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“We Got Game”: Who Was the 1st African American Person to Appear on a U.S. Postage Stamp? (LISTEN)

“We Got Game”: Who Was the 1st African American Person to Appear on a U.S. Postage Stamp? (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 7, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Today’s Daily Drop is based on the Thursday, April 7 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 and is the year’s third foray into our Black Trivia category called “We Got Game.” 

All due respect to Chuck D, some of our heroes actually did appear on stamps, the first doing so 82 years ago #onthisday. Question is, who was the first one? To read the choices, read on. To hear them, press PLAY:

You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):

Hey, this is Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Thursday, April 7th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing. It’s in the category for Black Trivia we call “We Got Game”:

Okay, so I’m going to read a multiple-choice question that you will get time to think about and answer.

What I’m going to do is read the question, read the choices — and they’ll be four of them — and then I’ll prompt you to pause the episode if you want to take longer than the 10 seconds that will pass before I share the answer.

Sound good? Ready to see if you got game? All right, here we go:

Who was the first African American to be featured on a U.S. Postage Stamp? Was it…

  1. W.E.B. DuBois
  2. Frederick Douglass
  3. Harriet Tubman, or
  4. Booker T. Washington

Now go ahead and pause the episode if you want to take more than 10 seconds before you hear the answer. Otherwise, I’ll be back in 10… Okay, time’s up.

The answer is… D: Booker T. Washington.

Although the other three have since been featured on USPS stamps — 1992 for DuBois, 1967 for Douglas and 1978 for Tubman — Booker T. Washington was the first Black person to be honored in this way 82 years ago on April 7, 1940.

After several petitions from African American supporters, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed to make Washington’s stamp happen.

Issued at a cost of 10 cents and celebrated with a ceremony at the Tuskegee Institute, Washington’s stamp was part of the U.S. Postal Service’s Famous Americans Series.

The most recent African American person celebrated on a postage stamp is sculptor Edmonia Lewis, who is the 45th subject of the USPS Black Heritage stamp series, issued in January of this year.

To learn more about the history of African Americans on U.S. postage stamps, check out the links provided in today’s show notes and the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing.

Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

If you like these Daily Drops, please consider following us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com, Amazon, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating or review, share links to your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

Sources:

GBN’s Daily Drop: “We Got Game” – Which NBA Player Was 1st to be Unanimously Voted League MVP? (LISTEN)

GBN’s Daily Drop: “We Got Game” – Which NBA Player Was 1st to be Unanimously Voted League MVP? (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on March 22, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast is based on the Tuesday, March 22 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 and is the year’s second foray into our Black Trivia category called “We Got Game”:

You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by ]Wi. It’s in the category for Black Trivia we call “We Got Game”:

Okay, so I’m going to read a multiple-choice question that you will get time to think about and answer. What I’m going to do is read the question, read the choices — and they’ll be four of them — and then I’ll prompt you to pause the episode if you want to take longer than the 10 seconds that will pass before I share the answer. Sound good? Ready to see if you got game? All right, here we go:

Who was the first NBA player to ever be voted league MVP unanimously? Was it…

A. Stephen Curry

B. LeBron James

C. Kobe Bryant

D. Michael Jordan

Now go ahead and pause the episode if you want to take more than 10 seconds before you hear the answer. Otherwise, I’ll be back in 10… Okay, time’s up. The answer is… A: Stephen Curry.

Although it wasn’t the first time Curry was voted league MVP, in 2016 the Golden State Warriors point guard scored all 131 first-place votes for the top spot.

To learn more about Steph Curry and his championship career, read I Know This To Be True: Stephen Curry by Geoff Blackwell and Ruth Hobday, Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry by Marcus Thompson, Stephen Curry: The Fascinating Story of a Basketball Superstar – Stephen Curry – One of the Greatest Shooters in Basketball History by Steve Peyton, and check out the links to these sources and more provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted ongoodblacknews.org.

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing. Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

If you like these Daily Drops, please consider following us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com,Amazon, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating or review, share links to your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

Sources:

(paid links)

GBN’s Daily Drop: “We Got Game” – For Which Movie Did Denzel Washington Win His Best Actor Oscar? (LISTEN)

GBN’s Daily Drop: “We Got Game” – For Which Movie Did Denzel Washington Win His Best Actor Oscar? (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on February 25, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast is based on the Friday, February 25 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 and is the year’s first foray into our Black Trivia category called “We Got Game”:

You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Friday, February 25th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing. It’s in the category for Black Trivia we call “We Got Game”:

Okay, so today’s daily drop episode is going to be a little unique, as it’s the first time presenting the Trivia category, which is a multiple choice question that we want to give you time to answer. So, what I’m going to do is read the question, I’ll read the choices, and then I’ll prompt you to pause the episode if you want to take longer than the 10 seconds that I’m going to let pass before I share the answer. Sound good? Ready to see if you got game? All right, here we go:

For which movie did Denzel Washington win the Academy Award for Best Actor? Was it…

A. Malcolm X?  B.Training Day  C. Glory… or D. Fences?

Now go ahead and pause the episode now if you want to take more than 10 seconds before you hear the answer. Otherwise, I’ll be back in 10… Okay, time’s up. The answer is… B. Training Day.

Including his recent nod for The Tragedy of MacBeth, Washington has been nominated by the Academy for his acting ten times, and so far, he’s won twice, once in 1989 as Best Supporting Actor for Glory and then for Best Actor in 2001’s Training Day.

Washington was nominated for his role in Fences in 2017 but lost the Best Actor gold guy to Gary Oldman, star of The Darkest Hour. Still, a win might have felt like déjà vu to Washington that year – he won the Best Actor Tony Award for the same part in 2010.

To learn more about Denzel Washington and his award-winning career, check out the links to sources provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

Sources:

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing, and available at workman.com, Amazon, Bookshop and other online retailers.

Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

If you like our Daily Drops, please consider following us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com, Amazon, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You could give us a positive rating or review, share your favorite episodes on social media, or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, you can check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

WNBA Champion and All-Star Candace Parker to be 1st Woman on Cover of NBA 2K Game

WNBA Champion and All-Star Candace Parker to be 1st Woman on Cover of NBA 2K Game

By goodblacknews on July 15, 2021

WNBA powerhouse Candace Parker will be on the cover of NBA 2K22 in honor of the WNBA’s 25th anniversary as a pro league. This makes the Chicago Sky star the first woman player to take center stage on the latest edition popular NBA2K video game series.

“I grew up a video game fanatic, that’s what I did, to the point where my brothers would give me the fake controller when I was younger where I think I was playing and I wasn’t,” Parker said. “All I wanted to do was just be like them. As a kid growing up, you dream of having your own shoe and dream of being in a video game. Those are an athlete as a kid’s dreams. To be able to experience that, I don’t take it lightly.”

Parker has been a national presence in the sport since college, where she lead Tennessee to back-to-back national championships (2007 and 2008).

In 2016, Parker helped the Los Angeles Sparks win their first WNBA championship since 2002. Parker has also won two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012), two WNBA Most Valuable Player Awards (2008, 2013), a WNBA Finals MVP Award (2016), a WNBA All-Star Game MVP Award (2013) and the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2008). She has been selected to six All-WNBA teams and five All-Star teams.

NBA 2K22 will be released on Sept. 10.

Read more: https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/31816516/chicago-sky-candace-parker-first-woman-cover-nba-2k-game

https://thegrio.com/2021/07/14/candace-parker-first-woman-cover-nba-2k/

Neveah Woods, 9, Gets Noticed by Mattel for her Clothing Designs for Barbie Dolls

By goodblacknews on January 28, 2020
Naveah Woods (photo via Click On Detroit)

Creative 9-year-old Nevaeh Woods from Detroit decided to make her passion for making clothing for Barbie dolls into a business and her designs have gotten attention of a big name company, according to WDIV Detroit.

Woods started making doll clothes out of whatever she could get her hands on and now her creations are getting noticed by the Barbie Mattel team.

“When I grow up, I want to be a fashion designer,” Neveah said. In a way, according to NewsOne, she already is a fashion designer. She makes clothes for her Barbie dolls out of everyday items like ribbon, socks and scissors.

Her mother, Sha’kvia Woods, watches and encourages her daughter, but they still surprised her.

“I just took pictures of them, so I was really amazed,” Woods said. “I shared it to Facebook and then I got a lot of my friends say make this public and when I made it public it just went viral.”

Her designs caught the attention of Mattel, the maker of Barbie. “Barbie sent me this amazing box, but we don’t know what’s inside it yet. Today we’re going to find out,” Neveah said.

Inside the box were plenty of new Barbies to style.

“It made me feel special because I’m achieving my goal to be a fashion designer and that’s what I really want to do,” Neveah said. “So I can be famous and make stuff and encourage people to follow their dreams.”

Fabolous Spends 100K+ on Gifts for Brooklyn Youth in Annual Toy Drive

Fabolous Spends 100K+ on Gifts for Brooklyn Youth in Annual Toy Drive

By goodblacknews on December 24, 2018

by Richy Rosario via vibe.com

Fabolous made Christmas come early for kids in the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club of Brooklyn this year with his annual Christmas Toy Drive. The event was made possible by the Brooklyn rapper’s foundation A Fabolous Way (which is designed to merge communities and the arts), Def Jam and D’usse.

“On behalf of The Boys and Girls Club, we would like to thank Fabolous and Lisa for bringing joy to some of our families this holiday season,” said the Director of Clubhouse Operations, Antonio Fort. “Fab has visited us in the past and we appreciate his positive message of inspiration to the youth.”

The event was held at the lavish Red Rabbit in New York City’s Meat Packing District neighborhood. According to Page Six, Fab spent over 100K on the presents. “I don’t put a money amount on Christmas — I just want to show people that they are special to me,” he said. “But, it is safe to say I have spent over $100,000.”

Although he’s definitely generous, he admits that doing the actual shopping is tough for him because of his busy life. What matters most to him is making sure he’s giving someone a thoughtful gift.

To read more: https://www.vibe.com/2018/12/fabolous-brooklyn-annual-toy-drive

Baltimore 7th Grader Cahree Myrick Wins National Chess Championship

By goodblacknews on May 22, 2017

National Chess Champion Cahree Myrick (photo via instagram)

by Devin Bartolotta via baltimore.cbslocal.com
Baltimore is now home to a national chess champion.  7th grader Cahree Myrick came out on top last week against hundreds of other students. He is the best in the country after taking home a mega-trophy from the U.S. Chess Federation’s National Tournament.
Chess is more than just a hobby for Roland Park Middle School’s  Myrick, who has worked very hard for this title. “I expected to do well, but I didn’t expect to win the whole thing,” Myrick said. The Roland Park team practices four days a week after school. Myrick’s coach even gives them homework to stay sharp. “They work hard during the school year and everybody wants to be on the team and wants to go, so we try to take as many as we can,” said teacher Annett Zimmer.
Four other students from Roland Park went to nationals. As a team, they placed 13th out of more than 40 teams. Roland Park Middle School has won the national title twice as a team. Cahree, whose been playing since 1st grade, says the strategy is his favorite part of the game.“I think [my favorite part it] practice and studying the board,” Myrick said. “Because in order to be successful, you need to know tactics, you need to know all of the rules.”
To read more and see video, go to: Checkmate: Baltimore 7th Grader Now National Chess Champion « CBS Baltimore
Also, this: https://theundefeated.com/allday/baltimore-kid-stunts-on-chess-tournament-in-nike-slides/

‘Hidden Figures’ Inspires LEGO to Honor Women of NASA in New Playset

‘Hidden Figures’ Inspires LEGO to Honor Women of NASA in New Playset

By goodblacknews on March 1, 2017
hidden-figures-smashes-box-office-1483995291-640x427
“Hidden Figures” stars Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae (CREDIT: Getty Images)
article via vibe.com
Because of Hidden Figures, the film about a group of African-American women who contributed to NASA’s space program in the 1960s, are hidden no more. To continue to honor the Women of NASA’s legacy and inspire other young women, Lego is launching a new toy set of mini-figures.

The collection, which was brought to life by Maia Weinstock, will include NASA trajectory expert Katherine Johnson, whom Taraji P. Henson played in the film, as well as MIT computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, Fortune reports. The mini-figures will also include Mae Jemison, first African American woman in space; Sally Ride, first American woman in space, and physicist Nancy Grace Roman. In addition to its many characters, the set will include mini versions of computer programming machines, and the historic Hubble Space telescope.


“We’re really excited to be able to introduce Maia’s Women of NASA set for its inspirational value as well as build and play experience,” a Lego representative said in an official statement. The toy company’s goal is that the new figure will inspire girls to pursue careers in STEM, technology, and engineering.

(image via notable.ca)
(image via notable.ca)

To read more, go to: http://www.vibe.com/2017/03/hidden-figures-lego-toy-set-nasa/

TOYS: Nigeria’s "‘Queens of Africa" Dolls Are Coming to America

By goodblacknews on May 22, 2016

queens of africa doll
article via eurweb.com
Back in 2007, a Nigerian businessman Taofick Okoya struck gold you could say when he founded the “Queens of Africa” doll line with the motto: “Empowering the African girl child.”
The “Queens of Africa” range of dolls highlight various African ethnicities, as well as a variety of African hairstyles (customers may opt for dolls rocking an afro, or alternatively one with braids or braid extensions), reports Forbes.

Okoya’s mission is to spread a message which enforces young black girls their self-esteem, allowing them from an early age to have role models they can relate to. This summer, Okoya and his posse of dolls will travel across several cities in the United States, to meet and greet American clients, while further expanding the Queens of Africa footprint.
‘I got into the doll business by chance. At that time my daughter was young, and I realized she was going through an identity crisis,’ Taofick tells me when I reach out to the Lagos-based founder over the phone. He further adds, ‘She wished she was white, and I was trying to figure out where that came from. I used to always buy her white dolls, and it never got to me that is was relevant which color her dolls were. On top of that, we have DSTV in Nigeria where children watch the Disney programs, and all her favorite characters were white. I started to understand why she’d feel the way she did, ‘cause it was all that she’d been exposed to,’ the Queens of Africa dolls creator explains.

The report goes on to say that even though the dolls’ body parts are manufactured in China, they are assembled in Nigeria. And here’s the good part. Taofick also empowers local communities of stay-at-home mothers, who make money off of braiding the dolls’ hair and creating outfits.
“It takes about three hours braiding the hair. One of these women has made 60,000 Naira (roughly $300) doing this.”
This summer Taofick will tour across New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Houston, throughout the months of June and July. In April he already made a first stop in Atlanta, to meet with wholesale buyers and customers, as part of the Coming to America tour. At present the dolls are already available for order to the American audience via Amazon, in addition to the Queens of Africa online store. On top of that, the dolls are sold by a Senegal-based retailer, as well as e-tailers based in France and Australia. Ghana, South Africa and Brazil, are next on his list.
‘We’re planning on taking part in American toy fairs where we can meet with retailers. Our ultimate goal is to be sold by the major stores in the US. I personally believe it will be less difficult to sell the dolls in America, compared to Nigeria. In Nigeria the doll culture is still being developed, so it’s easier to sell within a market that is already there, as opposed to having to create that market.’
You can get the FULL story at Forbes.
Buy/See the dolls at Amazon.

Prima Ballerina Misty Copeland Gets Her Own Barbie Doll

By goodblacknews on May 2, 2016
ht_misty_copeland_barbie_doll_2_jt_160429_12x5_1600
Misty Copeland and her doll (photo courtesy MATTEL INC.)
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
Misty Copeland has been immortalized by Mattel. The Barbie creator debuted its Misty Copeland doll today and, like Ava DuVernay’s doll, it’ll likely fly off the shelves.
The doll that honors Copeland, who made history when she became the first African-American woman to be named principal dancer at the world-renowned American Ballet Theatre, is just another step in Mattel’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and part of its Sheroes Collection.
“I always dreamed of becoming an ABT ballerina, and through Barbie, I was able to play out those dreams early on,” Copeland said in a press release. “It’s an honor to be able to inspire the next generation of kids with my very own Barbie doll.”
The Misty Copeland doll will is available for preorder on Amazon.com and Mattel’s site.