Port of Harlem Snippets

  November 30 - December 13, 2007

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Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson Pen Commemorative Song

Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson (c) recently joined Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III (r) at The Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem to give the debut performance of their original theme song,  Be Blessed  - written to commemorate Abyssinian's 200th anniversary.  The singing duo unveiled the song at Abyssinian's 199th anniversary worship service, where Rev. Dr. James Perkins (l) of the Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit served as the guest pastor.

The bicentennial celebration, Abyssinian 200: True to Our God, True to Our Native Land, continues throughout 2008 with a series of community events and initiatives including a collaboration with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, a book with contributions by Drs. Maya Angelou and Cornel West, an exhibition at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a white-tie dignitary gala, and a partnership with StoryCorps (the national oral-history project in partnership with the Library of Congress).

As reported in Snippets, Abyssinian embarked on a two-week pilgrimage to Ethiopia - Abyssinian's native land - in September.  During the pilgrimage, Rev. Butts and the group met with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, President Girma Wolde-Giorgis, His Holiness Abune Paulos, and several ministers of the Ethiopian government to obtain information and explore opportunities for Abyssinian to translate its development models and consider a viable course of action to support the people and progress of Ethiopia. 

Note:  Blacks from the United States and Ethiopia founded the church.  “True to Our God, True to Our Native Land,” is a line taken from the National Black Anthem written by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson of Jacksonville, FL.

U.S. Dollar Slide Affects POH Gambian Education Partnership

Generous Port of Harlem readers provided $149 each to educate 42 students for three years at the Nyato Nursery School and one year of primary school through Port of Harlem’s Gambian Education Partnership (POHGEP).   Last year readers educated 40 students. 

“While school fees remained the same, the dollar lost value against the Gambian Dalasi,” says POHGEP Board member Attorney Kevin Turner.  Last year, one dollar bought 28 dalasis (the local currency).  This year, one dollar purchased only 17 dalasis.  The result is that POHGEP needed more dollars to buy the amount of dalasises needed to educate the children in the program.  Last year we sent $770.  This year we sent $1210.

Sponsors of each child receive a note and picture from the child each year.  To sponsor a child, click here.



Growing Up in Burkina Faso


Nathalia Zongo shares her story of
growing up in Burkina Faso where her father was President Etienne Zongo’s chief military officer when assassins killed the president.  She chronicles the affect of having a father wanted by the opposition in the recently released When Everything Has Fallen.




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Rackie Diankha Diallo at Parish Gallery – Georgetown

The Parish Gallery presents painter, Rackie Diankha Diallo through Friday, December 14 at 1054 31st Street, NW in Washington, D.C. 20007.  This Senegalese worked for several years in mastering the techniques of integrating African traditional lioncloths (pagnes) and small loincloths (béthio) into her paintings.  These loincloths represent various phases of life: birth, childhood, and marriage.  She frequently collaborates on design for cinema and animated films.

Underground Railroad Free Press Newsletter


The November issue of the Underground Railroad Free Press is now available through Port of Harlem.  The Underground Railroad Free Press targets those interested in preserving the Underground Railroad that enslaved Africans used to escape their enslavement in the United States.

Click here to sign up for the free newsletter.

Note: Don’t miss the
Black Memorabilia, Art and Doll Show
; Friday (7p-10p) and Saturday (10a-7p); December 7 and 8; Washington Convention Center; $6, Kids under 12 free.
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