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Prima Ballerina Misty Copeland Gets Her Own Barbie Doll

By goodblacknews on May 2, 2016
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Misty Copeland and her doll (photo courtesy MATTEL INC.)
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
Misty Copeland has been immortalized by Mattel. The Barbie creator debuted its Misty Copeland doll today and, like Ava DuVernay’s doll, it’ll likely fly off the shelves.
The doll that honors Copeland, who made history when she became the first African-American woman to be named principal dancer at the world-renowned American Ballet Theatre, is just another step in Mattel’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and part of its Sheroes Collection.
“I always dreamed of becoming an ABT ballerina, and through Barbie, I was able to play out those dreams early on,” Copeland said in a press release. “It’s an honor to be able to inspire the next generation of kids with my very own Barbie doll.”
The Misty Copeland doll will is available for preorder on Amazon.com and Mattel’s site.

First Daughter Malia Obama Chooses to Attend Harvard

By goodblacknews on May 1, 2016
Malia Obama chooses Harvard (photo via above average.com)
Malia Obama chooses Harvard (photo via above average.com)
article by Angela Bronner Helm via theroot.com
After much speculation, Malia Obama, the eldest daughter of the President and First Lady has announced her plans to attend Harvard University, but not until 2017.
The White House announced her plans on Sunday, as well as her intention to take a “gap year” so that when she begins, her father will be out of office.
Malia is continuing the tradition of the Obamas who were both Ivy League graduates. Harvard is where both of her parents attended law school, and President Obama graduated from Columbia undergrad and Michelle Obama attended Princeton.
Malia will join a long list of presidential children who have attended the Ivy League school, including John Quincy Adams and his son, John Adams II; Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert; the sons of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt; Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy; and George W. Bush, who went to business school there.
The New York Times reports that Malia visited Harvard and a handful of other Ivy League and liberal arts schools last March on the East Coast, but because she accompanied her father to California last month, many believed Stanford was at the top of her list. Apparently Crimson won her heart.
Read more at the New York Times.

Tavis Smiley Creates Scholarships for African-American Students at Indiana University

By goodblacknews on May 1, 2016

Tavis Smiley (photo via articles.philly.com)
Tavis Smiley (photo via articles.philly.com)

article via jbhe.com
Tavis Smiley, author and television and radio broadcaster, has established a new scholarship at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in Bloomington. The scholarships will be earmarked for African American students, with preference given to those who are the first in their family to attend college.
For students to be eligible, they must be accepted into the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, demonstrate financial need, and to have shown leadership in their schools and communities.
Smiley said that “my education at Indiana University and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs continues to contribute so much to what I’ve accomplished in life. I want to make sure students from backgrounds like mine can enjoy the same opportunities I did.”

College Student Rodney Smith Jr. Starts Free Lawn Service for Elderly

By goodblacknews on May 1, 2016

Rodney Smith Jr. (l) and friends (photo by Mary Chastain via breitbart.com)

article via breitbart.com
An Alabama A&M student started a free lawn service for the elderly and to teach younger kids about community service.
Rodney Smith, Jr., now runs “Raising Men Lawn Care Service” with “about 20 young men ages 7-17.” They cut lawns for the elderly, disabled, and single mothers.
It all started when he witnessed an elderly man mowing his lawn.  “It looked like he was struggling,” he said. “I was watching him and it just hit me. I could do something about it.”
Smith asked if they knew anyone who needed their lawn mowed. Friends gave him names and he wanted to mow 40 lawns by winter. He found a lawnmower on Craigslist and received it for free when he told the owner why he needed it.
Smith will receive his bachelor’s degree in computer science in May. He hopes to return to school to earn a master’s in social work.  “I want to go back and get my master’s in social work,” he explained. “All of this has made me want to do social work. I love helping people.”
Source: College Student Starts Free Lawn Service for Elderly – Breitbart

History Teacher Jacana Hayes Named National Teacher of the Year

By goodblacknews on April 30, 2016

U.S. Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes (photo via blogcea.com)
U.S. Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes (photo via blogcea.org)

article by Michael Melia via abc7ny.com
A Connecticut high school history teacher chosen as the National Teacher of the Year on Thursday says she was surrounded by poverty, drugs and violence as a child but imagined other possibilities for her life with help from educators.
Jahana Hayes, who teaches at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, CT, was selected for the honor by the Council of Chief State School Officers. She will be recognized by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony this coming Tuesday.
Hayes, 44, grew up in a Waterbury housing project and became a teenage mother while still in high school. She said the influence of her own teachers taught her that a school’s job sometimes overlaps with the job of parents, and she wants her students to know there are no dead ends.
“No matter where you are or how bad you think it is, there’s always opportunities for growth and opportunities for improvement,” she said. “I think too often, especially at the high school level, people deal in absolutes and students get the message that, ‘If I mess up or I don’t do everything exactly right right now, that that’s the end of my story.'”
At an urban school with a widely diverse student body, she said she has found teaching is a lifestyle that extends beyond the contracted hours. She finds herself serving not only as a teacher but also as a counselor, a confidant and a protector of her students.

Tamir Rice’s Family Settles With Cleveland for $6 Million in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By goodblacknews on April 26, 2016
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Tamir Rice’s family (photo via Getty Images)

article by Nigel Roberts via newsone.com

Tamir Rice’s family and the city of Cleveland, reached a $6 million settlement on Monday in a wrongful death lawsuit, ABC News reports.
Subodh Chandra, the family attorney, described the settlement as historic, according to ABC News.  But he added, via the Associated Press: “The resolution is nothing to celebrate because a 12-year-old child needlessly lost his life.”
Tamir was playing with a pellet gun at a Cleveland recreational center when Police Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback shot him in November 2014. A video captured the moment when their patrol car, responding to a 911 call, pulls up to Tamir and Loehmann shoots the boy within seconds. They reportedly were not aware that a witness said the gun was probably a fake and Tamir looked like a juvenile.
The fatal shooting contributed to the national outcry against excessive police force in regards to Black males and protests in Cleveland. In that tense atmosphere, a grand jury declined to charge the officers. Meanwhile, a federal civil rights investigation is pending.
Tamir’s mother, Samaria Rice, said the two officers failed to administer first aid and caused intentional distress by the way they mistreated her and her daughter following the shooting, ABC News reports. Her wrongful death suit targeted the officers, dispatchers, and Cleveland.
The network reports that the U.S. District Court filed an ordered saying that Cleveland will pay Tamir’s estate $3 million this year and the remainder in 2017. Cleveland did not admit to wrongdoing.

If You Were Gifted Solar Panels in Oakland, Prince Likely Paid for Them

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2016

Prince performs at the 19th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Monday, March 15, 2004, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. (photo via sfgate.com)
Prince performs at the 19th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Monday, March 15, 2004, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. (photo via sfgate.com)

article by Katie Dowd via sfgate.com
In the days since the death of music legend Prince, stories of his secret, wide-ranging philanthropy efforts are finally being told.  Two of Prince’s major charitable endeavors were centered in the Bay Area: bringing solar panels to Oakland and helping young people of color learn how to code.
In an interview with CNN, political activist Van Jones revealed that, while he was the face of environmental group Green For All, Prince was the driving force and checkbook.
“There are people who have solar panels right now on their houses in Oakland, California that don’t know Prince paid for them,” Jones said.
But that wasn’t all. Prince also helped found #YesWeCode, an initiative to help young people from “low opportunity backgrounds” learn the necessary skills for jobs in the tech sector.  “He insisted we create ‘Yes We Code,'” Jones told USA Today, “so that kids in hoodies could be mistaken for kids in Silicon Valley.”
In fact, Jones says that concerts in Oakland (and other cities) were a “cover” so he could visit and check in on charitable organizations and local community groups.
“He did not want it be known publicly, and he did not want us to say it. But I’m gonna say it because the world needs to know that it wasn’t just the music,” Jones said. “The music was just one way he tried to help the world, but he was helping every day of his life.”

R.I.P. Grammy Award Winning Soul Artist Billy Paul

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2016

Billy Paul At BAM R&B Festival
Billy Paul (Source: Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images / Getty)

article by Kellee Terrell via hellobeautiful.com
On Sunday morning, Philadelphia-born soul singer Billy Paul passed away in New Jersey home after battling cancer, his manager Beverly Gay confirmed to NBC 10 Philadelphia. Paul was 81.
On the “Me and Mrs. Jones” singer’s website, the following message was posted:
We regret to announce with a heavy heart that Billy has passed away today at home after a serious medical condition.  We would like to extend our most sincere condolences to his wife Blanche and family for their loss, as they and the world grieves the loss of another musical icon that helped pioneered today’s R&B music. Billy will be truly missed.
Born in 1934, Paul started singing at 11 years-old and early on his career, he performed at several clubs and college campuses with several music legends, including Charlie “Bird” Parker, Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Roberta Flack, NBC 10 wrote. Serving in the army with Elvis Presley, in 1968 Paul released his debut album “Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club.”
One of his most popular songs, “Me and Mrs. Jones” debuted in 1972 helping him become a household name and a constant on record players across the country. That song reached number one of the Billboard charts and earned him a Grammy award. Overall, during his amazing career, Paul released a total of 15 albums.
https://youtu.be/n2v98PGBZH4

"Black Women in Medicine" Documentary to Screen at Yale on Tuesday 4/26

By goodblacknews on April 24, 2016
Black Women in Medicine (photo via changingthefaceofmedicine.org)
Black Women in Medicine (photo via changingthefaceofmedicine.org)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

New Haven, Conn.—A screening of the documentary film “Black Women in Medicine” by producer/director Crystal Emery will take place on Tuesday, April 26 at 4 p.m. at the Yale School of Medicine’s Anlyan Center (TAC), Rm. N107, 300 Cedar St.

“Black Women in Medicine” chronicles the unsung journeys of black women doctors who have risen above inequality to excellence while becoming leaders in their fields.

The event will feature a reception and book signing for “Against all Odds: Celebrating Black Women in Medicine.” Yale School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, and Yale School of Medicine Professor and Interim Chair of Internal Medicine Gary Desir, will deliver opening remarks. Registration is encouraged.

Click through below to see the trailer on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/153400553
The event is an initiative of URU The Right to Be Inc., in collaboration with The Minority Organization for Retention & Expansion (MORE), the Committee on the Status of Women in Medicine (SWIM), the Office of Women in Medicine, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Guests can attend one of two breakout workshops, titled “Changing the Face of Medicine: From Conversation to Action” and “Retention and Recruitment.”

Dave Chappelle Honors and Remembers Prince With Stand-Up Set: ‘This is the Black 9/11’

By goodblacknews on April 24, 2016
Dave Chappelle Prince
Comedian Dave Chappelle (CINDY BARRYMORE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK)

article by Alex Stedman via Variety.com
Devastated by the sudden death of Prince on Thursday, Dave Chappelle almost canceled his Friday San Francisco stand-up show.
But he didn’t, and instead remembered the late music icon with a four-hour comedy set, riffing on Prince and his impact on pop culture, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Chapelle explained that he contemplated not showing up that night, but his band told him, “‘Yo, Prince would definitely not condone that.’ And now there is no place I’d rather be.”

Taking the stage, Chappelle told the audience that “this is the black 9/11.” He said he only heard of Prince’s death after media outlets began calling him for comment.  “I’ll tell you what: I didn’t know him well, but I knew him well,” he said.
Chappelle and Prince became intertwined after the comedian portrayed Prince in one of the most famous sketches from his Comedy Central series “Chappelle’s Show.”
Prince clearly took the joke in stride. In fact, he one-upped Chappelle by using an image of him in his Prince get-up, holding a plate of pancakes, as the cover art for 2013’s “Breakfast Can Wait.”
Chappelle admitted defeat in a 2014 interview with Jimmy Fallon.  “That’s a Prince judo move right there,” Chappelle said. “You make fun of Prince in a sketch and he’ll just use you in his album cover. … That’s checkmate right there.”
Chappelle is one of many to pay tribute to Prince over the weekend. “Saturday Night Live” dedicated a “Goodnight Sweet Prince” tribute to the musician, and Bruce Springsteen opened his Boston show with a cover of “Purple Rain.”