Go to www.UnityFirst.com for:
1) Tony Rose, Amber Books to receive top award
2) Therez Fleetwood, author of Afrocentric Bride: A Style Guide. See her winning designs.
3) Black Public Relations Society of Greater New York President, Alicia Evans is honored during the May 19 remembrance of the birthday of Malcolm X in Harlem, NY.
4) SiteWatch: Visit onyxwoman.com…check it out.

--Rise in HIV/AIDS cases among multicultural communities in the South-
The Pfizer Foundation announced a new grant program aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the southern United States, with particular focus on African-American and Latino communities. The Pfizer Foundation Southern HIV/AIDS Prevention Initiative will direct $3 million over three years to fund highly targeted prevention programs to underserved populations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Preference for grants will be given to small and mid-sized organizations in rural and urban areas that have a demonstrated track record of prevention and service to multicultural communities that are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The face of HIV/AIDS is changing across the South and becoming increasingly African American, rural, heterosexual, and female. According to The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, African Americans and Latinos account for significantly higher rates of reported new AIDS cases than Caucasians, with rates of 76.8 cases per 100,000 people for African Americans, 31.4 cases for Latinos and 8.1 cases for Caucasians.
The Southern States Manifesto, a document written by state- and community-based HIV/AIDS and STD groups outlining the emerging crisis in the region, shows that 40 percent of the people estimated to be living with AIDS reside in the South and 46 percent of the estimated new HIV/AIDS cases have been reported in the region since 2001. The South accounts for little more than one-third of the total U.S. population. In the last seven years, the number of reported new cases has declined or leveled off across most of the nation, yet the estimated number of new AIDS cases in the South increased between 2000 and 2001.

--Largest minority- and woman-owned insurance brokerage celebrates 50th anniversary--When Ernesta G. Procope set up her storefront insurance agency in Brooklyn, New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in 1953, the idea it would one day serve America's biggest companies and become the nation's largest minority-owned and woman-owned insurance brokerage seemed as likely as men going to the moon. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, E.G. Bowman Company, Inc. today serves icons like Philip Morris, Tiffany, AOL Time Warner and Pfizer, plus small businesses, government agencies, nonprofits and families from its Wall Street office. Procope is known as one of America's most influential African-American businesswomen, honored for both business success and civic involvement. In 1979, E.G. Bowman moved to its current location on Wall Street, becoming the first major Black-owned business on the Street, and Procope became known as "The First Lady of Wall Street."

---Decline in women, minorities in high tech workforce---
A new study released by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) finds that racial minorities and women made few inroads into high tech employment between 1996 and 2002, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Surveys. Among the most striking findings of the report is that the percentage of women in the overall IT workforce fell from 41% to 34.9% between 1996 and 2002, and the percentage of African Americans in the overall IT workforce fell from 9.1% to 8.2% during the same period. The ITAA report found that Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and Asian Americans made gains in the IT Workforce. Hispanic Americans comprised 5.4% in 1996 and 6.3% in 2002, Native Americans jumped from .2% to .6% and Asian Americans rose from 8.9% to 11.8% in the same period. "While our findings are not encouraging, we only need to look at the pipeline of qualified applicants for high tech positions for an explanation. Women and minorities earn significantly fewer undergraduate degrees in computer science and engineering than their representation in the U.S. population. Until our education system produces more qualified candidates, these percentages of IT workers are not likely to improve significantly," said ITAA President Harris N. Miller. Additional findings from the ITAA Diversity report are:
-- Women earned only 22% of computer science and engineering undergraduate degrees in 2000. African Americans earned 7%, Hispanics 5% and Native Americans 1% of degrees.
-- Hispanic Americans and Native Americans, like women and African Americans, are also underrepresented in the IT workforce, as compared to their overall workforce participation. Hispanics made up 6.3% of the IT Workforce but 12.2% of the U.S. workforce in 2002, while Native Americans are .6% of the IT workforce and .9% of the U.S. workforce.
-- Asian Americans are nearly three times as prevalent in the IT workforce than they are in the overall U.S. workforce.
-- Americans over 45 are also under represented in the IT workforce. In 2002 they were 29.4% of the IT workforce compared to 37.6% of the U.S. workforce overall.

---Study finds reported minority representation gains at the University of California are overstated---The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) refutes the University of California's reported gains in minority freshman admissions. TRPI recently released a study that finds the University's use of raw number reporting overstates underrepresented minority admissions gains. The institute stresses undergraduate applications and their corresponding acceptance rates are also needed to acquire a complete understanding of gains for these students. The TRPI study, The Reality of Race-Neutral Admissions at the University of California: Turning the Tide or Turning Them Away, examines the five years since affirmative action was in effect at the University of California and has found acceptance rates have fallen sharply for Latinos from 64% in 1997 to 47% in 2002 and by more than 20 percentage points for African Americans -- from 57% to 36% in that same time period. The study finds that despite the UC's attempt to enroll a student body that represents the state's diversity, Black and Latino acceptance rates are not growing commensurate with the number of applications being submitted by these students. To learn more about the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute or to see the full report, go to http://www.trpi.org .

---New York: Network Journal celebrates 40-under-40----
The Network Journal's 6th Annual 40-Under-40 Business Achievement Awards Dinner will be held on Thursday, June 19, 2003 at Columbia University from 7 pm - 10 pm in Alfred Lerner Hall located at 2920 Broadway in Manhattan. The dinner program is attended by hundreds of top business leaders each year and draws a significant amount of media attention. Winners will also be profiled in the June 2003 edition of The Network Journal magazine and be featured in a special video presentation to be shown during the event. The Network Journal is one of New York City's top business publications. For more information or tickets, call (212) 962-3791. www.tnj.com

--Habitat for Humanity International to Open 'Global Village' Tourist Attraction June 7 in Americus, Ga.--At Habitat for Humanity International's Global Village & Discovery Center, opening June 7 in Americus, Ga., visitors can see first-hand the housing transformation that liberates families living in poverty around the world. In the 6-acre attraction, guests travel to the Habitat homes of 15 countries in Africa, Asia and Central America and participate in hands-on activities such as brick and tile making. The village eventually will expand to 35 houses, including those from poor European and South American regions, all with different building styles that demonstrate environmentally and culturally appropriate housing.

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