According to Forbes, 2 Chainz conquered Christmas with his timely and super cute “Dabbin’ Santa” sweaters. While the rapper has been toying with merchandising ideas for years, he finally found a hit when “the dab” (a dance) found its way into primetime courtesy of NFL star Cam Newton.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySilAPr6fW4&w=560&h=315]
“I don’t want people to think this was an overnight success. We’ve been trying with a bunch of designs for a couple years now. This is just timing meets opportunity,” he explained. “There’s the whole dab thing, and Atlanta’s always been somewhere that actually moves the culture a little bit. We have been the backbone of hip-hop for the past couple years. So with dabbing coming out of Atlanta, it just began to grow legs and start moving on its own.”
The sweaters became wildly popular and grossed around $2 million in revenues for 2 Chainz and his team. Instead of spending the profits on frivolous things, the Atlanta native decided to help others.
“I had a numerous amount of celebrities helping with the shirt. It was on the NFL, it was on TNT, it was on Good Morning America, it’s on ESPN. So I could not continue receiving those blessings without giving back at the end of the day,” he said.
A large slice of the profits went into 2 Chainz’s T.R.U. Foundation, which is “dedicated to promoting balanced, respectful and enriched relationships and aim to create life changing moments and help build a positive outcome for our young generation.”
Because of the “Dabbin’ Santa” craze 2 Chainz’s organization was able to pay the rent for one family for an entire year, and donate a minivan to another. The move not only benefitted the families in need, but also helped 2 Chainz as well.
“For us, it’s about putting it together independently, with nobody really being the boss. We’re creating our own way to give back, to do something for people,” he told Forbes. “We’ll trickle down to the kids and lead by example. Like I say, actions speak louder than words. We could have spent this money on possessions, but giving a family that needs it will actually go further for them and for me.”
article via clutchmagonline.com
Posts published by “goodblacknews”
New York State has taken a step in the right direction when it comes to eliminating student loan debt. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the “Get On Your Feet” program, which will offer up to two years of federal student loan debt relief to recent college students in the state.
Applications will begin being accepted on December 31.
“Ensuring students are able pay for college and not saddled with debt is critical for both their individual success and the continued economic growth of New York State,” Governor Cuomo said. “With this program, we are telling recent graduates: if you invest in New York’s future, we will invest in yours.”
To qualify, applicants must have earned an undergraduate degree from a college or university located in New York State in or after December 2014, have an adjusted gross income of less than $50,000, and be enrolled in the federal Income Based Repayment plan or Pay as You Earn plan.
To learn more or apply, visit hesc.ny.gov/GetOnYourFeet
article via clutchmagonline.com
Natalie Cole, the Grammy Award-winning singer whose hits included “Inseparable,” “This Will Be,” “Our Love,” “Pink Cadillac” and “Unforgettable,” a virtual duet with her father, Nat King Cole, that topped the Billboard charts in 1991, died in Los Angeles on Thursday. She was 65.
Maureen O’Connor, a spokeswoman for Ms. Cole, confirmed her death without giving a cause, according to The Associated Press. Ms. Cole had undergone a kidney transplant in 2009 and had suffered from other ailments recently, forcing the cancellation of a series of tour dates in November and December.
Ms. Cole — who was raised around jazz royalty in the company of her father and her mother, Maria Hawkins Cole, a singer who worked with Duke Ellington and Count Basie — came into her own as a singer in the 1970s by staking out her own territory in R&B. Her first album, “Inseparable,” in 1975, won two Grammys, and “Sophisticated Lady,” on a follow-up album the next year, won another.
Ms. Cole’s reputation declined for several years, partly because of struggles with drug addiction. But she came back, creating the biggest hit of her career by uniting, at least in the studio, with the legacy and voice of her father, singing along with him on a recording of his standard “Unforgettable” and winning several Grammys in 1991.
The song reached a level of success that Ms. Cole said stunned her, even with the combined wattage of her name and her father’s.
“The shock of it all is that this record is getting airplay,” Ms. Cole said in an interview at the time. “It’s absolutely shocking to see it between Van Halen and Skid Row on the charts, totally out of its element. It should be encouraging to record companies and my contemporaries.”
Watch Ms. Cole perform one of her biggest hits, her debut single from 1975, the #1 R&B hit and #6 Pop hit “This Will Be”, live on “Midnight Special” below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-LBiZcN5RI&w=420&h=315]
article by Randy Kennedy via nytimes.com; additions by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Legendary actress Cicely Tyson was recognized Tuesday night for her contribution to the performing arts at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors.
Tyson, 91, has had a dynamic career—spanning over 60 years, earning her Academy and SAG award nominations and wins from the Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Awards.
On hand to help celebrate her accomplishments were actors Kerry Washington, Viola Davis and Tyler Perry during the 38th annual broadcast.
“Cicely Tyson chose to empower us when we didn’t even know it was possible for us to be empowered,” Perry began his introduction. “For six decades, she has been dilligent in her pursuit to better us all.”
Singer CeCe Winans joined in on the tribute by singing Tyson’s favorite gospel song, “Blessed Assurance.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiSkmbzS4nw&w=560&h=315]
Click here to watch the entire show.
article by Lauren Porter via essence.com
A Chicago federal court has awarded Robert Smith more than $2.4 million in damages for enduring five years of humiliating sexual and racial harassment at a South Side grocery store.
The Cook County Record stated that Rosebud Farm Stand was ordered to pay Smith more than $800,000 in compensatory damages and $1.6 million in punitive damages for racial and sexual harassment. Smith also named two supervisors, general manager Carlos Castaneda and assistant manager Rocky Mendoza, in the lawsuit. They were both ordered to pay damages.
Smith, who is African-American, worked as a butcher at the grocery store, claims he was subjected to abuse from his Latino co-workers. Smith said that his co-workers harassed him by grabbing his genitals, fondling his buttocks and simulating homoerotic acts.
However, the harassment was not only sexual. Smith’s attorney Joseph Longo, of Longo & Associates, said his co-workers also called him a “monkey” and told him to “go back to Africa.”
Smith filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2008, but the harassment turned violent. The Cook County Record said Smith alleged his co-workers made threatening gestures towards him and also vandalized his car. The harassment got so bad that Smith eventually quit.
Smith decided to file a lawsuit requesting unspecified damages in 2011.
Longo said other Black employees at the grocery store were also subject to harassment, but declined to come forward. He said victims of racial and sexual harassment have to report the incidents, so they can be addressed in a court of law.
“Unless people file a lawsuit or take action, harassers will continue to create a hostile working environment and harass,” Longo said in an emailed statement following the verdict. “We need more people like Mr. Smith to take a stand and fight for what is right. The jury agreed that what Rosebud did to Mr. Smith was wrong.”
Longo told The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin that Smith’s employer failed to provide a safe work environment. Eight jurors agreed with Longo’s argument.
“I think the jury wanted to send a message,” Longo said. “When you go to work, you don’t surrender your body.”
article by Manny Otiko via atlanticblackstar.com
The World Health Organization recently declared Guinea free of Ebola transmission, and Guineans plan to celebrate.
The West African country was the site where the original Ebola chain of transmission began two years ago. A menacing disease, it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and seven additional countries. According to the New York Times, the December 2013 Ebola outbreak led to its largest epidemic in history—taking more than 11,300 lives worldwide.
WHO notes that over 40 days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola tested negative for a second time (which was after an incubation period). Further, Guinea is under a 90-day surveillance period to identify and treat new cases of the virus.
Still, WHO doctors remain hopeful.
“This is the first time that all three countries—Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone—have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago,” says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
The self-proclaimed nature lover started her own garden, took her WIC products and made it happen. That meant using fresh vegetables and WIC staples like oatmeal to bake a healthier bread option. That meant learning how to grow, cook and eat produce not usually found in her neighborhood stores. And now, Harris is sharing that knowledge with mothers in the same predicament through her cookbook — The Arcadia Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook — and by visiting some of Washington D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods in a mobile farmer’s market to spread the knowledge and fulfill a larger goal of creating a more equitable and sustainable local food system in the nation’s capitol.
For her efforts in combating both food insecurities and food deserts, Harris is being recognized by Carmax’s The Bright Side as an innovator and savior in her space.
From the BrightSideShorts.com:
Understanding the importance of nutrition, the former Peace Corp member set out to encourage families to work towards healthy options, teaching mothers how to cook with the familiar – apples, lettuce and items provided to them by WIC – and the unfamiliar – Swiss chard, squash and other unprocessed foods.
Her cookbook, The Arcadia Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook, is available for free to shoppers who frequent the Mobile Market. Before releasing her guide to a healthy lifestyle, the homegrown hero also established a women’s nutrition and financial development program as an Agricultural Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay.
To learn more about Harris’ efforts and the Arcadia Mobile Market, click here.
article via newsone.com
For her efforts in combating both food insecurities and food deserts, Harris is being recognized by Carmax’s The Bright Side as an innovator and savior in her space.
From the BrightSideShorts.com:
Understanding the importance of nutrition, the former Peace Corp member set out to encourage families to work towards healthy options, teaching mothers how to cook with the familiar – apples, lettuce and items provided to them by WIC – and the unfamiliar – Swiss chard, squash and other unprocessed foods.
Her cookbook, The Arcadia Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook, is available for free to shoppers who frequent the Mobile Market. Before releasing her guide to a healthy lifestyle, the homegrown hero also established a women’s nutrition and financial development program as an Agricultural Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay.
To learn more about Harris’ efforts and the Arcadia Mobile Market, click here.
article via newsone.com
In 1902 Julian Frances Abele was the first African American to graduate from the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania. He was hired by the Horace Trumbauer architectural firm and spent his entire career there. He was responsible for the design on the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Widener Memorial Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Abele also designed many of the Gothic buildings on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. But because of his race, the university did not originally celebrate the architect of many of its most important structures. Abele died in 1950 having never visited the Duke campus where he had played such an important role.
Abele’s role in designing the Duke campus did not become widely known until 1988. That year the university hung a portrait of Adele in the main administration building and another portrait was placed in the Rubenstein Library.
Now Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University, has called for the formation of an advisory board to come up with a plan to give proper recognition to Julian Abele by February 2016. President Brodhead said that “Julian Abele envisioned the physical world of Duke University. It is time to ensure that his legacy is clearly known so that future generations of students and faculty can be inspired by his genius.”
article vie jbhe.com
Hakim’s Bookstore, the oldest African-American bookstore, is getting some much-needed help from the Philadelphia community.
According to owner Yvonne Blake, people who heard the news that the store, which has been family-owned-and-operated since 1959, was struggling were quick to respond. Blake said that she has been overwhelmed by all the support she received, reports Philly.com.
Blake’s story, and her store, have been pasted all over social media by everyone from locals to even Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter of the Roots, with many using the hashtag #BlackBooksMatter. But Blake said that the most important thing she has seen people do is shop at the store. Their business helps keep the store afloat.
The Early Birds, an online community dedicated to helping support black-owned business, also held a cash mob, in which they encouraged their followers to go to Blake’s store and spend at least $20.
Other people have also volunteered to help Blake run the store, since Blake is also caring for her ailing mother, and people like Temple University student Ebonee Johnson have volunteered their time to keep the doors open.
The support has been overwhelming to Blake, and she hopes it will continue past the holiday season.
“It’s like a dream I don’t want to fully embrace because I don’t want it to end,” she told Philly.com. “It’s been an eye-opener because I thought we were dead and irrelevant. I really thought our time had passed, but I realized that I was living in the past and we have to do things differently if we want to stay around.”
To help out, if you’re in the area, Hakim’s Bookstore is located at 210 S. 52nd St. Visit or call: 215-474-9495. Check them out on Facebook. They also have a GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/HakimsBookstore
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxE4LQ-Yjcg&w=560&h=315]
article via thegrio.com
Dr. Prudence Carter was named Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, effective June 30, 2016. She currently serves as the Jacks Family Professor of Education at Stanford University. She is also the faculty director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities and earlier she served as the co-director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity in Policy in Education.
Prior to joining the Stanford faculty in 2007, Professor Carter was an associate professor of sociology at Harvard University and a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Carter is the author of two books, Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black and White (Oxford University Press, 2005) and Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. and South African Schools (Oxford University Press, 2012).
A native of Mississippi, Dr. Carter is graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she majored in applied mathematics and economics. She holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University.
article via jbhe.com