A team of Cleveland teens just won the FIRST Robotics World Championship, in a championship competition that included 20,000 students from 42 countries. Youth Technology Academy Team 120: Cleveland’s Team, along with students from Illinois, California and Virginia, took the top prize on April 30.
“Everybody worked, had a part to do in the robot, it’s just teamwork,” said Peng Zhou.“Some nights we stayed until 10 or 11 o’clock,” said Mark Goeser. “Friday night consisted of this, we didn’t go to parties, we’re just here working on the robot, it’s a lot of work!”
The team, which consists of hundreds of students from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, all of whom are looking forward to STEM and engineering careers.“This is where we aspire, it’s where we learn to innovate and become the future,” said Iris Harris. “I feel like this is not only a big win for Cleveland but it’s also a big win for us and this helps our future!”
Source: Cleveland teens win Robotics World Championship
Posts published in “U.S.”
article by Del Quentin Wilber via latimes.com
The Justice Department sued North Carolina on Monday to stop what it called discrimination against transgender individuals, raising the stakes in a cultural and legal battle that has ramifications for other states and the 2016 election.
U.S. Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch personally announced the lawsuit, which argues that North Carolina’s so-called bathroom law violates parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal laws, and that the state is engaging in a “pattern or practice of sex discrimination.”
Lynch stepped in hours after North Carolina’s Republican governor, Pat McCrory, had sued the Justice Department to prevent it from blocking implementation of the state law, which requires public agencies to deny transgender people access to multiple-occupancy bathrooms and changing rooms consistent with their gender identity.
At a news conference, Lynch linked the dispute to past civil rights struggles over equal access to housing, water fountains and other facilities. “This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms,” she said. This is “about the respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we … have enacted to protect them.”
She added, “This is not the first time we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation.”
The federal lawsuit names the state of North Carolina, McCrory, the state’s Department of Public Safety, the University of North Carolina system and its Board of Governors as defendants.
article by Angela Bronner Helm via theroot.com
A 15-year-old high school sophomore got a perfect score on the ACT (American College Testing) exam, reports Blavity.com.
Dwight Moore, a student at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis scored a 36 out of 36 on the college entrance exam putting him in rare company—less than one percent of the 1.9 million test takers received a perfect score in 2015.
His school put out a statement this week congratulating him, reading in part:
The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1–36, and a student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores. Some students also take the optional ACT writing test, but the score for that test is reported separately and is not included within the ACT Composite score.
“Please join me in congratulating sophomore Dwight Moore for his perfect composite score of 36 on the ACT,” said CBHS principal Chris Fay. “Dwight is an incredibly polite and humble young man, who is respected by both his peers and teachers. He is a model student at CBHS.”
Moore reportedly said that he thought the score was a mistake when he first saw it.
“I sat there in shock for a second. There is no way this is right,” he said. “It didn’t have the writing score so I thought this was just a placeholder for later so I am not getting my hopes up; when the writing score came out too, I actually got a 36.”
And he’s only in his second year! Bravo, young man, bravo!
Read more at Blavity.com.
Dwight Moore, a student at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis scored a 36 out of 36 on the college entrance exam putting him in rare company—less than one percent of the 1.9 million test takers received a perfect score in 2015.
His school put out a statement this week congratulating him, reading in part:
The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1–36, and a student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores. Some students also take the optional ACT writing test, but the score for that test is reported separately and is not included within the ACT Composite score.
“Please join me in congratulating sophomore Dwight Moore for his perfect composite score of 36 on the ACT,” said CBHS principal Chris Fay. “Dwight is an incredibly polite and humble young man, who is respected by both his peers and teachers. He is a model student at CBHS.”
Moore reportedly said that he thought the score was a mistake when he first saw it.
“I sat there in shock for a second. There is no way this is right,” he said. “It didn’t have the writing score so I thought this was just a placeholder for later so I am not getting my hopes up; when the writing score came out too, I actually got a 36.”
And he’s only in his second year! Bravo, young man, bravo!
Read more at Blavity.com.
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
When you have as much star power and influence as Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington, and it’s put to good use, amazing things happen. While Barack Obama was giving his final White House Correspondents’ dinner speech Saturday night, the Washingtons were throwing a lavish party with some of Hollywood’s biggest names, all in support of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens later this year.
The fundraiser was an effort to secure the final monies needed for the museum, and needless to say, when the Washingtons put out a call, their friends have no problem donating. The museum’s total cost amounts to $540 million, and so far, the government has contributed $270 million with the remainder coming in from events like the Washingtons’.
According to Variety, Saturday night’s soiree raised $17 million and included a pledge of $10 million from Shonda Rhimes.
“There is such a historical significance to this project,’’ said Denzel Washington. “It means so much for our community, our country and to future generations.’’
Magic Johnson closed the event with words that I’m sure resonated with everyone in attendance. “We have to get everyone involved in this, making this a success,’’ said Johnson.
When you have as much star power and influence as Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington, and it’s put to good use, amazing things happen. While Barack Obama was giving his final White House Correspondents’ dinner speech Saturday night, the Washingtons were throwing a lavish party with some of Hollywood’s biggest names, all in support of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens later this year.
The fundraiser was an effort to secure the final monies needed for the museum, and needless to say, when the Washingtons put out a call, their friends have no problem donating. The museum’s total cost amounts to $540 million, and so far, the government has contributed $270 million with the remainder coming in from events like the Washingtons’.
According to Variety, Saturday night’s soiree raised $17 million and included a pledge of $10 million from Shonda Rhimes.
“There is such a historical significance to this project,’’ said Denzel Washington. “It means so much for our community, our country and to future generations.’’
Magic Johnson closed the event with words that I’m sure resonated with everyone in attendance. “We have to get everyone involved in this, making this a success,’’ said Johnson.
article by Breanna Edwards via theroot.com
A Forest, Va., fifth-grader got the chance to see his mother clearly for the first time ever through the use of new electronic glasses, ABC News reports.
A Forest, Va., fifth-grader got the chance to see his mother clearly for the first time ever through the use of new electronic glasses, ABC News reports.
Thanks to the new wearable technology called eSight, Christopher Ward Jr. was able to “really see for the first time in his 12 years of life,” his mother told the news station.
“The very first thing he did was turn to me and say, ‘Oh, Mommy! There you are!” Christopher’s mom, Marquita Hackley, told ABC News today. “And then to hear him say, ‘I saw my mom, and she was very pretty,’ was so heartwarming. And aside from pretty, just the fact he could even see me meant the whole world to me.”
ESight uses a small, high-speed camera that captures live video, which is then sent to a LED screen in front of the user’s eyes, the network notes.
Christopher was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, which means his optic nerve never fully developed before he was born. As a result, he “only has little light perception in his left eye and very, very low vision in his right eye,” Hackley explained.
“Something has to be up in his face, almost touching, for him to see it,” she said. “And even though [he] wears glasses on a daily basis, they’re more for protection than vision because there is a strong possibility he could lose the little sight he does have if he were to get hurt or hit on the face.”
Hackley’s insurance didn’t cover the cost of eSight, so she created a crowdfunding page on the YouCaring site, asking for $15,000 to purchase the technology. Once the community got wind of her need, the story went viral and donations started pouring in. The donation page, which is now closed, raised over $25,000. Hackley noted that all the money over the cost of the glasses would be put into a trust for her son.
“Christopher is just a very loving kid, always happy, and never complains about anything,” she said. “I’ll do anything to help get him what he deserves.”
Read more at ABC News.
article by Carrie Wells via baltimoresun.com
Morgan State University was named a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on Tuesday, a designation given to only one other historically black college in the country.
The designation will mean Morgan and the National Trust will partner to develop a road map for preserving the university’s historic buildings, which mostly are a mix of Collegiate Revival and Brutalist architectural styles.
That road map will later be used as a template for preserving historic buildings on historically black college campuses across the country, said Dale Green, a professor of architecture and historic preservation at Morgan who is working with the National Trust.
“They have significant rich legacies that most people are unaware of,” Green said. “They’re more than black schools. … They are the only institutions that never barred other races. They very much reflect the American story.”
article by Hadassah Egbedi via venturesafrica.com
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of widely-acclaimed novels “Americanah” and “Half of a Yellow Sun”, , has recently been named as one the distinguished achievers to be awarded honorary degrees, this year, by the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, United States. The honorary degrees will be conferred at the university’s commencement ceremony on the 18th of May, 2016.
Adichie will be awarded alongside seven other recognized individuals, visionaries who have made a mark in various fields. They include groundbreaking filmmaker Spike Lee, the founding director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Laurie Zabin, Nobel Prize winner, Richard Axel, amongst others.
Ronald J. Daniels, President of the Johns Hopkins University, describes the group as people who have challenged the status quo and changed the world for the better. They have made a lasting impact on the arts, public health, the law, neuroscience and the resilience of communities here in Baltimore and across the globe.”
This is a very well deserved honor for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. As one of the world’s leading feminists and an insightful cultural critic, she has become quite influential on the global stage over the years, continually gaining recognition. The author who earned a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins’ Writing Seminars in 2003, is no stranger to awards and has amassed quite a number already. Her novel, Americanah, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 2013. In 2008, she won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant.
To read more, go to: http://venturesafrica.com/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-will-be-awarded-an-honorary-doctorate-by-johns-hopkins-university/
article via naacp.org
Yale University is naming a new residential college after African-American Yale alumna and civil rights activist Anna Pauline “Pauli” Murray. Pauli Murray is best known as a staunch civil rights and women’s rights advocate, lawyer and ordained Episcopal priest. Ms. Murray’s lifelong commitment to ensuring a fair and just society for everyone serves as an inspiration and role model to NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks as well as many civil rights lawyers.
In 1938, Ms. Murray was denied admission to the University of North Carolina’s law school because she was African American – all schools and public facilities in the state were segregated. Influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and his practice of nonviolent civil disobedience, she joined with Bayard Rustin, George Houser and James Farmer to form the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). While a student at Howard Law School, she participated in sit-ins to challenge the discriminatory seating policies of area restaurants. These sit-ins preceded the more widespread and well-known sit-ins of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Murray sought to continue her study of the law at Harvard University but was rejected because of her gender. Her experiences with racism and gender inequality fueled her activism in the civil rights and women’s rights movements. She authored a book, “States Laws on Race and Color” in 1951. Thurgood Marshall, then chief counsel at the NAACP, described her book as the Bible for civil rights lawyers. Upon completion of her doctorate in 1965, she became the first African American woman to be awarded a J.D.S from Yale University.
article by Angela Bronner Helm via theroot.com
After much speculation, Malia Obama, the eldest daughter of the President and First Lady has announced her plans to attend Harvard University, but not until 2017.
The White House announced her plans on Sunday, as well as her intention to take a “gap year” so that when she begins, her father will be out of office.
Malia is continuing the tradition of the Obamas who were both Ivy League graduates. Harvard is where both of her parents attended law school, and President Obama graduated from Columbia undergrad and Michelle Obama attended Princeton.
Malia will join a long list of presidential children who have attended the Ivy League school, including John Quincy Adams and his son, John Adams II; Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert; the sons of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt; Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy; and George W. Bush, who went to business school there.
The New York Times reports that Malia visited Harvard and a handful of other Ivy League and liberal arts schools last March on the East Coast, but because she accompanied her father to California last month, many believed Stanford was at the top of her list. Apparently Crimson won her heart.
Read more at the New York Times.
Malia is continuing the tradition of the Obamas who were both Ivy League graduates. Harvard is where both of her parents attended law school, and President Obama graduated from Columbia undergrad and Michelle Obama attended Princeton.
Malia will join a long list of presidential children who have attended the Ivy League school, including John Quincy Adams and his son, John Adams II; Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert; the sons of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt; Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy; and George W. Bush, who went to business school there.
The New York Times reports that Malia visited Harvard and a handful of other Ivy League and liberal arts schools last March on the East Coast, but because she accompanied her father to California last month, many believed Stanford was at the top of her list. Apparently Crimson won her heart.
Read more at the New York Times.
article via breitbart.com
An Alabama A&M student started a free lawn service for the elderly and to teach younger kids about community service.
Rodney Smith, Jr., now runs “Raising Men Lawn Care Service” with “about 20 young men ages 7-17.” They cut lawns for the elderly, disabled, and single mothers.
It all started when he witnessed an elderly man mowing his lawn. “It looked like he was struggling,” he said. “I was watching him and it just hit me. I could do something about it.”
Smith asked if they knew anyone who needed their lawn mowed. Friends gave him names and he wanted to mow 40 lawns by winter. He found a lawnmower on Craigslist and received it for free when he told the owner why he needed it.
Smith will receive his bachelor’s degree in computer science in May. He hopes to return to school to earn a master’s in social work. “I want to go back and get my master’s in social work,” he explained. “All of this has made me want to do social work. I love helping people.”
Source: College Student Starts Free Lawn Service for Elderly – Breitbart