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Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team Start Strong at 2016 Rio Olympics

By goodblacknews on August 8, 2016

U.S gymnast and World Champion Simone Biles (photo via newsone.com)

Olympic All-Around Defending Champion Gabby Douglas (photo via newsone.com)

article by Charise Frazier via newsone.com
The USA women’s gymnastics team obviously did not come to play in Rio – they literally vaulted ahead of the competition during the qualifying round on Sunday.
Veteran Aly Raisman and it-girl Simone Biles will advance to the all-around final, where they will battle with China, who scored second in the qualifiers. In total, Team USA scored an unprecedented 10 points higher than China on Sunday.  Team USA holds the chance to win 10 gold medals in every finals event, including vault, beams, bar, and floor exercises.
In the vault competition, Biles was utter perfection as she nailed two of the hardest vaults in the competition, scoring 16.050, the highest of any gymnast during the meet. Raisman came in second with a solid 15.766.
On the bars, Madison Kocian led the team with a high score of 15.866, while Douglas came in third behind Russia’s Aliya Mustafina, with 15.766.
But it was the beam exercise that most were looking forward to. Douglas and Biles both fell during last month’s Olympic trials. On Sunday, they didn’t disappoint, landing explosive performances. Biles came in first for Team USA with 15.633, and Laurie Hernandez came in second, scoring 15.366 and beating out Brazilian gymnast and crowd favorite, Flavia Saraiva. Douglas came in third for USA with 14.833.
To read full article, go to : Watch Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas At 2016 Rio Olympics | News One

N.B.A. to Move All-Star Game from North Carolina Over Discriminatory Bathroom Law

By goodblacknews on July 22, 2016
This year’s N.B.A. All-Star Game in Toronto. The league is set to announce a new site for next year’s game in the next few weeks. (Credit: Elsa/Getty Images)

article by via nytimes.com

The National Basketball Association on Thursday dealt a blow to the economy and prestige of North Carolina by pulling next February’s All-Star Game from Charlotte to protest a state law that eliminated anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The move was among the most prominent consequences since the law, which bars transgender people from using bathrooms in public buildings that do not correspond with their birth gender, was passed in March.

The league, which has become increasingly involved in social issues, said that both it and the Hornets, the N.B.A. team based in Charlotte, had been talking to state officials about changing the law but that time had run out because of the long lead time needed to stage the game. The N.B.A. said it hoped the game could be played in Charlotte in 2019, with the clear inference that the law would have to be changed before then.

“While we recognize that the N.B.A. cannot choose the law in every city, state and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by the current law,” a statement by the league said.

Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina issued a blistering statement soon after the announcement by the N.B.A., in which he said “the sports and entertainment elite,” among others, had “misrepresented our laws and maligned the people of North Carolina simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex present.”

Mr. McCrory did not specifically refer to the N.B.A. in his statement, but he said that “American families should be on notice that the selective corporate elite are imposing their political will on communities in which they do business, thus bypassing the democratic and legal process.”

Others weighed in with support for the N.B.A.’s move, including two of its broadcast partners — Turner Sports and ESPN.

In taking the action it did, the N.B.A. is following the path already taken by others. A number of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Itzhak Perlman, canceled concerts in North Carolina to protest the law, and there have been calls for repeal of the legislation by a number of businesses, some of which have canceled plans to create new jobs in the state.

All-Star weekend is one of the most dazzling and lucrative events on the league’s annual schedule. In addition to the game, the league arranges three days full of activities for fans. There is a separate game for the league’s rising stars, a dunk contest and a 3-point contest.

Now all of that will be held elsewhere next February, with the N.B.A. to announce a new site for the game in the next few weeks.

To read full article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/sports/basketball/nba-all-star-game-moves-charlotte-transgender-bathroom-law.html

Crystal Dunn Is Poised To Become The Next Star Of U.S. Women's Soccer

By goodblacknews on July 22, 2016

U.S. National Team player Crystal Dunn (photo via huffingtonpost.com)

article by Travis Waldron via huffingtonpost.com
A year ago this month, as the United States Women’s National Soccer Team demolished Japan to win their third Women’s World Cup title, Crystal Dunn watched the same way 25 million other Americans did: from home.Dunn, the diminutive 24-year-old star of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit, was by most accounts the 24th player on the 23-person World Cup roster ― manager Jill Ellis’ final cut before the team traveled to Canada.
It caught her by surprise.“I wasn’t really anticipating not being a part of the World Cup,” Dunn said after a training session with the Spirit in early July. “I was upset and pissed.”But when the Americans head to Rio de Janeiro in August to pursue an unprecedented fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, the heartache that came with missing out on the World Cup can finally go away. After a year in which she broke out as the top goal-scorer in the NWSL, Dunn has also emerged as one of the USWNT’s most versatile, and potentially most important, young players.
She’s good enough to help you however she’s needed.”Former USWNT defender Kate Markgraf on Crystal Dunn“One thing that Crystal has proven is that she’s been a winner at every single level,” said former USWNT defender Kate Markgraf, now a broadcast analyst for ESPN. “I first saw her at the U-20 World Cup, and she was the MVP for me. You watch her in college and she’s dominating at forward. She’s a match winner, at every single level she’s played at.”“She’s good enough,” Markgraf added, “to help you however she’s needed.”
To read full article, go to: Crystal Dunn Is Poised To Become The Next Star Of U.S. Women’s Soccer

U.S. Swimmers Lia Neal and Simone Manuel Make Olympic History

By goodblacknews on July 18, 2016

history Swimmers Lia Neal and Simone Manuel Make Olympic History!
U.S. Olympic swimmers Lia Neal and Simone Manuel (photo via blackdoctor.com)

article by Gemma Greene via blackamericaweb.com
In 2012, Lia Neal, an African-American and Chinese-American woman, became the second Black woman to qualify for an Olympic swimming team — and now she, and her friend/fellow swimmer, are making history again.
Neal — who won the Bronze medal in the 2012 games — qualified for the Olympic swim team on July 3 alongside her Stanford teammate, Simone Manuel.
When the two swimmers head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August, they’ll be the first pair of Black female swimmers to compete simultaneously.
The pair, both good friends, landed a spot on the 4 x 100 freestyle team. Madame Noire notes that both women have previously made history, as Neal won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay at the 2012 Olympics in London. And in 2015, Neal and Manuel were two of three Black people to place in the top three spots for the 100-yard freestyle during the Women’s NCAA swimming championships. Manuel came in first, Neal came in second and swimmer Natalie Hinds came in third.
Both athletes reacted to the news on Twitter, making sure to thank those who helped them achieve this historic feat.
Lia tweeted, “I’m a two-time Olympian and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family, coaches, and friends. I am thankful beyond words. ”
Manuel also told NBC Sports that she’s eager to compete with swimmers from around the globe. “Just making the team in itself is a great accomplishment,” she said. “Just getting to Rio, all the nerves will be gone and I think I’ll be able to swim a little bit faster.”
To read full article, go to: http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/07/17/swimmers-lia-neal-and-simone-manuel-make-olympic-history/

Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas are Headed to Rio to Represent the U.S. | Essence.com

By goodblacknews on July 11, 2016

Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas celebrate after the All-Around Final on day seven of the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. (PHOTO CREDIT: ALEX LIVESEY/GETTY IMAGES)

article by Sydney Scott via essence.com
Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas will be booking tickets to Rio now that the two have been named to the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
The ladies fought hard for their spot on the team and have definitely earned it. Biles is a four-time national champ, reigning three-time world all-around champion, and is regularly referred to as the Michael Jordan of gymnastics.
Gabrielle Douglas & Simone Biles Bring Their Black Girl Magic To The Cover Of ‘Teen Vogue’Douglas made history by becoming the first African-American to become the individual all-around champion at the 2012 Olympics, and she’s the first all-around to make a second Olympic team since 1980.
Still, the ladies aren’t resting. Biles told ESPN, “I think we can all get better. I know I can get better. I’m saving it for Rio.”Congrats on your amazing achievement, Simone and Gabby!
Source: Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas are Headed to Rio | Essence.com

EDITORIAL: Serena Williams Wins 7th Wimbledon Title, 22nd Grand Slam and Makes Us All Feel Like Champions

By goodblacknews on July 9, 2016
Serena Williams ended her yearlong pursuit of Steffi Graf’s mark for Open-era Grand Slam wins by defeating Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the Wimbledon final Saturday. (Credit: Andy Rain/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Editor-in-Chief (@lakinhutcherson)

I don’t know about anyone else, but I really needed this today.  I specifically set my alarm this morning to wake me at 6AM (PST) to watch Serena Williams compete for her seventh – yes, take that in – seventh Wimbledon title, and to tie Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slams won in the Open Era.

I’ll admit, regardless of the week of continued brutality and violence by police against black citizens and the gut-wrenching retaliation in Dallas because of such violence, as a lifelong fan, I most likely would have been up and watching Serena anyway.  But because of its timing, this victory – this continued rising, this perseverance – was that much more coveted, and that much sweeter.

Although Williams did not mention or comment on what’s been happening in America as she accepted her trophy, don’t think she’s remained silent in the media about it.  On her Twitter (which we here at GBN happily follow), she spoke directly to the recent atrocities and let us know they were on her mind days before this most crucial, career-defining match:

This tweet leads me to speculate that Serena was that much more focused, that much more centered and that much more desirous of the outcome that occurred – because she knew in her heart she wasn’t just winning her 22nd Grand Slam and making history for herself, but for all of us.

So thank you, Serena – for playing your best tennis today and being so damned undeniable.  You have been and are a shining light and the G.O.A.T. and a champion for the ages.  You are loved and supported in all of your endeavors.  You are #blackexcellence.  (And P.S. having Beyoncé and Jay Z in your box was on point, too! #Freedom #Formation)

Now, to the tennis facts, courtesy of Naila-Jean Meyers via the New York Times:

Pete Chatmon, Kate Marks and Kevin Lau Selected for HBOAccess Directing Fellowship

By goodblacknews on July 8, 2016

Pete Chatmon
HBOAccess Directing Fellow Pete Chatmon (photo via shadowandact.com)

article via Tambay Obenson via shadowandact.com
HBO has selected the three emerging directors to participate in the 2016 HBOAccess Directing Fellowship. Now in its second year, the program provides one-on-one mentorship with an HBO creative executive, education about the craft and business of directing, and a $100k budget to shoot a short presentation for HBO with a professional crew. The winners will participate in the workshop in July, shoot their presentation in August, and finish up post-production by the end of September.
The three directors selected are:
— Readers of this blog will be familiar with Pete Chatmon, whose debut feature, “Premium,” starred Dorian Missick, Zoe Saldana, and Hill Harper and premiered on Showtime after a limited theatrical run. Chatmon also wrote, produced, and directed “761st,” a documentary on the first black tank battalion in WWII, narrated by Andre Braugher. Chatmon received the Tribeca Film Institute “All Access” Program’s Creative Promise Narrative Award for the heist screenplay “$FREE.99”, written in collaboration with Candice Sanchez McFarlane.
Through Double7 Images, his Digital Studio, he has directed content for ad agencies, Porsche, Proctor & Gamble, Lenovo, Universal Pictures, and other brands. Chatmon’s career began in 2001 with the Sundance selection of his NYU thesis film, “3D”, starring Kerry Washington. His current project, the short film “Black Card”, began traveling the international film festival circuit in Spring/Summer 2015 and premiered on HBO in February 2016.
— Kate Marks was a Project Involve fellow at Film Independent where she received the Barbara Boyle Award. She began making films after working as a playwright, theatre director, and performer in New York City. Her award winning short films (Pearl Was Here, Homebody, 7 Day Gig, and Miracle Maker) continue to screen all over the world. Highlights include Slamdance, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Mill Valley, and broadcasting on PBS. She is a graduate of CalArts (MFA) and Brown University (BA). Additionally Kate teaches filmmaking in public schools, prisons, senior centers, and parks. Her work with a wide range of students can be felt in her stories, which focus on the need to be witnessed.
— Kevin Lau is a writer/director who is a recent fellow of the Sony Pictures Television Diverse Directors Program and CAPE New Writers Fellowship. A graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program, his thesis film, “Made in Chinatown”, swept the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival–winning Best Short, Best Writing, and Best Actor–and has gone on to screen in exhibitions at the New Americans Museum, Glass Curtain Gallery, and in classrooms at UCLA and Emerson College. Kevin is a proud native of Los Angeles and credits the culturally diverse city for shaping the stories he tells.

Tennis Greats Venus and Serena Williams Both Advance to Wimbledon Semifinals

By goodblacknews on July 5, 2016

Venus Williams
Venus Williams after beating Yaroslava Shvedova to advance at Wimbledon (July 5, 2016)

article via eurweb.com
Venus Williams was all smiles, and even giggled a little as she defied expectations and earned a spot in the Wimbledon semifinals in London today, beating unseeded 28-year-old Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Immediately after her match on Court No. 1, her sister Serena Williams ran through Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight-sets 6-4, 6-4 to book her 10th Wimbledon semifinal.
As the announcers have mentioned at every turn, Venus is the eldest player in the tournament at age 36. Advancing to the Wimbledon semis at this age and with her health history is an accomplishment she also acknowledges as special.
“You can’t always have this big moment. If you’re Serena Williams, then I guess that happens a lot, but as Venus Williams this is an awesome day,” Venus said in her post-match interview.
Venus’s next opponent will be No. 4 Angelique Kerber, also a straight-sets winner today over No. 5 Simona Halep 7-5, 7-6 (2).

Serena Williams
Serena Williams (photo via eurweb.com)

Before Venus could take her victory walk off the court, mom Oracene and the family were hustling over to Centre Court to catch the beginning of Serena’s match.  It stayed fairly even through the first eight games, with no break points earned. Then Williams broke Pavlyuchenkova at 4-4 in the 2nd, and served out the match with ease.
“It’s good, I’m excited to get through. It felt really good,” she said after the match. Asked when she learned during warmups that Venus had won, Serena said: “I knew Venus was up, and then they showed the [final] score, and I was like: yay!”
On possibly facing Venus in the finals, Serena says they’re not even discussing that scenario. “We’re actually playing doubles today, and regardless, we’re just happy to play in the semi-finals. Obviously I want her to win so bad. I desperately want her to win if I’m not there [in the final].”
Serena moves one step closer to step closer to tying Steffi Graf’s open era record of 22 grand slam titles. Her next opponent will be Russia’s Elena Vesnin.
Read more at http://www.eurweb.com/2016/07/venus-serena-williams-advance-wimbledon-semifinals/#xCCkWiwM3jcEDGRU.99

FEATURE: Atop the Gymnastics World, National Champion Simone Biles Can’t Suppress Her Grin

By goodblacknews on June 28, 2016

Simone Biles smiled nearly the whole way through her floor exercise on both days of the United States women’s gymnastics championships in St. Louis. (Credit: Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)

article by Juliet Macur via nytimes.com

ST. LOUIS — At the end of the United States women’s gymnastics championships here on Sunday night, so many gold medals hung around Simone Biles’s neck that when she walked, they clinked so loudly it made her giggle. A few times, she grabbed her medals to silence them and laughed yet again.

“I always have so much fun,” Biles said later, after she had won her fourth straight national title in the all-around event and gold medals in three of the four individual events. The last time a woman had won a fourth consecutive national title in the all-around was 42 years ago.

“People think you have to be serious to do a good job,” she said. “But I think if you’re having fun, you can do better. You can look back someday and say, wow, I had a good time instead of being so stressed out.”

That’s easier said than done in elite gymnastics, a sport that can be a dangerous endeavor. One slip could break bones or tear ligaments, or possibly something worse. But this happy-go-lucky attitude in a grueling, often solemn sport works for Biles, the three-time defending world champion in the all-around. And it makes perfect sense that it works.

After all, it’s fun to compete when you win and win and when the word around the sport is that you’re the best gymnast ever. Mary Lou Retton, the Olympic gold medalist in the all-around in 1984, has called Biles the top gymnast in history. Nastia Liukin, the Olympic gold medalist in 2008, has said that Biles is a lock for the gold medal at the Rio Games in August and that the real competition is for second place.

During the two-day national championships here, which were a warm-up for next month’s Olympic trials in San Jose, Calif., Martha Karolyi, the women’s national team coordinator, watched Biles’s routines closely — often with eyes opened extra wide.

After several of Biles’s big performances — and nearly all of them were big performances — Karolyi said, “Wow!” It was a substantial reaction from a woman who is the opposite of effusive: She gave two slow claps to Gabrielle Douglas’s floor exercise on Sunday, and Douglas is the reigning Olympic champion in the all-around.

Deshauna Barber Crowned Miss USA 2016 | MadameNoire

By goodblacknews on June 6, 2016


Ms. Barber took a stand for women’s rights last night.
Admittedly, I’ve never been a watcher of beauty pageants. I respect the women. I understand that there is an incredible amount of work that goes into preparing for this annual event, it’s just never been my thing. Not to mention, Black girls aren’t often chosen as the winner. But last night, not only did Deshauna Barber, a 26-year-old Black woman from the District of Columbia, emerge victorious, she did so with a narrative that defied many of the stereotypes associated with pageant girls.
Barber is a commander in the United States army, who, in her profile video, filmed by the people of Miss USA, says that she is trying to dispel stereotypes of women in the military as well as women in the pageant world.
Source: Deshauna Barber Crowned Miss USA 2016 | MadameNoire