Delta's Stories of Triumph (DST in the News)

[divainred]

Congratulations to Ruby Dee on her Screen Actor's Guild award win last night. Long overdue, but well deserved!!

[chrini]

I did a search on her name and did not see anything already posted in Greekchat.

I was informed that Henrietta passed away sometime this afternoon. I know next month her chapter is honoring her with a reception. This had been planned for a few months.

Originally Posted by CrimsonTide4 :

By now, you've seen the movie The Great Debaters and you admired the character Samantha Booke portrayed by Jurnee Smollett. But did you know that Samantha Booke is really the story of Henrietta Bell Wells? Last week I did some research about Samantha which led me to Mrs. Wells. This morning I learned that Mrs. Wells is our Soror who is ill right now. She's also served as past president of Houston Alumnae chapter.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally Posted by chrini

I did a search on her name and did not see anything already posted in Greekchat.

I was informed that Henrietta passed away sometime this afternoon. I know next month her chapter is honoring her with a reception. This had been planned for a few months.

Yeah. I just read this on a sorority listserve. She will be honored by Houston Alumnae chapter.

Rest in peace, Soror Wells.

[pinkies up]

Oh no! At least she was able to see her life portrayed on the silver screen.

[Ms Public Service]

Sorority chapter celebrates 60 years of serving Columbus

BY LARRY GIERER - lgierer@ledger-enquirer.com

Blacks had the vote in Columbus.
At the polls, it wasn't just the color of their skin that was different -- it was also the color of the cards they signed.

"Whites signed white cards, and we had colored cards," Mae Washington said. "I think they were pink. I can't say that votes weren't being counted but something was still wrong."

It was the sorority Delta Sigma Theta, of which Washington was the president of the local chapter in the mid-1960s, that fought and got that changed so there was no distinction made between white and black voters.

"Deltas have always been in front of fights for justice and for better education," said Washington, a retired school psychologist.

She said Deltas played a big part in the support of the Little Rock Nine, who integrated Central High School in Arkansas 50 years ago.

Delta Sigma Theta was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington in 1913 and now has more than 900 chapters.

The Columbus Alumnae Chapter, which boasts 272 active members, is celebrating its 60th anniversary in grand style this month with several activities planned for the community.

A few examples of celebrity Deltas include singers Roberta Flack, Lena Horne, Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin, actress Ruby Dee and Brig. Gen. Hazel Johnson Brown, Ph.D, the first black female general in the United States Army.

The local group consists of many civic leaders. Among them are Columbus Tax Commissioner Lula Lunsford Huff, Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Turner Pugh, Keep Columbus Beautiful Director Gloria Weston-Smart, Aflac Executive Vice President Audrey Boone Tillman, WRBL anchor Teresa Whitaker and Muscogee County School District Director of Elementary Education Karon Greyer.

"We're all about service, scholarship and sisterhood," said Jeanella Pendleton, principal at Reese Road School. "There is a social aspect to the sorority, but we work hard so we can play hard. We have helped many a student get to college who might not have done it without our help."

"We've given out more than $500,000 in scholarships," said retired teacher Constance Lindsey, whose son Chris is principal at Carver High.

"There's also the Delta Academy," a program that provides mentoring for girls in the understanding, utilization and appreciation of technology and math," she said.

"Those are areas in which girls typically have not shown much interest," Pendleton said.

Health is another Delta cause.

"We work to help get information out about health problems that are common in the black community such as high blood pressure," said Huff, chapter president. The "Lose to Win" healthy lifestyle program provides a guide for good women's health.

Voter registration is always on the minds of the Deltas. "We have people trained and deputized, who go into areas and get people to register," retired teacher Emily Walker said. "That is not as hard as getting them to actually come to the polls."

In 1995, the Deltas became the first black group to build a Habitat for Humanity House.

"Every member but one showed up with a hammer," Huff said.

"She showed up with a hatchet," Washington laughed.

The community will get to join in as the Deltas, who will be honored at Columbus Council, celebrate this week.

At 5 p.m. today, there will be a GospelFest at the Salvation Army Lovick P. Corn Worship and Community Center on Warm Springs Road. The event is free, but the sorority is hoping for financial or canned good donations for the Salvation Army.

On Feb. 16, the chapter will collaborate with the American Heart Association to sponsor "Walking for the Heart" at Shirley Winston Park. It will begin at 10 a.m., followed at 10:30 a.m. by a public seminar on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

Later that evening, there will be a jazz concert featuring the Atlanta group Five Men On A Stool at the Columbus State University Fine Arts Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m. Champagne and chocolate will be served. Proceeds from the $45 ticket will benefit the American Heart Association, HIV/AIDS programs and CSU scholarships.

On Feb. 17, chapter members will worship at St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church and National President Louise A. Rice will address them.

The sorority also shows sisterhood to women in other countries.

"We help support a hospital in Africa," said Pendleton, who said the sorority supplies "Mama Kits" to help mothers with newborns.

Walker said the sorority lent support to the efforts to help Hurricane Katrina survivors. Huff tells of helping the impoverished in Buena Vista, Ga., in a neighborhood known unkindly as "Rat Row."

"Deltas do what needs to be done," Lindsey said. "We'll continue to do so."
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/...ry/244368.html

[ladygreek]

I take it this is Columbus (GA) Alumnae and not Columbus (OH) Alumnae?

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

I take it this is Columbus (GA) Alumnae and not Columbus (OH) Alumnae?

Yup Columbus, Ohio's newspaper is The Dispatch and is in Franklin County.

[divainred]

Johnnetta Cole will start on March 2. (Smithsonian Institution)

African Art Museum Gets New Chief


By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 10, 2009; C03


The Smithsonian Institution yesterday named Johnnetta Cole, an anthropologist and former college president, as the new director of the National Museum of African Art.

Cole, 72, made national headlines in 1987 when she became the first African American woman to lead Atlanta's Spelman College, the country's oldest historically black women's university. During her tenure, attendance soared and the school's ranking on lists of the best liberal arts schools went up. Cole also spearheaded a $113 million capital campaign, $20 million of which came from Bill and Camille Cosby.
After a decade at Spelman, Cole taught at Emory University, also in Atlanta, and then served as president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. At Bennett, she led another successful capital campaign and founded an art gallery.

Cole said yesterday that her new position merges many of her interests, especially art and education. "I would say for my adult life I have had a passion for African art -- where it comes from, what it says and what it can do. I just couldn't resist this opportunity to combine that passion with my field of knowledge of anthropology and knowledge of the [African] diaspora," she said in a phone interview.

In making the announcement, Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, formerly president of Georgia Tech, noted his previous work with Cole. "We are delighted that a scholar, author, educator and leader of such international stature will lead the National Museum of African Art at this opportune time," Clough said in a statement. "I have known Johnnetta for many years, and I look forward to working with her in her new role and in finding opportunities to use her talents to help with pan-institutional activities."

Most recently, Cole has been the chairman of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute, which is housed at Bennett. She has also worked closely with Richard Kurin, a cultural anthropologist who is the Smithsonian undersecretary for history, art and culture.

The National Museum of African Art is part of a cluster of art galleries at the Smithsonian. The largest facility is the joint operation of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, which share a building.

The African art museum has struggled over the years because of low attendance, a modest budget of $6 million, its location underground behind the Smithsonian Castle and turnovers in leadership. The last director, Sharon F. Patton, announced last May that she was leaving at the end of 2008. Cole is expected to start March 2.

The museum has a collection of 9,000 objects, including 500 items obtained from the Walt Disney Co. in 2005. The acquisition, which other institutions also had sought, was seen as a validation of the museum's status.

Attendance increased to 322,000 last year, up from 310,000 in 2007; at one point the museum was drawing more children than adults because of its strong education programs.

"My task is to provide leadership for continuity and change. There is impressive work to build on," Cole said. She says she is worried about critics who want to cut funding for the arts: "There are too many people who make the fallacious statement that this art stuff is not fundamental, not essential to our lives. I think it is." She favors having a high-level person in the administration to oversee arts and humanities programs.

Cole is no stranger to the details or demands of a job in Washington. She served on President Bill Clinton's transition team that included education and the arts, and she worked with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Advisory Committee on Transformational Diplomacy. She also is a member of the scholarly advisory board of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is expected to open on the Mall in 2015.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020902446.html

[divainred]

President Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Washington (February 5, 2009 The Washington Post) - President Barack Obama today signed an executive order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs.

"Over the past few days and weeks, there has been much talk about what our government's role should be during this period of economic emergency. That is as it should be - because there is much that government can and must do to help people in need," said President Obama. "But no matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone. There is a force for good greater than government. It is an expression of faith, this yearning to give back, this hungering for a purpose larger than our own, that reveals itself not simply in places of worship, but in senior centers and shelters, schools and hospitals, and any place an American decides."

The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be a resource for non-profits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer.

President Obama appointed Joshua DuBois, a former associate pastor and advisor to the President in his U.S. Senate office and campaign Director of Religious Affairs, to lead this office. "Joshua understands the issues at stake, knows the people involved, and will be able to bring everyone together - from both the secular and faith-based communities, from academia and politics - around our common goals," said President Obama.

The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will focus on four key priorities, to be carried out by working closely with the President's Cabinet Secretaries and each of the eleven agency offices for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships:

* The Office's top priority will be making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete.
* It will be one voice among several in the administration that will look at how we support women and children, address teenage pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion.
* The Office will strive to support fathers who stand by their families, which involves working to get young men off the streets and into well-paying jobs, and encouraging responsible fatherhood.
* Finally, beyond American shores this Office will work with the National Security Council to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world.

As the priorities of this Office are carried out, it will be done in a way that upholds the Constitution - by ensuring that both existing programs and new proposals are consistent with American laws and values. The separation of church and state is a principle President Obama supports firmly - not only because it protects our democracy, but also because it protects the plurality of America's religious and civic life. The Executive Order President Obama will sign today strengthens this by adding a new mechanism for the Executive Director of the Office to work through the White House Counsel to seek the advice of the Attorney General on difficult legal and constitutional issues.

The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will include a new President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds. There will be 25 members of the Council, appointed to 1-year terms.

Members of the Council include:

Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and noted church/state expert
Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention
Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA
Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church
Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Corps
Fred Davie, President, Public / Private Ventures, a secular non-profit intermediary
Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention
Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and expert on church/state issues
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed
Dr. Arturo Chavez, Ph.D., President & CEO, Mexican American Cultural Center
Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco, a secular national operating intermediary
Richard Stearns, President, World Vision