<![CDATA[GBMNews - Articles - ]]> http://www.gbmnews.com en-us N/A rbemerson@hotmail.com Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:24:02 CDT 20 <![CDATA[Newark-Essex Pride Coalition Request for Financial Support]]> http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/3021/1/Newark-Essex-Pride-Coalition-Request-for-Financial-Support/Page1.html


Sakia Gunn

This momentous event signals a turn in a city that has received increased attention in local and national media outlets because of the brutal murder of Sakia Gunn, a 15-year old same gender loving (SGL) female, at the hands of a homophobic adult male perpetrator. Since Sakia's death in 2003, the SGL community of Newark has attempted to strengthen its presence and maximize its voice.

Many organizations have put their hands to the plow including the Newark-Essex Pride Coalition (NEPC), which held its first Pride Week celebration in 2004. NEPC made history in 2007 when the rainbow flag flew high over Newark's City Hall as Honorable Mayor Cory Booker and Central Ward Councilwoman Dana Rone honored and celebrated Newark-Essex Pride Week.

This year we are planning, once again, to bring together the many faces of the SGL community–and its allies–during a week of celebration, advocacy, empowerment, and excitement in the city of Newark. We realize, however, that we can not accomplish this task without the help of partners.

Thus, I am soliciting your support. We are presently in conversation concerning sponsorships with large corporations and foundations; however, we are in need of funds for start-up costs. We have turned to you because we know that you are committed to social justice, human rights, and advocacy for the SGL community.

Please consider donating any amount! No amount is too small. Your donation will be tax deductible and we will include your name on our donor's list.

All checks should be made out NEPC's not-for-profit fiscal agent and community partner, The Prevailing Family, Inc., and NEPC Pride should be written on the memo line.

All checks should be mailed to:

Newark-Essex Pride Coalition
c/o The Prevailing Family, Inc.
104 Norwood Street
Newark, NJ 07106-1912

Again, thank you for taking the time to read this letter! Many thank for considering becoming a partner with NEPC as we endeavor to produce Newark-Essex Pride 2008.

Darnell L. Moore
Board Member, NEPC

]]> no@spam.com (Darnell Moore) Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:29:33 CDT http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/3021/1/Newark-Essex-Pride-Coalition-Request-for-Financial-Support/Page1.html <![CDATA[Text of Toni Morrison's Letter Endorsing Obama]]> http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/2701/1/Text-of-Toni-Morrison039s-Letter-Endorsing-Obama/Page1.html
This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.

May I describe to you my thoughts?


I have admired Senator Clinton for years. Her knowledge always seemed to me exhaustive; her negotiation of politics expert. However I am more compelled by the quality of mind (as far as I can measure it) of a candidate. I cared little for her gender as a source of my admiration, and the little I did care was based on the fact that no liberal woman has ever ruled in America. Only conservative or "new-centrist" ones are allowed into that realm. Nor do I care very much for your race[s]. I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me "proud."

In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.
When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?

Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for the womb.
There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.
 
Good luck to you and to us.

Toni Morrison
]]> no@spam.com (Darnell Moore) Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:42:56 CST http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/2701/1/Text-of-Toni-Morrison039s-Letter-Endorsing-Obama/Page1.html