The opportunity to ride on a city-sponsored float at the annual Rose Parade has been almost 60 years in the making for 82-year-old Pasadena, Calif., native Joan Williams. The honor was originally denied her in 1958 when officials found out that she was black, the Pasadena Star-News reports.
Williams was chosen as Miss Crown City in 1957—a title given to a City Hall employee, who would then be honored by riding on a city-sponsored float during the iconic New Year’s Day celebration and would represent the city at events before the parade, the news site notes.
“I was young and it was exciting,” recalled Williams, who was 27 and had two young children at the time.
Her excitement, however, was cut short months later once it was discovered that Williams, while light-skinned, was black. All of a sudden the city did not have a float to include in the parade because too many entrants had already been accepted, the city claimed. All of this was decided at the last minute, even though the city had already paid for a portrait of Williams decked out in a gown, corsage and tiara.
Portrait of Joan Williams commissioned by the city in honor of her selection as Miss Crown City (ABC NEWS)
To add insult to injury, the mayor later refused to take a picture with her at a city employees’ picnic when requested by a Jet photographer.
“It was one of the first times, as an adult, I began to grow up and realize what racism is,” Williams said. “Somehow I wasn’t the person they wanted on that float anymore just because of my heritage. … You can imagine the slap in the face that is.”
Now, 56 years later, Williams is getting some retribution: She is once again being given the opportunity to ride in the parade. However, according to the Star News, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard has acknowledged that officials have made no attempt at an apology. He did say that he contacted Williams and invited her to lunch after he heard about what happened to her.
“We didn’t dwell on what happened in the past,” he told the Star-News. “She’s a very nice person. I’m delighted to have come to know her and now consider her a friend.”
It was after their meeting that officials arranged for Williams to ride on the banner float, which will carry the parade’s theme, “Inspiring Stories,” at the top of the parade.
Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade Queen, 17 Year-Old Madison Triplett (Photo: Ramona Rosales)
On January 1, Rose Queen Madison Triplett will preside over Pasadena’s annual cavalcade of flowery floats. The Marshall Fundamental Secondary School senior first dreamed of becoming local royalty at age seven.
The competition for Rose Queen began in September with 700 hopefuls and consisted of four interview rounds. “In the Pasadena area it’s sort of a rite of passage to try out for the court,” she says.
“In the third round I was asked, ‘What’s something no one knows about you?’ I told them that sometimes I record myself singing and listen to it. They started laughing. I didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing.”
Tomorrow, Madison will wake up at 2:15 a.m. before being chauffeured to the Tournament House to begin prepping for the 126th Rose Parade. To wave like a pro, she will cup her fingers together, hold her arm at a 90-degree angle, and move only her forearm.
Madison, a varsity volleyball player who plans to study economics at Tulane University and one day start a nonprofit to educate minorities on financial literacy, is the 97th Rose Queento reign at the Tournament of Roses Parade. article by Marah Alindogan via lamag.com
Taney Dragons Pitcher Mo’ne Davis tips her hat as she is introduced and recognized before the game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on August 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Brian Garfinkel/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — No one in the sports world had heard of the 2014 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year until August.
That’s when 13-year-old Mo’ne Davis became an instant celebrity as she took the pitching mound in baseball’s Little League World Series and mowed down batter after batter, giving “throw like a girl” a whole new meaning.
She was the first girl to win a Little League World Series game, and her performance dazzled fans young and old. Her steely gaze and demeanor on the mound were intimidating, while off-the-field, she shined in interviews. She told admirers that if they thought she was good at baseball, they should see her play basketball. Only in eighth grade, Davis already plays for her school’s high school varsity basketball team. Davis appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, has her jersey displayed in baseball’s Hall of Fame and was named Sports Kid of the Year by Sports Illustrated Kids.
She met the Obamas at the White House, starred in a Spike Lee-directed car commercial (the NCAA said it wouldn’t hurt her eligibility), marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade along with her Taney Dragons teammates and presented Pharrell Williams with Soul Train’s “Song of the Year” award.
Increasingly a fashion icon as much as a musical one, Kanye Westhas been voted GQ’s Most Stylish Man of the Year, facing off against Idris Elbain the final bracket of a user-based poll for the site.
Earlier this year, West was featured on the magazine’s cover for a feature article about his status in the fashion industry and opened up about previous comments regarding the difficulty he’s encountered breaking in.
“Alexander Wang made sure that I was able to go to a Balenciaga show, and I was never allowed to do that before because I was a celebrity,” he said. “Listen to what I’m saying—me, as Kanye West: I guarantee you, I’m more than 50 percent responsible for every men’s shoe that [Balenciaga] sell. Me, the singular person. More than 50 percent responsible for every Balenciaga shoe they sell. And they would say, ‘You can’t come to the show, because you are a celebrity.’ But all honesty, no ego, I have a level of influence, and I have a level of respect for the designers. And we move product on that Barneys floor.”
While initial plans for West’s collaboration with adidas hinted at a fall drop-date for the next installment of his increasingly coveted Yeezy sneakers, the follow-up has yet to be released and looks to be slated for an early 2015 debut instead. Nonetheless, 2014 saw the last of his collaborations with Nike released in the form of an already legendary all-red color-way of his Yeezy 2’s. The rapper also released two collaborative lines with the high-end French fashion brand A.P.C., the latest of which included a $780 bomber jacket and a $90 plain white tee. article by Jay Balfour via theurbandaily.com
(L to R) Robert A. Fisher, Rachel V. Harmon, Ridwan Y. Hassen, Tayo A. Sanders II, and Sarah E. Yermina
The Rhodes Trust has announced the latest class of 32 American students who will study at the University of Oxford as Rhodes Scholars. Being named a Rhodes Scholar is considered among the highest honors that can be won by a U.S. college student.
The scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, an industrialist who made a vast fortune in colonial Africa. According to the will of Rhodes, applicants must have “high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership, and physical vigor.”
In 1907 Alain LeRoy Locke, later a major philosopher and literary figure of the Harlem Renaissance, was selected as a Rhodes Scholar to study at Oxford University. It is generally believed that at the time of the award the Rhodes committee did not know that Locke was Black until after he had been chosen. It would be more than 50 years later, in 1962, until another African American would be named a Rhodes Scholar.
That year, John Edgar Wideman, now a famed author as well as a professor at Brown University, was selected. Other African Americans who have won Rhodes Scholarships include Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School, Kurt Schmoke, former mayor of Baltimore, and Franklin D. Raines, former director of the Office of Management and Budget and former CEO of Fannie Mae. In 1978, Karen Stevenson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the first African-American woman selected as a Rhodes Scholar.
This year’s class of Rhodes Scholars was chosen from a pool of 877 students who were endorsed by 305 different colleges and universities. There were 207 finalists from 86 colleges and universities that were selected in 16 different geographic districts. Two students from each district were chosen as Rhodes Scholars. Students can enter the competition in the district in which they reside or the district where they attended college.
Of this year’s 32 American Rhodes Scholars, it appears that five are African Americans. Robert A. Fisher is a senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is majoring in political science with minors in history and Africana studies. He previously won a Truman Scholarship. Fisher is the student body president at the university and has a perfect academic record. Fisher will study for a master’s degree in comparative social policy at Oxford. Rachel V. Harmon is from Champaign, Illinois. She is a senior at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she is majoring in industrial and labor relations. Before starting her college career, Harmon was an AmeriCorps volunteer at a rural elementary school in the Mississippi Delta. She plans on studying for a master’s degree in evidence-based social policy at Oxford. Ridwan Y. Hassen is a senior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Hassen is majoring in computer science with an emphasis on neuroscience. He began his college career at Emory University and transferred to Dartmouth after two years. He is the son of refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia. At Dartmouth, he is a member of the Endurance Racing Team. Hassen is planning to pursue a master’s degree in public policy at Oxford. Tayo A. Sanders II is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he is majoring in materials science. Sanders previously won a Goldwater Scholarship. Sanders has conducted research in the nanomaterials laboratory at the University of Strasbourg in France. Sanders is a triathlete. At Oxford, Sanders plans to earn a Ph.D. in materials science. Sarah E. Yermina is a senior at Princeton University in New Jersey. She is majoring in sociology. During the summer of 2013, Yerima completed an intensive program in Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro. She will enroll in a two-year, master’s degree program in politics at Oxford. After studying at Oxford, Yermina plans to enter a joint J.D./Ph.D. and hopes to become a professor of law. article via jbhe.com
Jahvaris Fulton and Tracy Martin (Source: Twitter)
According to blackenterprise.com, Jahvaris Fulton, the older brother of slain Sanford, Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, recently graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology.
Fulton, 22, has made the best of his opportunities since losing his little brother to violence. Prior to graduating, Jahvaris served as a congressional intern for Florida Representative Frederica Wilson.
Wilson, a founder of 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, also counts Fulton as a member who helped to encourage at-risk in Miami-Dade schools to stay in school.
Recently, Jahvaris and Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, spoke on CNN’s Anderson Cooper show to highlight the wide breadth of miscommunication that exists between persons of color and white America. “It’s not happening to them, so they don’t quite get it,” she told Cooper in an interview that aired Friday. “They don’t quite understand. They think that it’s a small group of African Americans that’s complaining: ‘Oh, what are they complaining about now?’” Tracy Martin, Jahvaris Fulton and Sybrina Fulton (Source: Twitter)
This week, however, was all about celebrating Jahvaris’ success in higher academia. The exciting news was confirmed via Twitter, with many attendees tweeting their congrats. article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
Shonda Rhimes attends The Hollywood Reporter’s 23rd Annual Women In Entertainment Breakfast at Milk Studios on Dec. 10. (Valerie Macon / Getty Images Entertainment) Shonda Rhimes is a visionary writer and producer whose successful shows — her creations Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder, which Rhimes executive produces — have changed the representation of women, LGBT people, and people of color on television. And on Wednesday, she accepted the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at the annual Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Breakfast.
The event was packed with powerful executives, actors, and previous honorees. Tony Goldwyn, who plays Fitz on Scandal, began Rhimes’ introduction — and gave way to a video message from first lady Michelle Obama, who called Rhimes “a friend.” (She also confessed to being a Scandal addict.)
Rhimes took the podium to a standing ovation and delivered a moving speech in which she paid tribute to the women who went before her and cleared the way for her to create groundbreaking television.
Here is her speech in full:
“When my publicist called to tell me that I was receiving this honor, I screwed up my face and I said, ‘Are you sure? Me?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Why?’ And then I said, ‘No really, WHY?’
And I made him call and ask for some written reason why I was getting this award. Because I really and truly was worried that there might have been some kind of mistake.
I want to pause for a beat here to say that I don’t say these things to be self- deprecating and humble. I am not a self-deprecating, humble person. I think I’m a pretty fantastic badass. But I also think that The Hollywood Reporter Sherry Lansing Award is extraordinary — as is Sherry Lansing herself. So… no, really, WHY?
They sent a written reason why I was getting this award. It said many nice things, but the main thing that it was said was that I was getting the award in recognition of my breaking through the industry’s glass ceiling as a woman and an African-American.
Well. I call my publicist back. Because I just don’t know about this. I mean, I’m concerned now.
Film and television awards season continued ramping up as the nominations for the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning. David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma”; director Ava DuVernay (insert) Martin Luther King Jr. biopic “Selma” scored big with nominations not only for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Original Song (“Glory” by John Legend and Common) and Best Actor (David Oyelowo), but also with the first Golden Globe nomination for an African American female director, Ava DuVernay.
“Annie” star Quvenzanhé Wallis earned a nod in the Best Actress – Comedy or Musical category and in television, Viola Davis was honored with a nom in the Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama for her starring role in “How To Get Away With Murder.” Don Cheadle was recognized in the Best Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical for his work in “House of Lies” and Uzo Aduba received a nod for her supporting work in “Orange is the New Black.”
The Golden Globes, hosted for the second year by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, will take place Jan. 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and air live on NBC at 8pm EST.
Below is the full list of nominations: BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
BOYHOOD
IFC Productions and Detour Filmproduction; IFC Films
FOXCATCHER
Annapurna Pictures; Sony Pictures Classics
THE IMITATION GAME
Black Bear Pictures; The Weinstein Company
SELMA
Paramount Pictures and Pathé; Paramount Pictures
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Working Title Films; Focus Features
2014 SAG nominees Viola Davis (l), Cicely Tyson (c) and Uzo Aduba (r)
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced the nominees for the 21st Annual SAG Awards today. Among those honored were industry veteran Cicely Tyson, who earned a nod in the “Best Female Actor in a Television movie or Miniseries” category for her work in “A Trip to Bountiful.” (In 2013, the same role on Broadway earned Tyson a Tony Award for Best Actress.) Viola Davis was recognized with a nomination in the Female Actor in a Drama Series category for ABC’s “How To Get Away With Murder” and “Orange Is The New Black”‘s Uzo Abuda garnered a nod for Female Actor in a Comedy Series.
The SAG Awards will air live Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. PST on TBS and TNT from the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles. The full list of nominees follows below:
NAACP Image Award Best Picture nominee “Dear White People”
“Belle,” “Beyond the Lights,” “Dear White People,” “Get On Up” and “Selma” have grabbed top film nominations for the 46th annual NAACP Image Awards.
The Image Awards will be handed out Feb. 6 in a ceremony telecast live by TV One.
“Get On Up” star Chadwick Boseman, “Selma’s” David Oyelowo, Nate Parker of “Beyond the Lights,” Gugu Mbatha-Raw of “Belle” and Tessa Thompson of “Dear White People” are among the actors who were cited.
Boseman, Oyelowo and Mbatha-Raw are all portraying real-life people.
In the TV heat, ABC freshman “Black-ish” and “How to Get Away with Murder,” Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” BET’s “The Game” and “Being Mary Jane” were among the top nominees. ABC did well, earning three of the five drama-series nominations. Also notable was Lifetime’s scoring seven of the 10 nominations in the two lead acting categories for telefilm/miniseries/dramatic special.
Here is a full list of Image Award nominees: MOTION PICTURE
Motion Picture
“Belle” (Fox Searchlight Pictures/ DJ Films)
“Beyond The Lights” (Relativity Media)
“Dear White People” (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)
“Get On Up” (Universal Pictures)
“Selma” (Paramount Pictures)
Actor in a Motion Picture
Chadwick Boseman – “Get On Up” (Universal Pictures)
David Oyelowo – “Selma” (Paramount Pictures)
Denzel Washington – “The Equalizer” (Columbia Pictures)
Idris Elba – “No Good Deed” (Screen Gems)
Nate Parker – “Beyond The Lights” (Relativity Media)
Actress in a Motion Picture
Gugu Mbatha-Raw – “Belle” (Fox Searchlight Pictures/ DJ Films)
Quvenzhané Wallis – “Annie” (Columbia Pictures)
Taraji P. Henson – “No Good Deed” (Screen Gems)
Tessa Thompson – “Dear White People” (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)
Viola Davis – “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” (The Weinstein Company)
