Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Family”

Black Philanthropy Month 2013: How to Participate and Help Others This August

By goodblacknews on August 1, 2013

“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”  -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In recent weeks, marches and rallies, town hall meetings and more have united people from all races to address inequities in the judicial system,change perceptions of black men and boys and address questions concerning why race remains a strong determinant in Americans’ pursuit of happiness.  This moment, which has involved calls for a boycott of Florida, in addition todemonstrations in dozens of cities, takes on even greater importance with the approach of the fiftieth anniversary of the historic March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” this August.
The convergence of these events and concerns for our nation’s future call for reflection on the state of the “dream” a half-century later, and urge action among citizens to tackle the most pressing challenges of the twenty-first century: mass incarceration, failures in education, and more.
How can we channel our collective energy and resources to transform our communities? Throughout August and beyond, you can help by contributing time, talent and treasure in observance of Black Philanthropy Month 2013.
Participate in Black Philanthropy Month 2013
Four leaders in the movement to advance black philanthropy, African Women’s Development Fund USA (www.usawdf.org), BlackGivesBack.com (www.blackgivesback.com), Community Investment Network (www.thecommunityinvestment.org) and the Giving Back Project (http://givingbackproject.org/) are launching Black Philanthropy Month 2013 (BPM 2013) on August 1 to bring together these threads of need to be met with productive purpose.
The BPM 2013 launch in August will kick off concerted efforts that will continue through a subsequent six-month multimedia campaign to foster civic engagement around philanthropy, amplify authentic stories of black philanthropy, cultivate the next generation of givers and expand opportunities for people of African descent to give through new and traditional channels, including giving circles, global giving, crowd funding, volunteerism and more.
Valaida Fullwood, strategist for the Giving Back Project and author of the award-winning book Giving Back:  A Tribute to Generations of African American Philanthropists, shared her thoughts on the aftermath of the watershed events in 1963 that many will be commemorating this August. She also urges us to remember that, although much has changed, much is still needed to help others reach for the dreams and mountaintops King spoke of during that era.

Oscar Grant's Father Can Sue Officer Who Killed His Son, Court Rules

By goodblacknews on July 31, 2013
oscar grant father
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court says Oscar Grant’s father can sue the Northern California transit officer who shot and killed his son on a train platform.  The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected former officer Johannes Mehserle’s claim that he was acting in his official capacity when he killed the younger Grant during a 2009 New Year’s Day melee captured on video by several bystanders.
Violent demonstrations ensued after the videos showing the white officer shooting the unarmed black man were viewed by millions online.  The appeals court said it’s up to a jury to determine whether Mehserle was justified in shooting Grant in the back as he lay face down on the train platform.  Mehserle served 11 months in prison after he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.  The appeals court’s decision affirmed a lower court ruling.
Related Stories: 

article by via huffingtonpost.com

Obamacare More Affordable Than Anticipated: State Health Exchange Rates Lower Than Expected

By goodblacknews on July 29, 2013

1375016596000-AP-GOP-Health-Care-1307280904_4_3
President Obama spoke about lower insurance rates at the White House on July 18.
(Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)

WASHINGTON — As state health exchanges continue to announce lower-than-expected rates for health insurance, experts say both state and regional issues play a part in how much a consumer will pay for insurance beginning in January.  Several factors come into play: a state’s regulations, how many insurers will participate in the state and federal exchanges, and what kind of a risk those insurers are willing to take.
“There is tremendous existing variation within the rates in the states now,” said Sherry Glied, professor of health policy and economics at Columbia University and former assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. “It’s hard to compare the old rates to the new.”  Maryland’s insurance commissioner said Friday that the expected new rates for residents who will need to buy insurance starting Oct. 1 are up to 33% lower than expected, and that coverage for a 21-year-old non-smoker could cost as low as $93 a month.
In Connecticut, insurer HealthCT announced plans that would drop an average of 36% from its original proposal in the individual market; and Nevada will sell plans to young adults to cover catastrophic health situations for less than $100 a month.  An HHS report released this month showed that silver health exchange plans — the lower cost plans that uninsured people are more likely to buy — are an average 18% lower than anticipated in the 11 states the department studied.  “We know the rates are coming in lower than we expected,” Glied said. “They’re coming in well below the Congressional Budget Office’s estimated rates, which people thought were optimistic.”
These new rates apply only to those who are currently uninsured and who will be buying insurance through the state or federal exchanges. A health exchange or marketplace is a website that allows consumers to choose from several different private insurers.  Under the 2010 health care law, Americans who buy health insurance on the state exchanges can choose from four types of plans — bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Bronze has the lowest levels of coverage and cost; platinum is the elite and most expensive. Industry surveys and records from Massachusetts, which enacted a health care law in 2006, show the overwhelming majority of people buy either bronze or silver plans.

12 Year-Old Joshua Williams Receives BET's Shine A Light Award for His Work to End Hunger

By goodblacknews on July 25, 2013

joshua-williams-faces-of-hope

 Joshua Williams was four and a half years old when he figured out his life’s calling. He discovered it by listening to his heart.  “My grandmother gave me $20. I saw a homeless man. I felt really bad. I gave him the $20. I felt good, but I wanted to do more,” said Joshua, now 12 and a Miami Beach resident recently honored by BET with a Shine A Light Award by for his work with his nonprofit Joshua’s Heart Foundation.  Joshua begged his two aunts to help him start a program to help feed the hungry. “They didn’t do anything. I fired them,” he recalled. Then Joshua asked his mom, who was used to his persistence and his new ideas.  “After a while, she saw I was really serious,” he said.

He and his family (grandmother, mom and aunts) started giving cooked meals to homeless people every Saturday. His grandmother cooked and he, his mom and aunts helped package the food in containers to take to downtown Miami to feed the homeless.  Soon, there was a line of 150 people waiting for them weekly. But a city ordinance stopped them from continuing their distribution there. Joshua was not about to give up though. They moved their operation to his grandmother’s church.
“We would help families at the church or in the North Miami community at first,” said Claudia McLean, Joshua’s mother. “He said, ‘We can’t just give them a bag of rice and vegetables. Each time, he demanded more.”  Joshua explains. “We started small. It is easier now because we have volunteers. There’s a bigger demand, more people need help. We try to keep up. I do my best.”
Joshua’s Heart Foundation has been distributing meals for almost eight years, since 2005. The organization became a nonprofit in 2007—and yes, his aunts now volunteer and help distribute food with him. The foundation has distributed over 500,000 pounds of food as part of its mission to stomp out world hunger and break the cycle of poverty.

Trayvon Martin’s Dad Tracy Martin Adds Voice to Help Black Men and Boys

By goodblacknews on July 24, 2013
Sybrina-Fulton-Tracy-Martin
 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tracy Martin, the father of Trayvon Martin has joined an effort by members of Congress to focus more attention on issues disproportionately affecting black men and boys. Martin was appearing Wednesday before a forum convened by black lawmakers to discuss high unemployment, incarceration, racial profiling and other challenges faced by black men and boys.
Martin was scheduled to give opening remarks in an informal hearing before the Congressional Black Men and Boys Caucus. Congressional caucuses such as this one are made up of members of the House who share interest in a given issue and want to focus attention on it while suggesting possible legislative responses. Caucuses range from the party of the Democrats and Republicans to special group caucuses such as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.  Martin’s appearance comes a few days after President Barack Obama made remarks identifying himself with the plight of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager who was shot and killed last year during a confrontation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

African American Spending Power Projected to Reach $1.1 Trillion

By goodblacknews on July 21, 2013
the-black-1-percent-16x9.jpg

Black consumers are wielding power and influence in the marketplace like never before. All while spending their way to a major milestone.  The Nielsen Company, a global information and research firm, projects black spending power will reach $1.1 trillion by 2015. Despite this looming thirteen-figure impact, many black consumers do not understand the full extent of their power says Cheryl Pearson-McNeil, senior vice president of public affairs at Nielsen.
“Do I think we’re interested in learning more about it?  Absolutely.”  Some companies struggle to tap the real power of black consumers. The lack of understanding cultural nuances of African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Latino Americans results in a general market advertising approach Pearson-McNeil explains. “The African-American community isn’t a monolithic group.”
In 2011 advertising targeting black consumers across television, radio and magazines reached $2.1 billion, according to Nielsen. This was a modest increase from the year before and was just 2 percent of the $120 billion spent on advertising that year.

Demonstrations Across the Country Commemorate Trayvon Martin

By goodblacknews on July 20, 2013
(Photo Credit: Monica Almeida/The New York Times)

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in dozens of cities today to mourn Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager shot to death in a confrontation with a neighborhood watch volunteer early last year, and to add their voices to a debate on race that his death has set off. The gatherings began around noon EST at federal buildings across the country.  They came a week after George Zimmerman was acquitted by a court in Florida of Mr. Martin’s killing; days after angry protests erupted in the wake of that verdict; and hours after President Obama said, in a heartfelt address, that “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”

Mr. Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, addressing dozens of people outside the federal courthouse in Miami, said, “I vowed to Trayvon when he was laying in his casket that I would use every ounce of energy in my body to seek justice for him.  

“I will continue to fight for Trayvon until the day I die,” he added. “Not only will I be fighting for Trayvon, I will be fighting for your child as well.”  At a rally in New York, over cries of “We’re all Trayvon Martin,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the organizers of the gatherings, told a crowd of hundreds that Mr. Martin’s death should prompt a movement.  Mr. Sharpton said that he wanted to ensure an aggressive federal investigation of Mr. Zimmerman and fight against Florida’s broad self-defense laws. “Last Saturday we cried,” he said, “but this Saturday we march.”

Today, Across the Nation, Vigils Will Call for 'Justice for Trayvon'

By goodblacknews on July 20, 2013

Protester at Trayvon Martin Rally in Los Angeles, 7-17-13 (Photo by Lesa Lakin)
Protester at Trayvon Martin Rally in Los Angeles, 7-17-13 

Ira Acree spent two hours passing out fliers in front of the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago, hoping to spread the word about a “Justice for Trayvon” vigil at noon Saturday — one of at least 100 planned in cities across the nation.  On the way back to his car, Acree, a pastor, spotted a television in the lobby of the parking garage. A crowd had gathered in front, as if “watching the football game,” Acree said. President Obama was speaking.

In his first comments since a six-woman jury acquitted George Zimmerman of murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Obama spoke frankly and reflectively, relating his experiences with race and racial profiling. “Trayvon Martin could have been me,” the President said. Obama’s earnest words moved Acree almost to tears.  “I just think that the president’s words may help whites across the nation at least understand us,” Acree said. “And be a little bit more emphathetic toward our actions tomorrow.”  Acree chairs the board of a social justice group in Chicago called the Leader’s Network, which is helping organize Saturday’s vigil.
The 100-city “Justice for Trayvon” vigils, which the Rev. Al Sharpton announced Tuesday on the steps of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., will be staged mostly at federal court buildings across the country. In California, rallies are scheduled in Los Angeles, Oakland, Palmdale, Riverside, Sacramento, San Francisco and the Monterey County city of Seaside.  Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, and Martin’s brother, Jahvaris, will attend a rally in New York City, along with Sharpton. Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, is attending a vigil in Miami.
With the vigils, organizers are hoping to build momentum for the filing of federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman.  A day after the jury delivered a not-guilty verdict, Sharpton’s civil rights organization, the National Action Network, held a conference call with local organizers.

Parents of Trayvon Martin to Join Saturday Vigils

By goodblacknews on July 18, 2013

In this image released by NBC, parents of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton, left, and Tracy Martin appear on the "Today" show in New York. Martin's parents plan to participate in separate vigils Saturday. Sabrina Fulton and her other son Jahvaris Fulton, will join Al Sharpton outside New York Police Department headquarters while Tracy Martin is set to be at a similar event at a federal courthouse in Miami. (AP Photo/NBC, Peter Kramer)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trayvon Martin’s parents plan to participate in separate vigils Saturday.  Martin’s mother and her son, Sybrina and Jahvaris Fulton, will join Al Sharpton outside New York Police Department headquarters.  Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, is set to be at a similar event at a federal courthouse in Miami.  Sharpton’s National Action Network is planning rallies in 100 cities to press for federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman.  The Justice Department is investigating whether Zimmerman violated Martin’s civil rights when he shot the 17-year-old during a confrontation last year in Sanford, Fla.  Zimmerman says he fired in self-defense.  He was acquitted last Saturday of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
article by Shaquille Brewster, AP via yahoonews.com

Rhys Powell's Successful Harlem Startup Red Rabbit Aims to Fix America's Food System One School at a Time

By goodblacknews on July 18, 2013
NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi
Red Rabbit founder Rhys Powell at the company’s commercial kitchen on Park Ave. and 121 St.

If Rhys Powell gets his way, every student in America will be eating freshly prepared, nutritious meals and snacks – and his company, Harlem-based Red Rabbit, will be doing a lot of the serving.  Red Rabbit’s already making some big leaps in that direction. Launched in 2005, Powell’s startup is quickly becoming a force in the healthy food for kids biz.  This coming school year, Red Rabbit will be preparing and delivering 20,000 meals a day to students in more than 100 private and charter schools in the New York area.
That means many children from low-income communities will be munching on healthy items like mango yogurt parfaits and fresh fish, instead of chicken nuggets and frozen pizza.  Sales at Red Rabbit are expected to double in the 2013 school year to $10 million. Two years ago, the company moved to a 10,000 square-foot facility at 121st St. and Park Ave., where Powell, 33, employs 130 workers, many of them Harlem residents.
Those kind of strides have put Powell in the spotlight: On Monday the city is set to name Red Rabbit the Manhattan Small Business of the Year in its annual Neighborhood Achievement Awards.  “We are a young, entrepreneurial company that is trying to improve the food system in America, one community at a time,” Powell said during an interview at his Harlem offices.