Fabrice Armand & NYC Young Professionals Host "Haiti Cherie" Soiree to Benefit Haiti's Grace International

Fabrice Armand & Keenyah Hill

  Prince Kunle Omilana and Princess Keisha Omilana

Angellika Morton

D'Isabella Lee, Fabrice Armand, Kwame Jackson, Calcie Cooper

Although it’s been over a year since Haiti endured a devastating earthquake, do-gooders like the NYC Young Professionals and philanthropist Fabrice Armand continue to raise awareness and offer Haitians much needed support by presenting the “Haiti Cherie: Pride, Love, Commitment” benefit in support of Grace International, Inc and the tent camp of Grace Village.

An impressive collection of guests ranging from African royalty to socialites, philanthropists, media personalities and high-powered executives gathered at the soiree celebrating not only the Haitian people’s resilience, but also to celebrate organizer, philanthropist and native son of Haiti Fabrice Armand’s birthday. 

NBC's DeMarco Morgan was the Master of Ceremonies and notable guests at the soiree included: Nigerian Prince Kunle Omilana and Princess Keisha Omilana; Keenyah Hill, America’s Next Top Model; Musician, Tiga Jean Baptiste; Plus Size Model, Angellika Morton;  Publicist and Socialite, BJ Coleman and Stylist, Alexa Winner, Apprentice contestant & Krimson by Kwame Founder, Kwame Jackson, to name a few.

Movers & Shakers Gather in the Hamptons to Support Evidence, A Dance Company

Ronald K. Brown (artistic director) and Reginald Canal of HSBC (and Evidence Board Member).


Bernard Hampton Jackson III, Esq. Judge Bernard Jackson II and Nia Gandy of HYT ME



Nadja Bellen-White, VP/Dir, Marketing for Publicis Modem and friends.


Author/Producer Crystal McCrary Anthony, Reginald Van Lee (Chair of Evidence and Partner at Booz Allen Hamilton) and guests




(Photos: Margot Jordan)

The Brooklyn-based Evidence, A Dance Company held their 5th annual summer fundraiser "On Our Toes" in the Hamptons last week at Nova's Ark Sculputure Park. The annual benefit was held to support community outreach activities and educational programs for performing arts enthusiasts of all ages. Highly regarded choreographer and Artistic Director Ronald K. Brown founded Evidence in 1985 and the company tours across the U.S. and abroad 25 – 30 weeks a year.

Numerous prominent philanthropists, celebrities and senior executives of the African-American community were all smiles and looked summer chic as they supported the worthy cause. "On Our Toes" was initiated by Evidence Board Chair, Reginald Van Lee of Booz Allen Hamilton and Susan Taylor, former editorial director of Essence Magazine. This summer's Honorary Chair was writer, producer and activist Crystal McCrary Anthony and TV personality René Syler was the mistress of ceremonies.

Evidence patrons contributed $500 each and enjoyed a cocktail reception, dance performance and a "Dancing with the Dancers" after-party. "On Our Toes" notable sponsors included: HSBC Premier, 10 Cane Rum, Pfizer, Verizon, Bloomberg, Sony OLED, Banyan Tree Mayakoba Residencies, Booz Allen Hamilton, Continental Airlines, Emily and Ashley, Hamptons.com, Dr. N. V. Perricone, The Ark Project, Tiffany & Co. and UPTOWN magazine.

If you missed out on this fabulous charitable event, not to worry, Evidence will be hosting its other major fundraiser: Winter Gala in Manhattan on February 3, 2009 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel.
Special thanks to Andrea Hoffman!!
View my post from Winter Gala 2008

Back to the Beach

View from my terrace.

I know, I know...it's been a while since my last post. I sincerely appreciate the updates you've sent me and I'll belatedly share them with the readers. This summer was truly a whirl-wind experience!

It started off with business trips to the Hamptons.

Engaging in community service with my daughter as we had a great time joining Miami artist and studio owner, Addonis Parker, politicians and other volunteers in painting a mural on the MLK overpass.

Next, it was off to Paris with my hubby,where we hung out at our usual spots: Le Meurice, Hotel Costes, enjoyed scrumptious tarts at La Duree, enjoyed nightcaps at George V and mingled with french socialites during Sunday Brunch at Tajan.

But my special treat for this trip was the discovery of Paris' Drouot, the ultra popular auction center with multitudes of auctions ranging from medieval artifacts to vintage Hermes bags. Drouot averages around 15,000 visitors a day, if you're a serious shopper then this is a must-see!

Most of our summer was spent wheelin' & dealin' as we spent time traveling and yachting.

We ended our traveling spree with a trip to NYC, where we took our daughter to Broadway's Hairspray, had a tea party at The Plaza and rode the rickshaws (she loves NYC ). As usual we had: a yummy brunch at Sara Beth's on the Upper East Side, a solid shopping fix at Herve Leger and Giuseppe Zanotti, delicious meals at Les Halles and Mario Batali's Lupa and visited St. Regis, in addition to engaging in deep conversations over nightcaps at the Waldorf Astoria.

So, now it's finally back to our terrace in Miami Beach, where we gaze at the ocean and shape of the earth (literally)... I swear this is the best place in the world!

Society Stars: Children of the City Gala

David and Leilah Tyree, Cheryl Rogers with Jesse Tyree


Selita Ebanks and Steve Schirripa


Thomas Gilmartin, David Tyree and Yvonne Riley-Tepie


Selita Ebanks, Chris Gay, Duncan Olde, Katie Walters, Miguel Avalos and Harold Palacios

The Children of the City Gala was held in New York at the Tribeca Rooftop last week. The Gala's 27th anniversary brought out philanthropists, athletes, models and corporate bigwigs. The organization's annual gala honored New York Giant, David Tyree with the Children's Champion Award this year. Sopranos star Steve Schirripa served as the Master of Ceremonies, and New Jersey Nets star Richard Jefferson was a guest of honor. Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks and COC Founder/Executive Director, Joyce Mattera were among the presenters.

Guests enjoyed dinner and entertainment in support of a worthy cause. Notable patrons like COC Board of Director Rocco Basile and Yvonne Riley-Tepie, assistant VP of Marketing for Commerce Bank in Brooklyn and Queens, were in attendance.

Children of the City is a community based organization that has been serving disadvantaged children since 1982. Its mission is to reach at risk inner city children with hope, guidance and resources to positively affect their lives and communities, breaking the cycle of poverty and its effects. Children of the City's outreach provides disadvantaged children with prevention programs, crisis intervention, educational support and healthy activities through small groups and large gatherings of children that continually produce tremendous documented progress and results. It currently reaches over 2,000 children and youth in Sunset Park each year, serves 900 children monthly through home visits from volunteers and counselors and provides daily academic support to those at risk of educational failure.

Society Stars: March of Dimes 33rd Annual Beauty Ball

Deborah Medeiros Baker, Vanessa Williams and Pamela Wint


Vanessa Williams, Bernd Beetz and Vera Wang

Beautiful and age-defying Vanessa Williams hosted the March of Dimes 33rd Annual Beauty Ball at Cipriani 42nd Street in NYC last night.

Event Co-Chairs Bernd Beetz, CEO of Coty Inc and designer Vera Wang were Event Co-Chairs for the charitable event.
The Annual Beauty Ball is one of the beauty industry's most anticipated social gatherings of the year. Patrons including celebrity stylists Deborah Medeiros Baker and Pamela Wint enjoyed dinner, auctions and acrobatic entertainment.

The March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality through research, awareness and education.

Flashes: MUSEUM of the CITY OF NEW YORK Director's Council and DIOR's Winter Ball

Maggie Betts

Kelechi Odu

Wednesday night the MUSEUM of the CITY OF NEW YORK Director's Council and DIOR hosted the Winter Ball. Most of New York's high society was on the scene. Guests like fashionable socialites Maggie Betts and fashion designer, Kelechi Odu enjoyed cocktails, dinner and dancing throughout the museum.
(Photos:Patrick McMullan)

Lt. David Paterson to Become NY's 1st Black Governor

Lt. Governor David A. Paterson, who is New York’s first African-American lieutenant governor, will now become New York's first Black governor. The seasoned politician's status upgraded when his colleague, Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned this morning.

Mr. Paterson was elected New York’s lieutenant governor on November 7, 2006, but the legally blind politician has been getting his feet wet in the world of civil service for more than 20 years. In 1985, he was elected to represent Harlem in the New York State Senate and became the youngest senator in Albany when he was elected at age 35. In 2002, Paterson became the first non-white legislative leader in New York’s history to be elected as minority leader of the New York State Senate. Consistently making history, David Paterson became the became the first visually impaired person to address a Democratic National Convention. In fact, Paterson's father, Basil Paterson, is a historical black politician, being the first non-white secretary of state of New York and the first African-American vice-chair of the national Democratic Party.

Some of the issues David Paterson has addressed are: stronger action to fight against domestic violence, minority and female owned New York businesses, alternative energy strategies and proposing legislation for a $1 billion voter-approved stem cell research initiative. The Columbia University and Hofstra Law School graduate is also nationally recognized as a leading advocate for the visually and physically impaired. He's a member of the American Foundation for the Blind and serves on the board of directors of the the Achilles Track Club, an organization that sponsors disabled athletes and disabled veterans competing in marathons.


David Paterson resides in Harlem with his wife, Michelle Paige, and their two children, Ashley and Alex. He will be in office until he has to campaign for re-election in 2010.

Congratulation and Good Luck Governor Paterson!!

African-American Art Auction @ New York's Swann Galleries

Aaron Douglass' "Emperor Jones"


Today, Swann Galleries in New York expects to rake in as much as $5.6 million on African-American art at their third auction organized by their new African-American Fine Art department. Artists, including Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Aaron Douglas, Faith Ringgold and Romare Bearden will be featured, to name a few.

Swann Galleries is the first major auction house to ever hold a stand-alone sale of African-American sculptures and paintings.


Todays auction will offer 250 paintings, drawings, collages, prints and sculpture from notable collections and estates by African-American artists.. Many of the pieces have been included in important museum exhibitions and illustrated in catalogues and monographs.

Wealthy African-Americans have been supporting and collecting art helping African-American artists break records and increasing the value of Black art.

Last year, Swann sold Elizabeth Catlett's "wooden torso" for $120,000 and this year Catlett's terracotta sculpture "Torso, Portrait of Joan" is estimated to sell between $200-250,000.

Five pieces from highly respected artist Hale Woodruff will be auctioned and the works range from $40K- 180,000.

One of my favorite pieces in the auction is from Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglass', his woodcut gouache "Emperor Jones." I love how he blends African tribal with Art Deco. "Emperor Jones" is estimated to sale for between $35K-50,000.

Artsy Sistas: Eileen Norton & Thelma Golden @LACMA Opening Celebration of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum

These two cultured sistas have got it going on. Eileen Harris Norton and Thelma Golden were the black socialites on the scene and looked fabulous as they attended the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art's opening celebration for the Broad Contemporary Art Museum this past weekend.

Who is Eileen Harris Norton you ask? Well, Eileen is a philanthropist, very avid art collector and a former school teacher from Watts. She's the ex-wife of software guru Peter Norton, of Norton Utilities. Yes, as in the creator of Norton Anti-virus software! Eileen has two children by Peter and before they went through a$200 million divorce battle in the the early 2000's, they built a wildly successful software company and amassed one of the largest contemporary art collections in the world. They also established the Santa Monica-based Peter Norton Family Foundation, which Eileen continues to be active in, supporting and bringing attention to emerging artist.

Now onto the art expert, Thelma Golden. I've actually talked about Thelma Golden earlier on this site. This New York bred sista is the Chief Curator at The Studio Museum in Harlem. She's overseen cosmetic upgrades to the museum and is very instrumental in discovering and introducing Black artists. One of the most popular exhibitions she curated at Studio is Freestyle, an exhibition that included twenty-eight up and coming artists of African American backgrounds. Thelma has also guided the patronage of her friends Peter and Eileen Norton to emergent African American modernists. Thelma got her big break when she was named curator of the Whitney Museum in 1991. At the Whitney she spearheaded the Bob Thompson retrospective and curated the controversial 1994 "Black Male" show. She serves on numerous international art prize committees and is a juror for nearly all of the public art commissioned in NYC. Thelma is also known for coining the term ‘post-black’ art with friend and artist Glenn Ligon in the late 1990s.

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Society Stars: Genevieve Jones, Joy Bryant and Andre Harrell @ AMFAR 2008 New York Gala

Genevieve Jones

Georgetta Robinson

Veronica Webb

Andre Harrell

Joy Bryant

(Photos:Patrick McMullan)

AMFAR held it's Annual New York Gala raising funds and awareness about AIDS and AIDS research. This year's honorees were Julian Schnabel, Carine Roitfeld and Kennedy descendant, Bobby Shriver.

Black philanthropists, socialites, and celebrities came out to support the significant cause and looked fabulous as ever.

Socialites, Genevieve Jones and Georgetta Robinson glowed in their sheer silk chiffon gowns. Music industry mogul, Andre Harrell looked dapper and model Veronical Webb ushered in Spring with a voluminous floral gown. Actress, Joy Bryant was a scene stealer with her ivory tiered chiffon gown designed by Ralph Lauren.

ANTM's YaYa @Harlem YMCA

Actress and former contestant on America's Next Top Model, YaYa DaCosta, spoke at the StoryCorps Griot and Harlem YMCA "Gathering Stories" event in New York City.

(Photos: WireImage)

Flashes: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Opening Night Gala

Gala Co-Chairs


Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder


Artistic Director/Co-chair, Judith Jamison and Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya


Co-chairs: Sandy and Joan Weill, Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault


Tamara Tunie



Janice and Christopher Williams


Bruce Gordon, Twana Tibbs and Rev. Jesse Jackson


Harold Ford and fiancee


Russell Simmons, Porschia Coleman and Rev. Jesse Jackson



World renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater kicked off their season with an Opening Night Gala in New York. The benefit raised more than $2.7 million for all Ailey’s essential programs with support from over 1300 patrons. The Gala performance featured the company premiere of Firebird, choreographed by Maurice Béjart, Reflections in D, a solo Mr. Ailey created for himself in 1962, and the globally acclaimed, Revelations.

A heart-felt tribute by Artistic Director Judith Jamison and Gala Co-chairs Joan and Sandy Weill was paid to Maurice Béjart, who passed away one week before the Gala as "an innovator, humanist and a citizen of culture and the world." The AAADT received outstanding reviews for their opening night performances from The New York Times who stated Clifton Brown was "Perfect for the role" in Firebird, as well as, "Matthew Rushing's lyrical control proves riveting, beautifully attuned to Eric Scott Reed's live performance at the piano."


Dancers and patrons alike, looked glamorous as they united for dinner and dancing at the New York Sheraton Metropolitan Ballroom later that evening. Designers, Badgley Mischka bedecked the the female luminaries of AAADT in their Platinum Collection. In a nutshell, the night was a beautiful success.

Dancers: Willy Laury, Ebony Haswell and Yusha-Marie Sorzano


Dancers: Abdur-Rahim Jackson and Oliva Bowman


Alexis Clark


Alicia Graf


Thelma Golden


Dancers: Hope Boykin, Rosalyn Deshauteurs and guest.


Alvin Ailey Dancers

Click here for a schedule of upcoming performances.