If there’s one football player who had the world cheering for his family from the sidelines this year, it’s Devon Still. The former Cincinnati Bengals player let the world know that his daughter, Leah, has no evidence of cancer.
Lesa Lakin*
Today, as promised, goodblacknews.org(GBN) brings you more gift ideas for the holidays.
On Day 2 we turn to women’s rain boots. We found these practical-yet-stylish versions of the conventional boot great for her.
I haven’t had the chance to wear mine yet… but gotta say… I love them already. On sale now, the leopard is a great buy.
Rev. Al Sharpton and Spike Lee (STEPHEN LOVEKIN/VARIETY/REX SHUTTERSTOCK)
The fact that Chicago’s police superintendent was fired hours before the premiere of Spike Lee’s latest feature, “Chi-Raq,” only reinforced the timeliness of the movie’s message about the senselessness of gun violence and racial discrimination. And instead of an after-party, Lee led many attendees out of Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Theater on a march down Broadway to Times Square.
The movie, the first feature produced by Amazon Studios, is a loose adaptation of the ancient Greek drama “Lysistrata.” In Lee’s telling, a group of determined women in Chicago band together to demand that their husbands and lovers put down their weapons, or lose their intimate privileges.
“It was great in 411 B.C. — it’ll work today,” Lee said of the source material Tuesday night. “This film is about changing lives.”
Chicago is among the big U.S. cities that is suffering through a spike in violence and homicides, particularly among African-Americans. Protests have rocked the city in the past few days following the release of a video showing the police shooting a 17-year-old black teenager some 16 times last year. Lee said he hoped “Chi-Raq” would help inspire others to “work harder to make America safer.” Kevin Willmott, who co-wrote the script with Lee, said the events of the day made for a “surreal” experience at the premiere. The movie was shot in Chicago last summer over a six-week period, which allowed cast members to see first-hand the issues depicted in the story. Chicago is the “epicenter” of violence at present but these issues are hardly isolated to one city, Willmott said. “It’s an American problem,” he noted. “It’s about guns, it’s about race, it’s about jobs. There’s nothing new about the problem.”
“Blackish” star and NAACP Image Awards Host Anthony Anderson
The NAACP and TV One announced today that Anthony Anderson has signed a multi-year deal to continue as host for the 47th and 48th NAACP Image Awards. The 47th NAACP Image Awards will be nationally telecast live on TV One on Friday, February 5, 2016 as a two-hour special from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The live telecast will also include a one-hour live pre-show from the star-studded red carpet.
“I look forward to the NAACP Image Awards each year! The NAACP Image Awards always delivers an epic evening with the best of the best across film, TV, music, and literature,” said Anderson. “It is a privilege and honor to be asked back to host for the next two years – there is no doubt that this year’s show is going to be magnificent. I may even have a few surprises up my sleeves!”
Anthony Anderson currently executive produces and stars alongside Tracee Ellis Ross and Laurence Fishburne on the hit ABC series “Black-ish,” for which he won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. He has also earned Emmy and People’s Choice Award nominations for his role in the series. Anderson can next be seen in “Barbershop 3: The Next Cut.”
As previously announced, Reginald Hudlin and Phil Gurin have signed a three-year deal to continue as executive producers for the NAACP Image Awards.
For all information and latest news, visit the official NAACP Image Awards website at http://www.naacpimageawards.net. article by Tambay A. Obenson via Shadow and Act
Trans girl Ellie, 4, and her dad, Ron (photo: Jill Promoli)
Vanessa, a teacher in Washington DC, and her husband Ron are experts now in how trans kids should be treated. But they had to learn fast, when they realized their four-year-old daughter, Ellie, is transgender.
They are a family rooted in strong values. Vanessa’s parents lived the ultimate love story – meeting young, falling in love and spending their whole lives together. Ron’s parents were also in love, but the family had to deal with tragedy. When Ron was 10, his dad died of brain cancer.
‘The emotional scars were still deep, knowing my dad was no longer living. So, when I met Vanessa and thought about raising a family, I really wanted to ensure she and our kids were what I focused on – my role as a husband and dad. They came first,’ he told me.
Their son, Ronnie, was born first. Ellie was due 18 months later.
‘We had an amniocentesis and found out the “sex,” but at the time we really didn’t think about sex and gender being different. We pretty immediately formed a family identity as “Vanessa and Ron with two small boys.”’
The amnio did not tell the truth about Ellie, however. The packaging was misleading. As soon as she was able to speak, Ellie set about clarifying who she was to her parents. ‘I’m not a boy. I am a girl. I’m a girl in my heart and my brain. My penis is my only boy part. The whole rest of me is girl,’ she would explain to them out of the blue, without prompting.
Vanessa was disturbed when she witnessed Ellie trying to fight her own inner truth. Ellie would lie in bed at night, unable to sleep, poking her chest and attempting to convince herself of something she was told but did not believe: ‘Boy, boy, boy! I have to be a boy! I have to like Power Rangers!’
Witnessing this struggle, Vanessa and Ron knew it was time for them to transition. Their daughter had spoken, and they had to listen.
Ellie had already rejected the name she had been given at birth. She had been okay with it until she realized people would see her as a boy if she used it. So she informed her parents that she was ‘Ellie.’
The results of Vanessa and Ron’s full acceptance of Ellie was dramatic. ‘She blossomed, became happier and just seemed more herself,’ Vanessa says. ‘We have a happy, silly, strong-willed, outgoing daughter. Before her transition, she was mostly quiet, shy, sometimes angry and certainly not outgoing.
‘At the forefront of parenting is ensuring the happiness and safety of your children. It was clear that by not listening to her, we’d be putting her at risk, and that is not something we were willing to do.’
Ron and Vanessa then did the incredible; not only did they not hide what was going on in their family, they built a new community consciousness around their child.
Lesa Lakin
This month on Goodblacknews.org, we’ve got 31 days of gift ideas, likes, wants and have to haves. We are easing into the holiday spirit, so here are a couple of items to get you started.
Let’s talk men’s sneaks. With a wink to the 80’s & 90’s, these picks provide a modern spin on some timeless classics. Here are a couple of everyday options for a stepped-up casual style:
ENVIROAg Science, Inc. founders and leaders, The Lynn Family
One of the nation’s largest black-owned companies, ENVIRO AgScience, Inc., is celebrating 30 years of business. The family-owned business has grown from a mom-and-pop landscaping business into a $29 million-dollar construction management and commercial landscaping firm.
In addition to its Columbia, South Carolina, headquarters, ENVIRO has offices in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles and is looking to expand its offerings globally. The company is ranked No. 92 on the 2015 BE 100s Industrial/Services List.
ENVIRO is best known for building schools and community centers in the Columbia area, but has also been involved in military structures, jails, mess halls, warehouses, and historic, municipal and airport renovations throughout Georgia and North and South Carolina. Currently, ENVIRO is part of the team helping to build a new minor league baseball stadium, Spirit Communications Park, completing bond referendum projects with the Richland County Recreation Commission and annual grounds maintenance for Richland Two School District. ENVIRO began as a commercial lawn care business that has grown into a full-service construction and landscape company servicing government, military, schools and universities, along with private sector firms. It was founded by Louis B. Lynn in 1985 after a successful career at one of the nation’s largest agrichemical companies. With a legacy of business excellence and ownership, including his grandfather, who owned a grocery store and his father, who ran a butcher shop, Lynn also chose the path of entrepreneurship. Lynn has parlayed a ‘golden handshake’ from Monsanto Corporation into a multi-generational, black-owned business.
Earlier this year, ENVIRO executed its succession plan and Lynn assumed the role of chairman, leaving his children to manage daily operations and strategy of the family’s construction management and commercial landscape firm. Now it is the next generation, Lynn’s children, who are spearheading plans to make ENVIRO a multinational company. His daughters Adrienne Lynn Sienkowski, 41 and an engineer, is chief operating officer, and Krystal Conner, 38 and a pharmacist, is CEO. His son, Bryan Lynn, 30, is a facilities manager.
“Creed” stars Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan (COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.)
Rocky Balboa is so synonymous with Philadelphia that the “City of Brotherly Love” erected a statue to memorialize the steps that the fictional boxer bounds up as part of his iconic training routine.
Well, actually the statue, with its portrait of the pugilist flinging his hands triumphantly in the air, was created for a scene in “Rocky III” and donated to Philadelphia by Sylvester Stallone, but at this point it has become such a symbol of the city’s working class spirit that its origins are almost superfluous.
That close bond between city and subject played out at the box office this weekend with the debut of “Creed,” which finds Balboa coaching the illegitimate son (Michael B. Jordan) of his former nemesis Apollo Creed. The picture, which took in an outstanding $42.6 million over its first five days in theaters, is over-indexing in Philadelphia by a massive 72%.
“Philadelphia is on fire and it has been since opening day,” said Jeff Goldstein, a distribution executive vice president at Warner Bros., the studio that is distributing the film.
Two of the top five best-performing theaters, AMC Neshaminy and the AMC Cherry Hill, are from the Philadelphia area. Another local theater, Regal Riverview Plaza, cracked the top ten list of highest-grossing theaters. On most films, those lists are dominated by locations in New York and Los Angeles, Goldstein said.
“Creed” is doing well in those cities and is also performing strongly in major metropolitan areas like Chicago, Atlanta and Houston, playing particularly well in communities with large Hispanic and African-American presences.
It’s not uncommon for films to do well in the places where they are set. For instance, both “Spotlight” and “Black Mass,” two fall releases that play up their Boston backdrops, did very well in the city when they debuted.
In the case of “Creed,” Philadelphia is almost a supporting character. The film recreates that run up the steps, features local landmarks such as South Philly’s Italian Market and plays up the fictional Balboa’s status as a hometown hero.
“Philadelphia is a part of all of the film’s DNA, so it makes sense it would play well there,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Rentrak. “When the heart of the movie is a certain geographical location, it usually does well there.” article by Brent Lang via Variety.com
Chris Brown and daughter Royalty (photo via Instagram)
In a stroke of marketing (and altruistic) genius, singer Chris Brown has pledged to donate $1 from the sale of every copy of his upcoming album “Royalty” to a children’s charity.
He made the announcement via video on Instagram where he said, “The holidays are all about giving back, so this Christmas, from now until Christmas, if you order the album, pre-order the album, one dollar of every album sold will go to Children’s Miracle Network Hospital”
“So please do your part. Give back, return it for the holidays,” he added. Royalty, which is named after his daughter, is available to pre-order now.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-nGr9ePpSF/ article by Blue Telusma via thegrio.com
Dwyane Wade (l) and Laquan McDonald (r) [photo via bet.com]
Dwyane Wade created a memorial for Laquan McDonald the one place he knew everyone would look. The Miami Heat player etched the slain Chicago teen’s name into his game day sneakers, along with the hashtags “#Chicago” and “#Justice.”
It was a simple yet powerful way to honor the 17-year-old, who was shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in October 2014. Van Dyke was charged with first degree murder last week after dash-cam footage revealed the grisly details behind McDonald’s death.
While many have taken to the streets to protest, Wade — a Chicago native — recognized that his feet gain special attention during games and would make a fitting place for a tribute.
