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Oprah Winfrey's OWN Delivers Its Most-Watched Year in the Network's History

By goodblacknews on January 3, 2016

oprah & own logo
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network closed out 2015 as its most-watched year in the network’s history, achieving its fourth consecutive year of double-digit prime growth in total viewers (up +13% with 487,000 total viewers).
2015 was also the network’s best year ever and fourth year of growth in the key 25-54 demographic for women (W25-54, up +10% vs. 2014).  OWN’s W25-54 prime average ranked #25 among ad-supported cable networks, up +4 spots vs. 2014.
OWN is the fastest-growing top 25 ad-supported cable network in prime among W25-54 and is one of only two ad-supported cable networks to have achieved double-digit prime growth in total viewers in each of the past four years.  Additionally, OWN was the #2 cable network in prime among African-American women.
For 2015, OWN was the #1 cable network for women and the #1 network on all of TV among African-American women and total viewers on Tuesday nights.  Popular Tuesday night series “The Haves and the Have Nots” and “If Loving You is Wrong,” from Tyler Perry, both ranked among the top seven original scripted series on ad-supported cable for W25-54 and were primetime’s top two original cable series among African-American women.
Both series ranked among Tuesday night’s top three original cable series for W25-54 and W18+ and were Tuesday night’s top two original series on all of TV among African-American women and total viewers.
OWN was Saturday night’s #2 network on all of TV among African-American women.  Saturdays on OWN yielded the top nine original series on ad-supported cable (non-sports) among all African-American women.
These popular series included: “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” “Legends: OWN at the Apollo,” “Livin’ Lozada,” “Raising Whitley,” “Flex & Shanice,” “2 Fat 2 Fly,” “Deion’s Family Playbook” and “Oprah: Where Are They Now?”
Additionally, on Friday nights, OWN was the #2 cable network among African-American women.  Comedy series “For Better or Worse” and “Love Thy Neighbor,” both from Tyler Perry, ranked among Friday night’s top three original cable series for African-American women.
Source: The Nielsen Company
Read more at http://www.eurweb.com/2016/01/own-delivers-its-most-watched-year-in-network-history/#m4qu5jyL3i8xhIh4.99

Muhammad Ali Inks Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal With Under Armour

By goodblacknews on January 2, 2016
Muhammad Ali (photo via bbc.com)
Muhammad Ali (photo via bbc.com)

Muhammad Ali is back again!

According to CNN Money, the former heavyweight champion signed a multi-year deal with lifestyle clothing maker Under Armour.
Not only is Under Armour allowed to use Ali’s name for the brand, they will use historic video clips and his famous quotes.
Under Armour released a statement about the deal with the boxing legend. “Ali is one of the most recognized and celebrated figures of all time.”
Although Ali seems to be too old for endorsement deals, according to Yahoo! Finance’s Jeff Macke he relates well with older generations of men.
“Guys my age still love him. For guys over 40, Ali sells a lot of stuff,” says Macke.
article via blackamericaweb.com
FILM FUN: Check Out New Cool Photo from All-Female "Ghostbusters" with SNL's Leslie Jones

FILM FUN: Check Out New Cool Photo from All-Female "Ghostbusters" with SNL's Leslie Jones

By goodblacknews on December 27, 2015

The Ghostbusters Abby (Melissa McCarthy), Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), Erin (Kristen Wiig) and Patty (Leslie Jones) inside the Mercado Hotel Lobby in Columbia Pictures' GHOSTBUSTERS.
The Ghostbusters Abby (Melissa McCarthy), Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), Erin (Kristen Wiig) and Patty (Leslie Jones) inside the Mercado Hotel Lobby in Columbia Pictures’ GHOSTBUSTERS.

Who you gonna call? I know it’s early to get geeked about summer movies seeing as winter just officially started last week, but when I saw this new image from the upcoming all-female version of GHOSTBUSTERS, I got more than a little hyped, especially since SNL’s Leslie Jones looks like such a b-o-s-s in the photo!
Jones, alongside fellow comedic beasts Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig, is making GHOSTBUSTERS look like it will be the comedy-action event movie of 2016.  And truth be told, I also can’t wait to see who’s going to cover the Ray Parker, Jr. title song.
I’m personally hoping for a fresh take from a female artist like Rihanna, Beyoncé or Mary J. Blige – or even a way-out hip-hop version from Nicki Minaj.
Is there any movie or event you’re excited about that’s coming in 2016? If so, sound off below!
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, Editor-in-Chief
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, Editor-in-Chief

Chance The Rapper Aids Effort to Bring 1,000 Coats to Homeless In Chicago

By goodblacknews on December 24, 2015

chance-the rapper
Chance The Rapper (photo via eurweb.com)

Need a source of holiday inspiration? Try Chance the Rapper.
According to Mic.com, the Chicago rhymesayer is making it his business to bring at least 1,000 coats to his city’s homeless population via a recent partnership with the Empowerment Plan, a Detroit-based nonprofit organization that employs homeless people from local Detroit shelters to create long, self-insulating coats that transform into sleeping bags and totes.
The project, known as Warmest Winter, launched Wednesday (Dec. 21) with the goal of bringing the coats to Chicago by asking folks to sponsor a coat with a $100 donation for the manufacturing of the coat. Broken down, the money will help cover the labor, materials and overhead expenses involved in creating the coat.
To date, the Warmest Weather project has raised more than $43,000, which has funded the manufacturing of 430 EMPWR coats. The coats are noted for being water resistant and self-heating, in light of them being constructed with upcycled automotive insulation and durable work fabric from Carhartt. When they are not being worn, the coats can be carried as an over-the-shoulder bag.
Founded by Veronika Scott, a social entrepreneur, the Empowerment Plan started distributing the EMPWR coats in Detroit in 2011 with 10 formerly homeless women the organization initially employed, according to The Huffington Post. Since its creation, the Empowerment Plan now employs 20 formerly homeless individuals, who have created more than 9,000 coats.
The organization’s partnership with Chance the Rapper allows for its coats to come to Chicago with an ultimate goal of opening an Empowerment Plan factory in the city and offering homeless Chicago residents a chance to earn a living wage.
For his part, Chance the Rapper is using the power of social media to actively promote the Warmest Winter initiative. Since last week, the rhymesayer has been busy encouraging his more than 1.2 million Twitter followers and 900,000 Instagram fans to donate to the cause with offering donors such things as
tickets to one of his concerts, a Chicago White Sox game and a Chicago Bulls game.
Within hours of Chance the Rapper’s first tweet about Warmest Winter, $7,500 — or 75 coats — had been raised, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The support comes at a troubling time in Chicago, which is experiencing a harsh winter. Mic.com references findings from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, which reveal that an estimated 125,838 Chicagoans were homeless during the 2014-2015 school year. The National Coalition for the Homeless found that out of the homeless population in America, about 700 people die of hypothermia every year.
Estimates by Warmest Winter state that for each 1,000 coats funded, it can save 14 lives. The initiative is set to run until Jan. 13.
For more information and to donate to  Warmest Winter, click here. To see one of Chance the Rapper’s tweets about Warmest Winter, scroll below:


article via eurweb.com

NBA Lends Its Name and Its Stars to Campaign Against Gun Violence

By goodblacknews on December 23, 2015
An image of the Warriors’ Stephen Curry from an ad that is the result of a partnership between the N.B.A. and the organization Everytown for Gun Safety. (photo via nytimes.com)

The National Basketball Association, alarmed by the death toll from shootings across the country, is stepping into the polarizing debate over guns, regulation and the Second Amendment with an advertising campaign in partnership with one of the nation’s most aggressive advocates of stricter limits on firearm sales.

The first ads, timed to reach millions of basketball fans during a series of marquee games on Christmas Day, focus on shooting victims and contain no policy recommendations. The words “gun control” are never mentioned.

Besides N.B.A. players, the ads feature survivors of shootings and relatives of those killed by guns. (photo via nytimes.com)

The N.B.A.’s involvement suggests that a bloody year of gun deaths — in highly publicized mass shootings and countless smaller-scale incidents — may be spurring even some generally risk-averse, mainstream institutions to action.

Players who appear in the first 30-second ad, which will run five times on Friday, speak in personal terms about the effects of gun violence on their lives. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors describes hearing of a 3-year-old’s shooting: “My daughter Riley’s that age,” he says. Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers recalls the advice he heeded as a child: “My parents used to say, ‘A bullet doesn’t have a name on it.’”

The N.B.A. said it held little internal debate about working with Mr. Bloomberg’s group. “We know far too many people who have been caught up in gun violence in this country,” said Kathleen Behrens, the league’s president of social responsibility and player programs. “And we can do something about it.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPcZo-f6Fhc&w=560&h=315]

But the decision may prove tricky for the league: While many of its teams are based in cities dominated by Democrats, a number of other teams — and millions of N.B.A. fans — hail from places where Mr. Bloomberg and his approach to guns are viewed with deep suspicion. Ms. Behrens said the league had not shown the ads to team owners, but added, “We’re not worried about any political implications.”

The Bloomberg-N.B.A. partnership was brokered by an unlikely figure: Spike Lee, a member of Everytown’s creative council, whose latest film, “Chi-Raq,” set on Chicago’s South Side, confronts gun violence with an unflinching eye.

Over breakfast at the Loews Regency Hotel in Manhattan in November, not long before the movie was released earlier this month, Mr. Lee proposed the idea for the ads to John Skipper, the president of ESPN, who then took it to Adam Silver, the N.B.A.’s commissioner. Mr. Lee insisted on the participation of Everytown, with which he collaborated on a protest march down Broadway after the film’s New York premiere.

In an interview, he sounded many of the themes that Mr. Bloomberg himself has emphasized in the past, saying it was time for “common sense anti-gun laws.”

“But because of the N.R.A., politicians and the gun manufacturers, we’re dying under that tyranny,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Bloomberg’s interventionist policies as mayor and his left-leaning tactics on guns have earned the vitriol of gun-rights advocates, who have mocked him with TV ads as an out-of-touch elitist.

New Fashion Web Series "The Reclaim" Aims to Change the Negative Imagery of Black Men (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on December 19, 2015
The New Stereotype: The Reclaim
The New Stereotype: The Reclaim (photo via Shadow And Act)

A new web series on Vimeo has been launched this month called “The New Stereotype: The Reclaim” which aims to change the perception of black men in the media.
Conceived by Harlem-based Marquelle Turner-Gilchrist, who is an assistant buyer for a luxury fashion company, he says that he came up with the idea for the series to “show the diversity and strength of black males.”
He then reached out to friends and others willing participants through social media to be a part of the project, and created it to be all inclusive, taking into account skin tones, fashion styles, careers and backgrounds from all over the world, such as Ghana, the Virgin Islands, North Carolina, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Georgia.
The result is basically a fashion show for young, successful, upwardly mobile brothers (or “dandies” as I call them) who are eager to show a different image from the sagging pants and gold teeth that the media offers too often..
But if the idea of the series is to break away from the usual stereotypes of black men, then why use the word “stereotypes” in the title of his series? Well Mr. Turner-Gilchrist has an answer for that: “In order to truly create a ‘stereotype’ there must be frequency and consistency… For now, the idea is to continue to spread the imagery and message and investigate ways to elevate the project.”

article by Sergio via Shadow and Act

THE GOODS: Gadgets and Goods Holiday Gift Ideas for Teens – GBN

THE GOODS: Gadgets and Goods Holiday Gift Ideas for Teens – GBN

By goodblacknews on December 18, 2015

Lesa Lakin
Lesa Lakin

Today we’ve got gifts we think any teen would appreciate. Yes, that age group can be a little tricky to buy for, but we think we’ve picked some good GOODS. Yes, I will certainly be doing the “gift card” thing… but I like to throw the teenagers off a bit and actually wrap a gift that scores and surprises them.
We’ve compiled a short list of goods they just might like.  I’ve certainly got a little perma-teen in me, and I’d love just about any of these…
Skull Candy

SKULLCANDY – CRUSHER – $99.99 (some colors on sale 79.99)

We LOVE the way these headphones look and sound. They come in nine stylish color combos. Crusher brings the sound and feeling that you get from sitting front row at a concert. The headphones’ design features a slider to control the bass and customize your music. Dual ear cup articulation and premium materials deliver long-lasting comfort.
http://www.skullcandy.com/headphones/CRUSHER.html?cgid=1000&color=Bunny %20Teal#6lZUfLFXFpvBWuzJ.97
Naughty or Nice Decorative Pillow, 10" x 14" - 100% Bloomingdale's Exclusive

NAUGHTY or NICE DECORATIVE PILLOW, 10″ x 14″ – 100% Bloomingdale’s Exclusive – $70.00 (each)

These Alexandra Ferguson Naughty And Nice Pillows are the perfect fun gift for anyone on your list. These stylish 10”X14” are pretty fun and irresistible. Machine washable.
http://www1.bloomingdales.com/shop/product/alexandra-ferguson-naughty-or- nice-decorative-pillow-10-x-14-100-bloomingdales- exclusive?ID=1538137&pla_country=US&cm_mmc=Google-PLA-ADC-_-Home-NA-_- Alexandra%20Ferguson-_- 818635012752USA&catargetid=120156070000345783&cadevice=c

Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard

LOGITECH K380 MULTI-DEVICE BLUETOOTH KEYBOARD (Blue) $39.99

This multi-device Bluetooth universal keyboard is simply the best we’ve seen. It can go in between devices with the click of a button (Mac, PC, Tablet, Smartphone). This keyboard gets our vote. Comes in blue & dark grey.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0148NPAT0/ref=asc_df_B0148NPAT04049958?smi d=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=cnet-pc-20&linkCode=df0&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B0148NPAT0
Polaroid 300 Instant Camera

POLAROID 300 INSTANT CAMERA $79.99

Remember instant photography? Well here’s a modern version of the old throwback Polaroid camera. Exceptionally stylish –the Polaroid 300 instant analog camera is beautifully designed and comes in different colors. We LOVE the red. It’s one of the more reasonably-priced instant cameras out there and makes a great gift.
http://www.target.com/p/polaroid-300-instant-camera/-/A-13043100#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=polaroid+300+instant+camera

Film: $16.99 (sold separately)
http://www.target.com/p/polaroid-300-film-10-pack-pif-300/-/A-13042872#prodSlot=medium_1_3&term=polaroid+300+instant+camera
#GBN #goodblacknews.org #giftideas #teens #Polaroid #logitech #skullcandy

Michael B. Jordan Co-Authors New Comic Book Franchise "North"

By goodblacknews on December 17, 2015

"Creed" and "Fruitvale Station" star Michael B. Jordan
“Creed” and “Fruitvale Station” star Michael B. Jordan (Photo: Gustavo Caballero / Getty)

Michael B. Jordan‘s first attempt at playing a superhero didn’t go over well with movie buffs. The 2015 reboot of “Fantastic Four” bombed at the box office but similar to his character in “Creed,” Jordan is a fighter! He’s now planning to star in his own superhero franchise.
Jordan and Nathan Edmonson are co-authoring the comic book, “North.” Here’s the premise of the series from The Hollywood Reporter:
“[‘North’] follows a soldier who is recruited into a top-secret paramilitary program that modifies his mind to make him a spy like no other. When an operation goes south, he is betrayed by the organizations he serves but quickly discovers he is far more dangerous than even his betrayers realize.”
While it sounds a lot like “Captain America,” Edmonson is an accomplished writer who wrote “The Punisher” and “Black Widow” for Marvel. He and Jordan met, ironically at one of Los Angeles’ top comic shops, Golden Apple, and decided to collaborate on their own comic.
The pair have already completed two issues which will be published by Dark Horse Comics in 2016. According to THR, this is the start of something big for the 28-year-old. “The duo want the comic to stand alone on its own merits, one of the goals is to craft an eventual producing vehicle for Jordan.”
article by Zon D’Amour via hellobeautiful.com

Sisters Create Cross-Cultural Organization Connecting U.S. and African Youth

By goodblacknews on December 14, 2015

Twin sisters and founders of Focal Point Global, Hassanatu and Hussainatu Blake (photo: black enterprise.com)

Twin sisters and founders of Focal Point Global, Hassanatu Blake and Hussainatu Blake are on a mission to provide a global experience that enlightens youths in Africa and the United States about different cultures, countries, and lifestyles. Using modern technology such as Skype and Google Hangout, Focal Point Global makes it possible for youths to connect, learn, and address social issues together, and become leaders in their communities.
As 2012 White House Champions of Change, the dynamic duo has accomplished a great deal since launching the organization in 2010. This includes creating The U.S.-Southern Africa HIV Education Initiative (2010), the US-Cameroon Child Trafficking Awareness Project (2012), the Gambia-Namibia HIV/Ebola Education Initiative (2014), preparing 150 global youth alumni, and serving as 2013 TEDxEmory Keynote Speakers.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the Cameroonian-American sisters to delve into their background and learn more about their plans for 2016.
BlackEnterprise.com: Tell us a bit about your background.
Hussainatu: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University, a Masters degree from Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and a law degree from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. I have lived and worked in Germany, South Africa, Namibia, and The Gambia. While living in Germany, I assisted the NAACP with educating Africans about their legal rights. I also worked for the International Organization for Migration’s Counter-Trafficking Department in South Africa, aiding trafficked Africans. I have published articles about slavery in Mauritania for International Affairs Forum, a publication of the Center for International Relations in Washington, D.C.
Hassanatu: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University, a Master of Public Health degree from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Plymouth State University. I’ve also lived, worked, and studied in Germany, Jamaica, Namibia, Zambia, Antigua, St. Lucia, Cameroon, The Gambia, and South Africa. I have focused on improving health issues globally. Recently I worked with BroadReach Healthcare to implement a national management and leadership training program for health professionals in Zambia. I also conducted maternal/child health research with the National Institutes of Health and University of Alabama in Jamaica, worked with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Namibia to support Namibia’s national fight against HIV/AIDS, and managed technical assistance projects in Africa and Asia with USAID Global Health Technical Project in Washington, D.C. I’ve also written on a variety of health topics for the African American online health resource, BlackDoctor.org.
Tell us about the defining moment that inspired you to launch Focal Point Global.
Seven years ago, Focal Point Global started as an idea while we were sitting in our parents’ living room. We had just returned from working overseas and we read a New York Times article about the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the D.C. metro area being as high as 3%. Although 3% may not seem high for many people, based on our global public health and international development backgrounds, we knew this prevalence rate was high for an industrialized country like the U.S., and also comparable to some prevalence rates in West African cities. What makes it more alarming is that many who are impacted are youths between the ages of 15 and 25. After reading the article, we did research on how HIV was being addressed in the U.S., particularly in the youth population. We realized there was a critical gap that wasn’t being fully utilized — global peer education. Right then, we decided to create a project connecting youths in the U.S. and in Namibia (Southern Africa) so they could have a cross-cultural educational platform to discuss HIV and a space to create solutions to address this disease in their communities.

Serena Williams is Sports Illustrated's 2015 Sportsperson of the Year

Serena Williams is Sports Illustrated's 2015 Sportsperson of the Year

By goodblacknews on December 14, 2015

Serena William Sports Illustrated Cover
Real life? For Serena Williams, that’s the easy part now. That’s how it works when you zoom—beyond tennis, beyond $74 million in prize money, beyond one of the greatest late-career runs in sports history—into celebrity hyperspace. That’s how it is when each “Come on!” is taken as a war cry by everyone from “Lean in” women to age-defying codgers to body-shamed kids to #BlackLivesMatter protesters to, yes, the voices of racial conciliation. The outside world accommodates. Real life does you favors.

Indeed, in 2015 Williams hit this rare sweet spot, a pinch-me patch where the exotic became the norm. She danced with Donald Trump on New Year’s Eve. She spent a night telling bedtime stories to the children of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Growing up, Williams had devoured every Harry Potter book, marveled at the business empires of Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. Now J.K. Rowling was tweeting against a critic of Williams’s body, now Oprah was hustling to watch her at the U.S. Open, now Stewart was calling Williams “the most powerful woman I know.” President Barack Obama, the most scrutinized man alive, told her how great it was to watch her.

Even Williams’s most dubious moves paid off. In July, just as her drive for tennis’s first Grand Slam in 27 years hit the bell lap, she appeared in Pixels, a comedic bomb in which she anticipated a Lincoln Bedroom sex sandwich with Stewart and Peter Dinklage. Yet she escaped critical savaging, and, oh, the movie grossed $243 million. Williams’s November decision to chase down a cellphone thief in San Francisco seemed equally foolhardy—until, that is, the guy gave her phone back. Meekly.

Photo: Yu Tsai for Sports Illustrated

No, this year only the game gave Williams trouble. Only the 78-by-36-foot confines of a tennis court, be it blue asphalt or red clay or green grass, produced the kind of pushback that no amount of money or fame can overcome. If the real world felt like one A-list club after another, eagerly waving Williams in, tennis was the world’s most annoying bouncer, forever checking her ID. Tennis made her desperate. Then it made her hurt.
The results, of course, hardly imply that: Williams, 34, won three major titles, went 53–3 and provided at least one new measure of her tyrannical three-year reign at No. 1. For six weeks this summer—and for the first time in the 40-year history of the WTA rankings—Williams amassed twice as many ranking points as the world No. 2; at one point that gap grew larger than the one between No. 2 and No. 1,000. Williams’s 21 career Grand Slam singles titles are just one short of Steffi Graf’s Open-era record. Such numbers are reason enough for Sports Illustrated to name Serena Williams its 2015 Sportsperson of the Year.