Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published by “goodblacknews”

MUST WATCH VIDEO: Their Instruments May Be Garbage, But the Music of This Children's Orchestra Will Bring Tears to Your Eyes

By goodblacknews on June 13, 2013
Members of the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra. Courtesy Landfill Harmonic

Close your eyes and listen to Juan Manuel Chavez launch into the Prelude of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1, and you would never guess that, instead of spruce and maple, his instrument is crafted from an old oil can, a beef tenderizing tool, and a discarded pasta making device—all of it scavenged from the landfill that surrounds his home in Paraguay.

Chavez is a cellist in the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra in Cateura, an Asunción slum where bottle caps, door keys, and paint cans have been given new purpose. Under the supervision of local musician Favio Chávez, these utterly impoverished kids make beautiful music on instruments constructed almost entirely out of materials reclaimed from the dump.
Filmmaker and Asunción native Alejandra Nash first heard about the phenomenon back in 2009, and decided to produce a documentary about the kids—she and her co-producers are aiming for a 2014 release. She’ll have plenty of support. The teaser she posted online last November quickly went viral, with 2 million views on Vimeo, and nearly 1 million on Youtube. It’s inspiring. Check it out…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXynrsrTKbI&w=560&h=315]
Now her project’s Facebook page has more than 125,000 likes. And a Kickstarter campaign Nash launched in April to help fund the film’s completion has raised almost $200,000, well over the $175,000 she’d asked for. Beyond funding post-production work, the additional money will help finance a world tour for the orchestra, and an expansion of what has come to be known as the Landfill Harmonic Movement.

The idea for the orchestra first came about after Chávez brought a youth orchestra from the neighboring town of Carapeguá to perform in Cateura. The Cateura kids wanted to learn, too, but as Chávez points out in the teaser, “A community like Cateura is not a place to have a violin. In fact, a violin is worth more than a house here.”
So he and local garbage picker Nicolás Gómez began experimenting with instruments they constructed from trash: Tin water pipes, buttons, bottle caps, and spoon and fork handles make up the body and keys of the saxophones. Oil or paint cans and recycled wood are used for the string section.

Brooklyn Nets Hire Jason Kidd as Coach

By goodblacknews on June 13, 2013
In this July 12, 2012 file photo, Jason Kidd speaks during a news conference at the New York Knicks training facility in Tarrytown, N.Y. The New York Knicks say Kidd has decided to retire from the NBA after 19 seasons. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
Jason Kidd (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

The Brooklyn Nets have hired Jason Kidd as their coach, bringing the former star back to the franchise. Kidd just retired after his 19th NBA season and the Nets decided to hire him despite his lack of coaching experience.

The move reunites Kidd with the franchise he led to consecutive NBA Finals in 2002-03, when they played in New Jersey. “Welcome home, Jason,” owner Mikhail Prokhorov says Wednesday in a statement.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press; article by Brian Mahoney, AP via thegrio.com

"The Game" Star Tia Mowry Dons Lettuce Dress for PETA

By goodblacknews on June 12, 2013
Tia Mowry promotes veganism for PETA, wearing a lettuce apron created by Mia Gyzander.(Photo: Robert Sebree, PETA)
Tia Mowry promotes veganism for PETA, wearing a lettuce apron created by Mia Gyzander.(Photo: Robert Sebree, PETA)

“I became a vegan and I was getting bullied on Twitter about it,” she explained in a PETA interview. So she “wanted to become a voice for my community. … I wanted to educate my culture about the benefits of becoming vegan.”
1370949961000-tiavegan-1306110727_3_4_r537_c0-0-534-712
article via thegrio.com

Respected Surgeon General Regina Benjamin to Step Down After 4 Years

By goodblacknews on June 12, 2013
Surgeon General Regina Benjamin attends The Heart Truth 2013 Fashion at Hammerstein Ballroom on February 6, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jennifer Graylock/Getty Images for The Heart Truth)
Surgeon General Regina Benjamin attends The Heart Truth 2013 Fashion at Hammerstein Ballroom on February 6, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jennifer Graylock/Getty Images for The Heart Truth)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin says she plans to step down next month after four years as “America’s doctor.”

In an email to staff Wednesday, Benjamin said she will remain involved in public health. As surgeon general, she promoted disease prevention, smoking cessation and healthy lifestyles, particularly among minorities. Benjamin oversaw a report that documented how smoking, even an occasional cigarette or secondhand smoke, can cause immediate damage to the human body.
A native of Alabama, Benjamin is widely respected for founding a rural health clinic in that state, which she kept going although it was wiped out three times by fire and hurricanes. She plans to volunteer seeing patients at the clinic. Health and Human Services spokeswoman Dori Salcido said the administration is grateful for Benjamin’s service.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

Oprah Winfrey Donates $12 Million to New African-American Museum

By goodblacknews on June 12, 2013
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey after delivering commencement address at Harvard in May 2013.(Photo: Elise Amendola AP)

In recognition, the museum’s 350-seat theater, intended to be a showcase for demonstrating how African-American culture has shaped the country and the world, will be named after her. The museum, the Smithsonian’s 19th, is due to open in late 2015. It will tell the story of African-American history from slavery to the post-Civil War period, the civil rights era, the Harlem Renaissance and into the 21st century.

Oprah has been involved with the museum since planning began a decade ago and joined its advisory council in 2004. She’s also a world-class philanthropist with her own grant-making foundation and the resources to make a difference. She says her gift demonstrates her pride in African-American history and culture.
“I am deeply appreciative of those who paved the path for me and all who follow in their footsteps,” she said in a statement. “By investing in this museum, I want to help ensure that we both honor and preserve our culture and history, so that the stories of who we are will live on for generations to come.”

University Of Washington Diversity Course Now Required For Graduation

By goodblacknews on June 11, 2013
University Of Washington
Saying it has an obligation to prepare students for a more global society, the University of Washington will require undergrads to complete a course in some area of diversity — economic, cultural or political — before they can graduate.
The new policy, initiated by a group of mostly minority students, followed three failed attempts over the past 22 years to introduce changes meant to ensure that all graduating students know a little more about other cultures and people who differ from them than they did when they first arrived.
The three-credit course won’t add to the number of hours students now need to obtain a bachelor’s degree. And it won’t apply to current undergrads, only to the incoming class in the year the policy takes effect — possibly next fall. Helen Fillmore, a graduating senior majoring in environmental science and resource management, is a member of First Nations @ UW and of the UW Students for Diversity Coalition, which began pushing for these changes nearly three years ago.

For Your Health: Four Ways to Reverse Diabetes

By goodblacknews on June 11, 2013

A close-up of an apple being held by a womanThere are many benefits to finding ways to reverse type 2 diabetes. A big one is its expense. According to the American Diabetes Association, the combined cost of medical care and lost productivity due to diabetes in the United States exceeded $174 billion in 2007.
People with diabetes pay 2.3 times as much for health care as non-diabetics, and $1 in every $10 spent for health care is attributable to diabetes.
Sadly, even though type 2 diabetes was once considered an adult disease, so many children now receive this diagnosis that it is no longer referred to as adult onset.
Recent guidelines from the American Diabetes Association advise that some new patients try healthy eating and exercise before they begin medication. Now, the latest science reveals that fine-tuning many long-held health habits may lead to even better results.
1. Eat fruits and vegetables. They can reduce your diabetes risk and protect your heart. In a new study, people who ate at least 12 types each week had a lower diabetes risk than those who ate a less diverse mix—regardless of overall quantity. Mix arugula with your romaine, snack on fruit salad, pile new veggies onto your sandwich.
2. Lose weight—even just a little—for better blood sugar control. Don’t worry if it’s taking a while to slim down. In a 2012 review paper, Sheri Colberg-Ochs, PhD, noted that exercise alone improved the ability of previously sedentary, middle-aged adults to metabolize sugars, regardless of whether they lost any weight. Their total cholesterol dropped too.

‘Being Mary Jane’: BET Film Starring Gabrielle Union to Kick Off Original Series July 2nd

By goodblacknews on June 11, 2013
Creator of 'Being Mary Jane' Mara Brock Akil (right) with moderator entertainment journalist Kelly L Carter (Photo courtesy of BET Networks photographer Dave Tulis)
Creator of ‘Being Mary Jane’ Mara Brock Akil (right) with moderator entertainment journalist Kelly L Carter (Photo courtesy of BET Networks photographer Dave Tulis)
Atlanta lived up to its reputation as the Hollywood of the South on Saturday with the advance screening of BET’s upcoming film Being Mary Jane. The movie, starring Gabrielle Union, debuts on the cable channel on July 2 at 10:30 pm. The hour-long production will serve as a teaser for the anticipated Being Mary Jane series scheduled to hit the screens in January 2014. It is just one of a handful of shows drawing attention to BET’s newfound shift towards original programming.

A protagonist who is far from perfect
Being Mary Jane, which was shot in Atlanta, revolves around the main protagonist Mary Jane Paul (played by Union), a successful talk show host, who on the surface has an enviable lifestyle. Still, her life is far from perfect.
“It’s in her [Mary Jane Paul’s] low moments where she most expresses her humanity,” said creator Mara Brock Akil in a Q&A with entertainment journalist Kelly L. Carter after the screening at the stylish W Hotel in Midtown Atlanta.

Ellie Hylton Graduates Harvard With Highest Overall GPA

By goodblacknews on June 11, 2013

ellie hyltonGraduating senior Ethel “Ellie” Hylton graduated from Harvard College last week Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Sociology and earned the Sophia Freund Prize  for being the student with the highest overall GPA in her graduating class. Hylton was also inducted into the exclusive Phi Beta Kappa Society last fall.

Phi Beta Kappa doesn’t just induct anyone. Hylton is among great company, like Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Tom Brokaw to name a few. The level of excellence this society boasts includes intellectual integrity, tolerance for other views and a broad range of academic interests. Hylton was chosen as the one graduating senior out of one hundred to be inducted.

For Harriet scored an interview with Hylton and she had this to say about success inside and outside the classroom:

“It sounds cliché, but I tried to follow the things that I was passionate about. When I started as a freshman in college, I thought that I would be pre-med. After taking a science course, I realized that I didn’t really love spending hours in the lab. When I took a course on social inequality, I was immediately hooked; I found that sociologists asked all the questions about the world that I was interested in. So, I decided to study sociology—a decision which opened up some great research opportunities for me. I think it’s important to follow the issues that excite you. Pursue the questions that keep you up at night (for a good reason), rather than the ones that feel like a burden to answer.”

What’s even more impressive about Ellie Hylton? Greatness runs in the family – both her parents attended Harvard and her mom graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1982. 

article by Danielle Young via hellobeautiful.com

TV Review: Dwayne Johnson Rocks New Reality Series "The Hero"

By goodblacknews on June 10, 2013

The Hero Season 1 - Ep 101 Ph: Frank Masi Panama City, Panama
The Hero (8pm Thursdays, TNT)
Host:  Dwayne Johnson
I’ve got to give it to the folks at TNT – it was a smart choice to air a competition reality show hosted by wrestler-turned-movie-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It’s completely entertaining, mainly because The Rock reminds the viewer very early on, well…that he’s got charisma in spades.
The Hero takes nine contestants and makes them endure physical challenges as well as ethical mind games while attempting to gain enough viewer appeal to be voted into the final where the winner’s pot could reach up to one million dollars. I usually get frustrated with the whole audience voter scenario, but The Hero has thrown in measuring a person’s moral compass, and that makes what the home audience thinks a little more appealing.
On top of jumping, rappelling, crawling, and conquering real fears, the participants have their principles tested with offers of cash on the sly.  In other words, the show asks each of them the question: “If no one’s looking, how greedy will you be?”  If every contestant selflessly resists the chance to pocket easy money when it’s offered in private, then it all goes into the team pot.  The way the money is earned and the challenge scenario is tiered and a bit confusing.  Nonetheless it’s easy to grasp that there is a one in nine chance to win up to a million dollars.
James Bond himself doesn’t have to do half the stuff these contestants do.  And the casting is genius.  They’ve got contestants with serious phobias. One can’t handle heights, another freaks out in the dark…um, hello…you signed up for a show called The Hero hosted by the Rock…and you’ve got phobias?  It’s such a fun twist I was sucked into watching human behavior at its rawest.
In a pretty hilarious segment, a female contestant who is terrified of heights is asked to join The Rock atop the roof of a skyscraper. He eagerly awaits her as she chants, “I’m not going to fail … I’m not going to fail.” As she walks up two flights of stairs (yes, only two) to get to him he utters, “You’re not going to fail.” It’s just some stairs and there is railing but she is terrified. She makes it and leaps into the Rock’s bulging , welcoming arms. It’s a terrific human moment. He smiles, hugs and encourages her, but then offers her some money to pocket for herself or put in the pot. A moral dilemma ensues.
It’s a provocative scenario each time it occurs: “You’re broke…here’s some money and you need it… take it or put it in the pot.” As one contestant puts it (I’m paraphrasing here): “These people are not saying no to the money because they are good people. They are saying no because they want to appear to be good for the audience that votes so they will be voted to go to the end and have a chance at a more money.”
All on all, The Hero is a thoroughly watchable show, although I can’t say the title works. Are these people actually heroic? Not really. But Dwayne in all his Rockness and the challenges make for a fun summer series. Set in Panama, I’m not sure they’ll find a “Hero”… but they may just find the ratings.
Lesa LakinReviewed by Lesa Lakin