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Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Joins U.S. Ambassador Malac to Dedicate New 25-Bed Field Hospital for Healthcare Workers

By goodblacknews on November 5, 2014
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President Sirleaf, U.S. Ambassador Malac and a U.S army commander chat following a tour of the 25-bed field hospital for health workers. (Photo:  Adama B. Thompson / Executive Mansion)

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf joined U.S. Ambassador Deborah Malac to dedicate a newly constructed 25-bed field hospital to be used solely for the treatment of healthcare workers who may become infected by the Ebola virus disease.

The construction of the field hospital was financed by the U.S. government and implemented jointly by the U.S. military and the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL).
The dedication of the facility took place in Charlesville, Liberia, near the Roberts International Airport in Margibi County today.
Speaking during the ceremony, President Sirleaf described the United States as a partner which recognizes and responds to the needs of the Liberian people and that the fruit of the partnership reaches out to the people it is meant to benefit.
The Liberian leader praised healthcare workers for their sacrificial services to the country and its people by confronting a disease they knew very little about and expressed happiness that those of them who may be infected can now receive quality care and treatment with a high hope of survival.

OPERA: South African Isango Ensemble Reimagines Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at New Victory Theater

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2014
Pauline Malefane, foreground, of the Isango Ensemble in a reimagining of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” at the New Victory Theater. (EMON HASSAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

Less glockenspiel, more drumming! A very different sort of “The Magic Flute” took the stage at the New Victory Theater on Sunday afternoon in front of an attentive and appreciative family audience. This two-hour adaptation of Mozart’s fairy tale opera was presented under the Xhosa title “Impempe Yomlingo” by the South African Isango Ensemble, a company that recruits performers from townships in the Cape Town area and presents classics from the Western canon in an updated, African context.

But perhaps “updated” isn’t quite the right word: In the program notes, the show’s director, Mark Dornford-May, relates a myth from the Tsonga tradition about the andlati birds that live high in the mountains and cause terrifying storms and lightning. Only a hero brave enough to seek them out with a magic flute can appease them and avert destruction.
“The story may never have reached Mozart, but the similarities are fascinating nonetheless,” Mr. Dornford-May writes. “Who knows? Maybe one of the greatest pieces of European opera had its roots and inspiration in a South African folk tale.”
Certainly, few productions can match the colorful exuberance and pulsating energy of this “Flute,” or field as versatile a cast as this, in which every member sings, dances and drums. The bare set evokes a township square. The traditional orchestra is replaced by eight marimbas, supplemented by an array of percussion, including djembes, oil barrels, hand clapping and — standing in for Papageno’s glockenspiel — suspended water bottles of graduated pitches. Tamino’s flute is a trumpet, played with jazzy vigor by Mandisi Dyantyis, the ensemble’s co-music director and conductor.
The vocal performances were a testament to South Africa’s deep pool of singing talent. The notes were all there — Pauline Malefane courageously scaled the heights of the Queen of the Night’s arias; Mhlekazi Mosiea was a dignified Tamino; Ayanda Eleki, a proud, patriarchal Sarastro — even if there were times when they audibly strained the limits of the singers’ technique. But the cast offered portrayals with ample personality and charisma, among them Zolina Ngejane’s superfeisty Pamina and Zamile Gantana’s bon-vivant Papageno.
But this African “Flute” is, above all, a story of community, and the music, too, is at its most convincing where it draws on South Africa’s glorious choral tradition. If that means taking liberties with Mozart’s score, fine: Tamino’s taming of Monostatos and his posse of slaves suffers no injury by the infusion of a bit of calypso rhythm. The celebrations that greet Sarastro’s first appearance — complete with ululating women — are a jubilant riot.
The communal aspect also raises the stakes for the lovers’ trials, which are presented as a series of tribal initiation rites, with Tamino’s face painted white, like that of a tribal youngster embarking on a circumcision ritual. In traditional productions, this is often the part of the opera where the tension slackens, but in this post-apartheid setting, the young people’s quest for dignity, wisdom and reconciliation is shown to be of vital importance to everyone.

“The Magic Flute” continues through Sunday at the New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan; 646-223-3010, newvictory.org.

article by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim via nytimes.com

Justus Uwayesu, Who Lived in a Rwandan Dump after Being Orphaned by Genocide, Earns Full Scholarship at Harvard

By goodblacknews on October 22, 2014
Justus Uwayesu, rescued at 9 from the streets of Rwanda, is enrolled as a freshman at Harvard. (IAN THOMAS JANSEN-LONNQUIST FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

BOSTON — Nine years old and orphaned by ethnic genocide, he was living in a burned-out car in a Rwandan garbage dump where he scavenged for food and clothes. Daytimes, he was a street beggar. He had not bathed in more than a year.When an American charity worker, Clare Effiong, visited the dump one Sunday, other children scattered. Filthy and hungry, Justus Uwayesu stayed put, and she asked him why.
“I want to go to school,” he replied.
Well, he got his wish.
This autumn, Mr. Uwayesu enrolled as a freshman at Harvard University on a full-scholarship, studying math, economics and human rights, and aiming for an advanced science degree. Now about 22 — his birthday is unknown — he could be, in jeans, a sweater and sneakers, just another of the 1,667 first-year students here.

Nigeria and Senegal Declared Free of Ebola Virus by World Health Organization

By goodblacknews on October 20, 2014

Screen Shot 2014-10-20 at 11.03.30 PMNigeria has been declared officially free of Ebola after six weeks with no new cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.  WHO representative Rui Gama Vaz, speaking in the capital Abuja, said it was a “spectacular success story”.

Nigeria won praise for its swift response after a Liberian diplomat brought the disease there in July.  The outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
An estimated 70% of those infected have died in those countries.  The WHO officially declared Senegal Ebola-free on Friday.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss how to strengthen their response to the threat posed by Ebola.
Speaking on the sidelines, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he expected the meeting to appoint a co-ordinator to galvanize the EU’s response to the epidemic.
“My colleagues are unanimous in saying that this idea of a European co-ordinator for the fight against Ebola is a good idea. The name will be chosen in the coming days. I think it’s a very important step.”
European countries have committed more than 500m euros (£400m; $600m) but the UK is pressing to double that amount.
The money is being sought to help reinforce over-stretched healthcare systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and to mitigate the damage Ebola is doing to their economies.
Earlier, the Spanish government said a nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa had tested negative for the virus.
article via bbc.com

Russian Tennis Federation President Fined and Suspended for Derogatory Remarks Against Williams Sisters

By goodblacknews on October 20, 2014

Venus and Serena Williams
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpischev has been fined $25,000 by the WTA Tour and suspended from tour involvement for a year for questioning Serena and Venus Williams’ gender in comments on Russian television last week.
Tarpischev appeared on the Russian late-night show “Evening Urgant” alongside former WTA player Elena Dementieva last week. When Dementieva was asked what it was like to play against the Williams sisters, Tarpischev jumped in and referred to them as the “Williams brothers,” according to multiple reports.
After a back-and-forth with the show host and Dementieva, who did not laugh at the comment, Tarpischev reportedly continued: “It’s frightening when you look at them. But really you just need to play against the ball.”
The derogatory remarks by the head of the Russian Tennis Federation come out of nowhere and attacks not just two of the sport’s biggest stars, but the very foundation of the women’s game.
The WTA Tour said Friday that the $25,000 fine is the maximum allowed under tour rules and that it is seeking Tarpischev’s removal as chairman of the Kremlin Cup for one year. The tour also said Tarpischev owes the Williams sisters a personal apology.

Boko Haram to Release Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls

By goodblacknews on October 18, 2014

On Friday, Nigeria’s government announced it had reached a deal with Boko Haram to release the approximately 200 schoolgirls held captive by the Islamist terror group since April.
The agreement, announced by the country’s defense minister, also involves a cease fire between Boko Haram and Nigeria’s military. The government expects the terror group will not back out on the deal. “Commitment among parts of Boko Haram and the military does appear to be genuine,” an official with Nigeria’s security forces told Reuters Friday. “It is worth taking seriously.”
Boko Haram militants abducted more than 300 schoolgirls from Chibok boarding school in northern Nigeria in mid-April, sparking a worldwide outcry and propelling the group onto to the international stage for the first time. Over fifty of the girls escaped early on. The rest have remained in captivity ever since.
Boko Haram, whose name roughly means “Western education is sinful,” has been terrorizing Nigeria since 2009 in an effort to return the country to the pre-colonial era of Muslim rule. Over the past half-decade, the Islamist group has killed approximately 5,000 Nigerians the group regards as pro-government in attacks on schools, churches, and mosques, as well as military checkpoints, police stations, highways, and a bus station in the capital city of Abuja.

article by Michelle Denise Jackson via forharriet.com

President Barack Obama Declares October 11 "International Day Of The Girl"

By goodblacknews on October 13, 2014

Malia Obama President Barack OBama
President Barack Obama is calling on people all over the world to do everything they can to protect, nurture and encourage young women to be their best.
With the launch of My Brothers’ Keeper, many in the Black community questioned whether he’d forgotten about the struggles that young women face. President Obama insisted last month that his administration was not ignoring girls, and he reminded the nation that he’s taking several steps to ensure that girls have a fair shot in this world.
To drive that point home, the president declared October 11 the International Day of the Girl. “On International Day of the Girl, we stand with girls, women, and male and female advocates in every country who are calling for freedom and justice,” he said in an official statement from the White House, “and we renew our commitment to build a world where all girls feel safe, supported, and encouraged to pursue their own measure of happiness.”
President Obama, who has two amazing daughters of his own, also hopes that this day will be used to call attention to the various injustices, crimes, and acts of violence that young women face all over of the world–and then do something about it. That includes the “harmful cultural norms and prejudices that tell young women how they are expected to look and act deny the dignity and equality” that they deserve as human beings.
MUST READ: President Barack Obama Insists His Administration Has Not Forgotten Black Girls
“Today, we resolve to do more than simply shine a light on inequality,” said Barack. “With partners across the globe, we support the girls who reach for their future in the face of unimaginable obstacles, and we continue our work to change attitudes and shift beliefs until every girl has the opportunities she deserves to shape her own destiny and fulfill her boundless promise.”
And he noted that the plight women face abroad is just as important as the problems they have to deal with in U.S. “As we work to transform the lives of girls and women abroad, we have also redoubled our efforts to ensure there are no barriers to their success here at home,” said President Obama. “We must see the hopes and dreams of our own girls and realize that these are the same dreams of girls around the world.”
By allowing young women to suffer violence and inequitable cultural norms, the president mused that many of the world’s brightest minds are being blocked from reaching their full potential. That’s a disservice to the world that he cannot abide.
“We cannot afford to silence the girl who holds the key to changing her community, or the voice that speaks up to call for peace or further scientific discovery,” said the president. “We cannot allow violence to snuff out the aspirations of young women in America, and we must not accept it anywhere in the world.”
As he made his official declaration, he said in conclusion, “I call upon all Americans to observe this day with programs, ceremonies, and activities that advance equality and opportunity for girls everywhere.”
article by Sonya Eskridge via hellobeautiful.com

Kenyans Rita Jeptoo and Eliud Kipchoge Win 2014 Chicago Marathon

By goodblacknews on October 13, 2014
CHICAGO MARATHON 2014
CHICAGO (AP) — Kenyans ruled the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, with Eliud Kipchoge leading a 1-2-3 men’s sweep and compatriot Rita Jeptoo repeating as the women’s winner.
Kipchoge pulled away over the last two miles for his first major marathon victory, finishing in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 11 seconds. He was followed by Sammy Kitwara in 2:04:28 and Dickson Chumba in 2:04:32.
Jeptoo was timed in 2:24:35 in winning her fourth straight major marathon. She also captured the 2013-14 World Marathon Majors points championship and took the Boston Marathon in April.
Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia (2:25:37) was second and Florence Kiplagat of Kenya (2:25:57) was third.
The winners earned $100,000. Jeptoo receives an extra $500,000 for winning the series championship.
Ideal conditions – sunny skies and 46-degree temperatures – greeted runners at the start. The men’s pack stayed together for about 20 miles before Kipchoge, Kitwara and Chumba drew away.
Kipchoge and Kitwara were side by side with Chumba right behind after 24 miles. But Kipchoge made it look easy down the stretch. He made a quick burst and was in command as he headed toward the finish at Grant Park.
Jeptoo hasn’t lost a major marathon since she finished second in a sprint to Ethiopia’s Atsede Baysa in the 2012 Chicago Marathon. She smashed the course record to repeat as Boston Marathon champion in the spring and came away with an easy victory in Chicago for the second straight year.
She pulled away after 23 miles, with no one near her at the end. Jeptoo raised her arms as she crossed the line and sank to her knees.
article by Andrew Seligman via huffingtonpost.com

Simone Biles Wins Her 2nd Consecutive All-Around Title at World Gymnastics Championships

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2014

Simone Biles
Gymnast Simone Biles became only the sixth woman, and first in 11 years, to win consecutive all-around titles at the World Gymnastics Championships in China today.  This is only her fourth season at the elite level and, with the Rio Olympics two years away, the 17-year-old from Spring, Texas, still has room to grow.
“It actually blows my mind,” Biles said of winning back-to-back world titles. “If I think about it right now, I’m just like, `Whaaaat?’ It’s just like, I don’t know. It’s just really weird, but it’s really cool.”
After Svetlana Khorkina repeated as the all-around champion at the 2003 worlds, 10 different women would win the world or Olympic title from 2004-13. Injuries played a part in that volatility — Russia’s Aliya Mustafina looked set for a long run after winning in 2010, only to blow out her knee six months later — as has the sport’s relatively short window for success.
It’s really tough to stay healthy and at the top of your game for an entire quadrennium, especially when every year brings a new crop of phenoms.
But if anyone was going to break that streak of, well, no streak, it was Biles.
No one can match her for power or explosiveness. She is already doing one of the world’s toughest vaults, the Amanar, and she gets so high off the table it’s not inconceivable to think she could add another half-twist to her somersault. Her tumbling passes on floor exercise are so massive she really ought to get FAA clearance.
There’s more to Biles than circus tricks, however. All of her skills are done with precision and polish, making them look deceptively easy. Ordinary folks have more trouble walking on flat ground than Biles does doing an aerial somersault on a balance beam that’s 4 inches wide and 4 feet off the floor.
Most appealing is her personality. While other gymnasts are so intense or stoic they look angry during meets, Biles is constantly smiling and giggling. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and it’s no surprise she’s a favorite with her competitors.
“I know there is competition between pretty much everyone, but we’re such good friends,” said fellow American Kyla Ross, who won the bronze medal after being runner-up to Biles last year. “I think we’re really there to push each other.”
article by Nancy Armour via usatoday.com

HEALTH: TOMS Celebrates World Sight Day on October 9 to Help Restore Vision to Those in Need Around the Globe

By goodblacknews on October 8, 2014

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by Lesa Lakin #givesight
article by Lesa Lakin
#givesight

One of the great things about being the Lifestyle Editor for GBN is that I sometimes get to share positive stories about things that people and companies are doing purely for the betterment of society. When I heard about World Sight Day and TOMS I had to share.
From a fashion standpoint, I simply love the styles. I discovered TOMS had an eyewear line when my own eyesight started to de-crisp a few years back. Since no one wanted to read me food labels, pill bottles or menus anymore, I knew it was time for glasses to become a daily part of my life. But it wasn’t really that big of a deal because I had the privilege of going to the doctor, getting a prescription and driving the saleswomen completely nuts when I couldn’t decide which frames best flattered my face. I’m lucky. But what about the millions globally who can’t afford glasses or don’t have access to proper eye care? Everyone on the planet knows someone who is affected by some sort of visual impairment and TOMS wants to help out.
TOMS is asking a very important question: WHAT DOES SIGHT MEAN TO YOU? Every year, World Sight Day raises global awareness about blindness and visual impairment. This year, World Sight Day is on October 9 and TOMS is hosting an all-day event at the their Flagship store in Venice, California. TOMS is also supporting the day by encouraging fans to take to social media and contribute to an Instagram gallery with images of what sight means to you with the hashtag #givesight. The images collected with the designated hashtag will be curated online leading up to October 9, and select images will appear in TOMS stores around the world on World Sight Day.