Kevin Hart, a proud Philadelphia native, is giving back to the city that raised him in the best way possible. After hearing of the financial crisis plaguing the City of Brotherly Love’s school district, the comedian decided to pony up $250K of his own money to support. Hart made the announcement via a video on Instagram. “Philadelphia, aka the city of brotherly love,” he began in the clip. “I just heard about all the trouble the school district is going through. So I took it upon myself to take $250,000 and put it in the school system to buy new computers. Not because somebody told me to, because I love you, and I put on for my city.”
Additionally, Hart tagged a heartfelt caption with the vid. “My city made me who I am today and for that I am thankful. I will make it my priority to help my city get out of this debt. PHILLY UNTIL I DIE,” read a portion of the message.”
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter thanked Hart for his philanthropic contribution in a statement, saying “I want to thank Kevin Hart for his incredibly generous gift to our schools, recreation centers and citizens of all ages. These computers will have a very meaningful impact on Philadelphia.” For context, over the summer, Philly closed 24 schools, laid off thousands of employees (including teachers, counselors, vice principals, and the like), and cut numerous extra curricular programs.
article by Chris Thomas via hiphopwired.com
Good Black News
Sweet Dreams, a documentary about efforts by the Brooklyn-based Blue Marble Ice Cream company to help a group of Rwandan women open their own shop, could have come off as insensitive or twee. And in the first 10 minutes, I worried that it was, indeed, about how artisanal food could save Africa.
When viewers are facing the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, in which hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were slaughtered in 1994, it’s easy to think that ice cream is a comparatively petty concern. But, thankfully, the sibling directors Lisa and Rob Fruchtman have made a nuanced and deftly edited film about a complex issue. It’s fascinating to see the natural resources in this “land of milk and honey” transformed into novelty and development through a soft-serve machine. And, as one man says, “If you are bringing development to the woman, you are bringing it to the whole family.” It is rare to see a movie present such weighty problems and offer nonsimplistic, practical solutions in story form.
Ms. Fruchtman’s background as an editor (Apocalypse Now and Heaven’s Gate) may have helped guide the skillful narrative structure here. The initial focus on the struggles and successes of a small business may be familiar to Western audiences. But then the individual past horrors endured by these women are revealed in subtle and dramatic ways, until we realize the weight of trauma in this nation. “Can someone just see you and start guessing your story?” one subject wonders.
article by Miriam Bale via nytimes.com
The rapper Nas made his first appearance at Harvard University on Thursday, not to perform but to give his blessing to a new fellowship in his name – formally, the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship. The fellowship will be awarded to two scholars or artists annually, chosen by a Harvard faculty committee. It is primarily a research fellowship, although Marcyliena Morgan, a professor of African and African American Studies and the founder and director of the Hip-Hop Archive and Research Institute, which will administer the fellowship, said on Friday that fellows could teach courses as well. The application process, she said, has just started.
“The main purpose of the fellowship,” Ms. Morgan said, “is to support people doing work that has to do with the ways hip-hop itself reaches out to youth through the world, and particularly how it brings together issues of social justice, art and politics. That relationship – and how difficult it can be – is an important aspect of what we’re looking at. Hip-hop has been a way of getting the word out in very difficult situations.”
The Pelagie Green Wren dancers continued to perform all over the city, including at the esteemed Kiel Opera House. Her students have later gone to Broadway. While Green-Wren was the first to join the chorus, the first black performers appeared on the Muny stage in 1930 in the production “Show Boat.”
The Muny Opera House is the oldest outdoor theater in the U.S. The venue opened its stage in 1916 with a production of “Aida”. Following the production of “Show Boat”, the opera house featured shows with all-black casts such as “Porgy and Bess”, “The Wiz” (1982) and “Ain’t Misbehavin”. There were also re-productions of “Hello, Dolly!” starring Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway and “Guys and Dolls” featuring stage legends Leslie Uggams and Richard Roundtree. Pelagie Green Wren passed away on September 19th. Her funeral was held yesterday in St. Louis, Mo. She was 71 years old.
article by Erica L. Taylor via blackamericaweb.com
The Muny Opera House is the oldest outdoor theater in the U.S. The venue opened its stage in 1916 with a production of “Aida”. Following the production of “Show Boat”, the opera house featured shows with all-black casts such as “Porgy and Bess”, “The Wiz” (1982) and “Ain’t Misbehavin”. There were also re-productions of “Hello, Dolly!” starring Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway and “Guys and Dolls” featuring stage legends Leslie Uggams and Richard Roundtree. Pelagie Green Wren passed away on September 19th. Her funeral was held yesterday in St. Louis, Mo. She was 71 years old.
article by Erica L. Taylor via blackamericaweb.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker was sworn in as a Democratic senator from New Jersey on Thursday, taking the oath of office, exchanging hugs with Vice President Joe Biden and acknowledging the applause of friends and family members seated in the visitor’s gallery that rings the chamber. Booker became the second African American in the Senate, alongside Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Booker, 44, was elected to fill out the term of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died earlier this year. His first day in office was a busy one. Before taking the oath of office, he and his mother met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Minutes after being sworn in, he participated in his first roll call vote, supporting an attempt by Democrats to advance the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C. to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Booker also was to meet later in the day with President Barack Obama at the White House. Booker placed his hand on his own Bible as Biden led him in reciting the oath of office. His oath-taking gave Democrats control of 55 Senate seats, counting two held by independents. Republicans hold 45.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
On November 4, the Advancement Project, a multicultural civil rights organization, will team with pro bono legal counsel Arnold & Porter to challenge Wisconsin’s voter ID law for the first time in court since the controversial measure went into effect in 2011. Hearing the case will be U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, and looming heavily is the controversial Supreme Court decision in June that struck down the pre-clearance protections of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
“As the leading democracy of the world, the U.S. should work to keep our voting system free, fair, and accessible to all Americans,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda Hair. “Yet we are witnessing the greatest assault on voting rights in decades.” From Advancement Project’s press release regarding the impending court case, the group alleges that Wisconsin is blatantly disenfranchising voters.
According to figures provided by the Advancement Project, a staggering 28,000 African-Americans and 12,000 Hispanic voters nationwide do not possess a driver’s license or state-issued ID. Those numbers show 16 percent are African-Americans and 24.8 percent are Hispanics; the disparity is especially troubling when comparing those percentage numbers to just 9.5 percent Whites who lack identification.
With nominees from over 90 countries, the Black Weblog Awards is one of the largest international Internet award events for Black bloggers. Founded in 2005, the award aimed to give recognition to Black bloggers, many whom were overlooked by other Internet award events. The Black Weblog Awards has recognized over 180 blogs in more than 30 categories.
The event has also been featured in several mainstream and online media outlets, including NPR, CNN, and others. Winners of the Black Weblog Awards have gone on to appear in other media outlets, like MSNBC, the Huffington Post, BET, and more. The award ceremony will be held on November 2, 2013, at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston, Texas. The blogger of the year will be revealed in addition to the winners of each of the categories. See the finalists below:
Best Political or News Blog
Polite on Society
Good Black News
WaterCooler Convos Blog
Inform and Engage
Take Another Look
Independent Underground News & Talk
Best Parenting Blog
We Got Kids
Diary of a First-Time Mom
Sailing Autistic Seas
MommyBrown
[v]To Be a Better You
Simply Senia
Spelhouse Love
Best Faith-Based Blog
The Journey Suite
[v]My Faith and Fitness
Maurice Lindsay
Empower Moments
To Be a Better You
Jubilee Mag
Brother Preacher. Faith. Law. Life.
Key and Peele, the popular sketch comedy show starring biracial MAD TV vets Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael-Key, has been renewed for a fourth season. The show has grown from a cult success to a bonfide hit, with fans tuning in Wednesday nights and consuming their online clips by the millions.
With breakout sketches like the East/West Bowl, Luther the Obama translator, Mr. Garvey (“A-aron!”) and the Liam Neeson-loving valet guys, they duo have become comedy legends in the making. Tonight the hilarious tag team host their very first Halloween special airing on Comedy Central at 10:30 pm EST.
article via thegrio.com
- Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, told a Senate panel Tuesday that states must clarify their ‘stand your ground’ self-defense laws after the man who fatally shot her son was acquitted of manslaughter. (Matt Rourke/AP)
WASHINGTON — The mother of Travyon Martin, the Florida teen killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, told a Senate panel today that stand your ground self-defense laws should be changed. Sybrina Fulton offered the tragic case of her son as Exhibit A of why she said such laws do not work. “He was simply going to the store to get snacks, nothing more, nothing less,” Fulton said of her son, who was shot dead by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., in early 2012.
“He was minding his own business, he was not looking for any kind of trouble, he was not committing any kind of crime.” She added, “The person who shot and killed my son is walking the streets today. … The Law is not working.” Martin’s killing ignited a national debate about stand your ground laws and racial profiling. The debate grew even louder after Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. More than two dozen states have some version of stand your ground laws, which let individuals use lethal force instead of retreating if they feel threatened with death or serious injury in public by another person.
Senate Democrats convened the hearing, which triggered a clash with Republicans on the Judiciary subcommittee who favor stand your ground laws. Sen. Dick Durban (D-Ill.) cited research that suggests about 600 homicides a year can be traced to such laws, with no apparent impact on overall crime deterrence. His view that such laws have done little else but accentuate a “shoot first” mentality among citizens was quickly disputed by the firebrand freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Steve McQueen, director of the Oscar-worthy slavery feature 12 Years A Slave, is making his first foray into television with another project featuring a black protagonist. McQueen has teamed with World War Z co-writer Matthew Michael Carnahan, hip-hop mogul/producer Russell Simmons and Oscar-winning producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (The King’s Speech) on the drama project, which is in development at HBO.
Co-written by McQueen and Carnahan and to be directed by McQueen, the untitled drama is carrying McQueen’s signature style of provocative filmmaking and is described as an exploration of a young African-American man’s experience entering New York high society, with a past that may not be what it seems. We hear the project, described by some as “Six Degrees Of Separation meets Shame“, 
is being fast-tracked, with casting choices already being explored for a potential shoot before McQueen starts his next movie. McQueen, Carnahan and Simmons executive produce with Canning and Sherman. Canning and Sherman produced McQueen’s second feature, Shame, with Canning also serving as an executive producer on McQueen’s feature debut, Hunger, which won the Camera d’Or in Cannes. McQueen’s third feature, 12 Years A Slave, got off to a strong box office start and is considered a prime Oscar contender. Simmons has been stepping up producing efforts through his recently launched RSTV, which has a first-look deal with HBO. 12 Years A Slave writer John Ridley also just set up a drama series project, a racially-charged murder drama at ABC.
article by Nellie Andreeva and Mike Fleming Jr. via Deadline.com