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“GEORGIA’S BEST WEEKLY”
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Week of Dec. 31,2008 - Jan. 6,2009 • Vol. 36 No. 45 • www.savannahtribune.com • 912-233-6128 • Fax: 912-233-6140
The Legendary
Eartha Kitt
Succumbs to
Colon Cancer
Eartha Kitt
Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis
American
(NNPA) - Legendary singer, dancer and actress
Eartha Kitt passed away from colon cancer on
Christmas Day at the age of 81. Her career
began with dance icon Katherine Dunham and
resulted in a career that spanned more than six
decades and included dance, film, television
and music.
She was bom in South Carolina, but left as
a young girl to live in New York City with an
aunt. It was in New York that Kitt auditioned
for the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe on a
dare and landed a spot as a featured dancer and
vocalist.
Kitt would soon become famous for her
raspy voice and her role as Catwoman on the
"Batman” television series as well as for being
the original vocalist on the Christmas Classic
“Santa Baby.”
During her career, Kitt was nominated for
three Tony awards, two Grammy awards, won
two Emmy awards and was honored with a star
on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 1960.
She had just taped a PBS special six
weeks ago in Chicago, which will air in
February. Her single “Santa Baby”, originally
recorded in 1954, was certified gold last week.
Information from CNN.com, and
people.com contributed to this report.
11th Annual
Musical Salute To
MLK: January 13
Featuring: The Savannah Jazz Orchestra &
Savannah Arts Academy Skyelite Band
The Jewish Educational Alliance will be
host to the 11th Annual, A Musical Salute to
See Musical Salute, page 9
Johnson Appointed to Top NLC Leadership Post
Washington, DC - Savannah, Ga., Mayor
Otis S. Johnson has been appointed to chair
the 2009 Council on Youth, Education, and
Families of the National League of Cities
(NLC). Mayor Johnson’s appointment was
announced by NLC President Kathleen M.
Novak, Mayor, Northglenn, Colo. NLC’s
Council on Youth, Education, and Families
works to assist municipal leaders in identi
fying and developing effective programs
for strengthening families and improving
outcomes for the children and youth in their
communities oversees the work of NLC’s
Institute for Youth, Education, and
Families.
“The year ahead will be critical for the
future of our country’s cities and towns,”
said Novak. “We must work with the new
administration to ensure that the needs of
our hometowns are part of the conversation.
Issues such as youth development, family
economic success and child and youth safe-
Mayor Otis S. Johnson
ty are critical to building a stronger
America. I will look to Otis’s leadership on
this important committee to help the coun
try’s youth.”
Working with Johnson as YEF com
mittee vice chairs in 2009 will be Caldwell,
Idaho, Mayor Garret L. Nancolas and
Tulsa, Okla., Mayor Kathy Taylor.
The National League of Cities is the
nation’s oldest and largest organization
devoted to strengthening and promoting
cities as centers of opportunity, leadership
and governance. NLC is a resource and
advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and vil
lages, representing more than 218 million
Americans. NLC’s YEF Institute helps
municipal officials take action on behalf of
the children, youth, and families in their
communities.
To learn more about the National
League of Cities, go to www.nlc.org
<http://www.nlc.org/> .
Obama’s Miraculous Win Leads 2008 Black
Press Stories; Stories of Injustices Close Behind
President-elect Barack Obama
By. Hazel Trice Edney
NNPA Editor-in-Chief
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - At
this time last year, then U. S.
Senator Barack Obama was not
the Black community’s favored
candidate to win the Democratic
nomination for the presidency
of the United States. Indeed,
because of America’s past histo
ry of racism, most Blacks did
not initially favor Obama as the
Democratic nominee because
they simply did not believe he
could win the general election.
In January of 2008, an
ABC News-Washington Post
poll showed Obama’s
Democratic Primary opponent
Hillary Rodham Clinton at 40
points higher than Obama
among African-Americans who
had been asked their preference
for the Democratic Primary.
Only a month earlier, in
December 2007, only 54 percent
of Blacks to 65 percent of
Whites even believed America
would be willing to elect a
Black president.
But, it was Obama’s win in
the Jan. 3 Democratic Primary
in Iowa - a 95 percent White
state - that caused the world to
hearken his convincing chant -
“Yes we can.”
Immediately, the pace of
his Black support escalated. By
mid-January, An ABC News
poll showed Black support for
Obama slowly reversing at 60-
40 percent over Clinton. After he
won the South Carolina primary
on Jan. 26, his Black support
skyrocketed and solidified at
well more than 90 percent for
the rest of the way.
Coupled with overwhelm
ing support from a cross section
of White and Latino-Americans,
the advent of Barack Hussein
Obama - a son of a Black
Kenyan man and a White
woman from Kansas - as
America’s first Black president
elect, now stands as the nation’s
top Black story of 2008, and is
undeniably among the top sto
ries in American and world his
tory.
Still, with all the euphoria
surrounding the Obama election
and now the anticipation of his
Jan. 20 inauguration, other
issues of racial inequality told in
2008 Black Press stories reveal
that racial inequality remains the
top issue in the first decade of
the 21st Century. In alphabetical
See Obama, page 15
Chisolm Announces Inaugural Events
Chatham County District
Attorney-elect Larry Chisolm
has announced and invites the
public to attend a Gospel
Celebration and the Swearing-
In Ceremony in recognition of
his inauguration as Chatham
County's new District Attorney.
Both events are open seating
and free to the public.
The Gospel Celebration
will take place on Sunday,
January 4, 2009; 5:00 to 6:30
Larry Chisolm
p.m., at Jonesville Baptist
Church, 5201 Montgomery
Street, Savannah, GA 31405.
This Christian worship
celebration will feature choirs
from First Jerusalem Baptist
Church, Jonesville Baptist
Church, Mustard Seed Faith
Center and Overcoming by
Faith Church. The service will
also feature the Praise Team
from Branded Hearts Church
International. Carolyn H. Bell,
who is well-known in the gospel
music industry, will serve as the
Mistress of Ceremony for the
Gospel Celebration. Carolyn
Bell has served in local govern
ment for more than 30 years as
Central Services Director and is
also the Business Manager for
the Georgia Mass Choir. She has
also served as Co-Chair of the
Women's Division of the Gospel
Music Workshop of America
See Chisolm, page 7
arver
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