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Civil Rights Pioneer and Activist Julian Bond Honored by University of Virginia With an Endowed Chair

By goodblacknews on November 7, 2016

US President Barack Obama shakes hands with former NAACP chairman Julian Bond (L) during the NAACP 100th Anniversary convention in New York, July 16, 2009. (Photo credit SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Barack Obama shakes hands with former NAACP chairman Julian Bond (L) during the NAACP 100th Anniversary convention in New York, July 16, 2009. (Photo credit SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

article via jbhe.com
The University of Virginia has announced that it is creating an endowed professorship to honor the late Julian Bond. Professor Bond, who was a civil rights pioneer and led the NAACP for 12 years, taught at the University of Virginia for 20 years. As a student at Morehouse College, Bond was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He later served as the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center and was a member of the Georgia State legislature for 20 years.
The Julian Bond Professorship of Civil Rights and Social Justice has been endowed with more than $3 million by 350 alumni and supporters. Ian B. Baucom, the Dean of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia notes that ““Julian Bond worked tirelessly to ensure civil rights were extended to all Americans. The Bond Professorship will help us attract the faculty talent we need to continue the civil rights education work that Julian Bond championed throughout his life.”
Teresa A. Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, added that “Julian Bond made significant contributions to the University of Virginia, teaching thousands of our students while serving as a mentor and role model for all of us. As a driving force for social change for more than a half-century, he had an extraordinary impact on our University, our community and our nation.”

Tamron Hall Creates Fund to Support Domestic Violence Survivors in Honor of Late Sister

By goodblacknews on November 6, 2016
Today Show co-host Tamron Hall (photo via today.com)
Today Show co-host Tamron Hall (photo via today.com)
article by Ashley Monaé via madamenoire.com
It’s been nearly 12 years since Tamron Hall lost her sister Renate to an act of domestic violence. Found beaten and floating face down in a pool in Houston, Hall has since devoted her time to advocating for domestic violence victims and speaking out of the issue.
To honor Renate and take help others dealing with the same issue, the Today co-host decided to partner with non-profit Safe Horizon, launching “The Tamron ♥ Renate Fund” in October, which is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Aimed at providing support for victims, the fund educates their friends and family members so they can learn how to become a strong support system.
In addition to the fund offering educational courses and offering resources like shelter and legal expenses for victims, families can call Safe Horizon’s 24-hour hotline (1-800-621-HOPE (4673)) as another alternative to learning how they can help victims.

 To read more, go to: http://madamenoire.com/724828/tamron-hall-domestic-violence-fund/

Donors Raise Over $200,000 for Historic Black Church Defaced in Mississippi

By goodblacknews on November 5, 2016
Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville, MS (photo via chnistiantoday.com)
Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville, MS (photo via chnistiantoday.com)

article by Charise Frazier via blackamericaweb.com

A GoFundMe account set up to help restore a historically Black Mississippi church defaced by vandals has raised over $200,000.  On Tuesday Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church congregants in Greenville, Mississippi found their sanctuary set ablaze with the words “Vote Trump,” spray painted on one of the church walls, ABC News reports.

According to the outlet, no one was harmed in the fire, but the blaze left behind charred pews and inside structure damage.  At a Wednesday news conference, Hopewell’s pastor, Carolyn Hudson, said parishioners were “heartbroken,” but was faithful that “God would allow us to build another sanctuary in that same place.”
Blair Reeves, a New York Native who organized the GoFundMe campaign, told ABC he felt “compelled” to act and was overwhelmed at the response.  “The animus of this election cycle combined with the potent racial history of burning black churches as a political symbol makes this event something we must not ignore,” Reeves wrote in the campaign’s description. “Only two weeks ago, the internet came together to help repair a North Carolina GOP field office that had been burned by thugs. Justice demands we do the same now.”
Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons, said there was no doubt the attack was calculated at Wednesday’s presser.  “We are well familiar that this form of attack on a black church has occurred many, many years ago. It happened in the ’50s, it happened in the ’60s, but we’re in 2016 and [this] should not happen.”
As previously reported, the Greenville Police Department is investigating the incident as a hate crime, while the FBI announced plans to launch a civil rights probe.
To read more, go to: http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/11/05/donors-raise-over-200000-for-historic-black-church-defaced-by-vandals/

Derrick Deacon of Brooklyn, 58, Awarded $6 Million After Imprisoned 24 Years on Wrongful Murder Conviction

By goodblacknews on November 2, 2016
NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi
Derrick Deacon, 58, hugs his attorney Rebecca Freedman, at State Supreme Court after being acquitted for the 1989 robbery and murder of a 16-year-old named Anthony Winn. (JESSE WARD/JESSE WARD FOR NEW YORK DAILY NE)
A Brooklyn man who spent more than 24 years in prison for a murder conviction that was later thrown out by an appeals court has accepted the city’s offer of $6 million to settle his federal lawsuit, the Daily News has learned.
Derrick Deacon was re-tried for the murder in 2013 by the office of then-Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, and the jury acquitted him after deliberating merely nine minutes.  “Based upon newly discovered evidence which implicated another man as the actual killer, the court vacated Mr. Deacon’s conviction and granted him a new trial,” Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the city Law Department said in a statement.
“We have determined that a settlement of this civil suit is fair and in the best interests of the City.”  Deacon, 61, was convicted of robbing and killing Anthony Wynn in April 1989 inside an East Flatbush building. A key eyewitness who pocketed a $1,000 Crimestoppers reward from the NYPD fingered him as the murderer.
But the case began to unravel in 2001 when a federal informant who had been a member of a violent gang called the Patio Crew gave the feds the name of the real killer. The Appellate Division for the Second Department reversed Deacon’s conviction in 2013, but the D.A.’s office refused to drop the case against him.
“The case should have never been retried and the acquittal after nine minutes was a slap in the face of the D.A.’s office,” his lawyer Glenn Garber said Monday. “This settlement is some level of redemption and compensation for Derrick’s suffering.”
To read more, go to: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-man-6m-24-years-wrongfully-prison-article-1.2852913

Venus and Serena Williams to Open Center in Compton for Victims of Violence

By goodblacknews on November 1, 2016

Venus And Serena To Open Center For Victims Of Violence In Compton
Venus and Serena Williams (photo via madamenoire.com)

article by Veronica Wells via madamenoire.com
Venus Williams and Serena Williams may travel the world playing the game they love, but they never forget about their home, Compton, California. The two are giving back to their hometown through the launch of the Yetunde Price Resource Center.
Named after their eldest sister, who was killed as a result of gun violence, the center will connect residents who have been affected by violence to service providers. The center will develop custom plans and function as a liaison between the residents of Compton and the agencies that are there to help them.
Mayor Aja Brown said of the center’s opening:

“This is an incredible investment and commitment by Serena and Venus Williams, and I commend them for their desire to help children and families in Compton thrive. The resource center will serve as vital support to existing nonprofits and organizations that provide critical services to our community.  I understand first-hand the power of partnership, and I am confident that the resource center will play a major role in breaking down silos in our community by facilitating key partnerships to increase asset leveraging and expanding the impact of services. The resource center will be able to map all of the resources in and around the Compton community while providing customized assistance that will be a vital asset to improving our ability to service our youth, adults and families.”

In addition to the resource center, Gatorade will refurbish two tennis courts and dedicate them to the Williams sisters. The courts will be unveiled during the Healthy Compton Community Festival on Saturday, November 12.
To read original article, go to: http://madamenoire.com/724191/venus-and-serena-to-open-center-for-victims-of-violence-in-compton/

Willow Smith and Jaden Smith Join #NODAPL Protesters in North Dakota

By goodblacknews on October 31, 2016

willow-smith-protest
Willow Smith at #NODAPL protest (photo via thegrio.com)

article via thegrio.com
Jaden Smith and Willow Smith are the latest in the long list of celebrities to join the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota.
Both were seen in protests last week, with Willow posting about their activism under the hashtag #NODAPL and sharing their protests on Instagram. They are both standing in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Indian tribe in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.7 billion project which, if finished, plans to start moving 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day through four different states.
The protests stem from the tribe’s desire for the pipeline not to disrupt their reservation.
To see more, go to: http://thegrio.com/2016/10/31/jaden-and-willow-smith-join-nodapl-protesters/

NYU Study Finds That Middle and High School Students of All Races Prefer Teachers of Color

By goodblacknews on October 28, 2016

(photo via constant contact.com)
(photo via archive.constantcontact.com)

article via jbhe.com
A new study by researchers at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University finds that middle and high school students of all races have a more favorable opinion of Black and Latino teachers than they do of White teachers.
The authors of the study examined data on 1,680 teachers in 200 urban schools who taught more than 50,000 students in grades six through nine.
Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, assistant professor of international education at New York University and a co-author of the study, said that “we were surprised to find that minority teachers are not just viewed more highly than White teachers by minority students, but in many cases by White students as well.” Asian American students preferred Black teachers even more than did Black students.
The study, “The Importance of Minority Teachers: Student Perceptions of Minority Versus White Teachers,” was published on the website of the journal Educational Researcher. It may be accessed here.

Author Paul Beatty Becomes 1st American to Win Man Booker Prize With ‘The Sellout’

By goodblacknews on October 25, 2016
Paul Beatty, who won the Man Booker Prize for “The Sellout,” a satire about race in America, at a ceremony Tuesday in London. (Credit: John Phillips/Getty Images)

article by Alexandra Alter via nytimes.com

Paul Beatty’s novel “The Sellout,” a blistering satire about race in America, won the Man Booker Prize on Tuesday, marking the first time an American writer has won the award.

The five Booker judges, who were unanimous in their decision, cited the novel’s inventive comic approach to the thorny issues of racial identity and injustice.

With its outrageous premise and unabashed skewering of racial stereotypes, “The Sellout” is an audacious choice for the judges, who oversee one of the most prestigious awards in literature.

“The truth is rarely pretty, and this is a book that nails the reader to the cross with cheerful abandon,” Amanda Foreman, the head of the judging panel, said at a press briefing in London before the winner was announced. “It plunges into the heart of contemporary American society.”

At a ceremony in London, Mr. Beatty said that writing “The Sellout” had taken an emotional toll.

“It was a hard book for me to write; I know it’s hard to read,” he said. “I’m just trying to create space for myself. And hopefully that can create space for others.”

A raucous tragicomedy that explores the legacy of slavery and racial and economic inequality in America, the novel felt deeply resonant at a moment when police violence against African-Americans has incited protests around the country and forced Americans to confront the country’s history of racism.

In a review in The New York Times, Dwight Garner wrote that the novel’s first 100 pages read like “the most concussive monologues and interviews of Chris Rock, Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle wrapped in a satirical yet surprisingly delicate literary and historical sensibility.”

To read full article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/business/media/paul-beatty-wins-man-booker-prize-with-the-sellout.html?_r=0

This Pioneering Comic Shop Owner Gets Her Own Marvel Cover | Colorlines

By goodblacknews on October 25, 2016

Colorlines Screenshot of (L to R) the variant “Invincible Iron Man #1” comic, feat. (L to R) RiRi Williams and Ariell Johnson; and a picture of Ariell Johnson, taken from Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse’s Instagram on October 25, 2016.

article by Sameer Rao via colorlines.com
Ariell Johnson, the founder of Philadelphia’s Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, is the only Black woman to own a comics shop on the East Coast.  Johnson opened Amalgam Comics to tremendous fanfare in January. Now, her important contributions to geek culture and entrepreneurship for women of color has been immortalized in the most appropriate way possible.
Johnson appears on a store-specific variant cover for Marvel’s “Invincible Iron Man #1,” enjoying a meal with another Black woman trailblazer: RiRi Williams, the new Iron Man. The comic goes on sale next month, with this alternate cover being available only at Amalgam.
Johnson told ABC News that her colleague Randy Green spearheaded the project. “When the email went out about potential variants for stores, he was really excited and took it upon himself to work out the [details],” she said. “I knew what it was supposed to look like, but having the actual art in front of you is so much different. It’s really exciting.”
“When you are a person of color, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel to find someone you can identify with. I always felt like I was watching other people’s adventures,” she said to ABC News. Had she not been introduced to X-Men character Storm, she said, “I might have grown out of my love for [comics].”
To read full article, go to: This Pioneering Comic Shop Owner Gets Her Own Marvel Cover | Colorlines

National Museum of African-American History and Culture is Sold Out Through March 2017!

By goodblacknews on October 25, 2016

Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC)

article via eurweb.com
To say the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is on everybody’s bucket list is an understatement. Put it like this. If you were planning to visit the new museum, unfortunately you’re going to have to wait until 2017.
Yep, it’s that popular. The museum has sold out tickets through March of 2017. Admission is free, but date-specific tickets are required for entry.
The museum opened in Washington, D.C. in September, and officials initially expected around 7,000 visitors per day.  Nearly 30,000 people visit the museum daily.
There are only two ways you can gain entry:  Go to the museum website and try to obtain a 2017 pass or line up outside the museum to try for a “day of” pass.
To read full article, go to: New African-American Museum is Sold Out Thru March, 2017!