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Top 10 Scholarships For African-American Students With Deadlines In January 2014

By goodblacknews on January 6, 2014

Scholarships For African American Students

The new year is here, and it’s time for students to get back to work. This year, more than $50 billion dollars will be given away in scholarships, and many of these programs have deadlines that are fast-approaching.
Scholarships are free monetary gifts that can be used to pay for college tuition, books, and boarding. Most scholarship programs require students to excel in academics, sports, or in an essay competition.
Here they are top 10 scholarships with upcoming deadlines in January 2014:
#1 – The Tom Joyner Foundation “Full Ride” Scholarship awards a full scholarship to one student to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).  Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2013/12/tom-joyner-foundation-full-ride.html
#2 – The Burger King Scholars program is designed to help high-school seniors who are looking to start college next year. Annually, the program awards more than $1.4 million in scholarships to more than 1,000 students.  Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/03/burger-king-scholars-program.html
#3 – The Gates Millennium Scholars Program (also known as the Bill Gates Scholarship) awards scholarships each year to African American students who plan to enroll full-time in a two-year or four-year college or university program.  Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/08/the-gates-millennium-scholars-program.html
#4 – The Ron Brown Scholar Program provides scholarship awards to African-American high school seniors who are excelling in their academics, exhibiting exceptional leadership potential, and actively serving in community service activities.  Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/04/ron-brown-scholar-program.html
#5 – The Discover Card Tribute Award Scholarship Program is sponsored by Discover Financial Services. The program recognizes students in their junior year of high school who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in their communities.  Learn more atwww.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/07/discover-card-tribute-award-scholarship.html
#6 – The National Black Law Student Association (NBLSA) provides four scholarships each year to African-American students currently in law school. Each applicant will be required to complete an essay on a topic that is related to the specific scholarship for which they are applying.  Learn more atwww.scholarshipsonline.org/2013/02/nblsa-national-black-law-student-association-scholarships.html
#7 – Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholarships (RMHC) for African American Future Achievers are awarded to eligible high school students with high academic performance and community service as well as financial need.  Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/07/ronald-mcdonald-house-charities.html
#8 – The Talbots Scholarship Program awards one-time scholarships to women who want to go back to school to earn their undergraduate degree after graduating from high school or receiving their GED at least ten years ago. Applicants must demonstrate financial need.  Learn more atwww.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/11/the-talbots-scholarship-program.html
#9 – The Ronald Reagan College Leaders Scholarship Program awards scholarships to college juniors and seniors who demonstrate leadership qualities in support of freedom, American values and constitutional principles.  Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/08/ronald-reagan-college-leaders.html
#10 – The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a career in the field of aeronautics. It is a renewable scholarship for U.S. citizens and nationals. Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/09/nasa-aeronautics-scholarship-program.html
To search hundreds of other 2014 scholarships, visit www.ScholarshipsOnline.org.
article via dallasweekly.com

At Detroit's Downtown Boxing Gym, Kids Find Athletic and Academic Success

By goodblacknews on January 5, 2014

Detroit Downtown Boxing

DETROIT, Mich. — On a cold December day in East Detroit, a dozen kids form a human assembly line stretching across the parking lot of the Downtown Boxing Gym.  With strong arms, the kids grab and push boxes of food from the delivery truck.  “The kids don’t go without a meal,” Coach Khali Sweeney told NBC News. “Forgotten Harvest, the local food bank, they’ll bring food here for ’em, so we have food for the kids to eat healthy.”
According to a 2010 report, more than half of the city’s households with children under 18 receive food assistance from the state.  But that food is just one of the reasons the kids depend on this gym, which is the only building left standing on its city block.
To learn more about the Downtown Boxing Gym, please click here to visit their website. 
It is surrounded by a handful of vacant lots and remnants of abandoned buildings, where the kids sometimes run laps at night.  “It’s not, like, really safe for us to go out there and train,” 19-year-old boxer Anthony Flagg Jr. said.  “But we do it anyway. They say boxing, you’re risking your life.”
For these kids, there are risks both in and out of the ring.  Across train tracks, less than a mile away from the gym, there’s a scene of a different kind: a new Whole Foods grocery– a sign of new life for the struggling city.  “I appreciate and applaud all the efforts goin’ into […] buildin’ the city,” Sweeney said. “But the residents themselves, they’re not gonna see that for a long time, and they’re still suffering. So places like this is a good place for kids to go. ”

California Restaurant Chain Tender Greens Exposes At-Risk Foster Youth to Culinary Skills

By goodblacknews on January 1, 2014

Erik Oberholtzer, CEO and co-founder of California restaurant chain Tender Greens, had been trying for years to figure out how to help young people. Last year, Oberholtzer’s company started a charitable program dubbed the “Sustainable Life Project.” The three-month program targets young people ages 18 to 24 who are transitioning out of foster care, who may be at-risk of becoming homeless or ending up in prison, reports CNN.

The Sustainable Life Project partners with local organizations to recruit young adults transitioning out of the foster care system to participate in a 12-week culinary arts and agriculture internship program. Youth transitioning out of foster care face unique challenges that make them especially vulnerable. Distrust, abuse, neglect and general lack of access to resources and guidance often make navigating adulthood difficult, according to the Tender Greens website. Without primary needs like housing, vocational training and legal support, these youth frequently don’t have the luxury of dreaming beyond finding a home and employment.
The young people visit artisan food makers, urban farmers and food-processing facilities to learn about the sources of their food. They get culinary arts training from restaurant chefs, and they receive a paid internship inside one of the company’s 12 restaurants. The restaurant chain then conducts interviews and takes up to eight students every three months.
Some 15 youths have graduated from the Sustainable Life Project since it started, and 10 who have landed restaurant jobs, CNN reports. Tender Greens pays students an hourly wage for their internship and covers transportation costs for farm visits. Oberholtzer started the program at a time when many CEOs were focused on surviving the recession. But Tender Greens was in the midst of a rapid expansion. The company grew from $7.3 million and 115 employees in 2009 to $28 million in revenues and 450 employees in 2013.

Top Good Black News Posts of 2013

By goodblacknews on December 31, 2013


As we enter into 2014, like everywhere else, GBN is reflecting on what made 2013 truly memorable. There have been historic moments (Barack Obama’s second inauguration to the Presidency of the United States, the Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, Obamacare withstanding severe political and technical challenges) sobering moments (the George Zimmerman trial, the Boston Marathon Bombing, the Oklahoma Tornado Disaster) and inspiring moments (Charles Ramsey rescuing Ariel Castro’s captives, Antoinette Tuff talking down a would-be elementary school shooter, Homeless Teen Drew Gooch earning a full scholarship to college).
Of all the stories we posted this year, however, the ones most popular with GBN’s readers have primarily focussed on education, super-intelligent youth, and the debunking of the “deadbeat dad” myth that unfairly haunts so many African-American fathers:

TOP 5 POSTS of 2013

 
Thessalonika5. 14 Year-Old Thessalonika Arzu-Embry To Earn Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Chicago State University
On weekdays, Bryan August-Jones wakes before sunrise in his home in Watts. He gets his three sons dressed, then takes them to the baby sitter and to school. On weekends, they go on bike rides and out to eat. (Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times / December 19, 2013)
4. Survey Finds Black Fathers are as Involved with Their Kids as Men of Other Races
Gabrielle Turnquest
 
3. 18 Year-Old Gabrielle Turnquest Becomes Youngest Ever to Pass Britain’s Bar Exams
2. “Living Single” Actress Erika Alexander Co-Writes Graphic with Black HeroineErika Alexander
and…
Adam Kirby1. Child Prodigy Adam Kirby, 2, becomes Youngest Ever to Join Genius Club Mensa
 
In 2014, GBN will strive to bring you much more of the same (as well as the surprising and unexpected), as we believe there can only be more Good Black News stories to cover. Because when you really look for it, you can find positivity everywhere.
Happy New Year!
Lori Lakin Hutcherson, Good Black News Founder & Editor-In-Chief

NFL Player David Nelson Invites 15-year-old Foster Child, Davion Only, to Jets Game

By goodblacknews on December 22, 2013
New York Jets player David Nelson (L) and 15-year-old foster boy Davion Only. (Photos courtesy of Getty images/Today)
New York Jets player David Nelson (L) and 15-year-old foster boy Davion Only. (Photos courtesy of Getty images/Today)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Davion Only, the 15-year-old Florida foster boy who made headlines with his heartfelt adoption plea in October, was a guest of Jets wide receiver David Nelson at New York’s game against the Cleveland Browns.  Only, wearing a green Jets jersey with Nelson’s No. 86, was on the sideline before the game Sunday at MetLife Stadium with a friend and guardian during the players’ warmups. Nelson also posed for pictures with Only, who was hosted this weekend by Nelson and his charity organization i’mME.

Nelson, who formed i’mMe with his two brothers to aid orphaned children last January, invited Only to New York for “a crash course in Christmastime in the city” after hearing about how the boy stood in front of a church congregation and begged for a family to love him.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

Florida School Named After KKK Grand Wizard Gets A New Name

By goodblacknews on December 20, 2013

Florida school name change: Members of the audience applaud after a Florida school board votes to change the name of a school named for a confederate general: Members of the audience applaud after the Duval County School Board, in Jacksonville, Fla., voted unanimously on Dec. 16, 2013, to change the name of Nathan B. Forrest High School, named for a Confederate general and honorary Ku Klux Klan leader.
Members of the audience applaud after the Duval County School Board, in Jacksonville, Fla., voted unanimously on Dec. 16, 2013, to change the name of Nathan B. Forrest High School, named for a Confederate general and honorary Ku Klux Klan leader. (AP Photo: The Florida Times-Union, Bob Self)

A major coup has been won by the students at the controversial Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla. After 54 years of ignoring the wishes of protestors who argued that the school should not be named after an American Civil War Confederate lieutenant-general and later served as a Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, the educational facility will now finally be receiving a new moniker, reportsWPTV.
The Duval County School Board voted on Monday, 7-0 that the high school, which has a predominantly Black student body, will choose between the names of “Westside” and “Firestone” in January.  When the high school opened its doors back in 1959 during the middle of the Civil Rights era, district school officials at the time chose to name it after Nathan B. Forrest (pictured), who had also been a slave trader. Under the Confederate lieutenant general’s orders, his troops massacred Black union soldiers at a Tennessee fort. Forrest then went on to serve as the first Grand Wizard of the KKK in 1867.
Under his leadership, he and his dragoons launched a campaign of midnight attacks, which included whipping and killing Black voters and White Republicans to scare them from voting and running for office.
The high school name change was actually spearheaded this go-round by Ty Richmond, a parent who set up a Change.org petition that garnered 162,150 signatures. Many attempts had been made previously to get board members to change the high school’s name but to no avail.

Black Teen Pregnancy Rates Reaches Historic Low

By goodblacknews on December 9, 2013

Teenage Girl 260 Jpg
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reports that between 1990 and 2009, pregnancy rates have fallen by 51 percent for Black teens in the U.S.
“The decline has been fueled by three factors: more teens are waiting to have sex; they also report fewer sexual partners and better use of contraception,” said Sarah Brown, CEO of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Since its peak in 1990, teen pregnancy has declined 52 percent among 15-17 year-olds and by 36 percent for 18-19 year-olds among all races.  Most adults are not aware of the progress in this area.
“In short, the credit for this remarkable national success story goes to teens themselves,” said Brown. “Unfortunately, precious few adults are aware of the good news. In fact nearly half of Americans incorrectly believe the teen pregnancy rate in the U.S has increased over the past two decades.”
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is a private, non-profit organization. For more information on the report or the NCHS please visit www.TheNationalCampaign.org.
article by Dominique Hobdy via essence.com 

Kevin Hart Donates $250K To Struggling Philadelphia School District

By goodblacknews on November 1, 2013

Capture
Kevin Hart, a proud Philadelphia native, is giving back to the city that raised him in the best way possible. After hearing of the financial crisis plaguing the City of Brotherly Love’s school district, the comedian decided to pony up $250K of his own money to support.  Hart made the announcement via a video on Instagram. “Philadelphia, aka the city of brotherly love,” he began in the clip. “I just heard about all the trouble the school district is going through. So I took it upon myself to take $250,000 and put it in the school system to buy new computers. Not because somebody told me to, because I love you, and I put on for my city.”
Additionally, Hart tagged a heartfelt caption with the vid. “My city made me who I am today and for that I am thankful. I will make it my priority to help my city get out of this debt. PHILLY UNTIL I DIE,” read a portion of the message.”
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter thanked Hart for his philanthropic contribution in a statement, saying “I want to thank Kevin Hart for his incredibly generous gift to our schools, recreation centers and citizens of all ages. These computers will have a very meaningful impact on Philadelphia.”  For context, over the summer, Philly closed 24 schools, laid off thousands of employees (including teachers, counselors, vice principals, and the like), and cut numerous extra curricular programs.
article by Chris Thomas via hiphopwired.com

Little Known Black History Fact: Pelagie Green Wren 1st Chorus Dancer of Color Hired by St. Louis Opera House

By goodblacknews on November 1, 2013

Pelagie Green was the first black person to join St. Louis’ Muny Opera House dance chorus in 1962. While her appearance was historical, it was also life-threatening. For her own safety, 19-year-old Pelagie Green was under the constant watch of Officer Charles Wren, a black police officer whom she later married. Green went on to open the Pelagie Green Wren Academy of Dance in St. Louis.  She also dedicated her teachings to St. Louis Public Schools. She was cited as sometimes waiving tuition fees for students who couldn’t afford training.

The Pelagie Green Wren dancers continued to perform all over the city, including at the esteemed Kiel Opera House. Her students have later gone to Broadway. While Green-Wren was the first to join the chorus, the first black performers appeared on the Muny stage in 1930 in the production “Show Boat.”
The Muny Opera House is the oldest outdoor theater in the U.S. The venue opened its stage in 1916 with a production of “Aida”. Following the production of “Show Boat”, the opera house featured shows with all-black casts such as “Porgy and Bess”, “The Wiz” (1982) and “Ain’t Misbehavin”. There were also re-productions of “Hello, Dolly!” starring Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway and “Guys and Dolls” featuring stage legends Leslie Uggams and Richard Roundtree.  Pelagie Green Wren passed away on September 19th. Her funeral was held yesterday in St. Louis, Mo. She was 71 years old.
article by Erica L. Taylor via blackamericaweb.com

South L.A.'s Jefferson High Tennis Squad Adopted by Beverly Hills Tennis Club

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2013

Alma Roque, right, and fellow players marvel at gifts of gear during a Beverly Hills Tennis Club lunch. (Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times / October 19, 2013)
Alma Roque, right, and fellow players marvel at gifts of gear during a Beverly Hills Tennis Club lunch. (Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times / October 19, 2013)

Tennis isn’t much of a big deal at South L.A.’s struggling Jefferson High.  The two dozen kids who play on the boys’ and girls’ teams practice on a pair of beaten courts at a gang-riddled, graffiti-tagged park.  It wasn’t long ago that both squads — stacked with teens still learning basic tennis rules — shared six beaten rackets and sometimes played in jeans.

“Shoes?” said David Herrera, who coaches the girls’ team. “A lot of my players didn’t even know there was such a thing as shoes made just for tennis. They played in skateboard sneakers. One girl showed up in boots. They just didn’t know.”  They do now, thanks to the venerable, 84-year-old Beverly Hills Tennis Club.
This past weekend marked the beginning of an uncommon bond between Jefferson and the club — storied in Southern California tennis circles, with a wealthy membership that once included Groucho Marx and Charlie Chaplin. On Saturday, Jefferson’s tennis players boarded a bus in their neighborhood and went on a 12-mile journey to a corner of the city far different from their own.
They ended up at the leafy club — as honored guests.  “Most of us, we’ve never really been to Beverly Hills before, even though it’s not that far from home,” said Alma Roque, a 17-year-old senior who stood back for a moment, tentative as she surveyed her teammates.