Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, new president of Spelman College- The Board of Trustees of Spelman College has appointed Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum as the institution's ninth president. Dr. Tatum, a scholar, teacher, author and administrator, will assume her duties at Spelman in August 2002. "The Board, and especially the members of the Search Committee, has worked diligently to find the right woman to lead and inspire Spelman College," said Trustee Chair Dr. June Gary Hopps. "We have selected the best and we are confident that Dr. Tatum will build on Spelman's traditions and enhance Spelman's mission to develop the intellectual, ethical and leadership potential of its students." Dr. Tatum comes to Spelman from a 13-year career at Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts) where she is acting President and Dean of the college. Her noted book, "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race," exploded on the national scene in 1997; and she has been a featured lecturer on the subject of race relations, appearing on several panels around the country, including President Clinton's Initiatives on Race. Prior to joining Mount Holyoke, she was an Associate Professor and Assistant Professor at Westfield State College in Westfield, MA and a lecturer at the University of California at Santa Barbara's Department of Black Studies. A fourth generation professor, Dr. Tatum was raised in Bridgewater, MA. She earned a B.A. Degree from Wesleyan University in psychology and a M.A. Degree and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. For more information, contact Bunnie Jackson Ransom via email at bjr@fclassinc.com or call 404-505-8188.

---Black Mayors hold major annual meeting---The National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM) wrapped up its 28th Annual Convention in Jackson, MS with more than 200 of the nation's 500 plus African American mayors in attendance. The four-day conference, hosted by Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson, brought together members of a political force that, collectively, represents more than 25 million constituents. Attendance topped out at approximately 2,000 conventioneers-including more than 80 women mayors. Workshops, activities and festivities flowed smoothly throughout the week and included seminars on subjects such as "Planning for Your Small Town and Rural Community; Issues, Alternatives and Opportunities", "The Census Bureau: Data for Your Communities", "Fannie Mae's Foundation's Knowledgeplex", "USDA and Forest Service Programs", and "Welfare Reform and Social Justice." Officers elected at this 28th annual meeting included Mayor Marilyn Murrell, Arcadia, Oklahoma-President; Mayor Marcia Glenn, Lithonia, Georgia - 1st Vice President; Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jackson, Mississippi - 2nd Vice President; and Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, Inglewood, California-3rd Vice President. Mayor Lee Brown and the City of Houston, Texas, will host the Annual Meeting in the year 2003 and Mayor John Street of Philadelphia (PA) will host the Conference in the year 2004. For more information, contact Bunnie Jackson Ransom via email at bjr@fclassinc.com or call 404-505-8188.

---Success never stops: Networking with George Fraser---
You would think that after lying in a diabetic coma, thousands of miles away from home George C. Fraser might take things a little easy upon his return. This networking guru and President of FraserNet was back at work, full speed ahead the next day. Determined to rebound after a 1996 business bankruptcy, Fraser has been on a hectic pace to raise funds for constructing an African American Business Hall of Fame & Museum, produce a major national networking conference and begin writing his third book. All of Fraser's business ventures have been centered on elevating and empowering Black Americans. Beyond the visible entertainment and sports fields, we need to be presented with successful Black business professionals, he added. Plans for an African American Business Hall of Fame and Museum include a multi-million dollar structure that will honor Black business professionals from the past and present. It will also include a university-based Center for the Advancement of African American Entrepreneurship. "PowerNetworking 2002 -- Leveraging our Global Resources" will be Fraser's first annual Networking Training Conference for Black Professionals. It will be held on June 20-23 at the Cleveland Convention Center. For more information, go to Frasernet.com.

---African American leaders outraged by CBS 60 Minutes II Report---African American leaders express contempt for Dan Rather's reporting on "Slave Trade," a CBS's 60 Minutes II segment which aired last week. Joe Madison of the nationally syndicated program "Madison" heard on Radio One Talk Network and XM Satellite Radio accused Dan Rather and 60 Minutes II of inadequate, inaccurate and racial arrogant reporting in their cover of the Sudan Slave redemption. Joining Madison in his denunciation are: Former Congressman Reverend Walter Fauntroy, Bishop Gaffif, Rev. John Hammond, Sudanese leader Akuie Malwal, John Eibner of Christian Solidarity International and Charles Jacobs of the American Anti- Slavery Group. Joe Madison, national director of The Sudan Campaign said, "Dan Rather's 60 Minutes II report was inadequate because he failed to go to Southern Sudan to see slave redemption for himself even though he has been invited. It is inaccurate because he reported on slave redemption but did not interview any former slaves, village leader or military leaders. And, it is racist because he ignored the African American leadership who had independently gone to Sudan to verify that there were slaves who were actually being redeemed." The Sudan Campaign's chair Reverend Walter Fauntroy said, "In one journalistic swoop, Rather labeled every Southern Sudanese as being bought off. He never asked how the slave redemption is being verified and instead acted very patronizingly, choosing to purport what is best for the Southern Sudanese rather than interviewing them to learn what their direct experience was in being enslaved."

---Justices from 60 countries to discuss judicial response to terrorism---More than 140 chief justices and judges from the Supreme, Constitutional, and Arbitration Courts of Europe and the former Soviet Union, along with judicial observers from North America, South America, Africa and Asia, will convene at the Palais de l'Europe, headquarters of the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, France on May 22-24 for their tenth annual International Judicial Conference (IJC), Professor Allen Weinstein, President of the Washington-based Center for Democracy, announced. The 2002 International Judicial Conference will focus on a special theme of "The Courts and Terrorism" and address judicial issues related to the search for and prosecution of terrorists. The attacks of September 11, as well as the increasing incidence of both domestic and international terrorism around the globe, call for serious debate on the judicial response to this problem.

---Michigan: Study finds discrepancies in auto insurance rates statewide---Attorney General Jennifer M. Granholm released the results of a statewide survey her office conducted into the practice of insurance redlining in Michigan. In releasing the results -- which showed disparities in auto rates of up to 17 percent in cities with similar population sizes and auto theft rates, but with differing racial make-ups -- Granholm announced that she has asked the insurance providers for an explanation of the rate differences.She said: "The findings of the study are compelling -- and disturbing -- to say the least. The time has come for the industry to be more up front with their customers. Consumers pay thousands of dollars a year to keep their homes and cars insured -- they deserve to know how their rates are calculated." "Redlining" in the insurance industry is a discriminatory practice in which insurance companies restrict the availability of insurance to people in particular geographic areas. In recent years, it has also been associated with the practice of tying credit scores to insurance rates. Since redlining based solely on racial factors is illegal, Granholm has asked the insurance companies for an explanation of the rate disparities her study found. Granholm's office reviewed 60 auto insurance quotes obtained for six pairs of Michigan cities that were similar in size and auto theft rates, but had different racial compositions. The results showed that in five out of the six city pairs, the same individual in a community with a sizeable African- American population paid a higher rate by an average of 14 percent. A second study, using the same female and the same auto, compared rates between neighborhoods in the city of Detroit versus its border cities. The follow-up survey demonstrated average disparities of nearly 30 percent between rates based on addresses as close as a few blocks away. Granholm began the study -- and a general review of discrimination in the financial industry -- earlier this year after her Consumer Protection Division received a number of consumer complaints regarding potential insurance redlining and the use of credit scores in insurance rate setting.

---What do you think about this upcoming film?---
On Wednesday, June 26 at 8:30 P.M. (ET/PT), Showtime will present the dramatic film LIFT, the story of an intelligent, young African-American woman who works at an upscale department store but sidelines as one of Boston's most accomplished "boosters" or shoplifters. In a breakout performance, Kerry Washington stars as Niecy, who works in a ritzy Boston department store. Always impeccably dressed in the trendiest brands and styles, Niecy's fashion fixation is financed by her shoplifting habit and not her employee discount. What she doesn't keep for herself, Niecy sells. Her boyfriend Angelo (Eugene Byrd), a wannabe rap producer who also smokes and sells pot, disapproves of Niecy's side "business" and urges her to stop.Directed by DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter, the film stars Kerry Washington, Lonette McKee and Eugene Byrd and is a Hart Sharp Entertainment presentation.

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