[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi3bc9lS3rg&w=560&h=315]
At GBN, we love positive messages… and boy is this a lovely one. 
The video for nine-time Grammy Award winner John Legend‘s latest release “You & I (Nobody in the World)” is without question our video of the week, and definitely worth your time. Thanks, Mr. Legend!
Posts published in “New Media/Internet”
The African-American community collectively mourned when Johnson Publishing announced earlier this year that it would no longer print “JET Magazine”. Black Twitter exploded with grief over popular magazine features like the “Beauty of the Week” and “JET Weddings” when readers every where believed they’d never see their faces printed in the book. But no so fast! In a daring and exciting move forward, the JET Magazine Digital App is available right now for free download (in-app purchases and subscriptions available).
Chicago’s own Keke Palmer graces the cover of the new digital APP announcing her new talk show, “Just Keke,” airing on BET. The trusted pocket-sized mag is better than ever in a downloadable interactive app that features 360 degree views of your “JET Beauty of the Week”, audible playlists of the top songs of the week, and JET weddings lives on in the “Love” section, dedicated to both celebrity and real people love stories. The new interactive mag features long form investigations, celebrity features and interactive fashion features for the stylish person on the go.
Digital Editorial Director Kyra Kyles shares her hope for the future. “I am so very excited about this app launch, as I feel it will allow us to stretch the boundaries of storytelling and offer readers a very dynamic platform that reflects their interests. I’m honored to be part of carrying the JET legacy and trusted brand into the future of media.”
Ebony and JET Magazine have anchored the Black community for decades and their forward movement into the digital space shows the power of Black media in the ever changing digital landscape.
Download it here:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jet-digital/id883558819?ls=1&mt=8
article by Leigh Davenport via newsone.com
“Star Trek” actor and “Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton has created a supremely successful Kickstarter campaign to make a web version of his award-winning PBS show that’s on track to raise $5 million when it ends.
A little “Reading Rainbow” has gone a very long way.
The Kickstarter campaign to create a web version of the award-winning PBS show has broken a record on the crowd fund-raising site for most individual contributors, Entrepreneur magazine reports.
With just one day to go, the effort, created by the show’s executive producer and host LeVar Burton, has amassed more than 97,000 contributors and nearly $5 million.
“Bring Reading Rainbow Back for Every Child, Everywhere” was created at the end of May. In a matter of hours, the campaign surpassed its initial goal of $1 million.
Soon after, “Family Guy” creator Seth McFarlane pledged to match donations to the literary project up to $1 million, Burton announced June 28.
As the “Reading Rainbow” effort quickly became the fifth-most funded campaign on Kickstarter, in an unprecedented move the four bigger campaigns — including the “Veronica Mars” movie project — have all donated rewards to it.
article by Chiderah Monde via nydailynews.com
What a treat and honor to receive a tweet from @newsone today, letting us know GBN made it onto NewsOne’s list of the 15 Most Share-Worthy Black Blogs and Sites of 2014! Not only do we support and admire newsone.com but we are thrilled with the level of company we are keeping on their list – favorites such as For Harriet, Shadow and Act, Black and Married with Kids, and Color Lines. We are also jazzed to learn about sites we can’t wait to follow such as Very Smart Brothas, Crew of 42, The Shadow League and The Frugal Feminista, among others.
Please click here to see NewsOne’s list in full, and thank you for your readership and continuous support. Onward and upward!
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
Starz’s highly anticipated new original series Power will debut on Saturday, June 7th at 9pm ET/PT. Ahead of that premiere, the network has released the season’s premiere episode online, as part of a multi-platform, nationwide sampling of the first episode.
From the press release:
Power is the first-ever television show to premiere on Twitter using the service’s new in-line video feature that enables one-touch playback. The new video experience is based on Twitter Cards, which extends user interactions beyond favoriting, retweeting and replying and makes it possible for people to do things like watch videos, download apps, or view articles and photos — all from within a Tweet. Select multi-channel video distributors will offer linear, on-demand and online sampling opportunities of the first episode beginning today, May 31, one week in advance of the TV series premiere next Saturday. Approximately 79 million multichannel video households will have access to the sampling opportunities through select cable, satellite and telco affiliates in the United States.
The first episode of Power will also be available at www.starz.com/power, and online through select Starz cable, satellite, telco, and online distributors’ websites, including the Starz Power Twitter page at https://twitter.com/starz_channel, Starz Power MySpace page, the Starz YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/Starz, Starz Power Facebook page at www.facebook.com/power.starz, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Sony Entertainment Network and CinemaNow.
The series premiere of Power will also be available for sampling through the free Starz Play app for all users in the United States.
Executive produced by Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, Power is a crime drama set in two different worlds – the glamorous New York club scene and the brutal drug trade.
LeVar Burton, host of the children’s educational program Reading Rainbow, started a Kickstarter campaign yesterday with colleagues to create an interactive online version of the reading program for kids everywhere and to help schools in need. The goal of $1 million was reached in just 11 hours. (See video of Burton’s reaction below.”
Burton hosted the show since its beginning on PBS in 1983 until it went off the air in 2009 and recently helped launch the Reading Rainbow application for tablets. The Kickstarter campaign says they would like to be on the internet, not just in an app, so the program is accessible to more children.
With the first $1 million, Reading Rainbow could be placed in over 1,500 classrooms for free. New extended goals will be released for donations past their original goal, said CEO and writer/director of Reading Rainbow Mark Wolfe in an update.
The 35 day campaign still has 34 days left. As of Thursday morning, the Kickstarter campaign had raised over $1.7 million with over 37,900 backers who had donated.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-XHuNcSMLc&w=560&h=315]
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
Rap is coming to Cupertino in a big way.
After weeks of rumor, Apple finally announced it has acquired headphone maker Beats Electronic for $3 billion, including $2.6 billion cash up front and approximately $400 million in stock that will vest over time. As part of the deal, Beats co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine will join Apple (AAPL -0.26%) in undisclosed roles.
“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.”
RELATED: Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine Donate $70M for New Arts and Technology Center at USC
This acquisition is Apple’s biggest ever, and largest since it brought back Steve Jobs in 1997 though a $400 million purchase of NeXT. However, the $3 billion price is still just a tiny fraction of the company’s $150 billion cash reserves, and Beats’ estimated annual sales of $2 billion represents barely over 1% of Apple’s $171 billion revenue last year.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hGnzfHvPR8&w=560&h=315]
President Barack Obama reminds all Americans to pay homage to our fallen patriots and heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy our basic freedoms.
In this week’s address from the White House, President Obama commemorated Memorial Day by honoring the brave men and women in uniform who have given their lives in service to our country. As we stand with our veterans and military families this weekend, the President underscored his commitment to uphold our nation’s sacred trust with our veterans and ensure they get the benefits and opportunities they deserve and have earned.
article via thegrio.com
First Lady Michelle Obama wants every American student to expand their education beyond just a high school degree and she’s using social media to encourage kids to do just that.
In an effort to move the country in the right direction toward reaching President Obama’s “North Star” goal, which outlines America as having the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020, FLOTUS is asking people to show support for her Reach Higher initiative by taking a picture of themselves in their college T-shirt and posting it on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter using the hashtag #ReachHigher. The new initiative encourages students to attend a professional training program, community college, or four-year university after high school and she’s hoping that through social media she can make the program a trending topic.
Already, a couple of major cities around the country are showing their support for the initiative and celebrating students commitment to higher education. On May 2nd, FLOTUS traveled to San Antonio to attend the city’s annual “College Signing Day.” At the event, First Lady Obama elaborated on the importance of high school students continuing their education saying, “While it’s good news that high school graduation rates have climbed to their highest levels ever in this country, we know that in today’s world, a high school degree simply isn’t enough.”
Watch the video below of FLOTUS talking about the new #ReachHigher social media campaign and be sure to show your support for the initiative.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgIdi9T3kTU&w=560&h=315]
article by Courtney Connley via blackenterprise.com
It might seem like she has the Midas touch, but Issa Rae knows it’s not always that easy to make magic happen and become a success, so she’s making sure to help others who are following in her path.
“I get irritated when others are in a position where they can help others and they don’t pay it forward,” Issa told Sister 2 Sister. “I think that’s the most important part.”
The The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl creator is putting actions behind those words with Color Creative, an initiative that gives “great writers of color a platform and an audience.”
First, the brainchild of Jahmela Biggs, is one of the projects Issa is supporting. It’s a Webseries about falling in love.
“I really, really liked it. It has ‘90s sensibilities in the way that I enjoyed Love Jones so much and it reminded me a lot of it,” the Exhale co-host said. The third episode of the Web series premieres Wednesday on Issa’s YouTube channel.
In addition to creating and supporting Webseries and co-hosting Exhale on Aspire, Issa said she’s also working on a book, a collection of essays. As if that’s not enough, she’s still in the process of producing a series for HBO.
It may seem like Issa mapped an uncharted road to success intentionally, by launching the Awkward Black Girl series years ago, but she said her rise to the top was sort of unexpected.
“I wish it was part of my master plan. I wish I was that smart,” she said. “I’m just taking it in stride. I was very surprised at how fast it did take off. You just don’t expect that magnitude. I never expected to have all these opportunities continue and that’s what I’m most appreciative for,” she said, thanking her fans.
“I have a ridiculously supportive viewership and fan base. They’re so dedicated to our success and I love that,” she said.
article by Tracy Scott via s2smagazine.com