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Mom Chauncia Rogers Teaches 5 Year-Old Daughter Ava About Women in Black History Through Innovative Dress-Up Photo Project

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2015
Ava as Attorney General Loretta Lynch

According to the U.S. Department of Education, we learn most rapidly during the early years of childhood. More importantly, a child’s first five years are most critical to the development of security and self-confidence. To the black community, this simply suggests that we began teaching our children to take pride in who they are, our culture and our history at an early age.

It can be quite a challenge to find creative and effective methods when teaching young children about their ancestry. However, in February freelance journalist and copy editor Chauncia Boyd Rogers came up with a unique idea. She decided it was time to teach her 5-year-old daughter, Ava Noelle Rogers, about eminent woman in black history.

To ensure Ava retained the information, Chauncia decided to create a photo project implementing what Ava likes best…playing dress up. Chauncia dressed her daughter as several prominent black women and took pictures so that Ava would never forget the experience and she put them on Facebook.

NBCBLK contributor Alicia Hadley recently spoke with Chauncia and Ava about the details of their creative project.

AH: How did you come up with the idea?

Chauncia: I had a Timehop photo and it showed me and Ava in 2011 at our church’s Black History program. During that program, every week in February, one of the teens at church dressed as an historical [black] figure and did some sort of presentation as that figure. So I just wanted to borrow from that.

Ava as Josephine Baker
Ava as Josephine Baker

And Ava, she just really likes to repurpose things around the house. So I said, “I’m just going to use Ava’s simplicity-take things around the house and make them work for the pictures. And it will be a way for her to enjoy it.”

I wanted Ava to learn about black history. She didn’t participate in my church’s celebration in February 2011 because she had just turned one. But she turned five in December 2014 and I felt that at this age, she would be more receptive to the information.

Ava as poet Phillis Wheatley
Ava as poet Phillis Wheatley

I’m also from St. Louis. We just moved to Orlando about a year ago and Michael Brown was my niece’s cousin. He’s on her dad’s side of the family and so the entire situation is very close to home. My cousin and my aunt live on the street he was killed on. I grew up in Ferguson. I lived in Ferguson from age three to nine. I see what’s going on in St. Louis and right now a part of me is glad that I’m away in Orlando because it’s just traumatic and dramatic. But then a part of me wants to be out there doing what I can to help. I guess the situation in my hometown is another thing that inspired me. I just want Ava to know that she can be better, and that she can do better.

AH: There have been so many significant black women who have helped shape our society. How did you decide which women made the cut?

Kendrick Lamar Honored by California State Senate with "Generational Icon" Award

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2015

kendrick lamar senate floor
Kendrick Lamar continues to rack up just as much critical acclaim as he has album sales – the latest praise coming from the senate floor of his home state.
On Monday, the 27-year-old Grammy Award-winner received the “Generational Icon” award from California’s State Senate. The Compton native was introduced by State Senator Isadore Hall III and was honored for his ongoing efforts to address issues affecting his community and recognized for the music he’s produced that reflects these concerns.
“Being from the city of Compton and knowing the parks that I played at in the neighborhoods, I’ve always thought of how great the opportunity would be to give back to my community off of what I do in music,” he said. “So in order to do that from a city all the way to a state standpoint and have these young kids look at me at some type of inspiration it’s really an honor.”
Watch video of Lamar receiving California State Senate 35 District’s Generational Icon Award below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0K1VmAkPV8&w=560&h=315]
article via eurweb.com

Chicago Wins Bid to Host Barack Obama Presidential Library

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2015
Martin Nesbitt, chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation, announced on Tuesday that the library would be built in Chicago’s South Side. (Credit: Joshua Lott for The New York Times)

CHICAGO — Maybe the Obamas will never return to live in Chicago after the presidency is over, their global celebrity pulling them toward New York or Los Angeles and away from the unpretentious Midwest. But Chicagoans will always have this: As it was formally announced on Tuesday, their city will be home to his presidential library.

“His journey began on the South Side and now we know that it will come full circle with his library coming home to the South Side of Chicago,” an elated Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Tuesday at a ceremony here, where the Barack Obama Presidential Center, which is to include the library, museum and space for the president’s foundation, will be built.

But as Chicago officially notched a victory over New York and Hawaii, which were also contenders, it immediately turned to the next question: Where, exactly, on the South Side will the library be built?

The Obama Foundation says it is still undecided on the location and will make the announcement in roughly the next six to nine months. Two parks near the University of Chicago’s campus on the South Side are being considered for the library: Washington Park, a 380-acre space that borders several neighborhoods, including Washington Park and Hyde Park; and Jackson Park, which hugs both the neighborhood of Woodlawn and Lake Michigan, and is the site of the Museum of Science and Industry, a golf course, soccer fields and a children’s hospital. The transfer of about 20 acres where the library could be built was approved in February by the Chicago Park District.

City officials have trumpeted the project’s potential to give the South Side a much-needed influx of tourism, new jobs and economic development. (Credit: Joshua Lott for The New York Times)

The library will be built in a partnership with the University of Chicago, where President Obama once taught law, and could open by 2020 or 2021.  Amid the triumphant announcement and buoyant speeches by civic leaders, there are still concerns being raised by some people about the permanent loss of valuable parkland in a highly populated part of the city.

"Women on 20s" Organization Pushing U.S. Treasury to Replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2015
Harriet Tubman mock-up, provided by Women on 20s

A group that wants to kick Andrew Jackson off the $20 bill and replace him with a woman has, after months of collecting votes, chosen a successor: Harriet Tubman.
Tubman, an abolitionist who is remembered most for her role as a conductor in the “Underground Railroad,” was one of four finalists for the nod from a group of campaigners calling themselves “Women on 20s.” The campaign started earlier this year and has since inspired bills in the House and the Senate.
The other three finalists were former first lady and human rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt; civil rights figure Rosa Parks; and Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. Now that voters participating in the campaign have chosen Tubman, Women on 20s will bring a petition with the people’s choice to the White House.
“Our paper bills are like pocket monuments to great figures in our history,” Women on 20s Executive Director Susan Ades Stone said in an e-mailed statement. “Our work won’t be done until we’re holding a Harriet $20 bill in our hands in time for the centennial of women’s suffrage in 2020.”
In all, the group said, it has collected more than 600,000 votes for its campaign.  In Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Tubman was a “wonderful choice” for the bill, but stopped short of saying whether the President backs putting Tubman on the $20.
If the government agrees that it’s time to replace Andrew Jackson on the bill, its choice might not end up being Tubman. But the idea of putting a woman on America’s paper currency has attracted some notable support.
“Last week, a young girl wrote to me to ask why aren’t there any women on our currency,” President Obama said in a July speech in Kansas City, before the launch of the Women on 20s voting campaign. “And then she gave me a long list of possible women to put on our dollar bills and quarters and stuff — which I thought was a pretty good idea.”

Stephanie Mills Returning to "The Wiz" for NBC’s Live Broadcast this December

By goodblacknews on May 11, 2015

Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Mills will ease on down to NBC’s upcoming musical adaptation of “The Wiz,” itself an African American musical adaptation of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
Mills played Dorothy in Broadway’s “The Wiz” in 1975 and in a 1984 revival, but will portray Aunti Em in NBC’s live broadcast of the play. The network is looking to find a newcomer to play Dorothy.
Stephanie Mills in The Wiz on Broadway
NBC announced in March that “The Wiz” would follow NBC’s previous live musical productions “The Sound of Music” and “Peter Pan.” But “The Wiz” will be the first to be co-produced by Cirque du Soleil’s new stage theatrical division, which will also help adapt the show for the Broadway stage.
The announcement was reportedly made at the Peacock network’s New York upfronts, and was later shared on Twitter by executive producer Craig Zadan.
The production will air on Dec. 3, with plans to bring it to the Broadway in the 2016-17 season.
article via eurweb.com

Tamir Rice’s Mom Out of Homeless Shelter, Thanks to Family and Crowdfunding

By goodblacknews on May 11, 2015

Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice- who was shot to death by a police officer - speak on a panel titled "The Impact of Police Brutality - The Victims Speak" at the National Action Network (NAN) national convention on April 8, 2015 in New York City.
Five months after her son Tamir was killed by the police in Cleveland, Samaria Rice moved herself into a homeless shelter, unable to stay near the spot where her son was playing with a toy gun one minute, and lay dead the next.
But thanks to an assist from her family, Rice was recently able to relocate to a new house in the city, ABC5 reported.  “Emotionally, she just could not take it, and she had nowhere else to go,” Rice’s attorney Walter Madison told Cleveland Scene of Rice’s decision. “It was more comfortable for her in a shelter than it would have been in her own home.”
Due to delays in the criminal investigation, Rice continues to accrue additional legal expenses, which a GoFundMe campaign hopes to offset.
The police officers involved in the case have requested that the family put off its federal civil rights lawsuit . The officers are concerned their testimonies in the federal investigation may self-incriminate them in the criminal case, the New Republic reported.
Tamir’s relatives, however, have protested that request saying that delaying the lawsuit will cause their legal costs to surge and exacerbate their emotional pain, according to the Associated Press.
Tamir still has not been buried because the family is concerned that additional medical examinations could be required, according to the court motion.

article via eurweb.com

Black Unemployment Rate Hits Seven-Year Low

By goodblacknews on May 11, 2015

JobSeekingInterviewUnemployment620480The unemployment rate for black Americans fell below 10 percent in April, for the first time since the economic downfall in 2008.
During the recession, black unemployment had peaked at 16.8 percent in March 2010, while unemployment for whites was almost half that rate. This past April, the unemployment rate for African Americans dipped into the single digits category at 9.6 percent. While the latest data shows signs of improvement, it’s clear that an employment gap still exist between races. Despite the national unemployment rate falling to 5.4 percent, blacks in states like Illinois, Michigan, California and Pennsylvania face unemployment rates above 12 percent.
[Related: U.S. Applications for Unemployment Aid Hit 15-Year Low]
While some reports view education as the reason for the employment gap, data shows that 12.4 percent of black college graduates between the ages of 22 and 27 faced unemployment in 2013 whereas the national unemployment rate for college graduates in the same age range was 5.6 percent. The median weekly paycheck for a white college graduate last year was $1,132, versus $895 for a black college graduate.
With factors such as discrimination and workplace bias coming into play when considering the road to employment for blacks, the latest unemployment numbers are not only signs of progression but also proof that more work needs to be done.
article by Courtney Connley via blackenterprise.com

Have You Heard Prince's Song "Baltimore"? Check it Here (AUDIO)

By goodblacknews on May 10, 2015

As Prince gives a free “Rally 4 Peace” Mother’s Day concert in Baltimore to advocate for non-violent change, for those of us who can’t be there (or listen to the stream on Jay Z’s Tidal), here’s the song he was inspired to write for the occasion:

GBN Wishes You and Yours a Happy Mother's Day in 2015

By goodblacknews on May 10, 2015

AfricanAmericanMothers-1
To all the mothers, grandmothers, daughters and sons – may you have a wonderful day celebrating or being celebrated as the most important women in our lives. It may not always be easy, but it’s always worth it.  Happy Mother’s Day!

MamasDay.Org Offers Free, Diverse e-Cards for Mother's Day

By goodblacknews on May 9, 2015

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In its fifth year, Strong Families, an organization dedicated to supporting families that may not fall within traditional definitions, is offering free e-cards for Mother’s Day via mamasday.org.  As the website states:

We know that mamahood is not one size fits all. But most popular images of mothers exclude mamas based on their sexual orientation, race, income, immigration status and more. And Mothers Day, one of the biggest commercial holidays in the United States, often reinforces traditional ideas of family and motherhood that there’s only one way to be a family.

Each year, Strong Families commissions artists to create original art that reflects the various ways mamas and families look. The result is a collection of beautiful and unique cards that better reflect the families that exist in the 21st century.
Click the link above or here to send one!
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)