http://launch.yahoo.com/r...tID=207293

NEWS - Prince, Chuck D, Herbie Hancock & Sinbad Set For 'Blacks In Technology' Expo

(1/14/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- Prince, Chuck D, Herbie Hancock, Steve Harvey, and Sinbad are some of the technology-savvy celebrities set to take part in Blacks In Technology, a free symposium and expo scheduled to tour the U.S. At the expos, organized by broadcaster Tavis Smiley in association with Microsoft, attendees will get to attend educational seminars and mingle with celebrities and experts who have made the most of what technology has to offer to individuals and businesses. The inaugural expo takes place February 2-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. A four-city tour will bring the expo to Atlanta, Chicago, and New York later this year.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who is set to speak the expo's L.A. stop, stated, "Our goal is to make sure that African-American, Hispanic, and other ethnic businesses have the same e-commerce opportunities that every other business has." Others taking part in the expo include civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, comedian Steve Harvey, and Essence magazine's Susan Taylor, as well as radio talk show host Tom Joyner, NAACP president Kweisi Mfume, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and noted Harvard professor Cornel West.

-- Anna Maria Gibson, New York