A few weeks ago I made my annual Pilgrimage to Selma, Alabama for the Bridge Crossing Jubilee which commemorates “Bloody Sunday,” the occasion when civil rights activists and concerned citizens first attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery in March of 1965 to demand the restoration of the right to vote.
Last week, once again President Barack Hussein Obama mounted the podium at the Capitol to deliver the State of the Union Address to a Joint Session of Congress, the nation and the world.
First, to the Honorable Pedro Pires, former distinguished President of Cape Verde and President of the Amilcar Cabral Foundation, Officials of Government, Officials of the Foundation and assembled Speakers and Panelists, I consider it a great honor and privilege to be afforded an opportunity to share a few ideas on the relevance of the thought and theory of Amilcar Cabral in the contemporary context on the occasion of the Commemoration of his 90th Birthday.
On New Year’s Eve, African Americans from around the country gathered in Black churches for “Watch Night” Services, the tradition of reenacting the watch of enslaved Africans December 31, 1862, as our ancestors eagerly awaited the day that the Emancipation Proclamation would officially become law…
Africans in America should be aware that 2013 is a year of great significance. It will mark the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of Medgar Evers and the 50th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington.
Anyone who follows my writings and work is aware that leading up to the critical 2012 presidential election, I relentlessly urged Africans in America to “march on ballot boxes and mobilize for State of the Black World III” (SOBWCIII) as the “Black imperatives” of the day.
As some of my followers are aware, I am an occasional Guest Radio Talk Show Host, periodically sitting in for Warren Ballentine, Mark Thompson and Rev. Al Sharpton on Radio-One, SIRIUS/XM networks as well as WWRL AM in New York.
The Republican and Democratic Conventions are history, and the campaign for the presidency will shift into high gear. Viewing the two conventions should have given African Americans a glimpse of the difference in composition and direction of the two major parties. As a friend of mine, who is White, remarked, “Ron, the Republican Convention was White, but the Democratic Convention looked like America.”
In the Second Call for State of the Black World Conference III, we issued a challenge to make the event a “Great Gathering of Black People,” a seminal assembly to assess the state of the race and chart directions for the future. Though State of the Black World Conferences are open to any person of African descent, the vision/mission of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), as the convening organization, is progressive, African-centered and action-oriented in nature.
I recently had the privilege of participating in George Fraser’s Power Networking Conference (PNC) in Dallas. Sponsored by FraserNet, the Conference is one of the most amazing gatherings of Black people that occurs in Black America — annually attracting thousands of Black professionals eager to embrace George’s vision/mission of “creating wealth that can be passed on inter-generationally and making Black people the number one employers of Black people in the 21st Century.” Once again this year I had the honor of conducting the Libation Ceremony along with Kwa David Whitaker, a longtime friend and mentor of George. I was also a Panelist for the Town Hall Meeting.
The Institute of the Black World 21st Century has just completed Town Hall Meetings in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Baltimore to increase public awareness about the devastating impact of the “War on Drugs” on the Black community as a racially biased strategy/policy.
The Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) is in the process of convening Town Hall Meetings in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Baltimore on the devastating effects of the “War on Drugs” on Black America and gearing up for State of the Black World Conference III (SOBWC) at Howard University in D.C. in November after the 2012 presidential election.
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