with his father to a remote corner of war-torn Iraq in a quest for roots and reconciliation, Sabar shares an intimate story of tolerance and hope in an Iraq very different from the one in the headlines today.
A Crime So Monstrous: Face to Face with Modern Day Slavery by Benjamin Skinner (Simon & Schuster): Based on years of reporting in such places as Haiti, Sudan, India, Eastern Europe, The Netherlands, and, even suburban America, Skinner has produced a vivid testament and moving reportage on the horrors of contemporary slavery.
The Great Experiment by Strobe Talbott (Simon & Schuster): Combining sweeping history with personal insight, Talbott explores the consolidation of tribes into nations and argues for America’s unique role in modern history as “the master builder” of the international system.
A winner and runner-up in fiction and nonfiction will be announced on September 22nd. They will be honored at a gala ceremony hosted by award-winning journalist Nick Clooney in Dayton on Sunday, November 8th. Winners and runners-up will also participate in a public reading in Books & Company in Dayton on November 8th.
To be eligible for the 2009 awards, English-language books must have been published and translated into English in 2008 and address the theme of peace on a variety of levels, such as between individuals, among families and communities, or among nations, religions, or ethnic groups.
Finalists will be reviewed by a panel of prominent writers including Gerald Early, Cullen Murphy, Gordon Lish, and Katherine Vaz.
About the Dayton Literary Peace Prize
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize honors writers whose work uses the power of literature to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding. Launched in 2006, it has already established itself as one of the world’s most prestigious literary honors, and is the only literary peace prize awarded in the United States. As an offshoot of the Dayton Peace Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards a $10,000 cash prize each year to one fiction and one nonfiction author whose work advances peace as a solution to conflict, and leads readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view. An annual lifetime achievement award is also bestowed upon a writer whose body of work reflects the Prize’s mission; previous honorees included Taylor Branch, Studs Terkel, and Elie Wiesel.
50% of your donation (less Pay Pal fees) will go to Emerge Global charity (http://emergeglobal.org/). The other 50% funds the sweat equity I put into my work for your enjoyment. My hope is that one day I will be able to donate 100% to charity.
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize honors writers whose work uses the power of literature to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding. Launched in 2006, it has already established itself as one of the world’s most prestigious literary honors, and is the only literary peace prize awarded in the United States. As an offshoot of the Dayton Peace Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards a $10,000 cash prize each year to one fiction and one nonfiction author whose work advances peace as a solution to conflict, and leads readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view. An annual lifetime achievement award is also bestowed upon a writer whose body of work reflects the Prize’s mission; previous honorees included Taylor Branch, Studs Terkel, and Elie Wiesel.
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