The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday confirmed Oakland airport executive Deborah Ale Flint as the new Executive Director of Los Angeles World Airports.
Flint served as the director of aviation for the Port of Oakland.
In her new role, she will lead the city authority that oversees the Los Angeles International, Ontario International and Van Nuys airports.
In comments at the council meeting, Ale Flint talked about the “love story” of L.A.’s airports.
Ale Flint said her vision is “to make sure that we’re the most innovative, that we have the best passenger experiences, that we’re protectors and creators of great environment around the airport, that we have a world-class airport, and that we’re first-class neighbors.”
LAX is currently undergoing a multibillion-dollar overhaul.
“It’s an important economic development engine for the city and we know that ,with your leadership there, we will continue to grow and expand,” Councilman Curren Price Jr. said to Ale Flint.
The final vote was 13-0.
article by KPPC staff; contributions by Brian Frank via scpr.org
Posts published in “Adults”
Millions of African Americans will soon be able to trace their families through the era of slavery, some to the countries from which their ancestors were snatched, thanks to a new and free online service that is digitizing a huge cache of federal records for the first time.
Handwritten records collecting information on newly freed slaves that were compiled just after the civil war will be available for easy searches through a new website, it was announced on Friday.
The records belong to the Freedmen’s Bureau, an administrative body created by Congress in 1865 to assist slaves in 15 states and the District of Columbia transition into free citizenship.
Before that time, slaves were legally regarded as property in the US and their names were not officially documented. They often appeared only as dash marks – even on their owners’ records.
African Americans trying to trace family history today regularly hit the research equivalent of a brick wall prior to 1870, when black people were included in the US census for the first time.
Now a major project run by several organisations is beginning to digitise the 1.5 million handwritten records from the Freedmen’s Bureau, which feature more than four million names and are held by various federal bodies, for full online access.
All the records are expected to be online by late 2016, to coincide with the opening of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington.
Hollis Gentry, a genealogy specialist at the Smithsonian, said at the announcement of the project in Los Angeles on Friday: “The records serve as a bridge to slavery and freedom. You can look at some of the original documents that were created at the time when these people were living. They are the earliest records detailing people who were formerly enslaved. We get a sense of their voice, their dreams.”
Gentry also said it could help people now find living relatives on their family tree, as well as records of forebears.
“I predict we’ll see millions of living people find living relatives they never knew existed. That will be a tremendous blessing and a wonderful, healing experience,” Gentry said.
The Freedmen’s Bureau made records that include marriages and church and financial details as well as full names, dates of birth and histories of slave ownership.
They have been available for access by the public in Washington, but only in person by searching through hundreds of pages of handwritten documents.
The project to put the documents online is a collaboration involving the Smithsonian, the National Archives, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, the California African American Museum and FamilySearch. The last-named body is a large online genealogy organisation run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – otherwise known as the Mormon church, based in Salt Lake City.
Volunteers will help to digitize the handwritten records and they will be added to the website as they become available. The website is discoverfreedmen.org.
The announcement was made by FamilySearch and some of the project partners in Los Angeles on Friday, the 150th anniversary of “Juneteenth”, the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery which commemorates 19 June 1865, the day when it is believed that the last slaves held in US ownership were told of their emancipation.
Sharon Leslie Morgan, founder of Our Black Ancestry Foundation, an organization that provides research for African American genealogical research, said the indexing was important for history and for today. “In order for us to deal with contemporary issues that we have today – racism, black boys being shot down in the streets – you have to confront the past,” she told USA Today.
“The land was stolen from the Native Americans. The labour was provided for free by African slaves. The entire foundation of American capitalism is based on slavery, on a free labour market. People don’t want to deal with that, and you have to.”
article by Joanna Walters via theguardian.com
Handwritten records collecting information on newly freed slaves that were compiled just after the civil war will be available for easy searches through a new website, it was announced on Friday.
The records belong to the Freedmen’s Bureau, an administrative body created by Congress in 1865 to assist slaves in 15 states and the District of Columbia transition into free citizenship.
Before that time, slaves were legally regarded as property in the US and their names were not officially documented. They often appeared only as dash marks – even on their owners’ records.
African Americans trying to trace family history today regularly hit the research equivalent of a brick wall prior to 1870, when black people were included in the US census for the first time.
Now a major project run by several organisations is beginning to digitise the 1.5 million handwritten records from the Freedmen’s Bureau, which feature more than four million names and are held by various federal bodies, for full online access.
All the records are expected to be online by late 2016, to coincide with the opening of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington.
Hollis Gentry, a genealogy specialist at the Smithsonian, said at the announcement of the project in Los Angeles on Friday: “The records serve as a bridge to slavery and freedom. You can look at some of the original documents that were created at the time when these people were living. They are the earliest records detailing people who were formerly enslaved. We get a sense of their voice, their dreams.”
Gentry also said it could help people now find living relatives on their family tree, as well as records of forebears.
“I predict we’ll see millions of living people find living relatives they never knew existed. That will be a tremendous blessing and a wonderful, healing experience,” Gentry said.
The Freedmen’s Bureau made records that include marriages and church and financial details as well as full names, dates of birth and histories of slave ownership.
They have been available for access by the public in Washington, but only in person by searching through hundreds of pages of handwritten documents.
The project to put the documents online is a collaboration involving the Smithsonian, the National Archives, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, the California African American Museum and FamilySearch. The last-named body is a large online genealogy organisation run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – otherwise known as the Mormon church, based in Salt Lake City.
Volunteers will help to digitize the handwritten records and they will be added to the website as they become available. The website is discoverfreedmen.org.
The announcement was made by FamilySearch and some of the project partners in Los Angeles on Friday, the 150th anniversary of “Juneteenth”, the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery which commemorates 19 June 1865, the day when it is believed that the last slaves held in US ownership were told of their emancipation.
Sharon Leslie Morgan, founder of Our Black Ancestry Foundation, an organization that provides research for African American genealogical research, said the indexing was important for history and for today. “In order for us to deal with contemporary issues that we have today – racism, black boys being shot down in the streets – you have to confront the past,” she told USA Today.
“The land was stolen from the Native Americans. The labour was provided for free by African slaves. The entire foundation of American capitalism is based on slavery, on a free labour market. People don’t want to deal with that, and you have to.”
article by Joanna Walters via theguardian.com
Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama will head to Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday to deliver the eulogy at funeral services for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the state senator who was one of nine people killed in the racially- motivated shooting last week in Charleston.
Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama will join Obama at the funeral services, the White House said Monday. The visit will be Obama’s first to the city since the deadly shooting last week at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic black church.
The White House will release additional details of the visit in the coming days, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. The visit will come days after Obama spoke candidly about racism in America during an interview for the podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” released on Monday — even using the N-word, a word some consider offensive.
“Racism, we are not cured of it. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public,” Obama said in the interview. “That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
Obama’s visit to Charleston is also notable as he opted earlier this year not to visit Baltimore — which became the epicenter of the debate over race and policing issues — as protests unfurled in that city in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died in police custody.
article by Jeremy Diamond and Michelle Kosinski via cnn.com
OPINION: Coding Is The New Black: Here’s Why You Should Care About Science, Tech, Engineering & Math
It is no secret that many African-American women are not deemed to be very well-represented, or at the forefront in terms of publicity, when it comes to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related jobs and advancements. Due to this “finding,” many companies in these industries, such as Google and Non-Profits such as MotherCoders have started programs and initiatives to aid women and minorities in the pursuit to learn coding.
I will admit, I am am not technologically savvy. The only thing I know about computers, technology, apps and coding, is that if I have a question about anything remotely pertaining to the previously mentioned, I ask Arisha Smith, Vice President of Marketing at Pigeonly, a tech startup in the downtown Las Vegas tech hub that got its start through the Silicon Valley-based NewMe Accelerator program.
As many business owners have leaned on the internet, apps and other new found technologies to build, increase and further their businesses, I still reach out to Arisha to gain an understanding of how technology can help not only my practice, but also the business ventures of my clients.
When I asked Arisha to explain the importance of women garnering an interest in technology and ultimately learning coding, she offered the following:
“Knowing how to code trains your mind to think logically and process bite sized tasks in order to achieve a larger end goal. Understanding the backbone of technology, which is programming, accelerates a woman’s path to leadership in organizations, especially in forward-thinking companies.”
She further states, “You’re able to get right to the point when directing or managing projects with cross functional teams because you eliminate the need for the tech guys to feel the need to ‘break down concepts’ for you. It also allows you the ability to call folks out on their BS and keep projects afloat.”
If you, or any young woman you know, are interested in learning how to code, click here for several programs that may assist you.
article by Rashida Maples, Esq. via hellobeautiful.com
According to bet.com, just four days after a gunman opened fire in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the historic house of worship reopened its doors for Sunday service.
To quote the article:
With church members, visitors and members of the Charleston community in attendance, the congregation showed its strength this morning, as it has many times before, while mourning the loss of nine members and honoring them through praise, worship and unity.
South Carolina’s governor and Charleston’s mayor sat in the front row. Rev. Norvel Goff started the service off saying, “This is our house of worship. The doors of the church are open, praise be to God.”
While reflecting on the pain inflicted on the congregation by the violent and senseless act of Dylann Storm Roof, Rev. Goff went through the bevy of emotions that everyone has been feeling, including anger, and asked how people should respond to moments like this. “Do we respond by being afraid? Or do we respond in faith?”
But despite increased security and additional visitors, Mother Emanuel’s Sunday service was a fairly normal one full of love, support and compassion for the church community as they prepare to rebuild once again.
Gunman Roof was apprehended on June 18, is currently jailed and being held on $1 million bond.
Today, Ivy Taylor began her first official day as the elected mayor of San Antonio, Texas. Taylor is the first African-American to fulfill the role.
This development comes almost a year after Taylor was selected to serve as the interim mayor of the city to finish the term of the previous mayor, Julian Castro. Castro stepped down from his position as mayor of San Antonio when the White House nominated him as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Taylor won in the race against her opponent, former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, with 52 percent of the vote. Taylor was born and bred in Queens, NY. She got her start in city planning, then made her way to city council. Taylor got her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her master’s from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
article by Monique John via hellobeautiful.com
In a statement released Monday afternoon, embattled Spokane, Washington NAACP president Rachel Dolezal resigned from her post amidst a scandal surrounding her racial identity.
Dolezal, whose parents claim she pretended to be a Black woman although she is biologically White, was scheduled to attend a meeting during which she was expected to address the controversy that has sparked a heated national debate about what it means to be “transracial.” The NAACP canceled the Monday meeting.
Last week, the organization said it has a tradition of receiving support from people of all colors and creeds, something Dolezal echoed in her resignation statement, which she posted to Facebook.
“It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley,” she wrote.
“Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It’s about justice. This is not me quitting; this is a continuum. It’s about moving the cause of human rights and the Black Liberation Movement along the continuum from Resistance to Chattel Slavery to Abolition to Defiance of Jim Crow to the building of Black Wall Street to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and into a future of self-determination and empowerment.”
And while we’re talking about Rachel Dolezal, it’s come to light that she sued Howard University in 2002 claiming “discrimination based on race, pregnancy, family responsibilities and gender.” She alleged that Professor Alfred Smith and other school officials improperly blocked her appointment to a teaching assistant post, rejected her application for a post-graduate instructorship, and denied her scholarship aid while she was a student.
article by Christina Coleman via hellobeautiful.com
Last week, the organization said it has a tradition of receiving support from people of all colors and creeds, something Dolezal echoed in her resignation statement, which she posted to Facebook.
“It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley,” she wrote.
“Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It’s about justice. This is not me quitting; this is a continuum. It’s about moving the cause of human rights and the Black Liberation Movement along the continuum from Resistance to Chattel Slavery to Abolition to Defiance of Jim Crow to the building of Black Wall Street to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and into a future of self-determination and empowerment.”
And while we’re talking about Rachel Dolezal, it’s come to light that she sued Howard University in 2002 claiming “discrimination based on race, pregnancy, family responsibilities and gender.” She alleged that Professor Alfred Smith and other school officials improperly blocked her appointment to a teaching assistant post, rejected her application for a post-graduate instructorship, and denied her scholarship aid while she was a student.
article by Christina Coleman via hellobeautiful.com
John Legend hasn’t been keeping quiet on police brutality or mass incarceration. Now, he is taking it a step further with his essay for Vulture speaking out on the suicide of Kalief Browder, the young man who spent three years on Rikers Island without a conviction.
Legend is justifiably upset about Browder’s treatment while incarcerated, and he recalls meeting him in 2013 after seeing him in a television interview.
From Vulture:
New York failed Kalief. The list of things that went wrong in his case begins with his first encounter with the NYPD, whose practice of targeting black teens is well documented. The idea that being accused of stealing a backpack would lead to his arrest and detention would be absurd if it weren’t actually tragic. He should not have been tried as an adult, or had prosecutors, defenders, and judges so overwhelmed with cases that he waited three years for trial, violating his constitutional right to swift justice. He should not have been held in an adult jail where he would spend 700 to 800 days of those three years in solitary confinement. He should not have spent one day being abused by guards or the others incarcerated there.
This Martin Luther King Day, Governor Cuomo publicly released findings from a task force he began last year to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice found that the patterns and practices at Rikers violate the human rights of adolescent males in jail. Rikers shouldn’t even have a youth unit. The RNDC, where Kalief spent three years, where 18-year-old Kenan Davis hanged himself this week, should not exist. Right now legislators in Albany are considering legislation that would end the automatic prosecution of 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, and remove youths like Kalief from Rikers and other jails throughout the state. Kalief died because our system is broken, and lawmakers can act now to stop tragedies like this in the future.
Read Legend’s entire essay here.
article by Ariel Cherie via theurbandaily.com
A new report from Coalition for the Homeless reveals that the number of unsheltered homeless people in the Houston area has dropped by 46 percent since 2011.
The statistics come from a “point-in-time” count of people who were experiencing homelessness on January 29, 2015, in the greater Houston area (Harris County and Fort Bend County) in Texas. The annual canvass found that there were 4,609 people either staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing or safe havens, or unsheltered (living in places not meant for human habitation, such as abandoned buildings or under bridges). In 2011, that number was 8,538. This puts the current homeless rate at 1 out of every 1,130 residents. That number was 1 out of every 450 residents in 2011. Just under 60 percent of those displaced citizens are black.
“It’s incredible,” said Marilyn Brown, president and CEO of Coalition for the Homeless in the Houston Chronicle’s article available behind the newspaper’s paywall. “When we see the result—that the number of homeless has been cut in half—we see we’ve gone from managing homelessness to ending it.” With 58 percent of the total homeless population installed in some type of housing, all signs point to that being true.
The coalition of homeless services providers said their success stems from the The Way Home, a local collaborative model adopted in 2012 with the goal of eradicating homelessness by installing permanent housing units and creating a coordinated intake, needs assessment and triage system that gets people the help they need more efficiently.
article by
“It’s incredible,” said Marilyn Brown, president and CEO of Coalition for the Homeless in the Houston Chronicle’s article available behind the newspaper’s paywall. “When we see the result—that the number of homeless has been cut in half—we see we’ve gone from managing homelessness to ending it.” With 58 percent of the total homeless population installed in some type of housing, all signs point to that being true.
The coalition of homeless services providers said their success stems from the The Way Home, a local collaborative model adopted in 2012 with the goal of eradicating homelessness by installing permanent housing units and creating a coordinated intake, needs assessment and triage system that gets people the help they need more efficiently.
article by