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WORD ON THE STREET(Posted 3:00 AM, 2/27/2009)



AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE BATTALION HONORED

A group of African-American women received long overdue recognition for their service to the country earlier this week. During a ceremony at the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D-C, members of the first all-African-American, all-female unit to serve overseas in World War Two, known as the "Six Triple Eight," were presented with a letter of appreciation signed by the Army Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Army.

STUDY LOOKS AT ATTITUDE, ACTIONS ON PERSONAL FINANCE

While many African-Americans are optimistic about their financial future, the majority don't have a practical game plan to make it so. A Smiley Group and Nationwide Insurance survey of 12-hundred participants found most of those surveyed indicated they are not taking deliberate actions to better their financial circumstances. Less than half say they're proactive about their financial future; three-in-four say they do not have a written financial plan; and one-in-three say they don't know where to start when it comes to personal financial planning. Tavis Smiley says, "This survey reveals the critical need for an honest assessment of our financial status so that we can be sure that we are taking the steps necessary to safeguard the future for ourselves, our families and the next generation."

C-D-C-P AWARDS MILLION FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN H-I-V TESTING

The U-S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will donate 35-million dollars in funding to state and local health departments to boost H-I-V testing opportunities among at-risk groups, particularly African-Americans. 23 states will receive awards ranging from 690-thousand to five-million dollars. Doctor Kevin Fenton says, "This program seeks to test more than one-million people with the primary goal of increasing early H-I-V diagnosis among African-Americans." African-Americans, just 13-percent of the U-S population, account for nearly half of the estimated one-million Americans currently living with H-I-V.

HARPER HONORED WITH SCHOLARSHIP IN HIS NAME

The Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has honored Hill Harper with the creation of a scholarship in his name. The Hill Harper Mentoring Scholarship aims to encourage students to commit to service through mentoring and will be administered by the United Negro College Fund. A Harvard Law School classmate of President Obama, Harper says, "I am honored to have a scholarship that represents so much that I believe in named for me. This comes at a time when President Obama is urging Americans to serve and first lady Michelle Obama is asking us to consider making that service mentoring at-risk children." Ten-percent of proceeds from sales of the D-V-D of H-B-O's documentary The Black List, Volume One will go to the scholarship fund.

AMSTERDAM NEWS PUBLISHER DIES

The New York Amsterdam News publisher Wilbert Tatum died in a hospital in Dubrovnik, Croatia on Wednesday, where he was traveling with his wife Susan. The paper's Nayaba Arinde did not know the cause of his death, but confirmed he'd been ill recently. Tatum was one of a group that purchased the Amsterdam News in 1971, and rose to become board chairman and editor-in-chief, taking majority control of the paper in 1982. In December 1997 his daughter, Elinor Ruth Tatum, took over as editor-in-chief. One of 50 black newspapers in the United States when it was founded in December 1909, The Amsterdam News marks its centennial this year.