Michael Tubbs, a 22 year-old Stanford graduate, is the youngest-ever city councilman to be elected in his hometown of Stockton, C.A.
Born into poverty to a teenage mother and father who is in prison, Tubbs grew up determined to make a difference.
Upon graduating from high school, Tubbs attended Stanford, where he earned a bachelor’s in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and a master’s in Policy, Organization and Leadership Studies.
While in college, Tubbs interned for both Google and the White House. With multiple high-paying job offers, Tubbs decided to turn them down and return to his hometown to run for city council.
The struggling city of Stockton, CA. is in need of serious change. In June of 2012, Stockton became the most populous U.S. city to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The city also has a record high number of homicides in 2012 with 71.
Tubbs first made headlines last spring when he received a campaign endorsement form Oprah Winfrey after meeting her on campus at Stanford. Winfrey donated $10,000 to the then-college senior.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
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SAN FRANCISCO — Colin Kaepernick has set an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a playoff game.
Kaepernick broke Michael Vick’s mark of 119 yards with a 56-yard keeper on an option play in the third quarter of Saturday night’s playoff game against Green Bay. The run gave Kaepernick 163 yards on 12 carries, setting a 49ers franchise record for the postseason. Vick set his record for Atlanta in a 47-17 win over St. Louis on Jan. 15, 2005.
Kaepernick earlier scored on a 20-yard run and also threw two touchdown passes in the first half. He joined Chicago’s Jay Cutler and Cleveland’s Otto Graham as the only players to throw two TD passes and run for two TDs in a playoff game. Graham did it twice.
article by Associated Press via huffingtonpost.com
Kaepernick broke Michael Vick’s mark of 119 yards with a 56-yard keeper on an option play in the third quarter of Saturday night’s playoff game against Green Bay. The run gave Kaepernick 163 yards on 12 carries, setting a 49ers franchise record for the postseason. Vick set his record for Atlanta in a 47-17 win over St. Louis on Jan. 15, 2005.
Kaepernick earlier scored on a 20-yard run and also threw two touchdown passes in the first half. He joined Chicago’s Jay Cutler and Cleveland’s Otto Graham as the only players to throw two TD passes and run for two TDs in a playoff game. Graham did it twice.
article by Associated Press via huffingtonpost.com
Alvin Hill, Student Government Association vice president at Morgan State University. (Photo L. Kasimu Harris)
It was just a month ago when the board of regents of Morgan State University, the historically Black school in Baltimore, voted not to renew the contract of its president, David Wilson. Wilson had served as president for two years and his three-year contract was set to expire in June of this year.
But then something unusual happened. The board’s decision unleashed a torrent of criticism by the school’s faculty, staff and, most notably, Morgan State’s students, who held protest rallies on behalf of retaining President Wilson.
Since then, the board announced something of a reversal, saying it was reconsidering its initial decision. It agreed to negotiate a new one-year contract covering the period from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014. The terms of the one-year deal have yet to be negotiated.
Cleaning service worker Patrick Morgan was honored for his honesty at an award ceremony Wednesday morning. He talked about finding a big wad of cash in an iPad case.
Patrick Morgan was working an early shift at the airport last month when he came across the iPad that had been left behind at a bar in one of the terminals at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. When he opened the case, he spotted the big wad of cash. “I opened it first and I see the money and I closed it back,” he said.
Morgan, of Patrick’s Cleaning Service which works for Sunshine Cleaning Systems Inc., immediately turned in the iPad and $13,000 cash to the airport communications center and Broward Sheriff’s Office substation. Minutes later, the owner, who had returned from a trip to Las Vegas, came back to the bar and Morgan told him where he could find the money and iPad. The iPad owner gave Morgan a $60 reward, which Morgan passed on to a homeless woman.
The Broward County Aviation Department honored Morgan for his honesty and hard work, and Sunshine Cleaning awarded him $625, which is equal to one week paid vacation. He says he’ll keep it.
article by Julia Bagg via nbcmiami.com
This film image released by Paramount Pictures shows Denzel Washington portraying Whip Whitaker in a scene from “Flight.” (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Robert Zuckerman)
Denzel Washington scored his first Oscar nomination in over a decade this morning for his acclaimed performance as an alcoholic pilot in the hit drama Flight. This is Denzel’s sixth career Academy Award nomination, making him the most honored black actor in history. He’s won twice before: supporting actor for 1989′s Glory and best actor for his villainous role in 2001′s Training Day.
This recognition caps perhaps a career-best year for the A-list superstar, following the box office success of February’s action thriller Safe House and now his return to Hollywood’s most prestigious night.
Meanwhile, Quvenzhané Wallis received her first Oscar nomination ever for her acting debut in Beasts of the Southern Wild. At nine, Wallis is also the youngest actress to ever be nominated in the Academy’s leading actress category.Auditioning for the lead role when she was only 5 years old, Quvenzhané was 6 when filming began in 2010 in Pointe-aux-Chenes and Isle de Jean Charles, not too far from her hometown of Houma, Louisiana.
Beasts of the Southern Wild won the ‘Grand Jury Prize’ at the Sundance Independent Film Festival and won the Camera d’Or for best first film at the Cannes Film Festival.
To Randall Halstead and other minority officers in the Boston Police Department, the story of Sergeant Horatio J. Homer serves as a beacon of hope and of the power of perseverance.
Homer, who in 1878 became the department’s first African-American officer, ushered in a new era in the city over a 40-year career. In the decade after his appointment, the force hired as many as a half-dozen additional black officers, in large part on his recommendation.
Last week, the department unveiled a plaque honoring Homer at the Area B-2 police precinct in Roxbury, a neighborhood where he once resided. Halstead, a deputy superintendent, presided over the ceremony, which some of Homer’s descendants attended.
“This man set a precedent,” said Halstead. “To move forward, you have to know where you come from.”
The tribute is the latest honor bestowed upon Homer by the Police Department.
Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of Medgar Evers (Michael Caulfield/Wire Image/Getty Images)
Medgar Evers’ widow to deliver inauguration prayer: President Obama has chosen Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights icon Medgar Evers, to deliver the invocation at his public swearing-in later this month, the Washington Post reports. This will be the first time a woman, and a layperson rather than a clergy member, has been chosen to perform the invocation.
item by Jenée Desmond-Harris via theroot.com
item by Jenée Desmond-Harris via theroot.com
Tamron Hall, Michael Eric Dyson, and Al Sharpton. (Photo: Getty Images)
From Ebony.com:
MSNBC yesterday reported a huge increase in their overall ratings, a 20% increase, in 2012, no doubt due to the 2012 Presidential campaign, but also due to a another major factor – Black viewership. The network announced an incredible increase in their already large number of Black viewers – a whopping 60.5% increase during the past year.
That’s compared to CNN, whose Black audience increased last year by 23.7%, while Fox News’ Black audience decreased by the same amount.
No doubt MSNBC’s more progressive leaning approach to the news and their wide array of black hosts and pundits such as Toure, Melissa Harris-Perry, Tamron Hall, Joy-Ann Reid (pictured above and who I predict is headed for her own MSNBC show soon) Karen Finney, Michael Steele, Al Sharpton, Eugene Robinson, Jonathan Capehart, Goldie Taylor and if I’ve forgotten anyone, I’m sorry, have played a large part in the increase in black viewers.
When recently asked about this remarkable development, MSNBC president Phil Griffith said: “I think we made a commitment, we decided, that in order for this channel to succeed, that we had to reflect the country. This meant that we had to be part of the country in ways that the other channels weren’t.”
Read the rest of this story on Ebony.com.
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