November 21, 2024
Good Black News joins in the honoring and remembrance of the women who gave us life, nurtured and raised us, and also offered us solace, counsel and wisdom.
Many of us can’t be with the mothers or mother figures in our lives today in person due to the global COVID-19 crisis, but we are with you in voice, online and always – in spirit!
To all the mothers out there – be they Aunties, Grandmothers, Cousins or Friends – thank you for all you do!
Happy Mother’s Day!
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
Nancy Redd, author of Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers, dedicated herself to boosting the self-esteem of much younger girls in her latest book, Bedtime Bonnet.
Written by Harvard graduate Redd and illustrated by TV animation character designer Nneka Myers, Bedtime Bonnet, published by Random House Kids, is the first-ever children’s picture book that honors the time-honored practice of Black women protecting their hair with satin bonnets.
The idea for Bedtime Bonnet came from her daughter’s reaction to being told she needed to wear one at 3 years old.
“She was like, ‘I don’t want to wear a bonnet, bonnets are for old people,’” Redd recalled to Essence.
To quote the Essence article further:
“Because when you’re 3 or 4, you are not going to sleepovers, you know what I mean? And we moved far away from our extended family. So it’s not like I was hanging out with the cousins and she was able to see other people her age,” said Redd. “She only saw me and grandma in a bonnet.”
She continued, “I just didn’t know how to explain it to her because of the cartoon characters she would watch. Even the Black ones, they don’t wear anything to bed on their head, which now is a huge plot hole that causes me stress. Like when little children are going to bed, they are just laying their head on top of that cotton pillowcase and it stresses me out.”
Redd merged her annoyance with her talents to write Bedtime Bonnet. The quick read features the full lips, brown skin, glorious locs, buoyant curls, and soft caresses that have made up the nightly routine of Black families for generations. Du-rags, silk scarves, wave caps, and doobie wraps are all represented in its pages. Redd wanted to transfer her love of the self-care ritual onto her little girl and children around the world.
To order Bedtime Bonnet via Amazon, click here.
To read more via Essence, click here.
According to Chalkbeat.org, Voncile Campbell, a math teacher at Bow Elementary-Middle School in Detroit, MI transforms into a new fantasy character on the regular. A little boy hunting for treasure with pirates. An owl playing with a fox. A teddy bear king who can’t fall asleep.
Ever since Campbell’s school shut down in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, she’s created a new role for herself as a bedtime storyteller.
To quote the article by Eleanore Catolico:
By posting videos on the school’s Facebook page at 8 p.m. nightly, Campbell is staying connected to her students and letting them know they’re still with her in spirit during the closure.
“I thought about how we have a low return of homework and students who say that there’s nobody reading to them at home,” she said. “And I really just wanted to do something to connect with my students by reading to them at night because I wanted to show them that I personally am still thinking about them.”
The novel coronavirus pandemic has disrupted students’ routines. They’re disconnected from the classmates and teachers they’re accustomed to seeing every day. For Campbell, telling bedtime stories creates stability and calm during a time of uncertainty.
She begins every video with the same phrase: “Good evening, scholars and friends. It’s time for tonight’s bedtime story.” She recites each line softly and calmly, modifying her vocal level as she embodies each character.
Campbell’s videos are quickly gaining popularity through word of mouth. They’ve collected thousands of views and been shared multiple times in the last week. She’s received a lot of positive feedback and continues to refine her approach by adding colorful images from the storybooks. A picture from the story pops up on the screen while she reads. She also started dividing the stories into episodes, asking students to email her predictions on what will happen next.
Anyone, anywhere, at any age, can make a difference if they want. And Seven year-old Maryland child Cavanaugh Bell is doing exactly that.
According to fox5dc.com, young philanthropist Bell spent $600 of his own money, saved up from three Christmases and two birthdays, to create 65 “COVID-19 Carepacks” in addition to 31 hot meals from restaurant Buca Di Beppo, to serve to senior citizens and help local businesses impacted by being closed after Gov. Larry Hogan shut down restaurants Monday.
Cavanaugh filled several shopping carts at Target with food and a bottle of bleach to hand out to seniors. On top of that, he also helped feed 90 students in need on Thursday.
Cavanaugh started a non-profit called “Cool and Dope” with the mission to “eradicate all bullying and youth suicide through political and social action by his 18th birthday on Nov. 20, 2030.”
To read more: https://www.fox5dc.com/news/maryland-boy-uses-600-of-savings-to-make-coronavirus-care-packages-for-seniors-feed-90-students
According to NBCSports.com, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and singer Ciara have pledged 1 million meals to Food Lifeline and Feeding America in an effort to help keep Americans in need fed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
To quote the article:
“Obviously this worldwide pandemic, coronavirus, is changing the world, second-by-second, minute-by minute. People are losing loved ones, the elderly and the young, people in between. … So what we’ve decided to do is partner with our local food bank in Seattle, Seattle Food Lifeline, and we’re going to donate a million meals and hopefully make a difference,” Wilson said in a video message.
Wilson and Ciara mentioned people losing jobs in the wake of increasing shut down initiatives in an effort to keep the spread of the virus from proliferating an exponential rates. They’ve already seen friends in the area that work for companies such as Alaska Airlines, the Seattle Sounders – where the pair are part owners – and Seattle Children’s Hospital hit with the effects of the virus.
“We want to encourage every out there to join us in whatever way that you can, big or small,” Ciara said. “Everything makes a difference. Everything that we do together makes a difference and together we will conquer this tough time that we’re going through.”
The Feeding America network of food banks “distributes 4.3 billion meals each year through food pantries and meal programs throughout the United States and leads the nation to engage in the fight against hunger.”
To address the increased need for food assistance during the COVID-19 outbreak amid school closures and social distancing, the EBONY Foundation starting today, wants community to know “WE GOT YOU” by coordinating the delivery over a million tons of food to community members in need.
This food recovery initiative will start in Detroit serving Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties and the EBONY Foundation seeks to use this model in communities nationwide.
Experts agree that school closures and social distancing will play an important role in limiting the transmission of coronavirus. Families and advocates have concerns about how system-wide closures will impact communities who rely on schools for a range of public services, including providing low-income children with breakfast and lunch, which at times may be the only meal they receive during the day.
The EBONY Foundation has appointed Darryl Anderson of Unique Food Management as the Michigan coalition Chair to coordinate organizations such as Meals on Wheels, Lighthouse, Forgotten Harvest and over dozen food pantries with one common mission – to move over a million tons of food and feed over 650,000 children and seniors weekly during this pandemic. Anderson has over a decade of state and nationwide organizing in food recovery distribution.
National emergencies affect each community differently. For over 75 years the EBONY and JET brand has been at the forefront of championing social justice issues for the Black community. As the quote goes, “When American catches a cold. The Black community catches pneumonia.” Now we have the coronavirus, which has a catastrophic impact on our community, education, economics, and basic health – and EBONY will step up.
“Our families often live in households without food or water at times and now we have this pandemic. Some families rely routinely on food pantries, even in relatively healthy economic times. Some families have no safety nets. school closures would cut off access to some of their only reliable meals. When resources get tight, people without means tend to get squeezed the hardest,” says a spokesperson from the EBONY Foundation.
“The problem is straightforward: Without school, a lot of our communities kids often don’t eat. Close to 30 million children use the National School Lunch Program each year.”
Anderson will be coordinating the EBONY Foundation’s pilot initiative of grab & go breakfast and lunch pickups at the schools as well as negotiating with the school district for school bus deliveries to those that are homebound.
Partnering organizations and schools include: Variety Feeds, Micah 6 Sprout, Baldwin Center, Dream Center, All Saints Church, Pontiac Youth Rec, Meet Up and Eat up, Avondale Elementary and Middle School, and the Waterford Schools.
For more information or to get help coordinating resources in another state, reach out to: wefeedyou@ebonyjet.org and www.ebonyjet.org.
Creative 9-year-old Nevaeh Woods from Detroit decided to make her passion for making clothing for Barbie dolls into a business and her designs have gotten attention of a big name company, according to WDIV Detroit.
Woods started making doll clothes out of whatever she could get her hands on and now her creations are getting noticed by the Barbie Mattel team.
“When I grow up, I want to be a fashion designer,” Neveah said. In a way, according to NewsOne, she already is a fashion designer. She makes clothes for her Barbie dolls out of everyday items like ribbon, socks and scissors.
Her mother, Sha’kvia Woods, watches and encourages her daughter, but they still surprised her.
“I just took pictures of them, so I was really amazed,” Woods said. “I shared it to Facebook and then I got a lot of my friends say make this public and when I made it public it just went viral.”
Her designs caught the attention of Mattel, the maker of Barbie. “Barbie sent me this amazing box, but we don’t know what’s inside it yet. Today we’re going to find out,” Neveah said.
Inside the box were plenty of new Barbies to style.
“It made me feel special because I’m achieving my goal to be a fashion designer and that’s what I really want to do,” Neveah said. “So I can be famous and make stuff and encourage people to follow their dreams.”
New York author and creator of the #BlackPantherChallenge, Frederick Joseph, launches the #SantaClausChallenge after learning the Operation Cover Chicago 2019 toy drive was short 9,000 toys. With only four days until the toy drive, Joseph called on others to join the challenge by donating or buying a gift for kids in Chicago.
Another Chance Church, launched Operation Cover Chicago 2019 with the aim to make it a Christmas to remember for 10,000 families who otherwise couldn’t afford to buy toys. Statistics show that the Chicagoland community is comprised of 9% of students who are homeless and 45% of adults who are unemployed or under-employed.
Frederick Joseph kicked off the #SantaClausChallenge with a $500 donation to their GoFundMe, which aims to raise $35,000 to purchase toys for children ages three to 15. Inspired by his generosity, GoFundMe made a donation of $5,000. “All children deserve to feel like they matter, especially during the Holidays,” said Frederick Joseph. “This is an opportunity to show them that the community cares and is standing behind all families. I’m calling on others to take action and donate to help more kids experience the joy of Christmas.”
As of December 17th, the challenge met its goal by raising $35,000 to service 10,000 families.
Joseph successfully created the #BlackPantherChallenge, an international movement that raised over $950,000 to send over 73,000 children to see the Black Panther film for free in 2018. He’s been rallying behind community based GoFundMes ever since, having raised over $1.25 million to date for good causes.
Operation Cover Chicago 2019 will be giving away the toys to 10,000 families on December 20, 2019 at 9550 S. Harvard Chicago IL, 60628 at 7pm. To make a donation, visit:
According to wthr.com, after having trouble finding a Santa Claus her sons could relate to, Dallas psychiatrist Jihan Woods decided to make sure others wouldn’t encounter the same problem.
In 2018, she created a Kickstarter campaign raising some $5,000 in 30 days. The result was a very special app called “Find Black Santa.”
“After several years of trying to find a Santa that was relatable – that my children could identify with, I realized that kind of all over the U.S., but specifically in Dallas, I wasn’t able to find a Santa that represented our family,” Woods explained.
The app lists Santas in 35 states and Washington, D.C. – from Oregon, to one in the Mall of America, and as far south as Florida. She’s even located them in London, Canada, and Amsterdam.
Since creating the app, organizations have reached out to Woods to tell her about their black Santas. And black Santas have asked her to list them for events.
To find Black Santa, click here.
To read more: https://www.wthr.com/article/app-helps-families-search-black-santa
Filmmaker and entrepreneur Tyler Perry told Gayle King on CBS This Morning this week that his eponymous film studio in Atlanta will soon provide a safe haven for homeless women, displaced LGBTQ youth, and sex trafficking victims.
Perry is the first African American man to own a major movie studio, a 330-acre property that was once a Confederate Army base. But he is most excited about the aspect of helping those in need. “You know, the studio’s gonna be what it is,” Perry said.
“I’ll tell you what I’m most excited about next is pulling this next phase off, is building a compound for trafficked women, girls, homeless women, LGBTQ youth who are put out and displaced … somewhere on these 330 acres, where they’re trained in the business and they become self-sufficient.”
“They live in nice apartments. There’s day care. There’s all of these wonderful things that allows them to reenter society. And then pay it forward again,” Perry continued. “So that’s what I hope to do soon.”
The land for Tyler Perry Studios was acquired by Perry in 2015 and is located on the historic grounds of the former Fort McPherson army base in Atlanta, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Think about the poetic justice in that,” Perry said. “The Confederate Army is fighting to keep Negroes enslaved in America, fighting, strategy, planning on this very ground. And now this very ground is owned by me.”
The major motion picture studio includes 40 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, 12 purpose-built sound stages named after African-American luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey, Diahann Carroll, and Harry Belafonte, 200 acres of green space, and a diverse backlot.
To read more: https://www.blackenterprise.com/tyler-perry-studios/
