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Black Women in Detroit Raise Money and Awareness for Rape Kits

By goodblacknews on October 22, 2015

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy holds up an example of a rape test kit at a press conference at the Atheneum Suite Hotel in Detroit Tuesday Jan. 6, 2015. The Michigan Women's Foundation teams with The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, which discovered 11,000 untested rape kits in a Detroit police storage unit five years ago, announced today their collaboration to raise $10 million to pay for the testing, investigation and prosecution of those unsolved rape cases. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press)
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy holds up an example of a rape test kit at a press conference in Detroit Tuesday Jan. 6, 2015. The Michigan Women’s Foundation teams with The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, which discovered 11,000 untested rape kits in a Detroit police storage unit five years ago, are collaborating to raise $10 million to pay for the testing, investigation and prosecution of those unsolved rape cases. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press)

A broad coalition of women’s groups is coming together to raise awareness about sexual assault and to propel black women to be a force for getting Detroit’s languishing rape kits processed.
The coalition is named the African American 490 Challenge because it is urging black women, individually and collectively, to raise multiples of $490, the cost of processing a single rape kit. The group will kick off its efforts at a gathering Tuesday morning to be attended by leaders of several black women’s service organizations, sororities and other supporters.
Their effort buttresses the work of Enough SAID (Enough Sexual Assault In Detroit), the rape kit testing and investigation effort being led by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and the Michigan Women’s Foundation. Worthy has been leading a campaign to get kits tested since learning five years ago that more than 11,300 kits — the key investigative evidence of assault taken from women during a physical exam — were left unopened and untested in a police storage unit.

Michigan gets $7.5M to help clear untested rape kits (DETROIT FREE PRESS)

 State, local, private and public funds have resulted from Worthy’s efforts, and donations have poured in from all over the country.  The African American 490 Challenge is working with Enough SAID and plans to raise at least $650,000.

“I think this is a fabulous effort,” said Worthy, who will attend Tuesday’s meeting. “If ever there’s an issue these women should get behind, it’s this one. The support they’ll be able to amass will be essential to our success.”
About 10,000 kits have been tested since an assistant prosecutor discovered them in a police storage unit in 2009. More than 1,000 kits have yet to be tested, and money is needed to complete the investigations of those assaults, Worthy said.
Investigations of the kits thus far have revealed that more than 500 rapists were serial offenders, according to data from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

More than 80% of victims associated with the rape kits are African-American women, according to data released by the foundation.
“They look like my mother, my aunts, our sisters, our daughters, our nieces,” said Maureen Stapleton, a local leader of the Links and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, two community service organizations tailored to African-American women.
Stapleton joined forces with civic leader Kim Trent and public relations executive Darci McConnell in spearheading the coalition. Trent was moved to action by a Facebook debate that seemed to place the blame for sexual assault on women.
“I decided I needed to do something constructive with my anger,” said Trent, a member of the Wayne State University Board of Governors. “We want to come together to say: ‘This is unacceptable, and we are black women who stand ready to make sure this never happens again, and that the women it happened to get justice.’ ”
Both Trent and McConnell said they were victims of sexual assault, and neither reported it.  Trent said statistics show that the majority of women don’t report sexual assault. “Those who do deserve to have their day in court,” especially given the invasive procedure required to obtain rape kits.
“We want to make sure that people understand how serious this is, and that they don’t do what many of us did, which was to keep quiet and retreat,” McConnell said.
The coalition has begun raising money through an online donation site — crowdrise.com/AfricanAmerican490Challenge — and has gained the support of local businesses owned by black women, including two spas — Woodhouse Day spa in Detroit and Lavender Mobile Spa — that are donating part of profits to the effort.
Additionally, the group is encouraging black womens groups, book clubs and other organizations to host fund-raising house parties and other events to raise money.
“The great majority of the victims of these unsolved crimes are black women,” states the coalition’s fund-raising page. “Our mothers. Our sisters. Our daughters. Our neighbors. Our aunts. Our cousins. Our friends. Women who look and live like us. Now is the time for black women to use our voices and resources to show sexual assault victims that they have not been forgotten.”
UPCOMING SPA EVENTS 
The two spas are holding fundraising efforts this month for the African American 490 Challenge are:  

  • The Woodhouse Day Spa, 1447 Woodward Ave., which will donate 10% of its profits on Oct. 22 to the challenge. In addition, there will be a reception for supporters 5-7:30 p.m. that day. The reception is free and open to the public. 
  • Lavender Mobile Spa will host a fund-raiser at the Westin Hotel in Southfield 1500 Town Center, Southfield, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.  Oct. 24.
article by Cassandra Sprawling via freep.com

Hip-Hop Artist Lupe Fiasco Creates Nonprofit to Help Inner City Businesses

By goodblacknews on October 19, 2015
Rapper Lupe Fiasco (photo via bet.com)

Lupe Fiasco wants businesses in underserved communities to succeed. The rapper has teamed up with tech business leader Di-Ann Eisnor to create the Neighborhood Start Fund, a nonprofit organization that will provide monetary aid to projects in low-income areas. In addition to funding, entrepreneurs will have access to mentorship opportunities and networking events.

Those struggling to launch their businesses can compete for funding by sharing their startup goals on stage to a panel of judges. The live pitch competitions will take place around the country, with winners receiving $5,000. The first “Idea” competition will take place November 13, 2015, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, in New York City.
And because it’s important to keep investing in your community, proceeds from the funded startups will be used to fund other businesses. So it’s a project that will keep on giving.
To learn more about the program and submit an idea for selection into the Brownsville live pitch, visit start.fund.
article by Dorkys Ramos via bet.com

African Billionaire Tony Elumelu Launches $100 Million Dollar Program for African-American Entrepreneurs

By goodblacknews on October 16, 2015
African billionaire Tony Elemelu and President Barack Obama (photo via financialjuneteenth.com)

Tony Elumelu, an attributed philanthropist and African billionaire, is a stellar businessman with specialized training in economics, seeking to change the economic standing of those in the African-American community.  Elumelu chairs Heirs Holdings and Transcorp, and is also the founder of the esteemed Tony Elumelu Foundation.
In 2014, Elumelu, along with other prominent American and African business moguls, partnered to form a summit in Washington DC that consisted of more than 45 African and American business heads, along with 50 African business leaders. The common theme of the platform was to see to the improvement in the economic stance of Africans, as well as African-Americans, and to create advancement opportunities for all who interacted.
Elumelu’s statements to the media explained that the summit presented a promising opportunity for individuals to make positive returns on contributions made to valuable incentives around the Atlantic. He expressed that this was not mere chatter, but an outlet to expose those involved to greater opportunities in business growth.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Elumelu said, “An opportunity to move beyond the usual conversations on aid and instead explore new opportunities to collaborate and co-invest in initiatives that generate value on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Elumelu also spoke with Black Enterprise on his vision for a real partnership between the United States and Africa, not just a relationship of providing aid, but trade as equal partners, engaging investors and the need for consistent electricity.
“We should welcome the fact that the journey has finally begun. I like the nature of the imagined engagement between Africa and America. President Obama’s visit to Africa last year was the starting point,” Elumelu says. “The fact that they have realized the need to engage with Africa at the scale and magnitude that they are going about it now is welcome.”
His foundation is also playing its part in reaching out to minority and women-owned businesses. “The Tony Elumelu Foundation will launch an entrepreneurship program with 100 million dollars that will touch 10,000 entrepreneurs across Africa and the United States,” he says. “We will train and mentor them and create platforms for them to have commercial business engagements.”
The vision set forth by Tony Elumelu is one that he believes merges more than simple aid; it creates a solid partnership between Africa and the U.S. It’s the beginning of a business journey that takes a different, but more rewarding, path for all of those invested. The trip to Africa taken by President Obama was another key indicator that steps are being taken in the right directions to strengthen business ventures between Africa and America.
This newly-formed relationship between Africa and the U.S is one that can create a positive mode of growth for African American entrepreneurs who stay the course and take the route the foundation has designed. The overwhelming occurrences of negativity surrounding African Americans in the press makes it necessary for many to find outlets that help them reach their full business potential. The summit created the opportunity and the foundation’s program provides the means to capitalize on the opportunity.
article by Angela Wills via financialjuneteeth.com

NFL Star DeAngelo Williams to Cover Cost of 53 Women's Mammograms to Honor Late Mother

By goodblacknews on October 15, 2015

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

The NFL allows teams to wear pink during the month of October for breast cancer awareness month, and pushes assorted pink memorabilia to consumers, though it only donates a small portion of the proceeds to actual breast cancer research.
DeAngelo Williams, who lost his mother Sandra Hill to breast cancer last year, is going to personally help women in North Carolina get diagnosed according to ESPN. Williams is footing the bill for 53 mammograms for 53 women – one for each year of Hill’s life.
The median cost of a mammogram is $243, so this is an estimated value of $12,879, but it’s priceless in terms of early breast cancer detection.
article by Micah Peters via ftw.usatoday.com

Black Engineers Join Forces in Non-Profit Group /dev/color to Boost Diversity

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2015

Pinterest engineer and /dev/color founder Makinde Adeagbo (Photo: Awara Adeagbo)
Pinterest engineer and /dev/color founder Makinde Adeagbo
(Photo: Awara Adeagbo)

SAN FRANCISCO — Makinde Adeagbo knows how isolating it can be to live and work in Silicon Valley as an African American. He says it’s even more isolating to be a software engineer here.
Adeagbo, who is an engineer at the San Francisco company Pinterest, says he can go weeks without spotting another black engineer in America’s tech hub.  “It’s not only that you are the only black person in the room or in the company, often times you are the only black person you see in Palo Alto or Menlo Park,” says Adeagbo, 30.
About 1% of engineers at Facebook and Google are African American. The population of Palo Alto, Calif. is 2% African American, Menlo Park, Calif., is under 5%.
Over the summer Adeagbo founded /dev/color, a nonprofit group for African-American engineers that officially launched on Wednesday. The group brings together engineers from top companies such as Facebook, Uber and Airbnb to provide support and a voice to African Americans and give them the opportunity to raise up the next generation, Adeagbo says.
Adeagbo says he hit on the idea while volunteering as a mentor to a couple of computer science students.
“These students knew they had someone who had their backs, whom they could look up to and reach out to when they needed help. I thought to myself: Every black software engineer could accomplish a lot if they had someone like this,” says Adeagbo. .
The name /dev/color is a reference to a common directory on computer systems “as well as our efforts to strengthen the community of Black software engineers, engineers of color,” he says.
Adeagbo’s /dev/color is joining Black Girls Code, Code 2040 and the Hidden Genius Project, a new and growing wave of enterprising organizations founded by African Americans aimed at addressing the scarcity of African Americans in the tech industry.
“Other black software engineers need to provide this for the black engineers coming behind them,” says Adeagbo, who is splitting his time between /dev/color and Pinterest. “We all need to work together to pull ourselves up and make sure we are accomplishing all that we can.”
The challenge is daunting: A fraction of the tech work force in Silicon Valley is African American and little progress has been made to address the problem. Only 1% of venture-capital-backed start-ups are led by African-Americans and less than 1% of general partners at major venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, the ones that back tomorrow’s Facebooks and Googles, are African American.

Cleveland Cavalier J.R. Smith Sinks Half-Court Shot, Wins $30K for Member of the Military

By goodblacknews on October 6, 2015
J.R. Smith (CREDIT: Getty Images) 

J.R. Smith used his basketball powers for good when he sank a shot from half-court and won $30,000 for a military serviceman during an intra-squad scrimmage on Monday, Oct. 5 at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard/small forward celebrated the basket in style by doing his signature air guitar move during Cleveland’s annual Wine and Gold scrimmage game, and we’re sure that military man was celebrating even more. Smith reposted the video of his shot on IG with the caption “#JustDoingWhatIDo #ForTheTroops30k.” They don’t call him “J.R. Swish” for nothing.
The Cavs’ first preseason game will be Wednesday, Oct. 7 against the Atlanta Hawks. Check out the impressive bucket below.


article by J’na Jefferson via vibe.com

Homeless Veterans Get Second Chance To Rebuild Their Lives Through Technology

By goodblacknews on September 30, 2015
homeless veterans get second chance through technology
U.S. Veterans Buddy Holston and Darionne Lee to learn coding via Tech Talent South in Atlanta
Two U.S. veterans who have struggled with homelessness are being given a second chance to rebuild their lives thanks to a community partnership that empowers the men to master advanced coding and computer programming skills.
The grassroots initiative makes it possible for the ex-servicemen to complete an 8-week intensive, full-time, coding course at Tech Talent South’s offices in metropolitan Atlanta, where they will learn everything from HTML/CSS to Ruby on Rails.
“We have seen coding change lives, and we are excited to extend that opportunity to our veterans who truly need it,” says Richard Simms, co-founder of Tech Talent South (TTS), a coding boot camp dedicated to fostering talent in technology throughout the Southeast. “We hope to give them a valuable skill set that helps them get back on their feet.”
The initiative, a partnership between Tech Talent South, Back on My Feet, Homegrown, Veterans Empowerment Organization, Accenture, and UrbanGeekz, will serve as a lifeline for both men who have faced tough times since leaving the armed forces. The nonprofit organization Back on My Feet received a grant from Accenture to put the homeless vets through the TTS course.
Originally from Chicago, Buddy Holston, 58, joined the armed forces in 1980 and served for a decade. He says he is thrilled by the chance to gain the skills needed to start a career in technology.
“I’m really excited about this,” says Holston. “I hope to become proficient in coding and be able to make practical use of those skills. After Tech Talent South, I hope to obtain employment and also share what I learn with others, particularly those in underserved communities.”
In fact, according to US News, the Labor Department considers web development to be one of the fastest-growing careers this decade, and it predicts employment will swell by about 20 percent by 2022. Given that demand, the training gives the men an opening to get back on track and boost their job prospects.
Holston says he has always had an interest in technology. While living at the Veterans Empowerment Organization, he even began trying to build his own Google App.
“I started tinkering with my first bike. I took it apart just to put it back together. It’s the same with toy trains and tape recorders. Throughout high school and college, I liked engineering, math, and science. I always wanted to learn more.”
Atlanta native Darionne Lee, 29, received training from Job Corps before joining the armed forces in 2009. He served for 3 years. He has also worked as a Machine and Forklift Operator and dabbled in AutoCAD Programming.
“I hope to break into the tech field,” says Lee. “I have always been interested in technology.  When I was in the service, I was exposed to so many different technologies and types of programs. I definitely want to learn more.”
To read the rest of this article, go to: UrbanGeekz.com
 

UPDATE: Detroit Dad Curtis White and Daughter Dreia Davis Surprised With Furnished, Disability-Friendly Home

By goodblacknews on September 30, 2015

Dreia Davis and her father Curtis White, enter their new home for the first time on Wednesday, September 23, 2015, in Detroit. The handicap-friendly furnished house and a van were donated to the family by Detroit Rescue Mission. (Photo: Salwan Georges / freep.com)
Dreia Davis and her father Curtis White, enter their new home for the first time on Wednesday, September 23, 2015, in Detroit. The accessible-friendly furnished house and a lift van were donated to the family by Detroit Rescue Mission.
(Photo: Salwan Georges / freep.com)

DETROIT – Dreia Davis couldn’t help but smile as as she gazed around her bedroom and clutched the key to her new home.  “It’s so beautiful,” Davis said. “I’m so thankful. I feel fabulous.”
For Davis and her father, Curtis White, it has been a long journey since she was struck by a bullet from a passing car on Detroit’s east side and nearly killed on Aug. 5, 2009, when she was 13. She suffered two heart attacks and a stroke, and underwent numerous surgeries. White was told it was likely she would not survive.
But now, the devoted dad and teen finally have a happy ending after receiving a lift van and a debt-free, furnished home that accommodates her disabilities Wednesday from Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries.
“I’m speechless,” White said, as he cried. “Oh, this is perfect. I love it. I am so overwhelmed. This is a blessing. I’m ready to move in. This is the best feeling in the world.”

Dreia Davis waves to people as she arrives to her new
Dreia Davis waves to people as she arrives to her new home on Wednesday, September 23, 2015, in Detroit. (Salwan Georges, Detroit Free Press)

This past July, GBN shared the story of Davis and White’s struggle and perseverance in the face of adversity. Since then, nearly $13,000 has been donated to the family in a GoFundMe account, Dreia The Miracle, that was launched by family friend Keifer Stephens.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Stephens said. “I’ve been looking forward to this from day one. I haven’t seen her talking this much, Curtis smiling and crying, like this in so long. It’s a joyful moment.”
More than 20 people gathered Wednesday to watch the family get their new home, including Wayne County Executive Warren Evans. Their new neighbors, including a retired Detroit firefighter, came to welcome them.
For Evans, seeing Davis and her father was a special moment.
“I was chief of (Detroit) police at the time and responded to the hospital the night of the actual tragedy,” Evans said. “It’s just wonderful to be able to come back years later to see what Detroit Rescue Missions has been able to do. She’s rebounded tremendously. She has goals, dreams and aspirations, and she’s not going to be defined by this injury. The dad has the patience of Job. He’s been waiting on her hand and foot, which loving fathers do, but it doesn’t make it easy. So this helps to make it easy for them both.”
Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries President Chad Audi said the plan to get the family a home came together after a FOX 2 News reporter connected him with the family. Their previous home was small, cramped and not properly equipped.
The new house is near 7 Mile in a close-knit, tree-lined neighborhood. It has two bedrooms, a large basement, kitchen and a dining room. Audi said White will have to pay taxes and utilities and maintain the house, but he will be the sole owner.  The bathroom was retrofitted to fit Davis’ wheelchair and to allow her to bathe herself, which has been a stress on White. The house’s upgrades and furniture totaled around $21,000.
“It is so exciting,” Audi said. “I’m so excited that she gain her freedom and her dignity. It is her house and her dad’s house forever. … We are thankful to God that we are finally able to give this deserving family a home.”
The shooting left Davis in a wheelchair, but she has beaten the odds. She attends Jerry L. White Center High School in Detroit and is set to graduate and receive her diploma in 2016. She plans to enroll at the Wayne County Community College Districtfor courses she hopes will lead toward becoming a lawyer.
Davis also has her eyes set on a new goal: being able to walk by Feb. 2, 2017. White said she’s set to begin intensive therapy in the coming weeks.  “I want to walk when I’m 21,” she said, smiling coyly.
Although Davis loves the new home, van and support she has gotten from the community, nothing matters more than the love from her father.  “This all means so much,” she said, hugging White. “But I just want to thank my daddy so much for sticking by my side. I love you, Daddy.”
White, who has had to check on his daughter often to make sure she doesn’t fall out of bed or have other problems, is excited that he’ll finally be able to get more than four hours of sleep at a time. But he’ll never stop being a doting father.
“I’ll never stop,” he said. “I’m always watching her. All of this? Everything I’ve done is just a testament of my love. Doctors told me she wouldn’t make it, then they said she wouldn’t make it past a few years. But here she is today. Look at her now. She beat those odds six years later. The world is hers now. She’s going to walk. She’s made it this far.”
article by Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press via usatoday.com

Former NBA Champion Devean George Developing Affordable Housing in North Minneapolis (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on September 25, 2015
deveangeorge
Former NBA Star Devean George (YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT)

Former Los Angeles Laker Devean George is no longer worried about free throws and the hardwood, but is now focusing on giving back to the North Minneapolis community where he grew up.
George, whose career started with the Lakers but ended in 2010 with the Golden State Warriors, has teamed up with a former classmate, architect Jamil Ford, to build an affordable-housing building in his hometown.
The 47-unit building will be located on Penn Avenue and Golden Valley Road, and George hopes the building will be a positive change for an area known for crime and violence.  “Housing, I believe, is the foundation to doing whatever you want to do,” George said.
“If you don’t have stable housing, you’re not worried about education, you’re not worried about eating healthy, you’re not worried about anything else,” George said.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI_JEa51L8U&w=560&h=315]

George is also making it easy for residents who’ll live in the building. Instead of having to travel miles to a grocery store, residents will be able to take advantage of a grocery co-op that George is also developing in the building.
“That’s what people look for when they go live in a neighborhood,” George said. “Where’s my grocery store? Where is my movie theater? Where can we go eat? Where can our kids go play at a park? And this was just a place where there is just housing.”
And this is just the beginning for George and Ford. After this initial building is finished, they plan to build another one.
“This is just the start,” George said. “This is just the catalyst of everything that’s going to go on.”
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com

Forest Whitaker Works on Training Youth and "Overwhelming the World with Good" Through the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative

By goodblacknews on September 24, 2015
UNOCHA
Forest Whitaker (photo via huffingtonpost.com)
Three days ago, the world celebrated its 34th International Day of Peace. Two days from now, leaders from around the globe will gather at the United Nations and pledge their commitment to 17 Sustainable Development Goals, among them, Goal 16, promoting peace and justice. This week, then, is a perfect occasion for us to reflect on a concept that we all strive toward but whose true meaning often escapes us.
We usually think and talk about peace as the absence of bad things. Peace is a lack of war. Peace is a lack of violence. But true peace isn’t just the absence of bad; it is the presence of good. Peace is people having their most-basic human needs met. Peace is people exchanging knowledge and ideas. Peace is people sharing an abiding and mutual respect. Peace is people working together toward a common goal.
On the surface, this might seem like a small, semantic distinction. But, in practice, the difference between a negative peace — the absence of bad — and a positive peace — the presence of good — carries enormous consequences.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve worked with hundreds of former child soldiers. I’ve seen firsthand that, for these young men and women who have been forced to commit some of the most brutal atrocities imaginable, it is not enough to simply remove the violence from their lives. We can take a young man out of an army, but unless we fill that void with something positive — with an education, a job, a community — he is not truly free. He is still a soldier at heart, and when the next conflict breaks out five or 10 years in the future, he will be among the first recruited back to the battlefield.

True peace isn’t just the absence of bad; it is the presence of good. – Forest Whitaker

For these children — and in the world around us — building a lasting peace requires not only that we end conflicts and violence, but that we build societies that allow all women and men to learn freely, to become active participants in their local economies, and, most importantly, to feel safe in their homes and villages.
This principle is especially relevant in South Sudan, a country that has been at the forefront of my thoughts recently. A few weeks ago, the South Sudanese government and rebel forces finally signed a peace agreement after a 20-month civil war that has resulted in an unbearable amount of human suffering — tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of approximately 2.2 million people. This peace agreement is an important step in the right direction, and all of us in the international community hope that both sides honor its terms. But even this cessation of violence is no guarantee of a true peace.
The agreement makes me optimistic that the people of South Sudan will soon have some relief from this terrible conflict, but what truly gives me hope for that nation’s future are the remarkable young women and men I’ve met and worked with there. I’ve spoken with youths at the protection-of-civilians camp in the capital city of Juba who, in spite of all they’ve been through, speak with such unwavering passion about working together to rebuild their country. I’ve met teachers who have told me how excited they are to finish their training and go back to their communities and help ensure that every child in South Sudan receives the education she or he deserves. I have seen women and men reaching across ethnic lines to warn others of danger and coming together to advocate for non-violence and reconciliation.
That is what true peace — a positive peace — entails. All of these young women and men have identified some need in their communities, and they have been working in whatever way they can, despite the violence, to fill that need. Their courage is an example for us all.