Think of trailblazing black TV shows, and The Cosby Show immediately comes to mind. But before the Cliff Huxtable, there was Fat Albert, Bill Cosby’s beloved animated creation that became famous for his catchphrase, “Hey, hey, hey!” Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids began airing in 1972, around the same time that other cartoons and animated shows finally began featuring black characters that weren’t all embodiments of negative stereotypes. “It wasn’t until the early 1970’s that Saturday Morning television cartoons started to feature image affirming Black characters with a modern look and positive story lines that delivered culturally relevant messages,” writes Pamela Thomas, aka SistaToFunky, on the website of her online Museum of UnCut Funk.
The museum, which I discovered thanks to a recent NPR story, is a treasure trove of African-American pop cultural artifacts and ephemera, from Blaxploitation movie posters to black comic books. Perhaps the most extensive is the black animation collection, which includes extensive explanatory texts, YouTube links, and original production cels and drawings. Thomas, who has a degree in black history from City College and is a former art dealer, focuses not just on shows with all-black casts, like Fat Albert and The Jackson 5ive cartoon, but on black characters that popped up in other shows, like Josie and the Pusscats’ Valerie Brown, whom she dubs the “first positive Black female character in a Saturday morning cartoon series”; and the “first Black male superhero character in a Saturday morning cartoon,” Schoolhouse Rock’s Verb (“I can question like: What is it? / Verb, you’re so demanding,” the song goes).
The Museum of UnCut Funk is an internet rabbit hole that you can (and should) easily get lost in for hours. It has no physical home yet, but I can only hope it will one day. In the meantime, Thomas has organized a physical exhibition, Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution, focused on black characters in Saturday morning cartoons. It opens at New York’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in February, and will travel to Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History and Seattle’s Northwest African American Museum afterwards.
article by Jillian Steinhauer via hyperallergic.com
Posts published in “Education”
From the moment they come into the world, little black girls work just a little bit harder than their peers to construct a healthy sense of self in a society that prizes values and attributes that don’t mirror those they possess. We as their caregivers must help them find the way by offering them as many affirming messages as possible. We can do this with our words and by our example; however, books can also prove to be important points of contact into the souls and spirits of African-American girls. Here is a list of books that promote a positive self-image in younger, black females:
Ages 2-4
Girl of Mine – Jabari Asim
This companion book to Boy of Mine shows a dazzling little girl enjoying playtime in the moon’s soft glow. As daddy cradles his baby girl, she is suddenly whisked away on a fantastical adventure, swinging above lush floral gardens under the golden moonlight. The sweet text, inspired by “Rock-A-Bye Baby,” will whisk little ones off to peaceful slumber.
Lola at the Library – Anna Mcquinn
On Tuesdays, spunky Lola and her mommy go to the library. Come with Lola on her favorite weekly trip in this celebration of books and the people who love them.
I Can Do It Too! – Karen Baicker
This heartwarming story reminds us how satisfying it is to grow up surrounded by love. I Can Do It Too! affirms a little girl’s growing independence as she, too, can begin to do all the things she sees her parents, relatives and neighbors do: pouring juice at breakfast, strumming a guitar, and even riding a bike! The simple cadence of text and direct-to-the-heart art result in a book as warm and generous as its message, providing reading pleasure for toddlers, older siblings, and the grown-ups who love them.
Preschool
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale – John Steptoe
This is the tale of Mufaro’s two daughters, two beautiful girls who react in different ways to the king’s search for a wife – one is aggressive and selfish, the other kind and dignified. The king takes on disguises to learn the true nature of both girls and of course chooses Nyasha, the kind and generous daughter, to be his queen.
Something Beautiful – Sharon Dennis Wyeth
A little girl longs to see beyond the scary sights on the sidewalk and the angry scribbling in the halls of her building. When her teacher writes the word beautifulon the blackboard, the girl decides to look for something beautiful in her neighborhood. Her neighbors tell her about their own beautiful things.
The Colors of Us – Karen Katz
Seven-year-old Lena is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her skin. But when she and her mother take a walk through the neighborhood, Lena learns that brown comes in many different shades.
The Harvard Lampoon, a respected humor magazine founded in 1876 and that serves as a pipeline to major comedy shows, has selected two women that are making a lot of history at the publication.
Alexis Wilkinson and Eleanor Parker represent the first time two women are leading the venerable magazine. Wilkinson is the first African-American president and the first black woman to earn the top job. Parker, also African-American, will serve as vice president.
Wilkinson told NPR she didn’t set out to make history for the magazine, but along the way realized it was going to happen. Parker said she thinks their place atop the magazine will make it easier for other women to get involved. They’re “hoping that having two women at the lead of the magazine encourages women on campus to apply and get involved and get excited about writing comedy.”
The moves come as Saturday Night Live has faced criticism for not having any black women in its cast. Recently, it held auditions exclusively for African-American women, and there are reportedly three finalists in the running. Wilkinson said she paid attention to the conversation because of how important Saturday Night Live was to her growing up.
A major coup has been won by the students at the controversial Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla. After 54 years of ignoring the wishes of protestors who argued that the school should not be named after an American Civil War Confederate lieutenant-general and later served as a Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, the educational facility will now finally be receiving a new moniker, reportsWPTV.
The Duval County School Board voted on Monday, 7-0 that the high school, which has a predominantly Black student body, will choose between the names of “Westside” and “Firestone” in January. When the high school opened its doors back in 1959 during the middle of the Civil Rights era, district school officials at the time chose to name it after Nathan B. Forrest (pictured), who had also been a slave trader. Under the Confederate lieutenant general’s orders, his troops massacred Black union soldiers at a Tennessee fort. Forrest then went on to serve as the first Grand Wizard of the KKK in 1867.
Under his leadership, he and his dragoons launched a campaign of midnight attacks, which included whipping and killing Black voters and White Republicans to scare them from voting and running for office.
The high school name change was actually spearheaded this go-round by Ty Richmond, a parent who set up a Change.org petition that garnered 162,150 signatures. Many attempts had been made previously to get board members to change the high school’s name but to no avail.
Spelman President Beverly Daniel Tatum was announced Monday as one of four recipients of the 2013 Academic Leadership Award, from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The honor makes Tatum the first ever HBCU president and first president in the state of Georgia to earn the prize. Carnegie said each winner is an exceptional president of a U.S. college or university, and that the award is in the form of a $500,000 grant to be used in support of each honoree’s academic initiatives.
The other 2013 honorees are Richard H. Brodhead, President, Duke University; Michael M. Crow, President, Arizona State University; and John L. Hennessy, President, Stanford University.
The award honors university presidents who are not only resourceful administrators and managers, but also have a keen interest in the liberal arts and a commitment to excellence and access, curricular innovation, reform of K-12 education, international engagement, and the promotion of strong links between their institutions and their local communities, Carnegie said.
Kevin Hart, a proud Philadelphia native, is giving back to the city that raised him in the best way possible. After hearing of the financial crisis plaguing the City of Brotherly Love’s school district, the comedian decided to pony up $250K of his own money to support. Hart made the announcement via a video on Instagram. “Philadelphia, aka the city of brotherly love,” he began in the clip. “I just heard about all the trouble the school district is going through. So I took it upon myself to take $250,000 and put it in the school system to buy new computers. Not because somebody told me to, because I love you, and I put on for my city.”
Additionally, Hart tagged a heartfelt caption with the vid. “My city made me who I am today and for that I am thankful. I will make it my priority to help my city get out of this debt. PHILLY UNTIL I DIE,” read a portion of the message.”
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter thanked Hart for his philanthropic contribution in a statement, saying “I want to thank Kevin Hart for his incredibly generous gift to our schools, recreation centers and citizens of all ages. These computers will have a very meaningful impact on Philadelphia.” For context, over the summer, Philly closed 24 schools, laid off thousands of employees (including teachers, counselors, vice principals, and the like), and cut numerous extra curricular programs.
article by Chris Thomas via hiphopwired.com
The rapper Nas made his first appearance at Harvard University on Thursday, not to perform but to give his blessing to a new fellowship in his name – formally, the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship. The fellowship will be awarded to two scholars or artists annually, chosen by a Harvard faculty committee. It is primarily a research fellowship, although Marcyliena Morgan, a professor of African and African American Studies and the founder and director of the Hip-Hop Archive and Research Institute, which will administer the fellowship, said on Friday that fellows could teach courses as well. The application process, she said, has just started.
“The main purpose of the fellowship,” Ms. Morgan said, “is to support people doing work that has to do with the ways hip-hop itself reaches out to youth through the world, and particularly how it brings together issues of social justice, art and politics. That relationship – and how difficult it can be – is an important aspect of what we’re looking at. Hip-hop has been a way of getting the word out in very difficult situations.”
California’s oldest university just named its first black homecoming king and queen. Seniors Daniel Harris-Lucas and Diana Busaka were crowned Thursday night at San Jose State University, beating out 22 other applicants who all submitted a nomination, two letters of recommendation, a personal statement, a resumé and news clips about them. “It’s a great accomplishment,” Harris-Lucas told NBC Bay Area. “But it’s probably overdue. I’m glad to be part of history. But this probably should have happened years ago.”
SJSU first caught national attention at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, when two of its students, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, placed in the 200 meter race and raised their black-gloved fists in the iconic black power salute. A statue of them stands on the SJSU campus today. While the homecoming judging panel noted that there has been an black queen before, this is the first year there has been a couple. Occupational therapy major Busaka was born in Kenya and public relations major Harris-Lucas grew up in foster care and has mentored youth in Oakland.
article by Lydia O’Connor via huffingtonpost.com
SJSU first caught national attention at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, when two of its students, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, placed in the 200 meter race and raised their black-gloved fists in the iconic black power salute. A statue of them stands on the SJSU campus today. While the homecoming judging panel noted that there has been an black queen before, this is the first year there has been a couple. Occupational therapy major Busaka was born in Kenya and public relations major Harris-Lucas grew up in foster care and has mentored youth in Oakland.
article by Lydia O’Connor via huffingtonpost.com
Because children spend most of their time in classrooms, schools are an ideal setting for healthy behaviors to be taught and modeled. Therefore, parents are speaking up and getting involved in an effort to improve the health of their children at schools.
One Washington, D.C. mother of two Roots Charter School students recognized the need for her children’s school to incorporate more physical activities into the school day. “The obesity rate among children is at an all-time high, so getting our kids to be active is more crucial than ever,” said Michelle Jones. “I want to make sure my children live their lives to the fullest, and getting exercise can help them do that.”
Michelle banded together with other parents to form an advisory council that works with local schools to host events focusing on health and wellness. Activities like yoga, Zumba, and healthy eating inspires students, parents, and community members to be physically active and make healthier food choices.
Other schools are making healthy changes through programs with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which supports communities across the country by making healthy living easier where people live, work, learn, and play.
Through help from CDC, communities all over the country are making improvements. A New York City School District made 800,000 daily meals healthier by ensuring that foods and drinks meet certain standards for sodium, fat, and calories. A school district in Las Cruces, New Mexico has opened physical activity space to the community during after-school hours.
Such improvements can help prevent obesity—a serious and growing public health concern that increases an individual’s chance of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, several types of cancer, and other health problems.
Eating well and participating in regular physical activity not only has health benefits, but they have also been linked with better academic achievement by enhancing important skills like concentration and attentiveness. For example, students who eat foods rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals are more likely to perform better than students whose diets are heavy in unhealthy foods – like sweets and fried foods.
Although changes are already being made in some schools around the country, more can be accomplished. To support healthy schools, parents can recommend ways to increase physical activity during the day and ask that healthy food and drink options be made available to students throughout the school day.
Parents can learn more about improving health in their local schools and communities at www.MakingHealthEasier.org.
article by C. Brown via heartandsoul.com
Usher Raymond is on double movie duty with his credit as executive producer of the upcoming education documentary Undroppable, as well as his role in Hands of Stone as legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. The project, written and directed by Jason Pollock, will explore the dropout epidemic in the U.S. educational system with direct feedback from American students. The film will be supported by a social media/video campaign that will allow them to discuss the issues they face in school.
Raymond will executive produce with Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber‘s manager) who introduced him to the project, as well as Adam McKay, Sharon Chang, Alex Soros andJohn Powers Middleton. “I knew Usher was very passionate about the issue of education, so I felt this was a great project to bring him into,” said Braun. “His expertise will be invaluable as we continue this film and movement.”
Undroppable will be completed this year for a 2014 release.
article by via uptownmagazine.com