Victoria Horsford

THE 2012 ELECTIONS

November 6 is 40 days away from this issue date There is lots of work to be done to insure an Obama re-election victory.   His campaign needs lots more money. Please make a donation.to counter  GOP  desperate measures tactics to extricate power from  the electorate while stifling the  American  goal of  that more perfect union.  While Obama’s poll  electoral college  poll numbers look good  and  the US domestic scene is stable,  overseas events could derail  his  re-election.  For example, on 9/25 Iran  test fired a missile designed to hit warships, near the Strait of Hormuz where there are  many  US naval ships. How will Israel react?  How does the US  react. The Iranian test was calculated for its shock value and its  flirtation with brinksmanship set  against  the backdrop of the new UN General Assembly session and a world leadership audience.

Congressman Jesse Jackson’s Washington, DC home is up for sale with a $2 million price tag , raising questions about his immediate future political role.   Recently diagnosed as a bi-polar, Congressman Jackson has not said what his plans are for the November election. He won the primary and his name should be on the ballot.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

New Yorkers welcome the hundreds of heads of state and world dignitaries who descended on NYC for the rites of autumn when the  United Nation’s General Assembly convenes its new session.  Arguably, it is the planet’s most cosmopolitan place for a week. 

The US Department of Defense is plans personnel changes for  the US Africa Command, AFRICOM.  The DOD has identified  4- Star General David  Rodriguez as new Africom honcho, which is now headed by African American  General Carter Ham,  who worked with distinction  during the Libya uprising. This level military  change requires US Senate approval.

What was the trigger for  Zimbabwe’s octogenarian  President Robert  Mugabe’s disparaging remarks this month when he said  that “Jamaican men are unambitious, who like to get high on drink and drugs and eschew education.” Jamaica was among the early supporters of the Southern African liberation struggles, especially in  Rhodesia, Zimbabwe’s pre-independence name. More on this after the General Assembly sessions.

BOOK MARKS

Golden Krust CEO, Lowell Hawthorne wrote a book , ” THE BAKER’S SON: My Life In Business,” published by Akashic Books, which  chronicles the rise of  the Golden Crust food empire,  from a small village shop in the island of  Jamaica, which  offered patties and other baked goods,  to a major USA headquartered   food  emporium cum  franchise operation.

Sadie Brown’s new  novel,  NW, revisits some of the emotional, sense of alienation, and multicultural  terrain which she  covered in  her highly acclaimed novel  WHITE TEETH, which was  also set in northwest ( NW )London, where she grew up.  Sadie Brown has been teaching English lit at New York University since 2010.

NEWSMAKERS

The 109-year old Conde Nast, the parent company and  magazine publisher of 18  top magazines such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, Glamour and GQ, recently  named African- American Keija Minor  editor in chief of Brides Magazine.  Former Uptown Magazine editorMs. Minor becomes the first African American  to top the masthead of  a Conde Nast magazine.

Congrats to newlyweds Carol and Howard Dodson who tied the knot last weekend in  Mayland. Dodson is former Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Chief.

BIRTHDAY shoutouts to cardinal air sign Librans: Akon, Amiri Baraka Toni Braxton,  President Jimmy Carter, Chuck Berry,  Ruth Clark, Dr. Neil DeGrasse,  Michael Douglas, Snoop Dog,   Bara Diokhane, Al Cunningham,  Pamela Heroe, Evander Holyfield,  Bell Hooks, Gwen Ifill, Reverend Jesse Jackson,   Dr. Mae Jemison, Wyclef Jean, Winnie Mandela, Reverend Al Sharpton,   Will Smith, Jeanine Tate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu,  Usher,

AUTUMN CULTURE DATES

The LeRoy Nieman Art Center is place where fine art and history intersect with its month-long group exhibition BLACKBALL: Illuminating Negro Leagues Baseball, which runs through 10/4. Participating  fine artists include “Donald Sunn”  Anderson, Lou Grant, Charles Hearn, Rod Ivey, LeRoy Neiman, Kadir Nelson, George Preston, Sherry Shine and Grace Y. Williams. Fine artist Misha McGlowin is the Nieman Art Center Program Director/Curator.  Proceeds from the BLACKBALL Exhibit will benefit the Friends of Colonel Young Park which is on  Lenox Avenue at 143 Street, whose goal is to upgrade the Park into a state-of the art ball field.   A short excerpt of  the soon- to-be- released documentary “Universal Babe” will be screened on certain days.  The Nieman  Art Center is  located at 2785 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, at 148 Street, Harlem

The Lifetime TV Network airs telepix STEEL MAGNOLIAS with an all- Black cast, starring Queen Latifah, who also the executive producer; Alfre Woodaard, Phylicia Rashad, Condola Rashad, Jill Scott and Adepeo Oduye, on October  7.

A management consultant, Victoria Horsford is a journalist and pop culture historian reachable at victoriahorsford@yahoo.com