According to The Telegraph, American student Gabrielle Turnquest was called to the Bar of England and Wales after passing her exams at just 18, qualifying her as a barrister in those countries. Turnquest is a native of Windermere, Florida who made news when she graduated from Liberty University of Virginia at 16, which made her that college’s youngest-ever graduate with a degree in psychology. She most recently took courses at Britain’s University of Law along with her sister Kandi, who also passed her bar exams (she is 22). The average lawyer in Britain undertakes the Bar Professional Training Course when they are 27.
The teenager hopes eventually to be a fashion law specialist and will also take the American Bar exam so she can practice law in the U.S. But as her parents are originally from the Bahamas and the British exams cover that country as well, she may practice there for a time. She said: “I am honored to be the youngest person to pass the Bar exams but, really, I was not aware at the time what the average age was. I didn’t fully realize the impact of it.” article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
On Sunday at Brooklyn’s Abundant Life Church, N.Y.C mayoral candidate William “Bill” Thompson (pictured) compared New York’s Stop & Frisk policy to the Trayvon Martin case, according to the Daily News. “Here in New York City, we’ve institutionalized Mr. [George] Zimmerman’s suspicion with a policy that all but requires our police officers to treat young Black and Latino men with suspicion, to stop them and frisk them because of the color of their skin.” Though Thompson has largely avoided speaking about race on the campaign trail, he said he felt urged to do so after Zimmerman’s “not guilty” verdict. “Trayvon Martin did die because he was Black. Of that there is no doubt,” he added. Thompson also says we must begin looking at how the government enables systemic racism. “I do not believe our government can fully stop racism, but I do believe we must constantly look to see how it may enable it, even unintentionally,” he said. “So we must ask ourselves, when fear of young Black men ends in deadly violence against the innocent, has our government perpetuated that fear by targeting people of color with suspicion?” Thompson is the only African-American candidate in the mayoral race. article by Hannington Dia via newsone.com
Rapper and Chicago native, Kanye West, has plans to give back to troubled youth in his hometown this summer with the upcoming launch of the “Got Bars” music writing and production program. In August, West’s nonprofit organization, Donda’s House — founded in honor of his late mother Dr. Donda West — and the ARK of St. Sabina community center, will kickoff the 10-week course open to youth ages 15 to 24. The “Got Bars” program aims to educate participants on how to write and record their own music and in turn help them to develop problem-solving skills. The program will also teach youth about the benefits of eating well, working out and other life skills. West credits his mother’s passion to teaching as the inspiration behind the program. “My mom spent her life as an educator and I am happy Donda’s House can pick up the torch and honor her life’s mission,” West said in a statement early last week. The Chi-town rapper has chosen Che “Rhymefest” Smith, co-founder and assistant director of Donda’s House to spearhead the program, along with his wife Donnie Smith. Rhymefest will oversee the music and production aspects of the 10-week course, while his wife Donnie, an English teacher, will serve as executive director. “I am so happy to launch “Got Bars” to honor Kanye West’s mother’s memory and to fulfill one of my Alder manic campaign goals,” said Rhymefest in a statement. “Got Bars” will change our youth musically, get them healthy and keep them busy in a creative, peaceful environment.” Donda’s House will eventually release an EP featuring songs from the program’s participants. Applications for “Got Bars?” will be accepted until Friday, August 2. For more information on the program, visit the Donda’s House website. article by Hayat Mohamed via newsone.com
WNBA All-Star Ivory Latta does push-ups with kids from New London Parks and Recreation during a WNBA Fit Clinic at BDJMS in New London, CT on Friday July 26, 2013. (Credit: Carrie Healey)
WNBA All-Star players teamed up with R&B singer Trevor Jackson and Miss USA Erin Brady to help dedicate a newly refurbished basketball court and conduct a fitness clinic for elementary students on Friday at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School (BDJMS) in New London, CT. The middle school court was recently refurbished by Bona, the official hardwood floor care partner of the WNBA. Bona and Jamba Juice, a WNBA FIT partner, helped conduct the fitness clinic that included 75 boys and girls from New London Parks & Recreation. Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Ivory Latta, Allison Hightower and Lindsay Whalen were among the all-stars who helped put on the Fit Clinic for young students. The players lead different stations and drills for the children, including working on lay-ups, shooting and even jumping rope. “There are a lot of elementary school kids here getting the chance to participate in different activities,” Minnesota Lynx player Maya Moore told theGrio. “It’s all to encourage them to enjoy a healthy, fit, active lifestyle, and just to have fun.” “I’m glad I continue to make them proud,” the former University of Connecticut star said about her college fans. “Being back in Connecticut is always great.” Moore said she enjoys giving back and being “a good role model for the kids here.” “It’s nice to be out here today, give back to the community and the kids,” Connecticut Sun guard Allison Hightower said. “It’s very important because if you’re not active now, you won’t be active when you’re older.” “We’re trying to get [the children] active, show them the different things they can do at home or at school,” Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun) said.
President Obama spoke about lower insurance rates at the White House on July 18. (Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP) WASHINGTON — As state health exchanges continue to announce lower-than-expected rates for health insurance, experts say both state and regional issues play a part in how much a consumer will pay for insurance beginning in January. Several factors come into play: a state’s regulations, how many insurers will participate in the state and federal exchanges, and what kind of a risk those insurers are willing to take. “There is tremendous existing variation within the rates in the states now,” said Sherry Glied, professor of health policy and economics at Columbia University and former assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. “It’s hard to compare the old rates to the new.” Maryland’s insurance commissioner said Friday that the expected new rates for residents who will need to buy insurance starting Oct. 1 are up to 33% lower than expected, and that coverage for a 21-year-old non-smoker could cost as low as $93 a month. In Connecticut, insurer HealthCT announced plans that would drop an average of 36% from its original proposal in the individual market; and Nevada will sell plans to young adults to cover catastrophic health situations for less than $100 a month. An HHS report released this month showed that silver health exchange plans — the lower cost plans that uninsured people are more likely to buy — are an average 18% lower than anticipated in the 11 states the department studied. “We know the rates are coming in lower than we expected,” Glied said. “They’re coming in well below the Congressional Budget Office’s estimated rates, which people thought were optimistic.” These new rates apply only to those who are currently uninsured and who will be buying insurance through the state or federal exchanges. A health exchange or marketplace is a website that allows consumers to choose from several different private insurers. Under the 2010 health care law, Americans who buy health insurance on the state exchanges can choose from four types of plans — bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Bronze has the lowest levels of coverage and cost; platinum is the elite and most expensive. Industry surveys and records from Massachusetts, which enacted a health care law in 2006, show the overwhelming majority of people buy either bronze or silver plans.
FRUITVALE STATION Cast: Michael B. Jordan (Oscar Grant), Octavia Spencer (Wanda), Melonie Diaz (Sophina), Ariana Neal (Tatiana), Kevin Durand (Officer Caruso), Chad Michael Murray (Officer Ingram),Ahna O’Reilly (Katie) Written & Directed by: Ryan Coogler Rated: R The Weinstein Co.
Review by Lori Lakin Hutcherson I intended to write this review two weeks ago, when I saw Fruitvale Station in limited release. Two things occurred to prevent that – one ordinary: my babysitter cancelled, so bye bye writing time – and one extraordinary: George Zimmerman was found not guilty of killing Trayvon Martin the very next day. In the wake of the national outrage and protests and vigils, I thought my review of Fruitvale Station couldn’t help but be greatly affected. But as the film goes into wide release on 1,064 screens today, I realize I feel exactly the same about the film as I did two Fridays ago. Put plainly, Fruitvale Station is the most riveting, artfully-told, written, directed and acted movie of the year, it should win 2013 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director, and every adult living should immediately make all efforts to see this movie and receive a mind-and-heart-altering reminder that every single person alive, no matter what sex, creed, color or age, has humanity that deserves recognition and respect. The basics of the story are probably already known to most: Bay Area-based writer/director Ryan Coogler was deeply moved by the tragic shooting of fellow Bay Area native Oscar Grant, a 22 year-old black man who was killed at the Fruitvale BART Station by police on New Year’s Day 2009. Coogler wanted to show what Grant’s last day of life was like, so people would see not just a victim or a thug, but who and how Oscar really was. And not just the good or misunderstood parts of Oscar, but also the bad, the funny, the sweet and the ugly – and know he was a vibrant, complex being who in no way deserved the callous and all-too-common fate he received. The movie opens stunningly with real cellphone footage of Oscar Grant’s murder. If you’ve never seen it before (which I hadn’t), it is gutting. I involuntarily burst into tears – I was just so sad and angry and shocked at the injustice – it took a lot to pull myself back into the movie and get to know Oscar in life as viscerally as I did in death. As much as it smarts, Coogler’s choice to start the film this way is brilliant, because it communicates powerfully the underlying truth of what’s to unfold – you may be watching a movie, but do not ever forget – THIS WAS REAL. Fruitvale then segues into off-screen dialogue between Oscar (Michael B. Jordan) and his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz) much earlier that morning. She is upset with Oscar because of an infidelity he tries in vain to explain away. As they get their young daughter Tatiana (Ariana Neal) ready for school, we learn Oscar is a sweet, loving and permissive father (he sneaks his daughter the extra snack her mom said she couldn’t have) who sells dope sometimes to make ends meet. As we continue with Oscar through the challenges and banality of his morning (stretching the gas in his tank before filling up, texting his Mom “Happy Birthday”, dropping his girlfriend off at work, picking up food for his mom’s party, worrying about rent) we learn he’s been in and out of prison several times and is struggling to get it together. Oscar, mind-blowingly portrayed and embodied by Jordan, comes off as equal parts charismatic, tough, caring and desperate. In one moment he is helping a customer in the deli where he worked figure out how to cook fish by putting her on the phone with his Grandma Bonnie; the next he is defiantly demanding/begging his ex-boss to rehire him. When he doesn’t get his job back, Oscar immediately plays it off with a co-worker, lies with a smile, and acts like it’s all good. The code switching Oscar goes through in this one day – the subtly different-yet-specific ways he behaves and speaks with his daughter, his mom, his sister, girlfriend, his homies, his boss – is, I think, the key revelation of the film, and why this story is connecting with audiences everywhere. Oscar Grant, the young, black, ex-convict drug dealer is, surprisingly, an everyperson, dealing with the same contradictory bundle of human dynamics, dramas and relationships we all do. When Oscar makes a pivotal choice to change his life mid-way through the film (after reflecting on time he spent in jail), he drops his tough-guy mask and confesses to Sophina that he lost his day job and has taken himself out of the dope game. When Sophina starts to go in on him (understandably – it’s clear she’s been through a lot with him), her strength and humanity shine through when a few beats later she forgives and supports him despite the immediate hardship his actions are creating. Diaz is perfect in this underplayed moment – Sophina, more than anybody, sees the vulnerable Oscar and whether or not she fully believes in his potential, she loves and respects him enough to support him on his stilted journey towards betterment. A lot more happens in the movie before we get to the fateful moment on the BART platform at Fruitvale on New Year’s Eve 2008/New Year’s Day 2009, but truly, instead of reading a summary of it here, you should just go see it for yourself. Do let me say though that Octavia Spencer, who plays Oscar’s mother Wanda… well, what she does in the movie is beyond deserving another Oscar (which, of course, she does). She should open up acting clinics and teach other actors how real people actually behave in extreme circumstances. If the viewers I was in the theatre with weren’t crying before, the way Spencer reacts to the news of Oscar’s death and her subsequent viewing of his body in the hospital caused an all-out, audible sob fest. From beginning to end, the whole movie feels authentic, without a shred of manipulation. Though there is definite filmmaking throughout Fruitvale Station and filmic choices being made, they are seamless and only enhance the raw power and poignancy of the story. Even at a relatively short running time of 1 hour 30 minutes, I came out of the theater feeling as if I’d lived another life. And I did. I lived Oscar Grant’s life and was deeply, sorely sad it was gone. And the great thing – I wasn’t alone. The whole audience felt it for 90 minutes – black, white, male, female, young, old – we all felt like we were Oscar Grant.
Early Tuesday morning, Akua McClaine was having a seizure but her five year-old son knew what to do: call 911. Fox 2 News reports that Demonte Reilley knew exactly what to say when the operator answered the call. Demonte told the operator what had happened to his mother, her age and her medical history, as well as their location. His mother had drilled him on what to say if he ever had to call 911. The operator was so impressed with the boy’s actions that she contacted Fox 2. “I’m so proud of him,” McClaine told the news station about her son’s actions. “He saved me.” The only thing Demonte doesn’t remember about the ordeal was how long it took for the EMS to arrive; he just graduated from kindergarten, so he doesn’t know how to tell time. As for McClaine, she was treated at a local hospital and released. “I just said, ‘baby I love you so much’ and he said, ‘no mommy, I love you.’” To see video of Demonte Reilley talking about saving his mother by calling 911, clickhere. article via newsone.com
Black Girls Code, the non-profit organization dedicated to teaching young women of color about computer science, technology and coding languages, has raised $109,357 and counting via Indiegogo.com for their 2013 10-city summer program, and hopes to raise $25,000 more by this evening, Friday, July 26, to provide this year’s Tech Divas with new equipment for their mobile apps workshop. The summer tour kicks off August 3rd in Detroit, travels to Oakland with mobile app summer bootcamp August 5-9, then heads to Pittsburgh, Memphis, New York, Washington DC, Tallahassee, Dallas, Miami and Chicago on subsequent dates. To learn more about Black Girls Code, watch the video below, or go to Indiegogo.com.To register for the summer programs, go to blackgirlscode.com. Onward and upward!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x_htF4DmUc&w=560&h=315] Related Stories:BlackGirlsCode Wins $50,000 Philanthropy Award article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Mary Parker, Founder/CEO of ALL(n)1 Security Services in Atlanta, GA The biggest fear for many people these days is whether their nest egg will last throughout their retirement. One way to avoid outliving your money is to work longer—on your own terms. While you may not be able to retire at 65 (or don’t want to), if you’re doing work that you enjoy in your own business, setting your own schedule, and fulfilling goals that you’ve set yourself—it may not even feel like work. Many Baby Boomers and retirees plan to start a business or are already self-employed, and many of their businesses are turning a profit. Pursuing professional dreams while working for themselves has enabled many older self-employed workers to secure their financial future. A recent survey by AARP found 10 percent of workers ages 45 to 74 plan to start a business and 15 percent of workers in this age range are already self-employed. Some started a business due to a job loss, others had already retired but weren’t ready to fully stop working. On average, self-employed workers who are in their 40s or 50s spend nearly two decades working for themselves, the study found. “What we see is that most of the individuals that start businesses later in life represent professional services,” said Jean Setzfand, vice president for financial security at AARP. “Whether it be lawyers or accountants, data processing that tends to be more of what we see in terms of older self-employed workers.” Mary Parker, a 59-year-old entrepreneur, spent more than three decades navigating two challenging industries before taking the helm of her own firm. After being downsized from her job as at auto manufacturing plant early in her career, Parker saw a job opening for a security officer. Some people may have seen that as a step down from the managerial role she previously held. Yet, she saw the long-term potential of taking this position and started to learn the security business from the ground up. “In terms of career opportunities, you never really think about a security guard being anything other than a guard. What I learned was the security industry is a very lucrative industry,” she said. While rising through the ranks in that field, she felt she would be best fulfilled if she was running her own firm. “Although my career in corporate America was very successful, I just believe that any time you work for other people there are so many limitations,” she said. Like many self-employed workers, including Boomers, Parker focused on providing a service. In 2001, Parker founded ALL(n)1 Security Services, based in Atlanta, Ga., which provides security personnel and technology. As CEO, she runs a multi-million dollar enterprise with more than 200 employees. See video of her story below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZCGBuYDdNA&w=560&h=315] Parker isn’t alone in her accomplishments. Most of those surveyed by the AARP said their businesses were successful. “Once you have the life experience, you probably have a shorter pathway to being successful and that is something we’re seeing,” AARP’s Setzfand said. Nearly three-quarters of older self-employed workers surveyed by AARP indicated that their business made a profit in 2011. This may explain why 9 out of 10 self-employed older workers believe it is not likely that they will have to give up working for themselves in the next year. Parker certainly intends to keep running her business. Thanks to a diversified portfolio of retirement funds and real estate investments, she said she could retire in a few years, but she’ll probably just keep working. “When I’m ready to retire in the next 3 to 5 years, financially I don’t have to worry about what that will look like,” Parker said. “I will not have to work, although I know I will continue to work.” report by Sharon Epperson via nbr.com
“Keeping Up Mess” by Tracy Andrews (Source: blackartdepot.com) Marketplace.org recently posted a podcast about African-American hair salons and the entrepreneurial environment that exists within and around them. Check it out below: [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/102465676″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Black Girls Code, the non-profit organization dedicated to teaching young women of color about computer science, technology and coding languages, has raised $109,357 and counting via 
The summer tour kicks off August 3rd in Detroit, travels to Oakland with mobile app summer bootcamp August 5-9, then heads to Pittsburgh, Memphis, New York, Washington DC, Tallahassee, Dallas, Miami and Chicago on subsequent dates. To learn more about Black Girls Code, watch the video below, or go to 
