Dr. Maya Angelou poses at the the Special Recognition Event for Dr. Maya Angelou The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait at Dr. Angelou’s home June 21, 2010 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Ken Charnock/Getty Images) The book world is finally honoring Maya Angelou.
The poet and author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will be this year’s recipient of the Literarian Award, an honorary National Book Award for contributions to the literary community, the National Book Foundation announced today. It is the first major literary prize for the 85-year-old Angelou, who has been celebrated everywhere from the Grammy Awards to the White House. She has received three Grammys for best spoken word album, a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.
Speaking by telephone with The Associated Press, Angelou said she couldn’t wait to be in the same room as “some very big names in the literary world” and that the Literarian prize made her feel that she was “picking in high cotton.”
“Dr. Angelou’s body of work transcends the words on the page,” the book foundation’s executive director, Harold Augenbraum, said in a statement. “She has been on the front lines of history and the fight for social justice and decade after decade remains a symbol of the redemptive power of literature in the contemporary world.”
A. Phillip Randolph (AP Photo) “We are the advance guard of a massive moral revolution for jobs and freedom. This revolution reverberates throughout the land, touching every village where black men are segregated, oppressed and exploited,” the 74-year-old A. Philip Randolph told the estimated 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom fifty years ago on August 28, 1963. Although today Dr. King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech often symbolizes the March for many, it was very much a stand for black workers with longtime labor leader Randolph at the forefront. He was so committed that neither advanced age nor the death of his wife shortly before the March could keep him home. More than twenty years before, it was Randolph who had conceived the massive demonstration. Scheduled to take place July 1, 1941, the original March was intended to protest discrimination against black employment in defense industries and federal bureaus and demand that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issue an Executive Order to end such practices. So, on June 25, 1941, when Roosevelt, after exhausting all means, including personal appeals from his wife Eleanor to Randolph, to call off the march which anticipated 100,000 participants, issued Executive Order 8802 creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee and barring discrimination in defense industries and federal bureaus, Randolph called off the March in victory. Merging the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois by setting economic justice as the foundation of civil rights, Randolph would not stop or even begin here. Born Asa Philip Randolph, the second of his parents’ two sons, on April 15, 1889 in Crescent, Fla, near Jacksonville where he later grew up, service was a consistent message in his childhood. His father, the Rev. James W. Randolph, in keeping with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) philosophy, ministered to his congregation’s social and spiritual needs. Rev. Randolph and his wife Elizabeth, who hailed from a once enslaved family who were also AME members, taught their sons racial pride and self-respect. Encouraging young Asa Randolph’s healthy thirst for knowledge, Rev. Randolph filled the family’s home. Tall, handsome, popular and smart, Randolph sang in the choir, was a star baseball player and a great speaker. Despite graduating valedictorian from Cookman Institute (later incorporated into Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla.) in 1907, there was not suitable employment for him in Jacksonville. Not wishing to follow in his father’s footsteps as minister, Randolph hired himself out as a hand on a steamship and headed for New York City in 1911, shortly after he turned 22, with dreams of becoming an actor. In New York, he worked several jobs, including elevator operator, porter and waiter, while also studying English Literature and Sociology at City College at night. Despite organizing the Shakespearean Society in Harlem and playing several roles, including Hamlet, Othello and Romeo, Randolph was clearly destined to make his mark on a different stage. With kindred spirit Chandler Owen, a Columbia University student, Randolph founded the employment agency, the Brotherhood of Labor, where the two tried to unionize black workers.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOBSeN205pI&w=560&h=315] On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, President Barack Obama honored the legacy and spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with his own inspired speech this afternoon, echoing the call to freedom and justice that King’s own “I Have A Dream” speech did 50 years ago today. Obama’s speech was the culmination of a full day of celebration of the March on Washington’s golden anniversary. Watch his entire address above. article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom turns 50 today. A new PBS documentary reveals the details of what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described would be considered the “greatest demonstration for freedom” in American history. Narrated by Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, The Marchdedicates the majority of the 55 minute running time to the build-up of the momentous event (see clip below). Some 250,000 people gathered in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963, to raise awareness of the poor economic realities of African-Americans and to demand the passage of strong civil rights legislation. Clayborne Carson, a professor of history at Stanford University, was just 19 when he attended the march. “Every time I think back, I draw different meanings from it because of my subsequent experiences,” Carson told theGrio.com. “At the time I would not have fully understood the significance of what Dr. King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZQ35wzQ2ns&w=420&h=315] Carson, whose commentary is featured in The March, is also the director of Stanford’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. He says America does not have a good track record when it comes to understanding what King stood for. “The main thing we’ve gotten right is that he deserves a national holiday,” Carson said. “He was the most prominent figure in one of the most important movements in American history.”
Just over a decade ago, Vin Diesel shot from near-obscurity to earning a $10 million payday in what seemed like record time, racing from an ensemble role in “Saving Private Ryan” to headlining “XXX” in nearly four years. But those who think of Diesel as an overnight action star don’t know the half of it. “Vin is one of the most wildly misunderstood actor-producers out there,” says Universal co-chairman Donna Langley, whose connection with Diesel predates even 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious,” tracing back to “Boiler Room” at New Line. While Diesel’s fans are familiar with his muscular physique and the trademark thunder-roll of his voice, what they don’t necessarily realize is just how much work Diesel puts into developing the movies they see as pure popcorn fun — or how hard he struggled to get to this point. Before he became a star, Diesel broke through as an independent filmmaker, writing and directing work that was invited to screen at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. And before he retires, Diesel will likely step behind the camera again, maybe even to direct his long-brewing passion project, “Hannibal.”
U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Victor J. Glover just got the opportunity of a lifetime. The California Polytechnic State University grad was selected from a pool of over 6,000 applicants to become one of NASA’s eight new astronaut candidates. The astronaut trainee program will prepare the candidates for possible missions to low-Earth orbit, an asteroid and Mars by sending them through two years of rigorous technical training at space centers around the globe. Lt. Commander Glover, who is the only African American in this year’s class, set himself apart from the other applicants by penning a clever limerick. He explained in a press conference: “There was a lot of writing involved. The one that stands out the most is, we were asked to compose a tweet, a limerick, or a haiku. I believe I did a limerick, and it goes: ‘Eyes fixed, gazing off into space My mind in awe of the human race This is all dizzying to me Because I gave so much blood and pee Happy to be here, vice the colonoscopy place.” In addition to being one of NASA’s perspective astronauts and a F/A-18 pilot, Lt. Commander Glover and his wife Dionna have four daughters–Genesis, 10, Maya, 8, Joia, 6, and Corinne, 5. He is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. article by Britni Danielle via clutchmagonline.com
NBA player Chris Paul attends Movie Premiere ‘Let Me Explain’ with Kevin Hart during the 2013 BET Experience at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live on June 27, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for BET)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Chris Paul has already seemingly done the impossible by turning the long-languishing Los Angeles Clippers into a force in the Western Conference. Now he’s taken on another big task — rebuilding the reeling NBA players’ association. Paul was elected president of the players’ union Wednesday, replacing Derek Fisher and giving an organization cloaked in turmoil some much-needed star power at the top.
The vote by NBA player representatives came six months after the union fired Billy Hunter as executive director, a position that remains vacant and follows about 18 months of in-fighting and drama that occurred during the negotiations for the latest collective bargaining agreement. Hunter countered with a wrongful-termination lawsuit in May, accusing Fisher of conspiring with NBA officials during the 2011 lockout. “It’s not about me as president or the first vice president, it’s about the players as a whole,” Paul said in a conference call Wednesday night. One of Paul’s greatest gifts on the court is an ability to get everyone involved and make his teammates better. Now he’ll try to do the same thing with the union. After the lockout ended and the lawsuits started to take hold, there was a feeling among many players and observers that putting a big name in the big chair would help galvanize the group and get star players interested in participating again.
(Source: YouTube) What does your hair mean to you? For some of us it’s important enough; but for Asha Mandela, the woman with the world’s longest dredlocks, her hair is life itself. Mandela, 50, began growing her locks out 25 years ago in spiritual quest to change her life. Initially, her family didn’t support her decision but in 2009 when she earned the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest dredlocks and started gaining notoriety, they warmed up to the idea. (Ain’t that the way it goes.) Since 2009, her hair has gotten even more impressive. Today it’s 55 feet long and weighs 42 pounds. When she goes out in the street Asha has to wear a baby sling on her back just to carry it all. Being the black Rapunzel might sound like a cool title, but having this much hair comes with its drawbacks. Health side effects actually. Doctors have advised Mandela to cut her hair because it has already lead to a curvature in her spine and could lead to neck spasms in the future. But cutting it is not an option. Mandela says she and her hair are connected now– not just by the root, but spiritually. She credits the growth of her locks for helping her to overcome cancer, two strokes and two heart attacks. In fact she says, “If I ever gut my hair, I’d really be taking away my life.” So instead, of taking a pair of scissors to her hair, Mandela is going to keep living the life she’s adapted and grown accustomed to, which includes washes once a week, (which can take up to two days to dry), and that baby sling. Check out Asha and her hair in the video below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuwCmXh4CD8&w=420&h=315] article by Veronica Wells via madamenoire.com
Mo Farah, right, holds off his rivals to win the 5,000m world title in Moscow. Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
This was Mo Farah‘s immortal race: the victory he called “the sweetest by far”, the triumph that thrust him deeper into the realm of athletics‘ gods. Under cooling Moscow skies Farah fended off a sustained counterattack from Hagos Gebrhiwet and Isiah Kiplangat Koech to win his fifth global title, two more than any British athlete in history. He also became only the second man, after Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, to achieve the double-double of 5,000m and 10,000m golds at the Olympics and the following world championships. This is the company Farah now keeps.
But it was harder than last year: Farah admitted so himself. The teeth had to be gritted and clamped with 100m to go as greyhounds from Kenya and Ethiopia sniffed out and scampered after their prey. His battle roar was also delayed until moments before the line, when his lungs demanded release and he finally accepted that victory was safe. Then came the familiar gestures: eyes kindled and hands open in astonished glee before his body flopped on the track, tension escaping like air from a popped balloon after a job well done. “I never thought in my career I would achieve something like this,” said Farah, who won 5,000m gold in 13min 26.98sec, a step ahead of Gebrhiwet and Koech who took silver and bronze in the same time of 13:27.26sec. “This was very tough – it was all left to the last two laps and I had a lot of pressure. It was hard this year, harder than last year.”
Academy Award-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson was back in her home town of Chicago Wednesday to lend a hand with the back-to-school effort. The Oscar winner and her sister, Julia King, hosted a school supplies giveaway for low-income children at a South Side Salvation Army community center. “They can bring their list, pick and choose what they may need and go from there,” Hudson said. The third annual Hatch Day celebration was in honor of King’s son, Julian, who was killed in their Englewood home several years ago along with their mother and brother. The event is always held on Julian’s birthday, who would have been 12 years old this year. “He was so into education, which is part of why we chose to give back in this way,” Hudson said.
There were enough supplies on hand for 5,000 kids, including backpacks, notebooks, pens and pencils. “You lead by example, and I feel like we’re leading by example. We’re hatching the dreams of thousands of children,” Julia King said. Hudson told NBC 5 she has an album and three films coming out, including the lead role in next month’s “Winnie Mandela,” the story of Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife.
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, President Barack Obama honored the legacy and spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with his own inspired speech this afternoon, echoing the call to freedom and justice that King’s own “I Have A Dream” speech did 50 years ago today. Obama’s speech was the culmination of a full day of celebration of the March on Washington’s golden anniversary. Watch his entire address above.
Just over a decade ago, 
