Washington, D.C.– The National Coalition of Black Veterans and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., proudly invites members of the House of Representatives, retired military Flag Officers, representatives of the Black veterans community, the press, and the public to join us as we commemorate the life of American soldier and military leader, Colonel Charles Young.

Colonel Young had an exemplary career and was the highest-ranking Black commanding officer in the U.S. Army from 1894 until his death in 1922.  “It is not an exaggeration of the facts to say that every Black Flag Officer from Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., to former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell owe their opportunity of advancement through the Flag Ranks to Colonel Charles Young,” says Coalition chair, Charles Blatcher III. “They reached their stars standing on his shoulders.”

“Omega Psi Phi is honored to join in a program in recognition of Colonel Young,” says Dr. Andrew Ray, Grand Basileus. “His life’s work thoroughly represents our four Cardinal Principles of MANHOOD, SCHOLARSHIP, PERSEVERANCE and UPLIFT. Colonel Young met the many formidable challenges with courage and fortitude. He pressed on through life, not because of, but in spite of the never-ending challenges.”

On Wednesday, June 5th representatives of the Coalition and Fraternity will gather at his grave to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Col. Young’s interment in Arlington Cemetery. We invite the public to join us as we trumpet the achievements of this great Buffalo Soldier and renew our call to have him posthumously appointed Brigadier General by President Barack Obama. The Reverend Dr. Fred Douglas Smith, Jr., Professor of Urban Ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC will address the gathering with words of spiritual enlightenment, followed by comments from Chairman Charles Blatcher III, Grand Basileus Dr. Andrew Ray, and other distinguished guests. The trio will present the Colonel with a ceremonial star wreath in honor of the unselfish contribution he made in paving the way for Blacks in the officer’s ranks of the armed forces, as well as to commemorate the official proclamation from President Barack Obama naming his home in Wilberforce, Ohio a National Monument.

The Coalition has been working diligently to see Col. Young promoted to the honorary rank of Brigadier General. In addition to raising his rank, we hope to erect a statue in his honor that will be the first portrayal of a Black military officer on horseback in the nation’s Capitol.

The program will commence at 2:30 PM on June 5th but guests are asked to arrive at 1:30 to board the buses that will escort us to the grave site. A private dinner will follow to honor the 35 Congressional Representatives who have joined the Coalition in calling on President Obama for a promotion proclamation honoring Colonel Young. The guest speaker for the “Evening on Capitol Hill Dinner” will be Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber, Professor of History from the University of the District of Columbia. The topic of presentation will be the “Importance of Black History.” The dinner is by invitation only.

Date: June 5th
Time: 1:30 PM
Arlington National Cemetery

For additional information on the program contact the coalition at: cnmmmf@aol.com

The movie was inspired by Wil Haygood’s Washington Post article about a black man (Eugene Allen) who served in the White House under eight presidents over three decades — from the Eisenhower administration through Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

Winfrey plays the wife of Whitaker’s title character, butler Cecil Gaines, and it marks her first big onscreen appearance since 1998′s “Beloved.” The elite cast also includes Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan, Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, Melissa Leo as Mamie Eisenhower, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Minka Kelly as Jackie Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, and Orlando Eric Street as Barack Obama.

TV Host Calls End-of-Life Choice for Terminally Ill “Personal Decision”

Emmy Award-winning television host Montel Williams advocates for end-of-life choice, including aid in dying, in the spring issue of Compassion & Choices Magazine. Williams, who revealed in 1999 that he has multiple sclerosis (MS) and is an active healthcare advocate, expressed support for the right of terminally ill people with unbearable suffering to control the time and manner of their death.

Appearing on the cover and in the magazine’s “Voice of Choice” column, Williams states, “I do not believe people should be deciding what level of pain other people should endure, especially knowing they have no chance for recovery. It is a personal decision.”

As the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life, Compassion & Choices advocates access to aid in dying for qualified individuals. Mentally competent, terminally ill patients should be allowed to receive a prescription from their doctor for medication to self-administer if they choose, to achieve a peaceful death. Opponents inaccurately label this “assisted suicide.” Williams debunks that description.

“It is not assisting suicide. I have thought this out, including for myself, and I’ve had many discussions with members of my family. … I’m also aware that my disease is going to progress. And there may be a day when I am told I have a finite amount of time left on this planet and when I may be in incredible pain. So when that time comes, I don’t care what anybody thinks or calls it. It’s my decision. And if I choose to go, then that’s my call.”

Like Compassion & Choices, Williams encourages families to discuss end-of-life matters before a crisis occurs. He advises that doctors participate in those discussions – but “their opinion or advice shouldn’t be given any more weight than that of others who need to be included in the discussion, including the patient’s sage counsel, psychiatrists, psychologists, their clergy or family members.”

“We are grateful to Montel for using his eloquent voice to inform people about the importance of end-of-life planning and of their right to control life’s final chapter,” said Compassion & Choices President Barbara Coombs Lee, a nurse and physician assistant for 25 years before becoming a private attorney and a Chief Petitioner of the first-in-the nation Oregon Death with Dignity Act in 1994. “Modern medicine has produced many life-saving achievements. Medicine can always do more. The question is whether they should, when a patient’s hope centers on dignity and comfort.”

Support for end-of-life choice is consistently strong in so-called red states and blue states and across demographic groups and religions. This strong support has held steady for two decades. A January 2011 Harris poll found that more than two-thirds (70%) of U.S. adults agree that “individuals who are terminally ill, in great pain and who have no chance for recovery, have the right to choose to end their own life.” A poll of likely New Jersey voters released last week found nearly two-thirds (63%) support allowing mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to receive a prescription for medication to end their suffering.

For more information on this story, contact Sean Crowley, 202-550-6524, seancrowley57@gmail.com

Position enhances and supports an environment that provides exceptional service to prospective and current students. Position communicates effectively with prospective students via call campaigns, emails, and social media and devises prospective students using the students’ life experience to assist them in making the best educational decision. Utilize database tools to efficiently track each interaction and the progress of all assigned leads. Collaborates with staff to establish best practices and consistently engage others in an effort to refine and improve to better serve our students. Develops, implements and executes recruitment and marketing plan focused on online social media outreach, community and business outreach to create awareness of the campus and programs offered. Manages and build relationships with community colleges in order to recruit transfer students and develops relationships with local high school guidance counselors in an effort to recruit students who might be best served by the One Day Program. Locate opportunities to network and further the promotion of the campus and programs. Recruit students and attend fairs, corporate events, and special programs on an ongoing basis.

Qualifications: Must have BA or BS in related field required, Master’s degree preferred and a minimum of three (3) years’ experience in sales / marketing, enrollment management / admissions, experience in counseling, advising, and program development and implementation. Familiarity with Jenzabar, Constant Contact, Hobsons or other database and CRM highly desirable. Candidates should have experience in developing and marketing academic programs. Excellent management, organizational, verbal and written communication skills required. Qualified candidates must have the ability to work with confidential and sensitive information and maintain confidentiality and must be willing to work flexible and extended schedule; days, evenings, weekends as needed. Detail orientated, good planning skills with ability to work independently and in a team environment. Works well under pressure, able to handle multiple projects simultaneously and effectively. Travel required applicants must have valid driver’s license. Successfully pass driving record and criminal background check.

Applicants for this position should submit a cover letter outlining salary requirements, resume and contact information for four professional references. All applications should be sent electronically in MS Word format to hr@baypath.edu.

An equal opportunity employer, Bay Path College is committed to fostering diversity in its student body, faculty, and staff.

Contact Us: hr@baypath.edu

Baruch College President Mitchel B. Wallerstein will confer the degrees to the undergraduates and graduates. Award-winning journalist Gillian Tett is this year’s keynote speaker. Baruch College will award Ms. Tett the degree of Doctor of Letters and retired U.S. Army General and Entrepreneur Wesley K. Clark the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at the college’s annual commencement ceremony on May 30, 2013.

Valedictorian Fanta Conde, from The Bronx, is graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Investments. Conde was involved in the Student Academic Consulting Center (SACC) as a math tutor, volunteered as a career advisor with the African Student Association of Baruch (ASAB), and served as a guard on the women’s basketball team. Outside of Baruch, Conde volunteers as mentor for Harlem YMCA Black Achievers in Industry. She’s also a member of the Association Guineenne de Basketball Universitaire, AGUIBASKET, participating in tournaments and working to enhance youth basketball programs in Guinea. After graduation, Conde will be joining BlackRock as an Aladdin Business Analyst.

Faith Ringgold is best known as the originator of the African American story quilt revival that began in the 1970s,. Her exhibit, Black Light: Faith Ringgold’s Paintings of the 1960s, will be on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) June 21–Nov. 10, 2013. The exhibition explores the emotional and at times contentious issues that were at the forefront of her experience of racial inequality in the United States during the 1960s. Ringgold created bold, provocative paintings in direct response to the Civil Rights and feminist movements.

With only a few exceptions, these once influential paintings disappeared from view, omitted from critical art-historical discourse for more than 40 years. The exhibition includes 45 works from the landmark series American People (1963–67) and Black Light (1967–71), along with related murals and political posters.

“In this important anniversary year for the Civil Right movement, NMWA is proud to show these little known but important early paintings by Faith Ringgold. This engaging and challenging exhibition reflects the depth of Ringgold’s work and the compelling issues she addresses,” said NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling. “Art and activism in the 1960s broadened opportunities within the art world for women artists, a goal that we continue to strive for at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.”

During 1963, the year of the March on Washington, the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the political assassinations of Medgar Evers and John F. Kennedy, Ringgold began work on a series of 20 paintings entitled American People. Rendered in a style that synthesizes post-cubist Picasso, pop art, and traditional African sculpture and textiles, these paintings present subjects black and white, male and female, and rich and poor. In her words, “American People is about the condition of black and white America and the paradoxes of integration felt by many black Americans.”

The first painting in the American People series, Between Friends (1963), delves into the challenges of integration. Two other paintings in the series, The Flag Is Bleeding (1967) and Die (1967), examine the hierarchies of power and equality.

As a result of the violent uprisings that took place in many U.S. cities in the mid-1960s, Ringgold’s activist politics and her art evolved. In 1967, she continued her exploration of race through the series Black Light, celebrating the diversity of complexions among African Americans and examining standards of beauty within the “black is beautiful” movement. Perceiving the color black as emblematic of African Americans’ cultural and political “invisibility,” Ringgold developed dark, tonal studies of abstracted faces reminiscent of African masks in works such as Big Black (1967).

Honorees at the tribute will include Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Michelle Milliard, Executive Director of the Walmart Foundation. “They have both been deeply involved in missions advocated by my wife, –assisting those yearning for knowledge and leadership development for those who have a commitment to public service,” says BDI Chair, William Tucker.

Dr. Tucker’s numerous accomplishments include being the first African American woman appointed as Secretary of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma and leading a determined campaign against gangsta rap, the psychological toxin delivered to young people by what she called “the unholy alliance of gangstas in the suites and gangstas in the streets.”

She also, among other things, launched the successful campaign to have a bust of Sojourner Truth installed in the Capitol Building and created the visionary College For Teens program that helped to prepare students for higher education, academically and socially.

One of the most perceptive observations on Dr. Tucker was made by Hillary Rodham Clinton who noted that she “….gave a voice to those too timid or too intimidated to speak for themselves.”

A donation of $85 will be accepted at the door. Advance payment is also encouraged. For further information, please call A. Peter Bailey 301-562-8300 or email APeterB@verizon.net.

Jolita Brettler, 9, was definitely thrilled to be one of the lucky kids who played baseball this afternoon with his Royal Highness in Harlem.Harry spent part of the afternoon at Harlem RBI’s Field of Dreams. He came here to help launch a new partnership between Harlem RBI and the Royal Foundation. It will support the local non-profits youth coaching program called Project Coach.

The prince did not speak publicly. He got some baseball tips from Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and 9-year-old Jeremiah Garcia.The Prince then hit two balls straight to the outfield. The kids told me he seemed really fun and kind. He absolutely picked up some new royal fans.

Harry the headed to a Royal Foundation Fundraiser.

In the ESSENCE article, writer Linda Villarosa recounts how McCray wrote a groundbreaking essay in a 1979 issue of ESSENCE entitled, “I Am a Lesbian” — in what was perhaps the first time a Black gay woman spoke openly about her sexuality in a Black magazine. Now, 34 years later and happily immersed in a “traditional marriage,” McCray returns to the pages of ESSENCE to talk about life’s unexpected twists and turns, the fluidity of love, dirty politics and her 180-degree turn.

“I am more than just a label…labels put people in boxes, and those boxes are shaped like coffins,” said McCray. “Finding the right person can be so hard that often, when a person finally finds someone she or he is comfortable with, she or he just makes it work. As my friend Vanessa says, ‘It’s not whom you love; it’s that you love…’”

The June issue of ESSENCE hit newsstands on May 10. For more on the article, see the ESSENCE.com link below: http://www.essence.com/2013/05/09/politicians-wife-chirlane-mccray.

Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) is the number one media company dedicated to African-American women, with a multi-platform presence in publishing, live events, and online.

(Photo credit : Gina Levay)