Hip-hop’s ghetto culture has passed into the mainstream

National Conference of Black Mayors to Host 33rd Annual Convention in Baton Rouge, La. on May 2 – 7

The National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) is hosting its 33rd Annual Convention in Baton Rouge, the capitol city of Louisiana, from May 2 through May 7 at the Baton River Center. As 2008 presidential candidates have announced their intentions earlier than usual, and as Louisiana is still coping with the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, this year’s Convention promises to be one of the most significant for NCBM and the more than 640 black mayors who will assemble in Baton Rouge, La.

Mayor Melvin “Kip” Holden, Baton Rouge’s first African American mayor, will join NCBM in welcoming the more than 2,000 attendees — including mayors, municipal staffs, other elected officials, educators, business people, and foreign dignitaries — who will gather to acquire leadership development, discuss key topics impacting communities of color, and discover resources they can take back to their respective cities. In total, Convention attendees represent more than 38 million American residents.

“The theme of this year’s convention is ‘Leadership Is’, reflecting NCBM’s commitment to empowering the mayors who represent communities of color and equipping them with the accurate information, practical skills and applicable resources they need to better serve their constituents, ” says Vanessa Williams, executive director of NCBM. “This Convention is so much more than another chance to gather; we get work done — from discussing our communities’ priority agendas with presidential candidates and learning about new research relevant to our communities to gaining skills and resources that will influence local policies.”

Throughout the Convention, mayors and other notable politicians and community leaders, will engage with presidential hopefuls, including plenary sessions and luncheons with Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John Edwards, Senator Barack Obama and Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Other prominent influencers scheduled to appear at the Convention include: Prime Minister Portia Simpson of Jamaica; renowned actor Danny Glover; author, academic and radio host Dr. Michael Eric Dyson; athlete and entrepreneur Earvin Magic Johnson; and singer/actor Harry Belafonte. The conference will also feature entertaining performances by musicians Erykah Badu and John Legend, and comedian Rickey Smiley.

During Convention workshops and seminars, mayors and NCBM leadership will discuss the following key NCBM topics:

– Greening Communities of Color: A 2005 Associated Press analysis found that Africans Americans are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution is suspected of posing the greatest health danger. This Convention will shed light on the latest statistics and the startling physical and economic consequences within communities of color. NCBM will unveil a partnership with researchers and the historically black colleges & universities (HBCUs) to further study the significance and impact of landfills in minority communities, and will educate mayors through a series of workshops.

– Building Sustainable Families: The U.S. Census revealed that, on the whole, African Americans have lower rates of marriage and marital stability than all other ethnic groups. They also have higher rates of single-headed families than other groups. NCBM will establish a dialogue about strategies to reverse this trend and will announce a partnership with the Department of Health & Human Services to focus on building stronger black families.

– Establishing Effective Emergency Protocols: Through Hurricane Katrina, mayors and city officials all over the nation learned the hard way about the value of established, effective communications systems and protocols during a state of emergency. At the Convention, NCBM will roll out a partnership with Connect-CTY to establish technological systems that will enable real-time communication during an emergency via cell phones, text messages and email alerts, as well as a partnership with the American Red Cross to provide disaster preparedness training to all mayors.

“Baton Rouge is ready to roll out the red carpet for mayors, prime ministers and other visiting officials, many who will be visiting our city for the first time with the National Conference of Black Mayors,” says East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden. “Our city has a diverse group of people who are working together to make this conference one of the most successful ever.”

In addition to the workshops and programs for mayors, Mayor Holden will host NCBM attendees at the festive FestForAll Outdoor Celebration, featuring live blues music and Louisiana cuisine. Also, the Convention will feature a daylong Youth Day on Saturday, May 5 focusing on educating and empowering youth.

Recommendation to the Recording and Broadcast Industries

The following is a statement from Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis on behalf of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network:

The theme of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is “Taking Back Responsibility.” We are consistent in our strong affirmation, defense, and protection of the First Amendment right of free speech and artistic expression. We have recently been involved in a process of dialogue with recording and broadcast industry executives about issues concerning corporate social responsibility.

It is important to re-emphasize that our internal discussions with industry leaders are not about censorship. Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African Americans and other people of color, African American women and to all women in lyrics and images.

HSAN reaffirms, therefore, that there should not be any government regulation or public policy that should ever violate the First Amendment. With freedom of expression, however, comes responsibility. With that said, HSAN is concerned about the growing public outrage concerning the use of the words “bitch,” “ho,” and “nigger.” We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words “bitch” and “ho” and the racially offensive word “nigger.”

Going forward, these three words should be considered with the same objections to obscenity as “extreme curse words.” The words “bitch” and “ho” are utterly derogatory and disrespectful of the painful, hurtful, misogyny that, in particular, African American women have experienced in the United States as part of the history of oppression, inequality, and suffering of women. The word “nigger” is a racially derogatory term that disrespects the pain, suffering, history of racial oppression, and multiple forms of racism against African Americans and other people of color.

In addition, we recommend the formation of a music industry Coalition on Broadcast Standards, consisting of leading executives from music, radio and television industries. The Coalition would recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards within the industries.

We also recommend that the recording industry establish artist mentoring programs and forums to stimulate effective dialogue between artists, hip-hop fans, industry leaders and others to promote better understanding and positive change. HSAN will help to coordinate these forums.

These issues are complex, but require creative voluntary actions exemplifying good corporate social responsibility.

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Sara Lee Corporation Names Two Law Firms as Preferred Partners in Company’s Diversity Initiative

Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE:SLE) today announced that is has designated two law firms as “Sara Lee Preferred Partners” for 2007, based upon these firm’s overall superior quality of legal services and diversity performance.

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and Reed Smith LLP will receive preferred consideration from Sara Lee’s legal department when seeking legal service assistance. Both firms have demonstrated superior diversity performance as assessed under Sara Lee’s review standards. As a result, the firms may use their “Sara Lee Preferred Partner” status in their marketing materials.

Sara Lee’s diversity program, which focuses on women and minorities, is well-known in the legal industry and regarded as a corporate model. In its fifth year, the program continues to evolve and to carefully monitor the efforts and improvements of law firms seeking the Preferred Partner status with Sara Lee.

“We expect our firms to be excellent in all categories of service and performance, including talent and diversity,” said Roderick A. Palmore, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, Sara Lee Corporation. “At Sara Lee, we strongly believe that performance should be rewarded. Consistent with that belief, firms that distinguish themselves in all service and performance categories will have enhanced opportunities to represent Sara Lee in matters in which they have expertise and experience. I commend Sonnenschein and Reed Smith for their superior results.”

This is the second consecutive year that Reed Smith has earned Preferred Partner status from Sara Lee and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal’s first time in receiving this designation.

Sara Lee annually analyzes several years’ worth of data from its primary law firms, including information on the number of minorities and women in each firm, the numbers of such by level and the firms’ attrition rates. In addition, external recruiting and promoting of female and minority lawyers is assessed as is the composition of each firms’ most senior leadership. Each firm is classified into one of three categories based on the analysis, with the Preferred Partners representing the uppermost category.

Firms in the middle category are deemed by the company to have provided excellent legal services but to have had inconsistent diversity performance. While the company commends these firms and recognizes their efforts, it also challenges them to show improvement.

The third category consists of those firms which, despite having provided legal services of a very high quality and espousing a commitment to diversity, have failed to demonstrate what Sara Lee deems to be a sufficient degree of accomplishment in diversity. Firms which fall into this category for more than one year put their relationship with Sara Lee at risk.

via BusinessWire

Papa John’s and Alpha Restaurant Group Deliver Pizza Partnership for Economic Growth in Motor City

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) and the Alpha Restaurant Group, LLC today announced a joint venture to open up to four Papa John’s restaurants in Detroit by year’s end, with a total build-out plan of 30 Papa John’s restaurants in greater Detroit within the next six years.

“Quality is the common thread that drives the Papa John’s and Alpha Restaurant Group franchise relationship,” said Nigel Travis, Papa John’s president and CEO. “The caliber of highly motivated and experienced investors combined with their experience and commitment to the community is an unparalleled match that promises growth for all parties involved.”

Day-to-day restaurant operations, facilities management, staffing and training will be the responsibility of The Alpha Restaurant Group. Papa John’s will serve as a best practices and management consultant and the two entities will partner on all marketing-related aspects of the restaurants.

“We believe the Detroit urban market offers a tremendous growth opportunity for high quality restaurant brands and Papa John’s delivers a quality product to the table of our community,” said Paul L. Hubbard, Sr., president and CEO of The Alpha Restaurant Group. “It is our desire as a 100 percent owned and operated group of African American business professionals to give back to the community, provide jobs and training, and to contribute to a more viable and robust business environment.”

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