article by Shaquille Brewster, AP via yahoonews.com
article by Shaquille Brewster, AP via yahoonews.com
Despite his current health status and the speculation that ranges from a critical condition to on the road to recovery, today is Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday, and we want to celebrate his incredible life and work on this momentous occasion. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa, a Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family.
According to Wikipedia, Mandela attended Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the African National Congress and becoming a founding member of its Youth League.
To learn more about his work to overthrow apartheid in South Africa, his decades-long imprisonment, leadership of the country at its President, and how he inspired freedom fighters and activists around the world, click here.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Former NBA player Magic Johnson is hoping to cast his spell on the educational experience of some Chicago teens. Johnson is opening two Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academies in the South Shore and North/South Lawndale neighborhoods this fall. The alternative schools targets students aged 13-21 who have dropped out of high school or at risk of not graduating, another path to earn a high school diploma.
A news conference was scheduled for Wednesday morning, where Bridgescape Academy executives, teachers and community leaders were planning to discuss the schools and officially open enrollment. Fifteen of the schools in five states are currently open across the country, with the majority located in Ohio. According to the web site, the schools offer programs suitable to a student’s “schedule, lifestyle and learning needs.” School days are abbreviated and flexible with an emphasis on online learning tools. The schools are free for students to attend.
article via nbcchicago.com
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lccfPqwxn8g&w=560&h=315]
As we write, a peaceful protest march for Trayvon Martin is occurring in Los Angeles that started at LaCienega Park and is now on Wilshire Blvd. heading into Beverly Hills. Good Black News is on the scene covering the event, and grabbed a short interview with rally organizer Patrisse Cullors (see video above) before the march started.
Cullors and others started the Justice 4 Trayvon Martin in L.A. Collective out of the Leimert Park protests that occurred in the past few days, with the objective of offering clear local and national demands to end racial policies that affect black and brown communities. Their slogan is #BlackLivesMatter and below is their list of demands:
Justice 4 Trayvon Martin, Los Angeles Demands:
1. Federal Charges against Zimmerman. The Department of Justice must file civil rights charges against Mr. Zimmerman.
2. Pardon Marissa Alexander. Ms. Alexander comes from the same state as Zimmerman, she did not hurt anyone, she was protecting herself against someone who abused her, she was traumatized, she stood her ground and the law wasn’t afforded to her.
3. No More New Jail and Prison Construction. Jails and prisons draw critical funds away from poor, working class communities of color. The business of prisons generates the need to criminalize Black & Brown bodies.
4. End Gang Injunctions & Database. The rationalization of gang injunctions follows the same rational of racial profile that allowed for Trayvon Martin to be hunted and murdered.
5. Community Control Over All Law Enforcement With an Elected Civilian Review Board. The families of people with stolen lives by law enforcement should have their cases re-opened, reinvestigated, and given reparations. These are our tax dollars, our community; we should have a say of what safety looks like.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
NEW YORK (AP) — Jay-Z’s new album has sold more than 500,000 units its first week. Nielsen SoundScan said late Tuesday that preliminary data shows that “Magna Carta Holy Grail” moved about 527,000 copies. It will debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week. The album was officially released on July 7. Samsung bought and gave 1.2 million copies of the album to Galaxy mobile phone users on July 4. Billboard is not counting those sales on its charts.
“Magna Carta” has the second-best first-week debut of the year after Justin Timberlake’s “20/20 Experience.” The album features Timberlake, Beyonce, Frank Ocean and Timbaland. Jay-Z’s 12th album had more than 14 million streams in its first week on Spotify, beating a record that Daft Punk set in May with “Random Access Memories.”
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
Thessalonika Arzu-Embry and her mother, Wonder Embry, get up at five in the morning most weekdays to go to school together. Unlike most 14-year-olds, however, Thessalonika isn’t off early in the morning to the local high school. She’s going to Chicago State University.
Thessalonika is putting the finishing touches on a college career that started three years ago at College of Lake County and will end next month with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Chicago State. “My college experience is a traditional college experience for me — it is just that I have completed it faster,” Thessalonika said. “I am very excited about joining others in having the opportunity to contribute to society in a significant way.”
After their early wake-up, Thessalonika and her mom pray and work on Bible studies, then work out at a local fitness center before starting their hour-and-a-half commute from their home at the Great Lakes Naval Station near North Chicago to Chicago State, located on the city’s South Side. Wonder Embry is a classmate of sorts at Chicago State, where she’s a graduate student in clinical psychology.
During the commute, Wonder and Thessalonika study theory together and chat about their homework assignments. Thessalonika said her mother keeps her motivated. “My mother is a strong inspiration to my success. She is a veteran of the United States Navy, and when she finished her tour, she home-schooled my brother and I,” Thessalonika said. Thessalonika’s mother said that for her part, she was just doing right by her daughter. “The parents are the most influential force in their own children’s lives, and they have the power to influence them to do good and to go forward,” Wonder Embry said.
Thessalonika was home-schooled until she was 8. At age 11, after receiving the equivalent of a high school diploma through her home schooling, she passed an entrance exam to attend College of Lake County and enrolled to study psychology. She said she chose college from such a young age because she loves studying and has an interest in psychology that goes far beyond just material knowledge. One of her ultimate goals is to help people through a clinic she hopes to establish with her mother and her brother, Jeremy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtZ7FeijoKQ&w=560&h=315]
As everyone knows by now, George Zimmerman was found not guilty. This shocking verdict was not the first, nor the last. But that still doesn’t take the sting out of it. Protestors have gathered and the majority have been peaceful. But what else can be done to continue to fight against injustice? How can we move forward?
Interactive One (parent company to HelloBeautiful) has decided to be a mouthpiece for this generation, and wants young men of color to know that while they may wear the same hoodie Trayvon Martin wore and walk to the store for a snack, just as he did, their lives don’t have to end in the same way. They want the young men who have looked at this tragedy in fear to know this–Your Life Matters.
Share your stories of inspiration to uplift this generation. We need it right now!
Join the fight by liking the YOUR LIFE MATTERS Facebook page today!
article by Danielle Young via hellobeautiful.com; edited by Lori Lakin Hutcherson