African American issues

Novelist Terry McMillan. The film adaptation of her 1992 novel, "Waiting to Exhale" was last year's box office hit.The book sold nearly 4 million copies. McMillan has recently completed her fourth novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (Viking) which is available in bookstores this week. It tells the story of a 42-year old career woman on vacation in Jamaica who falls in love with a 20-year old unemployed resort worker. According to McMillan, "it's as close to autobiography as I've written in a long time".

Los Angeles prosecutor Christopher Darden. He'd been a Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office for fifteen years before being selected to be on the team that prosecuted O.J. Simpson. He's written his memoir, "In Contempt," (Regan Books, written with Jess Walter.

Reverend Al Sharpton. The controversial advocate for the rights of African Americans has written his autobiography (w/Anthony Walton): "Go and Tell Pharaoh: The Autobiography of The Reverend Al Sharpton." (Doubleday)

Michael Eric Dyson is considered one of our most important black intellectuals. He's also an ordained Baptist minister who once struggled as an 18-year old father in Detroit. His work has appeared in "The New York Times," "Rolling Stone," "Vibe" and other publications. His new book is "Between God and Gangsta Rap" (Oxford University Press) about contemporary Black culture. Dyson teaches at the University of North Carolina where he is a Professor of Communications Studies.

Director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, Manning Marable. His new book is Beyond Black & White, (Verso). In the book he argues that race is "essentially a social construction, not a permanent fact of biology or genetics." He calls for a politics that goes beyond "racial-identity" where the goal is "a black face in a high place."

Co-founders of Brooklyn's Bedford Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corp. James "Rocky" Robinson and Joe Perez. They began the corp in 1988, after watching people die because the Ambulances responded too slowly to calls. (There are 39 volunteer ambulance corps in New York City). They are the focus of a new "The American Promise" PBS documentary. (The program premiered October 1).

Geoffrey Canada is author of Fist Stick Knife Gun; A Personal History of Violence in America (Beacon Press 1995) It provides a look into the lives of children living in violence. Canada is President and CEO of Rheedlan Centers for Children and Families in New York. He helps at risk children in the inner-city to find alternatives to violence.

Terry Johnson is a local organizer for the Philadelphia contingent headed to Monday's Million Man March. Johnson plans to walk to Washington to help symbolize his determination for a positive change in U.S. race relations. He and others will follow the path once used by the Underground Railroad.

Glenn Loury is an African-American conservative who is an outspoken critic of affirmative action programs. He has just written the book One by One From The Inside Out: Essays and Reviews on Race and Responsibility in America. Free Press 1995. In 1987, Loury was nominated to become Reagan's Deputy Secretary of Education. Loury withdrew his name citing "personal reasons." Later that year, Loury was arrested for possession of marijuana and cocaine. He now a Professor of Economics at Boston University.

Mark Harrell (her-ell) is a local organizer for the Philadelphia contingent headed to Monday's Million Man March in Washington D.C. Last year, Harrell chaired a three-day forum in Philadelphia that brought together several hundred African-American men together to discuss problems in the black community. He is the Director of the Youth Gang and Drug Prevention Program for the Philadelphia Mayor's office.