---Celebrating Kwanzaa 2004---
Kwanzaa, founded in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, is a celebration that is observed each year from December 26-January 1. According to Karenga, "This Kwanzaa, millions of Africans all over the world come together to celebrate family, community and culture and to recommit themselves to creating and practicing good in the world, using the Nguzo Saba, the Seven principles as the fundamental framework and foundation to achieve this. We come together again also to commemorate the past, to raise and praise the sacred names and sustaining practices of the ancestors and to recommit ourselves to the dignity-affirming and life-enhancing views and values they have left to ground and guide us. The Seven Principles focus on African family, community and culture, but they also have a meaning and message for society and the world. Indeed, they speak to the best of what it means to be African and the human in the fullest sense and offer a path to shared good for us as a people and for the whole of humanity." The Seven Principles as expressed by Dr. Karenga are as follows:
1- Umoja (Unity) - To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
2- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) - To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
3-Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) - To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.
4-Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) - To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
5-Nia (Purpose) - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
6-Kuumba (Creativity) - To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
7-Imani (Faith) - To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

---Executive Leadership Council statement of support for Franklin Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae---Carl Brooks, President, Executive Leadership Council, issued the following statement, Thursday, December 23, 2004, on behalf of Executive Leadership Council member Franklin Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae. "As the nation's leading organization of senior African-American corporate executives in Fortune 500 companies, the Executive Leadership Council is saddened by the recent events that have lead to the early retirement of our member Franklin Raines as Chief Executive Officer of Fannie Mae. As the first African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and with only a handful of African Americans holding top positions in corporate America, Frank's retirement is a tremendous loss for our community and for corporate America. Frank has handled himself with high integrity and with the full recognition of the accountability and responsibility that goes along with commanding a Fortune 500 enterprise. The Executive Leadership Council supports Frank as a business and community leader of integrity and vision and is proud to have recently honored him with our 2004 Achievement Award for the many years of service that he has given to the nation and the African-American community."

---JOB OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK: Local Account Executive-WBAL-TV, Baltimore's #1 Television Station---Local Account Executive-WBAL-TV, Baltimore's #1 Television Station, is looking for an energetic, creative and new-business oriented Account Executive to join the team. Should have a minimum of 3 years sales experience. Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Qualitative Research a plus. Please send work history to Barbara Anderson, LSM, WBAL-TV, 3800 Hooper Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21211, or email to wbaltvsales@hearst.com. EOE.

---Vigilante Advertising's Urban Think Tank releases annual top five List of Social and Commercial Drivers for Marketers and Individuals : Research Predicts Subtle but Significant Changes in Store for 2005---Vigilante, the leading youth and urban advertising agency, released its annual top five list of social and commercial drivers for 2005. The Vigilante Urban Think Tank creates the popular list by careful observation of the media and urban trends. "The big news last year was the convergence of Madison and Vine. I would say we have gone even further this year, there is an absolute convergence of Madison, Vine and Pennsylvania Avenue," said Larry Woodard, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Vigilante. "We knew for instance that immigration and the growth of multiculturalism was going to be one of the most important elements almost a decade ago, but we had no way of knowing the fear of terrorism and the re-election of a conservative government would be added to the mix creating this year's surprise - -Regionacracy (see below)" adds Urban Think Tank manager, Aki Spicer. This year's top five list is shared below:

1) Luxury is Access - The world manufacturing glut has resulted in the wide availability of luxury items to the mass market (Think Target). But if we can all look the part, what separates the classes? Look for the truly premium brands to become a passport to exclusive experiences. The Mandarin Hotel, for instance, will grant its elite clientele entry into the presidential inauguration and Presidential ball. Watch for this level of access to increase helping the truly affluent keep a safe distance from the rest of us.
2) Regionacracy - It's a new form of government where the power rests with the region (Think Dirty South, West Coast and East Coast). First seen as a preference for music from specific regions. Terrorism and the Internet have combined to make local more important. It is now a way to feel safer and more comfortable and way to keep cash from flowing out of your community and to win back the control that was given away to Wall Mart, Major Record labels and off-shore production. Look for Regionacracy to become important in the commerce of produce, music, restaurants and even destination entertainment.
3) EBay Caché - EBay has legitimized and taken the garage sale upscale by clearly demonstrating the power of demand and the eclectic tastes of the consumer. Add to the EBay phenomenon the burgeoning "gray" market that includes everything from street vendors and swap meets to side-of-the-road BBQ pits and home-based beauty salons and you have a future where retailers will try to, ala pop up stores and other merchandising schemes, reach a consumer that will in the future list the ability to bargain and find unique, one-of-a-kind items as the price-of-entry.
4) Mike (pronounced "Mikey") or Diddy Didit - Everybody's a designer, everybody's an entrepreneur, and everyone has a fragrance and is a filmmaker. Technology has final begun to fulfill its promise and now you don't have to buy Nike, you can wear Mike (made by you, starring you). You can use Garage Band (Apple) software and create your own music and with Napster like software distribute it and get it played. If you were ever going to be famous, 2005 will be the time to take a shot at it.
5) McEthnic - It's no secret that US immigrants, who once took great effort to erase ethnicity in order to merge towards a fictional center called "American," no longer do so. With ethnic groups now moving into single ethnicity, suburban neighborhoods and parents actively engaged in programming ethic culture into their children's lives it was only a matter of time before the McEthnic trend developed. Many, without an outward ethnic identity or without the requisite language skills or practices will develop chic adaptations such as Kabala. Even watch for made up and hybrid holidays, like Kwanzaa and Chrismukkah developed to re-ethnicize the majority population. For more information on this research, send email to mpaul@mgppr.com.

---New Executive Director of National Conference of Black Mayors---With more than thirteen years of professional and personal involvement in community programs and organizations, Vanessa R. Williams assumes the position of Executive Director for the National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM). "I am energized, excited, and at the same time, humbled, about this new appointment; it seems that I have been preparing for such a challenge all of my adult life," says Ms. Williams about her new role as chief of this thirty-year-old non-profit organization based in Atlanta, GA. Vanessa Williams was the National Vice President of the Community Initiatives Development Corporation in Las Vegas. NCBM is governed by a 39 member Board of Directors which is chaired by its President, Mayor Harvey Johnson (Jackson, MS).