On this Monday nestled between Juneteenth and Independence Day, Lori Lakin Hutcherson and I thought it prudent to offer this collection of music celebrating freedom and liberty.
Many of these tracks even have the word freedom in their title. Others have just long been associated with the fight for Civil Rights and reform for years.
There are tracks here long-considered, classics, and other new songs on the subject. Clocking in at under 6 hours, this one is a comparatively short collection for me.
Hope you dig this collection of Freedom songs. And if there are any overt omissions, hit me in the comments, y’all.
Black Girl 44, the scholarship established by Deesha Dyer, founder & CEO of social impact firm Hook & Fasten and former social secretary for the Obama White House, recently announced its recipients for 2021.
Through contributions from more than 55 Black women who worked in the Obama White House, Dyer established the scholarship as part of an initiative to expose Black women to policy, community engagement, community service, advocacy, global relations and politics.
“When you hear the word politics, people get turned off,” Dyer explained. “So they’re like ‘politics is the Hill and the White House and the president.’ That’s how I thought for years, that I didn’t belong in politics and I don’t belong there. But that’s not necessarily all that it is. There’s a whole realm of politics and public service that we don’t talk about, that really is broad.”
This summer, 10 young women from across the country will participate in the Black Girl 44 scholarship. Due to the pandemic, some scholars may be in a position to experience the public service field remotely. The ultimate goal is that the experience entices the women to pursue careers in these fields.
Through the Black Girl 44 Scholarship, Deesha hopes to redefine the “face of what politics looks like” and reimagine “what it means.”
To see a full list of the scholars and their interests, click here.
Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and a trip to St. Louis for the first time in 15 months put this brotha in a mood for mushy stuff.
In this, more than a year of making playlists for GBN, I haven’t done a collection of love songs. Haven’t even done one for Valentine’s Day. Well, here’s an eclectic dose of lovey dove songs:
Some are overtly romantic, others about longing, and still some about loss. Jazz, R&B, Reggae, Rock ‘n Roll, and other genres are presented here.
Hope you enjoy these hours of love songs. Have a great week.
We’ve been wanting to post to acknowledge all the fathers, uncles, stepfathers and loved ones who have been parenting, raising and advising the next generations, but our site has been having serious server issues since dawn.
So even though we are nearing dusk, and we posted what we could on our social media, we’re taking advantage of this moment of connectivity to say “Happy Father’s Day” on our main page and offer a playlist dedicated to the dads called “Color Him Father” – A Father’s Day Collection:
This 20-songs compilation offers praise, introspection, dreams, admonition and advice from myriad genres and perspectives – from The Winstons‘ appreciation of a stepfather on “Color Him Father,” to Will Smith‘s heartfelt expression of how it feels to become a dad on “Just The Two Of Us,” to Beyoncé’s appreciation of different aspects of her father on “Daddy” and “Daddy Lessons.”
Also included are Prince‘s declaration of love for his father amid complexities on “Purple Rain” and Kirk Whalum‘s soulful, jazz cover of “Because You Loved Me” which Diane Warren wrote about her relationship with her father, DMX and Usher‘s heartbreaking plea “Letter To My Son (Call Your Father)”, and classics like “Daddy’s Home” – the popular cover by Jermaine Jackson as well as the original version by Shep and The Limelites.
We hope it’s been a great day for all those in the dad role today, and hope you enjoy the above, knowing you are seen, honored and loved through thick and thin.
Today President Joe Biden signed into law that June 19, best known as “Juneteenth” will now be a U.S. federal holiday, effective immediately.
“Juneteeth” is the term that has been used across centuries to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, first learned from Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger that the Civil War was over, and they were free by order of the president (Lincoln, who had issued the Emancipation 2 1/2 years earlier). Celebrations occurred every year in Texas on Juneteenth, and later spread across the South as the idea caught on.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which is the human resources office for the federal government, tweeted today that most federal employees will observe the new holiday — Juneteenth National Independence Day — on Friday since June 19 falls on a Saturday this year.
Today @POTUS will sign the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing June 19th as a federal holiday. As the 19th falls on a Saturday, most federal employees will observe the holiday tomorrow, June 18th.
— U.S. Office of Personnel Management (@USOPM) June 17, 2021
Biden said signing the legislation into law is one of the greatest honors he will have as president. Vice President Kamala Harris also signed the legislation in her capacity as President of the Senate.
By making Juneteenth a federal holiday, “all Americans can feel the power of this day, and learn from our history, and celebrate progress and grapple with the distance we’ve come but the distance we have to travel,” Biden said.
Activist Opal Lee (via marketwatch.com)
Biden also praised the efforts of Opal Lee, 94, an activist who at the age of 89 walked from her home in Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to get Juneteenth named a national holiday. Biden referred to her as “a grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.”
MacKenzie Scott, novelist, former teacher and ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, is a real one.
Scott’s net worth since her divorce settlement from Bezos stands close to $60 billion, and Scott has vowed to give away her wealth in her lifetime -“until the safe is empty” – because she believes “it would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands.”
This week Scott and her team, lead by herself and her current spouse Dan Jewett, donated $2.7 billion to 286 organizations “including major universities, distinguished arts groups, and nonprofits working to combat racial injustice and domestic violence.”
Scott announced the donations in her Medium blog post “Seeding by Ceding,” where she states “major universities, distinguished arts groups, and nonprofits working to combat racial injustice and domestic violence” are among those receiving grants.
This is the third time Scott has donated along these lines. In July 2020, Scott donated to “116 Organizations Driving Change,” which all fell under nine categories: racial equity, LGBTQ+ equity, gender equity, economic mobility, empathy and bridging divides, functional democracy, public health, global development and climate change.
Following up on the commitment I made last year to give away the majority of my wealth in my lifetime: https://t.co/Ocb8eU5UR1. (Note my Medium account is under my new last name — changed back to middle name I grew up with, after my grandfather Scott.)
Here is a collection of Black women guitarists and bassists. While woman singers and songwriters often are spotlighted, we want to celebrate women’s fiery musicianship with this playlist.
We are showcasing the legends—many of whom have unfortunately been overlooked, dismissed, or forgotten—who should be recognized as pillars of music history.
This playlist was inspired by SheShreds.com. They are all about steps “taken towards exposing the truth.” It’s for all of us who can’t count the names of Black women guitarists on one hand.
It’s for the young Black girls aspiring to be musicians but seldom see a history that represents them. It’s to learn about our past and evolve into our future—and without Black history, we cannot accurately do so.”
So here’s a playlist to sistas who’s names you’ve heard countless times, such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Elizabeth Cotten, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Odetta and Barbara Lynn, though there are others who took some digging to find. Please enjoy! There are plenty of treasures to get got.
Tania León for Music for Stride, Marcia Chatelain for History for Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, Mitchell S. Jackson for Feature Writing for Twelve Minutes and a Life, Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch for Commentary (link to Williams’ winning works here) and Wesley Morris of the New York Times for Criticism (link to Morris’ winning works here).
Pulitzer gave its 2021 Special Citation Award to Darnella Frazier, the young woman who recorded the murder of George Floyd on her phone, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice. Past recipients in the special citation category include investigative journalist Ida B. Wells and Aretha Franklin.
Mitchell S. Jackson’s winning essay from June 2020, Twelve Minutes and a Life, offered a deeply affecting account of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery that combined vivid writing, thorough reporting and personal experience to shed light on systemic racism in America.
A formerly incarcerated person, Jackson is also a social justice advocate who engages in outreach in prisons and youth facilities in the United States and abroad.
Georgetown University professor Marcia Chatelain’s Franchise offers a nuanced account of the complicated role the fast-food industry plays in African-American communities, a portrait of race and capitalism that masterfully illustrates how the fight for civil rights has been intertwined with the fate of Black businesses.
Hall’s Hot Wing King is a deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity and how it is perceived, filtered through the experiences of a loving gay couple and their extended family as they prepare for a culinary competition.
Tania Leon’s Stride premiered at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City on February 13, 2020, a musical journey full of surprise, with powerful brass and rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black music traditions from the US and the Caribbean into a Western orchestral fabric.
To see the complete list of 2021 Pulitzer Prize recipients and more details about them, click here.
[Photo collage: top l-r are Darnella Frazier, Wesley Morris, Tania León; bottom l-r are Katori Hall, Michael Paul Williams, Marcia Chatelain via pulitzer.org]
Producer, actor and entreprenueur Marsai Martin (Black-ish, Little) will executive produce Girls Inc.’s inaugural film festival, which will be held virtually this June 13 starting at 4pmPT/7pmET.
Amber Ruffin, creator and star of Peacock‘s The Amber Ruffin Show, takes on hosting duties for the ticketed festival that will also include appearances by Tracee Ellis Ross, Venus Williams, Hoda Kotb, and Tina Fey.
The ticketed fest will feature live and pre-taped appearances as it offers a series of short films featuring “an inspiring group of girls and young women who represent a new generation of leaders and change,” per Girls Inc. Renée Elise Goldsberry, Darnell Martin, Melinda Hsu Taylor, Busy Philipps and Amber Stevens West directed the projects.
During a VIP reception, Martin and Fey will host a panel to discuss the next generation of female producers. Later, during the program Girls Inc. will hand out a series of honors to Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Rosalind Brewer, ballerina Misty Copeland, Schultz Family Foundation’s Sheri Kersch Schultz, and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine developer and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health assistant professor Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett. Also booked to perform during the event is Broadway and recording star Shoshana Bean.
Girls Inc. president and CEO Stephanie J. Hull said the inaugural festival is an “exciting opportunity” for girls to share their experiences through film. “The event will feature compelling stories from a group of girls and young women who represent a new generation of leaders and changemakers. Collaborating with Marsai Martin on this endeavor is a dream come true — she leads by example and inspires girls everywhere to believe in themselves and see no limit to their potential.”
Said Martin: “It gives us a chance to spotlight the next generation of talented filmmakers. It’s also important that we give young girls an opportunity to use their voices.”
Tickets to the virtual event and more information can be found here.
After an almost year-long campaign and debates led by grassroots racial justice organizations (like the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville), the Duval County School Board in Jacksonville, Florida has voted to change the names of six schools currently named after figures prominent in the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War.
Come August 3, Kirby-Smith Middle School will become Springfield Middle School, Joseph Finegan Elementary School will become Anchor Academy, Stonewall Jackson Elementary School will become Hidden Oaks Elementary, Jefferson Davis Middle School will become Charger Academy, J.E.B. Stuart Middle School will become Westside Middle School and Robert E. Lee High School will renamed Riverside High.
According to theSouthern Poverty Law Center, there are 103 public schools named for Confederate leaders in the U.S. The SPLC also points out that the years Jim Crow laws emerged and the Civil Rights movement took place were the years with the greatest increase in the dedication of Confederate monuments and symbols.
Whose Heritage map via SPLC.org
“At this point in time it’s important to start thinking about who we want to be,” said Duval County public schools board chair Elizabeth Andersen. “As a board, we were listening to our community members and wanting to move forward so that every student that walks in our building understands that they are respected, that they are capable of achieving their highest potential, and that all of their lives matter.”
