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Muslim Groups Raise Money for Portland Stabbing Heroes Ricky Best, Taliesin Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher

By goodblacknews on May 31, 2017

(photo via essence.com)

by Lilhe Z. Mtshali via essence.com
Nearly a week after a white supremacist killed two men who were trying to protect two teens, Muslim groups have banded together to raise over $500,000 to support the families of the brave men and one survivor.Army veteran Ricky Best, 53, and college graduate Taliesin Namkai-Meche were stabbed to death Friday by Jeremy Christian while protecting 16-year-old Destinee Mangum and her friend, who was wearing a hijab. Mangum told reporters that Christian was shouting at them to “go back to Saudi Arabia” and to “leave his country.” When Best, Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, stepped in to intervene, Christian stabbed all three men.
Fletcher was wounded but survived.
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The Muslim groups, CelebrateMercy and the Muslim Education Trust, created a LaunchGood online fundraising campaign on Saturday to raise money to help with funeral costs for Best and Namkai-Meche and Fletcher’s medical bills. The initial target of the campaign, which was dubbed Muslims Unite for Portland Heroes, was $60,000 and that was raised within five hours.
The total raised so far is over $516,000.
Christian appeared in court on Tuesday and faces charges including two counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon, Think Progress reports. Federal authorities are still deciding whether to prosecute him for hate crimes.
Source: Muslim Groups Raise Money For Portland Stabbing Victims | Essence.com

Colin Kaepernick Secures Cargo Plane and $1 Million in Aid via GoFundMe for Somalia

By goodblacknews on March 19, 2017

Colin Kaepernick (photo via essence.com)

article by Paula Rogo via essence.com
Kaepernick is putting his money, and power, where his mouth is
Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick continues to make philanthropic waves after securing a way to provide relief to the people of Somalia. After joining a Twitter campaign beseeching Turkish Airlines to send a cargo plane with aid, the former quarterback announced on Twitter Friday that he had secured one from the airline to bring supplies to the East African nation.
Turkish Airlines is one of the few that travel to Somalia, and the flight is expected to take place March 27.
The GoFundMe page’s goal is $1 million, a number it quickly surpassed in 24 hours.
“This is a victory for the people, this is a victory for the people of Somalia,” said Kaepernick. “It was done out of love, out of respect for these people. We wanted to bring structure to this so we’re going to use the name Love Army for Somalia. So use the #LoveArmyforSomalia. This is amazing, let’s keep building, let’s keep going.”
To see full article, go to: Colin Kaepernick Secures A Plane and $1 Million In Aid For Somalia | Essence.com

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/
Donations to National Museum of African American History and Culture to be Matched by Giving Day Sponsor Hyundai on 9/13 #GiveNMAAHC

Donations to National Museum of African American History and Culture to be Matched by Giving Day Sponsor Hyundai on 9/13 #GiveNMAAHC

By goodblacknews on September 13, 2016

https://youtu.be/uCNs9ZlquTM

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Editor-in-Chief
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Editor-in-Chief

In anticipation of its opening on September 24, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has launched a one-day giving campaign today, September 13th, to celebrate this momentous milestone for our nation and the African American community and to help ensure our future for all who follow.
We at GBN donated and signed up to aid this Giving Day effort, and will be posting and tweeting intermittently to help raise awareness and donations for NMAAHC.  If you’d also like to go beyond donating, you too can sign up to become a Giving Day Champion in celebration of a museum that tells a more complete story of America.
Simply click the link above to join and reach out to your network of friends and share the story of this amazing Museum. NMAAHC provides all the tools you need to spread the word about the Museum and this giving opportunity.
Thank you and let’s continue to share this amazing story of the African American experience with our nation and the world for generations to come.
To donate now, click here: https://givenmaahc.org/?utm_source=nmaahc.linkfast.com_donate_button&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=giveNMAAHC_2016_SF

Amazon Engineer Thomas Phillips Works to Turn Unused School Buses Into Rolling Tech Teaching Labs

By goodblacknews on August 28, 2016

Thomas Phillips (photo via blackenterprise.com)
Thomas Phillips (photo via blackenterprise.com)

article by Samara Lynn via blackenterprise.com
An Amazon engineer hailing from Detroit has a novel idea for that city’s unused school buses: turn them into mobile tech labs.
Thomas Phillips presented his idea at last month’s Hack the Central District Cultural Innovation Conference (Hack the CD) in Seattle, according to The Detroit Metro Times. The Aspire Tech Bus would be a school bus modified into a mobile tech lab. In this lab, students will work on coding projects as an actual software development team.
The students will learn basic and advanced topics in full stack Web development: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for front-end development, and NodeJS and ExpressJS for back-end development. Students will also be taught to build a website and a server from scratch. Furthermore, Phillips’ vision extends to teaching career skills as well, such as project management skills, how to create LinkedIn profiles, and how to establish professional email addresses.
The planned curriculum includes two 16-week courses, in total. The mobile lab students will receive a Raspberry Pi computer. By the end of the program, they will have a portfolio of coding projects to present to potential employers.
“I envision this project as a ‘high-tech, voc-tech,’” he says, as giving students high-tech skills before college will better position them for success. “Some of them will choose to pursue their education further at the college/ university level, others will venture into the entrepreneurial sector. Both of these have far reaching implications that reverberate across the world,” said Phillips at the event.
Phillips’s project has already attracted attention, and he will soon launch a Kickstarter campaign for more support. “I want to drive around to different locations in the city and teach web development or other advanced STEM programming concepts to kids in Detroit,” he said in an interview. His goal is to eventually roll out his program to other underserved communities and school districts.
Source: http://www.blackenterprise.com/technology/detroit-engineer-turn-buses-rolling-tech-teaching-labs/

Writers Rally to Save Langston Hughes Home in Harlem via Crowdfunding

By goodblacknews on August 20, 2016

Langston Hughes (photo via theroot.com)

article by Angela Bronner Helms via theroot.com
The home occupied by one of the great leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, still stands on 127th Street in Harlem today.  Hughes used the top floor of the home as his workroom from 1947 to his death in 1967; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The current owner, who remains anonymous, listed the unoccupied dwelling for $1 million (which still has his typerwriter on a shelf) a few years ago, but it did not sell.  CNN Money reports that in a rapidly gentrifying New York, the home is now worth over $3 million.
Now that it’s on the market, writer Renee Watson has started an Indiegogo campaign to raise $150,000 to rent the home and turn it into a cultural center.
Over 250 people, many of them black writers, have given money in support and so far, the initiative to save Hughes’ house has raised almost $34,000.  “Hughes is deeply influential and important not only to me, but many writers of color,” says author Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the National Book Award for Brown Girl Dreaming, which opens with a Hughes poem.
Watson says she has spoken to the owner, who says she would definitely sell it, but “like me, she doesn’t want it to become condos or a coffee shop.”

To donate to the fund, please go to the I, Too, Arts Collective Indigogo page.
To read full article, go to: Black Writers Rally To Save Langston Hughes Home

New Jersey Educator Naseed Gifted Launches STEM Comic Book, "P.B. Soldier"

By goodblacknews on August 20, 2016

Naseed Gifted (photo via blackenterprise.com)

article by Samara Lynn via blackenterprise.com
Nat Cummings is a talented computer hacker using his skills to pay his college tuition. A covert operative, he is well-versed in hacking, hand-to-hand combat, blade combat, and stealth.All is well with Nat until he is listed as a
n International Terror Threat,­ Code Red.
The newly formed government/paramilitary organization called The Establishment gives him a simple choice, either work with them to become a highly trained assassin or be terminated. Nat is the protagonist of a new science fiction comic book series, P.B. Soldier. The series not only promises an exciting story of an African American antihero, but it is designed to teach STEM skills.
P.B. Soldier is the brainchild of PBS Media, an independent comic book publisher founded by Naseed Gifted.
Gifted is not only the comic’s writer and creator he is a long-time math teacher, was an engineer, and is currently an administrator for the Pre-Academy division of the New Jersey Public Schools system.
Today, PBS Media is launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise $8,500 for the production of episode 3.0, the sixth installment of a 13 book arc. Funds will go toward payment to line artist and colorist Abel Garcia, and the actual production of the book, including printing and distribution.
A portion of proceeds will go to the Central High School Pre­Engineering Academy in Newark, New Jersey, where Gifted has taught and led for the past 13 years.
To read full article, go to: New Jersey Educator Launches STEM Comic Book

Donations Pour in for Tyran Bell, 10-Year-Old Boy Who Asked to Mow Lawns to Pay for School Supplies

By goodblacknews on August 9, 2016

Tyran Bell (photo via abc13.com)
Tyran Bell (photo via abc13.com)

article by Breanna Edwards via theroot.com
Earlier this month, 10-year-old Tyran Bell, a boy from North Carolina, used his mother’s Facebook page to seek jobs mowing lawns because his mother could not afford to buy his school supplies for the school year.
According to an earlier news report by WECT, Tyran’s mom had missed a lot of work recently because his uncle was hospitalized. Tyran’s request was met with an overwhelming response from local businesses, community members, neighbors and friends. One local business, A1 Security Services LLC, started a donation drive for Tyran, WECT reports.  “He’s 10 years old. And for a 10-year-old to take that initiative and want to help his mom because she was struggling, I just thought that was amazing,” A1 Security Services President Theresa Babb told the news station.
Tyran is now more than covered for his school supplies, but the precocious 10-year-old is passing on his fortune and giving back to the community that helped him out. “I’m gonna put them in bags and go around the community and pass them out to whoever needs school supplies,” he told the news station. Babb is also looking for ways to give away the extra donations from the drive, telling WECT that her company is speaking with social workers to see which local schools need the supplies.
Source: Donations Pour In for 10-Year-Old Boy Who Asked to Mow Lawns to Pay for School Supplies

The Game Aids 16-Year-Old Pilot Isaiah Cooper's Mission to Fly Around The World

By goodblacknews on July 29, 2016
the-game-compton-pilot
The Game (l); teen pilot Isaiah Cooper (r) [CREDIT: Getty Images/LA Sentinel]
article by Richy Rosario via vibe.com
Compton native Isaiah Cooper made history earlier this month, when at 16 years old, he became the youngest black pilot to fly around the country. Now, he has farther lands to conquer as he hopes to fly around the world. In efforts to make this happen, rapper The Game is lending out a helping hand. Cooper has already started a GoFundMe page for financial support, but Game gave it an extra push when he shared it on his Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIVJHPpAl8u/
 
“I DONATED the 1st $1,000 & I’m up early & in a good supportive mood this morning & I hope you are too,” he wrote.
“So I will ask ALL MY FANS or just any person with a heart to pay it forward TODAY & DONATE any amount from as small as $1 to @aerosquad.zae #IsaiahCooper the youngest AFRICAN AMERICAN pilot to ever fly across AMERICA. He made the trip in 2 weeks & now has his mind set on being the youngest AFRICAN AMERICAN pilot to fly around the world when he’s 18 years old, the required age to be able to make the trip alone. This trip will have costs of things he will need to complete it, fuel, food equipment etc….. so PLEASE CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO & DONATE ANYTHING you can to help him accomplish his dream,” he continued.
From helping single mothers buy groceries to raising awareness against police brutality, The Game has made it a point to help out those in need, and speak up on issues that truly matter.  With that said, we hope we can see Isaiah all over the world. And as always, major kudos go to you Game.

*UPDATE: When this article was published, Cooper’s GoFundMe total was at $4,877.  Click here to donate if you want to see this young man reach his goal to fly around the world.

Issa Rae's GoFundMe for Alton Sterling's Children Reaches Over $660,000

By goodblacknews on July 9, 2016

Issa Rae (photo via Facebook.com))
Issa Rae (photo via Facebook.com)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to theurbandaily.com, Issa Rae, star and creator of The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl and the upcoming HBO series Insecure, in an effort to take positive action after the police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana earlier this week, started a scholarship fund for his children.  t not only exceeded its $200,000 goal within hours, it is currently at over three times that amount, at $664,986.
“Can we get a scholarship fund going 4 #AltonSterling’s son/kids?” she tweeted Wednesday (July 6). “Some of us feel helpless when these things happen, but that’s a small step.”

Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five, was fatally shot by police outside of a Louisiana convenience store on Tuesday. A graphic video of the altercation shows Sterling being held on the ground before being shot multiple times in the chest and back. The incident has sparked national protest, and a civil rights investigation has been opened by the Justice Department, the New York Times reports.
If you would still like to donate, go to: https://www.gofundme.com/2d3eze7g