Thursday, January 10, 2013

MLK filmfest at AAMLO

The following is from an email from the African American Museum & Library of Oakland. But I also wanted to call attention to the marrow donor drive in support of Bay Area journalist Kevin Weston. Read more about Kevin's battle at Oakland North.

AAMLO Annual MLK
Film Festival
January 21, 2013
11AM-4PM

The African American Museum & Library is honored to continue its traditional Martin Luther King, Jr. film festival by presenting a selection of critically acclaimed documentaries that put into historical perspective the nation defining-movement of the 1950s and 1960s for African American civil rights:
  • The History Channel Presents: Voices of Civil Rights
  • The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
  • Let Freedom Sing: How Music Inspired the Civil Rights Movement

AAMLO/FAAMLO welcomes Be The Match
Operated by the National Marrow Donor Program
4–6PM

Be The Match helps to find un-related (not blood related to the recipient) marrow and blood stem cell donor matches for patients suffering from leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening blood diseases. Our goal is to educate, recruit and sign-up new registry members from a wide range of ethnic and racial backgrounds in order to give all patients a better chance of finding their match. Please get involved to help the many African American families we work with.

One of our current patients is Kevin Weston. Mr. Weston is a 44-year-old news media journalist living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is father to 1-year-old Lelah, stepfather to 16-year-old Aminah and the husband of Lateefah Simon. As a long-time mentor to aspiring journalists of color, Kevin's life has touched many. Now, Kevin and his family need our help. In August 2012, Kevin was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of leukemia. A bone marrow match can help save his life. Kevin is African-American. Only about 8% of the nation’s 10 million registered bone-marrow donors are Black, which makes his chance of finding a bone marrow match quite slim. You are the key to helping Kevin change these odds.

Registering with Be The Match is as simple as a cheek swab. And it can help safe a life.

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