http://abewhite.com/
http://www.free-press-release.com/news-forget-the-band-hire-a-real-musical-experience-this-holiday-season-1260368102.html
http://votegordon.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:press-releases&catid=1:latest-news
http://www.womenarts.org/network/reviews.php?id=2008
Laying cornerstone for the Benin House Museum brings delegates from West Africa
“Laying the Cornerstone for the Benin House Museum" was the focus of a five-day mission by 32 Republic of Benin, West Africa delegates, who recently visited Alabama. The delegates were met in Tuskegee by His Excellency Cyrille Oguin, Benin Ambassador to the United States and His Excellency, Limbiye Bariki, Republic of Togo Ambassador to the United States. According to Robert Battles, a representative for Africatown USA in Mobile, the Benin House is a planned project where a museum of reconciliation would be built in Tuskegee and another in Mobile in an effort to forge better relationships between nations and to reconcile injustices done to the people of the African nation more than a century and half ago. In 1859, Africans were brought to the port of Mobile against their will and were sold into slavery. When they were freed, following the War Between the States, the former slaves were successful in establishing their own homestead near Prichard in Mobile, called Africatown.
The mission was organized by Tuskegee Mayor Omar Neal who traveled to the Republic of Benin along with USA Artist to Benin, Diane Cameron in April of 2010. Dr. Gilbert L. Rochon, President of Tuskegee University, hosted the delegation with a welcome dinner reception at his home. In Montgomery, the group participated in an exchange forum with representatives from the Alabama Department of Economic Development, housing and tourism sharing their ideas about how relationships with West Africa could be fostered in these areas. “We are excited about adding two museums to our statewide inventory of tourism destinations,” said Regional Tourism Director Marilyn Jones Stamps. “When built, these venues will be important elements in telling Alabama history and the history of West Africa in a very unique way,” she added. The highlight of the visit was the laying of the cornerstone, a visionary project by Madame Anick Santos of Benin. Ms. Santos was represented in Tuskegee by Dr. Nicolas Adagbe, Director of the Benin Economic & Social Council, Madame Ayichatou Fafoumi, of the Benin Agency for Reconciliation & Development and Mr. Antoine Bonou, President of ACECAB. After a ceremony that included songs, libations and remarks, the cornerstone for the proposed Tuskegee Museum was laid near City Hall.
http://www.thetuskegeenews.com/articles/2010/06/17/news/doc4c192de957614106754959.txt
I Fam Encourages Artists To Use Talents To Reduce World Hunger
by DC
New organizaton I Fam - International Fellowship Of Artists & Musicians - encourages artists to use talents to reduce world hunger and suffering. USA artist in residence to Benin Diane Cameron issues clarion call to artists and musicians to join the reconciliation rennaissance. The "Reconciliation Renaissance" is a new form of human expression of regard by civilization for God's creation, the natural world and all of life. It is the articulation of a new spirit of action and cooperation respecting the endowed natural right to self-expression in work and the receipt of its benefits, the fruits of labor.It is the awareness, recognition, and acceptance of each living sole as an equal heir to the creation entitled to the natural wealth provided in abundance for life's security and happiness. In its highest form the Reconciliation Renaissance is the expression of sorrow and shame for any wrongful acts of the past and joy at the possibilities of developments, which correct past misdeeds. The act of apology must be given freely without coercion and must be accepted without conditions. This then is a complete reconciliation between perpetrator and victim and the first step to a world with a "Zero Tolerance for Poverty"
The Reconciliation Tour is a movement by artist to bring awareness to the issue of hunger and poverty not as an issue of scarcity, but is a movement of morals and spiritual persuasion to freely and without government intervention induce those with more than enough to share their wealth with those without enough. The movement promotes "Zero Tolerance for Poverty" as a policy to be adopted by the world. The tour recognizes the special role of artist in society to provide insight, provoke thought, and induce new energies for action. The artist through song, dance, writing, theatre, sculpture and painting arrives at deeper insights long before the politician, engineer or business entrepreneur. It is for these reasons that musical artist from the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Caribbean and around the world, form Reconciliation Tours. The current concept is for the Tour to originate in home cities or countries and expand from there. The Artist themselves provide the governance according to their heartfelt expressions of ending poverty and world suffering through art.
The "Reconciliation Renaissance" has come to symbolize a global effort to achieve freedom and Democracy in the 21st century led by the people of Benin and supported by scientific, religious, Political and artistic leaders from the United States and Europe. The Reconciliation Tour is design to bring attention to the reconciliation method as a strategy other than war and to promote reliance on the artistic spiritual realm to advance the human condition. The tour is not simply a concert to dramatize the plight of the poor and condemnation of the wealthy. Instead the tour organizes artist into action guilds to work through their mediums to persuade greater fairness and justice through reconciliation, moral considerations, for equal access to the natural wealth provided by God to all and equitable distribution of that wealth.
Cameron tells Jazz News, "We live in a Global Society...Our neighbors are next door or a continent away. Our prayers should not be just for our children...but also for the children we may never meet. When I eat a meal and drink clean water, I should be mindful that my neighbors across the waters may not have eaten in a week. When I am tempted to complain about the rain, I repent and remember that my sisters and brothers in other countries have not seen rain for months. As musical artists, we are the modern day griots....we must tell the stories...the mantle is in our hands. Here is my contribution to my collective earth family....Its the least I can do....." Diane Cameron
http://www.womenarts.org/network/resume.php?id=2008
Diane Cameron “Daughter Of Diaspora”
Dated: 07/07/2008 Views: 188 Publisher/Author: MGH
Ms. Cameron will debut her new CD “Diaspora Child” at the festival. “I look forward to once again collaborating with my Beninese musical family, Christi VI, Okine, Mathias Dangbe and the heavenly vocals of K-Sim and others. Music is spiritual,” she continues, “it permeates the soul and feeds the spirit. As musical artist, we must sing songs that uplift the nations. In the sometimes chaotic world we live in, music can be a soothing balm. I am thankful to God that he allows me to be a conduit to his healing essence. It unites us all, superseding religion, race and locality.”
While in Benin, she will visit orphanages and schools demonstrating her “Diaspora’s Child” youth cultural programs created out of her love for the young people of Benin. Ms. Cameron has also been invited by Community Connections Organization in Togo and plans to visit schools in Togo and Ghana as well. As Executive Director of the Alabama Benin Forum her attendance in Benin will also focus on the economic exchange between the business community of both the State of Alabama and the Republic of Benin.
"We live in a Global Society...Our neighbors are next door or a continent away. Our prayers should not be just for our children...but also for the children we may never meet. When I eat a meal and drink clean water, I should be mindful that my neighbors across the waters may not have eaten in a week. When I am tempted to complain about the rain, I repent and remember that my sisters and brothers in other countries may be praying for rain. As musical artists, we are the modern day griot....we must sing the stories…….the mantle is in our hands. Music is my contribution to my collective earth family...It’s the least I can do....."
| 30 November 2005 | ||
Kora Awards 2005 in Durban | ||
With less than two months to go before the ceremony, the countdown to the KORA Awards and Festival is officially on! The KORA organisers have received a record number of entries from musicians throughout the continent, and the competition is set to be especially stiff this year.
The event, now in it’s tenth year, will be held in Kwa-Zulu Natal for the first time, and promises to deliver a succession of stand-out performances from Artistes from the African continent and beyond. In honour of it’s tenth birthday, KORA has added a veritable feast of musical activities to this years celebrations - the KORA Festival, held over two days will feature a plethora of Artistes on four stages performing live (December 1 & 2, 2005); the fashion show will showcase Africa’s glamour through haute couture (December 3rd); and finally the Kora Awards ceremony will take place on December 4th, 2005
« Kwa-Zulu Natal has become synonymous with some of the music industry’s most renowned events”, comments KZN MEC for Finance and Economic Development Dr Zweli Mkhize “for our province to be able to host the KORA-All Africa Music Awards and Festival, is a logical step in that continuum. The economic and cultural benefits for the province will be felt by a wide range of KZN residents. Kwa-Zulu Natal has become a preferred destination for world class events of this nature, and it will be our honour to host Africa’s finest at this four day musical celebration. »
The KORA Awards have also included an exciting new addition to this year - the public can now participate in selecting nine of the ceremony’s winners! Through an Africa-wide SMS voting campaign, African music lovers can select Artistes they believe are deserving of the Kora Award.
The voting mechanics are fairly simple - each nominee has been assigned a number - to vote for that person, the voter needs to SMS the nominees sex (M for male, F for Female) followed by their number to 34700. For the Artiste of the Decade category, voters should type in ‘AOD’ followed by the Artistee’s name, and sms to 34700 -
The public vote categories are:
BEST AFRICAN VIDEO
AFROTENOR South Africa ZAMAJOBE South Africa SIMPHIWE DANA South Africa ZEYNAB Benin BLACK DIAMONDS Senegal
25. BEST AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTE
50 CENTS USA DIANE CAMERON USA MARIAH CAREY USA OLIVIER Canada WILL SMITH USA | ||
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