Randall Robinson, founder and president of TransAfrica will speak at 12:30 p.m. at the Black Business and Professional Association's (BBPA) 4th Annual African American Economic Summit to be held Saturday, May 20 at the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Robinson is a noted activist and author of Defending the Spirit: A Black Life in America. He is best known for his leadership in spearheading the movement to influence United States policies toward Africa and the Caribbean. Robinson played a significant role in the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s and the restoration of Democracy in Haiti.
Storyteller, poet, and culinary anthropologist Vertamae Grosvenor displays the pleasures of African-Atlantic cooking in "Vertamae Cooks in The Americas' Family Kitchen," and in her new series debuting on PBS in October, In both the book and the series, Vertamae shows how African tastes and traditions have influenced the various cuisines of America, acquiring new flavors and ingredients along the way in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. With humor, insight, and gusto, Vertamae shares anecdotes and history as she prepares more than a hundred mouth-watering, down-home recipes. The recipes range from the deliciously unique to the comfortingly familiar, from the spiciness of Bahian Shrimp Creole to the pleasure of sweet potato pie.