WomenUP Attendees to Enjoy Savory Networking Opportunities
February 23, 2009
Atlanta Women’s Network (AWN) is delighted to announce eight Atlanta women from the culinary arts and food business to serve up their specialties at the Savory Networking portion of the WomenUP 2009 conference, to be held Thursday, March 12 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.
Hundreds of Atlanta business and professional women and men are expected to attend Women UP 2009, the Atlanta Women’s Network annual conference to bring successful corporate and entrepreneurial women together to meet, greet and share useful tools and advice that can lead to greater success.
”Recharge – WomenUP 2009” is Thursday, March 12 in the Egyptian Ballroom at the Fox Theatre. Registration and Savory Networking begin at 4:45 p.m. and the main program begins at 6 p.m.
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Steve Harvey In Store at Kmart Mableton Feb 25th
February 23, 2009
Steve Harvey to Make In-Store Appearance at Local Kmart
In Celebration of Black History Month
Kmart #3996 5590 Mableton Parkway Mableton, GA 30126
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Kmart CMO Mark Snyder Joins Steve Harvey
and Encourages Customers to “Share the Word”
Steve Harvey will be making a special Kmart in-store appearance along with Chief Marketing Officer of Kmart, Mark Snyder in Mableton, GA. Harvey and Snyder will escort the contest winner of the “Shop with Steve” $1,000 shopping spree. The winner hails from Detroit , MI won the grand prize of a trip to Atlanta for the experience.
Harvey will be signing his new book available for purchase, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment and DVD Still Trippin’.
you just got the buzz from My ATL Events at DryerBuzz (dot com)
Twitter Me This: Oscars Red Carpet and Awards Twitter Viewing Party
February 22, 2009
Yes we’ve got the twitter viewing party started. We’ll be incogtwitto under @DryerBuzz for Sunday night’s Oscars and red carpets. Follow #Oscars and #RedCarpet at http://search.twitter.com to keep up with viewers in real time.
Until twitter figures out revenue generation or major television events recognize the popularity of real time opinion, we might see the mojo again that we enjoyed during the election. You’d think as much as TV advertising cost, sponsors would at least put some money behind real time ads that deliver real time traffic. Sponsor the mojo folks. Doh! they missed the boat again.
Black History – State of Mind 2009
February 22, 2009
At post time, we’re in the midst of what we at DryerBuzz.com call the Tyler-Tavis period where Tyler Perry releases a blockbuster thus showing our “buying power,” and where Tavis Smiley convenes the State of the Black Union (SOBU) otherwise known as modern day Black History. We’re also 30 days into the leadership of Barack Obama’s presidency. And you thought it was just another month on the calendar?
This is it. This is the time period to set the tone for Black America’s 2009. Not 2019, 2029 like the rest of the global world, just this moment in time until we learn to plan for the future. The year 2009 marks the ten year anniversary for State of the Black Union known as the convening of “black leadership” taking place February 28, 2009. Tavis Smiley, a traditional media icon, will fill a stage with “key influencer” often referred to as “Black leaders,” but who are the leading? Who’s following? Too often these individuals remind us of what Booker T. Washington might have been referring to as “race-problem solvers…”
“There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs….There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who do not want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public.” …Booker T. Washington
In all of the SOBU’s to date, once such “leader” stands out… The Honorable Louis Farrakhan graced the stage in 2005 at the State of the Black union and dropped so much science that had we listened, and better yet adopted the teachings in a real action plan, the state of Black America might be in a very different state today. If after convening for ten years, the State of the Black Union couldn’t predict the coming of a black president – then WT?
When “black leaders” and citizens say “I never thought this day will come,” then WT? What were the movements for? The deaths, protests, flight, education, historic this and advancement that? This years SOBU’s theme is “Accountable – Making America as Good as Its Promise.” What has America promised other than slavery will exist again if you step your ass on the plantation, i.e. courtroom or minimum wage job? I digress.
Are the “race problem solvers” going to tell us the state of the black union can’t advance with a Black president? Mark my word, that’s exactly what we’ll hear come February 28, 2009 when SOBU convenes.
If you haven’t followed the glorified chicken dinner circuit, where panelist go from hotel to hotel in the “settled habit of advertising [black America's] wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays” as Washington said, then you might think the message is new and the sense of urgency is real. But wait till the day after SOBU. No headlines with the exception of a few bloggers and a few “sound bite” videos forwarded through email, as well as a few press releases from major sponsors highlighting their re-investment into Black America. But real change will be slow to come, and certainly no real agenda and definitely no real investment into Black America.
Speaking of investment, the obvious hurdle in a movement is how Black America will unconscionably drop $60M on a movie, but will ask and wait for corporate America and the government to sponsor change. Remember waiting on the calvary to come during Katrina? It’s Black History 2009. We’ve got churches with million dollar loans and citizens without homes.
Oh but we have blockbusters with celebrities we expect to rescue Black America. Then we get upset when same said movies are ignored by the Oscars where each year there may be a sprinkling of African Americans. These same African Americans receive great reward for their craft from within their community but we consider them to have “made it” if they receive an Oscar nod. We’re delivering mixed message as usual.
Black history teaches us that we’re brilliant but does it also denote some of the greatest failures:
- Failure to unite with cohesive agenda
- Failure to master economics
- Failure to maximize opportunity
- Failure to learn from history
Does overcoming mean coming apart or separating from the pack? Madame CJ Walker was the first of how many? Johnson Publishing was the first of how many? Venus and Serena were the first of how many? Oprah, how many? Condi, Colin, Clarence, how many and why one? Barack Obama is the first, but how many will come after him? Must they separate from the pack to do so?
If asked, would we dropped $60M in an HBCU or better yet a law school to create great minds to follow in the footsteps of Justice Thurgood Marshall, become judges and bring change to our one eye opened justice system. On the other hand, how is it we have hundred year historic associates, organizations, and institutions and yet we still have people volunteering for slavery i.e. prison because they can’t envision of future coming from such a wonderful history?
Is the current state of Black America lasting because we have not yet focused on economics or had a movement to create substantial economic freedom? Does the current state lack a cohesive movement that creates anything beyond a “feeling?” We’ve got hundred year institutions but no infrastructures to create jobs, put food on tables, or foster true buying power where we can really recycle the dollar. The black dollar is recycling just the way it is supposed. It comes in from somewhere else and it goes right back out – today at the speed of broadband.
Are we on schedule? Is there a schedule? Is there a tool to measure where Black America should be in this point and time? Are we to react each moment to what comes at us?
So we want to be “accountable?” Let’s pump $100M into an agenda that creates a real safety net, change and education instead of a weeklong glorified chicken dinner as did many black organizations in 2008. In 2009, let’s swap the scholarship line items with the chicken dinners. Let’s leverage technology to control our image, create and synchronize buying power, and monitor the justice system the way we sync gossip and videos.
Rather than analyze a years past, let’s plan for the years to come. Let’s get it right or forget it, which may actually be our reality in 2009. If not, are we saying its time to separate the pack?
Why Chinese American businesses are faring better
February 21, 2009
“The fortunes of a newspaper published out of a second-floor Chinatown Plaza office may give us insight into differing attitudes about money and ways of surviving tough economic times. In a time when a 162-year-old national news chain such as the Tribune Co. file for bankruptcy protection, the Las Vegas Chinese Daily News is actually growing.”
Black Actresses Salute Taraji P. Henson’s Oscar Nomination
February 20, 2009
AP Video – As Taraji P. Henson is celebrated at Essence magazine’s pre-Oscar luncheon in Beverly Hills, fellow Hollywood actresses Halle Berry and Sanaa Lathan praise ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ actress. (Feb. 20)
DryerBuzz – In Hollywood Taraji P. Henson is the new new after staring in ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ with Brad Pitt. Henson is Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Viola Davis is also nominated for her role in Doubt. This is the first Academy Award nomination for both African American actresses. The category also includes Amy Adams, Penelope Cruz, and Marisa Tomei.
Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But A Cartoon Will Not Distract Me
February 19, 2009
AP – Some 200 demonstrators marched in front of the New York Post Thursday to protest a newspaper cartoon that critics say compares President Barack Obama to the chimpanzee that was recently shot dead by police in Connecticut. (Feb. 19)
DryerBuzz – Before leaving office, President Bush dodged a couple a shoes, said to be a major insult to the then President of the United States of America. Yet a cartoon with a few innuendos is an all out affront on the now sitting President? One might have expected PETA to be up in arms, but are the emotions of new “America” just a little frayed after such historic change?
Has anyone finished reading the stimulus yet? Better yet, if we’re going to be offended, let’s deal with the real infractions on Black Americans who are truly looking down the barrel of guns held by a men in uniforms. How many bullets did the cops unleash into the deranged chimp compared to that of unarmed black men?
It seems that emotionally, the perception of Black Americas upsets us more than the reality of Black America. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but a cartoon should not distract us.
BlackFridayGiving: KIPP South Fulton Academy
February 19, 2009
KIPP South Fulton Academy (KSFA) is a charter middle school to put all of students on a college track beginning in the fifth grade. KIPP South Fulton Academy believes that every child can learn, and that all children deserve access to a high-quality education that will truly prepare them for academic and personal success. KSFA believes that when students, parents, and teachers make a serious commitment to work hard and work together, anything can become possible for our children.
KIPP South Fulton Academy (KSFA) serves students in the fifth through eighth grades. Students must be zoned for Fulton County Schools in order to attend, but the only other criteria for admission are a desire to graduate from college and a willingness to commit to the long hours of hard work that it will take to get there. As a public charter school, our program is free for all students.
Note: Links open in new windows. BlackFridayGiving.org is provided by Sistributions and receives neither monies nor portions of contributions. All contributions are made through official websites. Links directly related to schools, organizations and charities listed.
BlackFridayGiving.org Commitment Poll
Loading ...BlackFridayGiving: Be Magic – Where Dreams Become Destiny
February 19, 2009
Dedicated to raising the level of consciousness, exploring deeper realities, and awakening a nation of women to their own extraordinary human potential, Be Magic™ Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and public charity, is the world’s largest supporter of single mothers and the restoration of lost dreams!
Be Magic™ 1) inspires 2) motivates, 3) educates, 4) celebrates and 5) empowers single mothers, and their children, of every culture, ethnicity and socio-economic background in the United States.
Learn More | Volunteer | Click to Give
Note: Links open in new windows. BlackFridayGiving.org is provided by Sistributions and receives neither monies nor portions of contributions. All contributions are made through official websites. Links directly related to schools, organizations and charities listed.
BlackFridayGiving.org Commitment Poll
Loading ...Black Dolls Exhibition – Atlanta Feb 23 thru 28th
February 19, 2009
Celebrate Black History Month with 100 Years of Black Dolls Exhibition
Free Event Scheduled from February 23rd Through February 28th at Greenbriar Mall
Experience black history through an amazing collection of dolls dating back to Africa in the late 1800s through present day at the 100 Years of Black Dolls Exhibit on display Monday, February 23 through Saturday, February 28 at Greenbriar Mall.
Daily showings will be held from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
More than 300 black dolls will be showcased from the collection of Montgomery, Ala.-native and civil rights activist Jamila Jones, who now lives in southwest Atlanta.
you just got the buzz from my ATL events and DryerBuzz (dot com)
