Sirleaf; Madam President Comes To Town

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state and the granddaughter of a market woman, comes to NY to promote one of many initiatives – the Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund


[What’s Going On]

By Victoria Horsford

 

OBAMA WEEK IN REVIEW:

In the interests of diplomacy, I say to heck with all of the Barack Obama political naysayers, men and women of ill will.

I will cast my lot with the hundreds of professionals, who attended the recent Denver International Astrologers Conference, 80% of whom concur that of the three U.S. presidential hopefuls, Barack Obama has the best chance of winning the November election.

Why? The planets are aligned for transformation; and Barack Obama (Leo) chart is more synchronized with that of the U.S. than Senators Clinton (Scorpio) and McCain (Virgo.) I lucked upon this info on AOL’s opening page last week.

Moving along his victory trajectory, I recommend reading a clever Ebonyjet.com essay about Obama’s cabinet choices, as much for its insights as for its levity. The essayist, Eric Easter, allows that it is a fantasy list but does not see lots of highly visible Blacks in Obama’s first term; but many will work close to him in advisory capacities. The first term Obama Administration looks like this: Jim Webb, Virginia Democrat, Vice President; Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Department of Energy: Al Gore, UN Ambassador; Bill Richardson, Secretary of State; Congressman Jesse Jackson, Secretary of Transportation; Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Secretary of Labor; NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg, NO WAY!; Senator Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense; John Edwards, Attorney General; Susan Rice, National Security Advisor; and Meg Whitman, CEO of Ebay, as Transparency czar, an idea that Obama originated; Richard Parsons, Ambassador to China; Senator John Kerry, Ambassador to France; and former Baltimore Mayor, current Howard University Law School Dean Kurt Schmoke, as Drug policy czar. The 6/2 Newsweek issue includes a cover story, an OPEN LETTER TO OBAMA

RETRO MERCURY:

This is not a prediction, on May 27, Mercury went retrograde, an occurrence which impacts natives all zodiac signs and which means three weeks of communications inconveniences, hopefully no more Senator Clinton gaffes! Beware computer crashes, fax and telephone problems, transportation schedule disruptions. This is a great time to become introspective. And watch your mouth!

LOVE AND MARRIAGE:

Sorry ladies, another handsome, intelligent, most eligible African-American bachelor jumped the broom last month and married blond lovely Emily Threlkeld, a New York based fashion publicist for designer Carolina Herrera. Highly pedigreed Harold Ford, Jr., is a UPenn undergraduate, University of Michigan Law School grad, former Tennessee congressman, who is Merrill Lynch vice chairman, an MSNBC correspondent , who also heads the Democratic Leadership Council. Guess he’s no longer interested in the Tennessee gubernatorial mansion.

AFRICA’S FIRST LADY:

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state and the granddaughter of a market woman, comes to NY to promote one of many initiatives – the Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund – and will be assisted by the African Women’s Development Fund, in collaboration with the NY Society for Ethical Culture Social Service Board and actress Cicely Tyson, on Wednesday, June 4.

For this tribute to Liberia’s Market Women, the backbone of the national economy, President Sirleaf and the Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and the Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, invite you to join them and attend the Friendraising launch of the Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund’s Adopt-A-Market Campaign at 2 West 64 Street NYC. A three-tiered affair, the evening includes a VIP Reception, a silent auction and market, followed by an arts and entertainment program.

Tickets are scaled from $50 to $100,000, which gets your name superimposed on a rural market in Liberia. Please call MaryLou Amarosa at 212.997.0100 for reservations and more info or visit [email protected].

THE CLASS OF 2008:

Congratulations to Juliana Hernandez, who graduated with honors from Choate and who is Harvard bound as an economics major and to Rwanda carnage survivor Georges Ndabashimiye, CUNY Physics honor student, graduating with highest honors in physics and math, with a 3.8 GPA, who is en route to Stanford University grad school where he plans to specialize in experimental physics. One Rwandan friend advised that not only is he brilliant me but he also is a very humble young man.

CULTURE STUFF

: This is the season for dance lovers. There is news from two pre-eminent institutions- Alvin Ailey and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater AAADT begins a new year with a DANCE IS FOREVER performance, a part of its 50th Anniversary celebration, which continues to underscore the importance of Alvin Ailey’s vision of fuller access to modern dance.

The golden anniversary will be punctuated with a year-long fundraising events, which will help provide free AAADT performances and classes throughout NYC. The AAADT performs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) from June 3-8. For more info, reservations, and donations, visit www. Alvinailey.org.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem School presents its Annual Spring Performance, featuring “The Ugly Duckling,” adapted from a Hans Christian Anderson story, at the Manhattan School of Music at 132 Claremont Avenue, due west of Broadway at 122 Street, Harlem, on Saturday, May 31 at 6 pm and Sunday, June 1 at 5 pm. Founded in founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and the late Karel Shook, the Dance Theatre of Harlem addresses both classical and modern dance forms. To purchase and reserve tickets, $25 for adults and $15 for children, online visit www.dancetheatreofharlem.org or call 212 690.2800.

Open to the public, to the US Mission to the UN and the UN Action Against

Sexual Violence in Conflict, present a feature film, THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO, on Friday, June 13, at the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium at the UN. If you do not have a UN pass and you are interested in attendance, contact [email protected] for admission, or call 212.665.3003.

The Society for the Study of Africana Philosophy, hosted by Leo Downes, presents Henry Miller, PhD, who will lecture on “The Spiritual Origin Of The Drama” at the Harlem YMCA, at 180 West 135 Street, Harlem, USA, on Tuesday, June 3 at 7:30 pm. Lecture is free but space is limited. Reserve your seat by calling 212.281.4100.

The Hamilton Heights Home Owners Association hosts its 20th House and Garden Tour with a rich cultural weekend, 5/30 to 6/1, offering tours and literary and jazz salons.

 

Hamilton Heights north/south borders are 135-155 Streets, from Edgecombe Avenue to Riverside. For more information and reservations, visit www.hamiltonheightshomeowners.org.

 

To comment, to subscribe to or advertise in New York’s leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper, please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to [email protected]

 

Also visit out sister publications Harlem Business News www.harlembusinessnews.com publications and The Groove Music magazine

www.thegroovemag.com

“Speaking Truth To Power.”


 

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