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Howard University Receives $5 Million from Alumni Eddie C. Brown and C. Sylvia Brown, the Largest Alumni Donation in its HistorySylvia and Eddie Brown

Howard University Receives $5 Million from Alumni Eddie C. Brown and C. Sylvia Brown, the Largest Alumni Donation in its History

By goodblacknews on October 15, 2021

Howard University recently announced a $5 million gift from alumni Eddie C. Brown (B.S.E.E. ’61) and C. Sylvia Brown(B.S. ’62), donated to support the Graduation Retention Access to Continued Excellence (GRACE) Grant for students facing financial barriers. It is the largest donation from alumni in the HBCU’s 154-year history.

Eddie Brown is the founder, chairman and CEO of Brown Capital Management, a Baltimore-based asset management firm that is the second oldest African-American-owned investment management firm in the world.

“We are extremely grateful to Eddie and Sylvia for making this historic gift to Howard University,” said Howard University President Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick. “The GRACE Grant has helped to eliminate financial barriers to education for Howard students, and I am thrilled that the Browns were inspired to commit such a generous gift to this important fund. My hope is that students will be inspired by their story and generosity and that others in our alumni community will consider the many ways they, too, can impact current and future generations of Howard students.”

The Browns met on Howard’s campus in 1957. Eddie came to Howard from Allentown, Pennsylvania at just 16 years old as a student in the College of Engineering, and Sylvia came to Howard from King William, Virginia as a student in what was then the College of Liberal Arts.

While equally committed to education, the couple recall two very different stories as it pertains to their opportunities to pursue a college education. Whereas Sylvia came from a family of educators and always knew she had the support to pursue higher education, Eddie’s journey to Howard was made possible because of a caring teacher and anonymous “angel” donor.

New York City Public School District to Implement Black Studies Program for All Students in Grades K-12

New York City Public School District to Implement Black Studies Program for All Students in Grades K-12

By goodblacknews on September 30, 2021

The New York city school district announced a groundbreaking curriculum change yesterday to teach all children in grades K-12 in all five boroughs about the history and contributions of Black Americans, according to abc7ny.com.

The initiative will teach children about the early African civilizations, the Black experience in America and the contributions and accomplishments and contributions of the African diaspora.

To quote abc7ny.com:

“It was not until I stepped foot onto the campus of Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, a historically black all women’s college, that I gained that deeper knowledge — not just the beginning of slavery in America,” said  City Council Member Adrienne Adams, co-chair of the Black Latino and Asian Caucus.

The BLAC secured $10 million in next year’s budget for the program. That money will go to a handful of organizations including the Black Education Research Collective at Columbia University and the Eagle Academy Foundation who will help craft the curriculum.

“In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the ensuing social unrest, and the calls for racial justice that followed the need for a systemic approach to cultivate a better a deeper appreciation of the contributions of black people within New York City Schools was more pressing than ever,” said Jawana Johnson with the Eagle Academy Foundation.

“I am so proud to be a chancellor who ushered our children back into school, but what I know is in ushering them back, they have to see and experience themselves every single day in the curriculum,” said Chancellor Meisha Porter.

The program is expected to be implemented next year.

Read more: https://abc7ny.com/amp/nyc-public-schools-black-studies-americans-african/11061658/

[Photo via video screen capture at abc7ny.com]

Janelle Monáe and 15 More Black Women Artists and Activists Drop 17-Minute “Say Her Name” Anthem to Protest Police Violence Against Black Woman (VIDEO)

Janelle Monáe and 15 More Black Women Artists and Activists Drop 17-Minute “Say Her Name” Anthem to Protest Police Violence Against Black Woman (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on September 24, 2021

Musician, actor and activist Janelle Monáe partnered with the African American Policy Forum to create “Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout),” an anthem protesting police violence and calling attention to 61 Black women and girls who were killed by law enforcement.

The 17-minute song features 15 other Black female artists and activists, including Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Chloe x Halle, Tierra Whack, Isis V., Zoë Kravitz, Brittany Howard, Asiahn, Jovian Zayne, Angela Rye, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Brittany Packnett-Cunningham, Alicia Garza and MJ Rodriguez.

“This International Daughter’s Day and we are proud to stand with the African American Policy Forum’s #SayHerName Mothers Network & Kimberlé Crenshaw as we honor the Black women and girls who lost their lives at the hands of police,” Monáe said in a statement.

“We support the tireless work that #SayHerName has been doing for years to help bring these mothers justice for their daughters. This work is too important to do alone and can only be sustained through our collective voices,” she added. “We take up this call to action as daughters ourselves trying to create a world where stories like these are no longer commonplace. This is a rally cry.”

https://twitter.com/AAPolicyForum/status/1441080268727615495?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Artist Amy Sherald’s Breonna Taylor Portrait on Display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Artist Amy Sherald’s Breonna Taylor Portrait on Display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

By goodblacknews on September 9, 2021

Best known for painting the official portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama that hangs in the National Gallery, artist Amy Sherald’s painting of Breonna Taylor officially goes on display Friday at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

Sherald’s posthumous painting of Taylor, now part of the museum’s new exhibition, “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience,” was first seen en masse by the public when it graced the September 2020 cover of Vanity Fair. 

Acclaimed for her photo-based, realistic, minimalist style and creative exploration of skin tone, Sherald’s vision of Taylor simultaneously honors the police violence victim’s beauty, humanity and the tragedy of her loss.

A painting of Taylor now hangs in a darkened gallery on the fourth floor of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It is displayed behind glass, in the warm glow of soft light. It is the only artwork in the room, a commanding presence, and the heartbreaking apex  opening Friday.

The painting was acquired by both NMHAAC and the Speed Art Museum in KY, where it was displayed in April of this year. It will hang at NMHAAC until May 2022.

Clinton College, a South Carolina HBCU, Offers Full-Time Students Free Tuition

Clinton College, a South Carolina HBCU, Offers Full-Time Students Free Tuition

By goodblacknews on August 22, 2021

Clinton College, a small historically Black college (HBCU) located in Rock Hill, South Carolina is offering all full-time students free tuition for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year.

According to the Associated Press, Clinton College President Lester McCorn announced in early August that qualifying full-time students could attend at no cost for tuition.

The College had earlier committed to slash fall tuition by 50 percent for its students, and offer every student a new tablet, but with the continued financial strain of the pandemic, decided to do away with tuition altogether.

“It has been taxing for each and everyone of us,” McCorn said of the pandemic. “At Clinton College, we have done our best to keep the school moving forward and providing a quality education, even in a virtual environment.”

The cost of tuition for full-time students is listed as  $4,960 per semester, while a full year costs $9,920. Vaccinated students are permitted to live on campus and will still be responsible for the costs of room and board. Those who attend full-time and live off campus can take their courses online free of charge.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna1662

Digital Healthcare Platform HUED Lands $1.6M in Funding from Serena Williams and Others

Digital Healthcare Platform HUED Lands $1.6M in Funding from Serena Williams and Others

By goodblacknews on August 10, 2021

The digital health start-up HUED, founded in 2018 by Kimberly Wilson with the aim of connecting patients with Black and Latinx healthcare providers, recently raised $1.6 million in seed funding led by women venture capitalists.

According to thegrio.com, round participants included Serena Williams‘ Serena Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, Northwestern Mutual, Black Founders Matter, Gingerbread Capital, and angel investor and health industry leader, Halle Tecco.

To quote the grio.com:

“Embarking on such a bold mission to reimagine the healthcare system for communities of color is no easy feat,” said Wilson, Founder and CEO of HUED in a press release. “It’s incredible to have received the support of incredible investors, such as Female Founders Fund, to further our mission to empower and train healthcare workers on anti-racist practices, implicit bias, and providing culturally sensitive care for Black and Latinx populations.”

“We are thrilled to back Kimberly and her vision for HUED in making healthcare more equitable for millions of Black and Latinx patients,” said Anu Duggal, Founding Partner of Female Founders Fund. “She has built exciting traction with a strong team and we believe the HUED model will have a massive impact on healthcare outcomes in this country.”

HUED uses a patient’s insurance provider and region to match providers. The site also allows patients to access reviews about specific providers before making an appointment.

Wilson’s own 2017 healthcare scare inspired her to create HUED. When she ended up in the emergency room with complications related to fibroids, Wilson has stated that her mostly white male doctors “dismissed my pain.”

Through this funding round, grio.com reports, HUED will be able to add to its growing ranks of providers and train over 5,000 healthcare workers nationwide.

Read more: https://thegrio.com/2021/08/09/black-healthcare-app-gets-investment/

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/17/this-founder-created-a-platform-to-address-racial-bias-in-health-care.html

New York Artist Tanda Francis and Others Turn Plywood from Black Lives Matter Protests into Public Art

New York Artist Tanda Francis and Others Turn Plywood from Black Lives Matter Protests into Public Art

By goodblacknews on July 29, 2021

New York’s worthless studios, a not-for-profit space for artists, organized The Plywood Protection Project last summer in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, with the intention of making public art that paid tribute to the racial justice movement.

Tanda Francis, one of the five artists who worked on the project with worthless, used repurposed plywood from boarded-up storefronts to create a sculpture now on display in Queens called “RockIt Black.”

“Rockit Black” sculpture in Queens by Tanda Francis (photo via tandafrancis.com)

“To transform this plywood that was on the streets during the Black Lives Matter actual uprising is… amazing,” Francis told Reuters. “In my work, I actually use the color black and actually try to elevate it, kind of contrast to how it’s been sort of stigmatized in our culture.”

Behin Ha Design Studio erected their contribution called “Be Heard” in Thomas Paine Park in Lower Manhattan.

“Be Heard” by Behin Ha Design Studio in Thomas Paine Park, Manhattan (photo via worthless studios.org)

“New York City was covered in this plywood during COVID shutdowns and, you know, the peak of the Black Lives Matter protests,” said Neil Hamamoto, founder of worthless studios. “To me, it felt important to recycle the material because of its power and rhetoric.”

KaNSiteCurators and Caroline Mardok created “In Honor of Black Lives Matter,” which currently stand in Poe Park in The Bronx.

“Lift Every Voice And Sing”: James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson’s Anthem to Freedom (LISTEN)

“Lift Every Voice And Sing”: James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson’s Anthem to Freedom (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on July 4, 2021

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

James Weldon Johnson,  an NAACP field secretary, civil rights activist, Broadway composer and professor who investigated and spoke out about lynchings in the first decades of the 20th century, also wrote the classic novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, first published in 1912.

But perhaps the publication Weldon is best known for was that of a song he wrote with his brother John Rosamond Johnson. In 1900, in honor of Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington as part of a tribute to Abraham Lincoln‘s birthday, they crafted a poem that was read by 500 schoolchildren entitled “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

The poem celebrated freedom as it recognized a brutal past never to be repeated. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was so well received that the brothers set it to music and by 1919 the NAACP dubbed it “the Negro national anthem.” It has functioned in that capacity ever since.

The Johnson brothers pictured on the cover of this 1973 version of the sheet music

Sung for decades at countless meetings, events, and ceremonies, a 1990 version of the song performed by Melba Moore (which can be heard here on GBN’s “Black Americana” playlist ) was entered into the Congressional Record and, in 2016, into the National Recording Registry.

Singing this song today makes as much sense as any other American anthem, as it is a song of independence from tyranny, inhumanity and injustice. It is sung in honor of Americans who died building this country by progeny who seek to embrace the liberty, hope and prosperity freedom promises.

Enjoy Aretha Franklin, whose voice literally was designated an American natural resource, singing the song we might all lift our voices to sing. Full lyrics published below.

Annette Nance-Holt Becomes 1st Woman to Head the Chicago Fire Department

Annette Nance-Holt Becomes 1st Woman to Head the Chicago Fire Department

By goodblacknews on July 2, 2021

After working for over 30 years in several different positions within the Chicago Fire Department, Annette Nance-Holt recently became the first woman to lead the CFD.

Her appointment to the top position of Fire Commissioner was confirmed last week by Chicago’s City Council, wgntv.com reports.

“Commissioner Holt has more than three decades of proven leadership and a passion for public service that makes her the perfect fit for this role,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

“Furthermore, in a time where more work remains in order to eliminate discrimination, racism and sexism from the firefighter profession, Commissioner Holt’s history-making appointment as the first woman and Black woman to lead as Fire Commissioner couldn’t have come at a better moment.”

Holt was appointed first deputy commissioner in 2018 and has been serving as acting commissioner since Richard C. Ford retired earlier this year.

In 2007, tragedy put Nance-Holt into the news when her 16-year-old son Blair Holt was shot and killed on a CTA bus while shielding a classmate from gunfire.

Nance-Holt since then has helped start Purpose Over Pain, a non-profit which aids parents who have lost children to gun violence.

Commissioner Nance-Holt was mainly raised in the Maple Park community on the south side of Chicago and attended both parochial and public schools. She learned responsibility at an early age, having worked at the family-owned grocery store on the south and west sides of Chicago.

While studying and working full time, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chicago State University, and later obtained a Master’s in Public Administration in Fire and Emergency Services  from Anna Maria College.

Prior to joining the CFD, Commissioner Nance-Holt worked in the private sector for eight  years.

Read more: https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/annette-nance-holt-confirmed-as-first-black-woman-to-lead-the-chicago-fire-department/

Black Girl 44 Scholarship for Public Service Internships Announces its 2021 Recipients

Black Girl 44 Scholarship for Public Service Internships Announces its 2021 Recipients

By goodblacknews on June 25, 2021

[Photo via blackgirl44.com]

Black Girl 44, the scholarship established by Deesha Dyer, founder & CEO of social impact firm Hook & Fasten and former social secretary for the Obama White House, recently announced its recipients for 2021.

Through contributions from more than 55 Black women who worked in the Obama White House, Dyer established the scholarship as part of an initiative to expose Black women to policy, community engagement, community service, advocacy, global relations and politics.

To quote from thegrio.com:

“When you hear the word politics, people get turned off,” Dyer explained. “So they’re like ‘politics is the Hill and the White House and the president.’ That’s how I thought for years, that I didn’t belong in politics and I don’t belong there. But that’s not necessarily all that it is. There’s a whole realm of politics and public service that we don’t talk about, that really is broad.”

This summer, 10 young women from across the country will participate in the Black Girl 44 scholarship. Due to the pandemic, some scholars may be in a position to experience the public service field remotely. The ultimate goal is that the experience entices the women to pursue careers in these fields.

Through the Black Girl 44 Scholarship, Deesha hopes to redefine the “face of what politics looks like” and reimagine “what it means.”

To see a full list of the scholars and their interests, click here.