Press "Enter" to skip to content

Good Black News

Jamie Foxx, Kevin Hart and Tim Story Team Up for "Black Phantom"

By goodblacknews on March 11, 2014
Jamie Foxx, Kevin Hart and Tim
Shareif Ziyadat/FilmMagic
Jamie Foxx and Kevin Hart are in talks to star in Screen Gems’ Black Phantom, with Ride Along helmer Tim Story in discussions to direct.  If a deal makes, the film would re-team Hart and Story with their Ride Along producer Will Packer, who is producing the pic along with Will Gluck. Packer has long wanted to do the film and, after the success of Ride Along and Foxx’s interest to work with Hart, the project seemed like the perfect match for all four men.
Story follows a double-crossed mob hitman who enlists the help of the Black Phantom, the same African-American hitman who had been sent to kill him.  Dave Lease and Megan Hinds wrote the original screenplay. Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper will oversee the project for the studio.
Foxx has been a favorite of Sony’s for some time, with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the Annie reboot bowing this year. Given Hart’s recent box office winning streak, the pairing could be a huge win for Screen Gems.  Hart currently can be seen in Screen Gems’ About Last Night.
article by Justin Kroll via Deadline.com

Malik Yoba Joins Fox Drama Pilot "Empire"

By goodblacknews on March 11, 2014

yobaMalik Yoba is set to co-star opposite Terrence Howard in Fox’s hip-hop industry drama pilot Empire, from Lee Daniels, Danny Strong and Brian Grazer. It centers on Lucious Lyon (Howard), a charismatic, savvy music superstar who is about to take his company, Empire Entertainment, public. Yoba, repped by Innovative and the Arlook Group, will play Vernon Turner, Lucious’s longtime friend from the streets and business associate who is now the chairman of the board of Empire Entertainment.
article by Nellie Andreeva via Deadline.com

USC Alums Eloise and Carlton Blanton Endow Scholarship for Future Principals

By goodblacknews on March 9, 2014
Carlton (PhD ’87) and Eloise (BA ’64) Blanton (Photo/Kathy Christie)

Eloise and Carlton Blanton love to share memories – with many details and specifics –of the principals and school leaders that mentored them throughout their two extraordinary careers as educators.  She recalls Joe Bethel, principal at Loma Vista, who told her to “speak up!”  She speaks lovingly of Carrie Haynes, then in the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) regional office, who encouraged her to pursue a principalship.  Carlton remembers his basketball coach at Cal State Los Angeles, Saxson C. Elliott, who later became a department chair and gave Carlton his first teaching job at Cal State LA.
In many ways, those memories led them to give a gift which will prepare a new generation of school leaders to be just as impactful.
The Dr. Carlton and Eloise Blanton Endowed Scholarship at USC Rossier School of Education will specifically support students who aspire to be school principals.  The Blanton’s generous gift of $160,000 to USC Rossier will support the studies of students who, as the Blantons put it, “have resiliency, bounce back from adversity, are good listeners, and are highly motivated.”  The Blantons care deeply about supporting those students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford a USC education.  “We have always wanted to do this,” they say.
Because for these two – who refer to one another as “my best friend” – their lives together and as educators were greatly shaped by USC.  Eloise Blanton is a hometown girl, whose father owned property in USC’s neighborhood.  Carlton is Texas born and raised, and for the key high school years, he pretty much raised himself.  He moved with his parents to Southern California in 9th grade but, not feeling challenged in his new school, convinced them he could go back to Texas alone.  From the age of 14, he lived on his own in the house they had left behind and went to school, graduating #2 in his high school class at age 16.

How Former Youth Gun Toter Camiella Williams Became a Gun Reform Activist

By goodblacknews on March 9, 2014

camiellaCamiella Williams grew up in a violent neighborhood in Chicago and bought herself a gun for $25 when she was in sixth grade. Tired of all the death and pain around her, Camiella has changed her life and is now working toward peace.

As an activist and gun reform advocate, the 26-year-old speaks about the ways people can reduce gun violence. She told MTV Act about her background, the reality of the underground market for guns and ways that our generation can truly make a difference.

ACT: You grew up around violence and were used to it. What experiences changed your views on gun violence and inspired you to make a difference?

CAMIELLA: My personal stories changed my views. I have been affected by gun violence directly and indirectly. I’ve lost loved ones to gun violence, and I’ve seen violence. My home was shot up before. My neighbors upstairs were shot and killed. The blood was still on my porch. Seeing all this is what made me want to make a difference. I got tired of going to funerals. I got tired of crying and living in sorrow. That’s basically what it was: You go to a funeral every other week.

ACT: Many people are unaware of the underground market for guns. Can you tell us a bit about it?

CAMIELLA: In the community I grew up in — Englewood, on the south side of Chicago — guns are very accessible because they were selling them in hole-in-wall restaurants and hole-in-a-wall apartments and unnamed convenient stores. If you want a gun, you can get a gun. You don’t have to have a FOID [Firearms Owners Identification] card, you don’t have to be 18 or 21. If you say, “Hey, I want a gun,” and you know somebody who can get you a gun, they’ll get it for you. 

Camiella 4

ACT: Some people feel that gun reform would infringe on their Second Amendment rights. What are your thoughts on this?

CAMIELLA: Gun reform will not infringe on Second Amendment rights. First you have to think about our rights to live in peace and be happy. The issue that people do not understand is that in order for these guns to become illegal, they were once legal. Meaning that someone — a straw purchaser [someone who buys a gun for someone else who can’t legally buy them or doesn’t want their name tracked] or a gun dealer — went and bought these guns and brought them back to the community and is there selling them. They look at it as, “You shot somebody? I sold you the gun, yeah, so what? You shoot somebody, that’s on you.”

For example, in 2006, Starkesia Reed was shot and killed in Englewood. Her shooter went to a gun dealer and bought an AK-47 [an assault rifle originally made for the military] for $150. He shot up the block and a bullet ending up going through her eye. When I went to court with the family of Starkesia Reed, the gun dealer testified, “Yeah, I sold him the AK-47.” And that was it. He knew [the killer’s] I.D. was fake, there wasn’t a thorough background check. He knew he didn’t look like a hunter, but he sold him the gun anyway. And now we have an innocent 14-year-old girl dead. The gun dealers are not being held accountable.

Tonight, President Obama Introduces the Premiere Episode of Fox’s "Cosmos"

By goodblacknews on March 9, 2014

neil degrasse tyson
Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Earlier we told you about the reboot of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey hosted by astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, which begins airing tonight at 9p/8c on Fox and other Fox Networks Group channels including National Geographic, FX and Nat Geo Mundo.
President Obama will help launch the show with a video message at the beginning of the first broadcast tonight.  The president, according to a release, will be inviting “a new generation to embrace the spirit of discovery and inspires viewers to explore new frontiers and imagine limitless possibilities for the future.”
A screening of the series was held on February 28 at the White House as part of the first-ever White House Student Film Festival.
The launch of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a reboot of Carl Sagan’s is the first multi-network effort for Fox Networks Group, which includes Fox International Channels and National Geographic Channels International, which means that the President’s introduction and the series premiere will be available on 220 channels in 181 countries, which is more than half a billion homes, reports TheWrap.
Viewers have a second chance to catch each episode at 10pm Monday on National Geographic, with added behind-the-scenes and other bonus footage.
article via eurweb.com

Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Buy Film Rights to WWI Graphic Novel "The Harlem Hellfighters"

By goodblacknews on March 8, 2014
Harlem Hellfighter Book Cover - P 2014

Sony has picked up rights to The Harlem Hellfighters, Max Brooks‘ upcoming graphic novel based on the true story of an African American WWI Army infantry unit.  Caleeb Pinkett and James Lassiter will produce for Overbrook Entertainment.  Hitting stores on April 1st via Broadway Books, The Harlem Hellfighters is based on the Army’s 369th infantry division, an African-American unit fighting in Europe during World War I. Breaking down racial barriers, the unit spent more time in combat than any other American unit, never losing a foot of ground to the enemy, or a man to capture, and went on to win countless decorations.
Though they returned to the U.S. as heroes, the unit faced tremendous discrimination, even from their own government. The story chronicles their journey from the enlistment lines in Harlem to the training camp at Spartanburg, South Carolina, to the trenches in France.  The graphic novel was illustrated by Caanan White. Brooks will also adapt the script.
Brooks, the son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, wrote the book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, which was adapted for Paramount’s Brad Pitt-starring film that grossed $202 million domestically and $540 million worldwide. A sequel is currently in development.
article by Rebecca Ford and Borys Kit via hollywoodreporter.com

Bill Whitaker Named "60 Minutes" Correspondent, 2nd African-American in Show History

By goodblacknews on March 8, 2014

Bill Whitaker of CBS News becomes only the
Bill Whitaker of CBS News becomes only the second African-American correspondent in the history of “60 Minutes,” after Ed Bradley. (Credit: CBS)

Bill Whitaker, a veteran CBS News reporter, has been named a 60 Minutes correspondent, becoming only the second African-American correspondent in the show’s history, after Ed Bradley, who died in 2006.
In a statement, Jeff Fager, 60 Minutes executive producer and chairman of CBS News said, “Bill Whitaker is one of the great veterans of CBS News. He has had a distinguished career covering just about every kind of story all over the world. Bill is a natural fit at ’60 Minutes’ and it’s exciting that he has agreed to join us.”
A Philadelphia native, Whitaker joined CBS in 1984, later reporting from Atlanta, and then in the network’s Tokyo bureau where he covered the uprising at Tiananmen Square. He was later lead reporter on George Bush’s 2000 campaign, and Mitt Romney’s 2008 run. Based in Los Angeles since 1992, he has also been a frequent contributor to Sunday Morning.
Bradley, another Philadelphia native, and a 26-year veteran of 60, was among television news’ respected and honored correspondents over his long run at CBS.
(By the way, this question may come up so just to answer: Byron Pitts, who has appeared on 60 Minutes numerous times, was not officially a “correspondent” for the show, but a contributor – the difference is considerable. There have been many “contributors” to 60 over the years, but very very few 60 Minutes correspondents.)
article by Verne Gay via newsday.com

African-American Aviation Pioneer Charles Alfred Anderson Sr. to Be Honored by U.S. Postal Service

By goodblacknews on March 7, 2014

In a significant move that brings to the forefront African-American aviation pioneers, the first-ever U.S. postal stamp honoring Tuskegee Airmen is due to be issued this month.  The definitive stamp, which immortalizes aviation trailblazer Charles Alfred Anderson, Sr., goes on sale nationwide March 13.
The 70-cent, First-Class Mail, two-ounce rate stamp, by artist and illustrator Sterling Hundley, will be unveiled next Thursday at a dedication ceremony at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.
It is part of the Distinguished Americans series, which since 2000 has honored people such as actor José Ferrer, athlete Wilma Rudolph, and scientist Jonas Salk. The Chief Anderson stamp is the fifteenth in the series.
C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson, also known as the “father of black aviation” was selected because he was “a pioneer in aviation who played a crucial role during World War II in training the nation’s first black military pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen,” says USPS regional spokesman Ray V. Daiutolo Sr.
In fact, when Anderson earned his air transport license in 1932, he was the only black American in the country qualified to serve as a flight instructor or to fly commercially. Later he because the first-ever American to successfully land an airplane in the Bahamas.

Army Aviator First Lt. Demetria Elosiebo Becomes DC National Guard's 1st African-American Female Pilot

By goodblacknews on March 6, 2014

size0-1
Army 1st. Lt. Demetria Elosiebo and Col. Gore inside a rotary wing helicopter at the D.C. National Guard. Elosiebo became the first African-American female aviator in the District of Columbia Army National Guard.

The District of Columbia National Guard celebrated the graduation of its first African-American female pilot.
First Lt. Demetria Elosiebo earned her Army aviator wings in February after completing Initial Entry Rotary Wing Flight School at Fort Rucker, Alabama.  “This is an extraordinary, historical event for us,” said Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, commanding general of the D.C. National Guard. “We’re extremely proud of Lt. Elosiebo. She’s a fine officer, and now, an Army aviator.”
Schwartz said every pilot who graduates from Fort Rucker’s rigorous aviator training course – male or female, regardless of their race or ethnicity – has accomplished something special.  He added that the military has moved well past the days when such accomplishments were unusual.  “The diversity of our armed forces is what makes us strong,” Schwartz said.
While completing the course is no cake walk, Elosiebo had a leg up on most other students at Fort Rucker. In her civilian career, she previously earned her FAA commercial pilots license and became a certified flight instructor.
size0Elosiebo follows in the path of the famous Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American fighter pilots. Before World War II, black pilots were barred from earning their wings in the Army Air Corps. The Pentagon’s rationale was that African-Americans could not be taught to fly. But after being forced to go through pilot training three times before being sent to the fight, they became the best of the best. In the bomber escort missions they flew in Europe, they never lost a bomber.
Elosiebo has a strong connection to the Tuskegee Airmen. She received one of her many scholarships from one of their association chapters, and they supported her when she began pursuing her private pilot’s license at age 19. In addition, she has worked with, and been mentored by these living legends, including Herbert Jones, who formed the first African-American-owned airline in the U.S.

Black College Students Launch Artistic Social Media Campaigns About Race

By goodblacknews on March 5, 2014
harvard_gtown_cover

Instead of growing Afros, staging riots or organizing sit-ins, this generation of protesters are crafting witty digital projects to rally themselves.  Back in November, several black students at the University of Michigan launched a social media campaign on Twitter, using the hashtag #BBUM, an acronym for “being black at the University of Michigan,” to describe their unique and often irritating experiences as black students at a predominantly white school. Among their frustrations were the usual: hearing how they gained admission because of affirmative action policies; not being “black enough” because they achieved excellent grades and “sounded white”; having to be the spokesmen and -women for black America in history class; or, on the other side of that spectrum, being ostracized because they weren’t acclimating to their new settings fast enough and instead were choosing to be rowdy, urban or culturally demonstrative on campus.
News of the campaign spread, and black students from peer schools like Cornell University and Duke University adopted the idea to articulate their own sentiments. But as is the norm for high-achieving students, these digital protests could no longer be contained in 140 characters and are now evolving beyond tweets. The black students at Harvard and Georgetown universities are kicking up the effort a few notches and incorporating a visual element into their respective demonstrations.
At Harvard, several black students took pictures of one another holding up signs with statements and questions that have been posed to them by their white peers (and, at times, by other black students). Their campaign is hosted on Tumblr and is promoted and shared using the #itooamharvard hashtag. There’s also an accompanying video production about the campaign that will premiere on March 7. The visuals are compelling narratives and all relate to race:
harvard_twerk
harvard_jayz
harvard_not_black

harvard_thug_ghetto