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Chris Rock Takes Time to Speak at Chicago Youth Detention Center

By goodblacknews on July 23, 2015
Chris Rock Detention Center
Chris Rock, Sam Jones, JTDC Superintendent Leonard Dixon, and staff members of the JTDC. (Photo/JTDC staff)

Having garnered more than 16 million weekly viewers, and multiple Television Critics Association, Critics Choice, and Emmy award nominations, nearly everyone is eagerly anticipating the second season of the mega hit TV series, Empire.
But as we clamor to grasp its standing in pop culture, lost in the mist of the growing body of Empire lore has been scant consideration of the significant contributions some of its star performers are making in the lives of many Americans.
For instance, Empire’s Chris Rock departed from an exceptionally rigorous day of production to address youth at Chicago’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.
The facility is the largest youth detention facility in the nation, reportedly housing between 250 to 350 youth a day and employing more than 600 employees. Situated under the auspices of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the largest circuit court system in the nation, it is quite arguably the epicenter for juvenile detention in the United States. And Mr. Rock’s visit with the youth was symbolic of a perfect hybrid of pop culture and social justice consciousness.
Mr. Rock spoke candidly about the need for the youth to accept responsibility for their behavior and to resist the temptation to blame others for their current circumstances. In so doing, he specifically warned against a seemingly popular inclination to blame black fathers. Exceptionally genuine and compelling in nature, Mr. Rock lamented that too often black fathers are denounced for the perilous conditions facing many black youth, without being afforded deserving credit for their favorable contributions.

LAPD Officer Mary O'Callaghan Gets 36 Months in Jail for Assault Caught on Video

By goodblacknews on July 23, 2015
Mary O’Callaghan‘s sentencing comes amid intense scrutiny and criticism nationwide of police use of force. The last 20 months of her sentence were suspended, meaning she’ll likely spend a little more than a year in county jail.

In the video, which can be seen by clicking here, O’Callaghan jabbed at Thomas’ throat with an open hand and threatened to kick her in the crotch. O’Callaghan then raised her boot and struck Thomas, whose body shook in response.
The recording captured Thomas — who asked officers for an ambulance more than 30 minutes before one was called — breathing heavily and repeatedly saying, “I can’t.”
A few minutes later, Thomas, a 35-year-old mother, lost consciousness. She later died.
A video from a dashboard camera in a different patrol car — also played during the trial — showed O’Callaghan smoking a cigarette as she peeked inside the car at Thomas, whose legs were tied with a nylon hobble restraint.
“That ain’t a good sign,” O’Callaghan said out loud in the video.

Omar Epps’ "Daddy Don’t Go" Documentary Tackles Absentee Fathers Stigma

By goodblacknews on July 23, 2015

Omar Epps and daugther (photo via blackcelebkids.com)
Omar Epps and daughter K’mari  (photo via blackcelebkids.com)

Omar Epps has signed on to executive produce a feature-length documentary called “Daddy Don’t Go” which shines a light on those fathers who are trying to go against the statistic that 1 in 3 children are growing up fatherless.
Epps released this statement: “Being the product of a fatherless household, Daddy Don’t Go delves into an issue that’s close to my heart.
In the media, we’re always inundated with the notion that black men and/or men from impoverished areas are absent fathers. Though that may be true to an extent, there are also thousands of young men fighting to be active fathers in their children’s lives. This fact gets smothered in the media by rampant negative imagery of black men and fatherless children. Daddy Don’t Go chronicles the journeys of four such men and their respective battles to parent their children. It’s time men like these have a platform and a voice to challenge the statistics and common ideology about the issue of fatherhood.”
The project itself follows four New York fathers as they tackle fatherhood as best they can. Of course, fatherhood is never easy, and this project shows both the highs and the lows of that challenge, but in the end, it’s always worth it.
article via thegrio.com

Muslim Organizations Raised $100,000 To Rebuild Torched Black Churches

By goodblacknews on July 22, 2015

Church fire
(Source: Photo by John Tlumacki / Getty)

Muslim organizations have banded together to raise $100,000 in an effort to help rebuild Black churches in the South that were torched in recent months, the Huffington Post reports.
Three organizations — the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, the Arab-American Association of New York and Ummah Wide — launched the “Respond With Love” campaign July 2 to raise funds, combating a false and long-standing idea of a Islam/Christianity feud. The campaign concluded at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, the Post writes, with a total of $100,470.
“ALL houses of worship are sanctuaries, a place where all should feel safe,” the campaign stated.
From The Huffington Post:

The fundraiser started off with a goal of $10,000, but they hit that target within hours, Linda Sarsour, executive director of AAANY, said to HuffPost in an email. They increased the target amount a few more times, and the support kept flooding in.
Faatimah Knight, a theology student and one of the campaign’s organizers, believes “Respond With Love” went viral because it contributes to a colorful, nuanced narrative about the Muslim community. “It awakens [in] some and confirms in others that Muslims are diverse and varied and that many of our concerns are domestic concerns,” Knight wrote in an email to HuffPost. “Also, Respond with Love is an anti-racism effort and there are many people in this country who are tired of racist rhetoric and racist motivated violence.”

Sarsour guesses the majority of the donors were Muslims, based on the surnames of the 2,016 people who donated. “Our campaign gave people the opportunity to take an extra step beyond just verbal solidarity,” Sarsour said to HuffPost. “Our campaign united people of all faiths, it resonated and the fact that it was lead by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan gave the campaign more meaning and legitimacy.”

Sarsour told the Huffington Post she hopes the campaign will “encourage non-Black Muslims to support the BlackLivesMatter Movement.”
Authorities have not connected the recent swath of fires at Black churches in the south. At least one of the blazes was ruled an arson, although the FBI announced that 84 percent of church fires are not caused by arson.
article via newsone.com

First Lady Michelle Obama Teams Up With Wale for "Reach Higher" Education Initiative

By goodblacknews on July 21, 2015

First Lady Michelle Obama has tapped Wale for her Reach Higher education initiative that will promote higher education and career opportunities for young adults. The program will invite more than 130 college-bound students to the 2015 Beating the Odds Summit in Washington, D.C. These students will represent at-risk, special needs, homeless, foster and other underrepresented youth.

Wale is set to appear at the White House this Thursday to speak with the students and treat them to a show.
“I’m beyond honored and grateful to be involved in the First Lady’s ‘Reach Higher’ initiative and to have the opportunity to sit down with her, as well as perform for the kids of D.C.,” Wale said in a statement. “I believe that the youth are the first step in creating a better country, so to be involved in a program that aims to enrich their lives is truly the greatest reward. Having grown up in Washington, D.C., being invited to the White House by the first lady is a dream come true. Thank you to Mrs. Obama and her entire staff for this opportunity.”
Other participants at the Beating the Odds Summit will include Brown University student Manuel Contreras, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and E! News co-host Terrence Jenkins.
To learn more about the Reach Higher program, visit whitehouse.gov/reach-higher.
article by Dorkys Ramos via bet.com

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Collects Past Stories of Those Who Wrestled With Their Sexuality

By goodblacknews on July 21, 2015
Nora-Ann Thompson, 65, had three failed marriages behind her when she fell in love with a woman 20 years ago. Her family did not talk openly about sexuality. (EDWIN J. TORRES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

By the time Nora-Ann Thompson fell in love with a woman, she was 45 years old and had three failed marriages behind her. The daughter of a black pastor in the Bronx, she had grown up in a family and a church that did not talk openly about sexuality, let alone homosexuality.

When she finally told her father, all he could say was “that cannot be; you need a man to take care of you and protect you,” she recalled. They never spoke of it again.

Ms. Thompson, now 65, is part of a new oral history project in Harlem that captures the experiences of 13 pioneers in New York City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. Their stories tell of the hardship and discrimination they faced within their own families at a time when expressing their sexuality was neither encouraged nor accepted.

All of those interviewed for the project are black, and range in age from 52 to 83. They include a transgender woman who was once homeless and took female hormone shots on the street and a transgender man who was shunned by co-workers after they learned of his medical history. Another man was taunted as gay by his sisters long before he moved to New York and came out.

Jimmy Harris, 65, was taunted as gay by his sisters even though he dated girls. He moved from Kentucky to New York and came out, and flourished. (EDWIN J. TORRES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

Their stories will be shared Tuesday night at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, part of the New York Public Library system. The project will become a permanent part of the center’s “In the Life Archive,” a trove of thousands of books, photographs, original manuscripts and other works produced by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender New Yorkers. “In the Life” refers both to a phrase used for those lifestyles in black culture, and to the title of a 1986 anthology of black gay writers that was edited by Joseph Beam.

The new oral history project grew out of a February visit to the “In the Life Archive” by a group from a Harlem center for older adults run by Services and Advocacy for G.L.B.T. Elders, known as SAGE. As they pored over the historical materials, many of them saw their own pasts. There were exclamations of “Oh, I remember this place.” One man even picked himself out in a photo.

"Pretty" Docuseries by Antonia Opiah Explores What Beauty Means To Black Women Around The World (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on July 20, 2015


There a lot of different ideas about what it means to be beautiful, and one new docuseries is hoping to explore every facet of it.
Pretty is something that is hard to define, but you know it when you see it. Depending on where you’re from that could look a lot different. Adding race to the equation brings in a whole new group of variables. As such, Antonia Opiah decied that it might be interesting to take a look at what beauty means to Black women around the world in her new webseries, Pretty.
According to Shadow and Act, the series debuted back in January. That means there are a bunch of episodes to get caught up on if you’re just finding out about it.

(photo via un-ruly.com)
(photo via un-ruly.com)

In Pretty, Antonia asks Black women from London, Paris and Milan what beauty and the concept of what is beautiful means to them. From the promo above, you get a taste of the fact that being pretty is more than just a certain set of physical attributes, it’s about what each woman brings to it. Some even share how their perception of beauty has changed over the course of their lives.
She doesn’t just speak to one type of Black woman, either. Antonia sat down with Brown girls of all complexions and backgrounds to show just how broad this subject can be. Pretty goes further beyond the surface as it also explores their thoughts on fashion, self-esteem and feminism among other things. Ultimately it all results in a tapestry of all the ways Black women are beautiful even when living in areas where European ideals are the norm.
If you’re tired of binge-watching Netflix, this docuseries is definitely an interesting break from the norm that will give you lots to ponder.  Go to YouTube or un-ruly.com to see the entire web series.
article by Sonya Eskridge via hellobeautiful.com

100 Percent of Black Students Graduate from Brooklyn College Academy in New York

By goodblacknews on July 18, 2015
Members of the Sophisticated Well Articulated Gentlemen’s Group at Brooklyn College Academy support each other socially and academically.
Members of the Sophisticated Well Articulated Gentlemen’s Group at Brooklyn College Academy support each other socially and academically. (photo via usnews.com)

Last fall, a Howard University sophomore was fielding dozens of phone calls between midnight and 3 a.m. from seniors at Brooklyn College Academy.
The young men had a million questions about applying to college, and as a leader of the Sophisticated Well Articulated Gentlemen’s Group (SWAGG) to which they all belong, Jude Bridgewater had pledged to always answer their calls.

Class of 2015 BCA graduate Turel Polite, left, says he depends on older SWAGG members like Jude Bridgewater, Class of 2013.
Class of 2015 BCA graduate Turel Polite, left, says he depends on older SWAGG members like Jude Bridgewater, Class of 2013.

Bridgewater, 20, says one of his best days of the year came this spring when a member named Turel Polite, who had clashed early and often with high school administrators, was accepted into his top-choice college – the Academy of Art University in California. Polite credits high school staff members who stayed on his case, and the close-knit network of SWAGG.
“This is a family to me, I can’t look at it any other way,” says Polite, 18, who graduated in June and will be the first male in his family to go to college. “These are my brothers, and every day I come to school, whether I’m feeling good or not … they’ve kept me from doing a lot of things which would have prevented from being here today.”
Brooklyn College Academy has ushered many students like Bridgewater and Polite successfully through high school: 100 percent of the school’s black students graduated on time last year, and almost all of them went on to four-year colleges. In contrast, the overall graduation rate for black male students in New York City was 58 percent in 2014.
School officials say their model is replicable – but only in schools where the adults are willing to pay relentless attention and to hold the students to consistently high expectations.
The secret to the school’s success is not simply which students they pick, administrators say (although they do get to choose – last year 2,800 students applied for 150 seats), but an unremitting and personalized focus on each individual. The understanding that the students come with challenges and unmet needs enabled SWAGG’s creation. It was founded by students who were searching for realistic pathways through the social land mines in their neighborhoods, and for older boys like themselves to learn from and emulate. More than a third of the 56 male students in this year’s senior class were members of SWAGG this year, and school administrators credit its alumni network and leaders for helping to guide an important group of students.

CUNY’s Preparatory High School Renamed to Honor Derrick Smith, its Founding Principal

By goodblacknews on July 17, 2015

(photo via mec.cuny.edu)
(photo via mec.cuny.edu)

The City University of New York has renamed its preparatory high school in The Bronx in honor of Derrick Griffith, its founding principal. Dr. Griffith was killed in the Amtrak train wreck in Philadelphia this past May.
In a resolution renaming the school, the board of trustees of the City University of New York said that “Dr. Griffith transformed thousands of lives of young New Yorkers who were uplifted by his encouragement as they found the resolve to pursue education and build personal beliefs in their own ability to persevere. He was a true visionary whose compassion and intelligence were paralleled only by his sense of humor and love for his students, colleagues, friends and family.”
At the time of his death, Dr. Griffith was dean of student affairs at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. He joined the staff at Medgar Evers College in 2011 as an assistant provost. He served as the founding principal at the Preparatory Transitional High School of the City University of New York from 2003 to 2010.
One month before his death at the age of 42, Griffith completed work on a doctorate in urban education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
article via jbhe.com

Young Entrepreneurs Who Started Taharka Bros. Ice Cream in Baltimore are Subject of New Documentary "A Dream Preferred"

Young Entrepreneurs Who Started Taharka Bros. Ice Cream in Baltimore are Subject of New Documentary "A Dream Preferred"

By goodblacknews on July 17, 2015

The media’s representation of Baltimore in 2015 hasn’t been the kindest—well, aside from that time President Obama praised HBO’s The Wire. The sad fact is, the media would’ve continued to ignore the crime-ridden city’s residents’ needs and discontent had it not been for the tragic death of Freddie Gray, the 20-year-old black man who died while in police custody in early April.

Rightfully angered, many of Baltimore’s citizens let their frustrations be seen and heard via riots and protests. And since nationwide news outlets were there on the scene for every broken window and raised-in-solidarity fist, much of the viewing public saw Baltimore’s post-Gray events and formed opinions based on those acts.

Instead of spending so much time focusing on the city’s angriest moment, however, media outlets should be paying more attention to the young men and women who are busting their humps to uplift Baltimore both emotionally and financially.

In the new documentary short A Dream Preferred, filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) have done just that. Co-produced by Tribeca Digital Studios and American Express, the film—which is currently available on various cable on-demand platforms—follows the efforts of six young black men in Baltimore, led by an outspoken go-getter named Devon Brown, who’ve started their own dessert company, Taharka Bros. Ice Cream. (The name is a tribute to Taharka McCoy, a 25-year-old local mentor who was senselessly gunned down in January 2002.)

The company’s goal is, naturally, partly to use their handmade frozen treats to turn profits, but ultimately the Taharka Bros. are aiming to inspire other young entrepreneurs—they’re proof that inner-city minorities don’t need to play sports and make rap music to be successful.

A Dream Preferred, shot throughout the summer of 2013, captures their efforts to raise $28,000 in 29 days through the crowd-funding site Kickstarter. Dubbed “Vehicle for Change,” their Kickstarter plan was crucial to allow the brothers (in the figurative sense, not literally blood-connected siblings) elevate their business above using a rinky-dink ice cream truck.

With charisma to spare, the Taharka crew—especially Devon Brown, who’s the film’s de facto star—give A Dream Preferred a lightheartedness that offsets its heavier underlying themes, mainly the racial discrimination they experience everyday as young black men. In one scene, their efforts to solicit Kickstarter contributions from white folks is mostly a cold-shoulder struggle, and the Taharka brothers’ frustrations are visible.

That scene has struck a lot of people who’ve seen the film,” says Taharka Bros. creative director Darius Wilmore, 42. “It’s interesting, because that scene is part of the challenge of something like this. You have the softest product on the face of the Earth, which is ice cream, that’s made and sold by people who’ve been deemed to be the hardest, and that’s an interesting juxtaposition. Unfortunately, you can’t avoid the issue of race. It’s always gonna be there. Some people will be open to it and others aren’t, but you can’t let that stop you from doing what you’re trying to do.”