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Dobbin Heights Mayor Antonio Blue is First Recipient of Prestigious Award
RALEIGH, NC— Mayor Antonio Blue of Dobbin Heights, NC became the first recipient of the NC Black Summit “Elected Official of the Year” award. The award is designed to recognize an elected official whose advocacy and service have contributed to progress in the areas of healthcare, education criminal justice, economic equality and politics for Black North Carolinians.
He received the award during the 6th Annual NC Black Summit Banquet, held at the Sheraton Capital Center in downtown Raleigh on April 29. Mayor Blue was selected from a field of 4 nominees, including Mayor Anthony Foxx, of Charlotte, Sen. Dan Blue of Wake County, and Rep. Alma Adams of Guilford County. Blue was recognized for his leadership of the North Carolina Black Elected and Municipal Officials (NCBEMO) and for his local leadership and dedication to elevating the position of African Americans in Richmond County.
Names of nominees were submitted from throughout the state by Alliance members and partners. The nominees were then selected by the Alliance Steering Committee, made up of representatives of member and advocate organizations.
Recognized as one of the premier events in North Carolina for political and public policy advocates, the Black Summit is held annually in April. The Summit, sponsored by the Alliance of NC Black Elected officials, hosted hundreds of elected officials and advocates from the throughout the state who convened to discuss pressing issues facing Black North Carolinians. This year, the 3-day event focused on redistricting, education and health care. For more information visit www.ncblacksummit.org or call (919) 833-6394.
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PRESS RELEASE
February 28, 2011
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Mayors Celebrate Black History During World Summit of Mayors Conference in Africa
Osogbo, NIGERIA--Within a stately reception room decorated with gold columns, lavish sofa seating, green plush carpeting and dynasty chairs, delegates of the World Summit of Mayors conference were granted a special audience with the King of Ife today. The delegates remarked on the significance of meeting His Imperial Majesty, Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, the Oonirasa of Ile-Ife, the spiritual leader of the Yoruba tradition, on the last day of Black History Month.
"The visit with the Ooni provided our mayors, not only with a feeling of respect but a view of history in the Motherland. Being in his presence provided a new perspective based on faith and tradition. If there ever was an incentive to help rebuild Nigeria, this meeting created more energy to help our people," said NCBM President, Mayor Robert Bowser of East Orange, New Jersey.
"What a great way to end Black History Month, meeting and being in the presence of the most high king in the City of Ife, here in the home of all Africans and African American people. This is a moment only some people get to dream about, but I got to live it," Mayor Antonio Blue of Dobbins Heights, North Carolina.
"My thoughts about going to see the Ooni are that I felt it was a privilege to experience such a traditional and honorable ceremony. It was wonderful to see the people's respect for their ruler and the harmony that filled the air was electrifying. You could not help but feel the emotional attachment to the people by the rulers, and to the rulers by the people. It was a beautiful experience that I hope to be able to share with coming generations," Mayor Gail Parker Carter of Glenarden, Maryland.
"Informative and eye-opening," said Mayor Michael Blunt of Chesilhurst, New Jersey.
"It was a spiritual connection for me. I have been in this setting before because when you humble yourself and esteem others, there is an impartation that takes place. The Bible says, he that humbles himself, shall be exalted and he that exalts himself, shall be humbled. This was a night of prophecy," Bishop James Rodgers, Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Today's experience was very moving. As a person of African descent, to see the history of my ancestors was very moving and heartwarming. Today, I really felt at home with my people. Long live Mother Africa," said Mayor James Walls of District Heights, Maryland.
"Our visit here was very significant. He is such an important figure, like the Dalai Lama, in terms of the Yoruba people. There are 200 million people around the world that are a part of the Yoruba tradition. There are tens of millions in Cuba, Haiti, Dominica Republic, Venezuela and Colombia and tens of millions in Nigeria and its neighboring country of Benin. We have been dealing with governors and local leaders but he is truly a powerful spiritual and cultural leader," observed Professor Leonard Jeffries of City University of New York.
"For our mayors to be granted an audience with the Ooni of Ife was a highlight to our convention. This was a historic moment that will always have a special place in the history of our organization. What a great way to close a month of celebrating Black history and culture," said NCBM Executive Director, Vanessa R. Williams.
Members of the National Conference of Black Mayors and other special guests have gathered in Osun State, Nigeria to join their counterparts in Europe, Africa, Central and South America, Haiti and the Caribbean for the 2011 World Summit of Mayors conference. The conference, hosted by Osun State Governor, His Excellency Rauf Aregbesola, officially opened Friday, February 25 under the theme, "Global Engagement of Local Leadership for Universal Progress."
Co-convened by the National Conference of Black Mayors and the World Summit of Mayors, the six-day conference provided local government leaders throughout the Diaspora with the opportunity to gather for the common interest of restoring, strengthening and uplifting working relations and collaborations among their respective countries.
The Center for Black Culture and International Understanding served as the official site of conference sessions. Sessions were designed around seven key areas: Trust, Training, Trade, Treasury, Twin Cities, Technology, and Tourism. A daily series of provocative plenaries set the tone, such as "Local Imperatives of Good Governance for Local Leadership" and "Economic Development: Africa and Its Diaspora Partnership."
Participants have addressed economic and social issues within these sectors, with an aim to enhance the individual capacities of their local government to develop strategies to address universal challenges of municipalities such as good governance, development, sustainability, and equitable and affordable distribution of goods and services to citizens. Key outcomes of the conference will be focused on forging sustainable public-private partnerships and establishing multinational local government collaborations and areas of cooperation that may impact the quality of life within the global landscape.
The ultimate outcome will be the empowerment of the Office of the Mayor to uncover and tap into the tremendous potential for advancement within African Diaspora. Conference sessions wrap up tomorrow with an Osun State reception to close the conference.
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PHOTO RELEASE - February 16, 2011
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Photo Courtesy of the White House |
NCBM Leadership Attends Vice President Joe Biden's Black History Month Reception
February 15, 2011: Vice President Joseph Biden and Dr. Jill Biden welcomed over 120 elected African American officials and their guests to their official residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory February 15 in honor of Black History Month.
The Vice President who had just returned from a trip to Ft. Campbell Kentucky was in a very reflective mood, as his wife Dr. Jill Biden welcomed several distinguished members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Mayors, State Legislators, County Officials, and former elected leaders. Dr. Biden welcomed the guests, introduced her husband and excused herself as she had to attend a special event for community colleges.
Vice President Biden talked about the importance of Black History Month as he reflected on everything from his recent meeting with young pre-teen African American football players at Ft. Campbell (who are the offspring of deployed Afghanistan and Iraq military warriors), to his becoming an attorney in 1968 just after the death of Dr. King (and the subsequent riots), and finally to his train ride with President-elect Barack Obama in January 2009 as the newly elected Vice President-elect to the nation's first ever Black President.
In prepared remarks that lasted approximately eight minutes, Vice President Biden stayed mostly clear of the politics of the day, except for noting at the outset that many of his friends in the Congressional Black Caucus could not attend because they were preparing for votes on the Continuing Resolution to keep the government from shutting down, and that "they were fighting for some key things important to the Black community."
He alluded to the fact that if the Republican controlled House of Representatives has its way, the next 18 months will be a "rough ride" and that they seek to cut many programs that are critical to Mayors, state and county officials nationwide who represent struggling communities, which are mostly of color. He joked, "My Recovery Act doesn't look so bad now, does it?" Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement.
The Vice President opened his substantive remarks for the evening by talking about the importance of community colleges, particularly to the sustainability of upwardly mobile, educated Blacks in America. He pointed out that his longtime friend from Wilmington, Delaware, Mayor James Baker (who was in attendance at the reception) stood side by side with him on the train platform at Wilmington station in 1968 as they watched the City of Wilmington lay in ruins from the riots in the aftermath of Dr. King's death.
He movingly reflected on how some 40 years later, he stood on that same platform waiting to board a train that carried in its cars the newly elected Black President of the United States, Barack Obama. Biden said that he had a moment standing at that station where he remembered the riots and said to himself, "We may have a lot more to do, but damn, we've come a long way." He closed his remarks by saying that "the best way to celebrate history is to make it."
He offered pointed tribute to the strength of the Black men and women who were standing in the room, and who work tirelessly for their communities. And he also remembered those who had come before. He talked about Frederick Douglass and the freed slaves who in 1862 became Union soldiers, and how out of 35,000 who died during the Civil War, 16 of that number were honored with the Congressional Medal of Honor. He talked about how his first case as public defender was representing two Black Panther Party members accused of causing the riots in 1968.
The most poignant and moving line of the night was offered by the Vice President as he was talking about the sacrifices of all of those who had come before this present generation of accomplished African Americans. The Vice President spoke of the sacrifice, the struggle (quoting Fredrick Douglass-"no struggle, no progress"), he spoke about the "halting" but continuous struggle for equality in America, and he called on us all to remember that "Sometimes the people most burdened in life have to add more burdens upon themselves so that others can have their burdens lifted from them."
Very fitting words on a day where we all witnessed Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his dedication and sacrifice in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, some 40 years later at the hands of the nation's first Black President of the United States.
Pool Report by Sophia A. Nelson, JET Magazine/MSNBC
Pictured above: Vice President Joe Biden (center) is pictured here with NCBM leadership during a Black History Month reception at the Naval Observatory Residence in Washington, DC, February 15, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
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