Garifuna Press Release: New Date for Garifuna Community Forum

Contact: Cheryl L. Noralez
President & Founder
http://www.garifunaheritagefoundation.org/

P.O. Box 10054
Long Beach, CA 90810
Phone 562 366-9396
GAHFU, Inc

PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
GAHFU, Inc. has set new date for The Garifuna Community Forum NY 2008 for Saturday, May 31, 2008.
The committee led by Mrs. Cheryl Noralez, and Rony Figueroa along with our liaison Mr. Alfonso Cayetano announce the change of date for the 4th Annual Garifuna Community Forum NY 2008.

· Los Angeles, CA March 18, 2008: GAHFU, Inc. makes a public announcement to all Garifuna organization involved including Garifuna Coalition, USA in New York, The Garifuna Association in Brooklyn and all of the entertainers, keynote speakers and participants that the 4th Annual Garifuna Community Forum has been moved a week after for Saturday, May 31st, 2008 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at Medgar Evers College Auditorium. Please remember that the admission is free and every one is welcomed to attend.

Due to the unforeseen Memorial Day Holiday, Campus will be closed and unavailable for the previous date

Mr. Alfonso Cayetano, GAHFU, Inc. liaison in New York, has lobbied all along to try to keep the original date for the 4th Annual Garifuna Community Forum NY ’08; however, all efforts have failed and a new date has been set for Saturday, May 31st, 2008.

GAHFU, Inc.is still working with the West Coast Garifuna Artists and Performers UGALA (United Garifuna Artists LA) to travel to New York for the upcoming forum at Medgar Evers College Auditorium.

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Andy Palacio: UNESCO Artist

Thanks to CAC editor, Cheryl Noralez, for the following news item from the Garifuna Heritage Foundation:

Belizean musician Andy Palacio designated UNESCO Artist for Peace

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, has designated the celebrated Belizean musician and singer Andy Palacio a UNESCO Artist for Peace.

OCTOBER 1, 2007 - UNESCO Artists for Peace are internationally-renowned personalities who use their influence, charisma and prestige to help promote UNESCO's message and programs. UNESCO works with these distinguished personalities in order to heighten public awareness regarding key development issues and to inform the public what our Organization's action is in these fields. Andy Palacio's designation makes him the 40th UNESCO Artist for Peace alongside prestigious international figures such as Manu Dibango, Celine Dion and Gilberto Gil.

Born in 1960 in the coastal village of Barranco, in Belize, Andy Palacio started to gain popularity in Belize and abroad in the late 1980s. He has since become his country's most popular musician and one of the most prominent defenders of the regional Garifuna culture and traditions.

With his band The Garifuna Collective, Andy Palacio has created a unique musical style known as Punta rock, an upbeat, popular dance form based on Garifuna rhythms. Palacio also sings in the Garifuna language, which blends many linguistic influences and which UNESCO declared in 2001 a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Andy Palacio is Cultural Ambassador for his country and holds the position of Deputy Administrator of the National Institute of Culture and History.

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=39602&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

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