John Warner Smith (photo via commons.wikipedia.org)
According to jbhe.com, professor and writer John Warner Smith has been appointed by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the state’s Governor, John Bel Edwards, to serve as the next Poet Laureate of Louisiana. This appointment makes Smith the first African American man to hold the position.
“John Warner Smith’s writing captures the human experience through meaningful, passionate poetry that moves your emotions. John is not only a talented and gifted poet, he is a trailblazer who devotes himself to education and the greater good of the community,” Gov. Edwards said.
“He is making history today as the first African American male appointed as Louisiana Poet Laureate, and I’m confident that John will serve our great state well. I want to thank the LEH for leading this search, and I congratulate all of the nominees whose writings tell the unique stories of Louisiana, the place we call home.”
Currently, Smith teaches English at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has published four collections of poetry: Muhammad’s Mountain(Lavender Ink, 2018), Spirits of the Gods (University of Louisiana Lafayette Press, 2017), Soul Be A Witness(MadHat Press, 2016), and A Mandala of Hands(Kelsay Books-Aldrich Press, 2015). His fifth collection, Out Shut Eyes: New & Selected Poems on Race in America, is forthcoming this year from MadHat Press.
On August 22, 2019, according to eurweb.com, individuals and organizations throughout Baltimore, Maryland will demonstrate the pride they have for their city and the amazing people in it.
In honor of Black Philanthropy Month, social impact organization CLLCTIVLY will launch its inaugural Day of Giving (CLLCTIVGIVE) for Black-led social change organizations serving in Greater Baltimore.
This 24-hour fundraising event is part of CLLCTIVLY’s mission to be a resource for the Greater Baltimore community that seeks to find, fund and partner with Black social change organizations.
The one-day campaign seeks to raise $100,000 in direct support for local organizations, and garner 10,000 donors! (10,000 @ $10) To participate, visit BaltimoreGives.org and select an organization to support.
“I am a big believer in the power of collectives. I grew up in the church and watched churches pool their resources every Sunday. Truthfully, each of us is a philanthropist in our own right. It’s not about the amount. When we support one another, our communities are stronger,” states Jamye Wooten, the founder of CLLCTIVLY.
Research shows that annually, approximately 95% of the $60 billion in US foundation funding goes to white-led organizations and that Black-led organizations only receive 2%. To create thriving communities across Baltimore, CLLCTIVLY is helping to lead the charge to increase investment in Black-led organizations and provide them with the resources needed to build the infrastructure and the financial sustainability needed to support their work.
“Awareness is key. There are hundreds of organizations working hard in our communities every day. The more people know about the incredible changemakers in our communities, the more inclined they will be to support,” says Wooten.
About CLLCTIVLY.org is a social impact organization in Baltimore, Maryland that serves as a resource for those seeking to find, fund and partner with Black social change organizations in the Greater Baltimore community. CLLCTIVLY aims to create an ecosystem to foster collaboration, increase social impact and amplify the voices of Black-led organizations in Greater Baltimore. CLLCTIVLY also offers no-strings-attached micro-grants of $1,000. Jamye Wooten, a co-founder of Baltimore United for Change, launched CLLCTIVLY in 2019. To join CLLCTIVLY, apply for the Black Futures Micro-Grant or to shop at the Black Futures online store, visit www.CLLCTIVLY.org
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that white supremacists who used social media to threaten and harass Taylor Dumpson, the first African American female student body president of American University in Washington D.C., were liable for over $700,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.
In 2017, Taylor Dumpson was elected as American University’s student body president. The day after she was inaugurated, a hate crime targeted her on the basis of her race and gender. A masked person hung nooses around campus with bananas tied to them. Some bananas had “AKA” written on them – referencing Plaintiff’s historically black sorority.
Others read “Harambe bait,” referencing a gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo as a racist and threatening comparison to African Americans. Defendant Andrew Anglin, an avowed neo-Nazi and publisher of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, then directed his white supremacist followers to threaten and harass her on social media to amplify the harm of the hate crime.
In addition to other allegations, the suit alleged that Defendants interfered with the Ms. Dumpson’s ability to fully enjoy places of public accommodation and interfered with her equal opportunity to education. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and pro bono counsel Kirkland & Ellis LLP, along with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Plaintiff.
Raines and her team of volunteers are on a mission to brings meals, services and a touch of self-care to those in need every week. To check out video, click below:
According to jbhe.com, Julius Davis, an associate professor and mathematics education researcher at Bowie State University, has been selected for the Wilson H. Elkins Professorship by the University System of Maryland.
The award will provide him with a grant to establish a Center for Research and Mentoring of Black Male Students and Teachers.
“It’s humbling and an honor to receive such an award. It feels great to know that the University System of Maryland thought that it was worth the investment to create a center for research and mentoring of Black male students and teachers at a historically Black university,” said Dr. Davis. “It’s great to be on the cutting-edge by trying to create a center focused on Black male students and teachers. We’ll be creating it from the foundation up.”
The center’s main goal is to support a pipeline of Black males joining the ranks of Maryland’s educators, especially those who specialize in teaching high-demand fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Dr. Davis plans to recruit 25 to 50 local students to participate in the center’s workshops, mentoring programs, and field trips throughout the 2019-2020 academic year.
Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Toni Morrison, who wrote the acclaimed novels “Beloved,” ”Song of Solomon,” “The Bluest Eye,” “Jazz,” and “Sula” among other works, has passed away at age 88.
According to yahoo.com, publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced that Morrison died Monday night at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. Morrison’s family issued a statement through Knopf saying she died after a brief illness.
“Toni Morrison passed away peacefully last night surrounded by family and friends,” the family announced. “The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing.”
“Her writing was not just beautiful but meaningful — a challenge to our conscience and a call to greater empathy,” Obama wrote Tuesday on his Facebook page. “She was as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page.”
“Narrative has never been merely entertainment for me,” she said in her Nobel lecture. “It is, I believe, one of the principal ways in which we absorb knowledge.”
The second of four children of a welder and a domestic worker, Morrison was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain, Ohio, a steel town outside of Cleveland. She was encouraged by her parents to read and to think, and was unimpressed by the white kids in her community.
Recalling how she felt like an “aristocrat,” Morrison believed she was smarter and took it for granted she was wiser. She was an honors student in high school, and attended Howard University because she dreamed of life spent among black intellectuals.
Hussle & Motivate was the motto of the slain rapper Nipsey Hussle, tribute mural near the end of LA’s Arts District on Violet Street near Mateo St. (photo via flickr.com)
According to thegrio.com, Nipsey Hussle’s long-time partner, Lauren London, recently announced via Instagram that a monument in Hussle’s honor is going to be erected outside his Marathon Clothing store in Hyde Park.
Nipsey, 33, born Ermias Davidson Asghedom, was shot and killed March 31 after an argument with another individual. The alleged gunman, Eric Holder, has been charged in his murder.
“As a notice to the public, we’re putting up a gate on Thursday, August 1st, 2019 to enclose the plaza at 3420 W. Slauson Ave to start the early development stages of the forthcoming Nipsey Hussle Tower to commemorate and honor the life and legacy of Nipsey,” London posted.
ImageNation Outdoors Festival (photo courtesy ImageNation)
The 17thAnnual ImageNation Outdoors Festival: Soul Cinema and Music Under the Stars kicks off this year on August 8th with an outdoor screening of BOSS: The Black Experience in Business.
Held in partnership with the Historic Harlem Parks and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, ImageNation Outdoors, is New York City’s only free summer-long outdoor film and music festival dedicated to Black cinema, will continue with a dynamic slate of free entertainment.
On August 22nd, ImageNation Outdoors will present a special screening of Amazing Grace, the acclaimed documentary of Aretha Franklin recording her gospel album live at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. The screening will follow a live musical tribute, and Harlem will attempt to make the Guinness Book of Records by forming the world’s longest Soul Train line.
On August 30th and September 6th, join ImageNation will be screening When They See Us. The critically acclaimed docu-series that tells the untold story of the Exonerated Five. Korey Wise and Kevin Richardson of The Exonerated Five will be in attendance.
Come to slay with a screening of an intimate documentary as stylish and unconventional as its subject, Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami on September 20th. The documentary depicts Jones in her Jamaican hometown, follows her into the studio with longtime collaborators Sly & Robbie, and at cutting-edge live shows—featuring performances of “Slave to the Rhythm,” and “Pull Up to the Bumper”.
The screening will follow live tribute performances and a fashion show of OKETSA by Thulare Monareng and designs by Sheila Prevost.
Festival dates are August 8th and continue through September 20th. All programs are free and open to the public. Music and activities begin at 6:00PM; and, films begin at sundown.
2019 Outdoor Lineup:
August 8th – BOSS: The Black Experience in Business, Marcus Garvey Park
August 13th – Poetic Justice, Marcus Garvey Park
August 17 – If Beale Street Could Talk, St. Nicholas Park, w/ Harlem Week!
August 22 – Soul Train Tribute to Aretha Franklin and Amazing Grace, Marcus Garvey Park
August 23 – Decade of Fire, St. Nicholas Park (Black Public Media 40th Ann.)
August 24 – Kids Night Out – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, St. Nicholas Park, w/ Harlem Week!
August 30th- When They See Us, Adam Clayton Powell State Office Bldg @ 125th St
September 6th- When They See Us, Adam Clayton Powell State Office Bldg @ 125th S
September 20 – Black Girl Magic – Grace Jones: Bami & Bloodlight, Marcus Garvey Park
Kids’ Night Out is curated by eight year-old Harlemite Kgari Kgama-Gates who shared, “I chose the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse because it really inspired me to have a young superhero who looks like me. Plus, the music is awesome!”
Children as well as adults are bound to have a great time as the screening celebrates Harlem Week as well. The program will also offer STEM games, face painting, and a back to school backpack giveaway by the Harlem-based Xi Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
ImageNation Outdoors is sponsored by Harlem Community Development Corp, Black Public Media, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Harlem Week, Radio 103.9, HBO, the Colonel Young Park Association, Harlem 2020 and Global Black Network of Black Pride. Launched in 2002 with a single screening for 300 people, ImageNation Outdoors has grown to draw nearly 10,000 attendees each summer. ImageNation Outdoors is the only summer long festival dedicated to films and music about the Black global experience.
Full descriptions of the festival programs are enclosed below. All programs are free and open to the public. Music/activities begin at 6:00PM; and, films begin at sundown:
Dr. Carl Allamby (photo via Cleveland State University)
Good Black News recently read an inspiring story at cleveland.com about Dr. Carl Allamby, 47, a career auto mechanic who figuratively changed lanes and recently graduated from Northeast Ohio Medical University. Allamby, who grew up in East Cleveland, is currently doing his residency in emergency medicine at Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital.
After returning to school to take business classes and falling in love with medicine via a required biology course, Allamby’s chemistry teacher told him about a new program at Cleveland State University called Partnership for Urban Health that sought to recruit and train doctors, especially minority doctors, to practice urban communities. The program offered intense undergraduate classes, help preparing for the Medical College Admissions Test, and then, if successful, a spot at the Northeast Ohio Medical University.
“There are so many times throughout the different hospitals where I will walk in and [a black patient] will say, ‘Thank God there’s finally a brother here,’” Allamby said.
“We absolutely need more black doctors, he said, noting mistrust that has a long history, including the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis, where black patients were victimized.
“I think you remove a lot of those barriers when there is a person there who looks like you,” he said.
Research shows that black patients fare better with black doctors. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research last year found that black men, who have the lowest life expectancy of any American demographic, were more likely to share details with black doctors and to heed their advice. Having a black doctor was more effective in convincing them to get a flu shot than a financial reward.
According to thegrio.com, the photo archives of EBONY and JET magazines were sold at auction on Thursday. A group of buyers including the J. Paul Getty Trust, in association with the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation purchased the historic photos for $30 million.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the archive will go to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Getty Research Institute, as well as other institutions so that researchers and scholars will have access.
“There is no greater repository of the history of the modern African-American experience than this archive,” James Cuno, president of The J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a press release. The trust is the lead purchaser in the consortium. “Saving it and making it available to the public is a great honor and a grave responsibility.”
The archive, which chronicles seven decades of Black life in America and consists of millions of images, was placed up for auction by the Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co., after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April.
Creditors owed include filmmaker George Lucas and his wife financial investment advisor Mellody Hobson, who own Capital V Holdings and gave a $12 million loan to Johnson Publishing. Lucas and Hobson were eligible to bid on the archives using the money that was owed to them. They could also have received the full collection in foreclosure if there had not been another bidder for the archives.
“The Johnson Publishing archives are an essential part of American history and have been critical in telling the extraordinary stories of African American culture for decades,” Lucas and Hobson’s company said back in April. “We want to be sure the archives are protected for generations to come.”
