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Makaila Ulmer, 11, Gets $11 Million from Whole Foods for her Bee Sweet Lemonade

By goodblacknews on March 29, 2016
Mikaila Ulmer, 11, of Bee Sweet Lemonade (photo via bet.com)

article by Evelyn Diaz via bet.com

Most kids are happy to earn a few dollars selling lemonade on the sidewalk. But not 11-year-old Mikaila Ulmer.  The pre-teen entreprenuer is making a name for herself in the world of business by landing an $11 million deal with upscale grocery chain Whole Foods for her natural lemonade, which she calls BeeSweet.
Ulmer and her lemonade first came to national attention when she appeared on Shark Tank, taking home $60,000 in venture capital for her BeeSweet business. Her company’s main priority, other than making delicious lemonade, is to help save the global bee population by utilizing honey as sweetener instead of sugar.
Her Shark Tank deal is pocket change compared to what Whole Foods is offering: $11 million and shelf space in 55 Whole Foods stores across the nation. On top of that, she also has a deal with United Natural Foods to help expand her business.
But that’s still not enough for Mikaila. In addition to running her business — she does have a little help from her mother — and staying on top of her school work, Ulmer wants to visit South Africa to teach girls about entrepreneurship and starting their own businesses.
To read more, go to: http://www.bet.com/news/lifestyle/2016/03/29/11-year-old-lands-whole-foods-deal.html 

National Society of Black Engineers Receives $2 Million Grant from Northrop Grumman Foundation

By goodblacknews on March 28, 2016

(photo via nsbe.org)
(photo via nsbe.org)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinutcherson)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Northrop Grumman Foundation and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) have launched a three-year, $2-million program designed to expand the nation’s engineering workforce through a partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Northrop Grumman Corporation/NSBE Integrated Pipeline Program will provide 72 engineering students with $8,000 scholarship grants, internships with Northrop Grumman and year-round academic and professional development support.
The program’s three HBCU partners — Florida A&M University, Howard University and North Carolina A&T State University — will receive grants, technical assistance and a package of programs researched and managed by NSBE, to increase their already high capacity to recruit, retain and graduate engineers. NSBE is one of the largest student-governed professional societies based in the United States.
“Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation are committed to helping improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to ensure a future workforce that can protect our nation and maintain our global leadership,” said Sandra Evers-Manly, Northrop Grumman vice president, global corporate responsibility and president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation.  “Our partnership with NSBE will help us achieve that goal and develop the pipeline of diverse talent that is so important to our company and our society’s future.”
“We are delighted to receive this endorsement of our work from one of America’s most innovative companies,” said NSBE Executive Director Karl W. Reid, Ed.D. “For years, we have spoken about the vital role that engineering diversity plays in our national economy and national security. Northrop Grumman’s investment in this program illustrates that they understand the need exists and are willing to do something about it. This fact is reflected not only in their longtime support of NSBE but also in the high ratings the company receives from our membership.”
The first cohort of 24 Northrop Grumman Corporation/NSBE scholars will be selected in December, and their participation in the Pipeline Program will be kicked off with a summit meeting in March 2017, during NSBE’s 43rd Annual Convention in Kansas City, Mo. Summer internships for the first cohort will begin in May 2017.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Launches Capital Prep Charter School with Dr. Steve Perry in Harlem

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Launches Capital Prep Charter School with Dr. Steve Perry in Harlem

By goodblacknews on March 28, 2016

Sean "Diddy" Combs (photo via getty images)
Sean “Diddy” Combs (photo via getty images)

article by Cristie Leondis via blackenterprise.com
NEW YORK (AP) — He’s been a rapper, actor, singer, entrepreneur, record producer and clothing designer. Now Sean “Diddy” Combs has taken on a new job as the founder of a charter school in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.
Combs announced Monday that the new school will be named Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School and it will open in the fall, according to the Associated Press. The venture has been in the works for five years.  The school will be overseen by Capital Prep leader and founder Dr. Steve Perry, who started Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2005.
Dr. Steve Perry (photo via chocolatevoice.com)
Dr. Steve Perry (photo via chocolatevoice.com)

Combs and the board have hired Orlando, Florida-based educator Danita Jones as the principal of Capital Prep Harlem.  Combs says creating the school is “a dream come true.”  In addition, Combs and Perry have been meeting in secret with community leaders and experts in education to build the program.
The school’s board also includes author and spiritual life coach Dr. Iyanla Vanzant, who has worked with Oprah Winfrey in the past.
According to Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School’s official website, the school is a free, public school for children grades 6-12. The extensive program will provide a “year-round, college preparatory education.” College courses will also be available to the students once they reach high school.
For the opening year, 160 students are to be enrolled in 6th and 7th grades. The deadline to apply for the upcoming school year is April 1st.
To read more, go to: http://www.blackenterprise.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-launches-charter-school-in-harlem/

Steph Curry Gets a Wax Figure at Madame Tussauds

By goodblacknews on March 27, 2016
Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry and his wax twin (photo via essence.com)

article by Sydney Scott via essence.com
Madame Tussauds unveiled a wax figure of living basketball legend Steph Curry, which a team of sculptors spent four months making.
Curry attended the unveiling with his wife, Ayesha, and their daughters, Riley and Ryan, along with his mother. The basketball star had fun posing for pictures with the wax figure and cracking jokes. He even revealed that one of his first dates with his wife was to a wax museum.
“One of our first dates in L.A., we went to the museum on Hollywood Boulevard. So, that was one of our first experiences together, walking through and taking pictures with all the wax figures in that museum, and now to have one of my own is pretty special,” he said.
To read more, go to: http://www.essence.com/2016/03/25/steph-curry-gets-wax-figure-madame-tussauds

The Obamas Return From Cuba in Time to Celebrate Easter Sunday in Historic Virginia Church

By goodblacknews on March 27, 2016


ALEXANDRIA, VA — President Obama and his family are celebrating Easter Sunday morning at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Old Town Alexandria, according to TIME magazine and other media reports.  It’s the second year in a row the first family has worshiped at the church on Easter Sunday.
Source: Obamas Celebrate Easter Sunday in Old Town Alexandria…

UNCF Teams with Fund II Foundation to Offer New $48 Million Scholarship Program for African Americans in STEM Fields

By goodblacknews on March 26, 2016

Now the Fund II Foundation has teamed up with the United Negro College Fund to establish a new scholarship program to help African American students seeking careers in STEM fields. Over the next five years, The Fund II Foundation UNCF STEM Scholars Program will identify 500 African American high school students who are determined to pursue careers in STEM fields. These students will receive scholarships, internships, mentoring, and other tools to help them reach their goals. The Fund II Foundation is contributing $48 million for the STEM Scholars Program.

NoVo Foundation to Invest $90,000,000 in Young Women of Color in the US

By goodblacknews on March 25, 2016
A Long Walk Home, a Chicago-based non-profit that uses art to educate young people, is one of the NoVo Foundation’s grantees. (Image credit: A Long Walk Home)
A Long Walk Home, a Chicago-based non-profit that uses art to educate young people, is one of the NoVo Foundation’s grantees. (Image credit: A Long Walk Home)

article by Breanna Edwards via theroot.com

The NoVo Foundation, which supports initiatives that focus on girls and women, announced Wednesday that it will be making a seven-year, $90 million commitment in order to combat the systemic and institutional inequalities that young women and girls of color face in the United States.
The foundation, which was created by Warren Buffett‘s son Peter Buffett and daughter-in-law Jennifer Buffett, signaled that the funds will support grassroots programming and advocacy, “as well as national-level policy and culture change efforts, that are girl-led, girl-driven and designed to address the systemic and institutional challenges faced by girls and young women of color across the country,” a press release notes.
“Inherently, girls and young women of color already hold incredible power and potential. This work is about dismantling the barriers that prevent them from realizing that potential and leading us toward a truly transformative movement for change,” Jennifer Buffett said, according to the release.
“Our goal is to create the conditions for change by advancing the work of the real experts in this movement: girls and young women of color and the advocates working with them,” Peter Buffett added.
The foundation intends to launch a series of regional learning sessions across the country in order to hear directly from girls and young women of color themselves, as well as from their advocates.
“This announcement is made possible because of decadeslong leadership and activism by women of color,” NoVo Executive Director Pamela Shifman told Forbes. “This is a breakthrough moment, and we want to make sure it translates into lasting and meaningful change.”
Read more at the NoVo Foundation and Forbes.

Microsoft Donates $1Million to New Museum of African American History & Culture

By goodblacknews on March 24, 2016

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National Museum of African American History and Culture (photo via http://cdn.archinect.net)

article via eurweb.com
Microsoft Corp. has donated $1 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens this fall after five years of construction.
“The stories, art and culture of African Americans are vibrant and important narratives in our nation’s history,” said Fred Humphries, corporate vice president of U.S. government affairs for Microsoft. “Microsoft is proud to support the museum and bring these perspectives to life in a powerful and enriching experience.”
Other recent donations include $1 million from the Alfred Street Baptist Church, a $10 million gift from David Rubenstein, $1 million from MGM Resorts International and $1 million from Altria Group.
The Museum of African American and History and Culture will be the Smithsonian’s 19th museum.  It will open to the public Sept. 24 with 11 inaugural exhibitions covering major periods of African American history, including the slave trade, segregation, the civil rights movement, the Harlem Renaissance and the election of the nation’s first African American president.
To read more, go to: http://www.eurweb.com/2016/03/microsoft-donates-1m-to-new-museum-of-african-american-history-culture/

John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ and The Supremes' ‘Where Did Our Love Go?' Join National Recording Registry

By goodblacknews on March 23, 2016

The Supremes (l) and John Coltrane (r)
The Supremes (l) and John Coltrane (r)

article by Andrew R. Chow via nytimes.com
John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” and The Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go,” are part of the incoming class added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress this year. The diverse crop of new inductees also includes the Vienna Philharmonic’s 1938 recording of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” and live coverage from Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
The registry adds 25 recordings — deemed significant to American history and culture — each year. The field this year includes pop, (Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”), classic R&B (“Where Did Our Love Go,” The Impressions’ “People Get Ready”), field recordings (W.H. Stepp’s “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” captured by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax in 1937) and comedy (George Carlin’s “Class Clown”). Joining these performers is Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposing what became known as the Marshall Plan to aid Europe after World War II.

The National Recording Registry now totals 450 recordings, the library said. A full list can be found at www.loc.gov.

To read original article, go to: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/john-coltranes-a-love-supreme-and-billy-joels-piano-man-join-national-recording-registry/?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Choreographer Camille A. Brown Wins Prestigious $25,000 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award

By goodblacknews on March 22, 2016
Fana Fraser, left, and Beatrice Capote in “Black Girl: Linguistic Play,” at the Joyce Theater. (Credit: Christopher Duggan)

article by Joshua Barone via nytimes.com

Camille A. Brown, the socially conscious dancer and choreographer, is this year’s winner of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, an honor that comes with a $25,000 cash prize and an engagement at the summer festival.

She was chosen by the incoming Jacob’s Pillow Director Pamela Tatge, who takes over on April 18. In an interview, she called Ms. Brown “hugely important,” and lauded her offstage work advocating for black female artists.  “Someone who generates dialogue in communities is the kind of artist that really excites me,” Ms. Tatge said. She added that Ms. Brown is a “deep researcher” who tackles social issues through “extremely present, theatrical” choreography.

Choreographer/dancer Camille A. Brown (photo via berkshireonstage.com)
Choreographer/dancer Camille A. Brown (photo via berkshireonstage.com)

As part of the award, Ms. Brown will have a creative development residency at Jacob’s Pillow, where she will spend one or two weeks shaping her new work, “ink.” In addition, her dance “Black Girl: Linguistic Play,” which received favorable reviews when it appeared at the Joyce Theater in September, will be staged at Jacob’s Pillow in 2017. “When I started creating this work, I wanted there to be a duality, a culturally specific work with universal themes,” Ms. Brown said in a statement, referring to “Black Girl.” “This work speaks to the human condition, and because of that, I hope people are able to see themselves in the work, regardless of race or gender.”

Ms. Brown, who won a Bessie award for her 2014 work “Mr. TOL E. RAncE,” began dancing with Ronald K. Brown’s company in 2001. She also appeared with other troupes before founding Camille A. Brown & Dancers several years ago.

To read more, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/arts/dance/jacobs-pillow-dance-to-honor-camille-a-brown.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0