John W. McArthur, CEO of Millennium Promise, is set to provide an exclusive, behind-the-scenes update on the upcoming Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit, as well as specific action points on the steps necessary to ensure that the MDGs are achieved. The webinar, "Witness to Progress: Q&A with John W. McArthur on the Race to Achieve the MDGs," will take place on Thursday, September 16, 2010 from 9:00 am to 10:00 am EST.

The briefing is a unique opportunity to hear an objective critique of where the MDGs are, what gaps still exist and the opportunities available. A question-and-answer (Q&A) session will follow the presentation.

Click here to sign up for the webcast.

August 31, 2010

The Green Family Foundation is thrilled to report that the sounds of Alan Lomax's Haiti recordings from the 1930s will be featured in Hands of Haiti, an exhibit of more than 60 major works by artists living in Haiti who have continued their craft despite their challenging circumstances. The exhibit will be unveiled this Thursday, September 2, at 4:00 p.m. at an opening reception at MIA’s South Terminal Gallery. Green Family Foundation staff, Edouard Duval Carrié, Artist/Director of the Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance (HCAA), and Miami-Dade County officials will be in attendance.

The exhibit, which will be on display for the first time ever at Miami International Airport’s South Terminal Gallery from September 2, 2010 to March 2011, will feature works of cut metal, woven sequined flags, beaded artwork on leather, sculptures made from discarded urban materials, carnival masks, clay pottery and photography. In the accompanying photo, workers are hanging a cut metal artwork by Serge Jolimeau (Photo by David Belle).

Musical recordings and archival video footage by the famous ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax (1915-2002), who traveled to Haiti in the 1930s, will be presented at the reception, courtesy of the Green Family Foundation.

Funding for the project came from the Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance (HCAA), a not-for-profit foundation based in Miami’s Little Haiti area. HCAA's director, artist Edouard Duval Carrié, asked local artists to donate artwork that was sold at a special pavilion at the Arteamericas Art Fair in Miami Beach in April.  The proceeds from those donations have helped fund the Hands of Haiti exhibit.

August 30, 2010

The Green Family Foundation and PBS producers collaborated to create a story for the network's Need to Know news magazine. The program, "Haiti's Lost Music," airs Friday, September 3, 2010 at 9pm. The piece centers around the repatriation of Haitian culture, and uses the now-famous recordings and video ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax took in Haiti in the mid-1930s. Shown too are scenes of interviews with surviving family members of people who Lomax recorded 70 years ago. The story features Anna Lomax Wood, daughter of  Alan Lomax, and details Wood's efforts, along with the Green Family Foundation and the Association for Cultural Equity, to celebrate and replenish Haiti's cultural history.

Jacky Lumarque, head of Quisqueya University in Haiti, believes in people power when it comes to reconstructing Haiti. "One of the lessons we learned after the earthquake is that reconstruction is necessary, but it’s not in buildings. It’s not in facilities. The most important aspect of reconstruction is in humans." We couldn't agree more.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH THE VIDEO

August 28, 2010

Fly a kite in solidarity with the Haitian people tomorrow at 4:53 PM (Haiti earthquake time). If you are in Derwood, Maryland or Poughkeepsie, New York, be sure to look up as well. Those two cities are hosting major events in honor of Fly a Haitian Kite Day. Go to the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood, or Vassar College in Poughkeepsie to participate in the event. No matter where you live, however, the Green Family Foundation encourages you to spend an afternoon spreading love and togetherness by gathering with those you care for and fly a kite in remembrance of the Haiti earthquake victims.

The First Annual Fly a Haitian Kite Day is sponsored by Green Family Foundation, the Embassy of Haiti, Concorde Worldwide Movers, and Fokal. The kite-flying events are organized by Kylti, a nonprofit organization created to sustain and advance Haitian arts, culture, and life.

UPDATE: Click here to see a video of the Fly a Haitian Kite Day event in Queens, NY.