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President Barack Obama Honors Negro League Players at White House

By goodblacknews on August 6, 2013
NegroLeaguePlayers
Former baseball players in the Negro League, from left to right, Pedro Sierra, Minnie Minoso, Ron Teasley, and the last living owner of a Negro League team, Minnie Forbes, of the Detroit Stars, far right, talk outside the West Wing of the White House following their meeting with President Barack Obama, Monday, Aug. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama on Monday honored former baseball players in the Negro League, a haven for African-American players who for decades were prevented from competing with white players in professional baseball.  The White House said Obama invited about a dozen players to the White House to mark their contributions to American history, civil rights and athletics. The players competed for teams like the Philadelphia Stars, New York Black Yankees, Indianapolis Clowns and Boston Blues.

The Negro League thrived in the early part of the 20th century. Its decline started after Jackie Robinson in 1947 became the first African-American to play Major League Baseball in modern times, clearing the way for other black players to compete in the major leagues. The league disbanded a few years later.

Copyright The Associated Press via krmg.com

EU presses Malta to Accept African Migrants at Sea

By goodblacknews on August 6, 2013

Migrants freshly arrived in at Delimara, Malta, 4 August
More than 100 migrants arrived in Malta on a dinghy on Sunday

The European Commission has urged Malta to allow 102 African migrants rescued from the sea by a tanker to enter its territory.  It said the EU state had a humanitarian duty to take in the migrants, who were rescued off the coast of Libya.
Among those rescued are an injured woman, four pregnant women and a five-month-old baby.  The Italian navy had asked the ship to take the migrants to Libya, the nearest land, but it disregarded the request.  The tiny island state receives thousands of illegal migrants heading to Europe each year.
Hours before the latest incident, 111 mainly African migrants arrived in a rubber dinghy at Delimara, on the south-east coast.  In the latest incident, the European Commission said that since the ship was now closest to Malta, the island must allow the migrants to disembark as soon as possible.
Any dispute over which country should legally take them should be resolved later, it argued. The immediate concern was to save lives.  The master of the tanker M/V Salamis is credited with saving the migrants’ lives but the Maltese authorities are refusing to let the ship dock.

Malta says the migrants are in no danger or distress though the ship’s master has issued an urgent medical request saying one injured woman needs to be taken immediately to hospital.
The Maltese government said a patrolling Italian navy ship had ordered the Salamis to take the migrants to the nearest available port, in this case in Libya.
“The government told the ship’s captain that since he had ignored the instructions given him [by the Italian navy], he had been forbidden to enter Maltese waters,” a statement said on Monday.  On Sunday the Italian navy rescued a group of at least 90 migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa by boat, and brought them to the island of Lampedusa.  Last month, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy that the burden of immigration to the EU should not fall on its smallest member.
While Malta would do its compassionate duty, he added, it would not leave its doors open wide and “welcome boats from Libya and elsewhere as if nothing happened”.  “Call us harsh, call us heartless, but we are not pushovers,” the Maltese prime minister said.
article via bbc.co.uk

DaVita Vance-Cooks Becomes 1st African American and Female to Run U.S. Government Printing Office

By goodblacknews on August 5, 2013

davita-vance-cooks
DaVita Vance-Cooks was just named the nation’s public printer, making her both the first female and the first African American to lead the Government Printing Office in the agency’s 152-year history. Vance-Cooks’ appointment was approved by unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate. President Barack Obama nominated her for the position earlier this year.  DaVita Vance-Cooks is a graduate from Tufts University with an MBA from Columbia University.
It has been a mission of the new GPO head to re-brand the Government Printing Office and bring them up to speed in our digital society. She led the agency’s effort to partner with Google to sell federal publications in an eBook format, launched an award-winning government book blog, modernized GPO’s customer contact center, and led the renovation of the agency’s retail bookstore in Washington, D.C.  Her work led to an appointment as Deputy Public Printer in 2011.
DaVita Vance-Cooks joined the Government Printing Office in 2004. She began as the Deputy Managing Director of Customer Services, with the responsibility of overseeing the office’s liaison with federal agencies for in-house print production and printing procurement services. Under Vance-Cooks, the GPO awarded approximately $500 million dollars annually in printing contracts to the private industry and oversaw the award of a $50 million contract for the production of 2010 census materials, which was one of the largest procurements in the government agency’s history.
For the first time since 2008, GPO completed its fiscal year 2012 with a positive net income and reduced overhead costs. Under Vance-Cooks, the GPO pioneered new mobile apps, expanded the scope of information made available through the federal digital system and opened a secure credential site.
article by Erica L. Taylor via blackamericaweb.com

Oprah Winfrey Comments on Trayvon Martin, Compares Him to Emmett Till (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on August 5, 2013

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgNJkq53l68&w=560&h=315]
On August 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was savagely beaten and shot through the head in Money, Mississippi, all for the crime of speaking to a 21-year-old white woman. After a widely covered trial, his murderers were acquitted — leading to national indignation and helping to catalyze the civil rights movement.
Oprah WInfreyThough the specifics of each case are vastly different, it’s easy to compare Till’s murder and its aftermath to the 2012 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Oprah Winfrey did that very thing during the Lee Daniels’ The Butler press junket, calling the killings “parallel” — and adding, “In my mind, [they’re the] same thing.”
At the same time, Winfrey — who stars in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, a film set partially during the height of the civil rights movement — was careful to say that those outraged by Martin’s death and George Zimmerman being found not guilty shouldn’t dwell in the past. “You can get stuck in that,” she said, “and not allow yourself to move forward and to see how far we’ve come.”
article by Hillary Busis via popwatch.ew.com

Denzel Washington's "2 Guns" Tops Weekend Box Office with $27.4 Million

By goodblacknews on August 5, 2013

2guns2 Guns, a buddy cop comedy-thriller featuring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, was the top weekend film in U.S. and Canadian theaters, collecting $27.4 million for Universal Pictures. (CMCSA).  A tale of undercover lawmen trying to catch a drug kingpin, 2 Guns taps the bickering buddy movie formula successfully mined by Hollywood in films such as Lethal Weapon and marks the seventh No. 1 weekend opening this year for Universal, part of Comcast Corp.  “The chemistry is obvious in the film,” Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures, said in an interview. “Hopefully, it finds its own life in a marketplace that’s very crowded.”
Washington plays Drug Enforcement Administration agent Bobby Trench, while Wahlberg is cast as U.S. naval intelligence officer Marcus Stigman. The two reluctantly work undercover as members of a narcotics syndicate. When their attempt to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel goes haywire, they are disavowed by their superiors and can only count on each other.  “This is a business where being No. 1 is always wonderful,” Rocco said. “It’s nice to be on a roll.”
Returning film The Wolverine was second with $21.7 million and The Smurfs 2, a family feature combining animation with live action, opened with $18.2 million in receipts for Sony Corp. (6758) to place third.
article via bloomberg.com

Are You Always Tired? Nine Ways To Identify and Relieve Constant Fatigue

By goodblacknews on August 4, 2013


Are you always asking “Why am I so tired?” Are you having trouble staying awake during watching your evening TV shows? Most of us know what it’s like to be tired, especially when we have a cold, flu, or some other viral infection. But when you suffer from a constant lack of energy and ongoing fatigue, it may be time to check with your doctor.
Fatigue is a lingering tiredness that is constant and limiting. With fatigue, you have unexplained, persistent, and relapsing exhaustion. It’s similar to how you feel when you have the flu or have missed a lot of sleep. If you have chronic fatigue, you may wake in the morning feeling as though you’ve not slept. Or you may be unable to function at work or be productive at home. You may be too exhausted even to manage your daily affairs.
In most cases, there’s a reason for the fatigue. Here are 9 reasons why you might be tired:
1. You drink too much coffee
If you rely on caffeine to get through your day, you can develop a dependence—so without it you can go into withdrawl, needing several cups of coffee or tea just to feel “normal.” And the worst point of withdrawl? Right in the morning. To make matters worse, caffeine can still course through your system when you’re sleeping if you’ve had any coffee or tea in the evening, which can interfere with normal REM sleep and leave you feeling even more tired. An easy solution is to cut back on the amount of caffeine you consume during the day and steer clear of caffeinated beverages within hours of your bedtime.
2. You don’t eat breakfast
There’s a reason that breakfast is called the most important meal of the day, and everyone has told you not to forget it—from your doctor to your mother, to probably every teacher you’ve ever had. And yet so many of us still skip it on a regular basis, or just cram down a few pieces of toast before heading out the door. Take the time to fit in breakfast every morning and it will help you avoid that mid-afternoon crash.
3. You don’t exercise
It may seem counter intuitive, but exercising produces all kinds of helpful biochemicals that ward off fatigue and help you feel upbeat the rest of the time. Think of it as positive feedback: the more energy you put in, the more you get out.

R.I.P. North Carolina Civil Rights Activist and Attorney Julius Chambers

By goodblacknews on August 4, 2013

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Julius Chambers, a Charlotte attorney whose practice was in the forefront of the civil rights movement in North Carolina, has died, his law firm said Saturday. He was 76.

julius chambers dead
Julius Chambers attends NAACP Legal Defense Fundraiser on January 23, 1990 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)
A statement issued by his law firm, Ferguson Chambers & Sumter, said Chambers died Friday after months of declining health. A specific cause of death wasn’t given.
“Mr. Chambers was not the first lawyer of color to try to address the issues of equality,” firm partner Geraldine Sumter said Saturday. “He would tell you he had people like Buddy Malone of Durham that he looked to, the Kennedys out of Winston-Salem. The thing that Mr. Chambers brought to that struggle was a very focused, determined attitude that things were going to change.”
The N.C. chapter of the NAACP called Chambers “a man of tremendous courage.”
“His home and his car were firebombed on separate occasions in 1965, and his office was burned to the ground in 1971, during the height of some of his most contentious civil rights litigation in North Carolina,” the NAACP said in a statement. “When he spoke of these events, Mr. Chambers was typically matter-of-fact, insisting always that you ‘just keep fighting.'”
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper called Chambers “a friend who set a courageous example of doing what is right regardless of the cost.”  In 1964, Chambers opened a law practice that became the state’s first integrated law firm. He and his partners won cases that shaped civil rights law, including Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education regarding school busing.

Teen Alanna Wall Founds Polished Girlz to Give Manicures to Girls with Special Needs

By goodblacknews on August 4, 2013

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmd7V0dqL64&w=560&h=315]

Polished Girlz Founder Alanna Wall

CAUSE: Well aware of the simple pleasure that a manicure brings, Alanna Wall decided to go into hospitals and treat girls with special needs to a beauty pick-me-up. What started as a bonding experience for local teenage girls has grown into a national non-profit. Now, youth volunteers across the country are giving manicures in hospitals, Down syndrome associations, and children’s medical centers. 
Beyond painting the latest nail art trends, Alanna and her team also teach girls with special needs about how hand washing can reduce the spread of infection.
EFFECT: Polished Girlz has expanded to four states and served 600 girls this year. Alanna has expanded her brand by starting a line of Polish Girlz nail gloss.
GET INVOLVED: Go to PolishedGirlz.org to learn more about the non-profit.
article by Sierra Tishgart via teenvogue.com

Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Kyle Abraham Hip-Hop Performance Pieces Captivate at Lincoln Center Out of Doors

By goodblacknews on August 3, 2013
Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s “Word Becomes Flesh” was performed at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. (Photo: Ruby Washington/The New York Times)

In a split bill at Damrosch Park Bandshell in New York City, Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s “Word Becomes Flesh” and Kyle Abraham’s “Pavement” explored race, power and, most specifically, what it means to be a black man in contemporary society as part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors series last Thursday night. Using spoken word, movement and music, Mr. Joseph takes on the issues confronting black fatherhood in “Word Becomes Flesh,” which program notes describe as a “choreopoem.” First performed in 2003 by Mr. Joseph, the work is a recitation of letters written to his unborn son. Now “Word” is reimagined for an ensemble cast of six. The performers share their fears about bringing a child — first addressed as “heartbeat” and later as “brown boy” — into the world.

Spurts of movement — diagonal runs from the wings; slow, exaggerated steps; and springy jumps — often serve to accentuate the wistful text, which magnifies the idea of multiple, insecure fathers-to-be. “You have an intrinsically intimate relationship with your mother,” one dancer says, “but your dad didn’t check out when you were in the womb.”

For all of its words, Mr. Joseph’s loquacious piece lacks poetry. Mr. Abraham’s “Pavement” is more elegiac, yet the thorny sightlines of the Damrosch bandshell did the piece few favors. Mr. Abraham is a beautiful dancer — unpredictable and spry, with the kind of articulation that is likely to become only more refined and subtle with age — but his packed productions are somewhat unconvincing.  “Pavement,” influenced by the writings of W. E. B. Du Bois and John Singleton’s 1991 film “Boyz N the Hood,” is set in the historically black neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. It was there, at 14, that Mr. Abraham first watched the Singleton movie; audio clips from the film are included in the production.

Tension is wonderful in a work, and Mr. Abraham’s propensity for moving his dancers in multiple directions — his movement phrases show a body swirling one way and then the next before evading momentum with a backward hop in arabesque — can be exhilarating. But the push and pull between narrative and dancing throughout “Pavement” gives it a choppy, locomotive feel. The film audio is overkill.

Florida House Speaker Agrees to Hold Hearings on Stand Your Ground Law

By goodblacknews on August 3, 2013

DreamDefenders
TALLAHASSEE — Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford announced Friday that he will order hearings this fall on the state’s “stand your ground” law, a victory for the young protesters known as the Dream Defenders who have spent the past two weeks protesting at the Capitol.  “It’s a critical first step,” said Phillip Agnew, executive director of the Dream Defenders. “We’ve been here for three weeks. We know Democracy takes time. Progress takes time.”
They shouldn’t celebrate too hard. Weatherford assigned the task of chairing the hearings to a staunch supporter of the law, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach.  “I don’t support changing one damn comma of the stand your ground law,” Gaetz said Friday.  “It would be reactionary and dangerous to make Floridians less safe to pacify uninformed protesters.”  Gaetz, the 31-year-old son of Senate President Don Gaetz, talks tough on crime. He passed a bill this year that expedited death row cases and has been known for pushing conservative causes popular in his Panhandle district. He expects the hearings to draw national attention, and he says he’s ready for the debate.
“I want to have hearings, it’s a good idea,” Gaetz said. “Right now, the only voices on stand your ground are coming from the radical left. I want an opportunity to give a full-throated defense of the law.”  He said he’s not sure when he’ll hold the hearings, how long they’ll last, or how they’ll be structured.  But he said his bias shouldn’t deter those holding out hope that hearings can lead to changes in the law.  “Bills I don’t support occasionally pass my committee,” he said.
Weatherford agreed to the hearings in an op-ed published Friday. “Our evaluation of its effectiveness should be guided by objective information, not by political expediency,” he wrote. “Does the law keep the innocent safer? Is it being applied fairly? Are there ways we can make this law clearer and more understandable.”