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Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Hosts Celebration to Make Sure Prisoners' Kids Have a Christmas

By goodblacknews on December 7, 2015

(L to R) Dawn Wilson-Clark of Detroit who plays Kuddles the Clown works at painting the face of Ramiyah Johnson, 5 of Detroit on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. (Photo: Eric Seals Detroit Free Press)
(L to R) Dawn Wilson-Clark of Detroit who plays Kuddles the Clown works at painting the face of Ramiyah Johnson, 5 of Detroit on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. (Photo: Eric Seals Detroit Free Press)

Three dozen Detroit kids with a parent in prison got a special day of their own Saturday, as members of a local chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority presented them with gifts and goodies arranged through a national group that focuses on redemption and healing for offenders and their families.
For the fifth year, the women of the Redford-based Tau Alpha Omega chapter of AKA hosted a Christmas celebration for children, complete with visits with Santa Claus and Paws, the Detroit Tigers mascot. Kuddles the Clown painted faces and made balloon animals for the kids.
Sorority members also purchased gifts for the children, working with their caregivers to determine what clothing and toys each child wanted most. The gifts, which the children and their families take home to open on Christmas, come with a message from the incarcerated parent. It’s a way for the children to know they’ve not been forgotten by that parent and are loved.
Doris Pickett brought two grandchildren to the party, Raekwon Mitchell, 9, and Ramiya Johnson, 5.

“They look forward to it every year,” Pickett said as the kids made crafts together before lunch and Santa’s arrival. “We’re just trying to make sure the kids have a good time.”
Asked what his favorite part of the day was, Raekwon couldn’t pick just one. “I like everything,” he said.
The sorority arranges the party and gifts through the Angel Tree program of the Prison Fellowship, a Virginia-based nonprofit that provides assistance for the families of prisoners nationwide. The group estimates there are 2.7 million children in the U.S. with an incarcerated parent.
The festive atmosphere Saturday in a banquet room at the Hotel St. Regis in the New Center area — including a meal of hot dogs, chips, cookies and other goodies — is meant to give the children an afternoon of joy. They’re given Christmas-themed pages to color with markers and colored pens, plus crafts to make gingerbread men and other decorations.
“We don’t want it to be a handout,” said Tau Alpha Omega chapter president Starlett Burrell of Southfield. “We want it to be a celebration.”

NFL's Devon Still Says Daughter Leah Shows No Evidence of Cancer

By goodblacknews on December 2, 2015
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Devon and Leah Still (DEVON STILL VIA INSTAGRAM)

If there’s one football player who had the world cheering for his family from the sidelines this year, it’s Devon Still. The former Cincinnati Bengals player let the world know that his daughter, Leah, has no evidence of cancer.
Leah touched the world this year with how she was bravely battling the disease. And Still’s former football team stepped up to the plate and made sure he had medical insurance in order to take care of his daughter.
In an Instagram post, Still gladly shared Leah’s health update.
“Thanks for all the support and prayers!” the caption read. “Just got the phone call that her scans showed NED (no evidence of disease)!”
Leah was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and was the recipient of the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at this year’s ESPYs.
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com

This is How Two Amazing Parents Helped Their 4 Year-Old Trans Daughter Feel Loved

By goodblacknews on December 1, 2015
This is how two amazing parents helped their 4-year-old trans daughter feel loved
Trans girl Ellie, 4, and her dad, Ron (photo: Jill Promoli)
Vanessa, a teacher in Washington DC, and her husband Ron are experts now in how trans kids should be treated.  But they had to learn fast, when they realized their four-year-old daughter, Ellie, is transgender.
They are a family rooted in strong values. Vanessa’s parents lived the ultimate love story – meeting young, falling in love and spending their whole lives together.  Ron’s parents were also in love, but the family had to deal with tragedy. When Ron was 10, his dad died of brain cancer.
‘The emotional scars were still deep, knowing my dad was no longer living. So, when I met Vanessa and thought about raising a family, I really wanted to ensure she and our kids were what I focused on – my role as a husband and dad. They came first,’ he told me.
Their son, Ronnie, was born first. Ellie was due 18 months later.
‘We had an amniocentesis and found out the “sex,” but at the time we really didn’t think about sex and gender being different. We pretty immediately formed a family identity as “Vanessa and Ron with two small boys.”’
The amnio did not tell the truth about Ellie, however. The packaging was misleading. As soon as she was able to speak, Ellie set about clarifying who she was to her parents.  ‘I’m not a boy. I am a girl. I’m a girl in my heart and my brain. My penis is my only boy part. The whole rest of me is girl,’ she would explain to them out of the blue, without prompting.
Vanessa was disturbed when she witnessed Ellie trying to fight her own inner truth. Ellie would lie in bed at night, unable to sleep, poking her chest and attempting to convince herself of something she was told but did not believe: ‘Boy, boy, boy! I have to be a boy! I have to like Power Rangers!’
Witnessing this struggle, Vanessa and Ron knew it was time for them to transition. Their daughter had spoken, and they had to listen.
Ellie had already rejected the name she had been given at birth. She had been okay with it until she realized people would see her as a boy if she used it. So she informed her parents that she was ‘Ellie.’
The results of Vanessa and Ron’s full acceptance of Ellie was dramatic.  ‘She blossomed, became happier and just seemed more herself,’ Vanessa says.  ‘We have a happy, silly, strong-willed, outgoing daughter. Before her transition, she was mostly quiet, shy, sometimes angry and certainly not outgoing.
‘At the forefront of parenting is ensuring the happiness and safety of your children. It was clear that by not listening to her, we’d be putting her at risk, and that is not something we were willing to do.’
Ron and Vanessa then did the incredible; not only did they not hide what was going on in their family, they built a new community consciousness around their child.

Brooklyn Nets Rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Surprises Mother With House For Her Birthday (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on November 2, 2015

Nets rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson recently surprised his mother with the gift of a new house. (photo via nypost.com)
Nets rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson recently surprised his mother with the gift of a new house. (photo via nypost.com)

Brooklyn Nets rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is sharing his newfound wealth with one of his biggest supporters — his mother.
In a special feature with the New York Post, Hollis-Jefferson discusses why he decided to buy his mother a house in New Jersey just months after signing his contract with the team. Along with his brother, NBA D-Leaguer Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, the baller executed the idea just in time for mother Rylanda Hollis’ birthday.
Hollis-Jefferson planned a birthday party in the new home and waited with his family, friends, and a videographer to film the big moment (to the tune of Boyz II Men’s “Mama,” of course).
According to The New York Post:

The realtor opened the door and said, “Oh, who are you looking for?” When my mom said the name, the realtor said, “Oh, OK, come in.” Then everyone popped out and said, “Surprise!” and me and my brother had the cake, and she just started crying. To actually be able to show her the house and stuff on her birthday, it was a dream come true. It was a blessing. Instead of worrying about where your mom is going, what she’s doing, it puts you at ease knowing she has a place of her own, and that she has somewhere to lay her head at night. It’s pretty special.

Hollis-Jefferson signed his contract with the Nets in July for an estimated salary of $1.33 million this season. The Huffington Post reports Hollis-Jefferson also took a stand against New York’s problematic rental increases during a recent interview.
Hollis-Jefferson even explained why he decided to take the frugal route and not purchase a mansion for his first home. Instead, he got a rental with his brother and a friend in Northern New Jersey.
Check out the thoughtful surprise in the video below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fwuw5nujIY&w=560&h=315]
article by Desire Thompson via newsone.com

Former NBA Champion Devean George Developing Affordable Housing in North Minneapolis (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on September 25, 2015
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Former NBA Star Devean George (YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT)

Former Los Angeles Laker Devean George is no longer worried about free throws and the hardwood, but is now focusing on giving back to the North Minneapolis community where he grew up.
George, whose career started with the Lakers but ended in 2010 with the Golden State Warriors, has teamed up with a former classmate, architect Jamil Ford, to build an affordable-housing building in his hometown.
The 47-unit building will be located on Penn Avenue and Golden Valley Road, and George hopes the building will be a positive change for an area known for crime and violence.  “Housing, I believe, is the foundation to doing whatever you want to do,” George said.
“If you don’t have stable housing, you’re not worried about education, you’re not worried about eating healthy, you’re not worried about anything else,” George said.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI_JEa51L8U&w=560&h=315]

George is also making it easy for residents who’ll live in the building. Instead of having to travel miles to a grocery store, residents will be able to take advantage of a grocery co-op that George is also developing in the building.
“That’s what people look for when they go live in a neighborhood,” George said. “Where’s my grocery store? Where is my movie theater? Where can we go eat? Where can our kids go play at a park? And this was just a place where there is just housing.”
And this is just the beginning for George and Ford. After this initial building is finished, they plan to build another one.
“This is just the start,” George said. “This is just the catalyst of everything that’s going to go on.”
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com

Defying Expectations, Mayor Ras Baraka is Praised in All Corners of Newark

By goodblacknews on September 6, 2015
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark speaking at Occupy the City, an anti-violence rally and march, in August. (Credit: Yana Paskova for The New York Times)

They had predicted that he would be anti-business and anti-police, that Mr. Baraka, the son of Newark’s most famous black radical, would return a city dogged by a history of riots and white flight to division and disarray.

A year later, Mr. Baraka is showering attention on black and Latino neighborhoods, as he promised he would. But he is also winning praise from largely white leaders of the city’s businesses and institutions downtown. He struggles with crime — all mayors here do — but he has also championed both the Black Lives Matter movement and the police, winning praise for trying to ease their shared suspicion.

The radical now looks more like a radical pragmatist.

Newark is still stubbornly two cities: gleaming new glass towers downtown, block after block of abandoned plots and relentless poverty in its outer wards, with five killings within 36 hours this month. But for all the expectations that Mr. Baraka would divide the city, those on both sides of the spectrum say that he has so far managed to do what his predecessors could not: make both Newarks feel as if he is their mayor.

The mayor at an awards ceremony for the Newark Fire Department. (Credit: Bryan Thomas for The New York Times)

Development plans are reaching into long-ignored neighborhoods. Projects stalled for years are moving forward, and new industries are taking root: a vertical farm, an incubator space and an investment fund for technology start-ups.

Mr. Baraka closed a $93 million hole in the city budget without layoffs. In June, Gov. Chris Christie agreed to start returning the schools to local control — something the governor had denied Cory A. Booker, Mr. Baraka’s more polished predecessor. The governor had rejected Mr. Baraka’s bid for control a year ago, deeming him “kind of hostile.”

“He’s like the local boy who grew up and said, ‘I need to fix my city.’ How do you not get inspired by that? How do you not root for a guy like that?” said Joseph M. Taylor, the chief executive of Panasonic Corporation of North America, which was lured to Newark by Mr. Booker. “I didn’t think anybody could top Cory Booker, but if anybody can, it’s Mayor Baraka.”

Not everyone is on board. Some local politicians, even those who support Mr. Baraka, say the positive reception partly reflects the low expectations set during a nasty election last spring, in which outside groups spent at least $5 million trying to defeat him. They say the talent pool at City Hall is shallow, and that Mr. Baraka has surrounded himself with friends and family members — in particular, his brother, Amiri Baraka Jr., who serves as his chief of staff — who engage in a kind of street politics that have dragged Mr. Baraka into distracting feuds.

Attendees at Occupy the City, an anti-violence march. The mayor has enlisted the help of residents in trying to curb crime. (Credit: Yana Paskova for The New York Times)

The candidate Mr. Baraka defeated, Shavar Jeffries, continues to criticize the mayor’s inability to stanch crime, dismissing Mr. Baraka’s anti-violence rallies as empty gimmicks. And presuming Mr. Baraka can complete the return of schools to local control, they remain some of the nation’s most troubled and low-performing.

George Clinton, Sheila E. Headline Nightshift Labor Day Music Festival Benefitting Low-Income Communities in CA

By goodblacknews on September 4, 2015

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Lesa Lakin, GBN Lifestyle
Lesa Lakin, GBN Lifestyle

This Labor Day (September 7, 2015) Working Californians will hold Los Angeles’ fourth annual Nightshift concert featuring Godfather of Funk and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend George Clinton with Parliament Funkadelic, Grammy-nominated singer and percussionist Sheila E., Jamaican reggae stars The Wailers, and the James Andrews New Orleans All Star Band.
Over 20 Southern California labor organizations, including IATSE, SEIU and Teamsters, will gather at L.A. Coliseum’s Exposition Park to celebrate and commemorate both the history and future of Labor Day. This concert will celebrate working families and labor victories made in the past year in the city of Los Angeles.
Concert performances will benefit Working Californians’ non-profit, which fosters social innovation and invests in improving low-income communities in Southern California.
Nightshift Labor Day Music Festival 2015
Exposition Park (Doors Open at 12:30pm) 700 Exposition Park Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90037
Tickets on-sale here: http://www.axs.com/events/280744/labor-day-music-festival-tickets
For more information about WCA : workingcalifornians.org.

Young Entrepreneur Aireal Taylor Turns Class Project into Successful Kids Transportation Company, KidzCab

By goodblacknews on September 2, 2015

(Aireal Taylor via blackenterprise.com)
(Aireal Taylor via blackenterprise.com)

Every day millions of parents struggle with transporting their children to and from school, extracurricular activities, and events. Whether it’s because they don’t have the time or could use a helping hand, managing a child’s daily schedule, as well as their own, can feel like a stressful part-time job. Enter KidzCab, a transportation service for children ages 4-16, providing a sigh of relief for many parents in the Michigan area.
“The idea for my company stemmed from a marketing assignment I had in school, where I had to come up with a product or service and write a paper on it. Once I started researching it, I thought maybe I could really create this,” said Aireal Taylor, the founder of KidzCab.
Fresh off the heels of resigning from her steady job in administration and accounting, Taylor is solely focused on running KidzCab full-time. She has 3 KidzCab vehicles. She’s booked for the mornings and afternoons for the entire school year, and she expects to average about 6 trips per day, per vehicle.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the ambitious leader to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey.
BlackEnterprise.com: What makes your business different than other child transportation-related businesses?
Taylor: We use a fleet technology system that tracks our vehicles in real-time and provides destination alerts to parents. We also provide booster seats for children; one less thing parents have to worry about.
Describe the long-term vision or goals that you have for your business?
I’d like to see Kidz Cab’s outside of almost every school in Michigan. I’d also like to begin offering franchise options in other states.

"Raising Dion" Comic Book Trailer about Black Single Mom Raising Superhero Son is a Must Watch (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on August 30, 2015
(YouTube)
(Photo via YouTube)

While several superhero narratives feature parents (dead or alive) who serve as a guiding force for their protagonists, Raising Dion brings a fresh new perspective to the genre.
The story is told from the perspective of single black mother who’s trying to raise her “super” 7-year-old son in a world that is out to get him.
The poignant metaphor that plays out in this series – written by Dennis Liu and illustrated by Jason Piperberg – is pretty hard to miss, especially given this country’s current social climate.
According to their website,

Nicole, raises her 7 year-old son, Dion, who has superpowers. Life was hard enough keeping up with the bills, let alone trying to keep track of her son’s invisibility, plasma powers, and telekinesis. In order to study his progress, Nicole films her son 24/7 with the help of her friend, Pat, who is an aspiring filmmaker. But when Nicole starts to notice mysterious men tailing her, and with Dion’s developing abilities constantly changing and becoming more powerful, she must find the courage deep within herself that she can raise Dion on her own.

Check out the cleverly-executed trailer below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDTFYoAJWwc&w=560&h=315]
article by Blue Telusma via thegrio.com

NBA Players Bring Joy of Reading and Freedom of Play to At-Risk Children in South Africa

By goodblacknews on August 5, 2015
NBA players interact with the children during the NBA Cares Court Dedication as part of the Basketball Without Boarders program on July 31, 2015 at the SOS Children's Village in Ennerdale, South Africa. (Getty Images)
NBA players interact with the children during the NBA Cares Court Dedication as part of the Basketball Without Boarders program on July 31, 2015 at the SOS Children’s Village in Ennerdale, South Africa. (Getty Images)

Last Friday, National Basketball Association players, legends and executives visited the Ennerdale location of SOS Children’s Villages (SOS), an organization that builds stable, loving families for orphaned, abandoned and other vulnerable children, as part of their ongoing commitment to support and strengthen communities in need.  This is the third consecutive year the NBA family has visited SOS, one of three organizations set to benefit from the first NBA Africa Game that took place this past weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In celebration of the 13th annual Basketball without Borders (BWB) Africa and the NBA Africa Game, NBA players participated in a number of activities with local children, including playing soccer, drawing and dancing. The NBA family also took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate a renovated local library and new basketball court made possible by NBA Cares and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Foundation.

“I think the most important thing is to give children an opportunity play, an opportunity to get an education, an opportunity for a better future. And I think this is a wonderful place for you kids to accomplish that,” said Pau Gasol of the Chicago Bulls to the children present at the event.
Present at the event were NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers), Luol Deng (Miami Heat), Pau Gasol (Chicago Bulls), Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzles) and other NBA players, coaches and executives.

 “Children don’t forget. Many of the youth we work with have been through trying and traumatic circumstances before finding their way to SOS,” said Siphiwe Maphanga, National Director of SOS Children’s Villages South Africa. “We are incredibly thankful for the NBA family’s unwavering commitment to support Ennerdale’s most vulnerable children. They are playing a pivotal role in the development of children who desperately need their support.”
For over 30 years, SOS Children’s Villages South Africa has supported children, families and communities through its family support and care programs, medical centers, and schools. The Ennerdale village, located south of Johannesburg, provides children the love and long-term support they need to shape their own futures. Since 2013, NBA players have visited this village as part of BWB Africa’s efforts to encourage positive social change throughout the African continent.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)