---Tavis Smiley on Philadelphia's WHYY 90.9 FM---On April 1, 2002, WHYY 90.9 FM will premiere The Tavis Smiley Show from NPR, a weekday, one-hour magazine offering intelligent talk, news, and ideas. Engaging listeners with new voices and fresh perspectives, The Tavis Smiley Show will air Monday through Friday from 8-9pm in the greater Philadelphia region. Tavis Smiley Show will feature an assortment of voices and regular guests, including Cornel West, Harvard University philosophy of religion professor; Omar Wasow, technology guru and executive director of blackplanet.com; Michael Eric Dyson, author and DePaul University religious studies professor; and Johnetta Cole, former president of Spelman College. On Fridays the show will take a lighter tone, with guests such as comedians Paul Mooney and Sheryl Underwood, offering humorous takes on current events. The Tavis Smiley Show is the result of an ongoing collaboration between NPR and a consortium of African-American public radio stations.

---Los Angeles: Thoughts from World Saviours' Day---
"America's 'insatiable appetite' for oil is causing her to take the country into ruin", the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan told more than 14,000 people during his recent World Saviours' Day 2002 address. "And, the prosecution of President George W. Bush's 'so-called war on terrorism' is only a ruse under which repressive forces in the world can exist" he said. "Power, however, can act as a heavy wine," he said. "And it has made the Bush administration like drunkards, forgetting the presence and true power of God." Minister Farrakhan condemned the West's profiling of Muslims and associating them with terrorism and spoke of the media's manipulation of the facts and the U.S. governments craving for oil. "I don't think there is one Muslim leader on this Earth that can summon 1.8 billion Muslims to a holy war," he said, "But on the other hand, President Bush, you can summon the whole Muslim world against the west by how you handle this war on terrorism," he said. Through his theme, "Healing the Wounds to Bring About a Universal Family," the Minister not only explained America's challenge to lead the world to peace, but he also warned that her might is a trial for the nation because she stands in the place of God. In attendance were Black Caucus members Maxine waters and Earl Hilliard, as well as the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal, comedians Steve Harvey and Michael Coyler, basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, entertainment mogul Russell Simmons and Source Magazine publisher Dave Mays.

---Racist video games target youth----
Attempting to capitalize on the vast popularity of computer video games -- especially among the young -- hate groups are manipulating available technology to create violently racist and anti-Semitic versions of popular video games, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says in a new report. With titles such as "Ethnic Cleansing" and "Shoot the Blacks," the manipulated games are proliferating on the Internet, where they can be previewed, purchased or downloaded on the Web sites of some of the nation's most dangerous hate groups. These so-called "White Power" games are advertised as "entertainment" on extremist sites run by neo-Nazis, white supremacists and Holocaust deniers. "Once again, racists are finding new ways to exploit technology to spread their message of white supremacy, anti-Semitism and hate to a mass audience," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. Resistance Records, the white supremacist label of the virulently racist group, the National Alliance, is currently selling a new game called "Ethnic Cleansing," an anti-Semitic and racist game created using the powerful open-source game engine Genesis 3D. In "Ethnic Cleansing," the player kills Blacks and Hispanics (the game uses pejorative terms) before entering a subway, "where the jews are hiding." The "Ethnic Cleansing" sound effects, described as "Realistic Negro Sounds," turn out to be "monkey and ape sounds" that play when dark-skinned characters are killed in the game's first level. For more information on hate on the Internet, contact ADL's Media Relations Department at (212) 885-7749.

---United Negro College Fund raises record $14.1 million---
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) kicked of the new year with its annual fundraising gala, An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence, which aired on 72 television stations representing every major market and raised a record 14.1 million in cash, pledges, and other contributions.

---From the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals---Henry G. Cisneros, former Secretary of HUD says, "The hottest business professional effort involving Latinos in the United States of America today is the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP)." According to the Homeownership Alliance, a Washington, DC-based coalition of housing-related organizations and enterprises, the U.S. Hispanic homeownership rate increased from 47.5% to 48.8% in 2001. This 1.3% increase is twice as large as white Americans and more than four times the rate of African Americans.

---Cosmetic surgery trends: ethnic diversity---
Statistics released today by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) show that ethnic minorities already comprise 17% of cosmetic surgery procedures, and that figure is likely to increase dramatically. ASAPS member Kristoffer Ning Chang, MD, assistant clinical professor of plastic surgery at the University of California-San Francisco, says that his very diverse practice includes Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern and Caucasian patients, each with somewhat different goals and requirements. Asian patients, he says, are primarily interested in eyelid surgery and rhinoplasty (nose reshaping). "As far as Asian patients, I find some of them come to my office because I am Chinese," says Dr. Chang. "Those who do are seeking doctors of a similar ethnic background because they don't want a Westernized look. They want subtle improvements that are not overly done." Renato Saltz, MD, of Salt Lake City, UT, chair of the ASAPS Public Education Committee, says that nearly 25 percent of his patients are Hispanic. When it comes to developing a rapport with his South American patients, Dr. Saltz admits that speaking the language is an asset, but he insists that other factors are equally or more important. "Being aware of cultural differences is more than just speaking the language. It's also about understanding how patients want to enhance their natural beauty. For example, South American women typically want smaller breasts and larger buttocks than the average white American female." In 2001, according to ASAPS statistics, Hispanics represented 7 percent of cosmetic surgery procedures, African-Americans 5 percent, Asians 4 percent and other non-Caucasians 1%. The percentage of ethnic patients increased 2% overall since 1997.

---History of African Americans on Wall Street---
In a celebration of Black History Month, New York University Stern School of Business and the Museum of American Financial History co-hosted a lecture and book signing by Gregory S. Bell, author of the recently-released "In the Black: A History of American Americans on Wall Street." With the January 2002 release of In the Black, Bell became the first to tell the many heroic stories of pioneers who battled against overwhelming odds to succeed in the demanding world of high finance. Bell relates the experiences faced and obstacles overcome by African Americans to gain acceptance and admiration on Wall Street over nearly a century. "As the CEO of the first black-owned company to be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, I appreciate the difficulties and challenges that African Americans must face," stated Robert L. Johnson, CEO of BET Holdings. "In the Black does a remarkable job of chronicling the work of so many pioneers who have fought for change in the Wall Street arena." Gregory Bell is the son of the late Travers Bell, whose firm Daniels & Bell, Inc. made history when it became the first black-owned member firm of the New York Stock Exchange.

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