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Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles to Carry Flag for Team USA in Rio Olympics Closing Ceremony

By goodblacknews on August 21, 2016

simone biles (on bar)
article via eurweb.com
In addition to her five gold medals, Simone Biles is now poised for another super Rio Olympics experience.  She’s been chosen as the Team USA flag bearer for closing ceremony on Sunday.
“It’s an incredible honor to be selected as the flag bearer by my Team USA teammates,” Biles said in a statement. “This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me and my team and I consider it a privilege to represent my country, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics by carrying our flag. I also wish to thank the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the entire country of Brazil, for hosting an incredible Games.”
This quite an honor for Miss Biles as she is only the second American gymnast to carry the flag in an opening or closing ceremony after Alfred Jochim in 1936.
Though it was largely expected given her dominance in the sport over the past three years, Biles’ competition here was a resounding success, reports USA Today Sports.

She led the Americans to a second consecutive team gold medal by an eye-popping eight points before winning the all-around title, gold medals on vault and floor exercise and bronze on balance beam.
Her five medals matches marks set by Nastia Liukin in 2008, Shannon Miller in 1992 and Mary Lou Retton in 1984.
Her success here only added to the consensus that she’s the best gymnast of her time and probably the best ever. None other than Bela and Martha Karolyi, Retton and Aimee Boorman, Biles’ longtime coach, think the case is clear.
Biles, 19, entered these Games as the three-time defending world all-around champion. Her 10 gold medals earned over that span is a record for any gymnast, and she has 14 total medals from world championship competition.

 
To read full article, go to: http://www.eurweb.com/2016/08/simone-biles-carry-us-flag-olympics-closing-ceremony-sunday/

Writers Rally to Save Langston Hughes Home in Harlem via Crowdfunding

By goodblacknews on August 20, 2016

Langston Hughes (photo via theroot.com)

article by Angela Bronner Helms via theroot.com
The home occupied by one of the great leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, still stands on 127th Street in Harlem today.  Hughes used the top floor of the home as his workroom from 1947 to his death in 1967; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The current owner, who remains anonymous, listed the unoccupied dwelling for $1 million (which still has his typerwriter on a shelf) a few years ago, but it did not sell.  CNN Money reports that in a rapidly gentrifying New York, the home is now worth over $3 million.
Now that it’s on the market, writer Renee Watson has started an Indiegogo campaign to raise $150,000 to rent the home and turn it into a cultural center.
Over 250 people, many of them black writers, have given money in support and so far, the initiative to save Hughes’ house has raised almost $34,000.  “Hughes is deeply influential and important not only to me, but many writers of color,” says author Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the National Book Award for Brown Girl Dreaming, which opens with a Hughes poem.
Watson says she has spoken to the owner, who says she would definitely sell it, but “like me, she doesn’t want it to become condos or a coffee shop.”

To donate to the fund, please go to the I, Too, Arts Collective Indigogo page.
To read full article, go to: Black Writers Rally To Save Langston Hughes Home

New Jersey Educator Naseed Gifted Launches STEM Comic Book, "P.B. Soldier"

By goodblacknews on August 20, 2016

Naseed Gifted (photo via blackenterprise.com)

article by Samara Lynn via blackenterprise.com
Nat Cummings is a talented computer hacker using his skills to pay his college tuition. A covert operative, he is well-versed in hacking, hand-to-hand combat, blade combat, and stealth.All is well with Nat until he is listed as a
n International Terror Threat,­ Code Red.
The newly formed government/paramilitary organization called The Establishment gives him a simple choice, either work with them to become a highly trained assassin or be terminated. Nat is the protagonist of a new science fiction comic book series, P.B. Soldier. The series not only promises an exciting story of an African American antihero, but it is designed to teach STEM skills.
P.B. Soldier is the brainchild of PBS Media, an independent comic book publisher founded by Naseed Gifted.
Gifted is not only the comic’s writer and creator he is a long-time math teacher, was an engineer, and is currently an administrator for the Pre-Academy division of the New Jersey Public Schools system.
Today, PBS Media is launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise $8,500 for the production of episode 3.0, the sixth installment of a 13 book arc. Funds will go toward payment to line artist and colorist Abel Garcia, and the actual production of the book, including printing and distribution.
A portion of proceeds will go to the Central High School Pre­Engineering Academy in Newark, New Jersey, where Gifted has taught and led for the past 13 years.
To read full article, go to: New Jersey Educator Launches STEM Comic Book

Obama Administration to End Federal Use of Private Prisons

By goodblacknews on August 20, 2016

A government report found that violent incidents were more common in private prisons. (GETTY IMAGES)

article via bbc.com
The U.S. Justice Department will phase out use of privately owned prisons, citing safety concerns. Contracts with 13 private prisons will be reviewed and allowed to expire over the next five years .”They do not save substantially on costs and … they do not maintain the same level of safety and security,” Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said explaining the decision.
The majority of US prisoners are held in state-run prisons. On Wall Street, the stocks of private prison companies declined sharply after the news was announced.  By Thursday afternoon, Corrections Corporation of America stock had plunged by nearly 50%.  An Inspector General’s report released this month found that private prisons saw higher rates of violent incidents and rule infractions in comparison with government-run institutions.
Jonathan Burns, a spokesman for the Corrections Corporation of America, told BBC News that the report contained “significant flaws” and that other studies have shown their facilities “to be equal or better with regard to safety and quality”. David Fathi, who directs the National Prison Project for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) told BBC News that the decision could have a trickle-down effect on state and local prisons, where more than 90% of U.S. prisoners are held.
To read more, go to: US to end federal use of private prisons – BBC News

Allyson Felix Leads 400M Relay Team to Gold, Becomes Most Decorated Woman in U.S. Track and Field History

Allyson Felix Leads 400M Relay Team to Gold, Becomes Most Decorated Woman in U.S. Track and Field History

By goodblacknews on August 20, 2016

Tianna Bartoletta and Allyson Felix, right, celebrate after winning gold in the women's 400-meter relay at the 2016 Summer Games.
Tianna Bartoletta and Allyson Felix, right, celebrate after winning gold in the women’s 400-meter relay at the 2016 Summer Games. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

article by Helene Elliott via latimes.com
Allyson Felix became the first U.S. woman to win five gold medals in track and field when she anchored the U.S. women’s 400-meter relay team to victory in the 2016 Rio Olympics Friday night.
Recovering from an apparent first-round disqualification that was reversed on appeal but consigned the U.S. team to Lane 1, Tianna Bartoletta, English Gardner, Tori Bowie and Felix won in 41.01 seconds. Jamaica was second, in 41.36, with Britain third in 41.77.
Felix has won eight Olympic medals overall, making her the most decorated woman in U.S. track and field history, but her only individual gold came from the 200 in 2012.  She lost the 400 in Rio on a desperate but legal dive by Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas.
“It was just special. I felt like we were really strong tonight,” Felix said of the relay’s resilience. “The adversity made us even more determined and we just kept fighting all the way, through…. Sometimes adversity makes you stronger.”
Felix still has Saturday’s 1,600-meter relay left. The U.S. women’s 1,600-meter relay team had the top first-round time — 3:21.42 — and qualified for Saturday’s final.  Jamaica (3:22.38) had the second-best time.
To read more, go to: http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-oly-track-field-20160819-snap-story.html?track=lat-email-latimessports

Dalilah Muhammad Makes U.S. History With 400-Meter Hurdles Gold Medal Win

By goodblacknews on August 19, 2016

Team USA Delilah Muhammad, Olympic Gold Medalist in the 400-M hurdles. (photo via bet.com)

article via bet.com
Everywhere you look in these Rio Games, there’s #BlackGirlMagic making Olympic history.
Count Dalilah Muhammad as the latest.
On Thursday night, the 26-year-old New York City native became the first American in Olympic history to win a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.13 seconds.Her teammate, Ashley Spencer, won the bronze medal with a time of 53.72 seconds.


Winning the gold medal is one thing. Making history while doing it took the accomplishment to another level for Muhammad.
To read more, go to: #BlackGirlMagic: Watch Dalilah Muhammad Make History With Her 400-Meter Hurdles Gold Medal Win | Dalilah Muhammad | Sports | BET

100-Meter Hurdlers Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin Claim USA’s 1st-Ever Women’s Track & Field Olympic Sweep

By goodblacknews on August 18, 2016

(L-R) Bronze medalist Kristi Castlin, gold medalist Brianna Rollins and silver medalist Nia Ali react after the women’s 100-meter hurdles final on day 12 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on Aug. 17, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. (photo via teamusa.org)

article by Karen Rosen via teamusa.org
RIO DE JANEIRO – Sweep!  Team USA became the first nation in Olympic history to win all three medals in the women’s 100-meter hurdles.
Brianna Rollins won the gold, Nia Ali the silver and Kristi Castlin, with a furious finish, took the bronze Wednesday night.  “It’s like a sisterhood,” said Rollins, who trains with Castlin and has also known Ali for years.  “I’m so grateful and blessed that we were able to accomplish this together.”
And Team USA swept without world-record holder Keni Harrison, who did not make the U.S. team from a loaded field at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track and Field.
“You could pretty much equate us to a Dream Team,” Castlin said after the trials.
Following the race, the three Team USA athletes huddled on the track just past the finish line, waiting for the results: Rollins at 12.48 and Ali at 12.59 popped up quickly in the top two positions. There was a pause, then an outpouring of applause as Castlin came up next at 12.61.
“I knew I was in second, but I didn’t know what else happened,” Ali said. “So when we looked up at the screen, we were like, ‘Did we do it? Did we do it?’ and then we saw Kristi’s name come up, and it was like, ‘Yes!’”  “We all had a good feeling that it was going to be her.”
Castlin, known as a “closer,” came from as far back as seventh place to edged Cindy Ofili of Great Britain by .02 seconds.
“I really couldn’t breathe for one second,” Castlin said. “My thing was not so much a bronze for myself but really just upholding the team. We came into this together. Track and field, a lot of times athletes go into it as individuals. But we had a different perspective. We came into it as a team, for girl power, for USA. So we were able to do the first sweep in U.S. women’s history. It feels good to be a history-maker.”
The sweep was the 61st in U.S. Olympic track and field history going back to 1896, and the first in the sport since the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, when Americans conquered the podium in the men’s 400-meter and 400-meter hurdles. It was also the first for Team USA on the women’s side in track and field.
To read full article, go to: http://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/August/17/100-Meter-Hurdlers-Claim-Team-USAs-First-Ever-Womens-Track-And-Field-Olympic-Sweep

U.S. Gymnastics Sensation Simone Biles Soars to Fourth Gold Medal in Rio Olympics

By goodblacknews on August 16, 2016

Simone Biles nailed her signature move, The Biles, to win the gold medal in the floor exercise. (Credit: Dmitri Lovetsky/Associated Press)

article by Victor Mather and Lela Moore via nytimes.com
RIO DE JANEIRO — For anyone who doubted her after a subpar performance on the balance beam, Simone Biles sent an emphatic message on Tuesday: She is unbeatable in the floor exercise.

Biles bounced back from a bronze medal performance on the beam to dominate the floor, completing her Rio Olympics with four gold medals and the bronze. She is the fourth American female gymnast to win five medals in a single Olympics, joining Mary Lou Retton (1984), Shannon Miller (1992) and Nastia Liukin (2008).

Biles scored a 15.966 in the floor, considered her best event.

Her signature floor move is the Biles, a double layout with a half-twist and a blind landing. She performed the move nearly perfectly, adding a stag leap, which she had left out of her performance in the team event but included in the individual all-around.

Her score dwarfed those of her competitors. Her teammate Aly Raisman won the silver medal with a routine slightly less difficult than Biles’s, sticking every landing on every tumbling pass. The bronze medal went to Amy Tinkler, the first female gymnast from Britain to compete in a floor final.

Raisman earned her sixth Olympic medal and her third at these Games. She won the team gold and the silver in the individual all-around, behind Biles, who also won the vault.

Tuesday’s victory put Biles in an exclusive club. Just three female gymnasts before her — Ecaterina Szabo of Romania (1984), Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia (1968) and Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union (1956) — had also won four gold medals in one Olympics.

To read full article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/sports/olympics/rio-schedule-simone-biles-results.html

Brothers Sulaiman Lee, Noel Kerr and Leonegus Darealest Empower Youth Through Books via Black Child Promotions in U.K.

By goodblacknews on August 16, 2016
Brothers Sulaiman Lee, Leone’s Darealest and Noel Kerr (l-r) aim to boost the self-esteem of black children through books. (photo via voice-online.co.uk)

article by Rianna Raymond-Williams via voice-online.co.uk
Three brothers from Tottenham, North London, are on a mission to raise the self-esteem of African Caribbean children through books.

Sulaiman Lee, Noel Kerr and Leonegus Darealest are the trio behind Black Child Promotions, which aims to give children a positive view of their identity through the works of a range of authors.
The men hope to give young people access to knowledge about prominent black figures such Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King, Jr., successful black empires and movements, African Caribbean fables and folk stories as well as the writings of influential black political leaders.
One of the trio, Lee, told The Voice: “We have titles from the likes of Maya Angelou to Iyanla Vanzant to Amos N. Wilson and Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan. We have something for everyone, children’s stories, political books, poetry, autobiographies and more.”
He added: “For us, Black History isn’t just for one month, it’s all year round and that’s exactly what we want to show people. We believe we need to promote black history more, as it isn’t something we see widely in the media or something that our children are learning about at school.”
The trio has recently set up a stall outside Brixton tube station and another one outside Stratford tube station in a bid to reach as many people as they can and engage them about the importance of reading.
However their main location for the last 12 years has been in Seven Sisters, north London.
Before becoming involved with books, the three men sold educational DVDs outside Seven Sisters tube station.  Among the titles they sold were the acclaimed documentary series Hidden Colors by Tariq Nasheed and films about influential figures such as Malcolm X.

New York City to Pay $4.1 Million to Family of Akai Gurley

By goodblacknews on August 16, 2016
12LIANG3-1455243207109-articleLarge
Akai Gurley’s family, including his mother, Sylvia Palmer, center, after Officer Peter Liang was found guilty of manslaughter in February. (BRYAN R. SMITH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

article by Niraj Chokshi via nytimes.com

New York City has agreed to pay more than $4 million to the family of Akai Gurley, the unarmed man killed in a Brooklyn housing project in 2014 by a police officer on patrol, according to a lawyer for Mr. Gurley’s family.

The city will pay the bulk of the settlement, $4.1 million, said Scott Rynecki, who represents Mr. Gurley’s domestic partner, Kimberly Ballinger, and their 4-year-old daughter, Akaila Gurley. The New York City Housing Authority will pay an additional $400,000, and the officer, Peter Liang, will pay $25,000, Mr. Rynecki said.

The settlement, reported by The Daily News, was finalized on Monday afternoon by Justice Dawn M. Jimenez-Salta of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, after two months of negotiations. Efforts to reach a lawyer for Mr. Liang and the city’s Law Department late Monday were unsuccessful.

Mr. Gurley was killed on Nov. 20, 2014, by a ricocheting bullet fired by Mr. Liang, who was on a night patrol in a dark stairwell in the Louis H. Pink Houses in the East New York neighborhood.

To read full article, go to: nytimes.com/2016/08/16/nyregion/new-york-city-to-pay-4-1-million-to-family-of-akai-gurley.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=1&referer=https://t.co/SpMejO12oM