---The color of heroism---
There is no color for being brave…for standing up to injustice….for loving someone without condition…and for being the peacemaker in times of turmoil. There is no color for having faith, persistence, courage, endurance and inspiration. The color of heroism lies in the people around the world who choose to live and not die, to love and not hate, and to want for their neighbor, what they want for themselves. The victims of 9/11 represent more than 30 countries around the world. Let us not forget their faces…the diversity of courage and the common ground of hope, whether amidst our firefighters, healthcare workers, social services, emergency caretakers or our families and friends who collectively represent this global world that we live in. Our thoughts and prayers are with all people affected by 9/11 and for the courageous souls who work tirelessly to create a more peaceful and just world, free of hatred, discrimination and racism.

---9/11, While the dust settles---
Here is an excerpt taken from an article by Edwina Weston-Dyer which is posted on www.UnityFirst.com in its entirety: "Since 9/11 we have been experiencing a start of the long road to recovery as the nation pulls together through a mix of controlled panic and a desperate need to more clearly define and claim our American ideals while searching for answers. However, one year later the dust of political, religious and cultural differences has not settled. America, with its vast diversity of cultures from around the world, grieves. We are beginning to talk, stirring the dust of truth, and yet still not fully hearing each other, impacting the dust of ignorance. World history, if we are truly seeing and hearing, speaks for itself. We cannot let 9/11 pass without our coming to a greater understanding of our world, nation and of each other.
Through all that we have witnessed before, during and after 9/11, there remains the remarkable resilience for which America is renowned. We have seen it and experienced it as patriotism even through our own personal day-to-day struggles to make the meaning of America work for all. We know the spirit that resilience inspires when all that we have done and can possibly do keeps freedom foremost in our national and international endeavors. Our being able to come back from "ground zero" is a resilience inspired by our deep faith and our American ideal as a welcoming nation of people of all cultures, races and religions. America's resilience can lead to universal peace." This 9/11 we will gather in countless places for prayer, celebrate our heroes, raise monuments, wave many flags, sing songs, hymns and praises. We should not just turn away to end the day. This is a beginning to clearing the dust of political, religious and cultural differences one broad sweep at a time. We should not and cannot afford to waste more time to start learning about who and what we have meant to each other throughout our remarkable history. Must we have another disaster to force us to face each other eye to eye and to extend our hands in gratitude? It's our call while the dust settles.

---ExxonMobil and Reebok Human Rights Foundation to Co-Sponsor Executive Leadership Council 14th Annual Recognition Dinner, October 3, 2002 /Vernon Jordan, Stan O'Neal and Verizon to receive awards ---African-American corporate pioneers Vernon Jordan and Stan O'Neal will be honored for career achievements and Verizon will receive the Corporate Award for advancing corporate diversity at the Executive Leadership Council (ELC) 14th Annual Recognition Dinner. ExxonMobil and Reebok Human Rights Foundation are co-sponsors of the corporate leadership event to be held October 3, 2002 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. The theme of the fundraising awards gala - "Remembering Our Legacy, Building Our Future" - will highlight the pioneering achievements of African-American corporate leaders, past and present, and showcase ELC programs that are broadening the pipeline for African-American leadership at every level of corporate America. The evening includes a pre-dinner reception at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 7:00 p.m. and a post-dinner reception at 10 p.m. For more information or to attend, call Joann Stevens at (202) 298-8239 or send E-mail: jstevens@elcinfo.com.

Awardees:
The dinner will recognize awardees in three categories: Stan O'Neal, President, Chief Operating Officer, and CEO-designate of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., will receive the Achievement Award for career achievements in corporate America. In December, Mr. O'Neal will join the elite ranks of African-American chief executive officers of Fortune 500 companies when he becomes CEO of Merrill Lynch. He will be one of only four African Americans sharing that distinction.

Vernon Jordan, Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, will receive the Alvaro Martins Heritage Award, named after ELC's beloved founding member, for preserving ELC's legacy. Vernon Jordan Mr. Jordan has enjoyed a distinguished career as a corporate executive, civil rights attorney, and advisor to leaders in public policy, higher education and business.
Verizon will receive the Corporate Award for advancing corporate diversity. The Verizon Diversity Strategy has advanced diversity at all levels of the company's business activities from work force development to supplier diversity, economic development and philanthropy. Minority employees comprise nearly 30 percent of Verizon's work force and hold 16 percent of the top management positions. The Development and Leadership Initiative, launched with Hispanic employees in 2001, has more than doubled the number of Hispanic vice presidents at Verizon.
About Executive Leadership Council and other events:
ELC is the nation's premier organization of senior-level African-American corporate executives in Fortune 500 companies. Other Executive Leadership Council leadership events to be held that week include the 2nd Annual CEOs Diversity Leadership Summit, sponsored by GE, on October 3, and the 8th Annual Mid-Level Managers' Symposium, sponsored by PepsiCo, on October 4. For more information or to attend, call Joann Stevens at (202) 298-8239 or send E-mail: jstevens@elcinfo.com.

---Mid-Level Managers' Symposium addresses issues of race and gender in the workplace---
"The Millennial Generation: African-American Managers Learning to Lead in a More Inclusive Culture" is the theme of the 8th Annual Mid-Level Managers' Symposium to be held Friday, October 4 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. The symposium breaks new ground in that it will focus on gender management issues and the unique relational challenges that African- American men and women face in the workplace daily. Four developing factors have brought the world's cultures closer together and made them more interconnected: networked economies; technology; communications; and global mobility. Add to these a major growth in world-wide migration trends and managers have a much greater need to understand how to lead and develop a multicultural workforce. Co-moderators for the all-day event are Dr. Price Cobbs, President and CEO, Pacific Management Systems, and Dr. Ella Edmondson Bell, Associate Professor of Business, Tuck School, Dartmouth College. Dr. Cobbs is a psychiatrist and acclaimed author of "Cracking the Corporate Code: From Survival to Mastery" - co-authored with Judith Turnock, Esq. Dr. Bell will draw on research from her most recent publication "Our Separate Ways, Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity" co-authored with South African professor Dr. Stella M. Nkomo. For more information or to attend, contact Joann Stevens via phone (202) 298-8239 or email: jstevens@elcinfo.com.

---Dr. Mae C. Jemison elected to Kimberly-Clark's Board of Directors---
Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced that Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first African- American woman to fly in space, has been elected to its board of directors. Dr. Jemison, 46, is president of BioSentient Corporation, a medical technology company, and The Jemison Group, an organization established to focus on the beneficial integration of science and technology. In addition, Dr. Jemison is an A.D.White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Dr. Jemison served as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut for six years. As the science mission specialist on the STS-47 Spacelab J flight in 1992, she conducted experiments in life and material sciences and was a co-investigator of the Bone Cell Research experiment .Born in Decatur, Ala., and raised in Chicago, Dr. Jemison received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University and fulfilled the requirements for an A.B. in African and Afro-American studies.

---Go to www.UnityFirst.com for the following stories---
1) Resource: Latino facts and figures
2) Tavis Smiley receives the first-ever Microsoft Corp. Technology Leadership Award
3) Events: Salute to Sisterhood 2002, Oakland, CA
4) Healthwatch: Check out the first book about fibroids targeted to Black women
5) Events: National Black Public Relations Society to Hold Conference & Job Fair

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