---Racial discrimination in the U.S. advertising industry---
An exhaustive new study of America's advertising industry has found dramatic levels of racial discrimination throughout the industry. Bias against African-American professionals was found in pay, hiring, promotions, assignments, and other areas. The study was initiated by a coalition of legal, civil rights, and industry leaders who created the Madison Avenue Project. The Project was created in 2008 to address advertising's deep-rooted racial bias and today, Cyrus Mehri, Project leader and prominent civil rights lawyer, called the findings "absolutely astonishing in this day and age." Angela Ciccolo of the NAACP, another Project partner, commented that "the time has come to stand up to change this industry."  Overall, the findings reveal that racial discrimination is 38% worse in the advertising industry than in the overall U.S. labor market, and that the "discrimination divide" between advertising and other U.S. industries is more than twice as bad now as it was 30 years ago. For example, based on national demographic data, 9.6% of advertising managers and professionals should be African-Americans. The actual percentage in 2008 is 5.3%, representing a difference of 7,200 executive-level jobs; About 16% of large advertising firms employ no Black managers or professionals, a rate 60% higher than in the overall labor market. Eliminating the industry's current Black-White employment gap would require tripling its Black managers and professionals. Though employment discrimination has sharply diminished in America in the last 40 years, systemic barriers to equality in the $31 billion a year advertising industry have not budged.

Valerie Jarrett

Jesse Jackson Sr.

Clinton receives award

Samuel Assefa

Business World Index

---Chicago: The League of Black Women honor Valerie Jarrett---
The League of Black Women invites supporters of President-elect Barack Obama unable to attend inaugural festivities in Washington to celebrate his historic election and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., at Chicago's premier pre-inaugural dinner/dance, The Peoples Ball, on January 10 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Honorable Mayor Richard M. Daley is the Honorary Chair of the celebration, which will include a special tribute to Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President-elect Obama and CEO of the Habitat Company. The Honorable Stephanie D. Neely, Treasurer of the City of Chicago, will deliver the welcoming address. Sandra Finley, National President of the League of Black Women, an organization founded in the 1970s to empower African American women through education, research and the promotion of joyful living, is the creator of The Peoples Ball, which is anticipated to attract Obama supporters from the entire Midwest region. "You've helped, hoped and won and this is your time to shine," Finley says. "Spark the inaugural spirit right here in Chicago and send it all the way to Washington, D.C." The League of Black Women, based in Chicago, is the premier resource for leadership research and statistics pertaining to Black Women.

---Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit---
The economy's impact on people of color will be explored in the 12th Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit. The event will be Jan 13-16 at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, 811 7th Ave. The summit's theme is "Fallout from the Bailout: A New Day in Washington." Corporate executives, political leaders, minority suppliers, leaders from government, labor and the faith community, and world leaders will gather to call attention to and discuss solutions to the serious problems current economic conditions are causing for African Americans and all Americans of color. "The economic downturn has been double trouble for Black Americans," said Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "They already were at the bottom of every category, such as access to capital and life expectancy. The consequences of the economy are serious for most Americans but disastrous for African Americans."

---Former President Bill Clinton and South Florida Foundation honored for support to MLK National Memorial Project---Former President Bill Clinton and the South Florida community turned out in full force at the newly renovated Fountaineblea Miami to support the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. President Clinton received the Memorial Foundation’s “Humanitarian Award” and served as the keynote speaker while the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, through its donation of $1 million to the Memorial, served as the lead dinner sponsor.  "As we approach what would have been Dr. King's 80th birthday, we can be proud of the progress we've made as a nation to lift racial barriers and form a more perfect union," President Clinton said.  "Never before have we had the power we have today to make Dr. King's dream a reality, and together, we can build a more just and equal world for future generations." President Clinton received the Memorial Foundation’s Humanitarian Award for his unparalleled work related to economic empowerment, racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation, health security and leadership development and citizen service.  He also played a key role in the Memorial’s inception and has remained an active supporter.  On July 16, 1998, Clinton signed a Joint Congressional Resolution authorizing the building of a memorial and on November 13, 2006 he participated in the Ceremonial Groundbreaking.  He has served on the Memorial Foundation’s President’s Council for several years. “I couldn’t be prouder that South Florida has made its mark on this important tribute to Dr. King, especially together with President Clinton,” said Alberto Ibargüen, President and CEO of Knight Foundation, who served as the dinner co-chair with his wife Susana. “Dr. King had a transformational impact on the nation and the world. But his work is not finished. That’s why Knight Foundation is a part of this effort to inspire future generations to continue to fight for a free and just society.”

---Foreign Diplomats Inaugural Ball---
The Foreign Diplomats Inaugural Ball committee, in conjunction with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia will host a pre-inauguration ball celebrating the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama and Vice-President Elect Joseph Biden, Jr. at the historic President James Monroe Mansion in Washington, DC on Sunday, January 18, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 11 pm. The President and Vice-President elect; Members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and all ambassadors and staff of all embassies in the United States have been invited to attend. "The election of Senator Barack Obama was truly a remarkable event in the history of the United States and demonstrates once again the greatness of this nation," said Dr. Samuel Assefa, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia. "Of course, this election has a special meaning for the people of Africa. One of our own sons was elected President of the United States. This will even further strengthen the ties between the people of Africa and the people of the United States."