Slavery

Harry C. Alford  |   OW Guest Contributor
Sep 6 2012

Beyond the Rhetoric

I have been hearing so much negative news and gossip about this small nation located on the Western African coast known as the Gulf of Guinea. It was as bad as the ridiculous things the press and others say about Cuba. We had to visit Cuba to see for ourselves. The negative things proved to be false. So, when the Sullivan Foundation formally invited us to attend their IX Summit in Equatorial Guinea, we jumped at the chance.

Harry C. Alford  |   OW Guest Contributor
Aug 16 2012

Beyond the Rhetoric

I was very curious when the speaking invitation arrived from the Emancipation Support Committee based in Trinidad and Tobago. They asked if I would speak at their 12th annual Trade and Investment Symposium. Mel Foote, president/CEO of the Constituency for Africa, soon contacted me and encouraged me to participate at this event, as he has been going for more than 10 years. That recommendation was enough for me, so off we (myself, two vp’s and a board member from the National Black Chamber of Commerce) went to Trinidad and Tobago. It was our maiden voyage.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jun 21 2012

Practical Politics

Recently, two fairly well-known academics and activists jabbed out at President Obama for “insulting the race” and “slapping” the Black community in the face.

Dec 29 2011

Slavery is a curse whose vestiges still remain

The Black family has been the object of numerous studies, research projects, but most importantly, is the cornerstone of Black human survival.

Speaking about African family values, Faye Z Belgrave, Ph.D., professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, says “marriage and family and children are really the hallmarks of this culture, because the union of a family represents so much symbolically …”

Sep 23 2011

The search for treatment among African Americans

Say mental illness in the African American community, and most likely you will cause a pause in conversations as large as the white elephant in the room. Mental illness has a disturbing and persistently negative history in the Black community throughout the United States.

Fueled by mistrust of a system that often views Black people as nothing more than guinea pigs ripe for experimentation, accepting the label “mentally ill” comes with a huge stigma.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”