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Russell Wilson and Ciara Donate $1.75 Million to Washington School via Why Not You Foundation

Russell Wilson and Ciara Donate $1.75 Million to Washington School via Why Not You Foundation

By goodblacknews on October 30, 2020

According to the Associated Press, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Ciara, the Grammy-winning performer, through their Why Not You Foundation, are contributing about $1.75 million to rebrand an existing charter program known as Cascade Midway Academy, just south of Seattle.

The Cascade high school program was set to debut this year before the pandemic forced founders  to delay opening. The superstar couple’s generosity will be honored with the school’s name change to Why Not You Academy.

Wilson and Ciara said to the Associated Press they jumped at the opportunity to help launch the school. It focuses on academics, personalized student plans and internships and mentorships for underserved Black and brown students. The couple said they hope this will be the first of many Why Not You Academy sites across the country.

“I’m really confident…about the team that we have here and how we’re building things out,” Ciara said. “We’re passionate about everything. We’re all in on this.”

The Why Not You Academy is expected to open in fall 2021.

To read more: https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-school-choice-seattle-charter-schools-celebrity-04ab591940910dfb9109150eafb39fc0

Robert F. Smith to Donate $50 Million to Support STEM Students at HBCUs Via the Student Freedom Initiative

Robert F. Smith to Donate $50 Million to Support STEM Students at HBCUs Via the Student Freedom Initiative

By goodblacknews on October 22, 2020

The Student Freedom Initiative announced today a $50 million personal gift from Robert F. Smith, philanthropist and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. This gift matches the initial funding of $50 Million provided by the Fund II Foundation, announced in June 2020.

Student Freedom Initiative is a public charity whose mission is to serve as a catalyst for freedom in professional and life choices for students attending Minority Serving Institutions.

The Initiative will offer a student and family centric income-contingent payment alternative to the crushing burden of high cost, fixed payment debt in the context of our commitment to a program that provides holistic support to students and capacity building support for participating institutions. Equally important, the Initiative offers paid internships in a student’s area of study, tutoring/mentorships, and targeted HBCU capacity building.

“Each year, thousands of black graduates from HBCUs across America enter the workforce with a crushing debt burden that stunts future decisions and prevents opportunities and choices,” said Robert F. Smith, who is also the Board Chair of the Student Freedom Initiative.

“A college education should empower and prepare our next generation for a limitless future. The Student Freedom Initiative is a culmination of work that followed my gift to the Morehouse College Class of 2019. The $1.6 trillion student debt crisis in our country is a human rights crisis. The Initiative is purposefully built to redress historic economic and social inequities and to offer a sustainable, scalable platform to invest in the education of future Black leaders. I urge others to join this important cause so that together we can liberate the human spirit.”

With 65% of Black wealth consumed by the intolerable burden of student debt, the Initiative was initially established to create onramps to jobs of the 21st century. Following Smith’s historic gift to eliminate the student debt of all 2019 Morehouse College graduates and their parents, the team identified the systemic problems with the current student loan structure.

SolidaARiTy Movement Hosts Online Art Auction to Benefit Social Justice and Health Non-Profits Through 10/24

SolidaARiTy Movement Hosts Online Art Auction to Benefit Social Justice and Health Non-Profits Through 10/24

By goodblacknews on October 22, 2020

[Artists Isis Dua and Candyce Fabre: Photos via funddeed.com/solidarity]

The SolidARiTy movement includes over 20 artists who are creating thought-provoking pieces as a fundraiser and art auction that will benefit Claris Health and the Social Justice Learning Institute, both Los Angeles-based 501c3 nonprofits serving the most vulnerable and at-risk people in the area.

The fundraiser is online now at https://funddeed.com/solidarity and the art auction is live now thru October 24th at https://supportsolidarity.com.

The pieces will be available for viewing all that week at Resin Gallery in Hermosa Beach via scheduled appointment for safe social distance measures. Contact Resin Gallery at 831.601.8137 or email info@southbayartistcollective.org.

SolidARiTy was organized by South Bay residents Janne Kouri and Chad Drew, with support from South Bay Artist Collective member Wendy Stillman and founder Rafael McMaster.

There are more than 25 unique pieces being created and auctioned, from artists including world renowned photographers Bo Bridges and Brent Broza, encaustic artist Sabrina Armitage, and popular contemporary artists including, Drica Lobo, Wendy Stillman, Daniel Maltzman, JaniceSchultz, Candyce Fabre, Vienna Pitts, Rafael McMaste, Isis Dua, Ms. Yellow, MCHS Student Charlie Kwon, and more.

The NAACP and LeBron James’s “More Than A Vote” Initiative Attracts 10,000 Volunteer Poll Workers

The NAACP and LeBron James’s “More Than A Vote” Initiative Attracts 10,000 Volunteer Poll Workers

By goodblacknews on October 2, 2020

According to nytimes.com, the collective of athletes headlined by NBA superstar LeBron James called More Than a Vote, announced Wednesday that its mission to increase the number of poll workers in Black electoral districts has already amassed 10,000 volunteers.

To quote the New York Times:

The effort, which is called “We Got Next” and is a collaboration with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, will be highlighted during the first game of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, the team featuring Mr. James.

During the game, first-time poll workers will be among the virtual fans, seated alongside basketball legends including Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal and Julius Erving.

In a release provided to The New York Times, More Than a Vote and the Legal Defense Fund said the second phase of their push would be more targeted, aimed at 11 cities “where significant poll worker shortages remain,” the release said.

Those cities include Black voter hubs in the South, like Birmingham, Jackson, Houston, San Antonio and Montgomery, as well as cities with significant Black populations in critical battleground states: Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Flint, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

There has been a shortage of volunteer poll workers for in-person voting sites across the nation, due to COVID-19 and other factors. The dearth is particularly felt in Black communities, which have historically experienced longer wait times and have had fewer polling locations than many white communities.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/us/elections/lebron-james-more-than-a-vote-poll-workers.html

“Dear Lori”: My Black Answers to Even More Questions About White Privilege

“Dear Lori”: My Black Answers to Even More Questions About White Privilege

By goodblacknews on September 25, 2020
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Editor-in-Chief

Before I get started with the Q&A, I’m going to share some backstory behind why I’ve decided to create this “Dear Lori” column for Good Black News:

Four years ago I wrote an essay called “What I Said When My White Friend Asked for My Black Opinion on White Privilege” that ended up going viral and getting re-published by several large outlets in 2016, 2017, 2018, and once again this summer.

Each time my white privilege piece circulates, I get a rush of emails, posts, messages, comments, tweets and DMs from new readers. Most are positive, some negative, some hilarious (between “laugh or cry,” I choose “laugh”) and inevitably, some questioning. I try my best to respond individually, but sometimes it’s way too overwhelming a task. Like during the last rush right after Christian Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and the nationwide protests.

I did find the energy in late May to write “A Letter to Friends Who Really Want to End Racism” on my personal Facebook page in an attempt to share my thoughts on how to move forward pro-actively. My sister (and GBN co-editor) Lesa encouraged me to publish it on GBN as well. I did, and that piece had its own extra flutter of internet life, too.

I texted Lesa to say her instincts were right again (in 2016 she predicted “What I Said…” would go viral before I posted it) and she responded in spotty text talk: You speak super Black pride and really wanna be woke white — needs to be shared!

Her words gave me a much-needed chuckle during a fraught pandemic shopping trip in a bare-shelved Whole Foods. They also helped crystallize my thoughts on what I might be able to uniquely contribute to the movement for equity and justice.

San Francisco to Provide $1,000 Per Month to Expecting Black and Pacific Islander Moms to Combat Infant Mortality

San Francisco to Provide $1,000 Per Month to Expecting Black and Pacific Islander Moms to Combat Infant Mortality

By goodblacknews on September 16, 2020

San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed, in partnership with Expecting Justice, announced this week the  launch of the Abundant Birth Project, a pilot program that provides targeted basic income to women during pregnancy and after giving birth.

The pilot will provide an unconditional monthly income supplement of $1,000 to approximately 150 Black and Pacific Islander women in San Francisco for the duration of their pregnancy and for the first six months of their baby’s life, with a goal of eventually providing a supplement for up to two years post-pregnancy.

Expecting Justice, a collective impact initiative led by Dr. Zea Malawa at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and supported by the Hellman Foundation and the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative, will study the resulting health impacts of the pilot program, which is the first of its kind in the United States.

The Abundant Birth Project is a simple, yet novel, approach to achieving better maternal health and birthing outcomes: provide pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women a monthly income supplement for the duration of their pregnancy and during the postpartum period as an economic and reproductive health intervention.

Prematurity is a leading cause of infant mortality and has been linked to lifelong conditions, such as behavioral development issues, learning difficulties, and chronic disease. In San Francisco, Black infants are almost twice as likely to be born prematurely compared with White infants (13.8% versus 7.3%, from 2012-2016) and Pacific Islander infants have the second-highest preterm birth rate (10.4%).

Furthermore, Black families account for half of the maternal deaths and over 15% of infant deaths, despite representing only 4% of all births. Pacific Islander families face similar disparities.

SCLC to Lead Campaign to Help Jacob Blake Secure Support for Long-Term Recovery and Care

SCLC to Lead Campaign to Help Jacob Blake Secure Support for Long-Term Recovery and Care

By goodblacknews on August 31, 2020

[Jacob Blake III’s father Jacob Blake Jr, left and Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., right; photo courtesy SCLC]

Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the organization co-founded and first led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., announced today that the Atlanta-based civil rights organization will lead a campaign to help the family of Jacob Blake secure support for his long term recovery and care.   

Dr. Steele made the announcement after a meeting with Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Jr., and other family members at a location in Wauwatosa, a city just west of Milwaukee, where the younger Blake is in a hospital receiving treatment.

Family members have traveled to the Milwaukee area from other regions of the country after receiving news last Sunday of Jacob Blake III being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, a city of approximately 100,000 residents about one hour south of Milwaukee.

Blake, 29, is African American and the unjustified shooting has left him paralyzed. The officer has been placed on leave from the department. The shooting has led to numerous protests around the nation. Blake’s father said the family is receiving overwhelming support from Americans to get them from day to day, but now the family is concerned about his son’s long-term recovery after his release from the hospital.

“As the president and CEO of the SCLC, and in the spirit of our founder, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am here with Mr. Blake to let him and his family know that the SCLC will lead a campaign to secure support for your son’s long term care,” said Dr. Steele during the Saturday afternoon meeting with the father and family.

After a telephone conversation earlier in the week, Dr. Steele said he traveled to the Milwaukee area to personally meet with the father to determine the son’s needs.

NBA Legend Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand Donate $2.5 Million to Combat Black Voter Suppression

NBA Legend Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand Donate $2.5 Million to Combat Black Voter Suppression

By goodblacknews on August 1, 2020

Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand are donating $2.5 million toward fighting Black voter suppression as part of a larger 10-year, $100 million effort that Jordan and Jordan Brand announced on June 5 to “impact the fight against systemic racism.”

According to Nike News,  Jordan and Jordan Brand chose partners to fight Black voter suppression based on their ability to take actions to create immediate and direct.

Donations of $1 million each are going to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM), and $500,000 to Black Voters Matter to support reformative practices that drive real change in the Black community.

“We understand that one of the main ways we can change systemic racism is at the polls,” Jordan said in a statement.

Black Voters Matter (Capacity Building Institute) has been successful in supporting policies that expand access to the ballot, including the restoration of voting rights to people who have been incarcerated, and the development of network of grassroots organizations that activate Black voters. Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand will support Black Voters Matter in its efforts to register and turn out voters in the upcoming elections. For more information, visit bvmcapacitybuilding.org.

Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted Peoples and their Families Movement (FICPFM) FICPFM supports formerly incarcerated individuals who are returning to society, to promote civic engagement, help them meet voter registration eligibility requirements and shift the dominant narrative on who convicted people and their loved ones are. Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand will support FICPFM to help restore the rights of disenfranchised voters. For more information, visit ficpfm.org. 

LDF, which was founded by Thurgood Marshall before he became the first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, is the nation’s premier civil rights law organization. It employs litigation, advocacy and public education to advance its mission to achieve racial justice, equality and an inclusive society. Over the past 80 years, LDF has fought for structural changes to expand democracy and eliminate disparities. Through its many transformative cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine that underpinned legal segregation, LDF has changed the very fabric of American democracy. Today, LDF fights to expand and protect civil rights so that our nation’s promise of racial equity and justice can become a reality for all Americans. For more information, visit naacpldf.org. 

Billionaire Robert F. Smith Partners with Prostate Cancer Foundation to Address Racial Disparities and Reduce Deaths from Disease

Billionaire Robert F. Smith Partners with Prostate Cancer Foundation to Address Racial Disparities and Reduce Deaths from Disease

By goodblacknews on July 27, 2020

Robert F. Smith, founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners and The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) have announced a new effort to reduce deaths from prostate cancer, one of the largest health disparities facing African-American men today.

Prostate cancer affects more than three million men in the U.S., with one in nine men diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. African-American men are disproportionately impacted, 76 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than Caucasian men.

African-American men additionally are more than twice as likely to die from the disease compared to men of other ethnicities. Earlier, strategic detection is a key step in finding a cure and ending the health disparity faced by men of African descent.

The research Smith is supporting is intended for development of the Smith Polygenic Risk Test for Prostate Cancer, a non-invasive, early detection test that will identify a man’s lifetime prostate cancer risk using a combination of more than 250 genetic variants obtained from a single sample of saliva or blood.

The Smith Test is expected to cost less than $90 USD and will be made available in PCF’s dedicated Veterans Affairs (VA) network of Centers of Excellence, including the Robert Frederick Smith Center of Precision Oncology Excellence at the VA Chicago.

The test is part of a larger PCF research initiative to improve the understanding of genetic risk in African-American men and transform early detection and imaging strategies, risk management, and clinical-decision making by men at highest lifetime risk of prostate cancer.

RELATED: Billionaire Robert F. Smith Launches Student Freedom Initiative to Ease Student Debt at Historically Black Colleges

The research, led by Dr. Chris Haiman, ScD, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Southern California, and international colleagues is aimed at accelerating the reduction of prostate cancer disparities for African American men by 2030.

“As African-American men are at an increased risk for being diagnosed or dying from prostate cancer, understanding their risk profile and applying this knowledge earlier with strategic detection, care, and decisions about cancer risk management is of utmost importance to address health inequity in the U.S.,” said Smith.

“This is why I made a personal commitment to help accelerate research, encourage African American men to participate in the study and subsequent testing, and develop new detection strategies that have the power to transform how we diagnose and treat this disease and help save lives.”

Most genomic studies of prostate cancer have focused on men of European ancestry, and there is a vital need for additional resources to develop and optimize a polygenic risk score in those disproportionately affected.

This new Smith-PCF initiative will increase the representation of African American men in the study and vastly expand the research to allow Dr. Haiman to quadruple the size of his study cohort, a key step to providing worldwide access to the Smith Polygenic Risk Test as soon as possible.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $830 million in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries around the world. Thanks in part to PCF’s commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down by 52% and countless more men are alive today as a result. The Prostate Cancer Foundation research now impacts more than 70 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at www.pcf.org.

Serena Williams Donates Proceeds from Unstoppable Jewelry Collection to Relief Fund for Black-Owned Small Businesses

Serena Williams Donates Proceeds from Unstoppable Jewelry Collection to Relief Fund for Black-Owned Small Businesses

By goodblacknews on July 20, 2020

Tennis legend Serena Williams is the latest celebrity and entrepreneur to help Black business owners in need of relief during the COVID-19 crisis.

Williams announced via Instagram that until August 5 proceeds from her Unstoppable capsule jewelry collection will go to the Opportunity Fund’s Small Business Relief Fund, according to a Black Enterprise report.

Williams, who has won a career-defining 23 Grand Slam titles, started the business in late 2019 and has been wearing pieces from her brand during her tennis matches.

“I wore a circular necklace the last time I won all four Grand Slams in a row,” Williams told People about her collection. “I had won four in a row wearing that necklace. I was just really unstoppable.”

The collection includes a sterling silver bracelet and necklace, and also features a simple polished circle with a glittering round diamond that represents serenity and unity. Check out Serena’s Unstoppable offerings here.