I will be checking them out in Stockholm:

Host: US Embassy Sweden
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Immanuelskyrkan
Street:Kungstensgatan 17
City/Town:Stockholm, Sweden
===================================================
Howard Gospel Choir is a gospel choir associated with Howard University, Washington DC. This first college choir of its kind in the nation, the Howard Gospel Choir has traveled internationally, recorded commercially and worked with notable artists to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through song. We celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni who include Grammy Award winners Richard Smallwood and Core Cotton of the Sounds of Blackness, as well as Elbernita and Twinkie Clark and Angela Winbush.

During Black History Month in February, the U.S. Embassy has supported the Scandinavian Tour of the Howard Gospel Choir, so forget ‘Körslaget’ and get up from your living room sofa and experience great gospel live!

ADMISSION IS FREE!

You can get their full schedule from the HU Gospel Choir MySpace page.

Wanuri Kahiu with film Pumzi

Wanuri Kahiu was born and raised in Nairobi. She read the masters program in filmregi at UCLA in Los Angeles and broke through with music movie Ras Star (2007) about a young Kenyan artist who tries to bring in a talent show. Wanuri Kahius own production company, Dada Productions, produces her films. Her first feature film From a Whisper was very attentive to CinemAfrica Ubuntu! Film Festival in autumn 2009.

Pumzi is the first science fiction film ever shown CinemAfrica, a 22 minutes short story about a near future without water. If Pumzi has Kahiu said that “the idea was born from a conversation with a friend to live in a world where people buy bottled air, shortly after I was told that the oxygen-bars already exist in some places on earth.” Pumzi was one of the winning films in the short film contest Latitude – Quest for the Good Life, Pan-African Short Film Competition 2009th
http://www.cinemafrica.se/

Wanuri Kahiu med filmen Pumzi

Wanuri Kahiu är född och uppvuxen i Nairobi. Hon läste mastersprogrammet i filmregi vid UCLA i Los Angeles och slog igenom med musikfilmen Ras Star (2007) om en ung kenyansk artist som försöker komma med i en talangshow. Wanuri Kahius eget produktionsbolag, Dada Produktions, producerar hennes filmer. Hennes första långfilm From a Whisper blev mycket uppmärksammad på CinemAfricas Ubuntu! Filmfestival hösten 2009.

Pumzi är den första science-fiction-filmen som CinemAfrica någonsin visat, en 22 minuter kort historia om en nära framtid utan vatten. Om Pumzi har Kahiu sagt att ”idén föddes ur ett samtal med en vän om att leva i en värld där människor köper luft på flaska, kort därefter fick jag veta att syre-barer redan existerar på vissa platser på jorden”. Pumzi var en av vinnarfilmerna i kortfilmstävlingen Latitude – Quest for the good Life, Pan-African Short Film Competition 2009.

http://www.cinemafrica.se/

Oona King was born in Sheffield, England to a Jewish mother and African American father, Preston King. In 1997 she went on to become the 2nd black woman in Britain voted to Parliament. Last year Oona King became the head of diversity at Britain’s television Channel 4. In 2007 she wrote The Oona King Diaries: House Music.

She joined the Labour Party in 1971 as a teenager and went on to serve on the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, and as an assistant to Glyn Ford MEP and and Glenys Kinnock MEP. in 1997 King was chosen to represent the seat of Bethnal Green & Bow.

In 2003 King supported the war in Iraq which led to her loosing her Parliamentary seat in 2005.

Official bio:

“The foundation begins with soul,” explains 20-year-old singer/songwriter/producer Laura Izibor of her passionate, piano-guided songs. On her forthcoming debut album, Izibor continues the lineage set out by artists like Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott; artists who combine a reverence for the traditions of early R&B with a thoroughly modern sensibility. After one listen to the powerful, honey-tinged vocals on Let The Truth Be Told, one thing is for sure. For Laura Izibor, it’s got to be real.

Born to a working class family in Dublin, Ireland, Izibor admits she didn’t grow up in a musical household. “My mother raised five kids on her own, so there wasn’t much time to buy records – it wasn’t that kind of home. I found myself fancying music at about 13.” Once the love for musicians like Stevie Wonder, Candi Staton, and Roberta Flack took hold, she was smitten for good. “One door opened to the next – first I discovered Marvin Gaye, and then Otis Redding, and I just fell in love with soul music.”

At the age of 15, Izibor won a prestigious national performance competition, the “2FM Song Contest.” At 17, she started work on her debut album, taking the time to really hone her songs. Let The Truth Be Told was recorded over the course of four years in a diverse range of cities: New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Dublin among them. Laura also performed live constantly during this period, finding her true home onstage. Having performed several sold-out shows in Ireland, and opened for acts including James Brown, Angie Stone, and The Roots, she’s earned the affectionate moniker “The Soul of Ireland” from the folks back home.

Early 2009 will reveal(ed) the fruits of this process, when Izibor release(d) the fully self-penned and co-produced Let The Truth Be Told. “The title felt like a strong, almost biblical statement,” she explains. “I’ve written this album because it’s my truth. It’s a sincere record and it has a feel of survival in it as well.” Izibor resisted the urge to feature established artists on various tracks, instead creating a revealing, and very personal, document of this moment in her life. “I didn’t want to be anybody’s protégé,” she says. “It’s very tempting to put in the reinforcements, but for my debut album I wanted it to be 100% from me.”

The songs are ripe with authenticity, from the sassy, soulful album opener, “Shine,” to the magnificent and deeply personal “If Tonight Is My Last,” to the anthemic and inspirational “Mmm,” which colored the soundtrack of Step Up 2: The Streets. With her tracks also featured on Grey’s Anatomy, The Hills, and The Nanny Diaries, Izibor has found that airing her heartfelt take on life and love has translated to the hopes and struggles of various characters, as well as to the people at home watching them. “I hope people take away a sense of honesty and realness in the record. They’re just songs written from a really sincere place, and hopefully people can connect to it on some level and relate their own lives to it as well.”

For Izibor, the process of bringing her Truth to light has had a long gestation period, taking her around the world and back. She’s poised and ready for her moment. “Life is good. Music is amazing. It’s just a great, unusual thing to be doing what I love, and I’m genuinely grateful. I come from a working class family, so my bothers and sisters and my mother worked so many jobs their whole life, just trying to provide for us. That’s why I’m extremely humbled and grateful to be able to do something that is not only what I love, but pretty unbelievable.”

June 13th-30th, 2010

For additional information over this course, please contact Amy Abdou a.abdou@ninsee.nl.

Download the Application Form

Course Description

The Summer School on Black Europe is an intensive two week course offered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The course is a collaboration between the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and NiNsee, the National Institute for the study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy.

This course will begin with a historical overview of social and civil conflict in Europe leading to the formation of laws and antidiscrimination legislation within the EU. We will look specifically at anti-discrimination laws as they have arisen in various European countries; comparing the history of regulation and management of race and ethnic relations and the discourse surrounding the concept of Blackness and self-identification. Historically, social forces within Europe have given rise to policies to combat racism. We will trace the chain of events following social and civil conflicts that prompted these policies and analyze the legislative and intellectual discourse produced in the aftermath.

In the second week, we will explore the notions of blackness as; an official categorization; as a social construction, employed by natives to indicate (non) belonging; as a Diaspora living within Europe; and as a contestation of the dominant (White) paradigm. We will focus on the historical and colonial legacies of European countries to discuss the origins of Black Europe and investigate the impact of these legacies on policies and legislation.

This course will also seek to address the dimensions of race and ethnic relations that are unique to Europe; examining the ways in which conceptions of the “other” are institutionalized and reproduced; the rise of xenophobia in various EU countries; the legal definitions and discourse surrounding the conceptualized “other”; and examining the ways in which each country has dealt with issues of race and national identity.

Instructors 2010
Dr. Ramon Grosfoguel, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Stephen Small, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Kwame Nimako, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Philomena Essed, Antioch University
Dr. David Theo Goldberg, University of California Humanities Research Institute
Dr. Dienke Hondius, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr. Thomas Spijkerboer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Programme Manager

Amy Abdou

Certificate and Credits
This course is accredited through the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Students wishing to receive university credit (3 US credits of 5 ECTS credits) for the course must submit a paper (15-20 pages) before September 1st, 2010. The paper topic must first be submitted to the directors of the programme for approval. Proposals are due at the end of the first week of the programme. Please do not submit a paper proposal in advance of the programme. Once a paper topic has been approved, the students may begin with their research. University libraries will be made available to the students during the course. The paper will be graded on its relevance to Black European Studies and its ability to process the course material. The paper must be relevant to the subject and incorporate some of the readings from the Summer School.
All students who attend and successfully complete the Summer School on Black Europe will receive a certificate of attendance.

Tuition
Non-credit tuition € 1600
Credit tuition € 1850

Tuition does not include housing during the programme or travel to and from Amsterdam. Tuition covers all course materials, lunch during the days when the course is held and travel and entry fees on excursion days. Housing is available through the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for a fee of €400 per month.

From the BLACK HISTORY MONTH – Hamburg 2010 team:

Hello everyone,

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2010 is about to start this Saturday 30.01. – 22.00 h with a grand OPENING PARTY !

We have a big program of more than 25 single events during the next weeks.

Live music, lectures, poetry, films, youth program and more.

Check out the details at www.BHMhamburg.de

We hope you will find it interesting and look forward to seeing you all again. Of course we would like to see new face as well.

But while we are celebrating Black culture, looking at history and empowering the community, we will also think of our brothers and sisters suffering in Haiti right now. Throughout BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2010 we will be asking for donations towards the cause and contributions will also be made from the entree fees.

That’s why we need you to help us get as many people as possible to come to the events.

Here are 3 things that would have a great effect on the turnout :

- Call up a couple of people who probably don’t know about BLACK HISTORY MONTH
- Remind or tell your friends about the OPENING PARTY this Saturday and bring them along with you
- Forward the mail to people who could be interested

We thank you for your support !

Remember our new main location is :

CAFÈ SCHÖNE AUSSICHTEN
www.schoeneaussichten.com
Gorch-Fock-Wall 4
20354 Hamburg
040 – 340113

One Love – the BHM Team

BLACK HISTORY MONTH – Hamburg 2010 30.01. – 07.03.

www.bhmhamburg.de
www.myspace.com/bhmhamburg

Jennette Arnold OBE Chair of the Greater London Authority and African Caribbean Business Network Chair, Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE are delighted to invite you to a members business breakfast at City Hall.

Where:
Greater London Authority, City Hall,
Greater London Authority, City Hall,
The Queen’s Walk, More London,
London SE1 2AA

When:
February 17, 2010 at 08:30 – 10:00 AM

In addition to having a sumptuous breakfast at the centre of the our capital’s administration, we will be treated to a key note address from Olympic Contract winner Mr John Charles, Managing Director for Catering 2Order.

John will speak candidly to the delegates in attendance about the importance of “minding your own business” when it comes to stage one of any procurement opportunity, the application process. This subject is timely given the emerging opening up of tier 7 (your tier) opportunities for Games contracts in March 2010. Register Now!

This fantastic opportunity is limited to 25 businesses only and costs just £25:00 per person (members) and £30.00(non members). Supported by Tower Hamlets College The breakfast programme is likely to commence from 08:30 and conclude by 10:00am.

3. I resolve to make the Black Women in Europe™ blog (even) more helpful, entertaining, and informative.

Tara in the UK wants more business features and meetings.

Thanks Tara! I belong to several professional networks and will list a few for women in Europe here. These organizations are a great source for networking, seminars, conference, and other meetings as well as resources for developing your business and professional skills.

The International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW International) develops the professional, leadership and business potential of women on all levels through advocacy, mentoring, networking, skill building and economic empowerment programs and projects around the world.

Mission

* Promote the professional progress of women through all their career phases, from potential through the pipeline to power by mentoring, training and networking

* Promote sustainable professional career paths for all by working to disseminate information on innovative best practices

* Encourage companies to recognise the necessity of diverse and innovative management approaches by promoting women’s success stories (what they did new and differently)

* Raise the volume of European women’s voices by increasing women’s presence in the media and public life (conferences, think tanks..)

* We aim to create an online European network of 5,000 professional women dedicated to leading positive and progressive change for and through their organizations.

* The European network will focus on raising our voices, interconnecting the generations and sharing best practices and knowledge across Europe.

* National networks will focus on developing offline networking, training and personal development for women in their cities and countries.

Today W.I.N. is an internationally recognized platform engaging thousands of modern women and an increasing number of men. Partnering and working with W.I.N. means joining the future, a movement that drives innovation, fosters diversity, creates inspiration, evokes learning and enables open and generous relationships.

There is a list of Black female entrepreneurs on the Women of the African Diaspora website in the Marketplace section. Be sure to encourage the entrepreneurs you know to submit their information for inclusion.

3. I resolve to make the Black Women in Europe™ blog (even) more helpful, entertaining, and informative.

Surveys are great! Now I know what my readers and members found helpful, entertaining and informative. And I can make the blog even more helpful, entertaining, and informative

Sahro in the Netherlands would like to see more portrayal of activities on (a) country level.

Good idea Sahro! I have started a list of women’s organization in Europe that focus on issues that are important to black women. It is published on the Black Women in Europe™ Social Media Group website.

Please take a look
at it and let me know about other organizations I should include.

The team of WDLS-EU proudly announces 54 international and regional high profiled diversity thought leaders including CEOs, policy-makers, ministers, researchers and practitioners registered to speak at the WDLS-EU 2010.

Visit www.wdls.eu for a full agenda and registration.

Our registered featured speakers include:

Josef Pröll (Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance, Austria)
Rudolf Hundstorfer (Minister of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Austria)
H.E William C. Eacho 111 (Ambassador of the USA to Austria)
Wolfgang Ruttendorfer (CEO OMV AG Group, Austria)
Lord Michael Hastings (Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick, CBE International Director of Corporate Citizenship at KPMG, UK)
Douglas Freeman (CEO Virtcom Consulting and mastermind of the WDLS, USA)
John Barrett (Ambassador of Canada to Austria)
Brigitte Jank (President Vienna Chamber of Economic and Industry, Austria)
Hans Jablonski (CEO Jablonski Businesses, Germany)
Morten Kjærum (Director of the European Fundamental Rights Agency, Austria)
Michael Bird (Regional Director, British Council, Austria)
Angela Hang (Vice President, Corporate Affairs
Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Austria)
Andrés Tapia (Chief Diversity Officer/Emerging Workforce Solutions Leader
Hewitt Associates, USA)

and many more.

Visit website www.wdls.eu in the next days for our speakers update.

Register today, join our early birds and benefit from our special offer.

Registration available online under: www.wdls.eu/registration/

CinemAfrica Film Festival 24-28 February 2010!

Soon it’s time again! CinemAfrica Film Festival opens in Stockholm, 24-28 February. Today begins ticket sales! Super-fresh program is available from the festival cinema Sture, Zita, Bio Rio and Klarabiografen of Culture.

CinemAfrica Film Festival offers the best and latest films from the African continent and Diaspora. The 2010 program contains 28 films from 12 countries. On www.cinemafrica.se you can read about the films, the inauguration, the party, guests, film breakfasts and much more!

This year is the Women’s year. We will show a series of films about women who have had enough, where women make up and about women who rebel. From Egypt, Scheherazade, a feminist-thousand-and-a-night talk show in the story environment. The documentary I Loved So Much, we are rarely told the story of how Moroccan women forced to become prostitutes in the service of French soldiers in Indochina. From South Africa offers famous Shirley Adams in a cinematic punch. And in the comedy A Women Like No Other, from Burkina Faso, takes my second husband. We are also proud that for the first time in history CinemAfrica able show an African science fiction, on the day on which water and oxygen becomes hard. If it is, and much, much more you can read in our Program Journal!

Förfestivalmingel at Café craze

Wednesday, 20 January at 17.30-20.00 is festival party at Café craze, Birger Jarlsgatan 36, across from two of our festival cinemas: Zita and Sture.

Welcome!

Nu släpps program och biljetter till CinemAfrica Filmfestival 24-28 feb 2010!

Snart är det dags igen! CinemAfrica Filmfestival slår upp portarna i Stockholm 24-28 februari. Idag börjar biljettförsäljningen! Pinfärska program finns att hämta på festivalbiograferna Sture, Zita, Bio Rio och Klarabiografen i Kulturhuset.

CinemAfrica Filmfestival bjuder på de bästa och senaste filmerna från den afrikanska kontinenten och diasporan. 2010 års program innehåller 28 filmer från 12 länder. På www.cinemafrica.se kan du läsa om filmerna, invigningen, festen, gästerna, filmfrukostarna och mycket mer!

I år är det kvinnornas år. Vi visar en rad filmer om kvinnor som fått nog, om kvinnor som gör upp och om kvinnor som gör uppror. Från Egypten kommer Scheherazade, en feministisk tusen-och-en-natt-saga i talkshow-miljö. I dokumentären I Loved So Much får vi den sällan berättade historien om hur marockanska kvinnor tvingades bli prostituerade i tjänst hos franska soldater i Indokina. Från Sydafrika bjuder omtalade Shirley Adams på ett filmiskt knytnävsslag. Och i komedin A Women Like No Other, från Burkina Faso, tar sig Mina en andra man. Vi är också stolta över att för första gången i CinemAfricas historia kunna visa en afrikansk science fiction, om den dag då vatten och syre blir hårdvaluta. Om det och mycket, mycket mer kan du läsa i vår programtidning!

Förfestivalmingel på Café Vurma

Onsdagen den 20 januari kl 17.30-20.00 bjuder vi på förfestivalmingel på Café Vurma, Birger Jarlsgatan 36, mittemot två av våra festivalbiografer: Zita och Sture. Vi som jobbar med festivalen finns på plats och presenterar några godbitar ur årets festivalprogram.

Hjärtligt välkomna!

CinemAfrica arbetar med att sprida afrikansk film i Sverige genom att arrangera filmfestivaler, filmvisningar med seminarier kring aktuella teman och erbjuda gratis film till skolor runt om i landet. För mer info: www.cinemafrica.se, info@cinemafrica.se, 08-411 62 40

The Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences (BGSS) is calling for applications to its international Doctoral Program starting in the fall of 2010. Outstanding academic records, methodological training, strong theoretical foundations, and a commitment to empirical research are expected. Applicants may submit their applications via the BGSS online platform at www.bgss.hu-berlin.de in the period from January 5 to February 15, 2010.

The BGSS promotes doctoral research in the social sciences at the Institute of Social Sciences of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. It is part of a regional network of leading research institutions such as the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), the Centre Marc Bloch (CMB) and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and part of European networks of graduate programs.

Research proposals should relate to the comparative analysis of:

Varieties of social inclusion (problems of class structure, social inequality and legitimacy; problems of migration and cultural diversity; social movements and social conflict).

Varieties of democracy (performance of mature and young democracies; transition to democracy and autocracy; the role of civil society in modern democracies; welfare states, political institutions and democracy; the democratization of supranational institutions).

Preference is given to proposals linking both research areas. Depending on the applicant’s methodological and theoretical knowledge, a place is offered either in the three year international Doctoral Program or the Introductory Year.

Doctoral researchers are awarded scholarships of 1200€/month for up to 36 months, contingent on the successful completion of each year. Pre-doctoral candidates may receive funding of 800€/month for the duration of the Introductory Year.

For further information please visit www.bgss.hu-berlin.de or contact the BGSS via bgss@sowi.hu-berlin.de.

The BGSS is a Graduate School of the Excellence Initiative funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Visit www.wdls.eu for a full agenda and registration.

World Diversity Leadership Summit Europe March 11-12, 2010
Hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Hans W. Jablonski – Economist M.A. – Director & Senior Consultant

Hans W. Jablonski is senior consultant and managing director of jbd (Jablonski Business Diversity).
He works for international companies with his expertise focusing on diversity & change management.
He has gained more than 16 years practical experience in people- and organisational development in different sectors.

In the course of his career, Hans Jablonski has worked as a manager in companies of various branches
(Ford: Automotive industry, BP: Chemical industry, Commerzbank: Finance). Hans Jablonski has been one of the first diversity managers in Germany. He initiated the corporate initiative “Diversity Charta” for Germany and contributes to a European Diversity Charter.

He is an acknowledged expert in his subjects. About two years ago Hans Jablonski founded his company jbd.
Since then he has consulted several companies in introducing and conducting diversity management.
Hans Jablonski is an excellent moderator for various topics addressing a wide range of target groups.

Mr. Jablonski is going to talk about “Diversity Charters in Europe – A joint venture of business and politics”.
So far, the Diversity Charter has been established at country level in France, Germany and Spain.
Although no European Diversity Charter is planned, there are ongoing activities at the European level to identify commonalities and create alignment on the Diversity Charters in these countries.

Visit www.wdls.eu for a full agenda and registration.

Where:
Oxford Business Entrepreneurs Network – Oxford
Will be confirmed on Booking:
Please Note due to system used fees will be
charged in Dollar equivalent of 47.00 GBP = $75.00

When:
January 23, 2010 at 09:00 AM
-to-
January 23, 2010 at 05:30 PM

We’re at the beginning of a new decade, and with the economic down turn, many entrepreneurs are at a cross roads as to how they will make it through the end of the decade. We can help set you off in the right direction in the right frame of business mind. So don’t miss out come to our Small Business Bootcamp where you can hear:-

From our secret weapon.. Reena Marla joins the line up on the 23rd January in Oxford Find Out More Reena will tell you “How To Sell And Buy A House For One Pound”. For those looking for additional and passive income – you’ve got to hear what Reena has to say about Options. Known as the Queen of Options – Reena will share with you how to Buy and Sell a house for one pound, with zero mortgage, zero deposit and zero stamp duty…what more could you ask for? Find Out More on Reena’s Cash Flow Nights.

Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE will be sharing with you the secrets of her Seven Success Strategies System, a fast track to marketing your business through your personal profile with minimum investment based on 27 years of success and how she used the system to make and keep her a millionaire. Find Out More

But that’s not all – Sam Onigbanjo Consulting4London, – who raises millions of pounds for small business and organization day in and day out.. will show you what he does, how much he raises and how he does it, so you can do it too.

# Invest in your future for just 47.00 and receive over 2,500.00
worth of advice, information and bonus gifts in one day.Register Now!
# Secure their business future by Maximizing Their Profits With Minimal Investment. Dr Thompson will share with you how with her Seven Secret Success Strategies System.
# Know how to generate funding for start up or existing business. Mr Fund Finder – Sam Onigbanjo will add you to the list of his successful clients who he has already raised millions for
# Start a new business or add to an existing portfolio of businesses. .Reena Marla the Options Queen will show you how to have a passive or full time income by learning to sell and buy houses for just one pound!!
# Experience an exciting, fun packed day that will jump start your decade with the energy you need to boost your business profits.

Get the Registration information.

Today is the national holiday to honor the legacy of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Black expats and American around the world can honor the legacy of Dr. King by participating in Democrats Abroad Day of Service opportunities. Find out what is happening near you by contacting your local Democrats Abroad chapter.

If you live in the Stockholm, Sweden region you can join Democrats Abroad Sweden for two service days to celebrate King’s legacy:

Dates: 20-21 January 2010
Time: 9.30-12.30 (meet location at 9.15)
Place: Stadmissonen Bostället at Högbergsgatan 51, Stockholm
# of volunteers requested each day: 10-12
RSVP to: dashalland@gmail.com

Program:
Keeping in line with President Obama’s Call to Service and a National Service Day on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, the Democrats Abroad Sweden Stockholm Chapter will perform our day of service on Stockholm’s south side.

Over two days we will help the residents of the Stadmissonen Bostället at Högbergsgatan 51, who need help “renovating” a room on the 6th floor. Painting will be involved so volunteers should come dressed appropriately. Donations of paint brushes and paint will be gratefully accepted. We have been invited to have lunch with the residents at 12.30.

To take advantage of your chance to make a difference in our community be sure to RSVP to dashalland@gmail.com as soon as possible.

The event organizer MOVE GmbH promises a double world premiere: at the premiere of “HOPE – the Obama Musical Story” on Sunday, 17 January at 8:00 pm, the audience will rhythmically participate on specially developed percussion chairs – for the first time ever worldwide.

The production is realized in German and English. Visit the official website for ticket information.

Important note from the HOPE production team:

The “HOPE musical production” does not pursue any political interests with their production. Being artists, we merely stage a piece of attitude to life of the “historic year 2008″ with topics still prevailing today as well as good entertainment and music!

In keeping with my New Year’s resolutions for the Black Women in Europe ™ social network here’s what I’m working on this week.

2. I resolve to convert more Black Women in Europe ™ social network members to blog readers.

Tweeple can get the daily Black Women in Europe blog headline from the BWIE Twitter account:
http://twitter.com/bwie

Other Black Women in Europe on Twitter should send their Twitter ID to @bwie to be added to the Black Women in Europe Twitter list:
http://twitter.com/bwie/blackwomenineurope

In keeping with my New Year’s resolutions for the Black Women in Europe ™ social network here’s what I’m working on this week.

2. I resolve to convert more Black Women in Europe ™ social network members to blog readers.

You can customize the Black Women in Europe™ blog widget here and place it on your website:
http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/black-women-in-europe

In keeping with my New Year’s resolutions for the Black Women in Europe ™ social network here’s what I’m working on this week.

2. I resolve to convert more Black Women in Europe ™ social network members to blog readers.

2. Everyone can keep up with the blog via Friend Connect:
Join Friend Connect in the blue bar at the top of the page – http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com

In keeping with my New Year’s resolutions for the Black Women in Europe ™ social network here’s what I’m working on this week.

2. I resolve to convert more Black Women in Europe ™ social network members to blog readers.

The survey shows that while the majority of the social network members are blog readers 20% are not. Again here’s where giving them what they asked for should help. Here are additional ways to read the Black Women in Europe™ blog.

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

You can keep up with the Black Women in Europe™ blog without visiting the site daily via the RSS feed. You can add the feed to your desktop or bookmark it:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/blackwomenineurope/kPrt

Or subscribe via email:

To celebrate Martin Luther King Day on Mon 18 January and the one year anniversary of Barack Obama’s inauguration on Tues 20 January, Rich Mix presents a week of special events encompassing theatre, film, spoken word and live music.

FILM / Malcolm X / Mon 18 Jan / 7pm / Screen 3 / £5
IN CONVERSATION / Ben Okri / Tues 19 January / 7.30pm / Screen 2 / £5
THEATRE / The Uninvited / Wed 20 Jan / 7.30pm / Venue 1 / £10 / £8 concs
SPOKEN WORD / All-Star Poetry Olympics SuperJam / Fri 22 Jan / 7.30pm / Bar / £12 / £10 concs
THEATRE / Michael X / Fri 22 Jan / 7.30pm / Venue 1 / £12 / £10 concs
MUSIC / Denys Baptiste – Let Freedom Ring / Sat 23 Jan / 8pm / Bar / £15 / £12 concs

Where:

RICH MIX
35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA

BOX OFFICE:
020 7613 7498

OFFICE/ADMIN:
020 7613 7490

FAX: 020 7613 7499

info@richmix.org.uk
www.richmix.org.uk

Resolutions continued:

1. I resolve to give the Black Women in Europe™ blog readers and social network members exactly what they ask for.

I’ll take the information gleaned from our 3rd blog and 2nd social network anniversaries survey in 2009 and literally give my readers and social network members, who responded from Australia, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Rwanda, United Kingdom and the United States, what they asked for as far as features and content.

Yvette in Greece thinks “reports of what life is like to be black, hot spots to visit and lastly time sharing of goods and services (swaps?) might be interesting additions”.

1. Thank you Yvette. Since you’ve been interviewed in our first issue you know that Black Expat online magazine is a good way to find out what life is like to be black and hot spots in cities and countries around the world. Send some interviewees my way, please! I’ll try to bring more of that feeling over here to the BWIE blog too.

Ronke asked for more information on European cities so I put the call out yesterday for more submissions.
I hope people take the time out to hit me back.

2. I setup a Barter group in the Women of the African Diaspora Social Network to facilitate the trading of our goods and services with sisters around the world.

Sisters in Europe are invited to join the Barter Club on the Women of the African Diaspora social network. Let’s get what we need and want by trading our goods and services.

Resolutions continued:

1. I resolve to give the Black Women in Europe™ blog readers and social network members exactly what they ask for.

I’ll take the information gleaned from our 3rd blog and 2nd social network anniversaries survey in 2009 and literally give my readers and social network members, who responded from Australia, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Rwanda, United Kingdom and the United States, what they asked for as far as features and content.

Ronke in the UK “would like to see stories on bloggers, events and profiles of European cities”.

I did a series on Black women bloggers in Europe. Check some of them out here:

Norway, Scotland, The Netherlands, and
France.

I would love to feature more Black women bloggers in Europe. Please send me the blog URL’s of sisters who are blogging in Europe. If they are Tweeple, Tweet me their Twitter ID to @bwie for the Black Women in Europe™ Twitter list:
http://twitter.com/bwie/blackwomenineurope

2. I admit I need to do a better job of updating the events page on here on the blog. The World Diversity Leadership Summit EU conference takes place in Vienna in March. WDLSEU registration link
Social network members can add their events to the Events page on the social network.

Readers are requested to send information about all kinds of events of interest to Black women in Europe to contact@blackwomenineurope.com.
Event planners are invited to advertise their events for Black women in Europe here.

3. Ronke have you heard about Black Expat online magazine? It contains profiles about expats around the world. There are several profiles of expats living in Europe. Their location is profiles as well. If you know any Black expats we’d love to interview them!

Another good way to get the inside scoop about cities in Europe is to join the regional groups on the Black Women in Europe social network. That way you can get inside information from the residents.

Sisters who are living in Europe I would live to invite you to submit a guest post describing your city. I like short and sweet so you should include:
1. a photo of you in your city
2. your top 5 things to do, including where to eat (please mention what to order), drink (please mention the best day to go), and shop (please mention what to buy).
3. one insider tip only locals would know – forget example the one festival not to miss, the best concert venue, best way to get value for money.
4. If my best friend were here this would be our iternary for a day. _________________________________.
If you have a website or blog I’ll link back to you. Send it to contact@blackwomenineurope.com

Resolutions continued:

1. I resolve to give the Black Women in Europe™ blog readers and social network members exactly what they ask for.

I’ll take the information gleaned from our 3rd blog and 2nd social network anniversaries survey in 2009 and literally give my readers and social network members, who responded from Australia, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Rwanda, United Kingdom and the United States, what they asked for as far as features and content.

Pamela in Denmark “would like to see more content on business partnerships, education and arts’.

1. Thank you Pamela. Be sure to join the regional groups on the Black Women in Europe™ social network for countries where you would like to learn more about business partnerships, education and arts. You will be able to contact the other group members. Have you joined the Entrepreneurs group on the Black Women in Europe™ social network? You may be able to facilitate or forge a business partnership or two there. Be sure to check the forums too as partnership requests have been known to be posted there.

Sisters looking for business partnerships should send the details about your company, what you offer, and what type of Partner Company would be complimentary to yours to contact@blackwomenineurope.com to be posted here on the blog.

2. Pamela you should also join the Academia group on the BWIE social network to get information about educational opportunities. I try to cross post those opportunities here on the blog too. But if you are a member of the group you will get the information first hand. Several of our members are studying in Europe and can give you the inside scoop about their programs and institutions.

Did you know about the single umbrella agency for education and training programs in the EU (I didn’t until very recently)? The European Commission has integrated its various educational and training initiatives under a single umbrella, the Lifelong Learning Program. The program enables individuals at all stages of their lives to pursue stimulating learning opportunities across Europe. There are four sub-programs focusing on different stages of education and training and continuing previous programs.

If you are on Facebook try reading Lorraine’s note about free University studies in Europe; or you can read it from here.

A friend Roland in Stockholm sent me this link: http://www.open.ac.uk/mbaopen/sweden

Dear readers, please send me information about education in Europe on contact@blackwomenineurope.com so that I can share them here.

3. There is a group for Artists on the Black Women in Europe™ social network. And here’s a non-comprehensive list of art galleries in south and north Europe. I saw a great exhibit titled “Black is Beautiful: Rubens to Dumas” in Amsterdam a while back and got the book.

I came across a site that lists different arts festival around the world. I’d love to have more resources like this.

I am working on resolution #1 this week:

1. I resolve to give the Black Women in Europe™ blog readers and social network members exactly what they ask for.

I’ll take the information gleaned from our 3rd blog and 2nd social network anniversaries survey in 2009 and literally give my readers and social network members, who responded from Australia, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Rwanda, United Kingdom and the United States, what they asked for as far as features and content.

Tara in the UK wants “more Health tips, networking and social networking gatherings”.

1. Thanks Tara! Here’s a healthy tip I am going to eat using this raw food recipe from Rev. A. McKenzie in London:

Black-eyed Pea Salsa
200g/7oz sprouted black-eyed peas
1/2 cucumber, peeled & diced
2tbsp diced red pepper
2tbsp diced yellow pepper
1 clove of garlic, puréed
Paprika to taste
Juice of 1/2 a lime
3tbsp olive oil
Combine the ingredients and mix well. Add the lemon and olive oil last. Season to taste.

Did you see the post last month about getting Aliesh Pierce’s skin care secrets? She’s a professional make up artist who has worked in Europe, New York and is now in Los Angeles.

I’m inviting sisters who work or have worked in Europe as doctors, nurses, researchers, aestheticians, Yoga instructors, and/or dieticians to send me your health tips so that I can share them here and link back to your website. Equally I would love to know what health tips you have from your mother, grandmother, best friend or other trusted source.

2. Tara, and other sisters in Europe, please join the Black Women in Europe™ group on Linkedin. Sisters in Europe are also invited to join the Black Women in Europe™ social network.

Sisters are invited to send me information about networking events in Europe. I am happy to include them in the events section here on the blog. Be sure to send photos afterwards as I’ll share those in the events section too.

3. There will be a Black Women in Europe™ social network gathering in Washington, DC early this month. If you are in the DC area (social network members only) email me with your full name and number so that I can pass your information on to the organizers.

I’ve never been a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. I try to make the changes I need for a better life as soon as I see an opportunity for improvement. But some New Year’s Eves are more sentimental than others prompting the desire for full self examination in order to make a list of resolutions on which to act during the year. 12 December 2009 was one such New Year’s Eve.

For the first time I am making a list of New Year’s resolutions for the Black Women in Europe™ blog. If I focus on one resolution a week this month it could become habit by February and I should be able to stay on track for Twenty Ten.

1. I resolve to give readers and social network members exactly what they ask for.

I’ll take the information gleaned from our 3rd blog and 2nd social network anniversaries survey in 2009 and literally give my readers and social network members, who responded from Australia, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Rwanda, United Kingdom and the United States, what they asked for as far as features and content.

2. I resolve to convert more Black Women in Europe ™ social network members to blog readers.

The survey shows that while the majority of the social network members are blog readers 20% are not. Again here’s where giving them what they asked for should help. Both are invited to keep up with the blog via Friend Connect. Join Friend Connect in the blue bar at the top of the page. Or use the RSS feed.

3. I resolve to make the Black Women in Europe™ blog (even) more helpful, entertaining, and informative.

Surveys are great! Now I know what my readers and members found helpful, entertaining and informative. And I can make the blog even more helpful, entertaining, and informative.

4. I resolve to increase the Black Women in Europe ™ social network membership to 1,000 from current numbers of 600+.

There is strength in numbers. Not to mention new connections for your social and business network. If you are a sister in Eurpe Black Women in Europe ™ social network join to share and receive information and inspiration with other sisters in Europe and around the world. Be sure to invite other black women you know currently living, working and/or studying in Europe to join the Black Women in Europe™ social network.

Dr. Andrea Smith-Hunter, a professor at Siena College in the United States, is writing a book on women entrepreneurs globally and needs European women entrepreneurs complete a questionnaire by 31 January 2010. The questionnaire takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete online:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=042mn6lHBCi2TQSkgfrdFQ_3d_3d

Preliminary results from the study will be made available on March 31, 2010. The book, Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Marketplace, will be published by Edward Elgar Publishing in late 2010.

For questions contact: Dr. Andrea Smith-Hunter, Associate Professor, Marketing and Management Department; Hickey Chair, Siena College, AHUNTER@siena.edu

Wishing you peace, health, prosperity and happiness in this new decade.

>>Happy New Year 2010!<<

Welcoming in a new decade is noteworthy. I bet we can all remember what we were doing on 31 December 1999. I was ringing in the millennium in Thailand having a crazy, fun time. Where were you? Wherever you find yourself this year I wsh you happiness and safety.

>>Baracko Coin Discount for Black Women in Europe™ readers<<
Black Women in Europe™ social network group member Anne created the Baracko coin in Greece to celebrate Obama’s nomination as Presidential candidate. Now she is offering a 10% discount to Black Women in Europe™ blog readers:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/2009/12/20/celebrate-obamas-1st-year-in-office-with-a-barack-coin/

>>Black Women in Europe™ Twitter List<<

If you or other sisters you know in Europe use Twitter send your Twitter ID to @bwie for inclusion on the Black Women in Europe™ Twitter List:
http://twitter.com/bwie/blackwomenineurope

2009 marked the 3rd anniversary of the Black Women in Europe™ blog. Here are the 2nd part of some highlights from the blog this year.

By category:

Entrepreneurs

France:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1567
The Netherlands:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1469
Sweden:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1583
Switzerland:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=872
UK:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1302
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1516
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1473
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1577

Film

UK:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=958
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=967
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2009

Performers

Austria:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1354
Czech Republic:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1358
France:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1183
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1631
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1953
Germany:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1119
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1222
The Netherlands:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1179
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1177
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2062
UK:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1717
Ukraine:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=973
Sweden:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=814
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1187
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1059
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1094

Politics:

http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1405
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1344
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1300
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1286
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1243
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1249
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1668
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1638
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1674
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1736
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1853

TV Personalities:

http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1340
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1934http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1931

Writers:

Belgium:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1711
UK:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1217

2009 marked the 3rd anniversary of the Black Women in Europe™ blog. Here are some highlights from the blog this year.

By months:

January

The Inauguration of US President Barack Obama

I followed the nomination of President Obama in Denver, Colorado as part of the accredited African American Poilitical Pundit Blog Team in Denver in 2008 and went home to Washington, DC for the inauguration activities and followed activities across Europe:

BWIE DC meet-up: http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=863
Inauguration: http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=859
Ball: http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=868
Vienna: http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=823
EurObamaBlog launch: http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=876

February

Introducing the Baracko Coin designed by an African American expat in Greece:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=982

Negger Niggersson term used by Swedish police:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=975

March

A black Parisian talks about the financial crisis and black women in Europe:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1144

April

Youth worker in Finland:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1363
New Board Members for Black European Women’s Council:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1315

May

What are Nordic Africa Days?:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1489
All black Cat on the hot tin Roof production coming to London:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1452
Police brutality against black expat in Vienna:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1041

June

Fighting racism in Italy:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1558
Black European woman sentenced to life:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1555

July

Sade back in the recording studio:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1648
A Street named after May Ayim:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1652
Writing in Belgium:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1711

August

BWIE summer gathering in Washington, DC:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1724
Meet Miss England:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1761

September

Beatrice Acheleke Honored with The 2009 World Diversity Leadership Summit “Freedom and Justice” Award:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1871

October

Black face in French Vogue:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1968

November

Race bias in the UK:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2085
Social Entrepreneurs in Ireland:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2026
French literature prize winner:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2081

December

Review of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof all black production in London:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2299
Coverage of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2311
Skin care secrets from Aliesh Pierce:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2239
Austrian Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance assumes the Patronage of the World Diversity Leadership Summit Europe:
http://blog.blackwomenineurope.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2330

Visit www.wdls.eu for a full agenda and registration.

World Diversity Leadership Summit Europe March 11-12, 2010
Hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry

JOSEF PRÖLL, born 1968 in Stockerau/Lower Austria, graduated from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna. In 1993 Josef Pröll started his career as official at the Chamber of Agriculture of the Federal Province of Lower Austria. In 1998 he moved to the Austrian Farmers’ Federation as advisor on economic policy and assistant to Agnes Schierhuber, Member of the European Parliament. One year later Josef Pröll became Director of the Vienna Farmers’ Federation. In 2000 Federal Minister of Agriculture and Environment. Josef Pröll later became the Head of Cabinet of the then Minister of Economic and Labour. From 2001 to 2003 he held the position of Director of the Austrian Farmers’ Federation. Josef Pröll served as Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management from 2003 to 2008, until he assumed the position of Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance of the Republic of Austria on 2 December 2008. Mr Pröll is Chairman of the Austrian People’s Party since 2008.

We are proud to announce that the opening minister and CEO reception of the WDLS-EU (March 11th) 2010 will be hosted by Minister Pröll in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance
(Hintere Zollamtsstraße 2b, A-1030 Vienna/Austria.)

An African American expat in Greece designed the Baracko coin to celebrate Obama’s historic US Presidential victory. Now you can celebrate his first year in office with your own Baracko coin.

Black Women in Europe website visitors and social network members get a 10% discount. Get your limited edition today.

Here is me in my Baracko! I gave my parents and sister the coins and am going for more medallions.

Born in Kampala, the Capital of Uganda, she began her vagabond like life the moment she was born. During her childhood, she travelled the rural areas of her home country with her parents. This is where she collected her first impressions of the life as a nomad. From birth on, wandering the earth became a part of her destiny. In the early nineties she undertook a huge step and immigrated to Sweden. The City of Gothenburg would become her adopted home from where she was able to access all the different destinies and directions, which were on offer to her.

Through all the borders Jaqee crossed, music has always been her steady companion whereas it never was a stereotype thing that let her get down with any special genre, than more like a special feeling. “To do what I want in a particular moment is my motivation. I like to express myself in all kind of sounds.”

So above all, she became a true nomad in the world of music.

After Several successful co-operations with numerous artists, in 2005 Jaqee made an impact with her debut album “Blaqalixious”, which was mainly a Soul and R&B album. “That was my direct contact to the music that a rural community in the Diaspora plays” she explains. But it did not end up there because a nomad like Jaqee does not settle anywhere. After further creative and fruitful collaborations, Jaqee released her second long player “Nouvelle d´ amour” in 2007. This time, the sound was more of a rocking, bluesy vibe. It seemed to be the total opposite to her debut album but for Jaqee it was only the next step on her path in the circle of life. “Everything is possible as long as it is real. I never wonder about things like genre as long as the vibe fits.” One step further on, she encountered the songs of Billie Holiday, which lead to the album “A letter to Billie” recorded together with Bohuslänbigband, a lovely homage to the great American Jazz Singer.

Read her full bio on Jaqee’s website.

You can book your ticket from Berns.

I put the call out to become a member of the cast or production team for this production in May. A seasoned black expat friend of mine who has lived in Asia and Europe recently went to London to see the Debbie Allen directed version of the classic play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Here is the feedback.

The first two sentences of the Dec. 2nd review in the “Telegraph” by Charles Spencer sums up the essence of my insights on this production:

“I suspect there would be howls of indignation if a white theater company decided to perform a classic black play such as Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun or one of the works of August Wilson, who chronicled the black American experience in each decade of the previous century. And some will doubtless put it down to craven political correctness that there have been no corresponding complaints about a black company performing Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

(Read the full review)

Herein lies the great distinction between the black European experience and the black American experience. White Europeans are the allies of black Americans only to the extent that we are into “protest” politics and we are the angry “antagonists” to white Americans. We are supposed to be comfortable in Europe provided that we are willing to join the black European “working classes”. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof produced by a black American capitalist Stephen Byrd and directed by a black American female director, Debbie Allen, takes us out of the working class, when we bring such ownership and operation to London’s West End theater crowd.

You’ve got to see it. The performance is fabulous!!

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is playing for a strictly limited season from until Saturday 10 April 2010. Ticket prices start from only £10. I think I need to head to London’s West End again.

Julia at Spirit of Black Paris is offering a tour of the fabulous Josephine Baker’s chateau in France.

Here are the highlights:

Join us in celebrating the best of Black Paris, traditional France, plus get a glimpse into the life of the legendary Josephine Baker. We start in Paris with a guided walking and bus tour that retraces the illustrious lives and achievements of Black Americans who chose to live in Paris between 1784-1960. Our tours will be provided by “Walking the Spirit Tours of Black Paris” and they focus on popular areas – The Latin Quarter/St. Germain-des-Pres, Champs-Elysees and Lower Montmartre. Tour 1 (Voices and Visions in Exile) walks through neighborhoods of writers Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Chester Himes, artists Henry O.Tanner, Lois Mailou Jones and Beboppers Miles Davis and Bud Powell. On Tour 2 (The Entertainers) we relive the excitement of Black Montmartre of the 1920s and 1930s where jazz flourished alongside African art, decadence, and black entrepreneurs. You will leave Paris with enough French history to give you a well-rounded picture of the times and circumstances. In an air-conditioned private motorcoach we then travel south to the Burgundy region to discover the world-famous vineyards and their panaromas, visit a winery, tour the wine cellars, enjoy tastings and explore theold village. And for the piece de resistance we continue further south to discover Josephine Baker’s Dordogne. Here, we are guided through an exclusive tour of her former home, Chateau des Milandes, which is now an awe-inspiring tribute and sxhibit to her life.

Get all of the details.

As previously reported Sade is coming out with a new album after a 10 year hiatus.

The release date is February 8, 2010 and you can pre-order now:

US

UK

Jeff Joseph, Mounia et Marie-Luce Penchard

Hat tip: Afro Europe Blog

Mounia, the first black supermodel from France, has been honored by the French government and elevated to the ranks of Knight of the Order of Merit (Chevalier de l’Ordre de Mérite). She was awarded the honor in late November at a posh ceremony in Paris.

In the name of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Marie-Luce Penchard (current Minister of Overseas Territories) described the model as she who had pushed the greatest grand couturiers to “rupture with aesthetique codes in vigor” of the time in order to include black women in their vision of elegance, sophistication and fashion.

She was born Monique Orosemane in the French islands. Sensing that she was truly special, her grandmother gave her a unique name befitting someone whose special destiny would one day unfold on the catwalks of the world. Moving to Paris, she first came to the attention of the grand couturier Hubert de Givenchy as early as 1981. Not a full year would pass before Yvès Saint Laurent would fall under her charm.

Yves Saint Laurent cast the French black pearl in his collection created as homage to “Porgy & Bess”. Incidentally this too would her first fashion show but not her last. From there her career was on fire. She captured the cover of Vogue, which honored her with a rare 27 page fashion spread!

In her career, she walked the catwalk for the industries best including alongside of other beauties including Christian Dior, Chanel, Emanuel Ungaro, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Hubert de Givenchy, etc. And of course, her face has been immortalized time after time again by the most legendary fashion photographers of the 20 th Century including Horst P. Horst, Helmut Newton, Irvin Penn, Richard Avedon, Guy Bourdin, etc.

\Source

From the very first moment of his presidency, President Obama has been trying to create a more cooperative climate which can help reverse the present trend. He has already “lowered the temperature in the world”, in the words of former Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu.

–Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Oslo, 10 December 2009

The full text of Mr. Jagland’s speech is available here.

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2009-Artist: Per Fronth-Calligrapher: Inger Magnus-Photo reproduction: Thomas Widerberg

So yes, the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace. And yet this truth must coexist with another — that no matter how justified, war promises human tragedy. The soldier’s courage and sacrifice is full of glory, expressing devotion to country, to cause, to comrades in arms. But war itself is never glorious, and we must never trumpet it as such.

So part of our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly inreconcilable truths — that war is sometimes necessary, and war at some level is an expression of human folly. Concretely, we must direct our effort to the task that President Kennedy called for long ago. “Let us focus,” he said, “on a more practical, more attainable peace, based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions.” A gradual evolution of human institutions.

US President Barack Obama, Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo, 10 December 2009

President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Lecture

Being a Black Woman in Europe

Listen to the full speech via the audio player above or read the full text of his speech here.

Musical performers included Esperanza Spalding

and

Watch the entire 88 minute ceremony.

Thanks for the tip Helena!

Ms Stone has four dates in Sweden. You can book at LiveNation.se.

Fadhila Brahimi is nominated in the Business Leader of Year Award category.

Nominee Profile: Fadhila BRAHIMI: http://www.fadhilabrahimi.com

CEO FB-Associés, Coach certifiée ICF- Author/Speaker/Blogger spec. Personal Professional Branding, Community management

Paris Area, France | Human Resources

Nominated by:

Charlotte Letondot

Passionate PR Consultant & Community Manager

France, Metropolitan | Public Relations and Communications
The reason for my nomination:

Fadhila Brahimi is the French expert on personal branding, creator of the Manager-Star © concept.

She has created a specific programme dedicated to entrepreneurs and public figures who wish to manage their online reputation.

With the company she founded and manages (FB Associate), she accompanies her clients on a range of issues including the management of their online reputation to interacting with their communities. It englobes:

- a series of services (counsel, training, coaching) designed to develop individual or teams’ autonomy and responsilibities

- a series of competences (blogging, image, video, photo, graphic design, professional efficiency, networking, legal, self-confidence, CRM…) to garantee the excellency of the programme and its customization for each client.

She has greatly contributed to making “personal branding” popular in France.

You can vote for Fadhili here:
http://www.linkedinbusinessawards.com//Nomination/Details/341

Aliesh worked as a makeup artist in Europe between Zurich and Milan. She went on to work in New York City and is now based in Los Angeles working with clients who have included The Obamas.

Learn more about Aliesh on her website.

Hat tip: Angela Shaw

Being Black and Becoming European: Un/Settled Migration and Hidden Histories

“Striving to be European and black requires some specific forms of double consciousness.”

–Paul Gilroy – The Black Atlantic, 1993

The Editors of African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal (Routledge) announce a Call for Papers on Being Black and Becoming European: Un/Settled Migration and Hidden Histories to examine the intersection between Being Black and Becoming European in the context of a changing Europe.

In the last decade, the presence of African Diaspora populations has drawn increased attention from scholars and the public at large. Although the systematic study of the history of what is now generally referred to as Black Europe has just begun, the history African Diaspora populations in Europe remains neglected and hidden.

The Editors encourage a range of contributions that critically examine Being Black and Becoming European amid contestations, negotiations, and competing identity claims through a range of perspectives that touch on questions such as: What does it mean to be Black and Becoming European in a changing Europe? How have processes and dynamics of racialization and gendering of Black subjects materialized and been contested? What are the historical legacies of European colonialism on Being Black and Becoming European? In what ways has Blackness been constructed and negotiated across Europe? What sort of state strategies has been deployed to police, regulate and manage Blackness in Europe? What discursive frameworks are emerging to examine Being Black and Becoming European?

Contributors are encouraged to explore being Black and Becoming European: Unsettled Migration and Hidden Histories in Europe through various disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches such as literature, history, music, performance and cultural studies, photography and visual art, and anthropology etc…

African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal (Routledge) is devoted to a critical interrogation of the trans/national movement, locations and intersections of subjectivity within the African Diaspora in the context of globalization as well as in different discourses, political, social, historical and cultural contexts. The journal maps and navigates the theoretical and political forces set in motion by nation-state and provides a counter-narrative of subject positions regarding resistance, negotiation and cultural production of African descendant populations.

The aim of the journal is to advance the analytical and interrogative discourses that constitute the distinctive interdisciplinary field of African and Black Diaspora Studies in the production of knowledge
about the deterritorialised and transnational nature of the African and Black Diaspora. Eschewing essentialist modes of theorizing, the journal situates the movement of African descended populations (geographic, cultural, social, political and psychological) in the context of globalized and transnational spaces by emphasizing the centrality of African and Black Diaspora as a unit of analysis as well as the development of diasporic identities across time and space.

Abstracts should be 400-500 words in length. Authors should send their material with the abstract attached as a Word document. The abstract should also be included in the body of the message. Please be sure to include the following information in the e-mail as well: Full name, university affiliation, and the title of your abstract.

Deadlines: submission of Abstracts, February 28, 2010 and submission of completed papers, July 30, 2010. Authors of accepted abstracts will receive e-mail notification no later than March 15, 2010.

Proposals should be sent to:
Fassil Demissie,
DePaul University
fdemissi@depaul.edu

Fassil Demissie, Editor
African and Black Diaspora
Department of Public Policy, Suite 150.1
DePaul University
2352 N. Clifton Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
Email: fdemissi@depaul.edu

Today I am joining a group of fellow bloggers to blog for justice and the end of taser torture by the police.

The use of tasers by the police that have caused injury or death appear to be on the increase in the United States. One of the organizers of today’s blogging for justice, AAPP (this is the brother that took me to the Democratic National Convention to see Obama get nominated to run for President of the United States, as part of his accredited blogging team), told me that the use of tasers by the police has been suspended in France. Perhaps the US will follow suit.

Here are the details as reported by Expatica:

French court suspended Taser use for local cops

The state council ruled out the use of Taser guns by French local police officers because they had been rolled out without proper training and safeguards.

Paris – A French court Wednesday suspended the use of Taser stun guns for local police, after ruling they had been rolled out last year without proper training and safeguards.

The state council, the highest court of appeal, struck down a September 2008 government decree allowing France’s 20,000 local police officers to carry Taser guns.

Municipal officers joined 4,600 national police and gendarmes who already use the weapon, which packs a 50,000-volt punch that can paralyse targets from up to 10 yards (meters) away, and is intended as an alternative to handguns.

In practice, a few dozen local police stations had started to arm officers with the guns.

But the court, responding to a suit filed by the RAIDH rights group, found that the government had green-lighted use of the Taser without putting in place proper training and evaluation mechanisms.

“The specificities of this new type of weapon require its use to be closely controlled and monitored,” said the court ruling.

“That has been the case for its use by national police officers. Short of a similar and sufficiently precise system for local police officers, the decree allowing them to be equipped is cancelled.”

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said the government would draw up a new decree incorporating the training requirements for local police.

To date, 4,615 Tasers have been issued to France’s national police and gendarme force. They were used 280 times in 2007 without causing serious injury, cutting handgun use by 15 percent, according to police chiefs.

Many officials see the Taser as a safer alternative to the handgun, which local officers have been authorised to carry since 2000.

But human rights activists have criticized Taser guns, challenging manufacturer claims that they are safe and non-lethal.

A December 2008 report from Amnesty International said 334 people had died after being shocked by Tasers between 2001 and August 2008.

But while the French have ceased and desisted, Guernsey is figthing to keep importing tasers. I came across this bit of taser news from the Channel Islands as reported on the BBC:

Talks over police Taser supplies

A UK ministry says it is working with Guernsey to help ensure the island’s police have stun gun supplies.

Police may have to abandon Tasers because the UK will not allow more guns or ammunition to be imported.

The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said stun guns could not be exported outside the European Union as they could be used for torture.

The UK Ministry of Justice said it was working to help Guernsey put arguments forward to appropriate UK ministers.

‘Difficult predicament’

The Taser device fires two darts with a five-second 50,000-volt charge which temporarily disables a suspect.

Its ammunition comprises of a single-use cartridge which includes compressed air propellant for the two darts and the darts themselves. The cartridge has to be replaced every time the weapon is fired.

Guernsey’s Home Department acquired its equipment in 2006. But as a Crown Dependency, the Channel Islands are not part of the UK.

They are also outside of the European Union, which is why the FCO has ruled that the island cannot buy more shock weapon supplies from the UK – or from another country because that would also require a licence from the UK authorities.

Guernsey Police said it was a “very difficult predicament” and Home Minister Geoff Mahy said he would write to the UK government asking if the islands could be looked at as a “special case”.

The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the relationship between the Crown Dependencies and the UK.

It said it was continuing to work with other UK departments to ensure the Channel Islands could put their arguments before appropriate ministers and have them fully considered.

Also see Torture Laws Stop Taser Supply

I’m not sure if police can still use tasers on children in the UK, but in a disturbing trend taser use is on the rise in the UK, as reported in the Independent:

Police Taser use ‘up nearly a third’

Police use of Taser stun guns has increased by nearly a third, figures revealed today (17 August 2009). Officers fired the electro-shock weapons 226 times in the first three months of this year – up from 174 in the last three months of 2008.

The sharp rise followed the decision to allow forces in England and Wales to give Tasers to officers who do not carry traditional firearms.

Critics said the 50,000-volt guns were in danger of becoming “standard issue”.

But Police Minister David Hanson said the weapons helped save lives by defusing dangerous situations.

He said: “I am determined to give police all the tools they need to crack down on violent crime.

“Tasers are a vital tool for our frontline officers and that is why we allowed forces to issue them to specially-trained units.

“They are making a real difference on our streets and helping to keep both the public and our police officers safe.

“Tasers have helped defuse dangerous situations where people could have been seriously injured or even killed.

“And often just the threat of the device is enough. On many occasions, drawing or aiming a Taser has proved enough of a deterrent.”

But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Tom Brake said: “Tasers should be for a few specially trained officers, not standard issue.

“The Government has put large numbers of Tasers in the hands of police officers without any debate.

“Given the increase in Taser use and the fact they have killed hundreds of people in the United States, we must have a full public debate before we slip any further down the slope to fully armed US-style policing.”

If you know about police forces in Europe who are using tasers let us know in the comments section for this post.

I never tire of talking about the accomplishments of my friend Sandrine Joseph in Paris. For one, she is head of talent at Organie. Here is yet another profile of her in the French media:

Cadre supérieur, Sandrine Joseph, 37 ans, se nourrit de défis, de convictions et de son engagement au sein de différents réseaux européens.

Il est difficile de résumer le parcours de Sandrine Joseph tant il est riche et varié ! Une chose est sûre : elle s’est toujours donné les moyens de sa réussite et de ses ambitions.

Dès 20 ans, elle commence à travailler pour financer ses études (Maîtrise de finances et DEA de stratégie industrielle à la Sorbonne) et fait ses premières armes au sein de la fonction publique : ministère des finances et l’ENA. Mais plutôt que de tenter d’intégrer un grand corps de l’Etat, Sandrine Joseph préfère se tourner vers un cabinet de conseil en stratégie spécialisé dans Internet, un secteur alors naissant.

Repérée et embauchée par France Télécom – Orange en 1998, elle occupe successivement des postes à dominante marketing, finance et technique. « Ce qui me guide et me motive, c’est l’innovation, l’accompagnement du changement et le relationnel. Je recherche les défis et apprécie d’avoir une vision stratégique des choses ». En 2007, elle devient marketing manager au sein de l’incubateur d’Orange (Orange Labs) où elle travaille sur des projets innovants, utilisant à la fois ses compétences en finances et marketing

Read on at the original source and if you can’t read French plug the URL into Google translate!
http://www.maviepro.fr/magazine/vie-pro/sandrine-joseph-une-femme-de-tete-et-d-engagement

Read on at the original source and if you can’t read French plug the URL into Google translate!
http://www.maviepro.fr/magazine/vie-pro/sandrine-joseph-une-femme-de-tete-et-d-engagement

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Black Women in Europe™ Blog and Social Network Anniversary survey. The following ladies won gifts from our sponsors:

Monique in the Netherlands won 2 sessions of Dispell Disbelief™ Coaching from Creating Tomorrow, Terra in the UK won a 9 piece sample pack worth 30 Great British Pounds from IronSun Organics , Shirley in the Italy won Sheabutter Cottage’s: Cioccolatina gift box worth £20, Sheabutter Cottage gift box worth £15, AshantiGirl gift box worth £10, and Addyl in Rawanda won 369 (90-Day Business Action Plan) worth $395 from Simplicity Mastered™.

If you haven’t completed the short survey there is still time for you to win free custom greeting cards that will be mailed for you-just in time for the holidays-as well as a copy of Zhana’s lastest success book. Simply complete the survey today:
http://tinyurl.com/blackwomenineurope

Limited to 1st-31st December 2009, pay only 300 Euros instead of 429 Euro

World Diversity Leadership Summit Europe March 11-12, 2010
Hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and the Vienna Economic Chamber

Visit our website regularly for updates.

The World Diversity Leadership Summit-Europe is an international high level diversity conference focusing on leveraging European and global diversity and inclusion by 2020. WDLS-EU is ideally suitable for both advanced and new diversity and human resources professionals.

This two day experience will allow participants the opportunity to discuss complex challenges and opportunities related to European and international diversity management. Topic areas range from recruiting and managing diversity and inclusion in a demographically changing environment, through managing age diversity, working parents, CSR to organisational connectivity by 2020.

Participants will leave with new bench-marking business and diversity tools, including those focusing on bottom-line impact. Over 200 diversity European and global executives, leaders, and experts are expected in Vienna in March 2010.

Highlights of WDLS Europe 2010

● Welcome address by prominent Austrian politicians and personalities
● Focus on changing environment, policies and social inclusion from long term perspective
● Reception with the Austrian Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance and a number of other CEOs and Ministers
● Comparative advantage of European and global diversity and inclusion by 2020
● Organisational Connectivity etc.
● Closing Embassy Dinner

Online registration is now available via www.wdls.eu/about/registration.html

3-4 December, London

The conference is being organised by Napo and Society of Black Lawyers and supported by the Attorney General Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal.

The theme of the conference is “Race for Justice: Alienation or Social Inclusion.” The concept behind the theme is to improve awareness of the causes of social exclusion and its manifestations; examine what can be done to address the problems and whether community cohesion as a government strategy is the way forward.

The Conference aims to bring together key stakeholders to explore issues such as hate crimes, extremism within the context of the Criminal Justice System, Guns, Gangs and Knife Crime and Young People and examine how it:

 Informs policy provisions and key decision-making.
 Affects strategies, action-planning and delivery by both statutory and non-statutory bodies.
 Contributes to resource provision and educational support for young people
 Provide communities, central and local government, police and other justice agencies with an insight of how to work together to put an end to gang and knife crime and effectively combat extremism.

Who Should Attend

The conference is open to individuals and organisations committed to best practice, equality and diversity; community cohesion; tackling extremism and access to education. They include policy makers, jurists, police officers, probation officers, fire officers, community health professional, politicians, educationalist, academics, trade unions, community activists and youth workers.

Get full Race for Justic event details and the registration form.

Gala Dinner and Dance

The Society of Black Lawyers invites you to the ‘Race For Justice’ Gala Dinner and dance on Friday 4 December at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London – Black Tie/Cultural Dress

7pm to 3am, Drinks reception: 7pm, Dinner: 8pm, After dinner speakers: 9.30pm, Gala dance: 11.30pm – 3am

Price per ticket: £75 which includes drinks reception and 3 course meal with wine

Dance only £25 (after 10.30pm, purchased at Marriott Hotel Reception)

Your Host: David Neita, Barrister and Poet

After dinner speakers: Kwame Kwei Armah, Henry Bonsu

Performances by Simone Thompson, Nycha Creations and solo rap artist Witness, Felix Dexter, The London Community Gospel Choir

For more information, to book tickets for the Conference or Gala Dinner and Dance visit http://www.napo.org.uk/raceforjustice or call 0207 223 4887

Complete the Black Women in Europe™ short survey here:
http://tinyurl.com/blackwomenineurope

to get a free greeting card account from Donna Elmore’s Send Out Cards and a free copy of the latest edition of Zhana’s Success Book and to qualify to win prizes from:

Shangwe Hair and Skin Anthology

Poems and personal essays wanted for a new book. The editor is seeking contributions from Black and Mixed-race women of African & African-Caribbean descent on the themes of hair and/or skin.

New & previously published poems & personal essays accepted. New unpublished writers, particularly welcome.

Closing Date 30 November!!!
=========
SHANGWE HAIR & SKIN CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Nicole Moore (Editor) is compiling a new anthology of poetry and autobiography contributions that portray the perspectives of black and mixed-race women of African & African-Caribbean descent. The book will be a powerful medium for black and mixed-race women to explore, celebrate and reflect upon and share their
experiences. The anthology will also provide a reflection of many aspects of Black cultural heritage. The autobiography genre is consistent throughout and will provide new and creative ways of thinking about black and mixed race women. The aim of the anthology is to facilitate and enrich a greater understanding and
insight into creative writing written by black and mixed race women. The published anthology will be promoted with a well marketed launch, book readings and spoken word events where contributors can share their writing experiences.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 30th NOVEMBER 2009

TWO THEMES: Natural Hair Perspectives & Skin Perspectives

1. Non-fiction: Poetry/Personal Essays
Subject: Natural Hair Perspectives

Have you tried numerous hairstyles over the years from perms, relaxing, extensions, etc, before deciding on a natural style? Or have you always had a natural style? Do you think natural hair choices evolve from having some knowledge of your African and/or Caribbean history and tradition and a desire to express your hair through Africentric cultural/ancestral connections, or is it only about fashion, i.e. self image and hair style? These are just some questions/ideas to help with the thinking/writing process. Most of all it is your hair story, your hair journey to or with natural hair that I am interested in, so please feel free to be as creative as you like!

2. Non-fiction: Poetry/Personal Essays
Subject: Skin Perspectives

Our skin is an amazing covering; it’s our waterproof barrier and protects us. However, does your skin expose you in anyway? What does your skin mean to you? Do you love the skin you’re living in? Then tell me why. Do you think your skin tone can and does influence the life you live? Do you wish your skin tone was
lighter/darker? Does society have an obsession with fair skin? Is lighter skin ‘better’? Does culture play a part in breeding this mentality? Do you use or have you used skin lightening creams? If yes, do you see this as no worse than liposuction, and plumping up lips? Or, does it make your blood boil when you see those
skin lightening adverts in Black women’s magazines? These are just some questions/ideas to help with the thinking/writing process. I am particularly interested in your thoughts and feelings creatively expressed on the subject of skin, and please feel free to be as creative as you like?

REQUIRED FORMAT:
Personal Essay pieces length: 500 -1,500 words exploring Hair and/or Skin Themes written in the first person.
Poems: Maximum of 4 poems exploring hair and/or skin themes, with a limit of 40 lines each. Can be previously published.

A4 – printed one side only.
Double line spacing (except poetry).
Number each page and please include your name, address, title of entry on a separate cover sheet with each contribution.
Short Biography: 50 words max.
Colour Photo in JPEG format. (Hair Perspectives only)
Word count.
All work should be clearly typed.

NOTES:
Submissions must reflect the perspectives of black and mixed-race women of African or African-Caribbean descent. Writers, who are published in anthologies, journals and magazines for example, are still eligible – but new, unpublished writers are particularly encouraged to make a contribution. Please note that submission
of your poetry, essay, etc. does not guarantee inclusion. Copyright belongs to the author.

Payment – we cannot pay contributors on this occasion as funding for commissions is not available. However, contributors will be able to purchase one copy of the published anthology at a discount price.

The Editor reserves the right to make minor cuts, alterations and corrections without reference to the writer. In the case of major edits, every effort will be made to consult with the authors. If you have any questions or queries, please email Nicole Moore at nicole(at)shangwe.com.

PLEASE EMAIL YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO: nicole(at)shangwe.com.
—————————————————————————-
NICOLE MOORE, Editor, Writer, Published Poet:
Nicole is a Black British woman born in London of Guyanese and English parentage. Nicole writes poetry and non-fiction and has performed her work at a range of venues in London. She is the founder of Shangwe www.shangwe.com – a website that promotes the development of new Black British creative writing and
literature. Nicole is editor of two collections of poetry and autobiographical writing: Brown Eyes (2005) and Sexual Attraction Revealed (2007).

Nicole’s work has been published in Poetry Today Anthologies, Writing in Education Magazine, Trespass Magazine and The Weekly Gleaner (UK). Nicole has fourteen years freelance writing experience and five years experience of working as an Arts Tutor and Workshop facilitator specialising in creative writing. For a full biography visit www.shangwe.com/biography.htm.

Definition of terms:
Nicole Moore recognises that the term ‘Black’ has both a racial and political level of meaning and individual Black people relate to the term in different ways. For clarity, ‘African’, ‘African-Caribbean’ and ‘Black’ are used interchangeably and are defined as women who descent from the African continent and include first generation African-Caribbean women and African-Caribbean women throughout the Diaspora.

‘Mixed-race’ is a chosen term and in this context is used to describe women whose origin is described as being from different ‘races’.

And the ladies loved his concert:

Maxwell was the bomb!!! This man knows his stuff and how to put it across – just like quite a few brothers do.–H.S.

Maxwell was tttoooo cute, damn…the sound wasn’t the best but who cares…..it was Maxwell!–S.L.

If you are a black women in Europe with a Twitter account, or know someone who is, please Tweet me @bwie so that I can add you to the Black Women in Europe™ Twitter list:
http://twitter.com/bwie/blackwomenineurope

Grab a Twitter widgrt and put our list on your site.

Dance and Movement Classes @ the Othella Dallas Dance School

Every Friday 17:00 – 18:15, 18:30 – 19:45 Uhr

Debut Class November 27, 2009

Predigergässlein 18 (Totentanz), Basel

Saturday classes available for children (while parents are shopping), advance reservation necessary:
http://www.anna-dell-era.com/

About Anna Dell’Era

Born in North Carolina, Anna attained a Bachelor of Arts-English from the (University of North Carolina-Greensboro, 1979), and a Master of Arts/Performing Arts/Dance from the American Universty, Washingon, D.C. in 1981.

Anna has worked as a Movement Therapist for emotionally disturbed teens and adults in North Carolina, conducted numerous vocal and dance workshops in the the United States, Germany, Switzerland and France.
In 1998, Anna owned her own dance studio, AKUBA, where she taught modern dance to children in Kembs, France, while simultaneously starring in the role of Reachel in the Swiss musical production of Space Dream in Baden, Switzerland.

Anna has worked as Performance Artist for several MCG-Event Solution and Decatron Multimedia events, and has worked as Performance Artist/Narrator for Basilea Film, Basel, Switzerland.

Stocktown and The Royal Dramatic Theater presents an exclusive photo exhibiton by Johannesburg based photographer Chris Saunders.

Smarteez is a unique, fresh and colorful style phenomenon born out of the streets of Soweto and often compared to Tokyo´s Harajuku Girls.

Free entrance: Dramaten Lejonkulan foajé
Time: Friday 20 Nov starts at 20.30
What more: film, music and bar
Photo exhibition until 19 of december

Additionally, the play Transit opens:

TRANSIT is about a flight from Cape Town to Stockholm via Frankfurt.

Detoured by a storm, it makes an unscheduled stop in North Africa and the passengers are forced to wait in a derelict transit area for their plane to be refueled. The longer they are stuck in the situation, the harder it is to avoid either the impulse to unite or the differences that separate them.

TRANSIT is a cross-continental drama of human need, resilience and possibility.

http://www.dramaten.se/Dramaten/Forestallningar/Transit/

ALIVE online magazine is accepting nominations for the 2010 ALIVE Magazine Women of the Year. Nominations will be accepted until December 14, 2009 at which time the review committee will select 9 women to receive the designation of an ALIVE Magazine 2010 Woman of the Year.

Nominees must be a woman of color ages 12 and up living in the US or abroad. Nominees must be living their lives on purpose – as a business owner and/or making significant contributions in the communities.

Please email the following information about your nominee to editor@alivemagonline.com.

Name
Email Address
URL
200 words or less explaining why this woman should be a 2010 ALIVE Woman of the Year

Also, please include your contact information in the event our review committee has further questions.

The announcement will be made in March 2010 at the One Life To Live From Dreams to Reality National Tour when its hosted in Broward County, Florida.

WDLS-Europe, Vienna 2010: limited registration available with early bird bonus!
Register now, meet and share innovative trends and strategies with top regional and global diversity thought leaders on the future of diversity and talents management by 2020.

Discuss good practices and develop future strategies with CEOs, ministers, policy and decision makers, diversity practitioners etc.

Share your experiences and gain more expertise in recruiting and leveraging diversity talents in a demographically changing environment.

Discuss upcoming trends in managing diversity and inclusion with diversity thought leaders, academics, managers and top journalists etc.

Learn about how diversity drives innovation and creativity in times of global economic down-turn.
Share information; learn about winning strategies and current trends in social media and Internet.

Join the World Diversity Leadership Summit- Europe and take part in shaping the future of managing global and regional diversity and inclusion.

Register now! Participation is limited and early registration highly recommended!

Register today and benefit from our early bird bonus.

Online registration is now available under www.wdls.eu/about/registration.html

I am working on a project that includes compiling advice from Americans who have lived abroad for Americans who want to live abroad.

I would be grateful if you took a few moments to write your 5 sentences or less quote via the link below. And I would be doubly grateful if you asked other Americans you know who have lived or who are living abroad to contribute a paragraph:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGcwb2tsTDRzNTAwbnhkdUk2dEZsWEE6MA

Thank you!

UPDATE: There are 12 audio clips that will be uploaded here. For optimal listening enjoyment please use your headphones.

Here is the audio from the workshop titled Media futures – the equality challenge in focus moderated by Aidan White.

The panelists were:

Dorothy Byrnem Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel 4 Television (Inspirational message), UK, Ms. Lena Calvert, National Union of Journalists, Diversity Officer, UK (Presentation of best practices of promoting equality), Ralf Nehmzow, Axel Spring, Redakteur/Leser-Botschafter, Germany (How diversity is approached in press companies), Allan Jones, European Broadcasting Union presented the Diversity Toolkit, Robin Elias, Managing Editor, ITV News, UK (Diversity pledge), Fifi Schwarz, Newspapers in Education, The Netherlands (New forms of engagement with civil society and minority groups), Rosario Ali Taikon, E Romani Glinda, Sweden (Support for developing new media initiatives and business models with a focus on equality issues), and Milica Pesic, Coordinator of the European Survey on Media and Diversity (Innovative practices in European Media).

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 1

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 2

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 3

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 4

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 4

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 5

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 6

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 7

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 8

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 10

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 11

Being a Black Woman in Europe

3rd EU Equality Summit Media Workshop part 12

Being a Black Woman in Europe

UPDATE: I am uploading videos from today’s program.

The third Equality Summit will be held in Stockholm on 16–17 November. This is an annual event for ministers, chairs of national equality bodies, chairs of NGOs at EU level, EU social partners and representatives of international organisations. The purpose is to share knowledge and experience so as to develop stronger and more effective ways of working against all forms of discrimination, and to promote equal rights and opportunities for all in the EU.

Get full details, get the program and external resources form the summit website.

If there is a problem viewing the live blog here you can click here instead.

UPDATE 4:

I have uploaded videos of Ted Childs of Ted Childs, LLC (global strategic diversity advisor) who was a key note speaker on Diversity & Inclusion: A Global Perspective. For optimal enjoyment use headphones when viewing.

UPDATE 3:

I have added an EU video on the puzzle that is Europe’s diversity. For optimal enjoyment use headphones when viewing.

UPDATE 2:

I have added video of Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe’s keynote address. For optimal enjoyment use headphones when viewing.

UPDATE 1:

I have added videos of Minister Nyamko Sabuni’s from Sweden’s, opening address. Please scroll down below the live covereage box. For optimal enjoyment use headphones when viewing.

The third Equality Summit will be held in Stockholm on 16–17 November. This is an annual event for ministers, chairs of national equality bodies, chairs of NGOs at EU level, EU social partners and representatives of international organisations. The purpose is to share knowledge and experience so as to develop stronger and more effective ways of working against all forms of discrimination, and to promote equal rights and opportunities for all in the EU.

Get full details, get the program and external resources from the summit website.

If there is a problem viewing the live blog here you can click here instead.

Hejsan from Stockholm!

1. The Black Women in Europe™ blog will provide live coverage from the 3rd Annual European Union Equality Summit on 16 and 17 November starting at 9:00 am. To tune in and participate from your computer you can view it on the homepage of the Black Women in Europe™ social network, or here the blog.

2. Don’t miss your chance to participate in the Black Women in Europe™ second and third anniversaries survey and to qualify to win prizes from Simplicity Mastered™, Zhana’s Success Stories Books, Ironsun Organics, Send Out Cards, Creating Tomorrow, Morganna’s Alchemy, and Sheabutter Cottage. Take the survey today.

3. Early bird registration is available through 30 January for the World Diversity Summit Europe in Vienna, Austria next year. Learn more about the summit and registration.

Hugs,

Adrianne

Civil servants created false identities to send CVs to hundreds of employers in sting to uncover discrimination.

Hat tip to Angela Shaw who sent me this article from the guardian.co.uk.

A government sting operation targeting hundreds of employers across Britain has uncovered widespread racial discrimination against workers with African and Asian names.

Researchers sent nearly 3,000 job applications under false identities in an attempt to discover if employers were discriminating against jobseekers with foreign names. Using names recognisably from three different communities – Nazia Mahmood, Mariam Namagembe and Alison Taylor – false identities were created with similar experience and qualifications. Every false applicant had British education and work histories.

They found that an applicant who appeared to be white would send nine applications before receiving a positive response of either an invitation to an interview or an encouraging telephone call. Minority candidates with the same qualifications and experience had to send 16 applications before receiving a similar response.

Read the full article on the Guradian website.

November 12-15, 2009

Het Black Magic Woman Festival 2009 is er een van vernieuwing en verrassingen. Met een basis bedrag uit het Amsterdamse Kunstenplan kan het Festival de komende jaren goed neergezet worden. Onze dank is groot aan de wethouder die de Magic van Black Artistic Women onderkent, Carolien Gehrels.

Met een nieuw gebouw kan het festival ‘staan als een huis’. Trots als we zijn op deze ontwikkelingen is het op zijn plaats om het trouwe Black Magic Woman publiek speciaal te noemen. Het publiek heeft ons gevolgd binnen het Stadsdeel Zuidoost en door heel Amsterdam op velerlei locaties. Zelfs toen de opening in de Meervaart was kwam het publiek trouw mee.

Nu kan het publiek zich laven aan de kunstuitingen die 4 dagen lang zullen klinken in de theaterzaal, de studio’s en de geheime gangen van het Bijlmer Parktheater. Zelfs een aantal samenwerkingspartners presenteren dit jaar hun programma in het Festival Centrum. Imagine IC en Centrum Beeldende Kunst Zuidoost konden de verleiding niet weerstaan. ZO! Cultuur heeft zelfs een doorlopend film programma gedurende het hele festival in een van de studio’s. En het Amsterdam Fringe Festival maakt een uitstapje naar de Bijlmer om de kruisbestuiving tussen de stadsdelen, maar ook internationaal, te stimuleren.

De grote opluchting is dat we met een volwaardige theaterzaal weer theater kunnen laten zien. Met deze zaal moeten er dan keuzes gemaakt worden. We hebben een monoloog van Adilah Barnes uit de Verenigde Staten over Black Magic Women en een dansvoorstelling van Kalpana Raghurahman met barata natyam en moderne dans. Er is muziek en de allereerste Black Magic Woman Literatuur Award wordt in de theaterzaal uitgereikt. Met gepaste bescheidenheid bieden wij u een keur aan artiesten en is ons doel om elk jaar weer een ieder te verrassen, te confronteren en te laten genieten van kunst en cultuur uit en voor de multiculturele samenleving.

De samenwerkingspartners dit jaar zijn: de Openbare Bibliotheek Bijlmercentrum, CBK Zuidoost, Imagine IC, ZO! Cultuur, Amsterdam Fringe Festival, MC met Hollandse Nieuwe en het ZID Theater.

Er is met plezier gewerkt aan het Black Magic Womanfestival nieuwe stijl: in een nieuw gebouw, met een nieuw logo en een nieuw team en met het thema NEW BEGINNINGS.

Namens het team van Krater Theater en het Bijlmer Parktheater wens ik u een vernieuwend festival toe.

Maureen Healy–Artistiek Leider

Get the latest news, view the program, contact the organizers for more information.

Les Nubians is an R&B Grammy-nominated duo composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985 the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France and began singing a cappella, producing poetry slams in Bordeaux and Paris, and singing background vocals for various artists worldwide. Their debut album Princesses Nubiennes was signed to Virgin Records, France in 1998.

Visit Les Nubians’ website to get the latest tour information and music releases.

Hat tip: Angela Shaw

Visit her website: http://www.ruthjacott.nl/

The Diaspora Women’s Initiative aims to empower migrant women in Ireland to deal pro-actively with their experiences of HIV/AIDS. Migrant women with HIV/AIDS face a multitude of problems, including language difficulties, very low income, loneliness and isolation, lack of knowledge of services, as well as stigma and discrimination due to their health status.

Many of these women come from war-torn areas such as Uganda, Congo, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda where women often became infected with HIV as a result of rape. Some come to Ireland through human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation. They are often trying to financially support family members in their home countries, and as a consequence are at risk of further economic and sexual exploitation.

“ I want to leave a positive legacy in tackling HIV & AIDS.”

The DWI provides a unique range of services, targeted specifically at this relatively new population. Juliet is passionate about facilitating women affected to come together to break their isolation and to help them overcome stigma and fear. DWI facilitates their access to appropriate health and social services, and provides training in peer counselling and education as a powerful force for social change in Ireland.

Yemisi is founder and president of the IACI-Network (Integration of African Children in Ireland). IACI’s mission is to serve as a networking information forum for all African children living in Ireland by networking and consulting with African children on a local, regional and on a national level. In addition, IACI works to challenge stereotypes and emphasise positive images of African children and hopes to be able to educate both Irish and African youth about understanding and appreciating cultures other than their own.

Yemisi is active in the day-to-day running of IACI and has organised and has coordinated workshops, seminars, outings, weekly activities with children and their families. She is also on the board of management of Tallaght Intercultural Action.

AkiDwA is a national network of African women that aims to address the existing and changing needs of African women in Ireland irrespective of their ethnic / national backgrounds, traditions / religious beliefs, socio economic, political or legal status. Salome has volunteered tirelessly for this network and hopes to see it grow in the coming years.

In 2001 Salome Founded AkiWdA and was its chairperson for 3 years. In 2003 she was honoured with the RTE /Metro Media award for her positive contribution in promoting multiculturalism in Ireland.

Salome is a native of Kenya married and resident in Ireland with her husband and two daughters. She holds a qualification in Social Work from her native Kenya, along with a qualification in Women Studies and Equality Studies from UCD. She has over 15 years experience of working with disadvantaged and marginalised groups especially with women and young people, in Kenya, Uganda and Ireland.

In 2007 Salome was nominated to the Board of the Equality Authority.

Nobuhle Ncube, originally from Zimbabwe, has been living in Ireland since 2000 and is a founder member and Women’s Development Officer of AkidwA, a national African and migrant women’s network. From her work experience and as an African parent in Ireland, Nobuhle discovered a strong need to actively facilitate integration in the education sector by raising cultural awareness and promoting active intercultural dialogue between Irish and African children. Most primary schools in Ireland now have a significant number of African/Migrant children. Though culturally enriching, this poses significant challenges to Irish teachers and students alike.

“My vision is to live in an Ireland where all children relate to each other as equals and work together in promoting a positive learning environment despite cultural differences.”

Through the Lifeline Africa Foundation, Nobuhle plans to initiate an intercultural dialogue project between two primary schools in Ireland and two primary schools in Nigeria. This project will exchange intercultural learning and will enable students from both continents to engage in class projects and gain knowledge and understanding of each other’s cultures.

Marie N’Diaye became the first black women to win France’s top literary prize, the Goncourt Prize, reported Agence France yesterday. While the prize comes with a token of 10 euros, the winners of the Goncourt go on to obtain celebrity status in the Francophone world.

“I am very happy to be a woman receiving the Goncourt,” the elegant young woman, hair pulled back in a chignon, told reporters at the award ceremony in a Paris restaurant. “The book’s success was already a miracle of sorts.”

“This prize is an unexpected reward for 25 years of persistence.”

–Marie N’Diaye

N’Diaye won for her novel Trois Femmes Puissantes (Three Powerful Women), which tells three stories set in Europe and Africa. Trois femmes puissantes (Three Powerful Women), weaves together the stories of three women: Norah, who arrives at her father’s home in Africa; Fanta, teaching French in Dakar, who is forced to follow her partner back to a miserable life in France, and Khady Demba, a young, penniless African widow who is trying to join her distant cousin Fanta in France.

“It’s a novel which speaks of the moral decay, the baseness of humanity, of suffering humanity, but which suggests, in the depths of misery, the possibility of redemption.”

–Le Monde

At Social Entrepreneurs Ireland we believe that new and innovative solutions exist to the myriad social and environmental challenges we face today. We believe that these solutions will be most effective when driven by ‘unreasonable people’; individuals who are not prepared to accept the status quo and who adopt a highly entrepreneurial approach to igniting social change.

Our aim is to identify, invest in, and support these social entrepreneurs and the organisations they launch.

Throughout the world, regardless of geography, the lack of women in political leadership positions is a common theme. In Ireland, the percentage of women elected into Dáil Eireann in 2007 was just 13% and the percentage of women elected into local councils in 2009 stands at around 17%. Ireland ranks only 23rd out of the 27 EU countries for the percentage of women in parliament.

The difficulties that women still face in politics are real, with few women role models and limited mentoring opportunities or support. The Women in Leadership Network will prepare women to run in future elections to boost the number of women in public office. With the right mentoring and training, Benedicta aims to provide women with the supports and skills required to succeed and stay in the male dominated world of politics.

“There is no true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own lives.”

Benedicta has personal experience of Irish politics as a candidate in the local elections of 2004 and 2009. She is working to develop a non-partisan political training resource that will be used for training, mentoring and supporting young women to take the leap into active citizenship, political participation and leadership.

The Black Women in Europe™ Blog is proud to announce that we are a media partner of the World Diversity Leadership Summit Europe taking place in Vienna Friday, March 12, 2010

The World Diversity Leadership Summit-WDLS brings together global diversity CEOs, policy and decision makers, corporate practitioners, academics, media, etc. to share their experiences, research findings, strategies and best practices on global diversity and inclusion.

Founded in 2004 in Prague, Czech Republic, the WDLS has grown to be one of the top annual global diversity conferences in the USA (www.wdlsummit.com). Past speakers have included global CEO’s, authors, educators, journalists, global maestro, lawyers, consultants, government leaders, diversity executives, business executives, and non-profit leaders.

The WDLS–EU summit is designed to provide powerful information and trends on business, research, education, media etc., which relate directly to market trends, global competition, sales and marketing. This conference also provides a forum for face-to-face networking between diversity thought leaders, potential strategic partners, prospects and customers.

The WDLS-EU is taking place from Thursday11th – Friday 12th March 2010 in Vienna, Austria.

WDLS-EU Panels

O Recruiting and Managing Diverse Talent by 2020
O Leveraging diversity in a demographically changing environment
O The hidden power of global supplier and marketplace diversity
O Comparative advantages of changing affinity groups
O Leveraging of European and Global Diversity and Inclusion by 2020
O The power of social networks in corporate recruitment and Retention by 2020

WDLS-EU 2010

WDLS-EU is focusing on regional and global strategies aiming at integrating diversity and inclusion to combat poverty and social exclusion in the “EU year of the eradication of poverty and social exclusion 2010″. Managing an ever aging population and a growing number of ethnic minorities is no doubt one of fhe greatest challenges of the European Union, its institutions and business in the 21. century. What strategies and tools are CEOs, management and the European Union envisaging at regional and global level to ensure equal opportunities through recruiting, managing and retaining diverse talents by 2020?

Sponsorship Opportunities

WDLS- EU provides conference sponsorship opportunities as well as conference event sponsorships. Within the conference, companies can sponsor specific events such as cocktail parties, luncheons, and other social activities – and utilize their own marketing strategies to make them a success and to maximize the sponsor’s recognition. The WDLS –EU conference provides powerful business research, education, and information, which relate directly to market trends, global competition, sales and marketing. This conference also provides a forum for face-to-face networking between leaders, potential strategic partners, prospects and customers. For information on sponsorship and other marketing opportunities, please contact:
Beatrice Achaleke, WDLS Conference Manager, +43 1 9660 425 or diversitysummit@wdls.eu

Call for Speakers

Speakers are still being accepted for review. WDLS-EU-international-call-for-speakers.doc.
Please send your request, along with your press kit, to:
AFRA, Event Office for WDLS-EU,
Pelzgasse 7/1-2, A-1150 Wien

Registration

Registration fee includes participation in the conference sessions, split up sessions, conference materials, meals and both opening and closing receptions. Please make your payments by credit cards! Electronic receipts for registration fee are sent before the conference. For registration fee paid at the conference, receipts will be available at the conference registration desk.

WDLSE registration link

Black Filmmaker (bfm) International Film Festival (IFF) is the leading and longest running platform for Black World Cinema in the UK.

The 11th bfm IFF will take place between 6th – 10th November 2009 at the BFI Southbank, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Rich Mix and Shortwave Cinema.

bfm IFF 2009 will feature narratives, documentaries and short films from the UK, Africa, the Caribbean, the US, Canada and Europe. We will open with the European Premier of Chris Rock’s much anticipated Good Hair and close with the much anticipated Shorts Awards.

I am truly blessed with my choice of career because I pride myself on making people smile and feeling good about themselves.

As an artist I see make-up as a form of fine art. Whether I work on a model for a photo shoot, stressed out models on the runway or nervous brides to be, it is always a new challenge. The versatility is what makes my job interesting.

I am a professional make-up artist based in Sweden and the US.

I specialize in make-up for photo shoots, fashion, print, commercial bookings, runways, music videos, editorials, make-overs, etc.

I believe in the power of good make-up!

- Sabina

In association with the Legacy Media Institute (LMI), bfm International Film Festival for the first time will offer one scholarship to a UK filmmaker. The opportunity will be based in Virginia, USA and commence in early 2010.

The Legacy Media Institute is a 501(c) 3 organization that was established by Tim and Dapne Reid out of their desire to create a legacy project that will advance the art of media production and cultivate independent artists who will make a positive impact on society. Legacy Media Institute is modeled after the initial vision of Robert Redford’s “Sundance Institute” which focuses on the support and enhancement of the creative talents of those who aspire to build a career in the media business. Legacy Media Institute, in collaboration with the community, regional universities, and local organizations, will present programs, seminars, and hands-on production opportunities for its participants. LMI will operate this innovative artist cultivation center on the campus of New Millennium Studios.

The Legacy Media Institute in partnership with bfm IFF are looking for motivated and talented up and coming filmmakers who want to move forward more significantly in their careers.

The six week scholarship is education focussed and would consist of the opportunity to attend workshops and seminars along with other participants from various colleges and universities in the US. The opportunity may be extended to incorporate production work on a documentary project. More

We are looking for applicants who are;
- passionate and creatively daring
- flexible
- able to show initiative
- able to cover a portion of their personal expenses

Application Method
Please send your resume, DVD copies of your work and a statement (no more than one page) stating how you would benefit from the scholarship and why you should be chosen for the attention of Nadia Denton to Suite 13, 5 Blackhorse Lane, London E17 6DS or alternatively e-mail nadia(at)bfmmedia.com

Deadline for applications Monday 26th October 12pm 2009.

Click here to download the PDF with further information.

And the ladies in Europe who won are:

Entertainment Category

>Music

Best Female Act: Leona Lewis
Best Female UK-African Act: Shady Black

>Comedy

Best Female Comedian : Glenda Jaxson
Best Comedy Entertainment personality: Jocelyn Jee
Best Comedian Newcomer: Miss London

>Event promoters

Best Female DJ of the year: DJ Candice McKenzie

Fashion Category

>Fashion Designers

Best Female designer: Gisella Coutoure
Best Young Designer: Samata Angel
>Hair Stylist

Best Hair Stylist: Verona White
>Best Make-up Artist
Best Make-up Artist : Eryca Freemantle
Best Make Up Consultation: Pretty Flawless

>Models
Best female model: Jasmia Robinson
>Beauty Pageants
Best Beauty Pageant: Miss Zambia UK
Best current Beauty Queen: Andella Chileshe Matthews
Best Former Beauty Queen: Rosemary Chileshe

Film

Best Actresses: Gugu Mbatha

TV

Best Actress: Freeman Agyeman
Best TV Show: Sisterhood TV
Best TV personality: Trish Adudu
Best TV presenter: Rhoda Wilson

See the full list of BEFFTA winners.

WASHINGTON—The countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) need to improve their reporting of hate crimes and other acts of discrimination within their borders, the leaders of the U.S. Helsinki Commission said today at a hearing on tolerance.

U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) chaired the hearing, “Promoting Tolerance and Understanding in the OSCE Region,” the first hearing of its kind to bring together the three OSCE Personal Representatives who separately monitor discrimination against Muslims, Jews, and Christians and other religions.

“We have witnessed a resurgence of various forms of intolerance and discrimination in the OSCE countries, included in our own, and it is up to all of us to stand up against it,” said Chairman Cardin, referring to a 54-percent increase in hate groups in the U.S. since 2004. “There is renewed urgency to the work of the personal representatives as we face a global economic downturn that wrongheaded hate groups have already used and will continue to use to scapegoat individuals based on their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or immigrant status. “

“There is almost a denial that these problems persist in the OSCE countries,” said Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL). “We are making some progress, but in comparison to the problem, the progress is too slow. Too many acts of hatred still fill our headlines, which is why we need the OSCE personal representatives to work more cooperatively to shine a light on the xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and other forms of discrimination that continue to feed off one another.”

###

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent agency of the Federal Government charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental and military cooperation in 56 countries. The Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce.

MyAfricanDiaspora.com is looking for fiction that is unique, stories with characters they’ll remember, plots that leave them thinking. The contest is open to anyone, any race, any country, any continent. The only caveat? The main character must be of African descent.

Rules
The contest runs from October 1 – December 31, 2009, winner announced February 1, 2010
Entries must be 1500 words or less;
The entry fee is $10 (via paypal or money order payable to DreamDeep LLC.)
Address:
DreamDeep LLC
9360 W. Flamingo Rd.
#110-117
Las Vegas, NV 89147;
Main character must be of African descent;
Story must be previously unpublished.

Submit entries to info @ myafricandiaspora.com, with the words “Short Story Contest: (input genre and name of your short story)” in the subject line. Ex. Short Story Contest: Mystery My Story. Copy & Paste into the body of the email. No attachments.

Be sure to include your contact information and word count with submissions.

There will be one overall winner and one winner from each of the following genres: Literary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery, Romance (we prefer stories without gratuitous sex or violence)

Prizes
First Place: $500 Genre Winners: $25 Borders Gift Card

Each winner will have their story and a feature article published on myafricandiaspora.com.

The winners and top three entries in each genre will have their short stories published in a short story collection (with royalties) at the end of the year.

Publisher’s description:

In 1974 Hannah Pool was adopted from an orphanage in Eritrea and brought to England by her white adoptive father. She grew up unable to imagine what it must be like to look into the eyes of a blood relative until one day a letter arrived from a brother she never knew she had. Not knowing what to do with the letter, Hannah hid it away.

Guardian Bookshop Notes:

A funny, personal memoir that tackles big ideas, and a heartfelt investigation into the identity and the effects of adoption. A story of one life, two families and two very different cultures.