Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
Alabama
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney will host a series of women’s leadership receptions in Boston, Atlanta, Cleveland, Palo Alto and Birmingham now through the end of June. The events, which are open to the public with advance registration, will feature a series of speakers who focus on the women’s market. The receptions will focus on a number of different topics ranging from “Preparing Women for Success in the Next Decade” to “Second Blooming for Women: Growing a Life That Matters After Fifty.”
California
Marc Curtis Little’s spiritual thriller, “Angels in the Midst,” was named a finalist in the religion fiction category at the fifth annual Indie Excellence Awards Competition in Beverly Hills this week. The 370-page novel is the sequel to “Don’t Blink When God Calls,” Little’s debut novel. The two books are centered on Curt Felton Jr.’s rocky campaign to get elected and inaugurated as mayor of a conservative city in Florida. Back stories include extramarital affairs, drug use and criminal activity, as well as paranormal occurrences. The Indie Excellence Awards Competition presents more than $12,000 in prizes for winners in 119 categories. It is one of the leaders in recognizing the work of self-published authors worldwide.
Chicago
Daytime television royalty Oprah Winfrey recently appeared in front of a gathering of her colleagues, the media and former Mayor Richard Daley, who eagerly presented his fellow Chicagoan with a sign that read “Oprah Winfrey Way,” the name of the new street which now runs along Harpo Studios, the command station of Winfrey’s multibillion dollar empire. “I just want to say thank you to the mayor and also to the city of Chicago for embracing me and allowing me to take a stand and make a stand here in this city,” said Winfrey in reference to the 20-plus years she’s logged as host of her Chicago-based television show, which made its last broadcast Wednesday.
Florida
Democrat Alvin Brown will become Jacksonville's first African American mayor. His Republican opponent, Mike Hogan, conceded last Wednesday evening, following a daylong vote count that gave Brown an eight-tenths-of-a-percent margin of victory. Officials say the gap is wide enough to prevent an automatic recount, and that several hundred absentee ballots filed by voters on Election Day helped give 48-year-old Brown the edge. He’s expected to take office July 1.
