Unityfirst.com wishes you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. We thank you for your readership and encourage you to share your news with us. This year, we will not only be sharing our weekly news but offering other opportunities to share information via speakers, events and online sponsorships.  As we hear from many of our readers, UnityFirst.com is a valued, consistent source that is welcomed by a wide range of readers.  Our goal this year is to increase opportunities to partner for success and to share news even more widely and deeply across our diverse audience. Let us know if you would like to be a link partner or post your news or advertisements on our site.  We must continue to build our abilities to communicate across and within our many diverse communities, businesses, and corporations and share positive, informative and useful news to a wide segment of our multicultural and mainstream audience. We look forward to hearing from you and making a greater difference in our community and world. Together, we will all contribute to the unity which drives the changes we wish to see in our communities, families and businesses.  I look forward to hearing from you…just contact me at: jfondon@unityfirst.com or call (413) 734-6444.

Today, our Information Age griots perform a similar function on the Internet, receiving news pertinent to African Americans and passing it to the community. Their drums are e-mail newsletters and discussion groups full of information that, because of distance or lack of awareness, we might not have been privy to. Husband-and-wife team Janine and Tom Fondon operate Boston-based Unity First Online News, a direct e-mail newsletter that shares news and opportunities with thousands of African Americans and other people of color. “People use us to stay up on news that is often just mentioned in passing in traditional media--multicultural news such as reports on the Urban League Conference and the Million Youth March,” says Janine. Unity First Online News also provides information on specific communities around the country. “We let people know what’s going on in other black communities. Think about it. Are you living where you are from? Many black folks are ‘from somewhere else.’ We give them a way to stay in touch.” Rounding out the Unity First Online News experience is an online store and a very handy guide to upcoming African American-focused television programming. “All too often, shows on PBS or the networks are [scheduled], and you hear about them only after they’ve aired,” says Janine. Husband Tom adds: “Our server sends the information out every Sunday night. People like finding us in their e-mail every Monday morning. We’re something you can depend on.” To register for the Fondons’ newsletter, visit www.unityfirst.com.

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