Photo: YWCA of Asheville

Staff Reports

The YWCA of Asheville’s sixth annual Black & White Gala will be held on Thursday, September 30, at 6:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Expo Center. It’s a PARTY for everyBODY.

The evening will feature high energy dance music by Westsound, a silent auction, and delicious food from local restaurants. Festive black and white attire is encouraged. Tickets are $50 each.

The mission of the YWCA is eliminating racism and empowering women. All event proceeds will go to support YWCA programs which bridge gaps in child care, education, health care, and earning power. The YWCA serves approximately 6,500 people a year.

To reserve tickets, call Tami Ruckman (828) 254-7206 x 206 or visit www.ywcaofasheville.org.

Alicia Keys ties the knot with Kasseem “Swizz Beats” Dean.

by Maya Carpenter

It looks like wedding bells were in the air recently for quite a few celebs. Pregnant Alicia Keys tied the knot with long-time boyfriend, Kasseem “Swizz Beats” Dean, in a private ceremony in France. The couple has been together since 2008.

Also, rap star Clifford “T.I.” Harris married Tameka “Tiny” Cottle in Miami with a “fairytale” theme. They’ve been together since 2001. T.I. has three children from previous relationships, and Tiny has two from a previous relationship. Together, they have two children.

Lauryn Hill is back! Most music connoisseurs have been waiting on Hill to come off the musical hiatus. So after the buzz about her new single, Repercussions, there was a music frenzy; and now people are anticipating an upcoming album. Her first (and last) album, Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), won five Grammy Awards and has been deemed a classic in music history with its hits “Everything is Everything” and “Ex-Factor.” She also was the first woman ever to be nominated 10 times in one year.

Reviews by Sharon L. Shervington

Island Beneath the Sea
Written by Isabel Allende

Her storied life, the childhood travels with her diplomat parents both before and after things fell apart in Chile (after the president, a close relative, was assassinated), are part of the mystique of this international icon of literature and deeply compassionate writer. But it may well have been the devastating loss of her daughter from an illness when she was just 28 years old that lurks behind this story of families torn apart—especially mothers whose children are lost to them, as has so often happened when people are enslaved.