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The article focuses on the historical struggle to integrate skilled construction trades and labor unions, particularly in relation to African Americans and people of color, highlighting instances of discrimination and exclusion in the past. It discusses how efforts to achieve equal employment opportunities and combat institutional racism were deeply intertwined with the broader civil rights movement in the United States.

The article reflects on two previously published articles that highlight the struggles that New Yorkers of color faced in integrating the skilled and construction trades and their union. It mentions the positive impact of the organization Fight Back (also known as Harlem Fight Back) and its founder James "Jim" Haughton in ensuring that workers of color received their fair share.

The article reports that many construction unions that represented the skilled and highest paid trades like plumbers, electricians, pipe fitters and steel workers still marginalized African Americans. It mentions that Trevor Griffey, a lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, stated that highly paid skills were highly discriminatory. It informs that building trade unions were forced to bring in Black community members through legal action and community organizing.

The article presents information on the National Bone Marrow Registry seeking Afro-American donors for bone marrow. After diagnosis, these are the worst five words a cancer patient in search of a bone marrow transplant can hear. For a wide range of cancers from leukemia to lymphoma, a bone marrow transplant has become not only an important therapy, but for many patients the only hope of defeating the enemy within. But for nearly 75% of patients, a suitable donor cannot be found within their family, forcing them to depend on the kindness of strangers who have volunteered to become part of the National Bone Marrow Registry.

The article reports that for too many African-Americans, a trip to the doctor comes too little, too late. When poet and artist Sekou Sundiata began to feel listless and have headaches, he dismissed his symptoms and avoided the doctor's office until he was riding his elevator one day and passed out on the floor, for how long he couldn't say. Sundiata uses both poetry and spoken world to bring us along on the journey he took, first abusing his body with drugs and then ignoring what it was trying to tell him.

"I think every Black kid in America grows up watching 'Showtime at the Apollo,'" "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard said minutes before taking the stage himself at the world famous theater that for 70 years has been the place where stars are born and legends made. "Everybody wants to perform on that stage—James Brown, Lena Home, everybody has performed on that stage, and I've always wanted to perform here too," he added. Studdard is just the latest to come to Harlem to test himself against one of the toughest and most discerning audiences in the world. The man who became America's velvet teddy bear was sweating a little bit before going on, but unlike so many others in the industry, the polite Studdard kept his cool and focused on what he said is the most important thing in his life, the music.

Reports on developments affecting the black community in New York City. Hospitalization of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to undergo treatment for a prostate cancer relapse; Court ruling against Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's efforts to privatize Coney Island Hospital; Conviction of Reverend Henry Lyons for stealing money from the National Baptist Convention USA and the Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'rith.

The article reports on the move of the New York University's (NYU's) Institute of African American Affairs to explore contemporary African American cinema through a conference titled Black Cinema Now.

The article profiles several African American photographers including Frank Stewart, Russell Frederick and Orville Robertson. Frank Stewart believes that sharing unique vision of the world is a passion which motivates him. Russell Frederick, who exhibits and raised money out of his photographs said that making money is not the only motivation to his work. Orville Robertson, named as family photographer, has been photographing the streets in New York.

The article presents comments of New York Times staff photographer and award-winning artist Chester Higgins Jr. on his more than three decades of work. In his pursuit of both the African Diaspora and what he calls "the spirit," Higgins has visited to more than 30 countries around the world. Because of the lack of positive images of the African American community in the press, Higgins was inspired to become a photographer.

The article reports that international cooperation is essential to fight malaria in Africa. Eliminating the threat that malaria poses to Africa's future is a difficult job that will take many years, but with the help of people throughout the developed world this goal is achievable. Education is the first step in understanding both the disease and what role African-Americans can play in combating it.

This article reports on the African Diaspora Film Festival. The festival has been bringing the best films from around the world right here to New York, and this year promises to be the most exciting ever as the festival opens on Friday, November 25th, at the Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan with more than 80 films that will be screened over 17 days. The Latino experience and its ties to the Diaspora are well embodied, with many films from Brazil and Cuba on the schedule. African American filmmakers are prominently represented by 22 films, but what truly shows the diverse nature of the festival are the dozens of films by international artists representing countries including Angola, India, Bulgaria, Canada, Jamaica and Algeria.

The article presents information on the ways by which minorities can be registered for donation on bone marrow. Becoming registered is vitally important for people of color. While the number of African Americans in the registry has more than tripled since 1995 from 115,000 to 430,000, this is still far less than what is need to have a true genetic representation of the community and to insure that those seeking a donor can find one. Information about registering and bone marrow donation is available from the National Bone Marrow Donor Program at www.marrow.org. The New York Blood Center, in addition to collecting blood, can also register those wishing to donate bone marrow.

The article reports on blood transfusions. Every day more than 2,000 life-saving blood transfusions are performed in the New York area. Accidents, surgeries, long-term chronic illnesses are the reasons, why someone might need a blood transfusion. About 5 percent of Americans donate blood each year but only 2-3 percent of New Yorkers donate and, of that, African-Americans and Hispanics--two groups which make up more than half of the city's population--made up only a small percent-age of those who gave blood. The article reveals that anyone in good health who is between the ages of 17 and 75 and weighs more than 110 pound can donate blood.

Hepatitis C is the most common blood-born disease in the U.S., with at least four million Americans carrying it, and most of those infected do not even know it. While great strides have been made in the treatment of hepatitis C, studies have indicated that African-Americans do worse when it comes to clearing the infection from their systems. Though less frequent, hepatitis A and B have a higher profile in the public awareness. But it is hepatitis C which does the most damage, often causing the liver to destroy itself in an attempt to rid the body of this infection. People contract hepatitis C through any form of blood to blood transmission, from sharing needles to something as simple as getting a tattoo.

In a world increasingly filled with entertainment choices, from DVDs to the World Wide Web, board games have an almost quaint sensibility to most people now that a whole generation has grown up with video games instead of Chutes and Ladders. Now a new game, Blackboard, is trying to fill the void on a number of different levels, combining board games like Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit with Black history. Black history comes alive in this compact board game with over 400 questions in four categories, including science, art and literature, politics, entertainment. The game is very challenging, but some design flaws, including an overly garish game board and a rather complicated set of rules, make it doubtful.

Engineers are the unsung heroes of modern society. Most people do not know how to build a bridge, subway or car, let alone a coffee maker or even an alarm clock. But engineers make sure that people's ride to work is safe. But, as in so many other fields that require specialization and advanced degrees, people of color are significantly under-represented. To that end, engineering students at City College of New York City decided to lay the groundwork for future engineers by organizing New York's first Lego Tournament. The recent NASA missions to Mars were the inspiration for the day's events, which had the ten teams building robots made of Lego blocks. The teams had to select three missions from a list of choices, which included clearing solar panels of dust, moving ice cores back to home base and freeing the rover.

Presents CMG World Wide's Web site which features some of Black America's heroes. Topics on the site.