Press "Enter" to skip to content

Good Black News

Sisters, Separated as Infants, Reunite at High School Track Meet

By goodblacknews on May 14, 2013
Jordan Dickerson, left, and Robin Jeter discovered they were sisters after 17 years apart. (Courtesy WUSA 9)
Jordan Dickerson, left, and Robin Jeter discovered they were sisters after 17 years apart. (Courtesy WUSA 9)

Jordan Dickerson and Robin Jeter were separated when they were infants, but reunited by chance at a high school track meet earlier this year.  Dickerson, a junior at Woodrow Wilson High School, and Jeter, a senior at Friendship Collegiate Academy public charter school, attend school about 10 miles apart in Washington D.C. and play the same sports, but had never crossed paths.

On January 9, both sisters attended the same track meet. Dickerson told WUSA 9 that her teammates told her there was another girl who looked just like her.  “I had already known about my adoption, and I knew my last name was Jeter,” Dickerson said.  When she learned Robin’s last name, she said she started crying.
They talked on the phone the night they met, discovering that they were born just nine months apart.  Jeter first lived with her biological mother, then moved to foster care, and then to a legal guardian.  The sisters decided to look for more siblings, finding four so far, according to WUSA 9.  Dickerson and Jeter have become close, spending weekends together and frequently talking on the phone.
Click here to watch the full WUSA 9 report.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com

University of Tennessee Health Science Center Has Nation's 2nd Largest Percentage of African-American Medical Grads

By goodblacknews on May 14, 2013

UTHSCbldg4The University of Tennessee Health Science Center has the second highest percentage of African-American medical student graduates among non-historically black medical schools in the U.S., according to a new report.
The report, compiled by the Association of American Medical Colleges, stated 20 African-American students graduated from UTHSC during the 2011 academic year, making up 14.08 percent of its 142 graduating class. Duke University was No. 1, graduating 19 students, or 19 percent of its 100-student graduating class.
The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing 141 accredited U.S. and 17 Canadian medical schools, nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems. It also includes 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers and nearly 90 academic and scientific societies.
“Our College of Medicine is committed to recruiting talented, motivated African-American men and women with the drive and desire to become competent, caring physicians,” David Stern, executive dean for UTHSC, said in a statement. “Matching the complexion and diversity of the physician workforce to the communities we serve is essential in ameliorating disparities in health care that plague our region and nation.”
article by Michael Sheffield via bizjournals.com

NBC's 'Ironside' with Blair Underwood – 1st Trailer Out (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D_R4eZ9Yt4&w=560&h=315]
Blair UnderwoodIn the ongoing quest to reinvent the police procedural, NBC has revamped the 1967-75 hit “Ironside.” The original starred Raymond Burr as a San Francisco cop paralyzed by a sniper’s bullet and confined to a wheelchair, thus forced to solve crimes using his wits. This time around, the action moves to New York City and Blair Underwood takes the chair.
“Ironside” will air on NBC Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. this fall. 
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/starr-raving/see-the-first-trailer-from-nbcs-gritty-take-on-ironside-with-blair-underwood#AALbVpqUGKHgjWcI.99

"Fruitvale Station" Trailer Out; Oscar Grant Story Arrives in Theatres July 12

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUJwJfcQaQ&w=560&h=315]
FruitvaleAccording to Deadline.com, Michael B. Jordan (Friday Night Lights) stars in Fruitvale Station as Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old Bay Area man whose fatal 2009 shooting by Oakland BART police sparked outrage and protests against police brutality. The Weinstein Co. secured the rights to Ryan Coogler’s directorial debut out of Sundance for $2 million before it won the film festival’s U.S. Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. Now the movie is set for a July 12 release, hoping to attract attention for awards season. Check out the trailer above.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson and Lesa Lakin

Cee Lo Reality Show 'The Cee Lo Life' Scheduled To Premiere On TBS

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2013

The Cee Lo Life Cee Lo Green Goodie Mob

In addition to making his return to “The Voice” this week, Cee Lo Green has also landed a new show with TBS.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Turner network has green lit a six-episode series, tentatively titled “The Cee Lo Life,” which follows the Grammy Award-winning musician along with his Goodie Mob group mates, Big Gipp, Khujo and T-Mo, as they work on their new long-awaited hip-hop album.
“With his distinctive voice, winning personality and remarkable ability to tap into a wide range of musical styles, Cee Lo Green has risen to the top of the music industry,” Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TBS explained to the site. “This new TBS series will give viewers the chance to get to know Cee Lo Green,who is without a doubt one of the hardest working men in show business. “The Cee Lo Life” is certain to be a smart, fun and funny journey packed with a lot of great music.”
Earlier this year during an interview with FUSE, Green revealed that the hip hop quartet is looking forward to releasing their first album together since 1999’s “World Party.”
“We’re still mixing and doing a few more guest appearances and putting the final touches on it, but yes, it’s pretty much done,” he said. “I think we’ve grown a great deal in the last 10 years. There’s a lot more to consider.”
“There’s a broader audience and a greater aspiration to reach as many people as we can, to be as relatable, to be as real, relevant and resourceful as we can. So Age Against the Machine is symbolic of wisdom being the weapon of choice. Those rules will apply.”
“The Cee Lo Life” is scheduled to premiere on TBS in 2014.
article via huffingtonpost.com

Halle Berry Kicks Off 20th Annual EIF Revlon Run/Walk For Women and Cancer Awareness

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2013

halle-3_4_r537_c0-0-534-712

Morning sickness what? Pregnant Halle Berry was present and accounted for at the 20th Annual EIF Revlon Run/Walk For Women in Los Angeles over the weekend. In fact, she even pumped up the crowd.

The Oscar winner led an A-list crowd through the streets of LA on Saturday, just one day before celebrating Mother’s Day with daughter Nahla, in support of women’s cancer awareness.

The event was co-hosted by Brooke Anderson and Andy Garcia, as well as Julie Bowen who sprinted to the finish line among thousands of other enthusiastic participants who came out to support the cause.

Dancing With the Stars hoofer Karina Smirnoff was also on hand to drive the pace car to kick off the event.

Funds raised from the event have still not yet been tallied, though the organization itself has raised more than $68 million in total.

Since its launch in 1994, EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women has become one of the largest single-day fundraisers for women’s cancers in Los Angeles.

article by Laura Schreffler via hauteliving.com

Tiger Woods Wins Players Championship

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2013
Tiger Woods of the USA holds the winner's trophy after the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 12, 2013 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Tiger Woods of the USA holds the winner’s trophy after the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 12, 2013 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) — Tiger Woods had the last word against Sergio Garcia by winning The Players Championship on Sunday.  Woods ended a weekend of verbal sparring with Garcia by doing what he does best — closing out tournaments, even if he let this one turn into a tense duel over the final hour at the TPC Sawgrass. Tied with Garcia with two holes to play, Woods won by finding land on the last two holes for par to close with a 2-under 70.
Garcia was standing on the 17th tee shot, staring across the water to an island as Woods made his par. He took aim at the flag with his wedge and hung his head when he saw the ball splash down short of the green. Then, Garcia hit another one in the water on his way to a quadruple-bogey 7. He completed his stunning collapse by hitting his tee shot into the water on the 18th and making double bogey.
Woods was in the scoring trailer when he watched on TV as Swedish rookie David Lingmerth missed a long birdie putt that would have forced a playoff. It raced by the cup, and Lingmerth three-putted for bogey.
“How about that?” Woods said to his caddie, Joe LaCava as he gave him a hug.  Woods won The Players for the first time since 2001 and joined Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Steve Elkington as the only two-time winners at the TPC Sawgrass. It was his 78th career win on the PGA Tour, four short of the record held by Sam Snead.

Basquiat Videos: Toxic, Macklemore And Al Diaz Speak On SAMO's Inspiration And Legacy (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2013

Basquiat VideosWhether seen in a market report, an art history book or a rap verse, the name Jean-Michel Basquiat is legendary. The dreadlocked young artist quickly rose to fame after taking up graffiti in New York City, becoming an incandescent art star before his untimely death in 1988 at only 27 years old.

Twenty five years later, the late artist is experiencing a massive global resurgence. In New York, his blowout Gagosian retrospective saw record attendance and his work is slated to appear later this month at Gagosian’s posh Hong Kong gallery for the first time ever. And yet, we often get so tied up in Basquiat the legend we forget he was a real person.
A new three-part video series released by Christie’s remembers Basquiat not only for his artistic genius, but also his energy, audacity and growing pains. The series begins with Basquiat’s high school friend and the other half of the graffiti duo known as SAMO, Al Diaz. “What we were doing was a response to everything around us…everything we were disillusioned by.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCHe7HCBF1s&w=560&h=315]
Next we hear from Toxic, Basquiat’s friend and contemporary, who paints a picture of the Haitian artist’s meteoric rise to fame.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-NvULWRxdw&w=560&h=315]
Finally we hear from Ben Haggerty, aka Macklemore — yes, the singer of “Thrift Shop” — for a surprisingly touching meditation on Basquiat as a source of inspiration in his work as he grapples with his own success. “When he got with Warhol it was like everyone just tore him down.” Macklemore continues, “That’s such a weird feeling as an artist to make something that’s pure, that’s from the heart, that is who you are, and have a group of people shit on you.”
In a conversation with the curator and critic Henry Geldzahler in Interview, the 23-year-old artist delivers a deceptively simple, thought-provoking line: “The more I paint the more I like everything.” The films above honor the mind and legacy of a star that burned too bright, too fast.  Basquiat’s collection will show at Gagosian Gallery in Hong Kong from May 25 until August 10, and “Dustheads” (1982) is expected to fetch $25-35 million at Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on May 15.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdJ82FqXn4g&w=560&h=315]
article by Priscilla Frank via huffingtonpost.com

Happy Mother's Day! An Open Letter to Moms from Kid President (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ4Rnba85o8&w=560&h=315]
kid-presidentKid President, the cute 10-year-old boy who inspires us to “make the world awesome,” has released a new video tribute for all moms this Mother’s Day. Kid President, whose real name is Robby Novak, said his message was “on behalf of all the kids on the world.”  Enjoy!
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

DAR in Norwalk Makes History with 1st African-American Regent Autier Allen-Craft

By goodblacknews on May 11, 2013

NORWALK, Conn. — Autier Allen-Craft, the first African-American member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Connecticut, was inducted last week as regent of Norwalk-Village Green Chapter, according to a statement from the group.
“There are many African-American women who are not aware that they have Patriot ancestors,” Allen-Craft said. “An estimated 5,000 black soldiers fought on the patriot side during the Revolutionary War. Their female ancestors are entitled to become members of the CTDAR. My goal is to assist African-Americans, as well as any other resident of Norwalk who believes she is a descendant, become a member.”
As the new regent, Allen-Craft said she is looking forward to growing the chapter’s membership.
“Our registrar will help compile the research material and submit the required paperwork needed to become members of the Norwalk-Village Green Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. We welcome all inquiries.”
Allen-Craft is the second African-American to become a regent in Connecticut. Also, at the 120th annual state conference in Hartford on March 23, she was elected to the position of the South Western District director for the state of Connecticut.
For the past two years, Allen-Craft has been vice regent  for the Norwalk-Village Green Chapter, working with Pat Rubino, the outgoing regent.  
The Norwalk-Village Green Chapter was organized on Dec. 16, 1892. The society is made up of women who can trace their lineage back to one or more of the Revolutionary patriots. In keeping with a focus on history, education and patriotism, the local chapter was responsible for erecting many of the historical markers and monuments commemorating the history of Norwalk.
Allen-Craft’s two children, Jaylen and Aren Craft, belong to the Captain Stephen Betts Society of the Children of the American Revolution. They are the first African-American members in the state of Connecticut.