EVENT ALERT: NAN 21st Annual National Convention April 3-6. 2013

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 Hello All:  

First of all Happy Easter and Resurrection Season to everyone.  This is the time to give thanks for having made it thus far, and to resurrect some of those forgotten or abandoned dreams, hopes and wishes you thought had gotten away from you.  Blessings are coming from all over.  Open yourself up to them.  

This is just a short list of upcoming events:

In case you haven't noticed, this year marks the 21st Anniversary of the National Action Network's Annual National Conference.  As, as always, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and the membership and staffed, have loaded the 4-day event with relevance for people of all levels and interest.  From April 3, which marks the first day of the conference, through April 6, the closing date, the significance of the workshops and the participants, and its impact on us as Black people, is both inescapable and unmistakable.  So, bring your complete focus, a note book, and your creativity with you.  This will not be a time to sit idly by and be a bench warmer.  You are there to participate and activate.

This year's conference takes place at the Sheraton New York Hotel, 53rd and 7th Avenue, with an 8:30 AM kick off, Wednesday, April 3rd, during which the Rev. Al Sharpton will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony.  For more information about schedules, or to register, log on to NAN's registration page at  www.nationalactionnetwork.net

Jazz Day in NYC, in recognition of Jazz Appreciation Month, April.  On Tuesday, April 2^nd an assemblage of the city’s jazz community will take place on steps of New York City Hall, 260 Broadway in lower Manhattan at 12 noon.  Music events take place throughout America all month long in honor of jazz.  This historic assembly will bring together musicians, educators, legislative leaders, and jazz fans.  Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium with assistance from New York City Council Member Letitia ‘Tish’ James organized this gathering.    

For the past fourteen years Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium sponsors an annual celebration of jazz.  This year the 14^th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz festival runs from March 29 thru April 30 at venues in Long Island, Staten Island and throughout Brooklyn.

This music series is New York City's longest continuously running grassroots festival dedicated to jazz.  More than 500 artists will perform in nearly 50 events during festival 2013.

 

Event Three Goats

 

Please join Maya and Marcus to celebrate the launch of THREE GOATS Organization        at GINNY'S SUPPER CLUB - 310 Lenox Avenue, April 7, 2013 - 6:00pm-9:00pm - Cocktails, Appetizers and Entertainment Silent Auction and Raffle;  Tickets: $150  -- All Proceeds go directly to Three Goats to support our efforts in Ethiopia.  www.threegoats.org

The story of Three Goats came about after Maya visited Ethiopia in November 2011 and saw the effects the famine had on the young children there. After reading about the devastation that had hit our birthplace, she flew to Addis and visited Mother Teresa's Missonaries for Charity where they advised her on the greatest area of need for clean water and food. Knowing the dangers of traveling in the region, Maya insisted on heading to Togowichale, a border town between Ethiopia and Somalia severely endangered by the famine, to hand out food, school supplies and resources to help find clean water to nearly 1,000 people in the area.

A 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization, Three Goats is dedicated to improve the health and education of children in Ethiopia by providing sustainable access to vital resources. Its main focus is to empower young women through education and provide access to clean water and nutritious food. By showing our donors a video of where their money went, we knew we couldn't stay quiet about the issues affecting the borders of Ethiopia. Our goal is to provide resources for people in hard-hit areas to have access to education, clean water and food centers for proper nutrition. 

 

 A Conversation with APRIL R. SILVER Moderated by Curtis Stephen at The Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture, Tuesday April 9 7PM – 9PM; Langston Hughes Auditorium -- 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037.  Free and open to all
Please RSVP at: rsvp@akilaworksongs.com, or by calling 718.756.8501 

  

You are invited to join the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions & Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer for an informational seminar Civic Restoration: A Road to Workforce Development for People with Criminal Convictions.   Date: Monday, April 15, 2013 Time: Doors open at 9:30am, seminar session: 10am-1pm - Location: Adam Clayton Powell, State Office Building - 163 W 125th St, (between 7th Ave & Lenox Ave) 

**Light breakfast will be served.   To register, please go to 

 http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/346212 

For more information, please contact the Center for NuLeadership and Urban Solutions

T: (718) 484-5879 / info@centerfornuleadership.org / www.centerfornuleadership.com

This event is co-sponsored by the Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer

That should keep you hopping for a while.  There's  a lot going in April, so get your running shoes on, because you'll need them to keep up.

For now - and always:

Stay Blessed &

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria Dulan-Wilson   

 

Happy Birthday to Me and Aries The World Over!!

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Hello All:

Well today's the day before the day of my birthday – i.e. - to day is March 20 – and it's finally here – well almost, finally anyway. I had kind of idly wondered where I would be, and what I would be doing on my birthday. To be honest, I hadn't really planned anything special, although I do rather enjoy making the big announcement, bragging on what it's like to start the Zodiac and start the sign of Aries -as well has having had the distinction of it being the First Day of Spring (at least it was when I was a kid – don't know how it got changed to March 20^th – though I have always threatened to investigate that slippage on the part of the meteorological society) – but I'm sitting here writing the night before the day of my birthday, and I have to say that I hope the rest of the year goes a heck of lot better than the first three months.

And let it start with my sign – Aries – the sign of renewal and rebirth. Let all the other stuff that has appeared to be roiling around in the atmosphere end today as Pisces leaves and a whole new level of love, fun, success, prosperity, energy, health, happiness, joy, spirituality, faith come with Aries the Ram, bashing through all the gloom and doom; the clouds of negativity, hostility, greed, that have been hanging over us disipate as Aries brings in the breath of fresh air that is Spring.

You know, we Fire Signs are not known for false modesty – so I won't pretend to have any now – It just feels good to be an Aries. It's a big responsibility, leading the whole Zodiac, you know – and we definitely are leaders, and we don't take it lightly.

This is why I want to send a message to all of those who have been labeling 2013 a bad luck year – I over heard a gentleman tell his granddaughter that anything that ends in 13 was considered bad luck. However, he forgot to remember that there were 13 people in Jesus' group: Jesus plus 12 Disciples. The superstition about 13 didn't start with us, we had nothing to do with the stock market crash and the so-called “Great Depression” of the 30's, and more than we did with the recession of the Bush era. So as far as we're concerned the negatives around the number 13, it's just that – superstition. The original

Friday 13 was also called Black Friday – and being a Black person, I kind of proud that we actually had our own day.

Now you could say, “But Gloria, you lost your husband, Lou Wilson, the love of your life in the beginning of the year; and it caused a cascade of problems – that's bad luck, isn't it?” And I would say, painful though it was, “No, it wasn't bad luck, it was God. Lou was on a different path and had completed what he was supposed to do here.”

Now, while that sounds like a lot of wisdom (and we are known for that), it was really because of Rev. Michael Beckwith, founder/pastor of Agape Church in Culver City, CA, who sat down with me for an hour before Lou's homegoing ceremony, and let me vent, cry, fuss, cuss and get all the pain, grief, loss and anger out of my system, that I can now view 2013 as year of blessing and accomplishment. I had to deal with the fact that Lou was on one fork in the road, and I was on another. I couldn't follow his path and I can't abandon mine. So that wasn't luck – good or bad; it was life, and it was God giving me the wake up call that I've got some other missions to accomplish.(By the way, Thanks to Michael and Rickie Beckwith for that wonderful ceremony and their beautiful church – phenomenal!)

Still, I do have to admit that I went around with that raincloud over my head for a few more weeks. It almost lead to disaster. I was allowing people to get away with stuff that I normally am on top of; it kind of took the fight out of me for a minute. You know how we Aries are – we love to win; we love to see others win; we love being right; we love being appreciated, and most of all we love being heroes and sheroes. It's how we're constituted. We somehow have to have a way to save the day. Well, I had to have a few friends step in and save my day – and thank goodness they were there for me. Because, unlike the plans hatched by a few nefarious characters, in the words of Israel Houghton: “I'M STILL STANDING – BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD!” Stuff that was meant for evil has been transformed into my good.

So on the day before the day of the beginning of Aries, my birthday, the Zodiac and all the good things that we stand for, I am declaring that from March 21^st 2013 forward, everything is going to be beautiful, wonderful, successful, happy, prosperous – especially for us Aries – but not just for us Aries, for everyone who has faith in themselves, God, grace, and blessings. And for those of you who don't, I'm declaring it anyway.

Just want to acknowledge some my fellow Aries brothers and sisters: Zach Husser, Wellington Sharpe, Diana Ross, Gil Scott Heron (rip), my grandson Jaden Harrell, my niece Ciara Dana Wilson, Annell Hudson, Philomena Ama Nimley, Dr. BobLee, Victoria Osteen, Nakiya Vines, Obery Hendricks, Tessya Venita Smith-Polk (homegirl from OKC), Walt “Clyde” Frazier – and a whole bunch of others – this is definitely not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination..

If you're Aries and you're reading this hit me up on Face Book – we've got a lot to celebrate. If you're not an Aries but know some one who is, or if you're fortunate enough to love or be loved by and Aries, let them know how much you appreciate them (us) – we love praise and appreciation; acknowledgement is part of the very air we breathe..

We're great people, you know. We bring the heat. We bring the energy.

So, as it get's closer to my day of days, I just want to say:

MARCH 21, 2013 MY BIRTHDAY YAAAAAAAAY!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. AS USUAL – I WILL BE CELEBRATING THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SIGN. TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND RELATIVEES, IN LIEU OF CARDS, CANDY AND FLOWERS, PLEASE SEND MONEY. NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE GREEN TO KEEP THINGS FERTILE DURING THE SPRING SEASON.

Hope all my fellow brother and sister Aries are celebrating and having a wonderful time. Don't just wait until it's your actual date – you've got the whole sign. But, who am I talking to? You're Aries, you know this already. You've probably already started, and I'm the one who needs to catch up. Enjoy!! Much luv4U!!!

Stay Blessed &

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria Dulan-Wilson