Happy Chinese New Year 2006!

WESTCHESTER, NY - According to the Western solar calendar system, The Year of the Dog begins January 29, 2006. According to the Chinese lunar calendar system, this is a new moon day, the first day of the first Chinese lunar month, and year 4704.

123ChineseNewYear.com says New Year's is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. Because of cyclical lunar dating, the first day of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. Holiday Insights explains that the 15 day celebration begins on the first day of the new moon, and ends on the full moon. The celebration on the15th day is called the Lantern Festival.

The astrological new year in China begins a short time later, at the winter solstice. According to the Chinese Fortune-Telling calendar system, the Red Fire Dog New Year begins February 3rd, Eastern Standard Time and February 4th, Pacific Time in 2006, coincident with first day of Tiger month and the Start of Spring.

• More resources: Click here to access sites that provide more details and ideas for celebrating the Chinese New Year.
• Image attributions: ChineseFortuneCalendar.com###

January 25, 2006 "Lisa Tolliver Show" features the Westchester Emergency Volunteer Corps-Medical Reserve Corps

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Today's "Lisa Tolliver Show" guests came bearing gifts. Marianne Partridge and Bill Reilly from the Westchester Volunteer Reserves Corps-Medical Reserve Corps (WEVR-MRC) brought me a backpack containing many tools and gadgets that will not only assist in my role as a WEVR-MRC trainee; they're also handy around the house.

In my first training session as a WEVR-MRC volunteer, I joined 19 other volunteers and our seasoned instructors - a fire captain and policeman-cum-corporate disaster emergency executive - in Valhalla last Saturday. Through lectures and multimedia study aids, we learned about firefighting and light search and rescue operations. Then, after a sumptuous buffet lunch, we donned safety gear and practiced extinguishing gas fires. In upcoming sessions we'll learn from other professionals to perform CPR and other emergency preparedness and response skills. We already passed a background check to receive an invitation to the training program, and after a total of 20 hours of free training, we may be called into action to assist during a large-scale disaster or healthcare emergency in Westchester County.

Both medical professionals and non-medical volunteers are needed. The program is coordinated by Westchester County's Department of Emergency Services and The Volunteer Center of United Way. All classes are held in Valhalla. Click here for details.

To register or obtain more information, contact evr@volunteer-center.org, call 1-866-VOL-CALL, or non-medical professionals click here for WEVR or medical professionals click here for MRC.

Future "Lisa Tolliver Shows" will partner with WEVR-MRC to publicize safety tips. Tune in every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at 1:30-2:00 pm, Eastern Time on WVOX AM 1460 and www.wvox.com.###

"The Lisa Tolliver Show" Special Broadcast on MLK Day, January 16, 2006

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - I was honored to be invited by New York Radio WVOX AM 1460 to host a one-hour special broadcast commemorating MLK Day at 3:00-4:00 p.m, Eastern Time. Read the agenda for today's show in the posting for my January 11 broadcast, which also celebrated Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.. You can also access information about MLK Day, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement there.

Some of the media incorporated into today's show included the following:

BOOKS:

• Lewis, David L. King: A Critical Biography. I was blessed to be assigned this informative, well-written book in an African American History course at Harvard-Radcliffe. I highly recommend it.
• Phillips, Donald T. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Leadership: Inspiration and Wisdom for Challenging Times. This book was recommended by Darius Myers, who shared 15 of King's 10 principles for effective leadership.

SONG:

• "Precious Lord" recorded by B.B. King (1963) - Dr. King had requested that "Precious Lord" be sung at his funeral.

WEBSITE:

• AmericanRhetoric.com (Top 100 Speeches) - Three of Dr. King's speeches rank in the top 43 at this site: #1 -"I Have a Dream," #15 -"I've Been to the Mountaintop," and #43 -"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." Visit my January 11 posting to access links to other speeches by Dr. King.

DVD'S (REFERRED TO AND RECOMMENDED):

• Martin Luther King "I Have a Dream". [United States] : MPI Home Video, c2005.
• Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs (sound recording), Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian/Folkways, 1990

We engaged in a few quizzes during the show. The questions are listed below. For the answers, please visit again soon to hear the show recording, which will be accessible from here shortly.

• What if the Civil Rights workers had been unwilling to go to jail?
• What if Rosa Parks had not been good-looking and demure?
• What was the FBI's code word for MLK?

APRES SHOW:

After the show, I rushed to Tarrytown to enjoy readings, a fabulous spread and literary company at the WLS Annual African-American Writers & Readers Literary Tea. For details about this event and information about registering for next year's event, click here. ###

January 11, 2006 "Lisa Tolliver Show" features guest Steve Plaushin and celebrates MLK

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - "Lisa Tolliver Show" guest (and fellow talk radio host) "Steve Pal" helped to fulfill the show's four-eyed mission to inform, instruct intrigue and inspire listeners about what's happening in the world of non-profits and current affairs. Our topic today: a celebration of the life and works of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. ("MLK").

When planning today's show, I thought that it would be my last broadcast before MLK Day, which falls on January 16 this year. (Dr. King's actual birthday falls on January 15 but is celebrated every third Monday in January. Read about the struggle to pass the bill to make MLK Day a federal holiday here.) To my pleasant surprise, the WVOX AM 1460 brass invited me today to host a special one-hour MLK Day broadcast at 3:00-4:00 pm, Eastern Time. I hope you'll join me.

During today's broadcast, Steve (who's also an accomplished actor) read an excerpt from Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech." Here are some interesting but little-known facts about that speech.

• Dr. King delivered the electrifying address from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to approximately 300,000 people. They had gathered at the March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington DC on August 28, 1963.
• "I Have a Dream," Dr. King' last and most famous speech, was not the address he had intended to give. He had actually prepared another text. But his long-term friend, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, encouraged King: "Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about your dream!" So he extemporaneously delivered the oratory that AmericanRhetoric.com ranks #1 among the top 100 speeches of all time.
• Read the text and hear the speech at AmericanRhetoric.com.
• History and Politics Out Loud also provides the "I Have a Dream" text and audio online.

Did you know that two other speeches delivered by Dr. King rank among the American Rhetoric Top 100 Speeches?

• "I've Been to the Mountaintop" ranks #15. Dr. King delivered it on April 3, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Click here for the online text and audio.
• "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" ranks #43. Dr. King delivered it on April 4, 1967 at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City. Click here for the online text and audio.

History and Politics Out Load, provides downloadable audio and text for several other speeches delivered by Dr. King:

• Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. sermon explaining his start in the movement for civil rights
• Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. "I am a drum major for justice"
• Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his most famous address, "I have a dream" Date: 1963-08-28
• "Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam" Date: 1967-04-16
• Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. sermon: "The Good Samaritan or 'If I had sneezed...' " Date: 1968-01-16.

There are numerous resources where you can learn more about Dr. King's life and works. Several that I highly recommend include:

• The King Center in Atlanta, which educates the world about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's philosophy and methods for nonviolent social change. The King Center was founded by Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King.
• The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, a collection of primary and secondary documents pertaining to Martin Luther King, Jr.
  

What are YOU doing to commemorate MLK Day on January 16, 2006? Here are some ideas:

• In keeping with this year's MLK Day theme--Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not A Day Off!--the Corporation for National Community Service, USA Freedom Corps, the National Service Agency and numerous volunteers and sponsors have joined forces to make the holiday a day of service. Visit www.mlkday.gov to learn more, find service ideas and grant money to support them, and register your service project(s).
• Tune in to my one-hour MLK Day special broadcast on WVOX AM 1460 and www.wvox.com at 3:00-4:00 pm, Eastern Time. Or call our phone-in line to hear and share at (01) 914 636 0110. My guest, Darius Myers, and I will share some interesting personal experiences and little-known facts about MLK and the Civil Rights Movement, pose some thought-provoking What-If questions, share recordings from 1960s Civil Rights events, discuss King on Leadership and more!
• Afterward, join me at the Westchester Library System Annual African-American Writers & Readers Literary Tea at Abigail Kirsch Tappan Hill in Tarrytown, NY. The event represents the official kickoff for programs and events at Westchester libraries during African-American History Month and will feature African-American authors Martha Southgate, Jill Nelson, Grace R. Edwards, and Eric Copage. The tea is co-sponsored by The Bank of America and The Journal News in association with the Westchester County Chapter of The Links and will benefit the Westchester Library System. The event co-chairs are Toni Cox-Burns and JoAnn Dudley. The Honorary Chairperson is Andrea Stewart-Cousins of The Journal News. Call (914) 231-3226 or visit www.westchesterlibraries.org/special/tea.html for more information.
• Finally, at the end of the day, I will enjoy videos and CDs about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement and savor some soul food with relatives and friends. ###

Happy New Year (2006)!

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Happy 2006! I heralded in the New Year at Watch Night Service (in church) with loved ones followed by a hearty, festive meal. The pastor's very appropos message was: "Fulfillment of purpose. Get it Done!" I think I'll start by working off those calories tomorrow.

May your new year be blessed, happy, healthy and properous.###