Arusha is set to be a star-studded arena from next week. Distinguished personalities in the world's entertainment industry will be parading the town during the forthcoming Sullivan Summit to be held in Arusha.
The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation will lead hundreds of U.S. based delegates to Arusha, for its 8th Summit scheduled from the 2nd to the 6th of June. The main venue for the event will be the Arusha International Conference Centre.
Coordinators say that some early confirmations have already been received from a number of African Heads of State, as well as celebrities, notable people and organizations from the U.S.
Among these distinguished delegates is the civil rights activist and former US presidential candidate, Reverend Jesse Jackson, NBA star Kelenna Azubuike of the 'Golden State Warriors' basketball team, actor Lou Gossett Jr. (of the film credit 'A Good Man in Africa), a team from Black Entertainment Television (B.E.T.), Frank Ski of CBS Radio, TJ Holmes of CNN Television and many others who plan to join the Summit movement in Arusha.
According to organizers invitations to the summit have also been extended to various Civil Rights and African-American organizations including UNCF, 100 Black Men, National Association of Black Accountants, Abyssinian Baptist Church (Harlem, New York) and Greater Allen AME Church (Brooklyn, New York).
"We are excited to bring such a large number of African Americans and others from The Diaspora to Africa,"
Hope Masters, President and CEO, of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, who is also the summit Convener was quoted as saying.
"This Summit marks the first of many journeys to an east African country and we are proud to bring the spirit and culture of Africa to so many, while making a difference at the same time. It will indeed be a life-changing experience,"
she added.
Masters also noted, the Summit running under the theme, "The Summit of a Lifetime," as proposed by Tanzania President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, is expected to be the most successful of all the Summits since her father, the late Reverend Leon H. Sullivan began the biennial conference in 1991.
Dignitaries and delegates will participate in a week-long schedule of workshops and plenary sessions focusing on Africa's environment, infrastructure, investment, and tourism.
The Summit will also encourage attendees to participate in the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation's philanthropic efforts in the country which includes the Leon Sullivan Malaria Free Zone Mosquito Net Project, the Books for Africa program and several other projects.
Delegates will also have the option to explore Tanzania landmarks which will include the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, the Olduvai Gorge along with various cultural events, performances and welcome receptions.
Inspired by the life and principles of Leon H. Sullivan, The Sullivan Summits are organized by the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation with the goal of highlighting key issues, stimulating discussion, defining best practices, identifying new opportunities, promoting private enterprise and fostering high-level strategic partnerships.Notables who have participated in past Summits have included U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, Dorothy Height and the late Coretta Scott King. Celebrities including Chris Tucker, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Cicely Tyson and Dick Gregory also have attended past Summits.
"It is time to address the problems of poverty, ignorance and diseases with the help of the Americans - African-Americans who left the continent in disarray, in chaos, as slaves - and it is a time to rekindle the roots and the bones of a common origin and a new era of solidarity,"
Tanzanian envoy to UN, Dr. Mahiga said.
The summits began in 1991 and were the brainchild of Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, a civil rights crusader who called for companies doing business in South Africa to give opportunities to their black workers - an initiative that reportedly helped in ending apartheid.
