Howard Hewitt and Be’la Dona Band perform in two shows at 7p and 10p, under the stars, at the Anacostia Boutique and Gallery, 2806 Bruce Place, SE in Washington, D.C. The show is Saturday, April 9.

Admission is only $25 ($30 at the door) and parking is free. American Express and MasterCard accepted. For tickets and more information call 202-550-7060 or 202-610-4188.

 

In this special engagement on the Apollo Main Stage, internationally recognized afro-pop singer/songwriter Salif Keita, known as the Golden Voice of Africa, will reprise tracks from his latest album, La Difference, and perform new versions of some of his best-known hits, “Folon” and “Seydou,” Saturday, April 9 at 8p.

This concert is a presentation of the Apollo Theater under its Cross Cultural Exchange Series, which is made possible in part by Metlife Foundation.

 

Anwar Saleem, executive director of H Street Main Street and owner of an H Street beauty parlor, told the Washington Informer newspaper that the H Street, NE renovations were to have paved the way for new businesses while helping to strengthen existing establishments. He called the results of the renovation policies “forced urban gentrification.”

Pam Johnson, a real estate broker who also owns property along the corridor, provided a specific example of how new business are benefitting from renovation subsidies. “I pay taxes just like all these other businesses on H Street but the city, under former Mayor Fenty, decided to subsidize the shuttle bus,” Johnson said, referencing the $500,000 the District is expected to shell out for the shuttle project over a two-year period.

However, Johnson said the shuttle would only serve businesses along the corridor that operate from 5p until 3a, when most of the Black businesses that still exist on H Street, NE are closed.

 

The Calumet Outdoors Hikes had another successful hike when more than 20 people from Illinois, Indiana and Washington D.C. (Yes, Washington, D.C.!) made the trek up dunes and along the Lake Michigan shore. So far the sun has been out for each of the hikes, only this time it bothered to warm up the air. Not quite t-shirt weather, but nobody had to wear gloves or a hat. Afterwards, we all went to Bartlett's and had a great lunch.

Tina Rongers of Karnerblue Era lead the hike. Indiana University – Northwest (at Gary) professor Mark Reshkin shared his knowledge of the area’s natural history along the way including that of a “blowout” dune. Reshkin explained that an uprooted tree that leaves a hole in a full dune usually allows the wind to “blow out” the sand and create a “blowout” dune.

The Calumet region generally includes South Chicago and Northwestern Indiana along the southern shores of Lake Michigan and includes the Little and Grand Calumet rivers. It is home to the
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

 

Photo: Port of Harlem publisher enjoying the view of a "blowout" dune along with others in the Indiana Dunes along the Lake Michigan shore line just east of Gary, Indiana.

 

Port Of Harlem magazine presents its 1st Friday Night at the Movies in Old Jeswang, Friday, April 15, 7p. The event at Glory Baptist Church is free and open to every one.

The showing will feature POV films Bronx Princess and the Promised Land.  POV films showcase independent nonfiction films and the American Public Broadcasting System (PBS) premiers 14 to 16 of their best, boldest and most innovative programs every year.

 

Friday, April 15, 2011

7 p.m.

Glory Baptist Church

Old Jeswang, The Gambia

 

Stay in Touch While We Are at Home Again:

In Banjul

Keep up with our daily explorations in the homeland as Port of Harlem returns to Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa for our 9th trip.

• Click here and send us the e-mail address you want us to send short, one paragraph reviews of our daily adventures on the smiling coast of Africa. Get to know the daily life rhythm in The Gambia, especially if you are contemplating joining us on a future trip.

 

The thought of a book of quotes can sound boring in the Internet age, but The Words of African-American Heroes, selected by Clara Villarosa, the former owner of Hue-Man Bookstores in Denver and Harlem, proved to be an old-fashioned page turner. Here are a few selected quotes from that book in honor of Women’s History Month:

“We have to help Black men, but not at the expense of our own personalities as women.”

- Shirley Chisholm, New York Times, April 13, 1969

“I have the right to stay here. With all that my parents and grandparents gave to Mississippi, I have a right to stay here and fight for what they didn’t get.”

- Fannie Lou Hamer, 1990

 

Gethsemane United Methodist Church, 910 Addison Road, South Capitol Heights, MD will host an International Fashion Show, Saturday, April 2, 2p to 5p. Tickets are $15 in advance and $25 at the door for adults. Children’s tickets are $7 in advance and $17 at the door.

The talent extravaganza will include liturgical dancers, a martial arts demonstration team exhibition, and solo artist Allison Porter. For more information call Tina Thompson (240-643-6475) or Antwuan Carter (240-848-2071).