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Susan Mangatal
Greetings On-Line
Family
It's time to
Celebrate June - National Caribbean-American Heritage Month
- "During
Caribbean-American Heritage Month, we celebrate the great
contributions of Caribbean-Americans to the fabric of our Nation,
and we pay tribute to the common culture and bonds of friendship
that unite the United States and the Caribbean countries" by
George W. Bush
The celebration of
National Caribbean-American Heritage Month continues!!! We
are receiving lots of information regarding events taking place
during this month, and as we receive them we intend to add them to
our "Events"
Page. So check out our
"Events" Page for all the details on what's going on in
your area regarding National Caribbean-American Heritage Month.
There are several currently listed.
This weekend there
are a number of interesting events taking place and I would like to
share with you the 2 most important ones.  -
The African Diaspora Ancestral Commemoration Institute (ADACI)
presents its 15th Annual Commemoration on Saturday, June 9,
2007. After reading and getting familiar with ADACI, scroll
down to our "Featured Events" to see the details on their event taking place on Saturday,
or you can check our "Events" Page.
ADACI
is dedicated to institutionalizing the commemoration of the
millions of Africans lost during the Atlantic and other periods of
enslavement. A winner of the 2004 Community Service Award of the
Millennium Club of the National Association of Negro Business
& Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. (NANBPWC, Inc.). ADACI
has a 12-year history of providing outstanding educational and
community-based programming headquartered in metropolitan
Washington, D.C. ADACI established relationships with
several grassroots organizations in Benin, Cuba, Ghana, Jamaica,
and Trinidad & Tobago. In addition, there are two
Continental African Chapters, ADACI-Senegal (est.
1993) and ADACI-Nigeria (est. 2004). ADACI's
purpose is to: (1) Celebrate the extraordinary collective
fortitude that has sustained Africans and their descendants
through this massive loss; (2) Examine and better understand all
the circumstances that led to and sustained this loss so that it
will never happen again; (3) Acknowledge and strengthen a common
bond that connects Africans around the world; and (4) Reaffirm the
ability of Africans and their descendants to overcome obstacles of
enormous magnitude as Africans have in the past, and fortify the
inherent strength of Africans that has enabled continued
advancement. This reaffirmation is intended to serve as a
catalyst in the development of a course of action to remove
barriers to self-determination. As a
community-based spiritual organization, ADACI creates innovative
programs using the arts and education as powerful tools for
transformation and spiritual development. A central part of
ADACI’s tradition is the creation of ancestral/ commemorative
"altars" which reflect the particular theme of the
program being presented; the altar building component of ADACI’s
events is in keeping with the organization’s purpose of honoring
ancestors, for which is a unique application for utilizing altars.
(In an African worldview, an altar is a place or structure used
to provide a focal point to express feelings and emotions within
sacred space) ADACI acknowledges their
Ancestors in a progressive way through the Annual International
African Diaspora Ancestral Commemoration, one of the primary
activities of the Institute. This year ADACI Commemoration
promises to be a major impact as they focus on the healing power
of the spoken and unspoken word: Messages from the Ancestors with
music, spoken word and performance poetry as well as film.
Also taking place
this weekend is the
21st Annual Marvin Gaye, Jr. Festival, which is a one-day event staged
annually in the month of June to honor the legendary singer and
performing Artist Marvin Gaye, Jr., who was born and raised in
Northeast Washington DC. This festival was established by
Ms. Adams, a childhood friend of Marvin, who in 1998 instituted
the Marvin Gaye, Jr. Appreciation Day Committee, Inc. for the
purpose of staging this annual event in honor and memory of her
dear friend. 
As many of you are aware Marvin was a musical
prodigy who playing the Piano and was singing by the time he was five
years old. He grew up in the East Capital neighborhood
and honed his skills at Watts Playground with his Doo Wop group
"The Marquees" before becoming a member of the legendary
"Moonglows". Marvin went on to become a pioneer
songwriter, singer and producer at Motown Records. In the
1960s and 70s he gained notoriety with famous recordings such as
"Let's got it on", "I heard it through the
grapevine" and "Sexual healing". In 1973, he
appeared in the movie "Save the children" and in 1972,
he won a Grammy Award. Marvin Gaye passed away on April 1,
1984.
Ms.
Adams (Marvin's childhood friend} indicated that this one day
festival launched in 1988 honoring Marvin consists primarily of live entertainment, food, art,
craft, poetry, dance, plays skits and story telling,
etc. She further indicated that for the past 20 years
she is extremely appreciative of the dozens of musicians and
artist including the Legendary William Devaughn, The Orioles and
Marvin's original group the Marquees have given their time freely
in order to make this event a success. She stated families,
friends and admirers from all walks of life and ethnic background
have been coming to enjoy this day of togetherness and peace in
memory of Marvin. Ms.
Adams thanks many for their help with making this possible for these
past 20 years, and especially pointed out the hard work of a warm
and brilliant gentleman from our community who has help her plan and
produced this successful festival - Mr. Roy McPherson. Mr.
McPherson is a
very experienced business person and festival producer, who has
planned and executed many very successful festivals in this area
for a number of years.
In closing Ms. Adams shared her
vision with me for this festival, which is for it to grow and have
it become a calendar event for more people in the D.C.
Metropolitan area that appreciate Marvin Gaye's music and legacy.
It's all about
Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival this weekend. You still can
sneak away for the weekend to sunny St. Petersburg, Florida to
enjoy this event. Below under "Featured Events"
you will find all the details and links to make travel
arrangements. If you attend please let us know how your
experience was.
Also listed under
our "Featured Events" below you will see that Pan
Masters will be hosting their Annual DC Calypso Finals Competition
next weekend. In past years Todd and I have attended
this event and it is very entertaining, not to mention how great
it is to observe the many talented folks in our community who
through this competition is afforded the opportunity to showcase their
culture through their music and performance. This
year there are 7 finalists competing in addition to last year's winner
"Count Robin" (a total of 8 contestants). It's
sure to be exciting, so plan on checking this event out!!! Father's
day is very close and the Legendary DJ Jimmy T will hold his
annual Father's Day Celebration. Scroll down this page for
all the details or check our "Events" Page. JC
Entertainment Carnival Last Lap Breakfast - will take place on June 24, 2007 from 5 am to 2
pm. You must plan on checking out this sweet Caribbean Lime.
See the flyer and details below. Get you tickets from us right
away!!!
Start shopping for Father's Day,
you only have 1 more week before you honor you dad, uncle,
brother, son, etc., so honor him with a special gift.
Click Here for our
"Men's Shop" page which features some great gift items from
our Corporate Partners. Start with
the below great offer
from Radio Shack: Magellan Maestro 3100 GPS on sale for
$199.99. The Reg. price is: $299.99, so you
save $100.00 (Sale valid until 6/23/07)
and they are in-stock. Click the GPS to purchase for your dad
now!!!
Magellan(r)
Maestro 3100 GPS
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& Free Shipping to the closest Radio
Shack near you
As
you aware we have created a safe portal to
on-line shopping for all your entertainment, travel, and
personal needs, so please continue utilizing/using and
supporting all that we offer through our partners. As always we
thank
you reading, for your continued support and for browsing through our on-line
shopping pages for ladies,
gentlemen,
travel
and gifts.
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