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SNL Star Michael Che Pays Rent For His Grandmother’s Entire Building After She Passes From Covid-19

By goodblacknews on April 16, 2020
Michael Che (photo via commons.wikipedia.org)

“Saturday Night Live” star and writer Michael Che has turned his grief into action to help others.

After his grandmother died from the coronavirus this month, on Instagram Wednesday Che offered to pay rent for all the residents in the apartment complex where she lived.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_BRjZXpkMd/

Che’s grandmother Martha died April 5 after contracting COVID-19. “I’m obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone,” Che wrote at the time. “But I’m also happy that she’s not in pain anymore.”

During “SNL’s” home edition last weekend, Che paid tribute by signing off “Weekend Update” as “Martha’s grandbaby.”

#SaveUSPS: How You Can Support the United States Post Office and Its Workforce

#SaveUSPS: How You Can Support the United States Post Office and Its Workforce

By goodblacknews on April 13, 2020

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Last week, the Washington Post reported the White House rejected a bail out proposal for the United States Post Office, which is suffering mightily due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To quote the article:

“Trump threatened to veto the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, if the legislation contained any money directed to bail out the postal agency, according to a senior Trump administration official and a congressional official who, like others in this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

“We told them very clearly that the president was not going to sign the bill if [money for the Postal Service] was in it,” the Trump administration official said. “I don’t know if we used the v-bomb, but the president was not going to sign it, and we told them that.” Instead, Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) added a last-minute $10 billion Treasury Department loan to the Cares Act to keep the agency on firmer ground through the spring of 2020, according to a Democratic committee aide.

The Postal Service projects it will lose $2 billion each month through the coronavirus recession while postal workers maintain the nationwide service of delivering essential mail and parcels, such as prescriptions, food and household necessities.

That work often comes at great personal risk. Nearly 500 postal workers have tested positive for the coronavirus and 462 others are presumptive positives, USPS leaders told lawmakers. Nineteen have died; more than 6,000 are in self-quarantine because of exposure.

Even the $10 billion loan will likely not be enough, according to Forbes. Postmaster General Megan Brennan told lawmakers on Thursday that the agency may run out of cash by September thanks to a $13 billion loss in revenue this year.

This crisis threatens the jobs of around 600,000 workers, a large percentage of who are people of color. It also threatens access to voting by mail, census counting by mail, and rural deliveries.

In the past few days, political leaders, journalists, celebrities and concerned citizens have been rallying behind hashtags such as #SaveThePostOffice, #SaveUSPS and #SaveTheUSPS to amplify the issue and publicize ways individuals and communities can help prevent the nation’s Postal Service from destruction:

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren says she plans to call on Congress to save USPS.

Sherilyn Ifill, President & Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and sister to the late journalist and broadcaster Gwen Ifill (who was honored with a Black Heritage Stamp earlier this year), encourages citizens to call on Congress and the White House to #SaveTheUSPS:

https://twitter.com/Sifill_LDF/status/1249332960651862016

“AM Joy” host Joy Reid tweeted more suggestions for citizens to support the Postal Service:

Additionally, scores of concerned citizens such as Tina L. Kris are doing their part to take action and spread the word:

New York Times writer Nicole Hannah Jones offers a thread of tweets worth clicking through to read about how USPS workers are disproportionately black and brown, and how devastating it would be to communities to lose post office jobs, benefits and pensions:

https://twitter.com/nhannahjones/status/1249382181719375878

Actor and activist Danny Glover, whose parents both worked for the Post Office, weighed in on the need to protect USPS last July, and offered ideas such as postal banking to help low-income Americans and help the Post Office generate sustaining revenue:

In his excellent opinion piece in USA Today he wrote:

Today, the Postal Service remains a critical source of good jobs for African Americans. Black employees make up 28.6% of the postal workforce — more than double their share of the U.S. population.

In 2018, average Postal Service wages were $51,540 a year, just slightly below the average for all U.S. workers. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, wages were substantially lower in the nine other occupations in which blacks make up at least 25% of employees. For example, home health aides, 26.1% of whom are black, averaged just $25,330 per year. Barbershop employees, 30.8% of whom are black, earned $33,220.

Instead of more cuts, policymakers should do away with the onerous pre-funding mandate and explore new profit sources, such as postal banking. One government report found that expanding services such as check cashing, bill payment and electronic money orders could generate as much as $1.1 billion in annual revenue after five years — all while dramatically expanding financial services for low-income Americans.

To learn more on the history of black postal workers, check out “Defend the Post Office, Defend Black Workers” in Jacobinmag.com.

Bringing The Sunshine: GBN Offers Clark Sisters Playlist to Celebrate Lifetime Biopic Airing Tonight (LISTEN)

Bringing The Sunshine: GBN Offers Clark Sisters Playlist to Celebrate Lifetime Biopic Airing Tonight (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 11, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

Of course, it would take a superstar group of powerful Black women to sell and make a movie about The Clark Sisters, the pioneering Detroit siblings who are now in their fifth decade of rocking the gospel music world.

Tonight’s “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel” (airing on Lifetime at 8PM) comes from executive producers Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott, co-executive producer Holly Davis Carter, writer Camille Tucker and director Christine Swanson.

I had my own Clark Sisters experience while working as an executive at TV One back in 2007-08, where The Clark Sisters were the subjects of one of the very first episodes of network’s successful biography series “UnSung,” a show I developed and initially oversaw.

At the time, I generally knew enough about The Clark Sisters to recognize their breakthroughs in transforming the gospel music sound – and I felt that the world had not generally afforded them enough credit for that. But I didn’t know much else about their personal story and ended up fascinated by the conflicts and struggle, and of course, all the music.  It’s not a surprise to me that producer Carter said she’s been trying to make this movie for 15 years – it is a worthy story to tell.

In honor of this movie accomplishment, Good Black News offers a career-spanning Spotify playlist below to allow you to keep enjoying the patented Clark Sister Sound all weekend long.

The Clark Sisters Playlist was crafted to include most of the key hits from The Clark Sisters – as well as highlights from the solo careers of Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Twinkie Clark, and even from next generation Clark family gospel superstar Kierra Sheard (who plays her mom Karen in the movie). For good measure, there’s also a rare solo track from Jacky Clark-Chisholm (a duet with movie exec producer Blige), and a coda from Dr. Mattie Moss Clark herself.

Jacky, Denise, Elbernita (Twinkie), Dorinda, and Karen were the five daughters of Mattie Moss Clark, a pioneering gospel music figure herself, who while raising her daughters also served as a minister of music for the Church of God In Christ, first at the local level in Michigan, but eventually at the national level.

United Negro College Fund Mobilizes to Aid Struggling HBCUs and Students During COVID-19 Crisis

By goodblacknews on April 8, 2020
(image via uncf.org)

Recently, The United Negro College Fund worked in concert with several organizations, institutions, and elected representatives to secure $1 Billion in funds for Historically Black Colleges and Universities from the $2Trillion stimulus relief package passed by Congress and signed by Donald Trump in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Getting those funds to those in present need, however, is another story.  So the UNCF is concurrently making aggressive efforts to support HBCUs and displaced students who face new issues because of the growing pandemic, such as need of technology support to continue learning, housing, and food.

Many UNCF-supported students come from communities where, even if they have the tools to get online, broadband access is limited or unavailable, so continuing their education solely online is made all that more difficult. Students’ part-time jobs have been temporarily eliminated. Some students find it financially difficult to get back home, and some have no homes to which to go.

“We pray that students, our member institutions, families, friends and colleagues are staying safe and taking necessary safety provisions to protect themselves. This is an unprecedented situation for all of us, but we are up to the challenge. UNCF is working rapidly to help address the critical emergency needs of our students and HBCUs particularly because the needs of these institutions are especially acute,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, UNCF’s president and CEO.

“We at UNCF know that foundational HBCU legacies, dreams of a college education and brighter futures, and the important work of UNCF must not be washed away by such turbulent times.”

UNCF has established an emergency fund to help students continue their education and to maintain the sustainability of our member institutions, and is currently working with several partners to provide member HBCUs with the tools, technologies and training to support distance learning and provide emergency resources for their student bodies that includes students’ access to laptops, tablets and broadband to continue their studies.

UNCF is also activating donors and supporters and ramping up fundraising efforts, so it can support students, colleges and universities and itself through this unprecedented trial.

“Donations to UNCF.org will help UNCF to continue to support our work and to provide vital support to our schools and their students with these issues during this critical time,” Lomax said.

“We are laser-focused on mitigating what’s happening now and, on our work, ahead. While UNCF, HBCUs and our students are in uncharted waters, we will persevere together with our partners, foundations, corporations and other generous individuals, like you, who make our work possible and believe so strongly in our mission. Our commitment to closing the educational attainment gap for African Americans and other underserved populations is as strong as ever. Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in.®”

To help HBCUs and their students in need via UNCF, click here.

Born on This Day in 1915: Legendary Jazz and Blues Singer Billie Holiday (LISTEN)

Born on This Day in 1915: Legendary Jazz and Blues Singer Billie Holiday (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 7, 2020

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

GBN delights in the opportunity to commemorate the birth of Billie Holiday, one of America’s most talented singing artists, on what would have been her 105th birthday.

Born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 and raised primarily in Baltimore, MD, Holiday is best known for her signature songs “God Bless The Child,” which she co-wrote with Arthur Herzog, Jr. and “Strange Fruit,” the anti-lynching protest song she first recorded in 1939.

Holiday is also well-regarded by musicians and music enthusiasts alike as a masterful interpreter of jazz and pop standards with instrumentalist-like phrasing, and was a major influence on popular singers such as Carmen McRae, Frank Sinatra, and Joni Mitchell.

Although Holiday’s music had its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, current generations got a chance to connect with Holiday’s genius and story through Audra McDonald‘s Tony-winning portrayal of her in the 2014 Broadway musical Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.

Slightly older generations may have become acquainted with Holiday through the 1972 film Lady Sings The Blues, which garnered Diana Ross an Academy Award nomination for the title role.

Billie Holiday Statue (photo via flikr.com)

A statue of Holiday by sculptor James Earl Reid was erected in her hometown of Baltimore in 1985 and rededicated in 2009 on a majestic granite pedestal to better capture the significance of her stature.

To read more about Billie Holiday’s life and music, there are fortunately several choices, such as her 1956 autobiography Lady Sings The Blues (as told to William Dufty), Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday by Robert O’Meally, With Billie by Julia Blackburn, Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon by Donald Clarke and Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Cafe Society, And An Early Cry For Civil Rights by David Margolick.

Above you can watch Lady Day in 1957 on CBS’ The Sound of Jazz performing “Fine and Mellow,” the blues standard she wrote and first recorded in 1939, with Jazz All Stars such as Lester “Prez” Young, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Gerry Mulligan, Milt Hinton and Mal Waldron.

Below you can experience a comprehensive compilation of Billie Holiday’s recordings in a Spotify playlist called Loving Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday. Click through to follow and/or download. Enjoy!

 

Author Nancy Redd’s New Children’s Book “Bedtime Bonnet” Celebrates Black Nighttime Hair Rituals

Author Nancy Redd’s New Children’s Book “Bedtime Bonnet” Celebrates Black Nighttime Hair Rituals

By goodblacknews on April 7, 2020

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Nancy Redd, author of Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers, dedicated herself to boosting the self-esteem of much younger girls in her latest book, Bedtime Bonnet.

Written by Harvard graduate Redd and illustrated by TV animation character designer Nneka Myers, Bedtime Bonnet, published by Random House Kids, is the first-ever children’s picture book that honors the time-honored practice of Black women protecting their hair with satin bonnets.

The idea for Bedtime Bonnet came from her daughter’s reaction to being told she needed to wear one at 3 years old.

“She was like, ‘I don’t want to wear a bonnet, bonnets are for old people,’” Redd recalled to Essence.

To quote the Essence article further:

“Because when you’re 3 or 4, you are not going to sleepovers, you know what I mean? And we moved far away from our extended family. So it’s not like I was hanging out with the cousins and she was able to see other people her age,” said Redd. “She only saw me and grandma in a bonnet.”

She continued, “I just didn’t know how to explain it to her because of the cartoon characters she would watch. Even the Black ones, they don’t wear anything to bed on their head, which now is a huge plot hole that causes me stress. Like when little children are going to bed, they are just laying their head on top of that cotton pillowcase and it stresses me out.”

Redd merged her annoyance with her talents to write Bedtime Bonnet. The quick read features the full lips, brown skin, glorious locs, buoyant curls, and soft caresses that have made up the nightly routine of Black families for generations. Du-rags, silk scarves, wave caps, and doobie wraps are all represented in its pages. Redd wanted to transfer her love of the self-care ritual onto her little girl and children around the world.

To order Bedtime Bonnet via Amazon, click here.

To read more via Essence, click here.

Detroit Math Teacher Voncile Campbell Reads Bedtime Stories Online to Soothe Students During School Shutdown

By goodblacknews on April 5, 2020
Detroit teacher Voncile Campbell (photo via Chalkbeat.org)

According to Chalkbeat.org, Voncile Campbell, a math teacher at Bow Elementary-Middle School in Detroit, MI transforms into a new fantasy character on the regular. A little boy hunting for treasure with pirates. An owl playing with a fox. A teddy bear king who can’t fall asleep.

Ever since Campbell’s school shut down in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, she’s created a new role for herself as a bedtime storyteller.

To quote the article by Eleanore Catolico:

By posting videos on the school’s Facebook page at 8 p.m. nightly, Campbell is staying connected to her students and letting them know they’re still with her in spirit during the closure.

“I thought about how we have a low return of homework and students who say that there’s nobody reading to them at home,” she said. “And I really just wanted to do something to connect with my students by reading to them at night because I wanted to show them that I personally am still thinking about them.”

The novel coronavirus pandemic has disrupted students’ routines. They’re disconnected from the classmates and teachers they’re accustomed to seeing every day. For Campbell, telling bedtime stories creates stability and calm during a time of uncertainty.

She begins every video with the same phrase: “Good evening, scholars and friends. It’s time for tonight’s bedtime story.” She recites each line softly and calmly, modifying her vocal level as she embodies each character.

Campbell’s videos are quickly gaining popularity through word of mouth. They’ve collected thousands of views and been shared multiple times in the last week. She’s received a lot of positive feedback and continues to refine her approach by adding colorful images from the storybooks. A picture from the story pops up on the screen while she reads. She also started dividing the stories into episodes, asking students to email her predictions on what will happen next.

To read more: https://chalkbeat.org/posts/detroit/2020/03/25/detroit-math-teachers-bedtime-stories-soothe-students-during-the-school-shutdown/

R.I.P. Grammy Winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Bill Withers, 81

By goodblacknews on April 3, 2020
Singer-songwriter Bill Withers (photo via wikipedia.com)

According to Variety.com via Associated Press, Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Bill Withers, whose career in music blossomed in the early ‘70s via a string of highly-personalized hits such as “Lean On Me,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lovely Day,” and “Use Me,” died from heart complications on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 81. Withers is survived by his wife and two children.

To quote the article:

“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father. A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other,” the family said in a statement to AP. “As private a life as he lived close to intimate family and friends, his music forever belongs to the world. In this difficult time, we pray his music offers comfort and entertainment as fans hold tight to loved ones.”

Withers was 33 years old and working on an aircraft assembly line in 1971 when his first hit, the self-penned, Grammy-winning “Ain’t No Sunshine,” soared up the charts. He quickly followed up that success with a run of hit singles that included “Use Me” and the gospel-soul smash “Lean On Me,” which won a belated Grammy Award as best R&B song in 1987.

While those songs are recognized today as classics, Withers was not able to top the surprise commercial success of his early career. His subdued, introspective, often acoustic-based style grew increasingly at odds with the hard funk and disco of the ‘70s, and disputes with his record labels slowed his production at the height of his popularity. He essentially retired from performing and recording in the mid-‘80s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Withers was born July 4, 1938, in the mining town of Slab Fork, VA. He was afflicted with a stutter from an early age. He enlisted in the Navy at 18, and, as his speech disability receded, he began singing and songwriting. After nine years of service, he was discharged in 1965.

Relocating to Los Angeles, he began performing in local clubs at night while working assembly line jobs in the aviation industry. In 1970, a demo tape he had recorded caught the interest of the well-traveled black record exec Clarence Avant, who signed Withers to his label, Sussex Records.

Withers debut album “Just As I Am” was released in May 1971; Withers is pictured on the cover holding a lunchbox in his hand, for the shot was taken during his lunch break at Burbank’s Weber Aircraft, where he continued to install toilet seats in commercial airplanes.

The collection was the first major hit produced by Booker T. Jones, the former keyboardist for the Memphis instrumental soul act Booker T. & the MG’s, who appeared on the set with former band mates Donald “Duck” Dunn and Al Jackson. Stephen Stills, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and studio ace Jim Keltner also contributed to the record’s eclectic sound.

The LP contained “Ain’t No Sunshine,” an incantatory two-minute cry of pain that its author said was inspired by a viewing of Blake Edwards’ drama about alcoholism “The Days of Wine and Roses.” The song — released as the B-side of the “Harlem” 45, which was flipped by DJs — soared to No. 3 on the pop chart and No. 6 on the R&B rolls, garnered a Grammy as best R&B song, and pushed “Just As I Am” into the national pop top 40. The album’s moving “Grandma’s Hands” also reached No. 18 on the R&B side.

For his follow-up, Withers recruited four members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, a popular L.A. act fronted by singer Charles Wright, to back him and co-produce his sophomore album. “Still Bill” (1972) topped its predecessor, shooting to No. 4 on the pop list and No. 1 on the R&B album chart; the LP was pushed by the massive hit singles “Lean On Me” (No. 1 pop and R&B) and “Use Me” (No. 2 pop, No. 1 R&B). In 1973, Withers wed “Room 222” sitcom star Denise Nicholas, but the marriage lasted only a year.

He made his last appearance in the national top 10 in 1981 with a guest vocal on “Just the Two of Us” (No. 2 pop, No. 3 R&B), a romantic ballad issued on hitmaking saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.’s album “Winelight.”

After Columbia’s release of “Watching You Watching Me” (No. 143, 1985), Withers stepped away from performing. In later years, he explained his retreat from the stage and the studio, and ultimately from writing, to Alix Sharkey of England’s Telegraph: “That kind of stuff, to me, was a lot more interesting at 35…. I’m not motivated to wanna draw attention to myself or travel all over the place. There was a time for that. When it was done, it was done.”

To hear some of his best music, listen to the Spotify playlist below:

To read more: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/bill-withers-dead-dies-singer-aint-no-sunshine-1234570209/

 

Former New York Knicks Star Stephon Marbury Sets Up Deal to Deliver 10 Million N95 Masks to NY Amid Covid-19 Crisis

By goodblacknews on March 30, 2020
Former NBA star Stephon Marbury (photos via Backgrid, Twitter)

According to nypost.com, former New York Knicks star Stephon Marbury wants to deliver something the city needs even more than an NBA title — 10 million N95 masks for hospital workers and other first responders on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

To quote:

Marbury, who played in the NBA 14 years before moving overseas to become a legend in the Chinese Basketball Association, told The Post he’s made arrangements with a mask supplier in China willing to sell New York 10 million masks “at cost” for $2.75 each – well below the roughly $7.50 that N95 retailers have been quoting the state.

The Coney Island native said he got the idea last week after learning of the state’s lack of protective gear and the astronomical price its been paying for masks. So the now-retired, former point guard decided to reach out to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a presumptive 2021 mayoral candidate who has backed Marbury’s local charities in the past, to let him know he’s ready to dish his biggest assist yet.

“At the end of the day, I am from Brooklyn,” Marbury said during a call from his Beijing home. “This is something that is close and dear to my heart as far as being able to help New York.”

“I have family there in Coney Island, a lot of family … who are affected by this, so I know how important it is for people to have masks during this time.”

With China now beginning to recover from the pandemic, Marbury’s mask contact has more N95s than that country currently needs, according to Brooklyn Borough Hall. The gear would be delivered 2 million at a time over five weeks.

Read more: https://nypost.com/2020/03/29/stephon-marbury-plans-to-deliver-10-million-masks-to-ny-amid-coronavirus-crisis/

Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation Donates $5 Million to Aid and Support Global COVID-19 Response

By goodblacknews on March 22, 2020
Rihanna (photo via commons.wikipedia.org

Rihanna‘s Clara Lionel Foundation announced yesterday that it will donate $5 million to aid in the global coronavirus response.

The foundation will team up with on-the-ground partners to serve marginalized communities in the United States, Caribbean, and Africa to prepare and protect against the spreading virus. Justine Lucas, Executive Director of the Clara Lionel Foundation, said in a statement, “Never has it been more important or urgent to protect and prepare marginalized and underserved communities–those who will be hit hardest by this pandemic.”

The Clara Lionel Foundation’s partners include Direct Relief, Feeding America, Partners in Health, The World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the International Rescue Committee, and others.

Funds will support:

• Local food banks serving at-risk communities and the elderly in the United States;

• Acceleration of testing and care in countries like Haiti and Malawi, as well as the mobilization of resources and additional capacity and support for Native communities;

• Protective equipment for frontline health workers and diagnostic labs, the establishment and maintenance of intensive care units, and acceleration of the development of vaccines and other therapies across the globe;

• Healthcare worker training, virus prevention and containment in countries that will be on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response; and,

• Distribution of critical respiratory supplies.

The Clara Lionel Foundation stated on its website that it “believes that one of the most powerful weapons we have against COVID-19 is preparedness. Protecting our frontline health workers and marginalized communities around the world requires getting ahead of it fast and the time to act is now.”