WASHINGTON (AP) — Actress and activist Jada Pinkett Smith urged Congress on Tuesday to step up the fight against human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad. The actress testified during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that she plans to launch a campaign to raise awareness and spur action against human trafficking and slavery. She said the “old monster” of slavery “is still with us,” almost 150 years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in the U.S.
“Fighting slavery doesn’t cost a lot of money. The costs of allowing it to exist in our nation and abroad are much higher,” the actress said. “It robs us of the thing we value most, our freedom.” She said the issue was brought to her attention by her daughter Willow, 11, who sat nearby with actor Will Smith, Pinkett Smith’s husband and Willow’s father. The Smiths all wore blazers over T-shirts that read, “Free Slaves.” The hearing room was filled mostly with young people, some trying to take photos of the famous family.
With her father’s arm around her, Willow remained attentive to her mother’s testimony and often whispered to her father. At least 30 minutes into the hearing, Will wrapped his gray blazer around Willow. The actress called for an extension of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which provides funding to combat trafficking and help trafficking victims. The act also created a task force, chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, which coordinates among federal agencies to implement policies against human trafficking.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pledged to try to gather bipartisan congressional support to further fund the act.
The State Department estimates that at least 14,500 people are trafficked to the U.S. annually.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Posts published in “News”
Earl Lewis, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African American Studies at Emory University, has been selected as the next president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The foundation, headquartered in New York City, has over $5 billion in assets and in 2011 issued $230 million in grants. Dr. Lewis will take on his new role in March 2013.
via Earl Lewis to Lead the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.
African Americans in Hollywood Making Big Bucks
It’s quite obvious how African American actors have taken a prominent place in mainstream Hollywood movies over the recent decade. Quality films with meaty-roles are now casted to African American actors that have proven to draw hordes of fans to the box-office.
Gone are the 50’s and 60’s era when motion pictures where limited to ‘whites only’. Today, some of the highest paid actors making blockbuster hit films are African Americans.
Talk about movies like Training Day and Monster’s Ball that won both Denzel Washington and Halle Berry Oscars in 2002. How about Will Smith’s Men in Black and Training Day; Samuel L. Jackson’s Pulp Fiction, Morgan Freeman’s Million Dollar Baby, and Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson’s Dreamgirls—all top grossing Black films. And the list can go on and on from movie actors, to top producers, and film directors.
With their incredible talent it’s not hard to understand why these African American actors are receiving so much love from movie fans all over the world and raking in big bucks from movie theaters.
Here’s a list of some of the highest paid and consequently richest African American actors in Hollywood today based on the net worth from Celebrity Net Worth, Forbes and other sources. Tyler Perry, who’s the richest African American in Hollywood with an estimated net worth of $350 million, didn’t feature in our list mainly because he is more of a producer and director. Let’s see who made the list.
1. Will Smith
Estimated net worth: $215 Million
Mention ‘Will Smith’ and movies like Men in Black and Hancock will immediately come to mind. Incidentally, Will pocketed a whopping $20 million talent fee for the latest installment of the hit Men in Black III, and around the same amount for the 2008 superhero film Hancock.
Will’s acting career began in a 90’s TV sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But his career kicked-off after hit action movies Bad Boys and Independence Day, with the latter earning revenues of more than $800 million. Will also took home Grammy Awards for his rap music, and produced several films including Seven Pounds and I am Legend.
Born to humble parents working as a school admin and refrigerator engineer, Will has come a long way with all the success he has earned. With his millions, Will can practically buy his mom her own school!
2= Samuel L. Jackson
Estimated net worth: $150 Million
Samuel’s most recent box-office appearance were for the Marvel hit flicks Iron Man and Avengers, where he is said to have signed a contract for movie appearances in some nine other Marvel-related comic book movies… hello big bucks! Reports say he earns around $10 million each year.
With no interest in acting, Samuel was active in black student movements for civil rights in his younger years. It was only when he met actor Morgan Freeman that he was mentored in film and acting. His first movie was 1981’s Jungle Fever. Some of his important roles were in the movies Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction where he received an Oscar nominee, and Die Hard III.
Samuel remains a staunch advocate of civil rights especially for African American groups.
2= Denzel Washington
Estimated net worth: $150 Million
Denzel’s striking good looks and amazing acting skills are definitely paying off by the millions. Born and raised in New York, Denzel began his acting career in theater and slowly moved to made-for-TV-movies where he landed a role in St. Elsewhere and stayed with the TV show until its final season six years after. Around the same year, he received his first Oscar nomination for the film Cry Freedom, and the following year won Best Supporting Actor for his amazing performance in the film Glory.
Denzel is the second African American actor who ever won a Best Actor Oscar; he won for the movie Training Day. Denzel is an actor, scriptwriter, producer, and director with an annual pay of around $40 million. Now, that explains his $150 million net worth.
4. Martin Lawrence
Estimated net worth: $110 Million
Whoever said comedy couldn’t earn millions? Martin is popular for his comedic roles as a thief, a cop, or both. He established his name in Hollywood after starring in hit movies Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma’s House.
He started as a stand-up comedian with his own TV series in the 90’s called Martin which began bringing in big bucks to his career.
5. Ice Cube
Estimated net worth: $110 Million
O’ Shea Jackson a.k.a Ice Cube began as a rapper and songwriter for the controversial band N.W.A. He was still in high school when his interest for hip-hop started, and he may never have thought he would be rapping his way to becoming a millionaire. His group N.W.A. performed at parties and influential events, until he left to go solo in 1989. He released albums such as Kill at Will that went gold and platinum in the hit charts! Cha-ching! He went on to create music that topped pop and R&B charts.
While earning a great deal in music, Ice Cube began a shift to acting. His first movie was Boyz in the Hood, followed by others such as Higher Learning and Three Kings. And as if he wasn’t earning enough, Ice Cube went on to directing and producing films. Now, he’s worth millions of dollars!
To see the rest, go to: The 10 Richest African American Actors – EverywhereNigeria.
BY TAMBAY A. OBENSON | JULY 13, 2012 1:06 PM via http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/
It was much earlier this year when it was announced that there was renewed interest in exploiting the Soul Train franchise – thanks to Don Cornelius’ death. The news then was that Soul Train Holdings was working with WME to find ways to, as I said, exploit and grow the brand, which would include a film, a stage musical AND a TV show. “Certainly we want to proceed in a way that will highlight the contribution of Don to the creation of the brand and its subsequent impact on American culture,” said Kenard Gibbs, CEO of Soul Train Holdings.
However, there were some rights issues that they’d have to deal with, notably the music used in each episode of the series. But they were confident that wouldn’t be a problem. Things seem to be in motion again as it’s been announced today that Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his business partners have bought the rights to the Soul Train franchise for “several million dollars,” and are planning an upcoming musical based on the life of Don Cornelius, according to the NY Post. The musical, which is being aimed towards Broadway, will focus on the once mega-hit variety show.
BY TAMBAY A. OBENSON | JULY 13, 2012 1:06 PM via http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/
It was much earlier this year when it was announced that there was renewed interest in exploiting the Soul Train franchise – thanks to Don Cornelius’ death. The news then was that Soul Train Holdings was working with WME to find ways to, as I said, exploit and grow the brand, which would include a film, a stage musical AND a TV show. “Certainly we want to proceed in a way that will highlight the contribution of Don to the creation of the brand and its subsequent impact on American culture,” said Kenard Gibbs, CEO of Soul Train Holdings.
However, there were some rights issues that they’d have to deal with, notably the music used in each episode of the series. But they were confident that wouldn’t be a problem. Things seem to be in motion again as it’s been announced today that Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his business partners have bought the rights to the Soul Train franchise for “several million dollars,” and are planning an upcoming musical based on the life of Don Cornelius, according to the NY Post. The musical, which is being aimed towards Broadway, will focus on the once mega-hit variety show.
“Guys with Kids” is the newest sitcom on NBC’s line up and stars comedian Anthony Anderson and former The Cosby Show actress Tempestt Bledsoe. The co-stars say that the new show will represent Black families in a positive light. Read more via Anthony Anderson and Tempestt Bledsoe to Star in New Sitcom | Essence.com.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The first female secretary of state, a former astronaut, and a musical pioneer are among this year’s recipients of the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
President Barack Obama will award the medals at the White House later this spring.
Among this year’s recipients are former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the first woman to hold the nation’s top diplomatic post; John Glenn, the third American in space and the first American to orbit the Earth; and legendary musician Bob Dylan.
In a statement, Obama said of the honorees: “They’ve challenged us, they’ve inspired us and they’ve made the world a better place.”
Among the other honorees:
— John Doar, civil rights attorney.
— William Foege, physician who led the campaign to eradicate smallpox.
— Gordon Hirabayashi, openly defied the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
— Dolores Huerta, civil rights workers and women’s advocate.
— Jan Karski, officer in the Polish Underground during World War II and one of the first people to provide accounts of the Holocaust to the world.
— Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
— Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist.
— Shimon Peres, Israeli president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
— John Paul Stevens, former Supreme Court Justice.
— Pat Summitt, former women’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee.
Urban Prep students at graduation.
For the third year running, an all-male charter school with students from Chicago’s roughest neighborhoods is sending its entire senior class to college. Urban Prep Academy reports that all 85 seniors graduating from the all-male preparatory school have been accepted to four-year colleges or universities, the third consecutive year an entire senior class has gotten acceptance letters along with their diplomas.
This year’s class also has some standout stars, like Vernon Cheeks, 17, who was accepted to 14 schools, according to CBS Chicago. “It taught me how to be resilient. It also taught me how to be accountable for my own actions,” he told the station of his experience in the standout high school program.
Urban Prep’s success is unusual in its West Side neighborhood, which sees disproportionately high rates of violent crime so severe that parents requested heightened protection for academy students earlier this year, amid concerns that gang territories were advancing on the school.
“[In] this volatile, violent area, these are like lambs surrounded by wolves, and that shouldn’t be,” the grandmother of a student told ABC Chicago.
The school’s success has grown exponentially since its founding in 2006, when onlyfour percent of the school’s first freshman class was reading at grade level when they entered.
In 2010, the school sent all 107 graduating seniors directly into college or university programs for the first time.
“No other public [school] in the country has done this,” Urban Prep Academy Founder Tim King said at the time. Continuing that success in 2011 and 2012 makes the school’s performance even more remarkable.
The school also boasts an impressive “persistence” record this year–83 percent of 2010 Urban Prep graduates who went on to college have stayed there, compared to a national average of 35 percent among African-American males, according to the Chicago Tribune.
In the summer of 1865, a former slave by the name of Jourdan Anderson sent a letter to his former master. And 147 years later, the document reads as richly as it must have back then. The roughly 800-word letter, which has resurfaced via various blogs, websites, Twitter and Facebook, is a response to a missive from Colonel P.H. Anderson, Jourdan’s former master back in Big Spring, Tennessee. Apparently, Col. Anderson had written Jourdan asking him to come on back to the big house to work. In a tone that could be described either as “impressively measured” or “the deadest of deadpan comedy,” the former slave, in the most genteel manner, basically tells the old slave master to kiss his rear end. He laments his being shot at by Col. Anderson when he fled slavery, the mistreatment of his children and that there “was never pay-day for the Negroes any more than for the horses and cows.” Below is Jourdan’s letter in full, as it appears on lettersofnote.com. To take a look at what appears to be a scan of the original letter, which appeared in an August 22, 1865 edition of the New York Daily Tribune, click here. As Letters Of Note points out, the newspaper account makes clear that the letter was dictated.
UPDATE:
After reading the letter attributed to Jourdon Anderson, Michael Johnson, a professor of history at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, did a bit of digging into old slave and census records. He says he has discovered evidence that the people involved in this correspondence are real, and that the letter is probably authentic. According to Johnson, the 1860 federal slave schedules list a P H Anderson in Wilson County, Tenn., with 32 slaves; several of them credibly the people mentioned in the letter, of the correct genders and ages, Johnson said, though the names of slaves were not listed in the schedules. “That in itself is not conclusive proof that the letter is real, but the slave owner was real and he had plenty of slaves,” Johnson wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. Johnson said better evidence that the letter is almost certainly real is that, according to the 1870 federal manuscript census, a Jourdan Anderson, his wife and four school-age children are listed as living in the 8th ward of Dayton, Ohio. Johnson said the records state that Anderson is a hostler, 45, and that he and his family are listed as “black.” Furthermore, according to those records, Anderson, his wife and two older children, ages 19 and 12, were born in Tennessee. Two younger children, ages 5 and 1, were born in Ohio, “which would in turn have him and his family showing up in Ohio at about the right time to have escaped during the Civil War,” Johnson said. The professor said that Jourdan Anderson could not read or write, according to 1870 manuscript census. But the letter could have been written by his 19-year-old daughter, Jane, who was listed as literate in 1870. “The letter probably reflected his sentiments,” Johnson said, who added that Anderson lived in a neighborhood surrounded by working-class white neighbors who were literate, according to the census. It is also possible one of them may have written the letter for him, Johnson said. But the person who most likely wrote the dictated letter is another person listed in Anderson’s letter. In the letter Anderson refers to a V. Winters. According to Johnson a person by the name of Valentine Winters, a “barrister” in Dayton’s 3rd ward who claimed property worth $697,000, also appears in the 1870 federal census. “He may well have been the person who actually wrote the letter since he is the person Jourdan Anderson asks his former master to send his wages to,” Johnson said.
Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee
Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin’s to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.
I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, “Them colored people were slaves” down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkens would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.
As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor’s visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams’s Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.
In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.
Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.
From your old servant,
Jourdon Anderson.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Michelle Obama, with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a Y.M.C.A. event last year, has worked with the Y to develop health standards for its youth programs.
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON — The Y.M.C.A., one of the nation’s largest child-care providers, intends to announce Wednesday that it is adopting new “healthy living standards,” including offering fruits, vegetables and water at snack time, increasing the amount of exercise and limiting video games and television for youngsters in its programs. The guidelines grow out of discussions the Y has been having with Michelle Obama, the first lady, and thePartnership for a Healthier America, a year-old nonprofit group dedicated to supporting Mrs. Obama’s campaign to reduce childhood obesity. The first lady will join Y officials for the announcement.
Roughly 700,000 youngsters are enrolled in early childhood, after-school and summer programs at 10,000 Y chapters around the country, and the organization has a broad reach into the lives of American families. Independent experts and White House officials say they hope the Y’s move will serve as a model for other day-care providers.
“The difference between kids getting a sugary beverage and an unhealthy snack versus water and an apple can change a kid’s life, if that’s what they are eating day in and day out after school,” said Sam Kass, Mrs. Obama’s top food policy adviser. “The Y sets a standard.”
The standards, however, will be voluntary; Neil Nicoll, president and chief executive of the Y.M.C.A. of the U.S.A., said the national organization could not impose them on chapters. But Mr. Nicoll said that they had been developed in consultation with Y leaders around the country, and that he expected 85 percent of chapters to comply.
“We don’t anticipate a lot of pushback,” he said. “We find that once kids get into healthy habits of eating carrots instead of cookies and being physically active instead of sitting in front of the screen, they go with the flow pretty easily.”
Specifically, the Y is urging its chapters to serve fruits and vegetables at each meal, and to offer water instead of juice. For young children, the guidelines call for 15 minutes of exercise per hour, no more than 60 minutes per day of screen time for 2- to 5-year-olds, and no screen time for children under 2. Older children would have 60 minutes a day of physical activity, and no access to television or movies. Digital devices would be used only for homework or programs that promote physical activity.
Mr. Nicoll estimates the changes will cost 50 cents per child per day; he said the Y was working with food vendors to help chapters buy discounted fruits and vegetables. It has also pledged an independent evaluation of the program’s effectiveness.
“The early childhood and youth development fields need more evidence of what works to prevent and treat obesity in children and adults,” said Carol Emig, president of Child Trends, a research organization not affiliated with the Y. “Hopefully, the Y experience will produce such evidence.”
The Y is the latest in a string of companies and organizations, including Wal-Mart and Walgreens, to sign onto Mrs. Obama’s initiative. This year, Bright Horizons, a company that provides day care to about 70,000 children, agreed to standards similar to those adopted by the Y.
The Partnership for a Healthier America, financed by philanthropies like the Kaiser Permanente and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations, was founded to work with the private sector, and to ensure that Mrs. Obama’s initiative continues beyond her White House tenure. The Y will unveil its program at the partnership’s first conference; Mrs. Obama will be the keynote speaker.
“One in three kids are overweight or obese,” said Lawrence A. Soler, the partnership’s chief executive. “We are not going to be able to solve this problem in one or two presidential administrations.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: November 30, 2011
An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the source of funding for the Partnership for a Healthier America. It was financed in part by the Kaiser Permanente Foundation, not Kaiser Permanente.