Blacks ponder 30 years after Roots in Detroit

Thirty years after Alex Haley’s masterpiece Roots, prominent Blacks from around the world are gathering at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History Detroit on Friday June 29 to examine its impact and challenges, honor remarkable Black achievers and support Africare in its Africa-focused programs.

Tagged International Roots Awards Gala, the event is the official celebration of 30 years of the award-winning book and movie in which Alex Haley traced his roots to the Black African country of The Gambia.

Emmy-nominated Black actor John Amos, who played Kunta Kinta in Roots movie, will receive special recognition at the event which would be chaired by former US Ambassador to The Gambia, George Haley, who is Africare board member and brother of Alex Haley. Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, Wayne County Commission Chair Jewel Ware, Judge Damon Keith, Vice President of the Detroit Council of Baptist Pastors Rev. Dr. Oscar King, 111, Senator Carl Levin, Prince Chidi Bob Ezumah of Minneapolis-based Africa Means Business and other distinguished personalities will serve as co-chairs.

Her Excellency Olive Kabila, First Lady of the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Honorable Moise Katumbi, Governor of Katanga Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo and their delegation are expected to grace this historic event.

Honorees will include Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., who served as special envoy to Africa; Congressman John Conyers, Jr., a long time supporter of African causes; Don H. Barden, who owned an automotive business in Africa; Jean-Francois Decheq, chairman of France-based Sanofi-Aventis, for providing an affordable anti-malarial drug to Africa; Falanga Zana Sula, who founded a US-based organization to support war orphaned African children; Desmond Davies, founding editor of influential London-based AfricaWeek Magazine; Howard Wolpe, former US Congressman, for working to change United States African policy; Simeon Booker, former Jet Magazine Washington Bureau Chief, for 53 years of journalistic excellence and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. for more than 20 years of supporting Africare.

Another major highlight of the Roots event is an international symposium at 10am on June 30th at Wayne State University Law School Auditorium with the theme “What did Roots teach us?” Based on the well endorsed book, A Matter of Black Transformation, by Michigan Chronicle senior editor Bankole Thompson (http://www.bankolethompson.com), the symposium will bring together conscientious Blacks from different walks of life committed to charting the way forward for the Black world.

Discussants include Desmond Davies, founding editor of London-based AfricaWeek Magazine, Chris Campbell, president of the Detroit Association of Black Journalists, Shanita Michelle Eze, publisher of Read4Life Books Iowa, Ken Harris, founder International Detroit Black Expo, and Louis James of JASCO International, among others.

For more information, call Paschal Eze of Paschal Eze Media in Iowa at 319-351-9695 or John Graves of PR Networks in Michigan at 313-674-0304.

Paschal Eze Media is a result-rendering Black media management group headed by a widely traveled former daily newspaper and business magazine editor-in-chief.

Paschal Eze Media
P.O. Box 5145 Coralville Iowa USA
Contact: Paschal Eze
Phone: 1-3193519695

This release was published on openPR.