Saving With Limited Funds

Five Basic Steps Toward Financial Independence

by Zakiyyah El-Amin - April 15, 2008

tags: Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Survey

Not only is April tax-filing season, but it’s also Financial Literacy Month. Most Americans are clueless about issues such as credit management, taxes, banking, and saving and investing for the future, reports FinancialLiteracyQuiz.com. In addition to not knowing enough about saving and investing, too many people aren’t doing enough to prepare for their financial future.

According to the 10th annual Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Survey, African Americans continue to save far less money than white people and are no more likely to be investors today than they were a decade ago. The 2007 survey of African Americans and white people earning at least $50,000 annually also showed that the median amount of money saved by black people is $48,000 compared with $100,000 for white people. On a monthly basis, median savings is $182 for black people versus $261 for white people.
Also, 40% of consumers live beyond their means, and half are living paycheck to paycheck. If this sounds like you, putting aside extra cash for a rainy day may seem impossible, especially when funds are tight and you’re on a fixed income.
But given the current economic slowdown, it’s an ideal time to take the cost-cutting measures necessary to achieve financial security. "The key to saving money with limited funds is training your mind to know how much money you are working with and making a conscious decision to stay within that framework of available cash," says Gil Michel, president and founder of BlackMoneyMatters.com, a personal finance Website geared to the African American online community. "Unless you change your mindset, the spending habits that you form based on say, a $25,000 salary will be the same even if you were to make $100,000." Michel adds.
An effective savings plan takes discipline to reach specific financial goals. Regardless of your income, here are five steps to help eliminate debt and to start saving:

1. Create a budget. Neglecting to keep track of your day-to-day finances is a challenge that can lead to unintentional overspending. A budget will show exactly how much money is coming in, how much money is going out, and where it’s going. Set limits on the amount of money you spend each month and make small adjustments in areas where money can be freed–such as café lattes and junk food. Also, Black Enterprise’s Wealth Building Guide offers some ideas on how you can grow your income to save more. (See the "Wealth Building"portion of BlackEnterprise.com for more information.) You want to put aside at least 10% of your after-tax income to use towards an emergency fund, investments and education.
2. Invest in your company’s 401(k) plan. If you aren’t investing in your company’s employer-sponsored retirement plan, then don’t procrastinate any longer. A 401(k) is an effortless savings tool (it automatically comes out of your paycheck) that can provide significant income for retirement. If your employer even matches a portion of your contributions, it is allowing more money to work for you faster. If you’re not offered this plan at work, contribute to an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) or some other tax-free or tax-deferred vehicle.
3. Refinance your home. If you had an adjustable rate mortgage, the Federal Reserve’s recent cut in a key interest rate makes it an opportune time to refinance at a fixed rate. It may also be a way to lower your monthly mortgage payment and have access to more cash to invest or pay down debt. Consider all costs associated with going down a percentage point or two in your interest rate to ensure that refinancing balances out with the amount you save on interest. For those who rent and have an extra room, consider bringing in a trusted friend to share the expenses. This is an economical alternative for those who live in big cities where they are paying premiums for rent.
4. Eliminate credit card debt. The convenience of buying with plastic instead of cash has created an epidemic of excessive credit card debt. A smart solution begins with making cash-only purchases. Call your credit card company and requesting a lower interest rate. If you own more than one credit card, first make additional payments on the card that carries the highest rate and then work your way down to the card that has the lowest rate until all debt is satisfied. Once you pay off that debt, use that monthly amount you would have paid for those bills toward your savings.
5. Be diligent when paying off balances. Do your homework if you decide to close your accounts because it can have an adverse affect on your credit history and credit score. Credit is beneficial if you spend wisely and pay off the entire balance at the end of the month. Living without debt will help you to save more.

Source: http://www.blackenterprise.com

How to Avoid Foreclosure

Resources are available to help homeowners prevent repossession

by Aisha I. Jefferson - June 18, 2008

tags: Foreclosure . Real Estate

With home foreclosures reaching record highs and circulating news reports about heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and iconic TV host Ed McMahon fighting to keep their multimillion-dollar dwellings from reaching the courthouse steps, housing industry experts say borrowers can avoid a similar fate.

The rate of foreclosure starts and the percent of loans in the process of foreclosure are the highest recorded since 1979, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), a national real-estate finance industry organization that tracks mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures.
The delinquency rate, which includes loans that are at least one payment past due—but doesn’t include loans in the process of foreclosure—was at 6.35% at the end of March, up 1.51% from the year before, according to the MBA. During the same timeframe, the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process was 2.47%, nearly double the 1.28% from the previous year. California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana are among the states hardest hit by foreclosure rates.
The amount of foreclosures began accelerating during the latter half of 2006 due to defaults on high-cost loans, such as subprime and adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, made to high-risk borrowers, causing the U.S. housing bubble to burst and a credit crunch to ensue. With ARMs, the interest rate resets from a lower introductory, or teaser, rate to a higher percentage rate, causing a spike in the house payments.
Thirty-nine percent of foreclosure starts in this country involved subprime ARMs; 23% involved prime ARMs; 19%, prime fixed-rate laons; 11%, subprime fixed-rate loans; and 7%, FHA loans, according to the MBA.
By some estimates, 61% of the people who got subprime loans would’ve qualified for a cheaper, conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate loan, says Kathleen Day of the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit consumer group, adding that a disproportionate number of black and Hispanic families received subprime loans.
Jeffery R. Hayward, a senior vice president at Fannie Mae, says some homeowners facing financial challenges dig themselves deeper by avoiding their mortgage lender.
“There’s a myth out there that if you run into trouble, don’t call the bank,” Hayward says. “[Not calling] is the worst thing you could do. If you run into trouble, you should call your mortgage servicer immediately,” Hayward says. “The servicer is really going to want to try to work your loan out. In some cases they won’t be able to, but you’re really not going to know until you call them.”
Given the volume of exotic loans in the marketplace, practicing diligence and patience is a must when contacting lenders. “Keep calling until you get somebody,” Hayward says.
Once making contact, lenders could offer to spread the defaulted payment over future payments, reduce the interest rate or loan balance, he says.
“If you have a bad subprime loan, a repayment is not going to help you. What you need is a workout plan,” says Day, explaining that a workout plan would reduce the loan to a fair market value or freeze the interest rate either permanently or semi-permanently for about five years. On the other hand, a repayment would take the amount owed and spread it out on top of the current payments. Day says repayment plans work best for people who’ve gone into trouble because of a one-time event such as illness, job loss, death, or divorce.
“If the fundamental problem is the loan itself then you need a workout plan and not a repayment plan,” Day says.
Since July 2007, nearly 1.6 million homeowners have avoided foreclosure through workouts which include loan modifications and repayment plans, according to HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors working to help prevent foreclosures.
If the loan can’t be worked out Hayward suggests doing a deed in lieu of foreclosure where the mortgage lender will accept ownership of the home in place of the money owed on the note, or a short sale, which requires the homeowner to sell the home for less than the outstanding balance of the loan with the mortgage lender forgiving the remaining debt owned. Either of these options will help homeowners have a more orderly and planned exit of their property, Hayward says.
If borrowers aren’t getting any satisfaction from their lender’s decision, seek advice at a legal aid clinic, Day suggests. “It may be that you can challenge the term that you were given,” she says.
For first-time homebuyers, Hayward suggests taking a homeownership mortgage or financial counseling course where counselors would conduct a budget overview and examine potential buyers’ spending patterns to ensure they’ll end up in a home they can afford. He also suggests first-timers make sure everyone involved in the process is trustworthy and reliable.
“This is the most important financial decision people will make in their lifetime. You should feel good about when you do it,” Hayward says.
In an effort to help lending partners and communities survive this economic climate, Fannie Mae, which has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to ensure that mortgage bankers and other lenders have enough funds to lend to home buyers at low rates, has established its Keys to Recovery Initiative and foreclosure prevention for existing and first-time homebuyers.
If Fannie Mae owns the loan, borrowers who owe more than the amount their home has been appraised will have the opportunity to refinance their property up to 120% of its appraised value, Hayward says. Another measure formed through a partnership Fannie Mae has with Durham, N.C.-based nonprofit, Self-Help Credit Union (http://www.self-help.org/), would allow families on the brink of foreclosure the opportunity to remain in their homes on a rent-to-own basis. The 70-year-old mortgage funding giant also renewed its partnership with the National Council of State Housing Agencies to provide up to $10 billion in financing through the end of 2009 for qualified first-time homebuyers.
Source: http://www.blackenterprise.com

A Conversation With Chris Gardner: Start Where You Are

When we caught up with Chris Gardner, owner and chief executive of an institutional investment firm, he was in New York City promoting his new book, 'Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.'
He took time from his busy schedule to discuss the book, in which he shares his singular advice on how to survive in the face of formidable obstacles. He also talks about his plans for the future and gives tips on how to survive an economic downturn. Don't expect Gardner to wax elegiac about the economy. In fact, he sees it as an opportunity and urges readers to do the same.

'Start Where You Are' is a great follow-up to your memoir, 'Pursuit of Happyness,' which was a very inspirational story about survival. How do they differ?
In this book, we include stories, not just of lessons I've learned in my own personal pursuit of happiness. I was able to include stories of people who inspired me. That might be anyone from my mama all the way to Nelson Mandela. So it's not just my voice, but also the voices of other people I've heard from around the world. 'The Pursuit of Happyness' has been published in 16 languages. So I did, indeed, hear from folk all around the world. Some of the stories others shared with me regarding their own personal pursuit I was able to include in this book.

The blessing I've gotten from people all over the world comes in the form of a thank you. People have shared with me that because they saw me do what I did, they can do what they have to. They've got no more excuses. That is the most important and humbling thing I've learned in this entire experience.

Interesting timing for the book. What was the impetus?
A big part of what led me to write 'Start Where You Are' were the questions from people around the world who read 'Pursuit of Happyness' and asked, "Why didn't you quit?" "What made you keep going forward?" "Were you afraid?" What I've done is tell a series of stories of survival, not just mine, but those of others.

Is this economic turmoil hard for you to watch?
It is painful to watch, but the other side of it is that if there was ever anyone who was built not just to thrive but to survive in this environment, it's me. This is my world. Other folks are saying the sky is falling. I'm saying, no. These are pennies from heaven.

This could be an opportunity for a lot of us to ask ourselves some very big questions, several of which I talk about in the book, including, beyond money what is really important to me? What do I care I about? Do my children know me? What am I not willing to compromise and negotiate on? Those are very big questions, and this could be the time to answer them.

Just like this market went down, it's going to go up. The question is when this economy does turn, who are you going to turn out to be? Are you going to be the same person you were before the music stopped or the bubble burst? Or will you take this time to grow, assess and empower yourself?


What is the best advice you have to give to people experiencing hardship?
Be mindful of whatever skills, talents and expertise you do have. Those skills are transferable to other jobs. This could be a beautiful time to say, "What do I really want to do?" The key is being bold enough to go and make it happen. That boldness comes from passion and commitment.

What about age? Some people have been laid off in their mid-40s and 50s. They feel they can't compete with the Twitterati or younger generation. What should they do?
We do have an alternative. We could just die (he says jokingly to drive home his point). If you are too old to dream, if you are too old to do that one thing that you once said, "This is what I wanted to do my whole life," the alternative is to die. If that is not an acceptable alternative, I suggest you get busy. Forget about the numbers. It's very, very limiting, and it's totally unnecessary. It's very convenient to say, "I'm too old to go back to school. I'm too old to do the one thing I said I've always wanted to learn." A lot of folk will agree with you, but there are a lot of folk who will say, "This is my life. I don't know how much time I have left, but this is what I'm going to do."

Are you taking up writing full time?
Oh, God no. Girl, I still have my day job. Don't ever quit your day job. Don't start believing any of this stuff. I still have my day job, because I'm still in love with what it is I'm doing. Writing full time is not for me, but there may be one or two more ideas in development.

The next one will be a continuation of the 'Pursuit of Happyness,' a second part of the memoir. After you've been published in 16 languages, I think you better do it again. There are opportunities for a sequel to the film.

Will Will Smith play you again in the film?

Let me say this. After 55 years, I've been playing me pretty good. I may play myself! I told Will I will play myself for half the money.

Source: http://www.blackvoices.com/

Magic Johnson Teams with Aetna

Alliance to help diverse urban communities with healthcare issues
By Aisha Sylvester

January 24, 2008 -- Earvin "Magic" Johnson is at it again. The former National Basketball Association star turned entrepreneur has taken on yet another community development venture: tackling the healthcare issues that plague urban America. Magic Johnson Enterprises has joined forces with Aetna, one of the country’s leading healthcare companies, to improve healthcare in the country’s urban neighborhoods.

The alliance, which was announced yesterday at a news conference held at the Magic Johnson Theatre in Harlem, aspires to improve healthcare literacy and wellness and combat racial and ethnic inequality in healthcare through intensive community outreach programs. "We’ve got to go to the people instead of making them come to us," says Johnson.

Considering the combined efforts of Johnson’s impressive philanthropic record and Aetna’s extensive experience in the healthcare provider industry, Aetna Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Williams expressed his confidence in the impact this relationship will have in addressing the needs of those with inadequate access to quality healthcare.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to bring two strong brands together," says Williams, who described Johnson as someone who could "help amplify our voice in this community" while demonstrating to others that there are opportunities to serve in urban communities. Leading by example, Aetna has already established the New York City Community Plan that seeks to make healthcare provision more affordable for employers while lowering out-of-pocket costs for individuals.

Currently more than 50% of small-business employers doubt their ability to offer health insurance to their employees, according to Aetna’s president of small group business, in the northeast region, Kate Begley. The MJE and Aetna collaboration intends to aid the millions of employees who, for the most part, represent diverse communities and are unable to obtain insurance through their employers but who also fail to qualify for the state subsidized plan.

"There’s an opportunity to focus on health literacy, to help people understand how to use their benefits if they have [them]," Williams says. He also stresses the importance of individual responsibility for one's health: "They also have to understand their role in being compliant with doctor’s orders and all the other things we can do as individuals to take better care of ourselves.

"With New York City’s healthcare costs being one of the highest in the country, it isn’t surprising that the health initiative has received the endorsement of New York politicos Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee; Commissioner Robert W. Walsh at the New York City Department of Small Business Services; and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose office has offered its assistance to the joint venture.

It is expected that MJE’s commitment to ethnically diverse urban neighborhoods in conjunction with Aetna's experience will empower businesses and communities to become more conscious of healthcare choices and provisions.

MJE’s portfolio of companies previously formed strategic partnerships with corporations including Starbucks, AMC Entertainment Inc., and T.G.I. Friday’s. Of the enterprise’s newest partner in its quest to improve urban life Johnson says, "We need a machine like the Aetna machine to get out here and spread the word in a big way. Together we can cover a lot of territory and hopefully make a lot of minorities healthier and more health conscious."

Call Me Mister Scholarship Program

To all Education Majors, Cheyney University Students, Faculty, Staff, Family and Alumni:
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is now accepting applications for the Graduate and Undergraduate Call Me MISTER Program.

The Call Me MISTER Program is a national teacher leadership program that not only prepares you for a successful career as an elementary teacher but also provides you with resources that will place you in a position to effectively impact the lives of children.

If you are interested in teaching at the elementary school level and a Cheyney University Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student or Graduate, please apply immediately. The deadline to submit applications for this upcoming Fall 2009 semester is Friday, June 5, 2009.

The Call ME MISTER Program is a teacher leadership program that will not only pay for your tuition, room, board, books, stipend and technology fees but also will pay for your attendance at educational conferences and PRAXIS I and II preparation /examination.

The Graduate Call Me MISTER Student will serve on staff and be allowed to participate /attend various education conferences in the Field of Teacher Education and attend weekly leadership meetings.

The Undergraduate MISTER will be required to attend weekly leadership meetings, Praxis Preparation Workshops and attend various education conferences in the Field of Teacher Education.

If you are interested, please make sure that you are accepted into Cheyney University. All students must complete FAFSA Form (Federal Assistance for Student Aid) in order to qualify for the scholarship grant.

If you are interested in teaching at the elementary school level and a Cheyney University Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student or Graduate, please apply.

*Due to the high interest in the Call Me MISTER program, a new email account has been added. Please email callmemister@cheyney.edu for more information and questions on the Call Me MISTER program at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.

Washington Post Launches Online Magazine Aimed at Blacks

The Washington Post Co. plans to launch a Web magazine today called The Root that aims to be a "Slate for black readers," according to one of its founders, Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Slate, the online magazine founded by Microsoft and purchased by The Post Co. in 2004, offers a mix of news and opinion, arts and sports coverage. The Root will feature news and opinions on black issues in the United States and worldwide and include a genealogy application designed to help black users build their family trees.

The site, which began coming together in October, is the brainchild of Gates and Post Co. Chairman Donald E. Graham. Gates got to know Graham through several years of joint service on the Pulitzer Prize committee. The Root is a spinoff of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Post Co. and the parent of washingtonpost.com.

When Graham broached the idea of The Root to Gates several months ago, "it took me precisely one nanosecond to say, 'I would love to do that,' " Gates said in an interview on Friday.

Gates has written extensively on black history and genealogy. On Feb. 6, Gates's "African American Lives 2," a documentary series using DNA analysis to help trace the ancestry of prominent black Americans such as Chris Rock, will begin on PBS. The Root dovetails with many of Gates's interests.

Gates said he has longed for a national black newspaper since childhood in rural West Virginia, when he first saw copies of the black-oriented Baltimore Afro-American in his local black-run barber shop. The Root will be a 21st-century version of a national black newspaper, Gates said, featuring articles from notable black writers, such as the New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell.

Other prominent blacks have launched news and information sites aimed at black users. Radio star Tom Joyner launched BlackAmericaWeb in 2001 that features news and commentary on issues of interest to black users. Likewise, talk show host Tavis Smiley maintains a Web site, TavisTalks, as a virtual watercooler for black issues. And Ebony and Jet magazines have a common Web site.

"I am happy to be joining the distinguished company of Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner and Ebony and Jet," Gates said. He said The Root will be unique because it will be the only black-oriented news and commentary site to have the genealogy application.

Gates will be The Root's editor in chief while former New York Times editor Lynette Clemetson will be the site's managing editor. Slate editor Jacob Weisberg helped with the site's startup and will remain involved but said Gates and Clemetson will drive the site.

"Though [Gates] has obviously been working on other things at the same time, he's been totally focused on The Root," Weisberg said in an e-mail Friday. "He's been involved in every aspect of the launch, working on it every day, and -- it seems -- every hour of the day, seven days a week."

In an interview on Friday, Graham said he expects The Root to lose money initially, "but hopefully not for as many years as Slate." Slate, founded in 1996, did not experience its first full year of profitability until 2007. The Root has signed up HBO and Coca-Cola as initial sponsors, Weisberg said.

The Root is WPNI's second spinoff, and Graham said he is considering others. Last year, the Web division launched Sprig.com, a site aimed at female users interested in "green living," or environmentally friendly products.

Sprig has grown more slowly than hoped, said WPNI publisher Caroline Little, despite what she called good content. Little said the site is narrowing its focus and relaunching with this year with a large publicity push. WPNI would not release traffic numbers for Sprig.


Source: Washington Post
Original Source: http://www.afrigeneas.com/news.shtml#1201632248

CARL ROWAN

CARL ROWAN
Thursday, May 29, 2008


Carl Rowan (1925-2000) was a federal cabinet member, international ambassador and one of the most prominent black journalists of the 20th century.

Born in Ravenscroft, Tennessee, to Thomas David and Johnnie B. Rowan on August 11, 1925, Rowan grew up during the Great Depression. As a young boy, Rowan worked hoeing bulb grass for 10 cents an hour, later performing hard manual labor for 25 cents an hour when there was work available. In his autobiography, Rowan told of living with “no electricity, no running water, no toothbrushes … no telephone, no radio and no regular inflow of money.”

He graduated in 1942 from Bernard High as valedictorian and class president. Rowan moved to Nashville with 77 cents in his pocket and the dream of a college education. In order to earn his tuition for college, he moved in with his grandparents and got a job in a tuberculosis hospital the summer before enrolling in the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College (now Tennessee State University) in Nashville in the fall of 1942. Two years later, during World War II, Rowan passed a competitive exam to become one of the first blacks in Naval officer training.


After his stint in the U.S. Navy, Rowan graduated from Oberlin College majoring in mathematics and earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He began his career in journalism as a copywriter for The Minneapolis Tribune, and within two years, he had become a staff writer with special emphasis on the Civil Rights Movement. In 1950, Rowan married Vivien Louise Murphy, a public health nurse.

At the time, “no more than five blacks could claim to be general assignment reporters and few were writing anything serious about the American social, political or economic scene,” Rowan wrote in his autobiography, Breaking Barriers.

Among his early pieces were a series of columns entitled How Far from Slavery?, which he wrote after returning to the South to study issues of race. The articles contributed to Rowan being the first black to receive the Minneapolis “Outstanding Young Man” award. They also served as the basis for his first book, South of Freedom.

Rowan spent 1954 writing columns from India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia. These led to a second book, The Pitiful and the Proud. A third book, Go South to Sorrow, was published in 1957. Rowan was the only journalist to receive the Sigma Delta Chi award for newspaper reporting in three straight years: for general reporting in 1954, for best foreign correspondence in 1955, and for his coverage of the political unrest in Southeast Asia in 1956.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rowan Deputy Secretary of State and he became the U.S. Ambassador to Finland in 1963. The following year, Rowan was appointed director of the United States Information Agency by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Rowan became the first black to hold a seat on the National Security Council and oversaw a staff of thirteen thousand. In 1965, Rowan resigned and began writing a national column for the Field Newspaper Service Syndicate and doing three weekly radio commentaries for the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company.

Rowan developed a reputation for being independent and often controversial. He urged Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to change his anti-war stance because he felt it was hurting the Civil Rights Movement, and he called for J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to resign citing abuses of power and corruption that brought him criticism. While Rowan had always been a spokesperson for civil and economic rights for blacks, he was also critical of those he felt should more aggressively addressing those issues affecting themselves.

Rowan received the Peabody Award for his television special “Race War in Rhodesia” and was awarded an Emmy for his documentary “Drug Abuse: America’s 64 Billion Dollar Curse.” His newspaper column was syndicated by the Chicago Sun-Times and reached nearly half of homes receiving newspapers in the United States. He was on numerous public affairs television programs and was a permanent panelist on “Agronsky and Company.” He also aired “The Rowan Report,” a daily series of commentaries on radio stations heard across the nation. He served as a roving reporter for the Reader’s Digest and regularly published articles in the magazine. He was one of the most sought-after lecturers in the United States, speaking on college campuses and at conventions of teachers, business people, civil rights leaders and community groups.

Rowan once told Publisher’s Weekly, “You gotta get tired before you retire,” and he went on to publish several more books, including Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Thurgood Marshall and The Coming Race War in America: A Wake-Up Call.

In 1987, after reading about a high school where black students were embarrassed to stand as their names were called during an honor roll ceremony, he created Project Excellence to help black youth to finish school and go on to college. Since then, the organization has awarded more than $58 million to over 2,400 young people.

In 1988, Rowan, who had advocated strict handgun control, found himself in the center of a gun controversy when he was arrested and charged with using an unregistered weapon to wound a teenager who intruded into his backyard. Rowan argued that he had the right to use whatever means necessary to protect himself and his family. The jury deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.

Rowan was a 1995 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his commentaries. In 1999, The National Press Club gave Rowan its Fourth Estate Award for lifetime achievement. On January 9, 2001, United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright dedicated the press briefing room at the State Department as the Carl T. Rowan Briefing Room. Rowan is one of the most honored journalists in American history. He has 44 honorary degrees and is in both the Black Journalists Hall of Fame and the Sigma Delta Chi Hall of Fame. He holds the “Missouri Medal,” the highest honor given by the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has received the E.I. Du Pont-Columbia University Silver Baton.

Rowan died of natural causes on September 23, 2000, at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. He was 75. He had been hospitalized for various illnesses, including diabetes, in the weeks prior to his death. He is survived by his wife, Vivien; two sons, Carl Rowan Jr., a lawyer; Jeffrey, a clinical psychologist, and one daughter, Barbara, a former journalist.

RELATED LINKS / REFERENCES: Wikipedia, CNN, AARegistry, Notable Biographies
Encyclopedia of World Biography, JDakar.com Reader Jill

Source: Concreteloop.com