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The Summit as an organization, and as an institution,
has gained significant knowledge and experience from the
past six Summits which were convened in Abidjan (C�te
d’lvoire) in 1991, Libreville (Gabon) in 1993,
Dakar (Senegal) in 1995, Harare (Zimbabwe) in 1997,
Accra (Ghana) in 1999, and Abuja (Nigeria) in 2003.
Through the Summits, African Heads of State and
Government, and other Summit participants have sought to
build recognition among American and other business
stakeholders in Africa, recognizing that the
preservation and the development of the continent
requires education, business development, investments
and technical assistance from Americans, African
Americans, and the rest of the developed world. Summit
efforts must be entrusted to political authorities who
are constitutionally grounded, supporters of a
non-discriminatory elective franchise, and willing
underwriters of a vast infrastructure of all aspects of
social, economic and human development. The results of
the Summit are illustrated, in no small measure, by the
new visibility of Africa as an authentic emerging
market, as an environment profitable for investors and
as a responsive partner in entrepreneurship. Where shareholdership, stakeholdership
and education were the frameworks of the first
six
Summits, the 2005 Summit will include discussions on
Business, and Trade and Investment. Special attention will be paid to the
support for the African Union, the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD), the Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA), and the Global Sullivan
Principles.
The bridge from America to Africa has been built, thanks
in large part to the outstanding vision of the late Rev.
Leon H. Sullivan. Leading the largest groups of African
Americans to return to Africa, Rev. Sullivan convened five triumphant biennial African-African
American Summits. They have expanded in size and
influence from the first Summit in 1991 through the
sixth Summit in 2003 which attracted over 4,000
participants and observers, including Heads
of State and official delegations from more than 20
African nations, prominent African Americans,
governmental officials, executives and professionals
from the U.S., Latin America, and
Europe.
Designed to enable African countries and
the African American community to focus on economic
opportunity, empowerment and outreach to enhance the
future of both, the Summit is a unique and innovative
event that represents more than 30 years of hard work by
its founder, the late Rev. Leon H. Sullivan.
A
native of Charleston, West Virginia. The impressive 6
foot 5 inch man said that he learned his organizational
skills "at the knee" of two of the greatest African
Americans of the twentieth century: New York congressman
the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell and legendary union
organizer A. Philip Randolph, whom Rev. Sullivan
assisted with the first March on Washington in the early
years.
Nicknamed the "Lion of Zion" when he was
the charismatic minister of the 6,000 member Zion
Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Rev. Sullivan
established the Opportunities Industrialization Centers
(OIC), one of the nation’s most comprehensive and
successful training programs. This community-based
organization now provides job training and education to
over 51 U.S. cities in 23 states, and 44 international
centers in 15 African countries, the
Philippines and Poland. OICs have trained more than two
million for jobs worldwide.
Rev. Sullivan has
been recognized as a man of unparalleled vision and
action. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, recipient of some 50
honorary degrees and board member of Mellon Bank and the
Boy Scouts of America, Rev. Sullivan enjoyed a personal
relationship with every president since John F.
Kennedy.
In 1971, Sullivan made history when he
was elected to the Board of Directors of General Motors.
He was the first African American ever elected to the
board of a major corporation. In 1977, while still at
General Motors, Sullivan created the landmark seven
Sullivan Principles, which outlined guidelines for
corporations and governments interested in doing
business with South Africa’s racially divided system,
and helped to end apartheid. With the dismantling of
apartheid, Rev. Sullivan’s talent for bringing world
leaders together to discuss international issues and to
find solutions has lead to the establishment of the
not-for-profit International Foundation for Education
and Self-Help (IFESH), sponsor of the African-African
American Summits. The Leon H. Sullivan Summits and
Summit Awards Dinners are events now operated by the
Leon H. Sullivan Foundation.
REV. LEON H. SULLIVAN SUCCUMBS
TO LEUKEMIA CLICK
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