Harlem Merchant, Bernard Oyama Gabon Presidential Candidate!

If you've shopped Harlem's B. Oyama Homme,
2330 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard then you know that its owner, Bernard Oyama has always provided the best apparel and haberdashery advice
on dressing for success.

Well, sartorially speaking, the shoe is now on the other foot as Oyama throws his hat in the ring of Gabonese presidential politics. And why not? ...after all what other politician can offer voters a better "shirt off their back" then Mr. Oyama!

With the death in June of Gabon's incumbent President Omar Bongo Ondimba, an election has been set for August 30, 2009. Rene Aboghe Ella, president of CENAP,
the national electoral commission, released the names of the 23 presidental candidates chosen
to participate in the election.














While the constitution stated that Interim President Rose Francine Rogombé should organise elections within 30 to 45 days, the Constitutional Court accepted the government's request for a delay due to the circumstances.

In the aftermath of Bongo's death, reports suggested that, due to the need to update the voters' roll, the election might not be held within the 45-day period. Rogombé said on 20 June that preparations for the election would involve a "broad consultation with the active forces of the nation" and that her decisions would be made "under the triple seal of the constitution, consultations and consensus".

In an interview on 22 June, Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong appeared to confirm this speculation, saying that "it seems certain that it will take us more than 45 days". Under the constitution, a delay beyond 45 days is legally permissible in a case of force majeure. Eyeghe Ndong also said in the same interview that he would consider standing as a presidential candidate if he felt he had the necessary support.

The news agency Agence France-Presse reported that sources variously expected that an election could be held in September 2009, in the last quarter of 2009, or as late as 2010.

GET GAY, GET HAPPY! Judy, Michael, Katie & Rufus

Currently, the internet is a
buzz with talk of Katie Holmes' television appearance on,
"So, You Think You Can Dance?"

Making a surprise appearance
on the show Holmes performed a rendition of the famed Judy Garland musical number,
"Get Happy" from the 1950's film, "Summer Stock."

In our search of the internet the Harlem Eye spotted several other rendtions of the song and dance number, including performances by Rufus Wainwright and the late Michael Jackson, so take a look, forget your troubles and come on, get happy!

Henry Lewis Gates aka "Skip" On Coming Home - An American Ritual

Photo Forensics Link Harvard Professor
To Famed African American Males
Yesterday, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested in his tracks just outside his home after the police were alerted by Gate’s neighbor who called them upon observing "two black males with backpacks" at the front door. The two men, Gates and his driver, were trying to force open the door to Gates' home after it had become stuck.

The arriving officer, Sgt. James Crowley claims Gates greeted him in a belligerent manner and called him a racist; Gates says that the officer refused to identify himself and that he was lured out of his house and then arrested.

The officer stated, that despite Professor Gates' unappreciative attitude he proceeded to take him to the Cambridge police station where he was booked and photographed.

"It wasn't until the mug shot that he caught on," said Sgt. Crowley.

Gate's agreed, "You know I've been inducted into so many clubs and societies, the American Academy of Arts & Letters, etc... I had no idea that Cambridge was even contemplating me for this unique honor. Frankly, I thought I was beyond being considered at this stage of my career."

Gates was impressed however, when his neighbor, who'd nominated him, informed him of the other distinquihed African Americans who'd recieved the same honor. When reached later that day the professor stated that he'd already approached PBS about a series on this "unigue American ritual" and was in discussion with SmokingGun.com on a book deal.

From top
Henry "Skip" Gates
Former "Honorees"
James Brown,
Martin Luther King,
OJ Simpson,
Tupac Shakur,
Bayard Rustin

The Top 20 Female Jazz Vocalists Harlem's Ella Fitzgerald No. 1

She grew up poor, and was homeless for a year
before she got her big break in a talent contest
at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. While still
a teenager, she became the vocalist for the
Chick Webb band, where she sang such hits as
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket."





She matured into perhaps the most
gifted jazz singer of all, excelling in bop-flavored scat singing , in ballads, and in recorded collections of the songs of America's greatest composers.

Even though she's gone, she's still called "The First Lady of Song," and her recordings show that the title was well-earned.






TOP FEMALE JAZZ VOCALISTS
ELLA's RUNNER UPS
2. BILLIE HOLIDAY, 3. SARAH VAUGHAN, 4. DINAH WASHINGTON
5. CARMEN MCRAE, 6. NANCY WILSON , 7. ERNESTINE ANDERSON,
8. SHIRLEY HORN, 9. NINA SIMONE, 10. ETTA JONES,
11. ABBEY LINCOLN, 12. DIANE SCHUUR, 13. LENA HORNE,
14. BETTY CARTER, 15. ROSEMARY CLOONEY, 16. PEGGY LEE,
17. CASSANDRA WILSON, 18. CAROL SLOANE,
19. DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER , 20. ANITA O'DAY

List compiled by WAER/National Public Radio, choosen by our members, listeners and staff.

Obama Tour: Africa THE OBAMAS VIST GHANA

"Coming to Ghana is,
for many African Americans,
the equivalent of a spiritual journey"



CAPE COAST, Ghana July 11, 2009 President Barack Obama says he hopes his family's tour of a former slave fortress on the coast of Ghana shows his daughters that history can take very cruel turns.

Eleven-year-old Malia and eight-year-old Sasha accompanied Obama on a tour of Cape Coast Castle Saturday.

Speaking afterward, Obama said his daughters are "growing up in such a blessed way." He said one of the things he hopes they picked up from the tour is a sense of their obligation to fight oppression and cruelty everywhere.

Cape Coast Castle was the place where shackled Africans were held in squalid dungeons before they were shipped off into slavery.










The First Family participated in the unveiling of a plaque now hanging outside the male slave dungeons that reads: “This plaque was unveiled by President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama of the United States of America on the occasion of their visit to the Cape Coast Castle on the 11th day of July 2009."

Obama Tour: Europe THE OBAMAS MEET THE POPE

'Cool Dude'
Obama Rolls Into Vatican To Meet Pope
PADDY AGNEW in Rome/Irish Times

You have to hand it to Barack Obama, he is one “cool dude”. Who else could pull into St Peter’s Square in Rome to meet Pope Benedict XVI in a huge stretch limo, complete with tinted windows and wearing a pair of “shades”?

As his 54-car convoy pulled into the Vatican, he received the pop star treatment from some of the hundreds of tourists lining the Via Della Conciliazione which leads up to the square, with people applauding and screaming their approval.

“I’ve seen him, I’ve seen him”, shouted one young Italian woman, clearly delighted to have been present in the Holy See on the day that the first black US president came to town.

On the diplomatic front, there is every indication that this first ever meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and President Obama was a resounding success. In the build-up to this audience, much had been made of possible differences between the two men on issues such as abortion and stem cell research. But judging from the body language both before and after their meeting, those differences did not prove insuperable. At the end of a 35-minute audience in the Pontifical Library, the pope told the president that he would pray for him, whilst the president responded: “Thank you very much, I’m really grateful, I look forward to a very strong relationship between our two countries.”












The Obamas dropped by the Vatican on Friday for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI with their daughters Sasha and Malia in tow. Michelle Obama observed Catholic tradition by donning a long black veil. The veil, skirt and blouse (a black version of the white bow blouse she wore in Prague last April) where by Moschino, accented with a black belt by Azzedine Alaia.