article by David Mercer via abcnews.go.com
The University of Illinois has hired a top administrator from a State University of New York campus who has a background in agricultural research to be the new chancellor at the Urbana-Champaign campus.
State University of New York at Albany President Robert J. Jones was named chancellor on Tuesday, pending formal approval by the University of Illinois board of trustees on Thursday. He will take over the university’s flagship campus after a period of turmoil that saw the last permanent chancellor resign under pressure and alleged mistreatment of players by a football coach.
Jones took over at Albany-SUNY after a period of turnover and low morale, which faculty leaders there say he handled well.
Jones is the first black chancellor of the Urbana-Champaign campus and called his new role his “dream job.”
“I have the land-grant mission in my blood. I am a product of it. It is what brought me into higher education, from a sharecropping family in Georgia,” the 65-year-old said in the release.
University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen, who came to the university from SUNY and says he knew Jones well, praised his work since taking over at Albany-SUNY in 2013 in developing the campus and linking it to the community around it.
“It comes down to, Robert checks so many of the boxes,” Killeen said in an interview. “His background in academia, in the Big Ten, agronomy. … His leadership building out a research university in Albany.”
Jones, who spent 34 years at the University of Minnesota, will be paid $649,000 a year but with no package of potential bonuses, according to university spokesman Tom Hardy. The last permanent chancellor, Phyllis Wise, was paid $550,000 plus a $100,000 retention bonus that she eventually agreed not to take after her resignation.
Jones will lead a campus with about 46,000 students, 11,400 employees and an annual operating budget of $2 billion. He also will be the vice president of the University of Illinois system, which also includes campuses in Chicago and Springfield and a total of more than 80,000 students.
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Fort Valley State College, a master’s degree in crop physiology from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in crop physiology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
To read full article, go to: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chancellor-university-illinois-flagship-campus-40698680
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article via espn.go.com
NEW YORK — The WNBA has withdrawn its fines for teams and players who showed support of citizens and police involved in recent shootings by wearing black warm-up shirts before games.
WNBA president Lisa Borders applauds the league’s players for taking a stance on social issues. She just wishes the activism was kept off the court. Borders said in a statement Saturday that the league was rescinding penalties given to the Indiana Fever, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and their players for wearing the shirts during pregame protests, which began after shootings in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“While we expect players to comply with league rules and uniform guidelines, we also understand their desire to use their platform to address important societal issues,” Borders said. “Given that the league will now be suspending play until August 26 for the Olympics, we plan to use this time to work with our players and their union on ways for the players to make their views known to their fans and the public.”
Borders also tweeted her support for the players.
https://twitter.com/WNBAPrez/status/756972302814760960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Each organization had been fined $5,000 and players were each given a $500 penalty because WNBA rules state that uniforms may not be altered in any way. The normal fine for uniform violations is $200.
The fines seemed to galvanize the players, who have used postgame interview sessions and social media to voice their displeasure. There has also been public criticism of the fines, including from New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony.
“It’s a huge win overall,” said Fever All-Star Tamika Catchings, who is president of the WNBA players’ union. “I think more than anything I told [Borders] at times you’re going to agree to disagree. With this, I’m really proud of the players standing strong and for utilizing their voices. Change starts with us. We have a social responsibility as well.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton said early Saturday that his organization, the National Action Network, would pay the $500 fines. He called the penalty “unacceptable.”
The Liberty wore the plain black shirts four times, including Wednesday against Washington. Indiana and Phoenix donned the shirts Tuesday night before their nationally televised game.
“We commend Lisa Borders for recognizing how the players of the WNBA felt and the sensitive time that we’re living in and being willing to re-evaluate their decision,” Liberty president Isiah Thomas said. “We are also very proud of our players; the world is seeing what we already knew. They’re truly incredible, thoughtful and talented individuals. Our league, our partners and our society are better because of our players’ willingness to enter the political and social activism arena.”
The fines were administered Wednesday, and neither the Fever nor the Liberty wore the shirts at their matinee game Thursday. Tina Charles did wear her warm-up shirt inside-out in honor of a shooting in Florida that morning.
Charles said she was happy that the league rescinded the fines. She has donated her entire salary this year to her charity — Hopey’s Heart Foundation — so the withdrawn fine means more money that will help buy automated external defibrillators. Still, she said it was “embarrassing” that the players had been fined in the first place.
To read full article, go to: http://espn.go.com/wnba/story/_/id/17131967/wnba-withdraws-fines-regarding-anti-violence-shirts
article via theroot.com
Roxane Gay is set to write a new Marvel comic book in the World of Wakanda, which delves into the lives of the women of the Black Panther comic book series universe. It will be released in November, the New York Times reports.
The Purdue College professor and “Bad Feminist” scribe will team up with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates who has written his Black Panther series set in the fictional African nation.
Complex reports that the new series will involve several black women as writers and illustrators in addition to Gay. Alitha Martinez is the illustrator, and Yona Harvey and Afua Richardson will co-write and illustrate, respectively, a special “backup” story that will appear in the series’ debut issue.
Gay’s story will feature two members of Black Panther’s all-female security team—Ayo and Aneka—who fall in love. Harvey’s first story will revolve around Zenzi, a female revolutionary introduced in the first issue of Coates’ Black Panther series. “It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done, and I mean that in the best possible way,” said Gay to the Times.
Coates recruited both writers because he thought it important to have a woman’s perspective. “The women in Black Panther’s life are very, very important,” he said.
Read more in the New York Times and Complex.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to Variety.com, the Emmy-nominated series “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” will get a second season and another three episodes on the National Geographic Channel, premiering in early 2017. Topics like “Is there a Chosen One?” will be covered, as well as whether it’s possible to find proof of a singular deity.
“I had quite a journey last season, but not just in miles covered,” said Freeman, who serves as both host and executive producer. “I met incredible people who opened my eyes and my mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking about faith, the world and all of humanity. I barely scratched the surface of what we can learn, and I’m looking forward to continuing this search for the meaning of life and religion and everything in between.”
Originally billed as an “event series,” “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” quickly became National Geographic Channel’s most-watched series over its six-episode first season. Watch a clip from the first season of the series below:
According to Variety.com, the Emmy-nominated series “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” will get a second season and another three episodes on the National Geographic Channel, premiering in early 2017. Topics like “Is there a Chosen One?” will be covered, as well as whether it’s possible to find proof of a singular deity.
“I had quite a journey last season, but not just in miles covered,” said Freeman, who serves as both host and executive producer. “I met incredible people who opened my eyes and my mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking about faith, the world and all of humanity. I barely scratched the surface of what we can learn, and I’m looking forward to continuing this search for the meaning of life and religion and everything in between.”
Originally billed as an “event series,” “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” quickly became National Geographic Channel’s most-watched series over its six-episode first season. Watch a clip from the first season of the series below:
article by via nytimes.com
The National Basketball Association on Thursday dealt a blow to the economy and prestige of North Carolina by pulling next February’s All-Star Game from Charlotte to protest a state law that eliminated anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The move was among the most prominent consequences since the law, which bars transgender people from using bathrooms in public buildings that do not correspond with their birth gender, was passed in March.
The league, which has become increasingly involved in social issues, said that both it and the Hornets, the N.B.A. team based in Charlotte, had been talking to state officials about changing the law but that time had run out because of the long lead time needed to stage the game. The N.B.A. said it hoped the game could be played in Charlotte in 2019, with the clear inference that the law would have to be changed before then.
“While we recognize that the N.B.A. cannot choose the law in every city, state and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by the current law,” a statement by the league said.
Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina issued a blistering statement soon after the announcement by the N.B.A., in which he said “the sports and entertainment elite,” among others, had “misrepresented our laws and maligned the people of North Carolina simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex present.”
Mr. McCrory did not specifically refer to the N.B.A. in his statement, but he said that “American families should be on notice that the selective corporate elite are imposing their political will on communities in which they do business, thus bypassing the democratic and legal process.”
Others weighed in with support for the N.B.A.’s move, including two of its broadcast partners — Turner Sports and ESPN.
In taking the action it did, the N.B.A. is following the path already taken by others. A number of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Itzhak Perlman, canceled concerts in North Carolina to protest the law, and there have been calls for repeal of the legislation by a number of businesses, some of which have canceled plans to create new jobs in the state.
All-Star weekend is one of the most dazzling and lucrative events on the league’s annual schedule. In addition to the game, the league arranges three days full of activities for fans. There is a separate game for the league’s rising stars, a dunk contest and a 3-point contest.
Now all of that will be held elsewhere next February, with the N.B.A. to announce a new site for the game in the next few weeks.
To read full article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/sports/basketball/nba-all-star-game-moves-charlotte-transgender-bathroom-law.html
article by Travis Waldron via huffingtonpost.com
A year ago this month, as the United States Women’s National Soccer Team demolished Japan to win their third Women’s World Cup title, Crystal Dunn watched the same way 25 million other Americans did: from home.Dunn, the diminutive 24-year-old star of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit, was by most accounts the 24th player on the 23-person World Cup roster ― manager Jill Ellis’ final cut before the team traveled to Canada.
It caught her by surprise.“I wasn’t really anticipating not being a part of the World Cup,” Dunn said after a training session with the Spirit in early July. “I was upset and pissed.”But when the Americans head to Rio de Janeiro in August to pursue an unprecedented fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, the heartache that came with missing out on the World Cup can finally go away. After a year in which she broke out as the top goal-scorer in the NWSL, Dunn has also emerged as one of the USWNT’s most versatile, and potentially most important, young players.
She’s good enough to help you however she’s needed.”Former USWNT defender Kate Markgraf on Crystal Dunn“One thing that Crystal has proven is that she’s been a winner at every single level,” said former USWNT defender Kate Markgraf, now a broadcast analyst for ESPN. “I first saw her at the U-20 World Cup, and she was the MVP for me. You watch her in college and she’s dominating at forward. She’s a match winner, at every single level she’s played at.”“She’s good enough,” Markgraf added, “to help you however she’s needed.”
To read full article, go to: Crystal Dunn Is Poised To Become The Next Star Of U.S. Women’s Soccer
The first cohort of graduates have received their degrees from the Executive MBA for Artists and Athletes program at the University of Miami in Florida. Some 30 current or former players in the National Football League, most of them African Americans, were among the program’s first graduating class.
Source: Thirty NFL Players Complete an Executive MBA Program at the University of Miami : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
article via jbhe.com
Scholars at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, have debuted an interactive website that chronicles what is believed to be among the earliest examples of the music of the African diaspora. The website Musical Passage tells the story of an important, but little known record of early African diasporic music.
The project focuses on two pages of sheet music from Hans Sloane’s 1707 Voyage to the Islands of Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica It is believed to be the first transcription of African music in the Caribbean, and possibly, in the Americas.
The project was created by Mary Caton Lingold, a doctoral candidate in English at Duke, Laurent Dubois, a professor of Romance studies and history at Duke, and David K. Garner, a composer with Ph.D. from Duke who has been hired as an assistant professor of music at the University of South Carolina.
Lingold says that “you’d be hard pressed to name a living genre of music that enslaved musicians didn’t help to create or transform. Jazz, country, rock, blues, reggae and the list goes on. Turn on the radio and you are hearing these musicians’ story. But we don’t know a lot about their early music because it was not preserved in conventional ways. And that is why a little artifact like this is so important, because it helps us to know more about what their performances may have sounded like.”
article via nbclosangeles.com
A teenage pilot from Compton arrived home in Southern California on Monday, capping a flight across the nation in preparation for what he hopes will be a record-setting around-the-world trip.
Isaiah Cooper, 16, touched down at Compton airport (to see video, click here) after a roughly two-week flight around the country, becoming the youngest African American pilot to complete the cross-country flight. A flight instructor accompanied him.
Cooper’s 8,000-mile flight was not without difficulty. Bad weather forced him to make a hard landing that heavily damaged his original plane in Wyoming. “He was able to execute the emergency procedures flawlessly, got it on the road, landed, didn’t damage the houses, the schools, the construction crew, nothing. I mean, he got out of that thing safely,” said flight instructor Robin Petgrave.
But Cooper has a much larger goal. He hopes next year to become the youngest black pilot to fly around the world solo. He will be 18 years old when he takes off on the planned flight.
On a GoFundMe page, Cooper wrote that he began attending the youth aviation program at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum in Compton when he was 5, but he dropped out when he began spending time “with the wrong crowd” and doing “seriously self-destructive things.”
He said he hopes his attempt to break a world record will inspire other kids to turn their lives around and work to achieve their goals. “There’s a higher power that’s always there trying to have you focused so whatever you want to do, you can do it. Just put your mind to it,” Cooper said.
Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Teen-Pilot-Compton-Returns-SoCal-Record-Setting-Flight-387428791.html#ixzz4F0E1zM7K
article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com
Paramount Pictures has acquired an untitled pitch based on the life of Reverend Jeffrey Brown from Chadwick Boseman and Logan Coles that will be developed as a potential starring vehicle for the “Black Panther” star.
Boseman and Coles will co-write the script as well as produce the pic along with Ivan Reitman and Ali Bell of Montecito Pictures. Bell, who worked with Boseman on “Draft Day,” brought the pitch to Boseman and Coles who then brought it to Paramount. Tom Pollock will executive produce.
The pitch is about the Reverend Jeffrey Brown who fought to decrease gang violence in Boston.
Boseman and Coles recently worked together on the upcoming thriller “Message From the King,” which starred Boseman and was co-produced by Coles (Simon and Stephen Cornwell, David Lancaster and Benedict Carver were point producers). Besides this pitch, the duo has also recently sold an untitled pitch to Universal with Marc Platt Productions that the two are writing.
To read full article, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/chadwick-boseman-paramount-rev-jeffrey-brown-1201816741/
Boseman and Coles will co-write the script as well as produce the pic along with Ivan Reitman and Ali Bell of Montecito Pictures. Bell, who worked with Boseman on “Draft Day,” brought the pitch to Boseman and Coles who then brought it to Paramount. Tom Pollock will executive produce.
The pitch is about the Reverend Jeffrey Brown who fought to decrease gang violence in Boston.
Boseman and Coles recently worked together on the upcoming thriller “Message From the King,” which starred Boseman and was co-produced by Coles (Simon and Stephen Cornwell, David Lancaster and Benedict Carver were point producers). Besides this pitch, the duo has also recently sold an untitled pitch to Universal with Marc Platt Productions that the two are writing.
To read full article, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/chadwick-boseman-paramount-rev-jeffrey-brown-1201816741/