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Jay Z Buys Armand de Brignac "Ace of Spades" Champagne

By goodblacknews on November 6, 2014
(Photo: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)
Jay Z is officially in the champagne business. The rap mogul has purchased luxury spirits brand Armand de Brignac, whose gold bottle he helped make iconic in his 2006 video “Show Me What You Got.”
New York-based Sovereign Brands said Wednesday it sold its interest in  — better known as Ace of Spades after the image on its bottle — to a new unnamed company led by Jay Z. “We are proud to announce that Sovereign Brands, a New York-based wine and spirits company owned by the Berish family, has sold its interest in the Armand de Brignac (‘Ace of Spades’) Champagne brand to a new company led by the globally renowned Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter,” the company said in a statement.
The bubby, which starts at $300 a bottle, is served in the luxury suites at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets (Jay used to be a co-owner of the NBA team). The Roc Nation boss and his wife, Beyoncé, also had a custom-designed, 18-foot-tall tower of the champagne served at a 2012 fundraiser for President Obama that took place at Jay’s 40/40 Club.
Jay got behind Ace of Spades after he boycotted rival Cristal over its decision to distance itself from its hip hop clientele.
article by Evelyn Diaz via bet.com

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Joins U.S. Ambassador Malac to Dedicate New 25-Bed Field Hospital for Healthcare Workers

By goodblacknews on November 5, 2014
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President Sirleaf, U.S. Ambassador Malac and a U.S army commander chat following a tour of the 25-bed field hospital for health workers. (Photo:  Adama B. Thompson / Executive Mansion)

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf joined U.S. Ambassador Deborah Malac to dedicate a newly constructed 25-bed field hospital to be used solely for the treatment of healthcare workers who may become infected by the Ebola virus disease.

The construction of the field hospital was financed by the U.S. government and implemented jointly by the U.S. military and the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL).
The dedication of the facility took place in Charlesville, Liberia, near the Roberts International Airport in Margibi County today.
Speaking during the ceremony, President Sirleaf described the United States as a partner which recognizes and responds to the needs of the Liberian people and that the fruit of the partnership reaches out to the people it is meant to benefit.
The Liberian leader praised healthcare workers for their sacrificial services to the country and its people by confronting a disease they knew very little about and expressed happiness that those of them who may be infected can now receive quality care and treatment with a high hope of survival.

Chadwick Boseman to Star in Thriller "Message From the King"

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2014
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman (JASON KEMPIN/GETTY IMAGES)

Before he suits up to play Marvel’s Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman will star as a man seeking vengeance in the Ink Factory and EOne thriller “Message From the King.”
Fabrice Du Welz is set to direct from a script by Stephen Cornwell and Oliver Butcher. The movie follows a man from South Africa who comes to Los Angeles to avenge the death of his sister.
Boseman’s star has been on a fast rise after he logged starring roles in the Jackie Robinson biopic “42” and played music legend James Brown this year in “Get On Up.” His lead role in Marvel’s upcoming “Black Panther” will further boost his profile.  Boseman will next be seen in “Gods of Egypt.”
article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com

Jamie Foxx to Star in Ensemble Gangster Drama "The Trap"

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2014
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx (DAVE M. BENETT/WIREIMAGE)

According to Variety.com, Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx has agreed to star in ensemble gangster drama “The Trap,” the latest project from “Spring Breakers” director Harmony Korine.  Korine will write and direct the feature, which the controversial filmmaker behind “Kids” and “Trash Humpers” has described as “his most ambitious film to date.”
Plot details on “The Trap” are being kept under wraps. The revenge film is expected to shoot early next year in Miami.  Following the success of of his last project, “Spring Breakers,” which earned Korine and star James Franco critical acclaim, more A-list talent is expected to come aboard the gangster drama, especially after Foxx’s commitment.
Foxx, who last appeared in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” has two holiday films opening this year: “Horrible Bosses 2″ at Thanksgiving and Sony’s “Annie” reboot, opening December 19.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

Election Day: Have You Voted? #AllVotesMatter #BlackVotesMatter

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2014

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Just a quick reminder if you haven’t found a moment to make it to the polls yet today, there’s still time!  GBN Lifestyle/Sports Editor Lesa Lakin and I have taken the #blackwomenvote initiative seriously and hit the polls already – fortunately we had good weather – we hope you can find time to do the same if you haven’t already.  Voting is important… as our history and the poster below remind us:

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If you don’t like your local, state or federal laws or officials, get out there and help foster change by making your voice heard.  If you’re not sure where your polling place is, click here to enter your address and find out!

Onward and upward, together!
Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

OPERA: South African Isango Ensemble Reimagines Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at New Victory Theater

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2014
Pauline Malefane, foreground, of the Isango Ensemble in a reimagining of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” at the New Victory Theater. (EMON HASSAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

Less glockenspiel, more drumming! A very different sort of “The Magic Flute” took the stage at the New Victory Theater on Sunday afternoon in front of an attentive and appreciative family audience. This two-hour adaptation of Mozart’s fairy tale opera was presented under the Xhosa title “Impempe Yomlingo” by the South African Isango Ensemble, a company that recruits performers from townships in the Cape Town area and presents classics from the Western canon in an updated, African context.

But perhaps “updated” isn’t quite the right word: In the program notes, the show’s director, Mark Dornford-May, relates a myth from the Tsonga tradition about the andlati birds that live high in the mountains and cause terrifying storms and lightning. Only a hero brave enough to seek them out with a magic flute can appease them and avert destruction.
“The story may never have reached Mozart, but the similarities are fascinating nonetheless,” Mr. Dornford-May writes. “Who knows? Maybe one of the greatest pieces of European opera had its roots and inspiration in a South African folk tale.”
Certainly, few productions can match the colorful exuberance and pulsating energy of this “Flute,” or field as versatile a cast as this, in which every member sings, dances and drums. The bare set evokes a township square. The traditional orchestra is replaced by eight marimbas, supplemented by an array of percussion, including djembes, oil barrels, hand clapping and — standing in for Papageno’s glockenspiel — suspended water bottles of graduated pitches. Tamino’s flute is a trumpet, played with jazzy vigor by Mandisi Dyantyis, the ensemble’s co-music director and conductor.
The vocal performances were a testament to South Africa’s deep pool of singing talent. The notes were all there — Pauline Malefane courageously scaled the heights of the Queen of the Night’s arias; Mhlekazi Mosiea was a dignified Tamino; Ayanda Eleki, a proud, patriarchal Sarastro — even if there were times when they audibly strained the limits of the singers’ technique. But the cast offered portrayals with ample personality and charisma, among them Zolina Ngejane’s superfeisty Pamina and Zamile Gantana’s bon-vivant Papageno.
But this African “Flute” is, above all, a story of community, and the music, too, is at its most convincing where it draws on South Africa’s glorious choral tradition. If that means taking liberties with Mozart’s score, fine: Tamino’s taming of Monostatos and his posse of slaves suffers no injury by the infusion of a bit of calypso rhythm. The celebrations that greet Sarastro’s first appearance — complete with ululating women — are a jubilant riot.
The communal aspect also raises the stakes for the lovers’ trials, which are presented as a series of tribal initiation rites, with Tamino’s face painted white, like that of a tribal youngster embarking on a circumcision ritual. In traditional productions, this is often the part of the opera where the tension slackens, but in this post-apartheid setting, the young people’s quest for dignity, wisdom and reconciliation is shown to be of vital importance to everyone.

“The Magic Flute” continues through Sunday at the New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan; 646-223-3010, newvictory.org.

article by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim via nytimes.com

Celebrities Support The "Powered By Breakfast NYC" and "No Kid Hungry" Campaign – You Can Too!

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2014

Government Assistance Programs Aid Underprivileged Communities In New York State
All children in America deserve a good breakfast. It’s hard to argue with that idea, right? Well, 1 in 5 children in New York City alone struggles with hunger. Thankfully, according to act.mtv.com, the No Kid Hungry campaign is pulling in some big-name supporters for “Powered by Breakfast NYC.”
Watch how NYC children are affected by this issue:
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The “Powered by Breakfast NYC” campaign hopes to pressure Mayor de Blasio to make breakfast part of the school day for all New York Public School students, which would essentially allow an additional 825,000 kids in the city to start the day with a healthy, nutritious meal.
Some Hollywood celebrities got involved: Jeff Bridges, Amanda Seyfried, Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, and Sarah Hyland all sent tweets to the mayor to ask him to support the “Powered by Breakfast NYC” campaign, and Bridges starred in a PSA to support the cause.
Although free breakfast is available in NYC right now, less than 25 percent of kids are actually eating the meal because it’s served in the cafeteria before the bell rings – when so many children are in transit to school.
And it’s not just their stomachs that will be affected by eating breakfast. Children who eat breakfast reportedly score “17.5% higher on math tests, attend 1.5 more days of school each year and are 20% more likely to graduate high school.”
So what changes can be made to make sure kids are getting the most important meal of the day? If breakfast is served when students get to class, as it is in the pilot program mentioned in the video above, it could service all students present. Schools could also look into getting a “grab-n-go” type of breakfast, which will allow students to grab the food from the cafeteria and eat it on the way to and in class, right after the bell rings.
You can learn more about the campaign here. To sign the petition to support the campaign, click here.  To donate or learn about other ways raise funds for NYC or your own local schools, click here.
article by Claire Biggs (additions by Lori Lakin Hutcherson)

GBN Giveaway: Three Lucky Readers to Receive Free Copies of "Who We Be: The Colorization of America"

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2014

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Good Black News is getting into the holiday spirit early — by giving away three copies of acclaimed author Jeff Chang‘s latest book, “Who We Be: The Colorization of America.”
In this follow-up to the classic “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation,” which garnered Chang an American Book Award, “Who We Be” remixes comic strips and contemporary art, campus protests and corporate marketing campaigns, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Trayvon Martin into a powerful, unusual, and timely cultural history of the idea of racial progress.
I am currently reading this impressive, comprehensive work (the section on African-American comic strip artist Morrie Turner alone is worth the read) and can’t wait to share more about it once I’m finished, but why wait for a GBN review and recommendation when you can get the book for free right away?
To enter, simply send your name and email address with the subject heading “Who We Be Giveaway” to goodblacknewsgiveaways@yahoo.com by Saturday, November 8.  We will choose three winners at random and announce their names on Monday.
Onward and Upward… and good luck!

Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Founder/Editor-In-Chief
Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Founder/Editor-In-Chief

 
 

UCLA Faculty Approves Diversity Class Requirement for Incoming Students in 2015

By goodblacknews on November 3, 2014

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The faculty of UCLA’s largest academic unit voted by a narrow margin to require future undergraduates to take a course on ethnic, cultural, religious or gender diversity. The move came after three previous efforts had failed.
Officials announced Friday that the faculty of the UCLA College of Letters and Science voted 332 to 303, with 24 blank ballots, to start the requirement for incoming freshmen in fall 2015 and new transfer students in 2017.
Two other faculty and administrative review panels still must approve the requirement before it can go into effect, but the recent college-wide vote was considered the most important step in a much-debated matter on the Westwood campus.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block was a strong proponent of such diversity classes, saying they would help prepare students to live and work in a multi-cultural society. Most other UC campuses and the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture already require such courses. The College of Letters and Science enrolls about 85% of UCLA’s undergraduates.
Opponents said students were overburdened with other requirements, particularly in the sciences, and said the budget-strapped university could not afford extra classes. Additional questions were raised about whether these classes improve ethnic relations and whether they typically skew left politically.
Similar proposals were rejected by the faculty three times in the last two decades. In 2012, the measure lost 224-175 in a vote that attracted only about 30% of potential ballots. More than 46% of the college faculty cast the online ballots in the current weeklong vote after much lobbying and student activism, officials said.
In a statement released Friday, Block said he was pleased by the faculty approval.
“A diversity-related course requirement for UCLA College undergraduates is an important component of our commitment to expose students to beliefs and backgrounds other than their own,” he said.
The courses are expected to  be offered by many academic departments, ranging from sociology to statistics, and students will be required to choose one for an academic quarter.
M. Belinda Tucker, UCLA psychiatry and biobehavioral professor who was a co-chair of the diversity initiative, said the requirement will be more broadly defined than at some other campuses because it will include courses on international topics, not just U.S. issues.
She noted that the courses will not make it harder to graduate since students can devote one of their electives to it and fulfill it with courses that also meet other requirements for their major or degree.
“I think it’s going to benefit the students and benefit the campus as a whole,” Tucker said.
article by Larry Gordon via latimes.com

Lupita Nyong'o Covers Glamour Magazine's Women of the Year 2014 Issue

By goodblacknews on November 3, 2014

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Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o has been on a roll in 2014; in February, the actress won an Oscar for “12 Years a Slave” and has subsequently been popping up on “best dressed” and “most beautiful” lists ever since, in addition to becoming a beauty ambassador for Lancome and landing a role in the upcoming “Star Wars” reboot by JJ Abrams.

Nevertheless, in her interview with Glamour magazine, she tells the magazine the attention she’s received has been overwhelming.  “Right now I’m still adjusting. I guess I feel catapulted into a different place; I have a little whiplash,” she said. “I did have a dream to be an actress, but I didn’t think about being famous. And I haven’t yet figured out how to be a celebrity; that’s something I’m learning, and I wish there were a course on how to handle it.”

She couldn’t even imagine what winning the Oscar would be like, she observed.

“I don’t think I will ever be able to really articulate how bizarre it was to hear my name at the Academy Awards. I’d watched in my pajamas the year before!” she said. “I felt numb — dazed and confused. I remember feeling light — weightless. More like limbo than cloud nine.”

Nyong’o, who was born in Mexico of Kenyan parents, mentions that she didn’t know success on this level would be possible for a woman with darker skin.  For her, Oprah Winfrey wasn’t just a role model but a “reference point,” and seeing Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg in “The Color Purple” was key to her belief that she could become successful.

She hopes she can have the same effect on people who see her.

“I’ve heard people talk about images in popular culture changing, and that makes me feel great, because it means that the little girl I was, once upon a time, has an image to instill in her that she is beautiful, that she is worthy,” she said. “Until I saw people who looked like me, doing the things I wanted to, I wasn’t so sure it was a possibility.”

The December issue of Glamour will be available on newsstands November 11.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)