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---2004 ELECTION/watch: March to Vote---
Tom Joyner, the top-ranked nationally syndicated radio personality, recently hosted "March to Vote," an early voting event held at Miami Beach City Hall. Joyner and his company REACH Media Inc., along with several of his celebrity friends and politicians, led 1,000 African Americans in a march from Jackie Gleason Theater to Miami Beach City Hall where voting booths and election officials were on site for participants to cast their ballots prior to Election day. Among the participants were Michael Moore, director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," Star Jones of "The View," Jennifer Lewis of "Antwone Fisher," and Lavar Burton of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Several political figures supported Tom and his efforts by marching as well including DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (FL), U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (TN) and Congressional Black Caucus members Kendrick Meek and Harold Ford. Additionally, former U.S. President Bill Clinton showed his support by calling into the Tom Joyner Morning Show, where he commended Joyner on all of his efforts to date to increase voter participation. "To witness 1,000 African American men and women marching the streets with a purpose sent chills up my spine," said Joyner. "The event was an absolute success and we are fortunate in that we accomplished everything we sought out to do. I send a special thank you to all that participated in the overall effort."

---African-American employees are still the main focus of diversity programs---African-American employees are still the main focus of diversity programs by U.S. employers, according to a survey of 1,780 human resource and training executives by Boston consulting firm Novations/J. Howard & Associates. Hispanics and women rank second and third, and gays and lesbians are a close fourth. "African-Americans have usually been companies' top diversity target," said firm President and CEO Mike Hyter. "Certainly there's been a lot of progress, but recruiting and developing African-American employees continue to engage top management and HR departments," said Hyter, whose firm tracks employer attitudes and diversity trends. African-Americans may still have top priority, Hyter observed, but other employee groups now get a growing share of management attention. "Hispanics are now number two while women have slipped to number three. No doubt the latter reflects women's gains over the past decade. Meanwhile, gays and lesbians are on the diversity radar of more companies." The purpose of the firm's survey, Hyter explained, is not to gauge competition among employee groups, but to follow shifting priorities. For more information, or to get a copy of the full survey, send an email to: pfitzgerald@jhoward.com.

---NAACP and Pfizer to advance health of African Americans---
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced that its three-year, $1 million partnership with Pfizer Inc is underway. The partnership formalizes a long standing relationship and focuses on developing health information and advocacy programs that will help lead to better health for millions of African Americans. The NAACP and its Health Advocacy Division have long noted that quality health care is a human right of all Americans and that the health care gap impinges on the equality of African Americans. According to a 2002 Institute of Medicine report, African Americans have the highest mortality rates of any U.S. racial and ethnic group, 1.6 times higher than that of whites. In a number of areas - from specific diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and HIV/AIDS, to broader factors such as environmental toxicity and lack of health insurance - African Americans across the United States suffer from hampered access to a full range of quality healthcare services. Pfizer and The NAACP have worked together over the years to raise health awareness and activate NAACP members through health education and health screening programs, and initiatives to provide senior citizens with access to health care and prescription medicines. With the partnership underway, Pfizer and the NAACP are redoubling their health information and activation efforts. This past July, The NAACP issued a Call to Action on Health, which calls on national, state, and local health committees to develop and implement a Five-Year Healthcare Equity Partnership Plan for reducing the racial disparities in healthcare by at least 25 percent over the next five years.