TRANSAPRICA TRANSAPRICA PORUM
A Homecoming
Dear Colleague,
Bill Cosby and I wrote you in April to share exciting news about the June 4th dedication of our new national headquarters in the embassy row section of Washington, D.C. We also alerted you to substantial expansion of many programs which will soon be operating from our new facility.
We both hope you will make plans now to attend our African World Together celebration. Your presence will help us celebrate many important accomplishments and focus on new challenges for our future together.
I'm very eager to have you participate with us in our African World Together celebration on June 4-5 in Washington D. C. I am pleased to tell you that Bryant Gumbel, Host of the NBC Today Show, will lead the official dedication ceremony.
I'm hoping you will join us at our Open House and tour our new headquarters facility. I want to share our excitement with you and explain our many plans for maximizing the use of our new five-story facility. I am proud and honored that our new headquarters will house The Arthur R. Ashe Jr. Foreign Policy Library and Resource Center, a national and global research center on foreign policy and the African diaspora.
I feel it is most fitting to have this important center named for our beloved, freedom-fighting colleague, Arthur Ashe. In addition to Arthur, Bill Cosby, Sugar Ray Leonard, Quincy Jones and so many others have made it possible to create our new national headquarters.
I cordially invite you to be with us and participate with many distinguished Americans in helping us usher in a new and far more progressive era in U.S. foreign policy on the weekend of June 4-5, 1993.
I've enclosed special invitations to our Annual Dinner and the Annual Conference for you. We will come together from Africa, the Caribbean and across the United States to celebrate the very best of the African world together - and commit ourselves to a stronger future based on solidarity, human dignity and democratic values.
I'm pleased to inform you that the Reverend Jesse Jackson will be the keynote speaker at our Twelfth Annual Foreign Policy Conference luncheon on June 4th. His theme will be ~The African World Together: Building A Partnership".
And on that same day our International Careers Fair will engage many students in learning the practical steps they must take to pursue a foreign policy career in the U.S. government.
Our Sixteenth Annual TransAfrica Benefit Dinner on the evening of June 5th, the featured event of the weekend, will be hosted by Blair Underwood and Alfre Woodard.
I hope you'll be with us to hear The Honorable Ron Brown, Secretary of Commerce, our guest speaker. We will be honoring Galer Teal Butcher, international lawyer and human rights activist with our African Freedom Award and Bryant Gumbel with our International Journalism Award.
Somali born model and activist, Iman, will be the recipient of our International Humanitarian Award.
His Excellency Michael Manley, former prime Minister of Jamaica will receive the Distinguished Statesman Award. The exciting events of June 4 and 5 in Washington D.C. are being planned for you. So please mark the date now and let us know you will be attending. We are eager to have you with us.
Toge ther we will launch what is just the beginning of a ~ide- r& nging and rich variety of programs designed to involve tens of thousands of our fellow citizens in shaping a new and stronger voice in foreign policy towards Africa and the Caribbean.
Other important events marking our African World Together include the TransAfrica Forum Scholars Advisory Council, the TransAfrica\Smithsonian Cultural Exhibit and the TransAfrica M~ership Convention.
I al.so ask you to join a select group of members in our newly formed Founders' Council.
Founders are dedicated men and women who are undergirding our major expansion and enlarged outreach made possible with our new facility . Because you've already demonstrated your strong commitment to the oppressed people of Africa and the Caribbean, I urge you to enroll as a Founder today. The Founders' Council has taken on the crucial mission of sustaining the many vital programs of TransAfrica Forum, including the long-term education and mobilization actions we must take to meet crucial foreign policy challenges facing the suffering nations of Africa and the Caribbean.
Each member of our new Founders' Council agrees to make a $100 commitment to the work of TransAfrica Forum - the tax deductible educational organization working closely with TransAfrica - our lobbying and legislative group.
By accepting my invitation to become a Founder, your name will be listed in the Book of Honor, which will be permanently displayed in the Arthur R. Ashe Jr. Foreign Policy Library and Resource Center in our new national headquarters.
Your own strong commitment will be seen and recognized by national leaders, statesmen, diplomats and citizens from across the world.
You'll also receive insider briefings from me and members of the Board from time to time, as well as special alerts and dispatches sent to you on fast-breaking foreign policy issues.
When I look ahead to the many important events of African World Together, the dream-come-true of a new and permanent facility - and the outstanding national leaders from many professions who have made enormous commitments to work with us and strongly advance our cause, I am tremendously encouraged.
I've seen miracles happen time and time again - because of one person's commitment at the right time.
Across our nation men and women are stretching their financial and time commitments to help this dream come true. Although the many tasks and programs ahead of us are ambitious and challenging, and will stretch our energies and resources, I'm sure we can fulfill our vision with the strong support of committed members like you .
So I urge you to attend the events of the African World Together celebration.
You will be joining with many distinguished Americans from politics, the arts, sports, academia and other fields to help us usher in a new and far more progressive era in U.S. foreign policy.
If you enroll as a Founder today. and also plan to attend the events of African World Together on June 4-5. your single tax-deductible contribution of $300 will enroll you as a Founder and also allow you to attend all of the weekend events at no additional charge. As a member of The Founders' Council, you'll be helping us mark the completion of the new. permanent headgyarters for both TransAfrica and TransAfrica Forum at 1744 R Street Northwest, in the embassy row section of Washington, D.C. But most important of all, you'll feel a deep personal satisfaction because you'll be helping to shape compassionate and progressive foreign policies and programs to alleviate the enormous suffering experienced by the peoples of Africa and the By uniting our energies now, we can work for the day when democracy, human rights and equality are cherished and defended abroad by the U.S. government and the American people as strongly as those values are defended here at home. The closing years of this decade and century are a crucial time for us to bring new hope and fresh opportunity into the lives of millions of men. women and children in Africa and the Caribbean who are looking to us for their only hope. So many times in the past you have generously responded to my requests. I am grateful for all your help. Today we have the opportunity to create the world afresh for so many people in the African world. I look forward to greeting you on June 4th, or if for some reason you can not attend, then I look forward to welcoming you to our Founders' Council. Thank you. With heartfelt thanks, Randall Robinson Executive Director TransAfrica/TransAfrica Forum P.S. Please take a few moments now to check the events you wish to attend on June 4-5, and then return the response form along with your registration fees. Or if you are unable to attend the African World Together, please return your $100 tax deductible enrollment in the Founders' Council. Thank you again for your wonderful help! TransAfrica l&i ANNUAL DINNER TransAfrica Forum 12th ANNUAL FOREIGN POLICY CONFERENCE TRANSAfRICA FORUM invites you to attend the Twelfth Annual Foreign Policy Conference, Luncheon and International Careers Fair "The African World Together: Building A Partnership" Opening Speaker George Moose Assistant Secretary of State, African Affairs Luncheon Speaker Reverend Jesse Jackson Friday, June 4, l 993 8:00 am- 4:00 pm Dirksen Senate Office Building Conference Auditorium (DG-50) First and Constitution NE United States Senate (Metro: Union Station) Panel Topics: RSVP Card Enclosed Democratization and Conmct Resolution Trade and Investment Opportunities in Africa and the Caribbean Cultural Expressions in the Black World A HOMECOMING The Boards of Directors of TransAfrica and TransAfrica Forum are honored to in vite you to the African World Together Weekend June 4-5, 1993. This special weekend marks a turning point in the growth of African-American involvement in foreign affairs and the establishment of a foreign policy home for people of Afri can descent worldwide. TransAfrica Forum will open the new Arthur R. Ashe, Jr. Foreign Policy Library, present the newly established Scholars Advisory Council during the 12th Annual Foreign Policy Conference and sponsor an international careers fair. TransAfrica will host its 16th Annual Dinner and membership convention. Both organizations will host an open house at the new facility for members and partici pants in the African World Together Weekend. Please join us in paying tribute to a strong tradition of foreign policy activism and rededicating ourselves to the challenges of the future. Let us celebrate the rich culture and accomplishments of the African World, together. TRANSAtRICA invites you to attend the Sixteenth Annual Dinner Saturday, June 5, 1993 Cocktails 7:00 pm • Dinner 8:00 pm Washington Hilton Hotel Guest Speaker The Honorable Ron Brown United States Secretary of Commerce Hosts Alfre Woodard Blair Underwood -----Honorees----- Goler Teal Butcher, International Lawyer, Human Rights Activist African Freedom Award Bryant Gumbel, Host NBC "Today" Show International Journalism Award Iman, Model/Activist International Humanitarian Award His Excellency Michael Manley, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, World Leader Distinguished Statesman Award R. S. V. P. Card Enclosed Black Tie- Optional His Excellency Michael Manley The Honorable Ron Brown The Honorable Kweisi Mfume TRANSAFRICA FORUM BOARD OF DIRECTORS Edward Lewis, Chairman Dr. Locksley Edmondson Harriet Michel Donna Brown Guillaume Dr. James Turner The Honorable Richard Hatcher Bertram M. Lee Dr. Sylvia Hill Emelda Cathcart Edward Lewis Dr. Edmond Keller TRANSAFRICA BOARD OF DIRECTORS The Honorable Richard Gordon Hatcher, Chairman Bishop John Adams Quincy Jones Dr. Mary Francis Berry James A. Joseph Dr. William H. Cosby Ronald E. Lewis Courtland Cox Ernest Lofton Dr. James Davis William Lucy Earl Graves Dr. Leslie-Burl McLemore Donna Brown Guillaume Dr. Pearl Robinson Dr. Dorothy Height The Honorable Edolphus Townes Dr. Sylvia Hill Dr. James Turner Karimu Johnson Rev. Wyatt T. Walker Dr. Willard Johnson The Honorable Maxine Waters Randall Robinson, Executive Director TransAfrica/ TransAfrica Forum .. _..