ON DVD: The Women
December 31, 2008
The central character is clothing designer Mary Haines, who lives in a beautiful country home with her wealthy financier husband and their 11-year-old daughter. Her best friend Sylvie Fowler is the Editor of a prominent fashion magazine, a woman who dictates the latest in taste and style for New York City fashionistas.
When Mary’s husband becomes involved with Crystal Allen, a perfume salesgirl in Saks Fifth Avenue, her friendship with Sylvie is put to the test. Everyone in their close-knit circle of friends, including the ever-pregnant Edie Cohen and author Alex Fisher, begins to question their loyalty to each other and their romantic involvements.
TRAILER: The Unborn
December 31, 2008
Sometimes the soul of a dead person has been so tainted with evil that it is denied entrance to heaven. It must endlessly wander the borderlands between worlds, desperately searching for a new body to inhabit.
And sometimes it actually succeeds.
Writer/director David Goyer (Blade: Trinity, The Invisible, Batman Begins) gives a terrifying glimpse into the life of the undead in The Unborn, a supernatural thriller that follows a young woman pulled into a world of nightmares when a demonic spirit haunts her and threatens everyone she loves.
OPENING THIS WEEK: The Spirit
December 31, 2008
SYNOPSIS: Down these mean streets a man must come. A hero born, murdered, and born again. When a Rookie cop named Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces from the shadows of Central City.
The Octopus who kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face who has other plans. He’s going to wipe out the entire city.
The Spirit tracks this cold hearted killer from the city’s rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill the masked crusader.
New Groundbreaking Book Covering Barack Obama’s Life
December 31, 2008
OBAMA: The Historic Journey, a new groundbreaking, beautifully written and illustrated book covering Barack Obama’s life, from his childhood through his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States, will be published in hardcover on Presidents’ Day, Feb. 16, 2009, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment and The New York Times and distributed by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), it was announced today by Riverhead Books Vice President and Publisher Geoffrey Kloske and Nicholas Callaway, founder and publisher of Callaway Arts & Entertainment. North American rights were acquired from Scott Moyers of The Wylie Agency.
The election of Barack Obama marked an unprecedented step forward in American history, shattering racial barriers and forever altering the political landscape. The New York Times, winner of 96 Pulitzer Prizes, has chronicled the exceptional moments of Mr. Obama’s life, from when he was first elected president of the Harvard Law Review in 1990, to his memorable speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, his campaign for the presidency and his jubilant victory.
NetHope Receives Grant From Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
December 31, 2008
NetHope, the information technology collaboration of leading international NGOs announced today that the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation will award the organization nearly $300,000 to fund two initiatives in the developing world.
One project, an information communications technology (ICT) skills building program, will serve child and family health workers in Africa and India. About 90 percent of all NGO staff are hired locally in the developing world, and most workers have never received formal training in critical business skills. The NetHope ICT skills building program will provide courseware and instruction for more than 1,000 child and family health workers, benefiting an estimated 500,000 families in the developing world.
‘Stop Fire Campaign’ Just in Time for Holiday Cooking
December 31, 2008
The International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters (IABPFF) announced its STOP Fire Campaign today, which addresses residential cooking fire safety for African-Americans, with specific attention to two groups: parents and caregivers of children four to 14-years-old and seniors ages 65 to 85. The campaign’s theme is Fire-Safe Cooking: A Recipe for Saving Lives. The United States Fire Administration (USFA) awarded a grant to the IABPFF to implement the STOP Fire Campaign, which will help reduce home fires, injuries, and deaths associated with cooking, especially during the holiday season and large family gatherings.
“It’s always wonderful to get together with family and friends during the holiday, but it’s critical that people take certain precautions when cooking,” said IABPFF President Joseph Muhammad. “Food left unattended or a spatter of grease on a stove can cause a massive fire in seconds.” He continues, “Children and seniors are most vulnerable when a fire occurs, and this campaign will show parents and caregivers ways to prevent these tragedies from happening.”
Sharpton at 5W PR ‘We’re Close, but We’re Not there Yet’
December 31, 2008
The Civil Rights Activist and radio talk show host Reverend Al Sharpton addressed an audience today at 5W Public Relations monthly Speaker Series. With the presidential election over and America’s first black President elected, Sharpton’s topic was the State of the Civil Rights Movement and American Business Opportunity in an Obama Presidency.
While acknowledging that a significant glass ceiling has been broken, there is still a way to go. Sharpton called attention to the jobless numbers and poverty in predominantly black communities are still higher than those of white areas. “We’ve made a lot of progress, but I don’t think we should stop until we made all the way.”
When asked how far he thinks he has moved the Civil Rights movement, he said: “We have made enormous progress…” Yet, he said, “Martin Luther King used to say ‘you gotta measure things from the bottom to the top,’ so we made a lot of top progress, but the bottom has to be on the same progressive curve as the top. You can’t just have Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, but unemployment is double in Harlem and we act like it’s not important. That’s where the challenges still remain.”
Eligibility Criteria Contribute To Racial Disparities In Hospice Use
December 27, 2008
A new study finds that hospice services—care that is provided by physicians, visiting nurses, chaplains, home health aides, social workers and counselors—have restrictions that reduce usage by many patients who are most in-need, particularly African Americans. The research, published in the February 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, indicates that the eligibility criteria for hospice services should be reconsidered.
In order to enroll in hospice, patients must have a prognosis of six months or less if their illness runs its usual course. They must also accept the palliative nature of hospice care. African American patients are less likely than white patients to use hospice, but the reasons for this difference have remained somewhat unknown.
In the current work, investigators at the University of Pennsylvania designed a study to explore the reasons for racial disparities in hospice care among cancer patients. To define and compare preferences for cancer treatment and perceived needs for hospice services among African-American patients and white patients, Dr. David Casarett and colleagues interviewed 283 patients who were receiving cancer treatment at six oncology clinics within the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Network.
Obama Invites Poet Elizabeth Alexander To Read at Inauguration
December 27, 2008
Poet Elizabeth Alexander will recite a specially composed work at Barack Obama’s inauguration next month, becoming only the fourth writer to read their work as part of a US presidential swearing-in ceremony.
Alexander, a 46-year-old professor of African-American studies and a finalist for the 2005 Pullitzer Prize, will deliver her poem moments after Obama is sworn in as the country’s first black president on January 20, organizers said.
“My joy at being selected to compose and deliver a poem on the occasion of Obama’s presidential inaugural emanates from my deep respect for him as a person of meaningful, powerful words that move us forward,” Alexander wrote on her website (www.elizabethalexander.net).
PICTURED: Thousands of buttons with the image of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden are just some of the merchandise available at Political Americana’s inaugural store near the White House December 12, 2008 in Washington, DC. Opening in time for the holidays, the store carries thousands of items including life-size photographic cutouts of Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, along with posters, hats, t-shrits and golf balls.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Lack of Opportunity Needs to Be Addressed
December 27, 2008
There has been a great deal of talk, justifiably, in recent weeks about the lack of African-American head coaches in Division I-A college football.
When Tyrone Willingham, Sylvester Croom and Ron Prince all lost their jobs at the end of the just-concluded season, the tiny number of head coaches became even tinier, going from six to three. Only Randy Shannon at Miami, Turner Gill at Buffalo and Kevin Sumlin at Houston remained. Since then, Mike Locksley has been hired at New Mexico and Ron English has gotten the job at Eastern Michigan, bringing the number back to five.
That number, as everyone knows, is a disgrace. What’s more, it only begins to tell the sad story. Last week, after Auburn hired the immortal Gene Chizik to replace Tommy Tuberville, Charles Barkley accused his alma mater of racism. Barkley is often outrageous and frequently way off base.
