Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “U.S.”

Neveah Woods, 9, Gets Noticed by Mattel for her Clothing Designs for Barbie Dolls

By goodblacknews on January 28, 2020
Naveah Woods (photo via Click On Detroit)

Creative 9-year-old Nevaeh Woods from Detroit decided to make her passion for making clothing for Barbie dolls into a business and her designs have gotten attention of a big name company, according to WDIV Detroit.

Woods started making doll clothes out of whatever she could get her hands on and now her creations are getting noticed by the Barbie Mattel team.

“When I grow up, I want to be a fashion designer,” Neveah said. In a way, according to NewsOne, she already is a fashion designer. She makes clothes for her Barbie dolls out of everyday items like ribbon, socks and scissors.

Her mother, Sha’kvia Woods, watches and encourages her daughter, but they still surprised her.

“I just took pictures of them, so I was really amazed,” Woods said. “I shared it to Facebook and then I got a lot of my friends say make this public and when I made it public it just went viral.”

Her designs caught the attention of Mattel, the maker of Barbie. “Barbie sent me this amazing box, but we don’t know what’s inside it yet. Today we’re going to find out,” Neveah said.

Inside the box were plenty of new Barbies to style.

“It made me feel special because I’m achieving my goal to be a fashion designer and that’s what I really want to do,” Neveah said. “So I can be famous and make stuff and encourage people to follow their dreams.”

STUDY: Racial Gap in High School Dropout and Completion Rates Is Close to Non-Existent

By goodblacknews on January 27, 2020

via jbhe.com

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education offers new data on high school dropout and completion rates that state the gap between White and Black students in 2019 is no longer measurably different.

The status completion rate is the percentage of 18-to-24 year-olds who have left high school and who hold a high school credential. From 1977 to 2016, the status completion rate for White 18-to-24 year-olds was consistently higher than the rate for Black 18-to-24 year-olds.

Now, for the first time in 40 years, the status completion rate for Black 18-to-24 year-olds was not measurably different from that of White 18-to-24 year-olds. In 2017, 93.8 percent of young Blacks had completed high school compared to 94.8 percent of Whites.

Between October 2016 and October 2017, the number of 15-to 24-year-olds who left school without obtaining a high school credential was approximately 523,000. This so-called event dropout rate was 5.5 percent for Black students and 3.9 percent for White students.

The status dropout rate is the percentage of 16-to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential. In 2017, the status dropout rate for all 16- to 24-year-olds was 5.4 percent. For Blacks the status dropout rate was 6.5 percent, compared to a rate of 4.3 for White students.

The full report, Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2019, may be downloaded by clicking here.

Jada Pinkett Smith’s “Red Table Talk” Renewed Through 2022 by Facebook, Gets Spin-Off

By goodblacknews on January 22, 2020
Willow Smith, Adrienne Banfield-Norris and Jada Pinkett Smith of “Red Table Talk”

Jada Pinkett Smith‘s “Red Table Talk,” one of the most popular shows on Facebook Watch, will stay exclusively on the platform with new episodes of the talk show streaming through 2022, according to Variety.com. The series features host and executive producer Smith, her daughter Willow Smith and mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris (aka “Gammy”).

In addition, “Red Table Talk” is becoming a franchise: Smith and Westbrook Studios will produce “Red Table Talk: The Estefans,” bringing the trademark red table to Miami and feature Grammy-winning singer Gloria Estefan, her daughter and musician Emily Estefan, and her niece Lili Estefan discussing trending and personal topics with celebrity guests and experts.

To quote Variety:

“Red Table Talk,” which was nominated for a 2019 Daytime Emmy, debuted in May 2018 and has aired 50 episodes on Facebook Watch over two seasons. The show has over 7 million followers on Facebook and spawned a main discussion group with over 600,000 members as well as other group forums. “Red Table Talk” promises candid conversations of current social and cultural issues including race, divorce, domestic violence, sex, fitness and parenting.

“I’m incredibly proud of ‘Red Table Talk’ and thrilled to build upon this franchise with my family and with Gloria, Emily and Lili,” Pinkett Smith said in a statement. “‘Red Table Talk’ has created a space to have open, honest and healing conversations around social and topical issues, and what’s most powerful for me is hearing people’s stories and engaging with our fans in such a tangible way on the Facebook Watch platform. I’m excited to see the Estefans put their spin on the franchise and take it to new places.”

To Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day 2020, King’s Progeny Read From His 1965 “American Dream” Speech (WATCH)

To Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day 2020, King’s Progeny Read From His 1965 “American Dream” Speech (WATCH)

By goodblacknews on January 20, 2020

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

To honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2020, CBS This Morning aired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s children, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, and his granddaughter, Yolanda King, reading part of the civil rights icon’s insightful, inclusive “The American Dream” sermon, which built upon and extended his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech from 1963’s March on Washington. (See a brief history of that speech here.)

MLK Jr. originally delivered the “American Dream” speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in 1965. To hear King himself, listen below:

To read the full transcript of “The American Dream,” go to: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/american-dream-sermon-delivered-ebenezer-baptist-church

 

Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G. to Be Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020

By goodblacknews on January 15, 2020
2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Whitney Houston and The Notorious B.I.G. (photos via commons.wikipedia.org)

Music icons Whitney Houston and The Notorious B.I.G. are among the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame‘s 2020 inductees, the organization announced this morning. The other inductees are The Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and T. Rex.

The 35th annual ceremony will air live for the first time this year — May 2, on HBO, from the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio. Tickets are on sale Feb. 27; performances and special guests will be announced later.

This year’s performance lineup will likely be filled with tribute performances, as half of the inductees — Houston, Notorious B.I.G., and Marc Bolan of T. Rex — are deceased.

Four of the inductees — Houston, The Notorious B.I.G., the Doobie Brothers and T. Rex — and nine of the 16 total nominees were on the ballot for the first time, with nominees Dave Matthews Band, Motorhead, Pat Benatar, Soundgarden and Thin Lizzy filling out that list.

Chaka Khan, with and without the group Rufus, and Kraftwerk have both been up six times. To be eligible this year, each nominee’s first single or album had to be released in 1994 or earlier.

To read more: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-2020-whitney-houston-nine-inch-nails-notorious-big-1203467065/

Prince to Receive All-Star Grammy Tribute Starring Alicia Keys, Beck, Foo Fighters, Sheila E.

Prince to Receive All-Star Grammy Tribute Starring Alicia Keys, Beck, Foo Fighters, Sheila E.

By goodblacknews on January 9, 2020

Prince will receive an all-star Grammy tribute featuring Alicia Keys, Beck and H.E.R. along with Sheila E., The Time and The Revolution.
— Read on variety.com/2020/music/news/prince-all-star-grammy-tribute-alicia-keys-beck-sheila-e-the-time-1203461660/

‘Stay Close’: PBS Film Highlights Olympian Keeth Smart’s Rare Success as Black Man in Sport of Fencing

By goodblacknews on January 7, 2020
Keeth Smart (photo via Twitter.com)

Keeth Smart became the first American to reach No. 1 in the world in saber fencing and later won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics. That he was black made it all the more compelling.

In 19 minutes, the sum of Smart’s life plays out in “Stay Close,” an inspiring short documentary that debuted last night on PBS and speaks to one man’s uncompromising desire to achieve in the face of hardship.

Using a combination of black and white animation, raw family footage and interviews, “Stay Close” illuminates Smart’s ascension from a West Indies community in Brooklyn to the apex of a sport blacks rarely compete in: fencing.

— Read on www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1111351

Danielle Outlaw Becomes 1st Black Woman Commissioner of Philadelphia Police Department

By goodblacknews on January 2, 2020
New Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw (photo via Portland Police Bureau)

NBC News recently reported that former Portland, Oregon police chief and Oakland, California native Danielle Outlaw will be the new Police Commissioner of Philadelphia. She is the first black woman to hold that position.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney addressed his new hire, according to nbcnews.com, by saying: “I am appointing Danielle Outlaw because I am convinced she has the conviction, courage and compassion needed to bring long-overdue reform to the Department,” Kenny said in a statement. “With our support, she will tackle a host of difficult issues, from racism and gender discrimination, to horrid instances of sexual assault on fellow officers.”

To further quote the article:

Kenny added that such violence often disproportionately “impact women, especially women of color within the Department.”

Beyond addressing issues within the Philadelphia Police Department, Kenny said Outlaw will also work to curtail violent crime and gun violence. The city is currently experiencing a gun violence epidemic; more people were shot in Philadelphia this year than in any other year since 2010, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Outlaw herself is quoted saying: “I am convinced there can be humanity in authority; they are not mutually exclusive.”

To read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/danielle-outlaw-becomes-first-black-woman-commissioner-philadelphia-police-department-n1108761

Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx Awarded $3.75 Million Grant by New York State

Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx Awarded $3.75 Million Grant by New York State

By goodblacknews on December 27, 2019
Universal Hip Hop Museum at Bronx Terminal Market (image via Kevin Ross/radiofacts.com)

New York state officials have approved a $3.75 million grant to help build the Universal Hip Hop Museum, according to cnn.com.

The museum will be located in the Bronx and is the brainchild of local hip hop aficionados. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the $3.75M grant last Thursday to the nation’s first museum dedicated to hip-hop.

To quote from CNN:

Now at a temporary location in the Bronx Terminal Market, The Universal Hip Hop Museum is the brain child of New Yorkers who have been on the hip-hop scene since the very beginning. One of these New Yorkers is executive director Rocky Bucano. Born and raised in the Bronx, Bucano was a DJ as a teenager in the early 1970’s.

Bucano describes the 8-year-old museum as an “ambitious, audacious dream.” Bucano’s co-founders include hip-hop legends Kurtis Blow and Grand Wizzard Theodore, who helped pioneer the popular DJ technique known as scratching.

According to CNN the founding board of directors includes Ice-T and cultural ambassadors include New York natives LL Cool J, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy and Nas.

In 2018, the Universal Hip Hop Museum announced that Public Enemy’s Chuck D would serve as the chairman of the museum’s celebrity board.

Thanks to the state funding, the 50,000-square-foot hip-hop museum will have a permanent place to call home in Bronx Point come 2023. The museum’s construction will begin in the summer of 2020.

The museum will showcase all aspects of hip-hop culture — from fashion and breakdancing, as well as the evolution of hip-hop — highlighting artists new and old, from the late ’70s to today. The museum will offer workshops, mentorships and programming to help area youths.

To visit the museum’s site for tickets or to donate, go to: https://www.uhhm.org

To read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/20/us/new-york-hip-hop-museum-trnd/index.html

Umoja! Good Black News Wishes You and Yours a Very Happy Kwanzaa

Umoja! Good Black News Wishes You and Yours a Very Happy Kwanzaa

By goodblacknews on December 26, 2019

Heri Za Kwanzaa! Kwanzaa, for those who are new to the party or need a refresher, is an African American and pan-African seven day cultural holiday that goes from December 26 to January 1 and celebrates family and community.

During the holiday, communities and families celebrate with feasts, music, and dance, and end the holiday with a day dedicated to reflection and recommitment to the seven principles.

To read more: https://nationaltoday.com/kwanzaa-december-26/