Category: Community Events

Community Events, Cultural Events, Entertainment, Events, Fashion

National Underwear Parade a fleshy first for Mid-City

Boxers, briefs, brassieres and bikinis saw the light of day Sunday (Aug. 5) during the National Underwear Day parade that promenaded around Bayou St. John in Mid-City from Toulouse Street to Esplanade Avenue and back.

The indiscreet procession was organized by Ryan Ballard, the founder of the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus Mardi Gras parading group, which may explain the Star Wars Stormtroopers who strode amidst the Victoria’s Secret shoppers Sunday.

Underwear Day is a celebration cooked up by the underwear industry 15 years ago to lend its little-seen products some extra exposure. But Ballard said, from his point of view, the New Orleans Underwear Day parade is merely meant to present the public with a splash of fleshy fun in the heat of August. Plus, paraders donated fresh packs of underwear to the homeless.

The National Underwear Parade 2018 in New Orleans

Ballard’s first National Underwear parade in 2016 took place in the Bywater. Back then, Ballard hoped to set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of underwear wearers, but he was foiled by the fact that so many paraders added costume accoutrement to their skivvies that the Guinness judges disqualified the event. Such is the nature of parading in the Crescent City, of course, where costuming just comes naturally. Having learned his lesson, Ballard did not attempt to break any records in 2018.

Commentary, Community Events, Culture, Events, Fashion, Lifestyle, Money Matters

At the Center of Change, Cherry’s Unisex Saturday night in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where the salon is an almost always-open witness to a neighborhood in the throes of change.

02drunk190.1It was past 1 a.m. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on Memorial Day weekend, on Fulton Street between Throop and Nostrand. A few bodegas and a fried chicken spot were open, supported by gaggles of hungry young people bubbling up from the subway every few minutes. Hip-hop from passing cars with windows open or tops down melted into the night. But for the most part, it was quiet. This strip of Fulton is dominated by 26 storefronts that specialize in black hair, but at this hour, most were dark, their gates down.

One shop, however, was open for business. It was a cavernous salon with a black tile floor and white walls, and its door was propped open. Black chairs ringed the room, and an island of hair dryers took up its center. This was Cherry’s Unisex Salon. Two barbers and four customers lounged in chairs. A short, muscular man wearing a black T-shirt and sweatpants, Cory Parker, took off his do-rag and sat in a barber chair, running a hand over short, curly hair as he consulted a chart of 30 men’s haircuts on a wall.

“I want between a 3, an 18 and a 27,” he said over his shoulder to a barber rummaging in a drawer.

“O.K.”

“You’re not even looking at the chart! What did I say I want?”

The barber turned around and peered at the chart. “You said you want an 18, a 23 …” he started. They both laughed.

READ MORE:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/nyregion/cherrys-unisex-salon-bedford-stuyvesant-brooklyn.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

African American Issues, Commentary, Community Events, Culture, Events, Magazine News, Politics

ARISE 100: DYNAMIC WOMEN

In boardrooms and parliaments, on television and the stage, women are increasingly making their presence felt across Africa and on the world stage. The inaugural ARISE 100 list champions just some of the remarkable women shaping modern Africa today. Icons such as Angélique Kidjo, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Charlize Theron sit alongside lesser-known heroines such as scientist Tebello Nyokong, social entrepreneur Wendy Luhabe and political comedian Odile Sankara. We share their stories and record their amazing achievements in the fields of politics, business, campaigning, fashion, science and technology, arts and literature, media and communications, law, sport and entertainment.The African Union has christened this the African Women’s Decade, so what better time to celebrate the women changing the face of Africa on the continent and around the world? This is their time.

To Name A Few 

Business + Law

Ayo Obe, Vice Chair, National Crisis Group, Nigeria
Bridgette Radebe, President, South African Mining Development Association, SA
Cherie Blair, lawyer, UK
Dambisa Moyo, economist, Zambia/US
Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, founder, Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Ethiopia
Eva Muraya, co-founder and CEO, Color Creations Group, Kenya
Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Gambia
Genevieve Sangudi, Managing Director, Carlyle Group Africa, Tanzania
Hajia Bola Shagaya, founder and CEO, Bolmus Group International, Nigeria
Irene Charnley, CEO, Smile Telecoms, SA
Isabel dos Santos, investor and businesswoman, Angola
Jonitha Gugu Msibi, Senior Partner, Ernst & Young, SA
Maria Ramos, CEO, Absa Group, Portugal/SA
Minoush Abdel-Meguid, co-founder, Union Capital, Egypt
Monhla Hlahla, Chair, IDC, SA
Ngozi Edozien, Director, Actis West Africa, Nigeria
Nombulelo ‘Pinky’ Moholi, CEO, Telkom SA LTD, SA
Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, CEO, Arcelormittal South Africa, SA
Phuti Malabie, CEO, Shanduka Group, SA
Rosalind Kainyah, Vice President, External Affairs & CSR, Tullow Oil, Ghana/UK
Stella Kilonzo, Chief Executive, Capital Markets Authority, Kenya
Susan ‘Santie’ Botha, Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela University, SA
Teresa Heinz Kerry, businesswoman and philanthropist, US
Thuli Madonsela, public protector, SA
Tsega Gebreyes, Managing Partner, Satya Capital, Ethiopia/UK
Wendy Ackerman, retail tycoon, SA
Wendy Luhabe, social entrepreneur, SA

 CONTINUE READING FOR THE COMPLETE LIST….

Community Events, Fashion

25th Anniversary American Business Women’s Association Fashion Show & Celebration

OAKLAND, CA. Recently the American Business Women’s Association held their 25th Anniversary, presents “Cities in Paris” at Scott’s Seafood Bar & Restaurant. The event was well attended by business women from all over the bay area, also the Mayor of Oakland was in attendance. Dinner was provided by Scott’s Seafood Bar & Restaurant. The celebration had various speakers who spoke about empowerment for women, opening doors to women in the Pacific Rim so employment, financial, mentoring and information can be provided to women who want to break the boundaries of business primarily dominated by men as one of the speakers so eloquently told the audience. The fashion show was an array of eclectic  designs from bay area designers. The audience was engaged by the different fashions being shown from evening wear, business, casual wear and hats. To view the highlights of the event check out the pictures at: http://ronfulcher.zenfolio.com/p44844807