Net Miles Of Smiles

Kiwanis International President Donald Canaday was in the island recently to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Kiwanis in Jamaica, which coincided with the 94th anniversary of Kiwanis International. Jamaica comprises four Kiwanis divisions, 58 clubs and 2,400 members.

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Canaday, a 38-year veteran Kiwanian, was elected president at the 93rd annual International Convention in Orlando, Florida, in June 2008, to serve a one-year term. The highlight of his visit to the island was the induction of 75 new members during a ceremony at the Hilton Kingston hotel last Thursday. Associate Editor Byron Buckley spoke to Canaday before the start of the ceremony.

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Why are you in Jamaica?

I am here to celebrate with the Kiwanians of Jamaica. They are a great bunch of men and women who wear the pin of Kiwanis proudly and they serve those who are in need. We are hoping to grow.

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Comments (0) Feb 04 2009

The term black aviation describes a historical fact: For the first half-century of powered flight, blacks flew in segregated circumstances. The story of black aviation is one of breakthroughs against restrictions. First, such isolated pioneers as Bessie Coleman overcame the entrenched discrimination of the time. Coleman’s brief career as a stunt pilot inspired a generation of black youth. Even so, at the time of Lindbergh’s historic flight to Paris in 1927, only a few blacks had become aviators. Racial prejudice excluded most.

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In the 1930s African Americans formed flying clubs to promote aviation in the black community. The clubs made it possible for African Americans to participate in aviation: Their members trained pilots and mechanics and promoted aviation through publications, lectures, and even air “circuses.” These air shows drew the curious with promises of “aerial acrobatics, rolls, turns, spins, ribbon cutting, crazy flying.” In 1933 and 1934 the long-distance flights of C. Alfred Anderson and Dr. Albert E. Forsythe displayed both flyers’ skills while appealing for equality in aviation. In Los Angeles William J. Powell set up the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and wrote his visionary book Black Wings, which urged black youth to choose careers in aviation. In Chicago Cornelius R. Coffey established the Coffey School of Aeronautics, served as the first president of the National Airmen’s Association, and built an airstrip in an African American community. Both Powell and Coffey recognized that blacks would need technical skills to advance in aviation.

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Comments (0) Feb 04 2009

“Faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future.” — Martin
Luther King Jr.

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By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

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Before Henry Louis Gates mesmerized black Americans with his PBS specials tracing the history of African-American lives, a magazine writer and author galvanized African-Americans into a search for their own roots.

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On Jan. 23, 1977, the miniseries “Roots,” adapted from a book of the same name by Alex Haley, debuted. The series, which ran for eight consecutive evenings, was watched by more than 130 million viewers. At the time, it was the biggest audience for any program since the invention of television.

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The historical narrative traced the story of one of Haley’s African ancestors, a slave named Kunta Kinte, and six generations that followed him in the American south.

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