AIA
Awards Gala Raises Hopes and Cash for Africa Relief and Entrepreneurship
Chithra
KarunaKaran is the United Nations correspondent for World
Parliamentarian Magazine, a monthly published from Brussels.
The
vibrant diversity and generous hospitality of both Africa and America
were fully in evidence at the AIA’s 16th Annual Awards dinner at the
Grand Hyatt Ballroom on East 42nd Street, on Friday September
22. It was a time for
speeches, popping flashbulbs, reminiscences, applause, handshakes, an
auction of Pan-African artifacts, the proud wearing of traditional dress
and doing The Slide on a packed dance floor to the varied rhythms of
------ band. It was a time
to be reminded that much has been accomplished but that much remains yet
to be done. Artists and
writers, delegates and diplomats, representatives from multinationals
and other corporates came to felicitate Africa on its stirring new
achievements in democracy. Ghanaians,
Nigerians, Rwandans, Botswanans, South Africans, Eritreans, Senegalese,
Tanzanians, Kenyans, Malians were all in exuberant attendance. Joining
them were a sprinkling of South Asians, Australians, Brits and Latinos.
All came to acknowledge the indelible connection, both historical
and contemporary, between America and Africa, of Africa as the mother of
us all. It was also a time
for somber reflection about the need for urgent, continued and
unmitigated effort to limit the spread of AIDS, search for ways to
restore safety to areas torn apart by ethnic strife and offer renewed
hope for a real future for
Africa’s children and youth.
President Clinton
was accorded special recognition by the AIA for his unprecedented
efforts to promote African prosperity through the Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act. In
a message especially presented on a monitor
from the White House, the President
said he was proud to have made two separate visits to Africa, the
only US President to be able to claim such a distinction.
Toni Morrison, Nobel
prizewinning author described her struggles as a young writer and told
of being inspired by the genius of China Ache be of Nigeria, one of four
honorees of the evening. President
Mbeki of South Africa, who was on a State visit to Algeria at the time,
spoke by satellite and his Award for Leadership was accepted by --- and
------ Talked about the expanded participation of South African women at
all levels of government, a statement greeted by prolonged applause.
Cheick Mobido Diarra of Mali, the aerospace engineer and international
science educator was honored for his continued leadership in space
science information dissemination, his award being presented after a
rousing introduction by Neil de Grasse Tyson, director of the Hayden
Planetarium of the American Museum of Natural History.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault accepted her award for Excellence in
Media, from South Africa where she is Johannesburg Bureau Chief for CNN.
Ms. Hunter-Gault recounted the exhilaration of being on the
ground in Zimbabwe during President Mugabe’s seizure of farms still
held by expatriates.
For Roger Wilkins, AIA Chairman it was a time to bid farewell and to recount the
achievements of AIA under his watch.
He added that the effort to increase educational opportunities
for girls in Africa was a source of special pride and satisfaction.
President Mora McLean in her welcoming comments to the 300 plus guests
spoke about her enduring connection with Africa,
her days as a young law student who was helped to travel to Ghana
by the AIA and never dreamed that she would one day work for this
organization that had demonstrated such commitment to the hopes and
aspirations of all Africans at home and in the United States.
Among the many
sponsors and donors were The South Africa Tourism Board, Ford
Motor Company, Chevron,
AFSCME, Africa One, That National Association of Negro Business and
Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. and
other organizations and individuals. The Gala Committee included
Kwame Akonor, Joseph Mutaboba,
David Dinkins, Julianna Malveaux,
Kgosi Seepapitso,
Sheila Sisulu, Eleanor Holmes Norton , Chitmansing Jesseramsing, Joseph
Diatta, Kweisi Mfune, and others.
Chithra Karunakaran
Saturday, October 28, 2000
