---Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series---African Voices magazine and Long Island University's Media Arts Department, Brooklyn Campus are proud to organize and sponsor Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series which will be held from March 14-16, 2002 at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. As part of the festival, actress Lonette McKee will receive the Reel Sisters Pioneer Award. Formerly known as African American Women In Cinema Film Festival & Conference, Reel Sisters is a three-day event that provides professional workshops and other resources for emerging women filmmakers of color. The conference was renamed to reflect the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the women who have participated and who have attended the conference in past years. These "reel sisters" are Caribbean, Latina, African, and African American. Reel Sisters offers workshops and panels on such topics as financing film projects, documentary filmmaking, screenwriting and exploring new technology and distribution options. Established in 1998, Reel Sisters is one the first Brooklyn-based film conferences committed to highlighting the borough as a leading media center for women of color working in film and the visual arts. Conference proceeds are donated to women of color filmmakers who are enrolled in professional organizations that promote diversity. For more information or to attend the gala reception, film festival or lecture series, contact Carolyn Butts, conference co-founder and publisher, African Voices at (718) 488-1052.

---Wake Forest establishes Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health---Wake Forest University School of Medicine has established the Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health to develop methods to close the health gap between minorities and the rest of the United States population. The medical school recently received two significant grants to assist in establishing the center: a grant of $500,000 from The Duke Endowment and a grant of $80,000 from The Winston-Salem Foundation. Wake Forest seeks to raise a $20 million endowment to operate the center. Angelou, a poet, author, civil-rights activist and Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University, serves on the center's steering committee. Underrepresented minority Americans - African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and Alaskan Native citizens - are less likely than white Americans to live long and healthy lives. These same groups are also underrepresented in the biomedical research community as participants, investigators or practitioners. As a result, doctors know less about the prevention, expression or treatment of diseases in these groups. "Wake Forest University School of Medicine is refocusing its efforts in order to address these health issues," said Richard H. Dean, M.D., president, Wake Forest University Health Sciences. "Through this new collaboration between Maya Angelou and the medical school, we will examine how we recruit and train medical students and researchers and increase opportunities in these areas, collaborate with other institutions and community organizations in how we attract volunteers for clinical trials and expand the scope of our research regarding the major killers of minorities in America. Our goal is full inclusion of all people in the scientific discussion of how we live, stay well and manage illness in this country." The School of Medicine already has a broad range of leading research and clinical programs in the six major focus areas in minority health targeted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services: infant mortality; cancer screening and management; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes; HIV infection; and child and adult immunizations. For more information, contact: Jim Steele or Mark Wright, (336) 716-3487.

---U.S. Civil Rights Commission---
As people of color mark National African American History Month 2002 with celebration and contemplation, the United States Commission on Civil Rights urges all Americans to reflect upon the legacy of African Americans as well as the theme established for this year's commemorative month: "The Color Line Revisited: Is Racism Dead?" The poignant theme lends relevance to the mission and vision of the Commission. Since its founding in 1957, the Commission has played a critical role in answering questions regarding where America is on race relations and where it should be. As an independent, bi-partisan fact-finding agency, the Commission long-ago earned a reputation as "our nation's governmental conscience," maintaining its unique and vital role of shining a light onto some of the most difficult and complex civil rights issues facing the nation. Its hearings, reports and recommendations helped galvanize political and popular support for many of the sweeping social justice changes that have taken place in this country over the past few decades, from the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991. "The Commission is dedicated to the actualization of an America that is fair and just to all of its citizens," said Commission Chairperson Dr. Mary Frances Berry. "For centuries African Americans have been denied their most fundamental rights, and particularly during this month, we encourage all Americans to honor African American contributions, but also to consider why this history of inequality is still a reality on many fronts." An examination of the past century shows that the great African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois was correct when he declared in 1903 that the problem of the 20th century would be the color line. From the age of Jim Crow and "Judge Lynch," to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, to ongoing debates about the best policy response to persistent racial inequalities, the nation continues to grapple with the color line. And so long as it does, the Commission's work remains unfinished. "As long as inequalities persist, we have a continuing need to battle racism and help ensure that our nation lives up to its highest ideals," said Dr. Berry. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan fact-finding agency. Its members include Chairperson Mary Frances Berry, Vice Chairperson Cruz Reynoso and Commissioners Jennifer C. Braceras, Christopher Edley, Jr., Elsie M. Meeks, Russell G. Redenbaugh, Abigail Thernstrom and Victoria Wilson. Les Jin is staff director.

---NAACP meets with Pan Hellenic Leaders---
NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and the nine major African American Pan Hellenic leaders have agreed to build a stronger reciprocal relationship that would lead to collaboration on voter empowerment, economic development, health issues, social action and membership. The fraternity and sorority leaders pledged to continue support of the NAACP membership drives, particularly on college campuses. Mfume notes that the NAACP's five-year strategic plan calls for collaborating with organizations of similar lineage, plans of work, history and purpose. He also pledged to assist the fraternal organizations in their congressional and state-wide redistricting efforts. Dr. Norma S. White, Supreme Basileus and Chairman, council of President, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., said, "We look forward to partnering with the NAACP on several initiatives, including discussions with BET on programming, the state of the black family, education, economic empowerment and leadership development."

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