by Amani Channel

Below is a video I helped produce for the New Leaders Council. NLC provides leadership training to top tier progressive political entrepreneurs from 22-35. The organization is celebrating the launch of its Atlanta chapter and you’re invited to attend the kick off fundraiser on October 14 at Manuel’s Tavern.

I recently attended a retreat in Las Vegas where I met members from all over the country. The NLC started in San Francisco and is now expanding from 5 to 11 chapters nationally.

The NLC wants to develop leaders from all sectors. If you’re interested in running a nonprofit, leading a political campaign, if you’re an entrepreneur, or a spiritual leader, you can apply to the Institute. This is a great network of young people who are doing big things. I’m volunteering as the Technology Chair (can you guess why?), and I’m excited about being involved.

NLC is a non-partisan nonprofit. The Institute begins in January and applications for fellows are now being accepted. If you know an outstanding leader in any profession nominate he or she here. In addition to the application selection process, The Atlanta chapter is building its advisory board, and looking for faculty.

Please click this link to support our kickoff fundraiser now.

Links:
NLC Twitter
NLC Facebook
NLC Atlanta Twitter
NLC Atlanta Facebook

by A.man.I

If you’re looking for a positive organization to get involved with that is focused on making a difference in the community, then please join me at the New Leaders Council Atlanta chapter mixer.

Visit this link to learn more about the organization.

from e-release

Join us at the Irwin Street Market in the Old Fourth Ward for a party with a purpose!

WHEN: June 11
WHERE: 660 Irwin Street
TIME: 6 p.m.
WHO: You! And the Atlanta Chapter of New Leaders Council.
WHY: We’re working to build the Progressive movement in Atlanta, but we need the help of Metro-Atlanta’s most dynamic and motivated leaders. Join us and network with purpose.

www.irwinstreetmarket.com

by A.man.I

If you keep up with me on Twitter or Facebook, then I’m sure you’re well aware of my family’s efforts to raise money for the March of Dimes on behalf of my twins who were born prematurely in 2006.

I’m proud to announce that my wife and I raised about $600.00 dollars during our three-day effort. We started the drive with about $550.00 dollars, and by late Sunday that number had doubled as you can see above.

We’ve asked friends and family to donate to Rico and Jordan’s “band” in the past, but this year I decided to step up my effort to raise money. This all came to me at the last moment, but I first decided to update the short documentary that I produced in 2007 to include the recent birth of our son Devin.

We uploaded the video to my wife’s Facebook account as well as my own, and tagged friends and family who we know personally to share the video with them. I also uploaded the video to my blip.tv account and placed in on my blog for my visitors to see. Additionally, Atlanta Daybook donated a press release about the fundraiser.

I don’t know how many people in total viewed the video but to date 74 saw the video via the blip.tv upload. If you know a way to view video metrics on Facebook, let me know. I received many comments from people in my Facebook network that they viewed the video and would thereafter support the cause.

Twitter seemed to be the most effective way to gain support during the effort. I Twittered about the fundraiser each day (Friday, Sat., and Sun.), giving updates about how much money was raised, and our overall goals. That generated a fair amount of conversations from people who both donated and wanted to help spread the word. It also seemed that donors would make contributions during my tweet-sprees.

Since my Twitter account is linked to FB, some of the conversations occurred there. One person made a donation after stating that they never thought to support the March of Dimes. It seems that most donors are friends of the family or people I’ve dealt with personally, and a few are casual associates, but they are people who I’ve met or communicated with in the past.

Another thing I tried to do is to ask some of my Twitter friends to re-tweet my messages. While most generally obliged, it didn’t seem that that method generated a significant amount of donations, however, it certainly helped raise awareness of our cause.

I’d like thank everyone who donated, and though my family suffered a big loss, we want you to think about supporting the March of Dimes rather than our personal situation. Over the years we’ve learned that many women, and families have experienced situations similar to ours, and premature birth really isn’t that rare.

We want you to support the March of Dimes because the organization is committed to helping babies live healthy lives. What is more important than that?

Again, we appreciate your continued support, and this won’t be the last time you hear me talk about my twins or the March of Dimes, because or goal is to raise $5000.00 this year.

We’ve only just begun.

If you haven’t done so yet, please make a donation now.

PEACE!!

Amani Channel

Today is World AIDS Day, and bloggers all around are putting on their activist hats to raise awareness about this global epidemic.

I’m sure just about everyone has been touched by the virus personally in one way or another. As a teenager, the mother of one of my good childhood friends became infected, and slowly wasted away.

Here’s some info about the U.S. AIDS epidemic.

from Avert

Since the beginning of the HIV and AIDS epidemic more than half a million people have died of AIDS in America – the equivalent of the entire population of Las Vegas. There are currently more than one million people living with HIV and AIDS in America and around a fifth of these are unaware of their infection, 2 posing a high risk of onward transmission.

To learn more about how you can get involved with the World AIDS Campaign visit this link.

Grayson Daughters talks politics with civil rights legend Rev. Joseph Lowery.

by A.man.I & Mario Page

On Saturday, Mario “SupeShooter” Page called, “You wanna ride with me downtown? There’s a protest at the World of Coke.” I was down. Dream for Darfur partnered with a local organization to organize the protest against Coke for being a major sponsor of the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, China.

What’s wrong with that you ask? It’s been reported that China and the Sudanese government have close business ties (you’ll have to do some homework if you don’t follow). By being an Olympic sponsor, Coke is by association supporting the Chinese government and participating in the genocide, or so the argument goes.

We parked, geared up, and the first thing we noticed was a plane flying above with a banner that said “GO OLYMPICS! CNN STOP BASHING CHINESE!!!. Mario shot some b-roll of the banner plane (because the SupeShooter will shoot about anything that moves), and we continued on.

There were about 30 people protesting outside of World of Coke. They said that Coke is a good company, but it could be doing more to pressure China to stop working the Sudanese government. A reporter with the AJC, and a local NBC cameraman were there too.

We shot some b-roll, a couple of interviews, and wrapped up. As we’re leaving downtown we happened to pass CNN and noticed red flags, and thousands of people outside. It looked like another protest. People were also driving by, waving flags out of cars, and honking their horns… all Chinese.

The signs made it pretty obvious why they were there. Jack Cafferty. Back on April 9, Cafferty made some comments that pissed them off. “They’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they have been for the last 50 years,” said Cafferty.

By the time we parked, the police were moving the crowds to Centennial Park. Mario started shooting, and then I started interviewing. According to one of the organizers Lucy Lu, they used the Internet to get the word out. One guy even came out of his pocket to pay for the banner plane that was flying above.

I’d say there were more than a thousand people there. The folks we spoke to said at least two thousand turned out, but this is what CNN reported about the event.

A much smaller gathering of about two dozen people protested Saturday outside CNN’s corporate offices in Atlanta, Georgia.

I promise you, there were more than two dozen people. OK maybe there were a dozen left after police ushered everyone else away.

It looks like the local NBC station and we were the only broadcast crews that captured the protest. We called other media, but no one else wanted the footage. At least the AJC was on the ball, and if nothing else, I have MyUrbanReport.

from Morehouse College press release:

Forty years to the day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse College will commemorate the readings and teachings of King with a ground-breaking global conversation. Morehouse is partnering with the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida to engage several experts in conversation across continents — and it will all take place on the Internet.

The conversation, which will be explored during the four Fridays in the month of April, will focus on King’s metaphor of the World House, taken from his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? The book was published in 1976 and is a part of the 10,000-piece Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection. The “World House” chapter is based on King’s Nobel Peace Prize lecture, which is also a part of the Collection.

The first of these global conversations will take place on Friday, April 4, at 10 a.m. Morehouse College will serve as the epicenter for this global connection, which will feature speakers and performances from Africa, India, China, Florida and Georgia, hosted by WSB Radio’s Condace Pressley.

The topic for April 4 will focus on King’s challenge to citizens of the world to “transcend tribe, race, class, nation and religion to embrace the vision of a World House.” Featured speakers will include Dr. Walter E. Fluker, executive director of the Leadership Center at Morehouse College and interim director of the King collection, who will be stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China; Dr. Manisha Shelat, senior lecturer on Journalism and Communications at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in India; Dr. Stephanie Evans, assistant professor in African American Studies and Women’s Studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville; and Benson Wambari, professor in the department of philosophy at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. Also expected to participate in this history-making event are spoken word artists, dancers and musicians from the USA to China.

by A.man.I

Georgia’s AME Bishop, William Deveaux released a statement regarding the so-called controvery surrounding Senator Obama’s former Reverand Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. His sermons are on YouTube and all in the mainstream now.

I understand why Rev. Wright’s words have stirred the pot, but you have to take them in context. He seems to be speaking to lager political, social, and economic issues rather than simply cursing America.

If Rev. Wright committed an illegal act, I think there would be more reason to frown. He has the right to speak his mind. That’s what America is about. I think more journalists need to be questioning the government’s actions.

From press release dated March 19, 2008 [EReporterATL]

Bishop William Deveaux, Sixth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

We repudiate the irresponsible and shameful behavior of the national media for replaying and sensationalizing Rev. Wright’s words out of context simply to accommodate a salacious sound-bite. Quite frankly African Americans articulate and use language differently than whites by juxtaposing words to paint indelible psychological pictures. For example, in the overplayed sound-byte Rev. Wright was not cursing America or its people. Rather he was pointing out historical and modern day incidents of racial intolerance or violence that were both heinous and damnable.