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MUSIC MONDAY: “Lean on Me” – Playlist Honoring Artists Who Passed in 2020 (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Lean on Me” – Playlist Honoring Artists Who Passed in 2020 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on December 28, 2020

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Here’s a playlist of music artists who died this year. Although their beautiful voices and talents were lost in 2020, we can enjoy them for years to come.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:60iICEwa7tcL2qIaCIdF2a”]

Musicians are often our collective voices, sharing ideas and feelings through their lyrics and melodies that the rest of us struggle to express. It’s why the deaths of musicians are often difficult to process.

It’s hard to say goodbye to the people who made the art and culture that define our times and speak so directly to us. This collection features soul, hip-hop, country, jazz, and other artists that have been taken by COVID-19, long illness, natural causes, gun violence, and overdoses.

There’s only one way into this world, yet they keep making up new ones to take us out. But I digress. Please enjoy this collection of music that will resonate for eons by folks we’ve lost on this trying trip around the sun.

An early Happy New Year to you all. I can’t scrape 2020 off the bottom of my proverbial shoe fast enough.

Stay safe, sane, and kind you all.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
Country Music Awards Honors Charley Pride with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award Tonight on ABC

Country Music Awards Honors Charley Pride with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award Tonight on ABC

By goodblacknews on November 11, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

We’re used to seeing Black musical artists honored regularly on the Grammy Awards, the American Music Awards, the MTV Awards, and, of course, the BET Awards. But this year, you can find several Black performers on the 54th annual CMA (Country Music Association) Awards, to be aired on ABC starting at 8P ET tonight.

Not that Black performers have never been on the CMAs before. Just last year rapper Lil Nas X won an award for his Billy Ray Cyrus collaboration “Old Town Road.”  In 2016, the Chicks (fka The Dixie Chicks) shocked the audience with an incredible live performance with fellow Texan Beyoncé of her song “Daddy Lessons” (see it here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Ksi-uzuIg). But there have been many years where the closest the CMAs have gotten to Blackness was to give awards to Keith “Urban.”

CMA hosts Darius Rucker and Reba McEntire (photo courtesy CMA Awards)

Black country fans actually have three reasons to cheer during this year’s awards.  First, newcomer Jimmie Allen is up for Best New Artist. Second, former Hootie & the Blowfish lead vocalist turned country singer Darius Rucker is co-hosting the show with Reba McEntire. Rucker is perhaps the most well-known Black performer in contemporary country music – and previously won the CMA for Best New Artist in 2009.

Most importantly, Rucker will be leading the tribute to this year’s recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, the legendary Charley Pride.

The aptly named Pride was a symbol of Black pride back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s when he was the first major Black country artist to hit the charts. Coming on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, Pride won Male Vocalist of the Year two years running in 1971 and 1972, in addition to also picking up Entertainer of the Year in 1971.

Nominated for Entertainer of the Year six years in a row from 1968 through 1973, Pride, now 86 years old, is a singular figure in country music history, as no Black performer has been nominated even one time since then.

Pride also previously co-hosted the CMA Awards on TV with Glen Campbell in 1975, the only Black host prior to Rucker’s co-hosting duties this year. Pride had 30 #1 country hits and over 50 Top 10 performances, and is perhaps most known for the song “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin.”

Beyond Pride, Rucker and Allen, there are lots of other exciting things happening in country music these days for Black performers, including new female artist Mickey Guyton and recent chart-topper Kane Brown.  Earlier this summer, Good Black News offered up “I Can’t Stop Loving You: A Collection of Black Country Music” as an overview of Black country music history.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:5ST6HmIZCtbIjiYRXer6at”/]

Check out the awards tonight – and catch all of the artists we’ve mentioned (and many more) on our playlist!

Harvard Medical Society Renamed in Honor of Harvard Alumnus and Professor Dr. William Augustus Hinton

Harvard Medical Society Renamed in Honor of Harvard Alumnus and Professor Dr. William Augustus Hinton

By goodblacknews on October 19, 2020

[Dr. William Augustus Hinton. Photo via images.harvard.edu]

Harvard Medical School has approved renaming the Oliver Wendell Holmes Academic Society in honor of the late Dr. William Augustus Hinton, a former HMS clinical professor of bacteriology and immunology and 1912 HMS graduate.

The recommendation from a Faculty Council Subcommittee on Artwork and Cultural Representations task force is part of an ongoing effort to ensure that HMS buildings, symbols, academic societies and public spaces fully reflect the institution’s mission and values.

To quote from The Harvard Crimson:

Holmes was one of the first American intellectuals to promote the racist doctrine of eugenics. In 1850, he revoked the acceptances of the Medical School’s first three Black students, writing that the “intermixing of the white and black races in their lecture rooms is distasteful to a large portion of the class and injurious to the interests of the school.”

Hinton — a 1905 graduate of the College and later HMS — specialized in the fields of bacteriology and immunology. He created a new diagnostic blood test for syphilis, one the U.S. Public Health Service later adopted.

Earlier this year, two medical students launched a petition to rename the former Holmes Society due to Holmes’s support of eugenics and racism towards Black and Indigenous people. The petition garnered over 1000 signatures from HMS and HSDM faculty, administrators, students, and alumni.

SCLC to Lead Campaign to Help Jacob Blake Secure Support for Long-Term Recovery and Care

SCLC to Lead Campaign to Help Jacob Blake Secure Support for Long-Term Recovery and Care

By goodblacknews on August 31, 2020

[Jacob Blake III’s father Jacob Blake Jr, left and Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., right; photo courtesy SCLC]

Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the organization co-founded and first led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., announced today that the Atlanta-based civil rights organization will lead a campaign to help the family of Jacob Blake secure support for his long term recovery and care.   

Dr. Steele made the announcement after a meeting with Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Jr., and other family members at a location in Wauwatosa, a city just west of Milwaukee, where the younger Blake is in a hospital receiving treatment.

Family members have traveled to the Milwaukee area from other regions of the country after receiving news last Sunday of Jacob Blake III being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, a city of approximately 100,000 residents about one hour south of Milwaukee.

Blake, 29, is African American and the unjustified shooting has left him paralyzed. The officer has been placed on leave from the department. The shooting has led to numerous protests around the nation. Blake’s father said the family is receiving overwhelming support from Americans to get them from day to day, but now the family is concerned about his son’s long-term recovery after his release from the hospital.

“As the president and CEO of the SCLC, and in the spirit of our founder, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am here with Mr. Blake to let him and his family know that the SCLC will lead a campaign to secure support for your son’s long term care,” said Dr. Steele during the Saturday afternoon meeting with the father and family.

After a telephone conversation earlier in the week, Dr. Steele said he traveled to the Milwaukee area to personally meet with the father to determine the son’s needs.

MUSIC MONDAY: “Black Panther”-Inspired Playlist In Memory Of Chadwick Boseman (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Black Panther”-Inspired Playlist In Memory Of Chadwick Boseman (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on August 31, 2020

Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther (Art by Marlon West)

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

With the passing of the great Chadwick Boseman, I am inclined to hold the playlist I made to share today until next week. I thought instead I’d share this playlist I created in celebration of Black Panther two years ago.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:18oEW1p7SRWOt908mBKC7K”/]

I won’t say how many times I’ve seen the film, so far. Though I made this playlist by imagining what genius Princess Shuri would listen to in her lab.

It was made before the film grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide and broke numerous box office records, including the highest-grossing film by a Black director. Before it became the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time, the third-highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2018.

I made before it received seven nominations at the 91st Academy Awards including Best Picture, with wins for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design. Black Panther is the first superhero film to receive a Best Picture nomination.

Director Ryan Coogler wrote of Boseman this weekend:

Airport in NY to be Renamed in Honor of Frederick Douglass

Airport in NY to be Renamed in Honor of Frederick Douglass

By goodblacknews on August 14, 2020

Rochester, New York‘s airport will be renamed to honor 19th-century abolitionist and freedom fighter Frederick Douglass, one of its most famous and influential residents.

According to usatoday.com, the Monroe County Legislature voted Tuesday night to change the airport’s name to the “Frederick Douglass – Greater Rochester International Airport,” adding the Douglass’ name to the existing airport’s title.

Dr. Billy C. Hawkins to be 1st Black President at Talladega College to have Building Named in his Honor

By goodblacknews on July 20, 2020

Dr. Billy C. Hawkins (photo courtesy Talledega College)

Talladega College will hold a naming ceremony for the Dr. Billy C. Hawkins Student Activity Center on August 14, 2020. The newly constructed 47,000-square-foot student center/arena will be the first-ever campus facility to be named in honor of one of the institution’s African American presidents.

In 2008, when Dr. Billy C. Hawkins became the 20th president of Talladega College, the HBCU was struggling to survive. Dr. Hawkins implemented rigorous plans for renovation and growth that transformed the college.

As a result of his vision, enrollment doubled from just over 300 students to 601 students in one semester; athletic programs were reinstated for the first time in ten years; and major campus beautification projects were undertaken.

The College enjoyed record-high enrollment in both the 2018-2019 academic year and the 2019-2020 academic year.  Talladega College now has over 1200 students.

Under the leadership of Dr. Hawkins, Talladega College is listed among Princeton Review’s best colleges in the Southeast, U.S. News and World Report’s most innovative colleges, and Kiplinger’s Best Value Colleges.  Talladega recently launched its first-ever graduate program, an online Master of Science in Computer Information Systems. In addition, the campus is undergoing a major physical transformation.

New construction on campus includes a 45,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art residence hall, which  opened in 2019, and the Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art, which opened in 2020.  The Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art houses six critically-acclaimed Hale Woodruff murals, including the renowned Amistad Murals.

NASA’s Headquarters to be Renamed in Honor of its 1st Black Woman Engineer, “Hidden Figure” Mary W. Jackson

NASA’s Headquarters to be Renamed in Honor of its 1st Black Woman Engineer, “Hidden Figure” Mary W. Jackson

By goodblacknews on June 24, 2020

NASA announced Wednesday the agency’s headquarters building in Washington, D.C., will be named after Mary W. Jackson, the first African American female engineer at NASA.

Jackson started her NASA career in the segregated West Area Computing Unit of the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Jackson, a mathematician and aerospace engineer, went on to lead programs influencing the hiring and promotion of women in NASA’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. In 2019, she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

“Mary W. Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space. Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

“Today, we proudly announce the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building. It appropriately sits on ‘Hidden Figures Way,’ a reminder that Mary is one of many incredible and talented professionals in NASA’s history who contributed to this agency’s success. Hidden no more, we will continue to recognize the contributions of women, African Americans, and people of all backgrounds who have made NASA’s successful history of exploration possible.”

Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, D.C (Credit: NASA)

The work of the West Area Computing Unit caught widespread national attention in the 2016 Margot Lee Shetterly book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. The book was made into a popular movie that same year and Jackson’s character was played by award-winning actress Janelle Monáe.

“We are honored that NASA continues to celebrate the legacy of our mother and grandmother Mary W. Jackson,” said, Carolyn Lewis, Mary’s daughter. “She was a scientist, humanitarian, wife, mother, and trailblazer who paved the way for thousands of others to succeed, not only at NASA, but throughout this nation.”

Rt. Rev Deon Kevin Johnson Ordained Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, 1st Openly Black Gay Man to Hold Post

Rt. Rev Deon Kevin Johnson Ordained Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, 1st Openly Black Gay Man to Hold Post

By goodblacknews on June 23, 2020

According to the Advocate, the Rt. Rev. Deon Kevin Johnson has become the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, making him the first openly gay Black man to hold the post in the diocese’s 179-year history.

Johnson was ordained and consecrated last week in a ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis.

To quote from advocate.com:

“To find ourselves in this moment, the [descendant] of a slave, to be called to be the bishop of Missouri — God is good!” he said during his ordination service, according to the Episcopal News Service. “To the people of Missouri, we have a whole new story to tell and a whole new boldness to tell it with. So I look forward to the adventure.”

An immigrant from Barbados, Johnson has been an Episcopal priest since 2003. He was most recently rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brighton, Mich.

In the week following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Johnson joined in peaceful protests in the St. Louis region. Days after the clearing of nonviolent protesters at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C., so Donald Trump could have a photo op, Johnson spoke at a solidarity rally at St. John’s Episcopal Church in St. Louis.

“Fear would tell us that dignity belongs to some and not to others. As followers of Jesus, we must live and know that perfect love casts out fear,” he wrote in a statement following the rally. “We must, in the words of the Prophet Micah, ‘do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.’”

Read more: https://www.advocate.com/religion/2020/6/16/openly-gay-black-bishop-ordained-missouri-episcopalians

Good Black News Wishes You and Yours a Happy Father’s Day 2020

Good Black News Wishes You and Yours a Happy Father’s Day 2020

By goodblacknews on June 21, 2020

Good Black News joins in the honoring and remembrance of the men who gave us life, nurtured and raised us, and also offered us solace, counsel and wisdom.

Many of us can’t be with the fathers or father 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 dads out there – be they Uncles, Grandfathers, Cousins or Friends – thank you for all you do!

Happy Father’s Day!