Obama Champion in Iowa Caucus

Congrats to Barack Obama who had a sweeping victory for the Democratic party in Iowa, humbling the over-confident Hillary Clinton. This was the first vote and considered very important because it sets the tone for who America wants on the ballot for the upcoming presidential election. If Obama wins he'll be the first black person to become president of America.

The Iowa caucus is an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa elect delegates to the county convention to which their precinct belongs in a caucus. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions. These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa's Congressional District Convention and the State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the presidential nominating conventions (the national conventions).

Society Stars: NBLCA Gala

Debra Fraser-Howze (2nd left) with honorees (l-r) Douglas A. Michels, Bill Duke, Rory Kennedy, Hedeia Broadbent, Robert Mosbacher


Reginald Van Lee, NBLCA founding president & CEO Debra Fraser-Howze

(Photos:Eurweb.com)



Dinner Chair Reginald Van Lee of Booz Allen Hamilton looked debonair as ever as he hosted the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS 2007 Choose Life Awards gala. The significant event marked the 20th anniversary of this esteemed organization. Around 300 guests attended the event and helped to raise an impressive $300,000.

Powerhouse songstress, Jennifer Holliday performed. Honorees were Susan Taylor of Essence magazine; Rory Kennedy of Moxie Firecracker Films; Robert Mosbacher, Jr. of OPIC; OraSure Technologies; and Gilead Sciences. Vice Chairs Debra L. Lee (BET) and Pamela Joyner (Avid Partners) were joined by other Honorary Chairs Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III and Dennis DeLeon.

The National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA) was founded in November 1987 and is the oldest and largest not-for-profit organization of its kind in the United States. NBLCA’s mission is to inform, coordinate and organize the volunteer efforts of the indigenous Black leadership, including clergy, elected officials, medical practitioners, business professionals, social policy experts, and the media to meet the challenge of fighting HIV/AIDS in their local communities. NBLCA conducts policy, research and advocacy on HIV and AIDS to ensure effective participation of our leadership in all policy and resource allocation decisions at the national, state and local levels of communities of African descent nationwide.

Since its inception, NBLCA has served thousands of organizations and institutions through community development, technical assistance, and formulation of public policy; helped to raise over $2 billion in new federal funding for HIV/AIDS and public health-related direct service organizations serving communities of African descent; created the first programs for the Black clergy to develop strategies to address the complexity of problems caused by HIV and AIDS.

Harvard Offering Free Tuition

Prestigious Harvard University recently announced a program that from now on allows undergraduate students from low-income families to attend the ivy league university tuition-free and loan-free. Families earning less than $40,000 a year with an honor student graduating from high school qualify for this program.

During the announcement, Harvard's president Lawrence H. Summers said, 'When only 10 percent of the students in Elite higher education come from families in lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough. We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to the lower half of the income distribution.'

Sounds like an excellent opportunity!

To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $40,000 a year visit Harvard's financial aid website at: www.fao.fas.harvard.edu or call the school's financial aid office at (617) 495-1581.

It's Hammer Time in Silicon Valley for DanceJam.com

Former rapper MC Hammer a.k.a Stanley Burrell, has danced himself into a new career as co-founder and chief strategy officer of DanceJam.com.

The Web site, scheduled to debut in mid-January, attempting to upstage YouTube and become the Internet's hub for sharing and watching dance videos. DanceJam aims to make money by grabbing a piece of the rapidly growing Internet advertising market, which is expected to rake in $27.5 billion in 2008, according to eMarketer.

Hammer's comeback in DanceJam is due to his technological savvy, said Ron Conway, a longtime Silicon Valley investor who is part of a small group that provided DanceJam with $1 million in startup funds.

"I expect him to integrate all his knowledge into this Web site," said Conway, who befriended Hammer at a baseball game seven years ago and has been tutoring him in the ways of technology ever since. "He is the lightning rod for this whole thing."

Hammer, 45, garnered interest in Silicon Valley while he was still selling millions of records. Back in the day, he hoped to learn more about how technology might help his music career by hanging out at computer makers like Silicon Graphics Inc. and Apple Inc.

Hammer says,"There is no high-tech lingo or business strategy that you can talk that is above my head."
Go Hammer, Go Hammer, Go!!!

Baltimore Charity Helps those Affected by Cancer

The Red Devils, is a non-profit group founded in 2002 to improve the quality of life for Maryland breast cancer patients and their families. The group's name was inspired by The Red Devil to Hell with Cancer -- and Back, a book by breast cancer survivor Katherine Russell Rich, who got her title from the cancer drug Adriamycin(R), which is bright red and is nicknamed the "Red Devil." Rich's book caught the eye of Oprah Winfrey, who then learned about The Red Devils and featured the group in the October 2006 issue of her magazine. Oprah has even featured the charity as a favorite in her new book "O's Guide to Life, The Best of O, The Oprah Magazine."

Through partners, The Red Devils provides vital services such as transportation to and from medical appointments, housecleaning, delivering meals and drug co- payment help.

There are plenty of opportunities for people who want to support The Red Devils in 2008. Registration for the group's biggest fund-raiser, the annual Red Devils Heart and Sole Stroll, began online after January 1 for the "fun walk for the entire family" scheduled for the morning of Sunday, June 8 at Columbia's Centennial Park.

On February 9 from 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. is the group's "Sweet Shopping" fundraiser at Belvedere Square, where merchants will donate a portion of the day's proceeds to The Red Devils.

For more information about The Red Devils, visit http://www.the-red-devils.org

Patti and Kelly Lost, but are Still Winners

Ms. Kelly's choir may have come in 5th place on NBC's "Clash of the Choirs," but she still received $50,000 from General Electric to donate to her hometown charity. Team Rowland sang to support the Bread of Life, Inc., a non-profit organization associated with Kelly Rowland's church, St. John's United Methodist in Houston,Texas. Kelly and Beyonce Knowles, donated over $250,000 to augment the church's work and outreach in the community. The organization now has a transitional housing unit named in their honor, "The Knowles-Rowland Temenos Place Apartments," where at-risk families, the homeless, persons with HIV/AIDS, and developmentally disabled receive free temporary or long-term housing.

Patti LaBelle's choir received $50,000 as well, to support her hometown charities The Abramson Cancer Center & With Our Voices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Abramson Cancer Center is a national leader in cancer research, patient care, and education. The monetary contribution will go towards With Our Voices, a special research and outreach program for African Americans in the Philadelphia area to improve their access and usage of cancer screenings in breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! It's 2008 and I can't wait to see what this year has in store. Great things, I'm sure. I'll be highlighting many in our global black community doing positive things. Hopefully, you'll support the endeavors and/or reach out to some of the people you read about on my site. Positive people who come from all walks of life, some are philanthropists, entrepreneurs, socialites and community leaders. They are positive Black role models who remember their people and strive to improve the quality of life in our communities.

The Black community is international and comes in many shades, combinations, languages and cultures. While we do have a long way to go in this world- many of us are breaking boundaries, dispelling negative stereotypes and laying the foundation necessary for our communities to be happy, healthy and successful. How wonderful is it to know that no matter where you are in this world there's a brother or sister there making our people proud?

I aim to enlighten those unaware, on how massive the global black community is. One thing is for sure, we're not a minority, we are the majority.

Happy 2008,

Lady Noir