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Poet and Activist Sonia Sanchez, 87, Wins the $250,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for 2021

Poet and Activist Sonia Sanchez, 87, Wins the $250,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for 2021

By goodblacknews on October 22, 2021

Esteemed poet, professor and activist Sonia Sanchez, 87, has been awarded the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for being an artist who “has pushed the boundaries of an art form” and “contributed to social change.” The prize includes a cash award of $250,000.

Sanchez has been a leading figure of the 1960s Black Arts Movement, having written more than 20 books including Homecoming, We a BaddDDD People, I’ve Been a Woman, A Sound Investment and Other Stories, Homegirls and Handgrenades, Under a Soprano Sky, Wounded in the House of a Friend (1995), Does Your House Have Lions? (1997), Like the Singing Coming off the Drums (1998), Shake Loose My Skin (1999), Morning Haiku (2010) and most recently, Collected Poems (2021).Her subjects range from Black culture, feminism, civil rights, philosophy and peace, and Sanchez, according to the New York Times, “is known for melding musical formats like the blues with traditional poetic forms like the haiku and tanka, using American Black speech patterns and experimenting with punctuation and spelling.”“When we come out of the pandemic, it’s so important that we don’t insist that we go back to the way things were,” Sanchez said to the New York Times. “We’ve got to strive for beauty, which is something I’ve tried to do in my work.”

Other notable recipients of the Gish Prize include artists such as Ava DuVernay, Spike Lee, Suzan-Lori Parks, Walter Hood and Chinua Achebe.

Among dozens of distinguished honors that Sanchez has received throughout her life Sanchez has also received the 1985 American Book Award for Homegirls and Handgrenades, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Humanities for 1988, the Langston Hughes Poetry Award for 1999, the Wallace Stevens Award of the Academy of American Poets, the Robert Frost Medal and the Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, and the Academy of American Poets’ inaugural Leadership Award.

GBN Giveaway: “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day® Calendar 2022 – Congratulations to the 1st Winner!

GBN Giveaway: “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day® Calendar 2022 – Congratulations to the 1st Winner!

By goodblacknews on October 12, 2021

In celebration of today’s official release of our “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day® Calendar for 2022 in stores and online, as promised GBN has selected the first winner of a free copy.

Congratulations to Daphne Gervais! We will be contacting you shortly via email to arrange delivery of your free calendar.

Thank you to all who have entered so far – and you are still in the running as we will continue to announce one winner a month until January 2022. To those who have yet to enter – it’s not too late!

For a chance to win, send your name and email address with the subject heading “A Year of Good Black News Giveaway” to goodblacknewsgiveaways@yahoo.com from now until December 31.  One entry per email, and we will continue to choose at random one winner per month and announce their names here.

Already the #1 new release in Multicultural Calendars on Amazon, A Year of Good Black News is filled with facts, history, bios, quotes, jokes and trivia in easy-to-read entries delivered on the daily.

If you want to buy copies for gifts to family, friends, teachers or loved ones, you can order using code: GOODBLACKNEWS at Workman.com from now until December 31 and receive 20% off.

Or, if you prefer, you can also order from the retailers below:

Bookshop: https://www.bookshop.org/a/368/9781523514298

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781523514298?aff=workmanpub

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781523514298

Books-A-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781523514298

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523514299?tag=workmanweb-20

Onward and upward… and good luck!

(paid links)

GBN Giveaway: Enter For Chance to Win Free “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day® Calendar for 2022!

GBN Giveaway: Enter For Chance to Win Free “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day® Calendar for 2022!

By goodblacknews on October 5, 2021

Good Black News, in collaboration with Workman Publishing, is getting into the holiday spirit early — by giving away copies of our “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day® Calendar for 2022!

A Year of Good Black News is filled with facts, history, bios, quotes, jokes and trivia in easy-to-read entries delivered on the daily, and GBN will be announcing one winner a month until January 2022.

To enter for a chance to win, send your name and email address with the subject heading “A Year of Good Black News Giveaway” to goodblacknewsgiveaways@yahoo.com from now until December 31.  One entry per email, and we will choose at random one winner per month and announce their names here.

As the calendar’s official drop date is next Tuesday, October 12, that’s when we will announce the first winner.

In case you can’t wait to see if you’re the lucky winner or want to buy copies for gifts to family, friends or loved ones, you can order at Workman.com using code: GOODBLACKNEWS from now until December 31, you will receive 20% off.

Onward and upward… and good luck!

“Surviving 9/11”: The Story of Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the Last Survivor Pulled From the World Trade Center Rubble 20 Years Ago

“Surviving 9/11”: The Story of Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the Last Survivor Pulled From the World Trade Center Rubble 20 Years Ago

By goodblacknews on September 11, 2021

[Photo: Genelle Guzman-McMillan and family. Credit: Courtesy Genelle Guzman]

In commemoration of the lives lost and forever changed by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., today Good Black News highlights the story of the last person pulled alive from the rubble at the World Trade Center in New York — Genelle Guzman-McMillan.

Trapped under the rubble for 27 hours before being rescued, Guzman-McMillan, a young Black immigrant woman from Trinidad, was working as an office assistant for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on the 64th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower when it was hit by a plane hijacked by terrorists.

Guzman-McMillan had made her way down to the staircase to the 13th floor before the entire building collapsed, shattering her leg, injuring her head and burning her face. It took over a day for first responders to find her, and she kept herself alive with thoughts of reuniting with her daughter Kimberly, who was 12 at the time, and through her faith.

After spending over a month in the hospital healing from her wounds, on November 7, 2001 Guzman-McMillan (then Guzman) affirmed the continued gift of her life by marrying boyfriend Roger McMillan, who proposed not long after her rescue. They since have had two more daughters and live in Long Island.

“I was given a new life,” says Guzman McMillan to people.com, now a supervisor for the Port Authority at LaGuardia airport. “I know that God has a bigger plan for me and I just try to do what is right. And encourage people in order to try to move forward despite the adversity in life. My faith is just growing stronger and stronger.”In 2011, Guzman-McMillan wrote her memoir Angel in the Rubble about her experience, which is available on Amazon.

She discusses her story with Robin Roberts on ABC below:

Guzman-McMillan is also featured in Surviving 9/11: 27 Hours Under the Rubble (trailer above) available for free in Oculus TV on the Oculus Quest Platform. You can read more about her story and journey by clicking through the links below:

https://tech.fb.com/how-one-woman-survived-9-11-and-shared-her-story-through-vr/

https://people.com/human-interest/9-11-woman-survived-27-hours-in-rubble-september-2001-north-tower-genelle-guzman-mcmillan/

GBN’s “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022 Now Available for Pre-Order

GBN’s “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022 Now Available for Pre-Order

By goodblacknews on September 10, 2021
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, Good Black News Editor-in-Chief

This March in our Good Black News anniversary post, I mentioned GBN would be coming out with its first physical product this fall: a Page-A-Day® Calendar from Workman Publishing entitled A Year of Good Black News for 2022. Well, guess what – it’s fall!

A Year of Good Black News, written by yours truly, is filled with facts, history, bios, quotes, jokes and trivia in easy-to-read entries delivered on the daily.

The calendar’s official drop date is Tuesday, October 12, and if you pre-order at Workman.com using the code: GOODBLACKNEWS from now until December 31, you will receive 20% off.

A Year of Good Black News offers fun Black facts about inventors, entrepreneurs, musicians, comedians, historians, educators, athletes and entertainers, as well as info shared in fun fact categories like “Lemme Break It Down: Black Lexicon,” “We Got Game: Black Trivia,” “Get The Knowledge: Black Museums and Landmarks” and “You Know We Did That, Right?: Black Inventors.”

Here’s a sneak peek inside:

Although I’m biased because I wrote it, the A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day 2022 calendar is an awesome way to get inspired every day by the good things Black people do (and have done) for centuries, but haven’t always been widely known or shared.

Well, no more! If this site is for you, this calendar is, too!

It’s also a great gift for family members, friends, teachers, kids and loved ones. Did I mention if you use the code: GOODBLACKNEWS at Workman.com, you get 20% off?

Or, if you prefer, you can also order from the retailers below:

Bookshop: https://www.bookshop.org/a/368/9781523514298

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781523514298?aff=workmanpub

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781523514298

Books-A-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781523514298

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523514299?tag=workmanweb-20

Workman.com: https://www.workman.com/products/a-year-of-good-black-news-page-a-day-calendar-for-2022

Onward and upward –  hope you enjoy – and share!

After 114 Years, Buffalo Soldiers Honored with Statue at U.S. Military Academy at West Point

After 114 Years, Buffalo Soldiers Honored with Statue at U.S. Military Academy at West Point

By goodblacknews on September 1, 2021

Yesterday, 114 years after coming to then-segregated West Point to teach horsemanship to White cadets, the U.S. Military Academy honored the contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers by raising its first statue of a Black man.

Created by sculptor Eddie Dixon, the statue is of Staff Sgt. Sanders H. Matthews Sr., who is believed to be the last known Buffalo Soldier to serve at West Point.

The words etched into the granite say: “In Memory of the Buffalo Soldiers who served with the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments as part of the United States Military Academy Cavalry Detachment at West Point.”

“Everybody has a right to have their story told,” said Dr. Aundrea Matthews, West Point’s cultural arts director and Matthew’s granddaughter. “Because it’s a powerful story. Just what [the Buffalo Soldiers] endured, their determination and their commitment to prove to the world that African American men can contribute and are viable citizens of this country.”

To quote washingtonpost.com:

Dixon pored over old photographs of Sanders Matthews to get the facial image right.

A model was built on an inner structure of carved foam, over which Dixon spread a layer of light-brown clay. Molds were made from the model, and the statue was cast with molten bronze at Schaefer Art Bronze Casting, in Arlington, Tex.

It was transported by truck and arrived Monday morning, escorted by eight motorcycles from the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club.

The sculpture, which features an image of Matthews carrying a swallow-tailed cavalry flag that reads “USMA Detachment,” is the culmination of a project that was started by him before he died at age 95 in 2016.

Matthews hoped for the day when a monument honoring the Buffalo Soldiers of West Point would come to fruition, not knowing he would be the image for the tribute, his granddaughter said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/08/31/west-point-buffalo-soldiers-statue/

[Photo: Jackie Molloy for The Washington Post]

Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s 1st Black Player, Receives Unanimous Support from U.S. Senate for Congressional Gold Medal

Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s 1st Black Player, Receives Unanimous Support from U.S. Senate for Congressional Gold Medal

By goodblacknews on August 2, 2021

While the U.S. Senate hasn’t agreed on much of anything for several years, this week it unanimously passed legislation granting the Congressional Gold Medal to Willie O’Ree, the first Black player to compete in the National Hockey League.

The legislation now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives for approval so O’Ree, 85, and known as the “Jackie Robinson of hockey,” can receive this much deserved honor.

O’Ree broke the NHL’s color barrier in 1958 by playing as a winger for the Boston Bruins, one of six teams at the time. O’Ree, who is Canadian, played professional hockey in his home country before joining the NHL and retiring from the sport in 1979. He has spent the past two decades as the NHL’s diversity ambassador with his Hockey is for Everyone youth program.

To quote cnn.com:

In every game he played in, O’Ree… heard name calling from opposing players and from fans in the stands. “Besides being Black and being blind in my right eye, I was faced with four other things: racism, prejudice, bigotry and ignorance,” he said.

The legislation would award O’Ree the nation’s highest civilian award that Congress can bestow “in recognition of his extraordinary contributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, and recreational opportunity.”

O’Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 for his off-ice contributions to the sport. The Bruins retired O’Ree’s No. 22 jersey in February of this year.

In addition to his 2020 memoir Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL’s First Black Player, O’Ree has also been the subject of children’s books like Willie O’Ree: The story of the first black player in the NHL by Nicole Mortillaro and Scholastic Canada Biography: Meet Willie O’Ree by Elizabeth MacLeod.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/31/politics/willie-oree-congressional-gold-medal-nhl-senate/index.html

https://www.theroot.com/willie-oree-nhls-1st-black-hockey-player-set-to-recei-1847384678

(paid amazon links)

Story of Race Car Driving Pioneer Charlie “Speed King” Wiggins to be Told in Feature Film Biopic “Eraced”

Story of Race Car Driving Pioneer Charlie “Speed King” Wiggins to be Told in Feature Film Biopic “Eraced”

By goodblacknews on July 13, 2021

[Photo: Charlie Wiggins via For Gold and Glory on PBS]

According to deadline.com, the story of Charles “Charlie” Wiggins, the most famous African American race car driver of the 1920s and 1930s, will be told in the feature film Eraced. Producing partners on the film will include racing brands Firestone and IndyCar.

Eraced will chronicle the victories and struggles of the once-legendary-now-little-known Charlie “Speed King” Wiggins, who worked his way from shoe shine to mechanic to star racer despite the brutal inequities of segregation and Jim Crow laws.

After being barred repeatedly from whites-only racing events, Wiggins took the parallel Colored Speedway Association by storm and won the prestigious annual Gold and Glory Sweep-stakes four times between 1926 and 1935. When he suffered a career-ending injury in 1936, Wiggins had to deal with exorbitant medical bills and died almost penniless.

Wiggins will be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame next week in Detroit.

B. Garida (Reagan & Gorbachev), Courtney Gay Wilson (Bronze), and Madisun Leigh (Raphead Response) adapted the feature screenplay from the Emmy-winning documentary and book, For Gold and Glory: Charlie Wiggins and the African American Racing Car Circuit, both written and produced by Todd Gould.

Check out the documentary below:

Read more: https://deadline.com/2021/07/african-american-racing-pioneer-charlie-wiggins-subject-of-movie-biopic-eraced-indycar-firestone-among-partners-1234791501/

https://theundefeated.com/whhw/charlie-wiggins-the-negro-speed-king/

(amazon paid link)

“Lift Every Voice And Sing”: James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson’s Anthem to Freedom (LISTEN)

“Lift Every Voice And Sing”: James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson’s Anthem to Freedom (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on July 4, 2021

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

James Weldon Johnson,  an NAACP field secretary, civil rights activist, Broadway composer and professor who investigated and spoke out about lynchings in the first decades of the 20th century, also wrote the classic novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, first published in 1912.

But perhaps the publication Weldon is best known for was that of a song he wrote with his brother John Rosamond Johnson. In 1900, in honor of Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington as part of a tribute to Abraham Lincoln‘s birthday, they crafted a poem that was read by 500 schoolchildren entitled “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

The poem celebrated freedom as it recognized a brutal past never to be repeated. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was so well received that the brothers set it to music and by 1919 the NAACP dubbed it “the Negro national anthem.” It has functioned in that capacity ever since.

The Johnson brothers pictured on the cover of this 1973 version of the sheet music

Sung for decades at countless meetings, events, and ceremonies, a 1990 version of the song performed by Melba Moore (which can be heard here on GBN’s “Black Americana” playlist ) was entered into the Congressional Record and, in 2016, into the National Recording Registry.

Singing this song today makes as much sense as any other American anthem, as it is a song of independence from tyranny, inhumanity and injustice. It is sung in honor of Americans who died building this country by progeny who seek to embrace the liberty, hope and prosperity freedom promises.

Enjoy Aretha Franklin, whose voice literally was designated an American natural resource, singing the song we might all lift our voices to sing. Full lyrics published below.

GBN Video of the Week: First-Look Featurette on Aretha Franklin Biopic “Respect” Starring Jennifer Hudson (WATCH)

GBN Video of the Week: First-Look Featurette on Aretha Franklin Biopic “Respect” Starring Jennifer Hudson (WATCH)

By goodblacknews on June 22, 2021

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

It’s no secret that I’m a die-hard Aretha Franklin stan. Have almost all the records, read all the books, seen all the documentaries, the concert film, watched the limited series, made several Spotify playlists (because one will never ever be enough).

So it should be no surprise the wait for the MGM feature Respect starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson, delayed from release last year due to the pandemic, has been a long one for me. And from the looks of this featurette, it will have been well worth it:

This featurette excites me not only for the music and what look to be great performances from Hudson, Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington and Forest Whitaker as Aretha’s father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, but also because of what director Liesl Tommy and screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson say in it about their approach to the film.

How does the woman with “the voice” find her voice? Knowing that the filmmakers focused on dramatizing Aretha’s artistic journey and how she “musicalized her lived experience,” makes me feel like Respect will be The One.

It also helps greatly to know Franklin’s family supports the movie – her cousin Brenda Franklin-Corbett, who sang backing vocals for Aretha, even appears in the featurette.

Respect will be released in theaters on August 13.

And… bonus…

“Here I Am,” an original song recorded by Hudson for the film, recently became available on several streaming platforms, including Spotify. Check it out!