Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Commemorations”

History! Viola Davis Becomes 1st Black Woman To Win Emmy For Lead Actress in Drama; Regina King and Uzo Aduba win Emmys for Supporting Roles

By goodblacknews on September 20, 2015

67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Show
Viola Davis made history Sunday night as the first Black woman to win an Emmy for outstanding actress in a drama series, bringing a sisterhood of Black actresses to their feet at the announcement of her accomplishment.
But Davis’ win was the second history-making moment of her night — as Vanity Fair points out, the nomination of lead actress, alongside Taraji P. Henson’s nomination, was the first time multiple women of color have been considered for the award at the same time.
The significance of the moment was not lost on Henson, who stood to embrace Davis as she made her way to the stage.  In a powerful speech that amplified the voices of Black women who have called for more representation in TV, media and film, Davis noted that roles for Black women are scarce in a whitewashed Hollywood.

“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there,” she said.

A quote from Harriet Tubman, which she recited at the top of her acceptance speech, served as a succinct but profound outline of what many Black actresses are facing in the world of film, even in 2015.

“In my mind I see a line and over that line I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.”

You can watch her speech here:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrkGmYbvISo&w=560&h=315]

But Davis’ win was not the first exceptional moment for Black women at the 2015 Emmy Awards. Orange Is The New Black star Uzo Aduba also made her own history when she accepted the Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series, making her the first actress to win both a drama and a comedy award for the same role.
67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Show
Hollywood veteran and favorite Regina King also took home an award for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie for “American Crime.” It was King’s first nomination and win.
67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Show
For a full list of winners, click below:
2015 Emmy Awards: A List Of The Night’s Big Winners
article by Christina Coleman via newsone.com

John Legend, Tyrese Gibson, Wanda Sykes Honored at 2015 Triumph Awards

By goodblacknews on September 14, 2015

Tyrese at the 2015 Trumph Awards in Atlanta
John Legend and Tyrese Gibson were honored for their positive impact on the community at the Triumph Awards, which took place Saturday night in Atlanta and will air Oct. 3 on TV One.
Legend received the Presidential Award for service and humanitarian efforts. The Grammy-winning singer was not in attendance, but accepted his award in a pre-taped video sitting alongside the Rev. Al Sharpton. (The network collaborated with Sharpton and his National Action Network.)
Gibson was presented the entertainer of the year award by Martin Luther King III. After the singer was given the award, he took the stage to perform his single “Shame.”
The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery received the Chairman’s Award for historic and transformative service as a civil rights leader, while comedian Wanda Sykes was given the Activism in the Arts honor for years of service to youth homelessness and engagement within the LGBT community.
Intel chief diversity officer Rosalind Hudnell was presented with the Corporate Executive of the Year.

Tichina Arnold hosts the 2015 Triumph Awards
Tichina Arnold

Actress Tichina Arnold of the Starz series “Survivor’s Remorse” hosted the show.
Rapper T.I. delivered a spoken-word piece titled “United We Stand,” urging youth to not lose focus and the meaning behind the Black Lives Matter movement.
Other performers included Tasha Cobbs, Ledisi, Jazmine Sullivan and Estelle. The Youth Ensemble of Atlanta unveiled “Put Your Guns Up,” a tribute recounting the victims of unfortunate deaths as a result of gun violence.
Grammy-winning jazz artist and producer Robert Glasper was the show’s musical director of the house band. Chante Moore and R&B singer Stokley Williams performed in a duet, singing a rendition of Donny Hathaway’s classic song “Someday We’ll All Be Free.”
article via eurweb.com

President Barack Obama Remembers 9/11, Salutes Troops in Town Hall

By goodblacknews on September 11, 2015

President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama on 9/11/15. (Photo via abcnews.go.com)
President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama on 9/11/15. (Photo via abcnews.go.com)

President Barack Obama told members of the military Friday that he calls them as he sees them when it comes to the big decisions his job requires.
“When I go to bed, I go to bed easy, because I know that I’ve made the best decisions I could make,” Obama said during a 9/11 military town hall at Fort Meade near Washington, D.C.
The commander in chief took questions from service members piped in from around the world during the event designed to mark the 14th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“On 9/11, I thought it was particularly appropriate for me to be able to address you directly, and to say thank you on behalf of the American people,” Obama told the troops.
Whether in person, via phone, video conference, or the Internet, troops asked questions ranging from the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, to how the president and first lady Michelle Obama raise their daughters in the glare of the White House. (On that last query, the president said, “I just do what Michelle tells me to do and it seems to work out.”)
At one point, Obama says it appears to him that Syrian President Bashar Assad is inviting the Russian military into his country because he’s worried about holding onto power. The president said that the United States has warned Russia that beefing up its support for Assad is doomed to fail.
Obama also said that the United States needs to step up its responses to cyber attacks, and criticized China for some of its cyber practices.
The president chuckled when one of the troops asked him how he dealt with people “hating” and “talking smack” about him all the time.
“Not everyone is talking smack about me,” Obama said. “But there is a sizable percentage in Congress that talks smack about me, no doubt about it.”
Obama said he must own all decisions, whether it’s the operation that killed Osama bin Laden to the initial problems with the health care website, which he described as a “screw-up.”
Said Obama: “If it’s an easy question, it doesn’t get to my desk.”
In closing, the president again thanked the troops for their work in the years since 9/11.
“What you do is vital to our way of life,” Obama said. “America is strong, and it’s strong because of all of you.”
article by David Jackson via usatoday.com

Georgia Cheerleader Angel Rice, 16, sets Tumbling World Record

By goodblacknews on September 11, 2015
GA cheerleader
Angel Rice (Fox5Atlanta)

A 16-year-old Georgia cheerleader has just broken a tumbling world record.  Angel Rice completed ten double full twists in one minute while an official from the Guinness World Records counted the seconds of her tumbling routine.

“It took me until the next day to realize, wow!  It’s real!” Angel told Fox5Atlanta. ” It didn’t feel real when it was happening.  I had to actually think about it and look at the plaque.”

Tumbling coach Frank Riley said that he had taken notice of Angel the minute she arrived at his gym at just five years old.
Of course, now that Angel has broken the world record, everyone wants to know what she’ll do next. We’ll just have to wait and see.
“When she came it was like, ‘Wow! Who is this little girl?’” said Riley. “She was strong.  She wasn’t one of the kids that come to the gym and they’re scared. Anything I asked her to do she would try,” he added.

article via thegrio.com

Hula-Hooping Wonder Marawa Ibrahim Celebrates Guinness World Records Inclusion

By goodblacknews on September 10, 2015
The 33-year-old Australian managed to twirl 160 hoops around her three times.

 A hula-hooping queen took over Manhattan on Wednesday as part of a tour celebrating her inclusion in the new Guinness World Records book.  Jaws dropped and cell phones were thrust into the air as Marawa Ibrahim showed off her supernatural hula-hooping skills in Bryant Park.

The 33-year-old Australian broke the record for the most hula hoops spun simultaneously — somehow managing to twirl 160 hoops a full three times around her 5-foot-4-inch frame.
Ibrahim grew up reading Guinness books and long dreamed about someday making it inside the famed tome.  “It was one of the absolute greatest days of my life because I wanted it for so long,” Ibrahim said of the day she learned she had shattered the old record of 132 hoops.
But Ibrahim is not planning to retire her hoops anytime soon. She has her sights — and hips — set on taking the hula-hooping-while-running crown.

“It’s kind of addictive,” she said.

The Guinness World Records 2016 edition will be available starting Thursday.  To Ibrahim’s in motion, you can catch her in the video below around the 1:40 mark:
https://youtu.be/zuUoNtospYE
article by Rich Schapiro via nydailynews.com

President Obama Observes Labor Day, Extends Paid Sick Leave for Employees of Federal Contractors

By goodblacknews on September 7, 2015
Barack Obama Labor Day
U.S. President Barack Obama waves to reporters after returning to the White House on board Marine One September 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. Obama spent three days in Alaska this week where he became the first sitting president to go to the Arctic Circle. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Showing solidarity with workers on Labor Day, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Monday requiring paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors, including 300,000 who currently receive none.

The White House wouldn’t specify the cost to federal contractors to implement the executive order, which Obama was to address at a major union rally and breakfast in Boston. The Labor Department said any costs would be offset by savings that contractors would see as a result of lower attrition rates and increased worker loyalty, but produced nothing to back that up.
Under the executive order, employees working on federal contracts gain the right to a minimum of one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours they work. Stretched out over 12 months, that’s up to seven days per year. The order will allow employees to use the leave to care for sick relatives as well, and will affect contracts starting in 2017 — just as Obama leaves office.
The Obama administration has been working on the executive order for months, and chose Labor Day to announce it as Obama works to enact what policies he can before his presidency ends despite resistance in Congress to laws he’s proposed to improve workplace conditions. That push has reverberated in the 2016 campaign, where Democratic candidates are seeking to draw a distinction with Republicans on who’s most supportive of the middle class.
“There are certain Republicans that said we can’t afford to do this,” said Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. He lamented how paid leave is seen as a partisan issue in the U.S. despite broad support in Europe. “The Republican Party is out of step with similar conservative governments around the world,” he said.
Roughly 44 million private sector workers don’t get paid sick leave — about 40 percent of the private-sector workforce, the White House said. In his speech to the Greater Boston Labor Council’s breakfast, Obama was also to renew his call for Congress to expand the requirement beyond contract workers to all but the smallest U.S. businesses, an idea that has gained little traction on Capitol Hill.
The Labor Day gathering in Boston was attracting other bold-named politicians, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh among them. Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering entering the Democratic presidential primary, was to echo the labor rights theme in a march with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Monday at a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh.
Unable to push much of his agenda through a Republican-controlled Congress, Obama has in recent years used executive orders with frequency to apply policies to federal contractors that he lacks the authority to enact nationwide. His aim is to lay the groundwork for those policies to be expanded to all Americans. Earlier executive orders have barred federal contractors from discriminating against workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, raised the minimum wage for contractors and expanded the number of contract workers eligible for overtime.
Although labor groups have hailed those moves, they remain deeply skeptical of Obama’s push to secure sweeping new trade deals with the Asia-Pacific region and with Europe. Many unions have warned that the deals could lead to the widespread elimination of certain types of U.S. jobs.
The White House said it couldn’t estimate how many federal contractors don’t offer paid leave now, citing a maze of state and local laws that make crunching the numbers difficult. Officials also declined to put a dollar figure on how much contractors would face in added compensation costs.
Cecilia Muniz, director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, said the administration has an obligation to get the most out of every federal tax dollar.
article by Josh Lederman, AP via thegrio.com

Architect Everett L. Fly and Historian Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham to Receive National Humanities Medals

By goodblacknews on September 6, 2015
photo of Everett L. Fly
Everett L. Fly (Photo by Rosalinda Fly)
Architect and preservationist Everett L. Fly, who in 1977 became the first African American to earn a master of landscape architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), and Thomas Professor of history and of African and African American studies at Harvard Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham are among the 10 recipients of the 2014 National Humanities Medal announced yesterday.
The National Humanities Medal honors an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens’ engagement with history and literature or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to cultural resources. Fly’s medal citation praises him:

for preserving the integrity of African-American places and landmarks. A landscape architect, Mr. Fly has worked tirelessly to win historical recognition for Eatonville, Florida, Nicodemus, Kansas, and other sites central to African-American history, preserving an important part of our broader American heritage.

Higginbotham’s citation honors her:

for illuminating the African-American journey. In her writings and edited volumes, Dr. Higginbotham has traced the course of African-American progress, and deepened our understanding of the American story.

According to the biography of Fly provided by the NEH, when he noticed that his GSD classes rarely mentioned buildings and places significant to African-American culture and heritage, he began a career-long study of the origin and evolution of historic black settlements in America. Ever since, he has been unearthing and saving historically significant but forgotten or unrecognized Native- and African-American settlements, more than 1,200 to date. “If we want our American cities to be healthy and sustain them in the future,” he says, “we have to find ways to value not just new office buildings and developers that have the most money and political clout. You find collective history in places where everyday people worked and made contributions that are just as valuable as a big businessperson or landowner. If you can find those connections to their history, people can have a closer relationship to their community.”

higginbothamweb_0
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (Photo via of Harvard University)

Higginbotham “knew from childhood” that she “wanted to teach, research, and write about the history of African Americans,” according to her biographical sketch. She moved from learning the stories of her family’s history to uncovering and sharing the stories of “individuals, groups, and institutions left out of the traditional American narrative” through her own works and as editor in chief of The Harvard Guide to African-American History and as co-editor of the 12-volume African American National Biography.
At Harvard, she has also fostered social engagement among students in the department of African and African American studies, seeking “a curriculum that said you could be socially responsible and engaged, and yet still be intellectually rigorous—that those two things could be wed together.”
Higginbotham and Fly will receive their medals from President Obama in a White House ceremony on September 10, as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) enters its golden anniversary year.
article by Jean Martin via harvardmagazine.com

A True Scholar-Athlete: Venus Williams Earns Degree In Business Administration

By goodblacknews on September 3, 2015

Venus Williams (photo via vibe.com)
Venus Williams (photo via vibe.com)

On top of 7 Grand Slam singles titles, tennis phenom Venus Williams can add a new achievement to her resume: Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Indiana University East.
Williams began her education at IU East in 2011, and completed her last course online this summer. During a trip to the Western Southern Open in August, she was able to travel to the campus for the first time.
According to a press release by Indiana University East, Venus said:

“One of the main reasons that I chose IU East was because I felt so at home. It was like family, like it was my school, and I was so excited. It’s been an incredible journey,” Williams said. “I’ve learned so much. It was always my dream to have a business degree and I ended up going to art school so many times, but in the back of my head I felt like I needed the tools to be a better leader, to be a better planner, to be better at all of the things I wanted to do in my businesses because I’m so hands-on.”

In 2007, Williams received her associate degree in fashion design from the University of Fort Lauderdale, before deciding to go back for a higher degree.
After completing the undergraduate program at IU East, Williams stated that she was able to take the lessons and skills she learned in her courses and apply them to her business matters, including a clothing line, EleVen by Venus Williams.
Williams is the first female graduate to earn a degree under the WTA agreement between IU East and the Women’s Tennis Benefits Association (WTBA). The WTA represents over 2,500 professional women athletes that represent over 92 nations.
Administrators at IU East sang Williams’ praises as an exceptional student with enthusiasm about learning in all of her courses.
IU East Chancellor Kathryn Cruz-Uribe spoke of Williams:

“I greatly admire Venus and her dedication to complete her online degree while continuing to play professional tennis, train, and run a business full-time. I can only imagine how challenging this has been, and I know that Venus has been a great role model for the other WTA players enrolled at IU East as well as to students in her classes.”

article by Lakin Starling via newsone.com

Obama Will Restore Mt. McKinley's Name to Denali on Alaska Trip

By goodblacknews on August 30, 2015
President Barack Obama (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Monday will officially restore Denali as the name of North America’s tallest mountain, ending a 40-year battle over what to call the peak that has been known as Mount McKinley.
The symbolic gesture comes at the beginning of a three-day trip to Alaska where Obama hopes to build support for his efforts to address climate change during his remaining 16 months in office.
The peak was re-named Mount McKinley in 1896 after a gold prospector exploring the region heard that Ohioan William McKinley, a champion of the gold standard, had won the Republican nomination for president.
But Alaska natives had long before called the mountain Denali, meaning “the High One.” In 1975, the state of Alaska officially designated the mountain as Denali, and has since been pressing the federal government to do the same.

LANCE KING VIA GETTY IMAGES

Alaskans had been blocked in Congress by Ohio politicians, who wanted to stick with McKinley as a lasting tribute to the 25th U.S. president, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.  Under Obama’s action, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will use her legal authority to end the long debate and rename the mountain, which has an elevation of more than 20,000 feet (6,100 meters).
“This designation recognizes the sacred status of Denali to generations of Alaska natives,” the White House said in a statement.
article via huffingtonpost.com (Additional reporting by Steve Quinn in Juneau, Alaska; Editing by Peter Cooney)

New Orleans Celebrates its Recovery 10 years After Hurricane Katrina

By goodblacknews on August 29, 2015

People dance during a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The traditional ceremony was conducted at the historically African-American university, which was heavily damaged by flooding from Hurricane Katrina, as a symbolic burial of the Hurricane for it's 10th anniversary. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
People dance during a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The traditional ceremony was conducted at the historically African-American university, which was heavily damaged by flooding from Hurricane Katrina, as a symbolic burial of the Hurricane for it’s 10th anniversary. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — With prayers, church bells and brass bands, residents across Mississippi and Louisiana will pay homage Saturday to those who died in Hurricane Katrina, thank those who came to rebuild and celebrate how far the region has come from that devastating day.
Ten years ago — on Aug. 29, 2005 — Katrina made landfall in what turned into one of the deadliest storms in American history. The hurricane‘s force and flooding ultimately caused more than 1,800 deaths and roughly $151 billion in damages across the region.
In New Orleans, wide scale failures of the levee system protecting the city left 80 percent of New Orleans under water.
In Mississippi, churches will ring their bells to remember when the storm made landfall. In Biloxi, clergy and community leaders were to gather at MGM Park for a memorial to Katrina’s victims. In the evening, the park will host a concert celebrating the recovery.
Katrina’s force caused a massive storm surge that scoured the Mississippi coast, pushed boats far inland and wiped houses off the map, leaving only concrete front steps to nowhere.
The city has framed the 10th anniversary as a showcase to demonstrate to the world how far New Orleans has come back. In the last week, the city has held lectures, given tours of the levee improvements and released a resiliency plan.

People hug following a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University on August 28, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The traditional ceremony was conducted at the historically African-American university, which was heavily damaged by flooding from Hurricane Katrina, as a symbolic burial of Hurricane Katrina. The 10th anniversary of the storm is August 29. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
People hug following a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University on August 28, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Many parts of this iconic city have rebounded phenomenally but many residents — particularly in the city’s black community — still struggle. Glitzy casinos and condominium towers have been rebuilt, but overgrown lots and empty slabs speak to the slow recovery in some areas.
In New Orleans officials will lay wreaths at the hurricane memorial and at the levee that ruptured in the Lower 9th Ward.
The neighborhood was one of the bastions of black homeownership in America when water burst through floodwalls, pushing houses off foundations and trapping residents on rooftops. The neighborhood still has some of the lowest rates of people who’ve returned after the storm, but it will be having a daylong celebration to mark the progress made.
Former President Bill Clinton will headline a free concert-prayer service-celebration Saturday evening at the city’s Smoothie King Center.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press via thegrio.com