Ladies Who Lunch – Dr. Lona C. Bibbs, chair of the National Hook-Up of Black Women’s Annual Conference, is in countdown mode preparing for the organization’s annual conference, April 15-18 at the Holiday Inn O’Hare, highlighted by
Ladies Who Lunch – Dr. Lona C. Bibbs, chair of the National Hook-Up of Black Women’s Annual Conference, is in countdown mode preparing for the organization’s annual conference, April 15-18 at the Holiday Inn O’Hare, highlighted by the Fannie Lou Hamer Luncheon on Saturday where all former Chicago Chapter sisters are invited to attend and be saluted. Tickets: $40. To RSVP, call Marie Landrum, a founding member, (708) 425-1642. Hey, Marie! I’ll be there!
The National Hook-Up of Black Women Inc. was founded in 1974 by the late Dr. Arnita Young Boswell, an activist and educator (University of Chicago), and a small group of spirited women during the fourth Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Weekend n Washington, D.C. Recognizing the need to establish a communications network between women’s organizations and CBC, they met in a hotel room and organized a national forum to articulate the needs and concerns of women and children.
Dr. Boswell, sister of the late Whitney Young Jr., former executive director of the National Urban League, also founded the League of Black Women and the Women’s Board of the Chicago Urban League. She died July 6, 2002 at age 82. For more on NHBW, log on www.nhbwinc.com.
Silver Salute – Hats off to Art Norman, NBC5’s retired award-winning news anchor and general assignment reporter, who picks up a coveted 2010 Silver Circle Award from Chicago/Midwest National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at a May 7 dinner at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel. Art’s award will be presented to him by Dr. Ian Smith, his former intern and now the medical/diet expert on VH1’s highly-rated Celebrity Fit Club, the creator and founder of The 50 Million Pound Challenge, medical contributor on the nationally syndicated Rachael Ray show and former medical correspondent for NBC’s Nightly News and the Today show. Fox News’ Robin Robinson emcees.
Congrats – to Christopher Fletcher on his promotion from captain in the Chicago Police Dept.’s 6th Dist. to commander of the 3rd Dist. (71st and Cottage Grove). Friends, family and colleagues will celebrate Fletcher’s promotion on Thursday at the South Shore Cultural Center. He brings 23 years of experience to the position as he has performed at every supervisory rank in CPD. He’s “excited” about his new position and “looks forward to executing new ideas, strategies and solutions to enhance the safety and well being of the residents of the 3rd Dist. community.” Wanna join the party? Call Off. Michelle Millison or Off. Jacqueline Bradford, (312) 747-5530.
Good Times – Bern NaDette Stanis (remember Thelma of TV’s Good Times?) and Tony Allen of the Boston Celtics (both lived in public housing as kids) emcee the National Public Housing Museum’s “An Afternoon of Good Times” on Sunday, 3 p.m., in the Merchandise Mart’s North Lobby. The event includes an awards ceremony and “Our Stories,” a program of stories of several local and national public housing figures, and the museum exhibit, History Coming Home. Stanis lived in Vandyke Houses in Brownsville, N.Y.; Allen, in Chicago’s Lowden Homes. Honorary chairs: Ald. and Mrs. Walter Burnett (Darlena Williams).
Among honorees: State Sen. Mattie Hunter, (Robert Taylor); Ellis Cose, contributing editor, Newsweek (Henry Horner); Rev. Marshall Hatch, pastor, New Mt. Pilgrim Church (ABLA); Deverra Beverly, CHA commissioner and president (Brooks and ABLA Homes); Sunny Fischer, executive director, Driehaus Foundation (Eastchester Projects, Bronx, N.Y.); Hallie Amey, CHA commissioner (Wentworth Gardens); Lewis Jordan, CHA’s CEO (Rockwell Gardens); Anthony Basile, CEO, Chicago Diversified Foods (Jane Addams); and Dick Portilo, restaurateur, (Cabrini Green). The museum opens in 2012 in the last remaining building of Jane Addams homes, a 1937 WPA building that was home to hundreds of public housing families until 2002.
Whazup! Whazup! – Artists in Residence of Trinity United Church of Christ celebrates “A Decade of Art” with an Opening Reception on Friday, 5:30 p.m., at the church. The 10th annual exhibit of a wide range of artistic interpretations from contemporary, classic, cultural, abstract and urban genres is open to the public every day through May 15. For hours, call (773) 962-5650.
Newsy Names – Cong. Bobby Rush, D-1st., will be saluted when Jackson Park Hospital & Medical Center holds an Open House on Thursday, 10:30 a.m., for its “Green Space” Family Medical Center, which offers the latest advanced heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. Also offered: other eco-friendly elements which regulate energy costs and provide better air control, believed to be the first of its kind on Chicago’s Southside. Cong. Rush was instrumental in the hospital receiving a million dollar matching grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy … Happy b’day to Hiram Jackson, Joslyn DiPasalegne, Judge Greg Mathis, Monroe Anderson, Senabella Gill, Charles Willette, Chef Hank Meyer, Lisa Miller-Holt, Ron Anderson, Susan Peters, Dr. Walter Massey and Michelle Lissette Fambro.
Honor Time – Timuel D. Black Jr., dean of Chicago’s Civil Rights Movement, educator, political activist, oral historian and author, will receive high praise and honor during the Human Rights Awards Dinner on April 17 at the Lutheran School of Theology, 1100 E. 55th St. Keynoting the event which marks the 37th anniversary of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, is Gerald Horne, Ph.D., noted historian and author.
Dr. Horne is the John J. and Rebecca Moores chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston and former director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers. He has written more than two dozen books based upon his extensive research into issues of racism nationally and internationally including Black and Red: W.E.B. DuBois and the Afro-American Response to the Cold War 1944-1963, Black and Brown: African Americans and the Mexican Revolution 1910-1920 and Reversing Discrimination: The Case for Affirmative Action.
Besides Black, other honorees who exemplify the theme of the event, Lift Every Voice for Justice, are Charlene Mitchell, founding executive secretary of NAARPR and executive secretary of the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis (1970); Mark Clements, advocate for justice for the wrongfully convicted and a victim of wrongful conviction who was recently released after 28 years in prison; and Bernardine Dohrn, founding director of the Children and Family Justice Center and clinical associate professor of law at Northwestern University Law School.
Founded in 1973, NAARPR works with other organizations to abolish the death penalty, end police brutality, hold former Chicago Police Dept. Commander Jon Burge and the men under his “command accountable for their acts of brutality,” and bring about prison reform by insisting that the Constitution of the State of Illinois be adhered to – specifically the Bill of Rights, Article 1, Section 11, Limitations of Penalty After Conviction. It states: “All penalties shall be determined by the seriousness of the offense and with the objective of restoring offenders to useful citizenship…” Contact Chicago Branch NAARPR, 1325 S. Wabash, Suite 105, Chicago, IL 60605, Call (312) 939-2750 or visit www.naarpr.org.
Condolences – to Cheri Warfield Byrd (Mrs. Manford) and Dr. Merrill Warfield on the loss of their sister, Eva Warfield Johnson, retired registered nurse, whose funeral was Monday at Trinity United Church of Christ where she served faithfully as a deacon … Also to Melvyn W. Williams II and Jacqui Gibbs on the death of their mom, Ruth E. Williams. Her service was Friday at Springfield Baptist Church in Evanston.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender