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Posts published in January 2016

Tape of Lost Martin Luther King Jr. Speech Found in the Amherst College Archives

By goodblacknews on January 31, 2016

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On February 6, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the New School in New York City. It was the first of 15 talks given by civil rights leaders that semester as part of the American Race Crisis Lecture Series. The King lecture was entitled “The Summer of Our Discontent.” The talk was later revised and expanded in King’s 1964 book Why We Can’t Wait.
The New School archives contain a tape of a question and answer period that followed Dr. King’s address but did not include a recording of the actual speech.
Recently, a reel-to-reel tape was found at the student radio station at Amherst College in Massachusetts that indicated it was Dr. King’s New School speech. Not wanting to risk damaging the tape by playing it, the college had the recording digitized. It turned out the reel had been accurately labeled.
The speech had been rebroadcast on the college radio station on December 8, 1964 as part of a weekly program of pre-recorded lectures, some given at Amherst College and some obtained through arrangements with other institutions. The King recording is one of 46 open reel audio tapes transferred to the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections by the radio station in 1989.
The recording has now been made available to the public. You may listen to the speech here. A transcript of the address can be read here.
article via jbhe.com

"Creed" Director Ryan Coogler to Deliver Prestigious University of Chicago Kent Lecture Feb. 9

By goodblacknews on January 31, 2016
Ryan Coogler
Ryan Coogler (photo via blogs.indiewire.com)

The annual Kent Lecture was established by the Organization of Black Students at the University of Chicago in 1984, and was named after the late Dr. George E. Kent, who was one of the earliest tenured African-American professors at the University of Chicago, and its first African-American professor of English.
The prestigious honor was “designed to serve as a platform for community exposure to African-American luminaries” and since its inception, speakers who have given the lecture are names you would expect, such as Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Michelle Alexander.
This year, the OBS pulled off a real coup and got, for the first time, a film director. Not only just a film director, but the director of “Fruitvale Station” and “Creed,” Ryan Coogler himself, to give this year’s Kent Lecture.
According to OBS, Coogler will be discussing “blackness in mixed forms of media, specifically film, the importance of representation, and why stories such as these are so important to tell.” After his opening remarks, there will be a moderated Q&A with Coogler (no doubt there are going to be a lot of audience questions about the Oscars and “Black Panther”).
The event will take place at Mandel Hall at the University of Chicago campus (1175 E. 57th); starting at 7PM and yes it’s free and open to the public. But get there early to secure a seat because they will likely be going fast.
article by Sergio via blogs.indiewire.com

Nate Parker's "The Birth Of A Nation' Wins Sundance U.S. Dramatic Jury and Audience Awards

By goodblacknews on January 30, 2016
birth of a nation sundance 2016 still
Nate Parker’s “Birth of a Nation” (photo via deadline.com)

UPDATE, 7:45 PM: It’s a double win for The Birth Of A Nation tonight at the Sundance Film Festival Awards. First the Nate Parker-directed, written and starring film won the U.S Dramatic Audience Award and now it has scored the prestigious U.S. Dramatic Jury Award.

“Sundance is like a great summer camp experience,” said a clearly humbled Parker onstage. “This has been like the greatest moment of my career,” he added. “It just means so much.” nate parker sundance double winThis is the fourth year in a row that the same film has won both the U.S. Audience and Jury awards. Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale, which was renamed Fruitvale Station upon wide release won both awards in 2013,  Whiplash won in 2014 and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl won last year.
PREVIOUS, 7:10 PM: After an emotional and acclaimed debut screening on January 25 and a record breaking $17.5 million pick-up by Fox Searchlight the very next morning, The Birth of a Nation sealed its Sundance Film Festival tonight with yet another big win. The Nate Parker directed and starring passion project about Nat Turner’s 19th century slave uprising took the Audience Award for U.S Dramatic Saturday night in Park City.
Thank you Lord, Thank you Sundance,” said Parker taking the stage with the film’s producers Jason Michael Berman, Aaron Gilbert, Brenda Gilbert and EP Ryan Ahrens. “I’ve seen first hand that people are open to the idea of change and the fact that this is happening means everything to me, “ Parker added of the issues raised in the film and the reaction it’s received. “Thank you to everyone who voted for the film, he also said to big applause. “I share this with you.” The film is also in the running for the  U.S. Dramatic Jury Award at Sundance this year.
Made for under $10 million by the Red Tails actor with the likes of San Antonio Spurs’ star Tony Parker coming in as an EP, the visceral Nation depicts the horror of the system of slavery and the 48-hour revolt Turner instigated in 1831 in Virginia. And Yes, in this time of the diversity and #OscarsSoWhite discussion that Hollywood is engaged in unfortunately again, if you feel you recognize the name, it’s because Parker re-appropriated the title of the infamous 1915 film by D.W. Griffith that helped reinvigorate the KKK in America.

With Parker as Turner and Armie Hammer, Gabrielle Union, Penelope Ann Miller, Aja Naomi King and Chike Okonkwo co-starring, the film saw multiple standing ovations and tears streaming down the faces of patrons at its packed Eccles Theatre premiere. Within minutes, potential buyers were working the phones in the lobby and an all night bidding war between Netflix, Sony Pictures, the Weinstein Company, Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios and others broke out.
In the end, it was Fox Searchlight that Parker, his producers and WME went with. “Ultimately with Searchlight I felt a connection and a humanity on just a human level, not to say that it wasn’t there with the others, but there was a relationship and a synergy with respect to what impact we wanted it have on the world – a global approach,” Parker told me on the morning of January 26 just hours after the deal was done.
A global approach for a pic that now has its first but likely not last award in hand.
article by Dominic Patten and Patrick Hipes via deadline.com

President Obama Pledges $4 Billion Toward Computer Science in Schools

By goodblacknews on January 30, 2016
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The White House isn’t just relying on legislation to make computer science education a priority in the US. President Obama has launched a Computer Science for All initiative that gives states $4 billion in funding to expand computer science in K-12 schools through a mix of better course materials, partnerships and teacher training. The move also sends another $100 million directly to school districts, unlocks $135 million in funding from government organizations and gets further cooperation from both local governments as well as tech leaders.
Some of those leaders include companies that have already promised support for the President’s educational initiatives. Apple, Cartoon Network, Code.org, Facebook, Microsoft, Salesforce and Qualcomm are all widening their education efforts, investing in programs or both to help improve computer science in the country.
Throwing cash at a problem won’t make it go away, of course, and there aren’t any guarantees that the money will make a difference. However, the effort at least tackles one of the core issues head-on: getting computer science into schools in the first place. Roughly three quarters of schools go without any CS programs, and 22 states don’t accept these classes as credit toward a high school diploma. If the extra funding works as planned, it’ll get CS courses into more schools and help create a generation of kids that know how to code before they reach college.
article by Jon Fingas via engadget.com

City of Oakland Pledges to Fund College for Low-Income Students

By goodblacknews on January 29, 2016

Tia Dunbar, 18, takes a look around on a mini-tour from Corey Hill, the College and Career Readiness Specialist as she is filmed by Melhik Hailu of ONews for a feature on Dunbar at Oakland High School's brand new Future Center Jan. 26, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The Center is part of the Oakland Promise Initiative, which is striving to double the number of college graduates in the city within the next eight years. Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle
Tia Dunbar, 18, takes a look around on a mini-tour of Dunbar at Oakland High School’s brand new Future Center Jan. 26, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The Center is part of the Oakland Promise Initiative, which is striving to double the number of college graduates in the city within the next eight years. (Photo: Leah Mills, The Chronicle)

Oakland will launch a citywide effort Thursday to triple the number of college graduates coming out of public schools, an ambitious and expensive “cradle to career” plan that aims to reverse cycles of poverty and hopelessness by raising expectations that all children can thrive in school.
The centerpiece of the Oakland Promise initiative is an infusion of grants, ranging from $500 college savings accounts for children born into poverty to college scholarships of up to $16,000 for low-income students. The money is intended to provide both real and symbolic support, signaling to kids and their families that there’s an investment in their future.
According to officials, who have spent six months developing the initiative and will announce the details Thursday at Oakland High School, it will cost $38 million to ramp up the program over the first four years and up to $35 million annually to sustain it. The money is coming from sources including foundations, philanthropists, the city and the school district.
The effort is something of an experiment, because no other place in the country has this kind of comprehensive, long-term strategy to send more kids to college, city officials said. But the need is great in Oakland, where 10 percent of the city’s public-school ninth graders graduate college.
“Yes, this initiative is ambitious,” said Mayor Libby Schaaf. “All my life I’ve seen this as the one thing that has held Oakland back.”
Over the next 10 years, officials said, Oakland Promise plans to open 55,000 college savings accounts, provide $100 million in college scholarships and serve 200,000 students and families. Every City Council and school board member has endorsed it, as have 100 community organizations, two dozen university officials and 200 leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.
$25 million raised
While sustained funding is the central challenge, Oakland officials say they raised $25 million to launch the effort. The school district is expected to cover $1 million annually, and the city has committed $150,000, a number that may increase now that the initiative has begun, officials said.
The East Bay College Fund plans to contribute $1.5 million per year, while Kaiser Permanente and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. are giving $3 million and $1 million, respectively, to start up the program. Organizers will need $18 million more to cover the costs through 2020, an amount they say is reachable.
“It will be on us to make the case that eventually this would be one of the smartest public investments that any city could make,” Schaaf said.

OWN Drama Series "Queen Sugar" Casts Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Kofi Siriboe & Omar J. Dorsey In Lead Roles

By goodblacknews on January 29, 2016
Queen Sugar cast
(Courtesy of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Dawn-Lyen Gardner (Unforgettable, Heroes), Kofi Siriboe (Awkward, Whiplash) and Omar J. Dorsey (Ray Donovan, Selma) have been cast opposite Rutina Wesley on OWN’s new original drama series Queen Sugar, from Ava Duvernay and Warner Horizon Television.

Written, directed and executive produced by Duvernay, the contemporary series is adapted from the first-time novel by Natalie Baszile. It centers on Nova Bordelon (Wesley), a formidable journalist and activist based in New Orleans. Her life, and that of her brother and their extended family, undergoes significant change when her sister, Charley, returns to Louisiana from Los Angeles to help run the family sugarcane farm. Oprah Winfrey will have a recurring role on the show.
Gardner will play Charley Bordelon West, the charismatic and savvy manager and wife of professional basketball superstar Davis West, with whom she has a challenging, conflicted relationship. The proud mother of Micah, Charley is originally from New Orleans, but never seems to get the time to go back home in the midst of her busy, exciting and public life in Los Angeles.
Siriboe is Ralph Angel Bordelon, the youngest Bordelon sibling. Formerly incarcerated and somewhat worn out by life, Ralph Angel is trying to make a new start — and find a job — while raising his beloved 6-year-old son Blue with the help of family members, notably his aunt Violet. Dorsey will play Hollywood Desonier, a rugged, resourceful man and staunch supporter of the Bordelon family. The longtime boyfriend of Violet Bordelon (aunt to Charley, Nova and Ralph Angel), Hollywood clearly loves her — and doesn’t think anything of their 20-year age difference.
article by Denise Petski via deadline.com

John Legend Will Be Honored with President's Award at This Year’s NAACP Image Awards

By goodblacknews on January 28, 2016

2015 Billboard Music Awards - Arrivals
John Legend (Source: Jeffrey Mayer / Getty)

John Legend‘s career transcends his success as an artist. Over the past decade, he’s established several philanthropic and social justice organizations where he uses his influence to make a difference in the lives of others.
The “Glory” singer will be presented with the NAACP President’s Award at this year’s NAACP Image Awards.
“His contributions to music and artistic creativity have been recognized by peers and fans worldwide, and he is greatly admired for his humanitarian efforts” said Cornell William Brooks,President and CEO, NAACP.
“Legend remains a true inspiration through his philanthropic work and I am truly proud to honor his altruistic efforts both domestically and internationally by bestowing upon him this year’s NAACP President’s Award” added Brooks.
Previous honorees include Kerry Washington, President Bill Clinton, Soledad O’Brien, Muhammad Ali and most recently, Spike Lee.
In 2007, Legend established “The Show Me Campaign” with the mission of providing students with a quality education as well as end the school-to-prison pipeline. Similarly, he recently launched, #FREEAMERICA, a multi-year culture change campaign focused on ending mass incarceration.
The nine-time Grammy award winner, Golden Globe and Oscar winner also has a successful production company, Get Lifted Film Co. that strives to provide TV and film content that’s inclusive and inspirational.
Legend, 37 and his wife, model Chrissy Teigen, 30, are expecting their first child this summer. 
Watch Legend accept the coveted honor when the NAACP Image Awards air live on TV One Friday, February 5th at 9pm.
article by Zon D’Amour via hellobeautiful.com

Three African Americans Among the Top 10 Most Influential Scholars in Education

By goodblacknews on January 28, 2016

Education Week recently published the Rick Hess Straight Up Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. The rankings list the 200 university-based education scholars who had the biggest influence on the nation’s education discourse last year. The scholars are ranked in eight categories including Google Scholar ratings, mentions in major newspapers, books published and their rankings on Amazon.com, Twitter scores, and mentions in the Congressional Record. The rankings are calculated by scholars at the American Enterprise Institute.
Three of the top 10 influential educators are African Americans, including the highest ranked education scholar in the nation.
darling_lindaLeading the list of the most influential education scholars is Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emerita at Stanford University where she is faculty director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. She is a former president of the American Educational Research Association. Her most recent books are Getting Teacher Evaluation Right: What Really Matters for Effectiveness and Improvement (Teachers College Press, 2013) and Beyond the Bubble Test: How Performance Assessments Support 21st Century Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2014). Dr. Darling Hammond is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University and hold a doctorate in urban education from Temple University in Philadelphia.
gjladsonGloria Ladson-Billings ranked fifth among most influential scholars in education. She holds the Kellner Family Chair in Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Ladson-Billings is a past president of the American Educational Research Association. She is a graduate of Morgan State University in Baltimore and holds a master’s degree from the University of Washington and a doctorate from Stanford University. Dr. Ladson-Billings is the author of Beyond the Big House: African American Educators on Teacher Education (Teachers College Press, 2005) and The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children (Jossey-Bass, 2005).
claude-steele-thumbClaude Steele is executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California at Berkeley. From 2011 to 2014, he was dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Professor Steele served for two years as provost at Columbia University in New York City after being a member of the Stanford faculty from 1991 to 2009. Professor Steele is perhaps best know for his work on the underperformance of minority students due to stereotype threat. Professor Steele is the author of Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (W.W. Norton, 2010). Professor Steele is a graduate of Hiram College in Ohio and earned a Ph.D. at Ohio State University.
article via jbhe.com

The Game Donates $500,000 to Provide Water to Flint, Michigan Residents

By goodblacknews on January 27, 2016
The Game (Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast)

Platinum-selling rapper The Game donated half a million dollars to provide water to Flint, Michigan.  On Tuesday, the Compton rapper posted a picture to his Instagram account of a wire transfer from his charity, the Robin Hood Project, to Avita for half a million bucks. Avita, an artesian alkaline water company, is matching The Game’s $500,000 for a grand total of $1,000,000.

It’s the biggest public celebrity donation so far to Flint, which is in the throes of a federal emergency after it came to light that its water supply contained high levels of lead, poisoning its people. Experts estimate that roughly 8,000 to 9,000 children under the age of six may have suffered permanent brain damage after being exposed to the tainted water. And that’s just the kids.

“It’s obviously a very big deal and a tragedy in Flint, and I saw people donating small amounts, and I just thought I’d go above and beyond that,” says The Game. “So I donated the funds from the first 11 shows of my European tour. Avita matched it and they’ll be one million bottles of water given out—33,000 bottles of water at a time because of trucking and shipping it in and out. It’s not easy shipping it out because of the snowstorms, and trucks being backed up. But we’ll get it there, however long it takes.”
The Game isn’t the only celebrity who’s come onboard to help. Pop legend Cher got the ball rolling, donating 180,000 bottles of water; Mark Wahlberg and Diddy’s AQUAhydrate, joined by Eminem and Wiz Khalifa, pledged one million bottles; Meek Mill donated $50,000; and Madonna and Jimmy Fallon forked over $10,000 apiece.
“What Meek did was very generous, and that’s great. But what I want celebrities to do is to stop saying, ‘I pledge water.’ There are people who get up every morning and say they pledge allegiance to the flag, but don’t really honor it. Talk is cheap,” The Game said.  “So I posted a picture of my wire transfer and I’ll post pictures of the water going into Flint every day until it’s done—not to brag, but to speak to the people who actually want to fix the problem.”
Unlike some of these other celebrities, The Game has a personal connection to the embattled City of Flint.  “My sister lives in Flint with my nieces and nephews and her husband, and so it directly affected me,” he says. “I’ve got friends who are still stuck there, too. I’ve been on tour in Europe for weeks and weeks, and I wanted to do something. I try to do the best I can from wherever I am.”
Through his Robin Hood Project, The Game has donated millions to the less fortunate.  “You know, the thing is man, when I first became a rapper I always said to myself that any amount of money that I acquire past getting me an apartment, a decent car, and the Internet I’d pay it forward,” says The Game.
“Once I accumulated a large amount of finances, I just started giving back randomly. At first I would do it to different places because I didn’t have a charity, then one day I came up with the Robin Hood Project because Robin Hood was my favorite cartoon back in the day—he’d rob from the rich and give to the poor. So I started giving money out of my own pockets. It wasn’t a tax write-off thing. It’s about helping your fellow people and doing the right thing, man.”
article by Marlow Stern via thedailybeast.com

La La Anthony & Timbaland Developing Hip-Hop Docuseries set in NYC

By goodblacknews on January 27, 2016

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Timbaland and La La Anthony (photo via deadline.com)

Actress, author and producer La La Anthony, and Grammy-winning producer Timbaland (Empire) are teaming with Leftfield Pictures (Pawn Stars) to develop a hip-hop docuseries.
The project will focus on Jeff Janvier and Session Cruz’s Face Time Agency, the industry’s premiere casting agency for booking music video and hip-hop fashion models, with clients including Drake, Kanye West and Robin Thicke. Set inside the New York City nightlife scene – where clubs have become the new boardrooms – the series exposes the cutthroat entrepreneurial side of hip-hop, with models, DJs and social media stars “hustling” to break through as fashion, music and media moguls.
“La La and Timbaland are perfect examples of what can be achieved when talent, determination and creativity collide with entrepreneurship,” said Leftfield Entertainment CEO David George. “We’re thrilled to be in business with these two entertainment innovators to create a series that uncovers a unique, rarified faction of hip hop and provides a true soundtrack for the unpredictable journey toward fame and fortune.”
Anthony will executive produce the project, with Timbaland serving as executive music producer.  “I’m thrilled to be executive producing a project that offers a true insider’s look into the business side of hip hop, especially one that explores the lives of fascinating women who have used hip hop as their platform to become successful entrepreneurs in fashion, music and more,” said Anthony.
article by Denise Petski via deadline.com