Entries Tagged 'Politics and Society' ↓

Publishers Invited to Nominate Authors and Poets to Participate in the 2008 NAACP Author Pavilion

The 2008 Author Pavilion, sponsored by the NAACP, will be held at the NAACP 99th National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 12th through 15th, 2008. In the past 4 years approximately 7,000 patrons attended the National Conventions, which take place during the 3rd week in July.

WHAT: The NAACP invites publishers to nominate authors and poets to participate in the 2008 Author’s Pavilion. Preferred candidates are popular, nationally known authors who have won book awards or are best sellers at the national level. Publishers or Authors are expected to support the travel, hotel and miscellaneous expenses of accepted nominees to make their travel arrangements.

WHEN: At the 39th Annual Commerce and Industry Show July 12 through 15th during the NAACP 99th National Convention, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Meet and greets, Presentation Panels, book signings and live In the Café with Mocha Show tapings are the heart of the NAACP Author Pavilion experience, which is designed to bring readers together with their favorite writers and poets.

Author interviews and Author Pavilion Highlights will be seen and heard on the NAACP Website www.naacp.org/events/convention/99th after the convention. For additional information, please visit www.naacpauthorpavilion.com.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its more than half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitors of equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

PBE specializes in creating literary events in a variety of non-traditional venues and seeks out exciting new locales for readers and authors to connect. PBE is the sister company to The Oracle Group which produces the literary talk show “In the Café with Mocha.”

CONTACTS: Nominations should be sent by May 1st 2008 to Mocha Ochoa. Her email is mocha@professionalbookevents.com and her telephone number is 301-461-6925.

Photo credit: Belterz/iStockphoto

If anyone can compete with Barack Obama for best public speaker it’s Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who has signed with Broadway Books to write his memoir.

Patrick, a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, became the first black governor of Massachusetts and the third black governor in the United States, when elected in November 2006. Prior to entering politics he worked in as an attorney and later in business.

More here.

Nelson Mandela walked out of prison on this day, February 11, in 1990. He had been in prison for 27 years.

I went to see him speak when he came to Washington, DC, and it was a very memorable and exciting day.

Nelson Mandela Foundation

Video shot by my husband of Obama addressing the overflow crowd following the endorsement by Ted and Caroline Kennedy at American University in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2008. Witness Obama work his magic to get the crowd fired up with Ted Kennedy at his side.

And I was there, along with a gazillion others. They represented a broad spectrum of America–young and old, black, white, Asian and Hispanic, men, women and children.

I noticed one woman–black and well dressed, who must have been at least 80 years old. She got out of a taxicab in front of Bender Arena, the sports complex at American University in Washington, DC, where Ted and Caroline Kennedy had come to endorse Barack Obama. The woman could barely walk and had to be helped out of the cab. She hobbled up to me and asked, “Is this Bender?” I thought, this woman probably figured she’d never live to see to this, to see Ted and Caroline Kennedy come out to endorse a black man for president of the United States. And there was no way she was going to miss it.

A lot of people seem to feel passionate about Obama, for one reason or another, like the woman below who happily let me and others snap her picture, a picture that says a thousand words.

I had heard that Ted and Caroline Kennedy were going to endorse Barack Obama at American University, so I thought, why not attend this historical event? I remembered my father going to see Dr. King when he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the memorial in Washington, DC. I was a child at the time so my father didn’t take me and my sister. He always said he regretted it but he didn’t know how historic an occasion it would turn out to be. I now live less than an hour away from American University, I attended graduate school there, and I thought, I’m not going to let this chance to see the man who could be our first black president get away.

So I nudged my husband away from his computer, and we ended up waiting for hours in the freezing cold and rain…OK, so the weather was actually rather nice, but we did wait for a few hours. We knew to expect a big crowd. I mean this was DC with Obama AND Kennedy. We didn’t know that half the people who showed up wouldn’t even get into the sports arena, and we were among the unfortunate many.

BUT…this crowd–patient, pumped up and determined, wasn’t going to let a little thing like a solid brick building and dozens of security guards and secret service agents deter us. We weren’t going anywhere until we saw our guy. Luckily, American University officials and security people understood, and they set up tables to search and scan us and then moved us to a sectioned-off outdoor area where we waited for Obama. After the event inside the arena was over, he and Kennedy graciously came over and addressed a very fired up crowd before hopping into their vehicles and going to the next event.

What a morning! I really hope that elderly woman was able to hold out and see it all.

Applications are now being accepted for Congressional Black Caucus Internships for the summer of 2008. Deadline is February 29. Internships are open to full-time college students in good standing. Applicants should have an interest in public service and the legislative process, leadership ability and strong writing skills.

If interested, you better get going. The application process is a detailed one.

CBC Internship Program Information and Application

Several commentators have mentioned that many black women in America are torn between Obama and Clinton, between their loyalty to blacks and their loyalty to women. And as a black woman with many friends who look like me, I can tell you that this may well be true. But there’s something else going on here that hasn’t been talked about much.

As we all know, black women have been here in America since before it was “America,” yet have never had anyone in their liking–or even partially in their liking–serve in the highest office in the land. White women have had whites serve in the office, black men have had men. And we don’t even need to mention white men. But black women? Neither of their two halves have ever been represented.

If either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is elected as president of the U.S., for the first time ever, black women will experience what it feels like to have someone in office who looks somewhat like them, someone who has had a similar life experience in America.

You might dismiss this as irrelevant, yet here in America we still often divide society along the lines of race and gender–the candidates themselves have even bickered back and forth about it. I’m no psychologist but I expect that an Obama or a Clinton victory could be big for the psyche of black women and especially for that of young black girls. I think it will do something to the psyche of all Americans but none more so than black women and girls.

I won’t get into the “we shouldn’t decide on a president based on race or gender” debate because I agree with that. I don’t even need to have that discussion because, for me, both of these candidates are qualified for the job. Both candidates are extremely intelligent and able to quickly grasp the issues. Clinton, with her front row seat in the corridors of power and time spent in the Senate, is ready to lead us in these turbulent times.

Obama has had a more moderate amount of experience but he has the ability to move mountains with his oratory–no small matter in my book. I see Obama as a sort of Reagan: someone who has a vision and the ability to inspire many of us and who is wise enough to appoint competent and experienced people to bring that vision to life for us. The difference between Reagan and Obama, at least for me, is that I didn’t always agree with Reagan’s vision for America. I do agree with Obama’s.

So Obama or Clinton–take your pick, hopefully based on the issues and how you think they will deal with them. The election of either will be good for the psyche of black girls and women. The only thing better to my way of thinking will be when one of our young black girls or women, who is probably watching this election unfold now, grows up and becomes president herself.

“Happy Birthday” to my Alpha Kappa Alpha friends. I’m not an AKA but I did have the opportunity to interview Linda White, former national president of AKA, for my photo-essay book Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over Fifty. And Michael Cunningham took a charming photograph of her for the book.

We met when she was attending an AKA conference in the Washington DC area, and I learned a lot about the history of the sorority and its valuable contributions to society. White spoke with special pride when she talked about the wonderful work the sorority does for children here in the U.S. and around the world in the areas of education and health. I naturally enjoyed hearing about the Young Authors Program for children and the moving story she told about the finalists meeting Laura Bush at a convention in 2004. It was also inspiring to see the love and unity among sorority members.

So, happy 100th Alpha Kappa Alpha and here’s to 1000 more!

The left lane on the highway is for passing but it seems that too many folks didn’t get the memo. They drive long and slow in the left lane and mess things up for the rest of us. Come on now, you know who you are and you should know better. If you don’t, I’ll spell it out for you.

If you’re driving under the speed limit on the highway, stay out of the left lane please!

Finally some justice for the rest of us. Slow drivers beware!

CNN Video of Cops Bustin’ Slow Pokes

Illustration credit: Cruz Puga/iStockphoto

History in the making–