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Posts published in “Commemorations”

R.I.P. Native American Activist And Actor Russell Means

By goodblacknews on October 23, 2012

Russell Means Died Last Of The MohicansActivist and actor Russell Means died of cancer Monday at his home in Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was 72. A prominent member of the American Indian movement, he was instrumental in Marlon Brando having a Native American accept Brando’s Best Actor Oscar at the 1973 Academy Awards as a way of highlighting the plight of American Indians. Means also appeared in several films: He debuted as an actor in Michael Mann’s 1992 film The Last Of The Mohicans with Daniel Day-Lewis, and his big-screen credits include Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers and the voice of the Powhatan in Disney’s 1995 animated Pocahontas as well as the 1998 sequel. Means also appeared on TV in show such as HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and CBS’ Nash Bridges.

article via deadline.com

Born On This Day in 1917: Jazz Legend Dizzy Gillespie

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2012

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1s5CWbYyao&w=420&h=315]

Ninety-five years ago today, jazz trumpet innovator and bebop pioneer John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina.  Gillespie, who famously lead his own orchestra as well as recorded with Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, is best known for his compositions “Salt Peanuts,” “Woody N’ You” and “A Night In Tunisia,” as well as popularizing Afro-Cuban jazz in the United States. Learn more about his life and music by clicking here and watch his “Manteca” above.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

University Of Virginia Honors Man Who Rang College Bell For Sixty-Two Years

By goodblacknews on October 19, 2012


The University of Virginia recently installed a plaque in front of the University Chapel which honors Henry Martin.
Martin was born a slave in 1826. He was a free man when hired by the university in 1847 as a janitor and to ring the bell in the university’s Rotunda. He rang the bell at dawn and every hour for the remainder of the day. After a fire in the Rotunda, the bell was moved to the University chapel. All told, Martin was the university’s bell ringer from 1847 to 1909, a period of 62 years.
The plaque was sponsored by the IDEA Fund, a group founded to promoted diversity on campus. IDEA stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access.

Rodney Jerkins, Wife Joy Enriquez Welcome Baby Girl | EURweb

By goodblacknews on October 19, 2012

Rodney Jerkins 7 Wife

Music producer Rodney Jerkins and his wife, Joy Enriquez, have welcomed their third child — a daughter named Hannah Joy, US Weekly reports.

Read more at: Rodney Jerkins, Wife Joy Enriquez Welcome Baby Girl | EURweb.

Rodney Jerkins, Wife Joy Enriquez Welcome Baby Girl | EURweb

By goodblacknews on October 19, 2012

Rodney Jerkins 7 Wife

Music producer Rodney Jerkins and his wife, Joy Enriquez, have welcomed their third child — a daughter named Hannah Joy, US Weekly reports.
Read more at: Rodney Jerkins, Wife Joy Enriquez Welcome Baby Girl | EURweb.

Gabby Douglas Wins Sportswoman of Year Award

By goodblacknews on October 18, 2012
Olympic gymnast Gabrielle Douglas attends the 33rd Annual Salute To Women In Sports Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on October 17, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)Olympic gymnast Gabrielle Douglas attends the 33rd Annual Salute To Women In Sports Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on October 17, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (AP) — Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas has won Sportswoman of the Year honors from the Women’s Sports Foundation.  The gymnast won the award Wednesday night, beating out Lindsey Vonn, London Olympians Serena Williams, Missy Franklin, Allyson Felix, and Paralympians Jessica Long and Tatyana McFadden. Douglas is the third gymnast to win the award, joining fellow Olympic gold medalists Mary Lou Retton (1984) and Nastia Liukin (2008). Liukin presented Douglas with the award, given to an individual athlete who exhibits exceptional performances. Douglas won the all-around gold at the London Olympics, the fourth American — and first African-American — to win gymnastics’ biggest prize. She also helped the U.S. women to the team title, their first since 1996 and second overall.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

Seventeen Years Ago Today: Million Man March Took Place On Washington’s National Mall

By goodblacknews on October 16, 2012

Million Man March
The Million Man March (pictured throughout), one of the most moving and emotional moments ever in African-American history, took place on the grounds of the National Mall on this day in 1995. The symbolic importance and cultural impact of the huge gathering signified a shift in the attention on issues that plagued urban environs and minorities. The National African American Leadership Summit and the Nation of Islam worked in tandem alongside local chapters of the NAACP to make the March a reality.

Forty-Eight Years Ago Today: Martin Luther King Jr. Wins Nobel Peace Prize

By goodblacknews on October 14, 2012
Martin Luther King Jr.
On Oct. 14, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the civil rights movement at age 35, making him the youngest person to receive the honor.  By the mid-’60s, King was known internationally for his work in advocating racial equality through nonviolent civil disobedience. King was influenced by Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi and appropriated many of his theories about nonviolence in his organization of peaceful protests that were often met with brutal violence by whites. 
Upon notification of his Nobel win, King announced that he would donate the $54,123 in prize money to further the civil rights movement.  King continued to work as an activist and an outspoken advocate of civil rights until he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee.
article by Naeesa Aziz via bet.com (Photo: Keystone/Getty Images)

Bahamas To Get ‘Sidney Poitier’ Bridge

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2012
Sidney Poitier attends the 40th AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Shirley MacLaine held at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7, 2012 in Culver City, California. The AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Shirley MacLaine will premiere on TV Land on Saturday, June 24 at 9PM ET/PST. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)Sidney Poitier attends the 40th AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Shirley MacLaine held at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7, 2012 in Culver City, California. The AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Shirley MacLaine will premiere on TV Land on Saturday, June 24 at 9PM ET/PST. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — A bridge in the Bahamas is being renamed to honor Sidney Poitier, who spent part of his childhood in the island chain east of Florida.  Prime Minister Perry Christie says the Paradise Island Bridge will be rechristened as part of next month’s 40th anniversary celebration of Bahamian independence. Christie says the 88-year-old film star is being honored because of his life story and diplomacy. Poitier has been Bahamian ambassador to Japan and UNESCO.

The Oscar-winning Poitier was born in the United States but spent much of his childhood on Cat Island, a sparsely populated island in the central Bahamas.  The Paradise Island Bridge is the largest in the Bahamas. It connects the capital to the Atlantis resort, one of the region’s top tourist destinations. The renaming was announced Tuesday.

story by The Associated Press via thegrio.com

Dylan Penningroth and Dinaw Mengestu Win 2012 MacArthur Fellowships

By lorilakinhutcherson on October 7, 2012

Dylan C. Pennigroth (left) and Dinaw Mengestu (right)

Penningroth received a B.A. (1993) from Yale University and an M.A. (1996) and a Ph.D. (2000) from Johns Hopkins University. He was affiliated with the University of Virginia (1999–2002) prior to his appointment as associate professor in the Department of History at Northwestern University in 2003. Since 2007, he has also been an American Bar Foundation research professor. Northwestern University Professor Dylan C. Penningroth and writer Dinaw Mengestu are among this year’s recipients of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, commonly known as the “genius grant.”  The MacArthur Fellowship is a “no strings attached” award bestowed annually to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations.