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Advanced Placement African American Studies Classes Debut at 60 U.S. High Schools

Advanced Placement African American Studies Classes Debut at 60 U.S. High Schools

By goodblacknews on September 10, 2022

The College Board has announced it will begin offering an Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies course at 60 high schools across the U.S. this fall.

The AP program, which traditionally gives high school students an opportunity to take college-level courses before graduation, currently covers 38 subjects, including  U.S. government and politics, biology, chemistry, English, European History and art history.

The AP African American Studies course is the College Board’s first new offering since 2014, according to TIME, and the multi-disciplinary course will cover over 400 years of African American history, literature, civil rights, politics, the arts, culture and geography.

Though a pilot program currently, the aim is by the 2024-2025 school year for this AP offering to be the first course in African American studies for U.S. high school students that is considered rigorous enough to allow students to receive credit and advanced placement at colleges across the country.

To quote the New York Times:

The plan for an Advanced Placement course is a significant step in acknowledging the field of African American studies, more than 50 years after what has been credited as the first Black studies department was started after a student strike at San Francisco State College in 1968, said Henry Louis Gates Jr., a former chair of Harvard’s department of African and African American studies and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.

“In the history of any field, in the history of any discipline in the academy, there are always milestones indicating the degree of institutionalization,” said Dr. Gates, who is a consultant to the project along with a colleague, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. “These are milestones which signify the acceptance of a field as being quote-unquote ‘academic’ and quote-unquote ‘legitimate.’”

Students will take a pilot exam but will not receive scores or college credit, according to the College Board.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/advanced-placement-african-american-studies-class-rollout-us-high-schools-college-board/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ap-african-american-studies-coming-to-us-high-schools-180980689/

Bank of America Launches Zero Down Payment Mortgage Plan to Expand Homeownership Opportunities in Black and Latinx Communities

Bank of America Launches Zero Down Payment Mortgage Plan to Expand Homeownership Opportunities in Black and Latinx Communities

By goodblacknews on September 4, 2022

Bank of America recently announced a new zero down payment, zero closing cost mortgage plan for first-time homebuyers, which will be available in certain markets, including African American and/or Hispanic-Latino neighborhoods in Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles and Miami.

What BofA is calling “The Community Affordable Loan Solution™” aims to help eligible individuals and families obtain an affordable loan to purchase a home.

“Homeownership strengthens our communities and can help individuals and families to build wealth over time,” said AJ Barkley, head of neighborhood and community lending for Bank of America. “Our Community Affordable Loan Solution will help make the dream of sustained homeownership attainable for more Black and Hispanic families, and it is part of our broader commitment to the communities that we serve.”

The Community Affordable Loan Solution is a Special Purpose Credit Program which uses credit guidelines based on factors such as timely rent, utility bill, phone and auto insurance payments. It requires no mortgage insurance or minimum credit score.

Individual eligibility is based on income and home location. Prospective buyers must complete a homebuyer certification course provided by select Bank of America and HUD-approved housing counseling partners prior to application.

This new program is in addition to and complements Bank of America’s existing $15 billion Community Homeownership Commitment™ to offer affordable mortgages, industry leading grants and educational opportunities to help 60,000 individuals and families purchase affordable homes by 2025.

According to the National Association of Realtors, currently there is a nearly 30-percentage-point gap in homeownership between White and Black Americans; for Hispanic buyers, the gap is nearly 20 percent. And the competitive housing market has made it even more difficult for potential homebuyers, especially people of color, to buy homes.

In addition to expanding access to credit and down payment assistance, Bank of America provides educational resources to help homebuyers navigate the homebuying process, including:

  • First-Time Homebuyer Online Edu-Series,™a five-part, easy-to-understand video roadmap for buying and financing a home, available in English and Spanish.
  • BetterMoneyHabits.com free financial education content, including videos about managing finances and how to prepare for buying a new home.
  • Bank of America Down Payment Center – site to help homebuyers find state and local down payment and closing cost assistance programs in their area. Bank of America participates in more than 1,300 state and local down payment and closing cost assistance programs.
  • Bank of America Real Estate Center – site to help homebuyers find properties with flags to identify properties that may qualify for Bank of America grant programs and Community Affordable Loan Solution™.

For more information, contact Bank of America at 1-800-641-8362.

Read more: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bank-of-america-introduces-community-affordable-loan-solution-to-expand-homeownership-opportunities-in-blackafrican-american-and-hispanic-latino-communities-301614686.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/bank-of-america-zero-down-mortgages-buy-home-cheaper-easier-2022-9

Tennis Legend Althea Gibson Honored with Street Renaming in Hometown of Harlem, NY

Tennis Legend Althea Gibson Honored with Street Renaming in Hometown of Harlem, NY

By goodblacknews on August 31, 2022

Althea Gibson, the first Black tennis player to win a Grand Slam title, was honored in her hometown of Harlem, NY with a street renaming in her honor on what would have been her 95th birthday.

The intersection of West 143rd Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, where Gibson grew up, is now called Althea Gibson Way.

The ceremony took place last week in front of Gibson’s old apartment building on 143rd Street and was attended by Gibson’s family members, who were given a replica of the new street sign.

Born in 1927, Gibson was the daughter of sharecroppers in South Carolina who moved to Harlem in 1929. There, she was introduced to the Harlem River Tennis Courts in 1941, where she developed her skills.

Gibson won the French Open in 1956, and subsequently took home back-to-back Grand Slam singles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1957 and 1958.

Read more: https://abc7ny.com/althea-gibson-street-renaming-harlem-tennis/12164886/

Althea Gibson: I Always Wanted To Be Somebody: https://amzn.to/3KDhIVV

(paid amazon link)

MUSIC MONDAY: “I Will Always Love You” – A Whitney Houston Celebration Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “I Will Always Love You” – A Whitney Houston Celebration Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on August 22, 2022

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Monday, you all.  It’s your friend and selector, Marlon West.

I’ve been away for a while, and now I’m back. August 9th would have been the 59th birthday of Whitney Houston.

Sista was one of the biggest pop stars of all time. Her accomplishments as a performer were extraordinary, becoming the first artist to have seven consecutive singles hit number one, from “Saving All My Love for You” (1985) through “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” (1988). Her version of Dolly Parton‘s “I Will Always Love You” (1992) became the biggest hit single in rock history.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0LvGUZaZPpcINujkOQux7c?si=cf52e552f7214b7c”]

Whitney Houston and Whitney, her first two albums, each went diamond platinum. She followed them with a string of additional multi-platinum LPs including the likewise diamond-earning soundtrack for The Bodyguard.

Houston was able to handle stylish dance-pop, adult contemporary ballads, and slick contemporary R&B with equal dexterity.

The result was an across-the-board appeal that was matched by few artists of her era and helped her become one of the first Black artists to find success on MTV.

Over time, she developed a virtuosic singing style given over to swooping, flashy melodic embellishments. The shadow of Houston’s style and technique still looms large over nearly every pop and R&B diva to this day. Please enjoy this collection of the best of Whitney Houston.

And as always, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
ART: Marlon West’s Ink Tributes to Real Life Heroes Debuts at Museum of Social Justice in Los Angeles on 8/13

ART: Marlon West’s Ink Tributes to Real Life Heroes Debuts at Museum of Social Justice in Los Angeles on 8/13

By goodblacknews on August 8, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Disney VFX Supervisor Marlon West (Iwájú, Princess and The Frog, Moana, Frozen) will have his own art on display in an exhibition that debuts at the Museum of Social Justice in Los Angeles on August 13.

Since 2020, West has been drawing and posting ink tributes on his social media of African-American people slain by police or targeted by racists, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sandra Bland and Michael Brown, to name a few.

“For many of us Black nerds, Marvel’s characters are particularly relatable. They are often hated and hunted by the powers that be,” West said.  “There isn’t a more American form of portraiture than black ‘inks’ over white, to honor those that faced this nation’s fear and loathing of the Black body.”

West has also posted ink tributes to civil rights leaders and protestors like John Lewis and Gloria Richardson Dandridge (seen below).

West, who is also a contributor to GBN (check out his prolific and eclectic Music Monday playlists on this site), recently did a Q&A with us to share more insight into the process and journey that led to his drawings and the upcoming exhibit:

GBN: When you started posting and sharing your drawings on social media, what was the response?

Marlon West: The response was very positive. They were met with surprise from many, as I had limited myself to drawing only effects and instructional drawovers for decades. It took being on lockdown, away from some of the best artists on the planet, and feeling the despair that so many of us did around George Floyd’s murder to move to draw what I initially thought would be four drawings. I’ve done more than 40.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

When you decided who you were going to draw, how did you decide what image of them to use?

Almost all of them are based on photos that have been widely seen. Many are in fact selfies taken by the subjects themselves. It felt very intimate to draw them, staring into their eyes while I did so. It was often tear inducing to do so for the hours it took to do each one. But I found it cathartic to sit alone and try to honor each one. 

Did you ever receive any feedback from any family or loved ones of your subjects?

A good friend knows Michael Brown Sr. I created, until this exhibit, the only physical copy of any of them to give to him. He was thankful, but understandably guarded. 

How did the museum display of your work come about?

My friend and colleague reached out to the museum regarding them. They were very receptive to the idea. I am super flattered and honored. They are also leaning into presenting them in the comic style nature that I drew them.

To attend this free event or to learn more, click here: https://bit.ly/InkTributesOpening

Follow Marlon at: FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest

West also recently organized the  “A Great Day in Animation” photo of 54 Black professionals in animation. Read more about that here.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. to be Editor in Chief of New Oxford Dictionary of African American English

Henry Louis Gates Jr. to be Editor in Chief of New Oxford Dictionary of African American English

By goodblacknews on July 23, 2022

Harvard University-based historian and Finding Your Roots host Henry Louis Gates Jr. will be the editor-in-chief of Oxford’s new dictionary entitled the Oxford Dictionary of African American English.

This dictionary, slated to debut in 2025, will provide a comprehensive collection of words and phrases created and used by Black Americans, past and present.

Gates Jr., Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University, announced the project officially in an interview with the New York Times.

“Just the way Louis Armstrong took the trumpet and turned it inside out from the way people played European classical music,” Gates Jr. said. “Black people took English and “reinvented it, to make it reflect their sensibilities and to make it mirror their cultural selves.”

“Words with African origins such as ‘ ‘goober,’ ‘gumbo’ and ‘okra’ survived the Middle Passage along with our African ancestors,” Gates Jr. said. “And words that we take for granted today, such as ‘cool’ and ‘crib,’ ‘hokum’ and ‘diss,’ ‘hip’ and ‘hep,’ ‘bad,’ meaning ‘good,’ and ‘dig,’ meaning ‘to understand ’— these are just a tiny fraction of the words that have come into American English from African American speakers … over the last few hundred years.”

RELATED:

To quote the New York Times:

Resources could also include books like “Cab Calloway’s Cat-ologue: a Hepster’s Dictionary,” a collection of words used by musicians, including “beat” to mean tired; “Dan Burley’s Original Handbook of Harlem Jive,” published in 1944; and “Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner,” published in 1994.

Researchers can look to recorded interviews with formerly enslaved people, Salazar said, and to music, such as the lyrics in old jazz songs. Salazar said the project’s editors also plan to crowdsource information, with call outs on the Oxford website and on social media, asking Black Americans what words they’d like to see in the dictionary and for help with historical documentation.

“Maybe there’s a diary in your grandmother’s attic that has evidence of this word,” Salazar said.

In addition to word and phrase definitions, the Oxford Dictionary of African American English will also provide also where they came from and how they emerged.

“You wouldn’t normally think of a dictionary as a way of telling the story of the evolution of the African American people, but it is,” Gates said. “If you sat down and read the dictionary, you’d get a history of the African American people from A to Z.”

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/books/african-american-dictionary.html

Grammy and Academy Award Winner H.E.R. to Star as Belle in ABC’s “Beauty and the Beast” 30th Anniversary Special

Grammy and Academy Award Winner H.E.R. to Star as Belle in ABC’s “Beauty and the Beast” 30th Anniversary Special

By goodblacknews on July 20, 2022

According to Variety.com, award-winning musical artist H.E.R. will play Belle in ABC’s upcoming hybrid special celebrating the 30th anniversary of Disney‘s animated musical classic Beauty and the Beast.

H.E.R. is a five-time Grammy Award winner, including last year’s Song of the Year Grammy for “I Can’t Breathe” inspired by George Floyd, from her 2021 album Back of My Mind.

In 2021, H.E.R. also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Fight For You” from the film Judas and the Black Messiah.

“I can’t believe I get to be a part of the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ legacy,” H.E.R. said. “The world will see a Black and Filipino Belle! I have always wanted to be a Disney princess, and I get to work with two wonderful directors Hamish Hamilton and my favorite, Jon M. Chu. It is very surreal and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Beauty and the Beast was originally released in 1991 and achieved box office success as well as critical acclaim. In 1992, it became the first animated film to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, which helped motivate the creation of a separate Oscar category for animated films.

Although it didn’t win Best Picture that year, Beauty and the Beast won Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

In addition to re-screening the film in its entirety, the special will also include live, never-before-seen musical performances and feature brand-new sets and costumes inspired by the story.

The special will air on ABC on Dec. 15 at 8pm and will stream the following day on Disney+.

H.E.R. will make her feature acting debut in the upcoming Warner Bros. adaptation of the Broadway musical version of The Color Purple.

Ketanji Brown Jackson Officially Sworn in to Serve as Justice on U.S. Supreme Court

Ketanji Brown Jackson Officially Sworn in to Serve as Justice on U.S. Supreme Court

By goodblacknews on June 30, 2022

According to the New York Times, just after noon today, Ketanji Brown Jackson took the judicial oath, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

Justice Jackson, 51, was confirmed in April, when the Senate voted 53 to 47 on her nomination. She has replaced Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, who she once clerked for. Breyer stepped down at the conclusion of the court’s current term.To quote nytimes.com:

Justice Jackson took both a constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, and a judicial oath, administered by Justice Breyer. The brief swearing in ceremony took place in the West Conference Room at the Supreme Court, before a small gathering of Judge Jackson’s family. Her husband, Patrick G. Jackson, held the Bible.

“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Judge Jackson said in April at a White House celebration following her confirmation. “But we’ve made it. We’ve made it. All of us.”

[To listen to GBN’s recent bonus podcast about Jackson’s life and career on our site and read the transcript, click here. To go to Apple Podcasts, click below:]

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/30/us/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-sworn-in-supreme-court.html

Return of Bruce’s Beach in CA to Descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce Receives Unanimous Approval from LA Board of Supervisors

Return of Bruce’s Beach in CA to Descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce Receives Unanimous Approval from LA Board of Supervisors

By goodblacknews on June 29, 2022

[Photo: Anthony Bruce, the great-great-grandson of Charles and Willa Bruce, at Bruce’s Beach on Thursday. Photograph: Jay L Clendenin/Los Angeles Times/Rex/Shutterstock]

This week, in California, a case for reparations was finally won.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted their unanimous approval of the return of two oceanfront parcels unjustly taken by the government known as Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of former owners Charles and Willa Bruce.

Near the beginning of the 20th century, Charles and Willa Bruce made their way to California and purchased two lots in Manhattan Beach right by the sand and ran a popular lodge, cafe and dance hall for Black beachgoers.

A few more Black families, drawn to this new neighborhood that became known as Bruce’s Beach, bought and built their own cottages nearby. But they all soon were threatened by white neighbors and harassed by the local Ku Klux Klan.

When those attempts at intimidation failed, in 1924 city officials condemned the neighborhood and seized more than two dozen properties via eminent domain, claiming there was an urgent need for a public park. For decades, the properties sat empty.

The two oceanfront parcels that had been owned by the Bruces were transferred to the state in 1948, then to the county in 1995. The other lots were eventually turned into the park by city officials in Manhattan Beach.

To quote latimes.com:

In a heartfelt moment during the board meeting Tuesday, Supervisor Janice Hahn reflected on all the legal, legislative and very complicated real estate details that had to be worked out to right a wrong that had sparked a movement and captivated the country.

“We are finally here today,” said Hahn, who launched the complex process more than a year ago. “We can’t change the past, and we will never be able to make up for the injustice that was done to Willa and Charles Bruce a century ago. But this is a start, and it is the right thing to do.”

The property will now enter escrow before officially transferring to the Bruce family. After it’s transferred, the county has agreed to rent the property from the Bruces for $413,000 a year and will maintain its lifeguard facility there.

The lease agreement also includes a right for the county to purchase the land at a later date for $20 million, plus any associated transaction costs.

This unprecedented case of restorative justice to a Black family or property owners who were harassed by the KKK and run out of Manhattan Beach via racially-weaponized invocation of eminent domain almost a century ago — paves the way for more efforts by the government to rectify similar historic injustices.

[Wedding portrait of Charles Aaron and Willa A. Bruce.
California African American Museum]
To quote latimes.com once more:

For Anthony Bruce, the great-great-grandson of Charles and Willa Bruce, the last two years have been a jumble of emotions.

What Manhattan Beach did almost a century ago tore his family apart. Charles and Willa ended up as chefs serving other business owners for the remainder of their lives. His grandfather Bernard, born a few years after his family had been run out of town, was obsessed with what happened and lived his life “extremely angry at the world.” Bruce’s father, tormented by this history, had to leave California.

Bruce, a security supervisor in Florida, was thrust into the spotlight after Bruce’s Beach became a national story. It has been painful for him to talk publicly about his family’s history, but he has been heartened to see the growing movement of people calling for justice.

“Many families across the United States have been forced away from their homes and lands,” he said. “I hope that these monumental events encourage such families to keep trusting and believing that they will one day have what they deserve. We hope that our country no longer accepts prejudice as an acceptable behavior, and we need to stand united against it, because it has no place in our society today.”

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-28/county-officials-approve-transfer-of-bruces-beach-property?utm_id=59648&sfmc_id=2415824

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/10/1043821492/black-americans-land-history

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/01/bruces-beach-returned-100-years-california

MUSIC MONDAY: “Summer Breeze” – a Summer Songs Playlist for 2022 (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Summer Breeze” – a Summer Songs Playlist for 2022 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on June 20, 2022

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

Today on #MusicMonday, we’re celebrating the beginning of Summer 2022, which officially kicks off tomorrow.

One of our most popular playlists of the last couple years was our Summer Breeze: Soulful Summer Songs playlist, which we created two years ago in the midst of the pandemic.

So this year, we’ve taken that original playlist and created the ‘new and improved’ version with about 50 more tracks (!) added to the lineup.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xgE7qFwobhbEshljcxyPs?si=a335b24f13914244″]

Our playlist is slightly different than the typical summer mixtape – these are not just summer hits, or summer favorites. To qualify for our list, a song literally had to feature the word “summer” in its title.  It had to be literally “about” summer – the moods and feelings it evokes.

Fortunately, the season of BBQs, island vacations, swimming in the pool has provided inspiration to virtually every genre and generation of Black musicians, so we’ve got all the “summer”-titled popular hits spanning the ’30s to today from DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, Kool & The Gang, Carl Thomas, War, Sly & The Family Stone, Childish Gambino, Chic, Megan Thee Stallion and The Isley Brothers, mixed in with jazz, hip hop, dance, reggae, and plenty of vocal standards.

Nat “King” Cole is not only one of our top singers of Christmas standards, but also the leader in “summer” tunes, with five songs on our playlist.

And throughout, we’ve sprinkled multiple versions of the Porgy & Bess standard “Summertime,” performed here by everyone from Anita Baker to James Brown.

Among the new songs we’ve added are everything from Jhene Aiko to Joan Armatrading, Anderson.Paak to Prince, Jim Jones to Johnny Mathis, Leon Bridges to Labi Siffre to St. Lunatics.

So, fire up the grill, break out the water slide for the kids, and perhaps grab a mai-tai or piña colada.  Then relax to the sounds of Summer.  Happy Summer everyone!