Recently, Tennessee State University, the historically Black educational institution in Nashville, held its homecoming weekend. At the football game that weekend, 97-year-old alumna Burnece Walker Brunson joined the cheerleading squad on the sidelines. “Cheering for your favorite players and entertaining your fans feels like you are also part of the game,” Brunson said.
Brunson was a member of the university cheerleading team from 1934 to 1935 when the institution was known as Tennessee A&I College. “We didn’t do all of those fancy stuff back then,” Brunson recalls. “We did some jumps here and there but we did not do all that tossing and throwing. It fulfilled my desire to stay physically active since there were not many sporting activities for girls during those days.”
Brunson is a native of Tennessee but grew up in Chicago. She turned to her home state for college in 1933 and joined the cheerleading team the next year. After obtaining her teaching certificate, she went back to Chicago and earned a bachelor’s degree from Chicago Teacher’s College and a master’s degree from the National College of Education in Evansville, Illinois.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) today announced the formation of the Regions HBCU Partnership, a collaboration with six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States supporting financial education, academics, athletics, and alumni engagement. The Regions HBCU Partnership kicks off during the fall of 2012 at the following institutions, with plans to expand the program to additional HBCUs in the future:
Octavia Spencer, a cast member in the film “Smashed,” posing for a portrait at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, file)
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
Oakland Mills resident Ambrose Lane Jr. tightens the bolt on the newly named April Wind Court on Monday. A name change for the street, previously called Coon Hunt Court, was approved by the County Planning Board in September. (Photo by Jon Sham, The Baltimore Sun)
After seven months of petitioning, a group of Columbia, Maryland residents gathered Monday for an official ceremony revealing their neighborhood’s new street name. Coon Hunt Court has now been changed to April Wind Court, the Baltimore Sun reported.
“For more than 175 years, the word ‘coon’ represented racism and bigotry against African-American people,” April Wind Court resident Ambrose Lane Jr. said at the ceremony. “We come here today to right the wrong, to correct the mistake, to continue James Rouse’s vision and dream of an inclusive, neighborly, and multiracial Columbia community.”
Oakland Mills resident Ambrose Lane Jr. tightens the bolt on the newly named April Wind Court on Monday. A name change for the street, previously called Coon Hunt Court, was approved by the County Planning Board in September. (Photo by Jon Sham, The Baltimore Sun)
After seven months of petitioning, a group of Columbia, Maryland residents gathered Monday for an official ceremony revealing their neighborhood’s new street name. Coon Hunt Court has now been changed to April Wind Court, the Baltimore Sun reported.
“For more than 175 years, the word ‘coon’ represented racism and bigotry against African-American people,” April Wind Court resident Ambrose Lane Jr. said at the ceremony. “We come here today to right the wrong, to correct the mistake, to continue James Rouse’s vision and dream of an inclusive, neighborly, and multiracial Columbia community.”
More people are working and that is reflected in the most recent unemployment numbers released by the Labor Department Friday morning. African-Americans had reason to cheer as their unemployment rate fell to 13.4 percent, down from 14.1 percent in August. Though still extremely high, African-American teen joblessness dropped slightly from 37.9 to 36.7 percent. The national jobless rate declined to 7.8 percent from 8.1 the previous month. The unemployment rate is at a 44-month low, and is now the same as when President Obama took office in 2009. This drop could give the president a boost after his disappointing debate performance against Mitt Romney.
Willie McPherson And Christopher Manzi Win Mega Millions Jackpot After Playing Together For 25 Years
It took persistence, but 25 years of effort paid off big time for two old friends in New York.
Willie McPherson, 74, and Christopher Manzi, 44, won a $14 million jackpot last month playing the Mega Millions lottery, according to the New York Post. The two had been buying lottery tickets together for a quarter of a century after becoming friends while working at Manzi’s print shop in Manhattan. Despite having spent a sizable amount of cash on their lottery habit over the years, neither McPherson nor Manzi shelled out a dime for the winning ticket. As part of a lottery promotion, they received two Quick Picks for free.
“We won $14 million on a free play ticket,” McPherson told to the New York Daily News. “[It feels] beautiful.”
The pair opted to take the prize in one lump sum, which, after taxes, comes out to about $3.5 million each. Media accounts indicated the two may celebrate in Miami.
Kyu’s Coffee Shop, which gave McPherson the winning ticket, received $10,000 for its hand in the deal, NBC News reported.
The popular Kenya dolls from the 1990s are back. Kenya first hit shelves in 1992 and became an overnight success — consistently selling out in stores across the country and ultimately becoming one of the cult favorite toys of the decade. Created to provide girls of color with a toy that reflected their appearance (both their skin tone and features) and could be used as a tool to instill self-esteem, the dolls are arguably just as important today as they were then. Kenya’s World LLC, the company relaunching the product line, is hoping the new dolls for the next generation of little girls will be as well-received when they hit shelves once again this November.
“Sometimes you struggle so hard to feed your family one way, you forget to feed them the other way, with spiritual nourishment. Everybody needs that.”
— James Brown, singer, musician & the “Godfather Of Soul”
A brave 16-year-old boy in Southampton, Hampshire in the United Kingdom risked his own life after running in a burning home to save a 2-year-old boy, Adam, the Southern Daily Echo reports.
Nelson Fonangwan was awaken by the screams of his neighbor, Aneta Jedlikoswka, whose child was locked inside of her burning house. When the teen reached the mom, she was frantic.
“She didn’t speak good English and she pointed to me inside the house and said ‘baby’, I knew I had to do something so that’s when I helped by breaking the rest of the glass and I went in and got the baby,” Fonangwan told The Echo.
“The smoke was really thick you couldn’t even breathe, I don’t know how the baby was coping because I was choking. I didn’t think too much because it was frantic but once I heard baby I thought I have to do this. I was a bit nervous though because it was fire.
“When I brought her baby out, she was really relieved her arm was really bad she hugged him tight.”
article via newsone.com