Morgan Freeman will receive a special award in Canada next month for his efforts to combat racism. The veteran actor, currently starring opposite Tom Cruise in “Oblivion,” will be given the Key of Knowledge Award in Toronto by Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the event, to be held May 6, Freeman will take part in a question-and-answer session moderated by Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman, who worked with the actor on “Prom Night” in Mississippi, a 2009 documentary about the first ever racially integrated prom in Charleston. Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards establishing the Morgan Freeman Scholarship Fund for international students at the university, according to Canada’s National Post. article via eurweb.com
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will address Planned Parenthood’s annual gala on Thursday, the organization announced.
“President Obama has done more than any president in history for women’s health and rights,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said in a statement announcing that Obama will deliver the keynote address at the organization’s “Time For Care” dinner in Washington. “We are honored to have President Obama join us…at this pivotal moment for women’s health.” Richards also served as a surrogate for Obama’s reelection campaign, touting the president’s record on women’s issues during the heat of the campaign. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer and HBO’s “Girls” creator Lena Dunham will be honored the event. Planned Parenthood provides a variety of services for women, including contraception, cancer screenings and abortions. Obama reaffirmed just last week that he favors abortion rights. “What I can say is this: You know, I think, President (Bill) Clinton said it pretty well when he said abortion should be safe, legal, and rare,” Obama said in an interview with NBC’s Today show. article via newsone.com
Moctar Dembele (pictured right) and Gerard Niyondiko (pictured) have won the Global Science Venture (GSVC) competition for creating an anti-malaria repellent soap, reports CP-Africa. Burkina Faso native Dembele and Burundi native Niyondiko created Faso Soap from different herbs, including karate citronella. According to the product profile:
In many countries of tropical Africa, malaria is the leading cause of death for the population. It represents 30-40% of hospital admissions and up to 40% of public health expenditure. Solution:Production and marketing of soap “mosquito,” based on shea butter and enriched with essential oils of lemongrass and concern, to protect its users from malaria. Impact:Reduction massive number of people affected by malaria, especially among the poorest and basic hygiene.
According to Niyondiko, the soap will initially be available in African countries hit hardest by malaria. “The soap will be available first here, and then given to NGO.” Watch the Faso Soap GSVC pitch below:
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/63409639 w=500&h=281]
“We want a simple solution, because every one uses soaps, even in the very poor communities,” Dembélé added. Dembele and Niyondiko have not only helped Africa with their creation, they’ve also made history. They are also the first non-Americans to win the GSVC, which challenges students across the world to create their own business plans for social ventures. The grand prize is $25,000. According to the World Health Organization, the African continent accounts for 85 percent of malaria cases and 90 percent of malaria deaths worldwide. Eighty-five percent of those deaths occur in children under 5 years old. article by Hannington Dia via newsone.com
Author and daycare practitioner P.B. Jeffrey recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to publish a children’s book, “The Flyers and The Crawlers,” as part of an anti-bullying education initiative for kids. Once her goal is met, Jeffrey intends to donate 200 copies of the book to daycare facilities, school libraries, and anti-bullying conventions across the country. P.B. Jeffrey, husband Lennox and daughters Bullying is an issue that affects the African-American community, and is fast becoming a multi-cultural epidemic, both in person and online. Since bullying may begin as early as preschool, and because young children best learn from stories, books, and other educational media, a children’s book series about bullying is an effective tool for preventing the onset of bullying in the next generation. Jeffrey is trying to raise $4,000 by May 24. Donations of even $5 make a difference. To donate or learn more about the campaign, please go to http://kck.st/ZWYR8K. article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOQ3v2AR6Wc&w=560&h=315]
African-Americans have little-to-no representation in the technology sector, especially when it comes to dot-com businesses. Fortunately, William Michael Cunningham has created a platform specifically for African-Americans and women of all races.BlackCrowdFunding.net allows is a new crowdfunding platform that allows people to contribute to ventures created by African-Americans and/or women of all races. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Cunningham discussed the nature of his business. “Most people start a business by taking out loans on their houses or going to friends and family and raising money that way,” Cunningham said. “If you’re in a demographic where your housing wealth has been impacted significantly negatively, then that’s less of an option with respect to raising capital.” Crowdfunding has been known to launch very successful projects, including the YouTube series “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl.” Cunningham said that crowdfunding presents a more promising option. Incase you’re unfamiliar with the term crowdfunding, it’s a method by which an entrepreneur can raise money for his or her start-up online by collecting small investments or donations from a large number of people. “The idea is that crowdfunding is a tool that can be used to get resources to low to moderate income communities in way that we haven’t seen before,” Cunningham said. The site already has a number of ventures seeking funding, including an education on identity theft, a boutique, a garden, and a pride t-shirt, and more. article by Maria Lloyd via techyville.com
Kathryn Finney of Budget Fashionista launched DigitalUndivided with the intent to increase participation of black women in tech (Image: Source) Attention tech entrepreneurs: If you’ve never heard of Kathryn Finney before, then pay attention; she is someone you should know. In fact, more importantly, if she knows you, she can be the best friend you’ve never had. Known across the blogosphere as The Budget Fashionista, Finney is famous for teaching the fashion-conscious, but financially-challenged among us, how to look runway-ready for a fifth of the cost. The Yale epidemiology graduate started the blog in 2003, before the invention of WordPress, and after her husband, a web-developer at Victoria’s Secret, pointed out that her shopping was putting a crimp in their pocketbooks. “When I started doing the Budget Fashionista I was newly married, living in Philadelphia. Knew no one, but my husband [who] worked a lot. I was shopping. I was bored. I was spending a lot of money,” says Finney, who previously worked as a research scientist, specializing in HIV/AIDS in women. “I’ve always been the flyest scientist. I went to India and didn’t bring any clothes in my suitcase so I could bring back fabrics.” Budget Fashionista’s popularity grew tremendously. Finney scored a position as editor-at-large for BlogHer, was tapped as a regular fashion contributor for NBC’s Today show; became the first fashion blogger to receive a book deal from Random House, penning How To Be A Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less; and even moved to Los Angeles to begin working on a television show. Right now, you might be wondering what fashion blogging has to do with the innovation economy. Well, the television show never came to fruition. After everything had been negotiated, the title cards were complete, and only the word Action! was left, Finney’s decided not to pursue a career in entertainment. She felt a deeper calling was still ahead for her in technology.
As Beyoncé kicks off her Mrs. Carter Show tour in Belgrade, Serbia tonight, she’s announcing a new partnership with Goodwill for her North American tour dates.
Goodwill will host donation drives for clothing, electronics and other small household goods at all her stops across America. The money earned from the sale of these donated items will “help people with disabilities and disadvantages, and anyone facing challenges to finding employment,” read a press release. “Goodwill helps people get back to work by providing education, job training and placement,” said Beyoncé. “I wanted to team up with an organization that puts people first and works every day to help them improve and re-establish their lives.” In other related news, the ESSENCE Festival headliner is also teaming up with “Miss a Meal” to fight hunger. “Miss a Meal,” run by Houston’s Bread of Life, encourages people to skip meals and donate the money to help the hungry. Currently, Bread of Life, serves 14,000 meals a month to locals in Houston.
“I was 13 and my sister Solange was eight when we started donating and serving meals to the homeless after church,” said Beyoncé in a statement. “There were people from all walks of life, even children, who needed a meal. We learned that we are all three paychecks away from poverty. It was a lesson in humility for all of us.” article by Derrick Bryson Taylor via essence.com
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields are often devoid of color. The creators of Google: white and male. The creator of Facebook: white and male. The creators of Yahoo: one white male, one Asian-American male. Women of color in STEM are often obscured, unless they’re being terminated for addressing the sexism of fellow conference attendees. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found blatant sexism in STEM, with less than 20 percent of college-educated women pursuing careers in computer science. Despite the odds, Martha Chumo, a 19-year-old computer programmer from Nairobi, Kenya, is determined to excel in software development. She fell into programming during a summer internship and is smitten with computer science.
“During my internship last summer I got access to a computer on a daily basis. It was pretty much the first time I had a computer all to myself. I started googling how the Internet and computers work,” she writes. “Soon, learning code became my obsession. In June 2012, I took the little I had saved and bought a computer, installed Ubuntu and quit my internship. I spent hours practicing at the Nairobi iHub. Online resources combined with the community helped me learn fast and in July I landed a job as a developer with a local Ruby on Rails boutique. Programming opened an unknown world to me. I was planning on going to medical school, like most top-students in Kenya do. Now I’m taking a year off to explore software development. I’m especially excited about the world of open source software.”
The self-taught programmer has been accepted into Hacker School, a New York-based institute that teaches the tricks of the trade to up-and-coming programmers. It is a competitive program, but Chumo had the chops and earned admission. Now she needs the funds to attend. Chumo has launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund her trip to Hacker School. She hopes to raise $4,200 to cover the costs of a visa, a round-trip airline ticket and a new laptop.
They spend almost 80 hours per week outside of their regular jobs to help bring attention to the plight of missing persons of color who often get less media attention than their White counterparts. They’ve partnered with NewsOne to help produce the weekly “Black and Missing” column as well as TV One’s“Find Our Missing,” which is hosted by award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson. Now, Natalie and Derrica Wilson (pictured from left), co-founders of theBlack and Missing Foundation, need your help. In an effort to continue raising money to continue their important work, the Black and Missing Foundation is hosting its first 5k run/walk fund-raiser on May 25th in Ft. Washington, Md. The Hope Without Boundaries 5k, presented by the National Child Identification Program, will allow Natalie and Derrica to continue to help African Americans find their missing loved ones safe and sound. And even in cases where the news is not good, they still are able to provide families with some sense of closure so they aren’t left forever wondering what happened to their loved one. The work they do is invaluable to those whose loved one has just gone missing, especially since the statistics are discouraging. While Blacks only make up 13 percent of the country’s population, they make up more than 33 percent of those reported missing in the FBI’s database. According to the National Crime Information Center, there were almost 30,000 active missing persons cases in the country. Blacks make up almost 12,000 of those cases or about 40 percent. Of the 173 Amber alerts in 2010, 30 percent were for African-American children. After seeing the lack of attention that some missing African Americans receive in the media, Natalie and Derrica have set out to make change. Using Derrica’s law enforcement background and Natalie’s public relations and marketing background, the two women, along with countless volunteers, have been able to put African-American missing cases front and center. “Through our personal funding and donations we maintain an online clearinghouse. In addition, we provide support to the families of the missing with flyer distribution, financial support, victim recovery, and burial service assistance,” said Natalie Wilson. Since launching in 2008, the Black and Missing Foundation has helped locate 113 missing people of color. Seventy-one of those who have been located were found alive. They’ve also been able to bring attention to the cases of missing African Americans by serving as spokespeople on news programs such as CNN. But they need our support to keep on going. “Black and Missing Foundation Inc. is hosting its first annual ‘Hope Without Boundaries’ 5K Run to bring awareness to missing persons of color and honor National Missing Children’s Day. We believe that awareness is vital in finding our missing or providing much needed closure for their families.,” said Derrica Wilson. Testimonials, like this one from Goldia Coldon,whose daughter, Phoenix, went missing in 2011, show the important work the Black and Missing Foundation is accomplishing:
When my daughter, Phoenix Coldon, did not come home and had not called on Monday, December 19, 2011, after leaving our driveway on the previous afternoon (Sunday, December 18, 2011), I called several local television stations to get her face and missing situation before the local population. I had absolutely no success. I then designed my own flyer with pictures of Phoenix as well as her physical description and description of her vehicle that she was driving. I put that flyer on my personal Facebook page and sent it to everyone on my e-mail list. Someone down the line gave Phoenix’s information to the Black and Missing Foundation that I had never heard about. Derrica Wilson called me, offered her assistance, and changed the entire process. She and Natalie designed a more professional flyer, listed Phoenix on their website, contacted not only local television stations but national stations and newspapers, and talked with me for hours while I talked about my beautiful Phoenix. They even just held the phone while I cried, sobbed, blew my nose, and cried some more. I love both of them and am grateful beyond words for their help. I hope to meet them one day and give them a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. We have not found Phoenix yet, but I am more confident that we will find her soon as a result of the exposure that was afforded to Phoenix by the Black and Missing Foundation.
This Saturday, April 13th, the Zimmer Museum Honors Jackie Robinson with Family Friendly Events & Activities in conjunction with the Sports Museum of LA.
Sixty-six years ago on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base, making him the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. This weekend, in addition to the national release of the Warner Bros. “42,” a feature film about his life, Robinson will be honored by a rare display of his, as well as Negro League memorabilia, at the Sports Museum of Los Angeles. This exhibit, hosted by the Zimmer Children’s Museum, coincides with Jackie Robinson Triple Play Day, which also includes family-friendly events, food, prizes and a historical scavenger hunt for kids. Proceeds from Triple Play Day go to support the Zimmer Children’s Museum’s youth services program, youTHink, which empowers youth to find their voice around social issues that matter to them and make a difference in their communities. For more information on this special event or to purchase tickets, go to: http://sports.zimmermuseum.org article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson Related Posts:
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will address Planned Parenthood’s annual gala on Thursday, the organization announced.
Author and daycare practitioner P.B. Jeffrey recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to publish a children’s book, “The Flyers and The Crawlers,” as part of an anti-bullying education initiative for kids. Once her goal is met, Jeffrey intends to donate 200 copies of the book to daycare facilities, school libraries, and anti-bullying conventions across the country.
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields are often devoid of color. The creators of Google: white and male. The creator of Facebook: white and male. The creators of Yahoo: one white male, one Asian-American male. Women of color in STEM are often obscured, unless they’re being terminated for addressing the sexism of fellow conference attendees.
