Chika Onyeani of the African Sun Times Urges Africans to Participate in Conference Call on Global Agenda 2063 March 15, 2015

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

These are heady times for Africa, as they stand at the crossroads of their future.  More and more are focused on what the best mode is for them in the future - should they become autonomous, and shed the yoke of colonialism once and for all, or should they continue to be at the prey of private interest groups whose real agenda is to continue controlling Africa's vast resources, while under the guise of being her benefactors.  This and more was the topic when Dr. Chika Onyeani, publisher of the African Sun Times sat down to an interview with Voice of America. 

Dr. Chika Onyeani Publisher of The African Sun Times

Not only does it make an interesting read, but it highlights several concerns about the involvement of African citizens themselves in the plans for Africa's future. 
There is an opportunity to be a part of a massive conference call to discuss the future of Africa.

I will just say for the record that when I heard that the proposed progress for Africa was pushed to 50 years from 2013, I was totally appalled.  Who came up with that idea as a workable goal?  Does that mean that Africans will be so slow in their progress that it will take them 50 years to catch up to the rest of the world?  And what of the people who are currently working towards that end - how many of us will be alive to witness such a victory?  Also, why not incremental 5year and 10 year plans as other countries have done?  And at what point does Africa reign in the internecine battles that are taking the lives of so many innocent people, and begin to either get them involved in nation building, or isolated from the rest of the people who want peace, progress, poise and prosperity for their posterity?

Personally, I have hopes for being part of a United Continent of Africa in my lifetime, having been involved with African brothers and sisters since my college days; having attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, a college that gave Africa two of their presidents - Nnamdi Azikewe of Nigeria, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana; and immersed myself in African studies. We should have long since resolved most of these problems.  When Africa begins to look after her own self enlightened interest and development, as Ghanaian President Mahama has recommended, and not seek the approval of outsiders who are only looking after their own pocketbooks while exploiting her wealth and abundance, African people will begin to thrive, grow, and provide for themselves.  Africa's leaders must begin putting the best interest of their people first, and bringing people to the table regardless of what their level of education is.  It's time to bring our collective, eclectic cultural, intellectual, educational, technological, and political forces together to harvest the vast resources for ourselves that are being stolen right out from under our very noses. 

It's time to teach those Africans at home who don't know, and employ those who do - in much the same way the Japanese did when they began to build their country into the creative, technological giant it has become.  African has the capacity to do the same and then some. 

I am interested in those of you who are reading this commentary and the article below providing your commentary, thoughts and recommendations for Africa's future development.  Please feel free to email me at gloriadulanwilson@gmail.com

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
www.gloriadulanwilson.blogspot.com/ECLECTICALLY BLACK NEWS

VOICE OF AMERICA: News / Africa

Africans Urged to Take Part in Global Agenda 2063 Conference Call

South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma addresses the media during the leaders meeting at the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa July 15, 2012.

James Butty

March 11, 2014

On January 24^th, African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma released her vision for Africa’s future.

The African Agenda 2063 seeks to rekindle the passion for Pan-Africanism. It calls for promotion of peace and stability, expansion of agricultural production, inclusive economic development and industrialization, and mainstreaming women and youth participation in African Union activities.

On Saturday (March 15), Africans worldwide are being invited to attend a conference call to discuss Dlamini-Zuma’s vision.

Chika Onyeani, publisher of the New York-based African Sun Times newspaper, and chairman of the Celebrate Africa Foundation, said this is the time for all Africans to make their voices heard.

“This conference call is not about intellectuals.  We want every African to participate.  For too long, this has been consigned to the intellectual class. We want business people to participate; we want the women to participate; we want the youth to participate in this discussion of the future of Africa,” he said.
                  
Onyeani said Africans should stop depending on their leaders to always decide issues for them because most of those leaders have their own agendas.

“It is up to us, if we want to be the sixth region (of Africa) to be a legally constituted part of the African Union, it’s up to the Africans not only in the Diaspora but all over the world to say, ‘Yes,’ and this discussion should be part of how do we get our so-called sixth region to be a legally constituted part of the African Union,” he said.

Onyeani says the most important thing about the conference call is that the African Union does not have to spend a dime.  He said the African Union did not ask him to organize the discussion.

Onyeani said, had ordinary Africans been involved in issues affecting their continent, perhaps the African Union would not have gotten money from China to build the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“Can you imagine what would have happened if we had had this type of discussion before?  Would Africans have agreed for the Chinese to bring a paltry $200 million to build our headquarters?  It’s a total disgrace.  People make fun of Africa because of that,” Onyeani said.

The Agenda 2063 foresees a fully functional African common market with free movement of people, goods, capital and services.  It also calls for the establishment of a single domestic market, Pan-African Economic and Monetary Union, with a single African central bank, currency and parliament.

It also foresees a “transformed continent where economic growth is translated in wealth and employment creation, guided by sustainable environmental policies.”

The document would also “address the root causes of conflicts, including economic and social disparities, and address the plight of internally displaced persons and refugees.”

Agenda 2063 makes little or no mention of the ongoing fight against official corruption in Africa.

Onyeani said the fight against corruption would be one of the priorities under the new United States of Africa.  But, he said Africans must get involved in determining the future of their continent.
                                                                                        
“These are some of the issues that the people of Africa, through this discussion, would be able to talk about.  Africans should make their voices heard about corruption,” Onyeani said.

He said Africans everywhere would be able to join the conference call on Saturday.

“On the east coast (of the US), it would be at 5 pm EDT; on the west coast, it would be at 2 pm and in the Central region, it will be at 4 pm.  Of course, from Ghana, that would be at 9 pm; from South Africa that would be at 11 pm; from Nigeria at 10 pm; from Addis Ababa it would be at 12 am (Sunday)” Onyeani said.

Butty interview with Onyeani

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Stay Blessed -
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

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AFRICAN UNION MOVES TO ESTABLISH STRONGER TIES WITH THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All: My friend and colleague, Dr. Chika Onyeani sent me a press release recently that I am sharing with you in a slightly altered form. I’ve woven some of my own comments in with the release, in hopes that you will receive the message and be willing - no, compelled - to play a role in the liberation of Africa, that leads back to the ultimate liberation of African Americans and people of Black African heritage:

Somewhere back in the 1960’s Africans and African Americans began working to re-establish their linkages after 400 years of separation and cultural deprivation. During that time, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements were running concurrently with what was then called African Liberation from Colonialism. Many African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, among others got their liberation from the colonial monsters of England, Germany, Italy, France, etc.

It we were on the path to reunification, as we African and African American Black men and women began to honor our lost African heritage. In the US we began wearing our hair “natural“, wearing African colors, and traditional African clothing and jewelry; reading African authors, studying African philosophy, learning to speak Yoruba, Ibo, Swahili, Lingala, and other African based languages; and making trips to the motherland to meet our long lost sisters and brothers.

We began studying, quoting and following quoting Nkrumah, Azikewe, Senghor, Frederick Douglass, Sekou Toure`, Chinua Achebe, Malcolm X, Jomo Kenyatta, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Frantz Fanon, Soyinka, Carter G. Woodson, and other great African and African American writers and philosophers, who were popular during that time, and marveling at all the wonders of Africa that we had not been told about as a result of the pariah of slavery that had separated us for 400 + years.

It looked like we were on the right track and that things were coming together for us. Africans and African Americans united together again at last! What wonderful days they were!!

Unfortunately, while we were basking in the glory of our mutual admiration, love and respect for each other, the age old perennial enemy was busy putting together a formula that would undermine any further progress and reunification plans we may have had in mind. That formula and tactic was and is called DIVIDE AND CONQUER. And it is just as lethal today as it was then.

The next 40 years our African brothers and sisters were embroiled in bogus wars on our continent where Russian and American spent millions in dollars and rubles, flooding their economies to buy off those heads of state who were woefully unaware of the ploys in place to destabilize our efforts for unity and autonomy.

Russia and America brought the cold war to Africa, battling in Angola, Mozambique and other areas, that had nothing to do with the people who lived there, but more to do with the neo-colonial powers who wanted to keep us off balance while they continued to exploit us and rob us of natural resources.

{NOTE: I use 'w and us", interchangeably with "my and our" when it comes to Africa, because as far as I’m concerned we are really still one. To me geography does not change family.}

Simultaneously those same 40 years in America witnessed a concomitant loss of our moral compass here in the US, as our youth descended into drugs, guns, gangs, thugs, and a dumbing down of our educational system, to the extent that many of our children (and a goodly number of adults) are functionally illiterate, unskilled, semi-skilled, or “indigent.”

In an effort to rectify the massive problems we face both on the Continent and in the Diaspora, a recently held two-day African Diaspora Conference took place on October 21st and 22nd. Hosted by African Union Permanent Observer to the UN, and the African Union Embassy to the US in DC, it was initiated by the Addis Ababa Headquartered African Union Commission, and The African Diaspora Meeting Committee. The theme of the meeting was "Building Bridges Across the Atlantic."

Ambassador Amina Ali of what the DC-based African Union office had accomplished since opening in 2007. She aggressively delivered the essence of the AU Diaspora Initiative by traveling across the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Central/South American countries. The message was the need for the Diaspora to recognize its important role to Africa and the African Union, especially as the Sixth Region of the Union. Ambassador Ali stayed throughout the two-day meeting, helping to guide the deliberations of the meeting.

Consequently CIDO Director, Dr. Adisa, provided more reasons of why the meeting had been convened, calling it a "precedent setting event, which we hope will set the pace for an annual consultation process with the African Diaspora in US, the Caribbean and Central//South America, Europe and the Middle-East, amongst others. In organizational terms, this is also an exercise in inter-collegiality that serves as an inspiration for the Commission and various organs of the Union to work together as one in the spirit of cooperation and solidarity that underpins the purpose of the African Union."

Dr. Adisa discussed the different sectors of the African Union, including "Objectives of This Dialogue," "The Initiative Within the Context of the Development of the African Union," "Rebuilding the Global African Family," "Definition of the African Diaspora," "Engagement Strategies,""Organizational Processes," ending with the "Global African Diaspora Summit."

Dr. Adisa covered the processes that led to the recognition of the Diaspora as a Sixth Region of the African Union. "Soon after the launching of the African Union in Durban, South Africa in 2002," he said, "the Assembly of Heads of States met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to establish, among other things, a legal framework that would create the necessary and sufficient conditions for putting this decision into effect. Hence, it adopted the Protocol of the Amendment to the Constitutive Act of the Union, which in Article 3(q) invited the African Diaspora to participate fully as an important component in the building of the African Union.

In adopting the decision," he continued, "the Protocol symbolically recognized the Diaspora as an important and separate, but related, constituency outside the five established regions of Africa - East, West, Central, North and South. Thus, although there is no specific legal or political text that states this categorically, it, in effect, created a symbolic sixth region of Africa."

Regarding the definition of the African Diaspora, Dr. Adisa said that a meeting of Experts from Member States had met in 2005 and adopted the following definition, "The African Diaspora consists of peoples of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and building of the African Union."

Dr. Adisa stated that many debates and disagreements on the definition of diaspora had taken place. There were those who felt the need for "academic" and "intellectual" aspects to the definition, while others thought it should be related to the political needs of the Union.

Another group preferred the need to add "permanently" to "living outside the continent. "Others," he said, "argued that the phrase "willingness to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union" should be left out. Nothing, they felt, should be demanded or expected from the Diaspora.

According to Dr. Adisa, the African Union preferred its earlier definition, which encompasses the following:
(a) Bloodline and/or heritage: The Diaspora should consist of people living outside the continent whose ancestral roots or heritage are in Black Africa;
(b) Migration: The Diaspora should be composed of people of Black African heritage, who migrated from or are living outside the continent. In this context, three trends of migration were identified - pre-slave trade, slave trade, and post-salve trade or modern migration;
(c) The principle of inclusiveness: The definition must embrace both ancient and modern Diaspora; and
(d) The commitment to the African case: The Diaspora should be people who are willing to be part of the continent (or the African family).

A special African Diaspora Task Team, elected by the constituency, is in the process of formulating a progress report detailing the accomplishments thus far. The Task Team consists of six members. Five elements had been identified as a guide to what the Task Team should consist of: Afro-Latinos, Community, Gender, Media, and Youth. Members of the Task Team, include Dr. Georgina Falu for Afro-Latinos, Mr. Sidique Wai and Mr. Omowale Clay, for Community, Ms. Kathy Jenkins Ewa for Gender, Dr. Chika A. Onyeani for Media, and Engr. Daniel Ochweri for Youth. The Task Team was later given their terms of mandate within which to work, report and conclude their assignment within three months.

Dr. Chika A. Onyeani, noted economist, author, and publisher of the African Sun Times, and chair of the African Diaspora Task Team, voiced concerns about several challenges Africans and African Americans face, both on the Continent and in the US Diaspora:
1) Being victimized by the media’s portrayal of Africans and African Americans in the news (which is not helped by the fact that there are still internecine wars in the Sudan and other areas, with children being pressed into service and women being beaten and raped);
2) Leaders and heads of state who pay millions of dollars to mainstream white media to write about them, while I gnoring their own Black and African news media;
3) Not having the necessary basic and professional trade skills to fulfill the current demands for building, repair or development services (here and in Africa).

Stated Onyeani, “If you need to build something, or if something needs to be repaired in Africa, we have to rely on whites (and now the Chinese) to do the job. Their prices are usually overly high, and you really don’t know if they are doing the job properly or not because you don’t have the skill or experience yourself.”

One of the key things Onyeani is hoping will come of this new collaboration between the Diaspora and Africa, is a broader based coverage of African and African American news via our newspapers. Training programs that can be exported to Africa by skilled and licensed tradesmen in the fields of plumbing, electricity and electronics, agriculture, green technologies, health and hygiene and educational programs.

“This is the 21st Century. If we have to develop some kind of boot camp so that this training is spread throughout all of Africa, then that’s what we must do. The Diaspora has a great role to play in this, because many of them have those skill sets that we need,” stated Onyeani intensely.

Likewise, the attention to the need to collaborate on business development and support was covered at the conference. Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi Mr. Brian Bowler, Chairman of the African Ambassadorial Group, exhorted his colleagues to be more creative in doing business with the Diaspora. "For example," he said, "during the UN General Assembly meeting each September, let's assume that each of the 53 African countries spend just $500,000 (with a Black business), we are talking $25 million that could go to an African Diaspora company. That's $25 million in less than one month!"

As Chairman of the African Union, Ambassador Bowler represents President Binbu wa Mutharika of Malawi. He challenged his colleagues to look for African Diaspora companies to do business with. He also felt the relationship with the Diaspora should not be a one-way street, "especially as a businessman who owns three breweries in three different African countries."

Finally, in regards to the importance the African Union attached to the Diaspora, Dr. Adisa stated that sixty per cent of the AU Recruitment Committee consisted of individuals from the African Diaspora. and how he himself attained his present position after interviewing with two recruitment committees chaired by African Diaspora.

On October 21, an Award Dinner, organized by Nation to Nation Networking (NNN) CEO Ms. Abaynesh Asarat, in collaboration with the African Union was held at Club 51st Street. In attendance was His Excellency Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security.

Award recipients included Elinor Tatum of the Amsterdam News; Dr. Kwame Akonor, Director of the African Development Institute; Dr. Muriel Petioni, M.D., the "Mother of Medicine in Harlem"; Dabney N. Montgomery, of Harlem Community Board 10; and Mr. Seri Remy Gnoleba, Chairman of the African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.

Other AU officials participants included Mr. Anthony Okara, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson, Dr. Jinmi Adisa, Diaspora Director of the African Union Commission (Citizens And Diaspora Directorate (CIDO); Dr. Fareed Arthur, Advisor (Strategic Matters, Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission), Mr. Wuyi Omitoogun (Expert, Diaspora Relations, CIDO) and Ms. Nadia Roguiai (Expert, ECOSOCC, CIDO).

Two African Union Ambassadors in the United States, who attended, were Ambassador Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations; and Ambassador Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union to the United States, Washington, DC. Much gratitude and appreciation to these two for their involvement in the planning and coordination of this first ever conference.

But it doesn’t stop there. We have a great role to play in this, both here in the Diaspora of the US and in our home continent of Africa. We have to put our considerably creative minds together and begin to unify. There was a saying, created by Alma Johns, “each one teach one, each one, reach one!” that has to be our mantra as we begin to reach out to our African brothers and sisters and reach in to our fellow diasporan brothers and sisters.

In much the same way other imigrants who come here support their “mother or father land”, we have to do the same. Otherwise, we will be the only race of people on the planet to not have supported their own mother land, and become the only continent in the world laboring under the heavy heeled boots of European and Chinese exploiters, instead of being in control of our own destiny and quality of life.

Yes, it’s a tall order, especially at a time when the US is undergoing an economic “crises”. But that does not mitigate the fact that it has to be done and done now. WHEN NO ONE ELSE WILL SAVE YOU, SAVE YOURSELF.

As brother Marcus Garvey said, “Rise up, you might race, you can accomplish what you will!”

And let's not also forget that President Barack Obama is one of the brightest and the best ever produced by both Africa and the Diaspora, and can be an inspiration to us all in what we can do when we put our minds, our might, our discipline and our unity to it. And the time for that to happen is NOW.

Inquiries and comments should be addressed to Dr. Georgina Falu, Secretary to the ADTT Board at email: falug@aol.com or to African Diaspora Task Team of the African Union c/o The Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations, 305 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017 Tel. : 212-319-5490, Fax: 319-7135; email: AUDTT2011@gmail.com

STAY BLESSED &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

PHENOMENAL WOMEN IN MEDIA AWARD CEREMONIES

by Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Back in the day,The Impressions with Curtis Mayfield sang a song entitled “Too Much Love” which said in part, ‘never in this world can there be too much love.’ And I certainly felt that sentiment was expressed over and over again at the PHENOMENAL WOMEN IN MEDIA Awards ceremony held at the Eubie Blake Auditorium in Brooklyn’s, Von King Park. Wow! From the moment you stepped through the door, you were treated like royalty. Adults and youth alike were all there to make sure you had the best experience and most enjoyable time ever.

And so I did; and so we did!!

You see, I, along with 24 other Phenomenal Women (I really like the sound of that - PHENOMENAL) were honored by Our Times Press and Von King Park Community Center for our various roles in the realm of the media and its impact and influence we’ve had in keeping our base -- the Black Community, I.e. YOU, informed on issues of impact and importance to you -- in such a way that it doesn’t insult you, but (hopefully) inspires you to action, give you an alternative to the propaganda being spewed out at you via the mainstream market tabloids.

Each of the recipients was a diva in her own right. Each had a mark of distinction in the Black community. And, I daresay, we take the time to read each other because we respect each other’s work. You see, we don’t see each other as competitors; because Black news venues can’t afford to compete against each other, and at the same time try to deal with the onslaught of distortions, lies and disrespect routinely found in the mainstream media. We have to be collaborative in our approach, or you’ll never get the truth. We are not here to be a minature image of the same paper that’s been insulting you all these years. We take issue with the kinds of information, the tone of the article, the content. But we are likewise not here to criticize the mainstream press (that is unless they are so blatantly racist that something has to be said).

We are here to give you the NEWS about us as a people regardless of where we are and who we are. We don’t just cover the rich and famous, the gifted and talented, the super star artist, athlete, politician, we also write about issues that affect everyday African American men, women, children, workers, educators, ministers, homemakers, families.

So far none of us have won a Pulitzer -- doesn’t mean we can’t or that we don’t want to. There were also plenty of award winners amongst us, already recognized for their prodigious body of work.

I, however, must confess that this is the first time that I was so honored, by being feted by peers and people in the community. It was the first time that I was the subject of the award, instead of covering someone who was. It was the first time that I had to stand still for the paparazzi instead of being part of those who were taking the endless photos of everything I did, every move I made. Wow!!! So that’s what it feels like.

So, before I go any further, please allow me to say to Berniece Greene, David Greaves, Graham Weatherspoon, Mr. and Ms. Lemuel and Charlotte Renee Mial;, Our Times Press, Von King Park THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! With all the heartfelt sincerity and love I can muster. You yourselves are such a blessing in this world, what an honor!

And I know that this appreciation is expressed, not just for myself, but for the women who were also so honored and revered on that Monday, March 29, 2010, listed below (These are very brief, for the full info, contact Our Times Press for the March 25-31 Edition of the paper.

MAITEFA ANGAZA (aka Judith Henry): Editor African Voices; author Kwanzaa From Holiday to Every Day; former editor of the City Sun (you remember that revolutionary Black publication, don’t you?)

NYABA ARINDE: Editor Amsterdam News; former Senior Reporter Daily Challenge (the City’s Only Black Daily); 3 time A. Philip Randolph Messenger awardee.

AMANISHA BLACK: Community activist; author of column “The Parent’s Notebook”, which currently appears in Our Times Press.

CAROLYN BUTTS: President of African Voices Communications, Inc., publisher of African Voices Magazine. Recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts, NYS Council of the Arts and Dept. of Cultural Affairs challenge Program grants.

JOANN CHEATHAM: Publisher Pure Jazz Magazine, the literary arm of the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortion (CBJC), which covers stories that honors jazz artists contemporary and classical.

GAYLE DeWEES: Writes for the NY Daily News “Face:s & Places; “At a Glance,” “Faith in the City,” and “What’s On for The Weekend.” Gayle also worked for the late great jazz vocalist Betty Carter.

GLORIA DULAN-WILSON feature writer, who considers herself an Inform Actionist -- in other words she supplies you with the information that you can take action on. In addition to articles in the Daily Challenge and the African Sun Times, you can catch her blog, www.gloriadulan-wilson.blogspot.com Four of us had either written for or currently write for the Daily Challenge, started by Publisher Thomas H. Watkins: Naya Arinde, Maietefa Angaza, Janel Cross, and Gloria Dulan-Wilson. I laughingly called us "Watkins Women" (don't know if that went over so well, though).

FERN GILLESPIE: Radio producer, public relations executive who has worked with such greats as James Brown, Michael Jackson, the late Percy Ellis Sutton, John H. Johnson, among others. She currently heads public relations for the New York and New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council.

STACY-ANN GOODEN: Jamaican-born nightly weather anchor for News 12 Brooklyn; former Good Day New York Traffic Authority; participant in Harlem USA’s Celebrity Read-A-Thon.

DR. BRENDA GREENE: Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY; chair National Black Writers Conference; weekly radio program Writers on Writing on WNYE 91.5 FM; professor of English at Medgar Evers College, and one of the most dynamic women you’ll ever meet --(she had just literally wrapped up the 4-day National Black Writer’s Conference the day before the award ceremony!! She did not look one bit tired; not one hair out of place - how does she do it????)

MONIQUE GREENWOOD: founder of Akwaaba House, Brooklyn’s first Black owned Bed and Breakfast; lifestyle director for Essence Magazine; entrepreneur and writer in various genre. If you have not had the pleasure of going to Akwaaba House, you must go.

JANEL GROSS: Managing Editor of the Afro Times, weekly arm of the Daily Challenge News, who takes pride in providing opportunities for local writers and photographers to be seen. Public relations officer for Jack and Jill of America.

VICTORIA HORSFORD: New York Columnist’s “What’s Going On” is published in the New York Beacon, Carib News, African Sun Times. The Public Relations specialist has worked with Spike Lee in She’s Gotta Have It, and Richard Pryor on JoJo Dancer, Your Life is Calling!

MARGOT JORDAN: Photojournalist who has worked locally and been recognized globally for capturing the moment on her lens. Former producer of KISS-FM Wake Up Club; and entertainment report for Wendy Williams (when she was on WBLS-FM).

CLAUD LEANDRO: Program Director One Caribbean Radion 97.9 HD2, the only 24-hour Caribbean-centric radio station; formerly with Radio Antilles in Monserrat.

SUSAN McHENRY: Founding Editor of Black Issues Book Review (BIBR); also instrumental in launching Emerge Magazine with the late Wilmer Ames.

ROSALIND KILKENNY McLYMONT: Editor in Chief to The Network Journal; partner in McLymont, Kunda & Co.; first Black managing editor of the Journal of Commerce, the oldest daily business newspaper in the US. Writes a monthly column entitled Africa Focus.

FAYBIENE MIRANDA: Producer of Global Medicine Review; she is a lyricist, poet, performer, having appeared with Kamau Brathwaite, The Last Poets, Mutabaruka, among others.

JEANNE PARNELL: City Lights host on WHCR-FM, former assistant principle with the NYC Board of Education; has been on-air personality for WLIB, WWRL, WNYE; and written for the Daily Challenge and Amsterdam News.

MARCIA PENDELTON: Founder and president of Walk Tall Girl Productions, a marketing, audience development and group sales company.

PAT STEVENSON: Founder and publisher of Harlem News Group, a Harlem based corporation that publishes four news papers, including Harlem Community News.

LUPE TODD: Vice President George Artz Communications, spokesperson for a variety of political and elected officials, including Congressman Edolphus Towns, City Council Rep. Albert Vann, Public Advocate, Bill De Blasio, Civil Court Judge Jaqueline Williams among others. Lupe is also currently serving as press relations specialist for Newark Mayor Corey Booker.

DR. TERESA WILLIAMS-TAYLOR: Owner/Publisher New York Trend Newspaper, the largest Black-owned paper in Long Island.

ESTHER COOPER JACKSON: Recipient of HATTIE CAUTHEN AWARD. To cap off this wonderful day, we had the honor of meeting and being photographed with the grand-dame of media and publiations, Ms. Esther Cooper Jackson, who served as editor of FREEDOMWAYS for 25 years from 1961 through 1986. The Alabama native, who is a delight to talk with, has a knowledge, understanding and love of Black history that goes far beyond just the publication of the quarterly publication into the very soul of what makes us who we are. I had the distinct honor to have an all too brief conversation with this esteemed, teenie little lady, who, at 92, continues to hold her own in the world of contemporary knowledge. She brought her best friend, who just celebrated her 95th birthday, as her special guest for the PHENOMENAL WOMEN IN MEDIA AWARDS CEREMONY. Inspirational to those who realize that if we do it right, we might just make it to that age, and look that good, as well.

Ms. TUPPER W. THOMAS: rounded out the list of recipients for her ongoing efforts to preserve the natural parklands in Brooklyn, most ostensibly Prospect Park. The HATTIE CAUTHEN AWARD, named for the lady who protected rare Magnolia Trees from being chopped down in Brooklyn, and started a generation of preservation of natural foliage, was given to Ms. Thomas. She is the co-chair of the City Parks Alliance of New York.

Those are the PHENOMENAL MEDIA WOMEN I had the honor of sharing the stage with. These are the women who have accomplished so much in their lives individually and collectively. Each of us received a statuette of a Black woman who depicted both our African and African American Roots (Routes); as well as a hand-cast “envelope” with each of our names on it; as well as some wonderful beauty products produced by Ambulant (you gotta try their stuff, it’s fantastic); as well as corporate products donated by Pepperidge Farms (thanks for their support).

A presentation by Ollie McLean's Sankofa School, whose three little Phenomenal Women in the making displayed their place in the future of Black history by totally knowing all the countries of Africa and the African pledge, was an example of what can happen when you design a program around respect for one's culture, coupled with educational excellence (one of the little ladies made an error on an African country, and her younger 6-year old counterpart took her to task -- too cute!)

Likewise, the significance of the double-duo husband and wife teams of Berniece Greene and David Greaves and Charlotte and Lemuel Mial was not lost on the recipients either (as noted by MC Graham Weatherspoon, whose wife, Irza, sat in the audience cheering him on).

However, while each has played roles in the enlistment of the Black community in their own right, who knew that Lemuel Mial had such a wonderful voice? He sings with a group called U4RIA, and nearly knocked the audience out of their seats as he serenaded us with a song he had written in honor of the occasion, entitled “Nothing Like a Woman”, which he co-authored with Larry Banks, musician and artist extraordinaire (available at www.U4RIA or 718-622-7638. In fact, from the response of the women in the audience, he compared favorably to Smokey Robinson, Teddy Pendergast and others (wow!)

Circling back to my opening statement, there can never be too much love for each other in the Black Community. In fact, an over abundance of love is exactly what is needed to offset what we’ve endured over the past 400 years and the most recent 40 coming out of the Civil Rights Era. We need more events such as these where we unabashedly celebrate the good we bring to each other in the community. Where, like the Japanese, we take the time to really celebrate each little victory, instead of waiting til the person has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel before we give them the accolades they deserve.

I would personally like to thank each and every individual who had anything to do with the ceremonies held at VON KING PARK, including the Culinary Center, for all you did to make that rainy day one of the sunniest and brightest days ever. And thank you for a gift-bag so heavy it needed an extra set of wheels to get it home! We are truly loving you for loving us so much.

Thanks muchly,
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson