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Happy 60th Birthday, Karen Clark-Sheard!

Happy 60th Birthday, Karen Clark-Sheard!

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

Today, Good Black News celebrates the milestone 60th birthday of gospel music icon Karen Clark-Sheard, famous as the youngest member of the legendary Clark Sisters, as well as for her dynamic solo recordings.

Amidst the craziness of the coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns and quarantines, 2020 has nevertheless been a milestone year for Karen and her sisters, as they issued the acclaimed The Return in March, their first group release in over a decade.

Following the album drop was the April broadcast of The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, a Lifetime movie about their lives that was seen by millions of people across numerous airings in its first few weeks, becoming Lifetime’s highest original rated movie in 4 years – and one of the top cable telecasts of the year across all cable channels.

We wrote about the movie and the history of The Clark Sisters, at that time: (https://goodblacknews.org/2020/04/11/bringing-the-sunshine-gbn-offers-clark-sisters-playlist-to-celebrate-lifetime-biopic-airing-tonight-listen/).

After 25 years recording with her sisters (since she was just an early teenager) as the group’s dedicated soprano, a break in the sisters’ group activities allowed Karen to release her debut solo album, appropriately titled Finally Karen in 1998.

She stepped out solo in a big way – on a major label (Island Records), with multiple producers and a guest appearance from Faith Evans.  The results – a gospel bestseller that was nominated for a Grammy and won a Lady of Soul Award.

The album also included a duet with her daughter, Kierra ‘Kiki’ Sheard, ultimately kicking off the successful recording career for yet another generation of the Clark gospel dynasty (The Clark Sisters themselves are the daughters of gospel choir pioneer Dr. Mattie Moss Clark.)

Not long after the release and promotion of her first album, Clark-Sheard was hit with a major health crisis, when complications from a minor operation put her in a coma for multiple weeks.

UPS Finally Ends Ban on Natural Black Hairstyles and Beards

UPS Finally Ends Ban on Natural Black Hairstyles and Beards

By goodblacknews on November 13, 2020
According to cnn.com, United Parcel Service (UPS) finally is lifting several strict rules on how employees who interact with the public — mostly the delivery drivers — can wear their facial hair and hairstyles.
To quote from CNN.com:

The changes relax the strict limits on facial hair (no beards for most employees, and mustaches limited to above the crease of the lip), how long men could wear their hair (nothing longer than collar length) and hairstyles (no Afros or braids). While styles still must be business-appropriate and not pose a safety concern, those specific limits have been eliminated.

The UPS changes also include the lifting of gender-specific regulations, including rules like the length of the uniform’s shorts. The new rules, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, were posted on an internal company web site for employees.

“These changes reflect our values and desire to have all UPS employees feel comfortable, genuine and authentic while providing service to our customers and interacting with the general public,” UPS said in a a statement, adding that the company is “determined to continue to make UPS a great place to work for all of our more than 500,000 employees around the world.”

UPS had faced criticism that its appearance rules, particularly the hair guidelines, amounted to a form of discrimination. In 2018 it agreed to pay a $4.9 million fine and enter into a consent decree with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to allow greater freedom to wear beards and long hair by those who filed for a religious exemption.

UPS is likely also motivated to make the changes due to the need to add more staff to handle the increase of packages being sent because of the surge in online shopping due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/11/business/ups-end-beard-ban/index.html

 

Country Music Awards Honors Charley Pride with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award Tonight on ABC

Country Music Awards Honors Charley Pride with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award Tonight on ABC

By goodblacknews on November 11, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

We’re used to seeing Black musical artists honored regularly on the Grammy Awards, the American Music Awards, the MTV Awards, and, of course, the BET Awards. But this year, you can find several Black performers on the 54th annual CMA (Country Music Association) Awards, to be aired on ABC starting at 8P ET tonight.

Not that Black performers have never been on the CMAs before. Just last year rapper Lil Nas X won an award for his Billy Ray Cyrus collaboration “Old Town Road.”  In 2016, the Chicks (fka The Dixie Chicks) shocked the audience with an incredible live performance with fellow Texan Beyoncé of her song “Daddy Lessons” (see it here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Ksi-uzuIg). But there have been many years where the closest the CMAs have gotten to Blackness was to give awards to Keith “Urban.”

CMA hosts Darius Rucker and Reba McEntire (photo courtesy CMA Awards)

Black country fans actually have three reasons to cheer during this year’s awards.  First, newcomer Jimmie Allen is up for Best New Artist. Second, former Hootie & the Blowfish lead vocalist turned country singer Darius Rucker is co-hosting the show with Reba McEntire. Rucker is perhaps the most well-known Black performer in contemporary country music – and previously won the CMA for Best New Artist in 2009.

Most importantly, Rucker will be leading the tribute to this year’s recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, the legendary Charley Pride.

The aptly named Pride was a symbol of Black pride back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s when he was the first major Black country artist to hit the charts. Coming on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, Pride won Male Vocalist of the Year two years running in 1971 and 1972, in addition to also picking up Entertainer of the Year in 1971.

Nominated for Entertainer of the Year six years in a row from 1968 through 1973, Pride, now 86 years old, is a singular figure in country music history, as no Black performer has been nominated even one time since then.

Pride also previously co-hosted the CMA Awards on TV with Glen Campbell in 1975, the only Black host prior to Rucker’s co-hosting duties this year. Pride had 30 #1 country hits and over 50 Top 10 performances, and is perhaps most known for the song “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin.”

Beyond Pride, Rucker and Allen, there are lots of other exciting things happening in country music these days for Black performers, including new female artist Mickey Guyton and recent chart-topper Kane Brown.  Earlier this summer, Good Black News offered up “I Can’t Stop Loving You: A Collection of Black Country Music” as an overview of Black country music history.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:5ST6HmIZCtbIjiYRXer6at”/]

Check out the awards tonight – and catch all of the artists we’ve mentioned (and many more) on our playlist!

Iraq War Soldier Alwyn Cashe to Receive Nation’s Top Award for Valor in Combat

By goodblacknews on November 11, 2020
Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe (photo via Facebook U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs)

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Senate passed legislation on Tuesday that clears the way for to be awarded the nation’s highest award for valor in combat, the Medal of Honor.

Cashe repeatedly entered a burning vehicle in Iraq to save six fellow soldiers and an interpreter from harm. He died a few weeks later.

To quote the article:

The legislation, passed by unanimous consent, waives the legal requirement that the Medal of Honor be awarded within five years of a service member’s acts of valor. Cashe has long been considered one of the war’s great American heroes and would be the first African American to receive the award for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Former defense secretary Mark T. Esper supported the move in a letter to Congress in August after years of deliberations within the Army.

“I am so grateful the Senate passed our bill to pave the way for the President to award Alwyn Cashe the Medal of Honor,” Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D.-Fla.) who co-sponsored the bill in the House, said in a statement. “We are now very close to recognizing this unbelievably heroic soldier, who died saving his men, with our nation’s highest award for combat valor — which he earned beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Cashe, 35, hailed from Oviedo, Florida and served the U.S. Army as an infantryman with the 15th Infantry Regiment from 1989-2005. Cashe has already been awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his selfless actions in the face of grave danger and is credited with saving the lives of his Soldiers.

To read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/11/10/iraq-war-soldier-alwyn-cashe-set-receive-medal-honor-after-senate-passage-legislation/

CBS Sets New Goal for Unscripted Shows — 50% of Cast to Be People of Color

CBS Sets New Goal for Unscripted Shows — 50% of Cast to Be People of Color

By goodblacknews on November 9, 2020

[Clockwise from top left: Earl Cole, Jolanda Jones, Sean Rector, Vecepia Towery | Screenshots: “Survivor” via CBS All Access]

According to Variety.com, CBS announced today it aims to be more inclusive with the casts of its unscripted shows by setting a target to make all such on-camera participants at least 50% Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

The network’s goal is to make the change beginning with the 2021-2022 broadcast season. CBS also has stated it will allocate at least a quarter of its annual unscripted development budget to projects created or co-created by BIPOC producers in that same time frame.

CBS also plans to develop more initiatives with its production partners to increase diversity across the board in the unscripted space, though those specific plans have not yet been detailed.

MUSIC MONDAY: “Bustin’ Loose”: A Celebration of D.C. Go-Go Music (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Bustin’ Loose”: A Celebration of D.C. Go-Go Music (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on November 9, 2020

[A child holds a billboard for Memorial Day shows at the Howard Theatre, featuring Trouble Funk and Experience Unlimited. Photograph by Thomas Sayers Ellis, used with permission.]

I can not imagine Washington D.C. was is not awash in its funnest export these days: Go-go. This subgenre of funk originated in and around D.C., during the late 1960s and remains popular to this day as a uniquely regional music style.

Singer-guitarist Chuck Brown and several bands are credited with having developed the style including Young Senators, Black Heat, and Trouble Funk.

Chuck Brown playing at a block party (photo via Flickr)

Go-go is primarily a dance hall music with an emphasis on live audience call and response. It has endured to include hip-hop influences recently and been around long enough to have retro adherents.

In February 2020, go-go was named the “official music” of Washington D.C. in a unanimous vote by the District’s city council. Please enjoy this dose of D.C. funky stuff.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:30XkB2fqvn4VhfM2djJP0T”/]

“See” ya next! And of course, stay safe, sane, and kind.

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
“Black Americana”: Traditional and Modern Takes on Patriotic Songs by African American Artists (LISTEN)

“Black Americana”: Traditional and Modern Takes on Patriotic Songs by African American Artists (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on November 8, 2020

[Photos: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock; Marian Anderson at Lincoln Memorial; Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV]

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Yesterday was a good day. As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris became President-Elect and Vice President-Elect of the United States of America, in several cities across the nation literal dancing broke out in the streets. So many people from all stripes of life — Black, Brown, white, Asian, Indigenous — were together exhibiting their joy at the victory.

The massive turnout — in the middle of a surging pandemic, no less — to celebrate the repudiation of the path towards division and exclusion in favor of the path towards inclusivity and diversity was the most patriotic thing I’ve witnessed on a national level in a long time. And so many were carrying and waving American flags.

It’s being acknowledged in the media – as well as in President Elect Biden’s speech – how vital the African American community was in saving this nation’s democracy.  The visuals and the fireworks brought home for me just how much at heart Black people are patriots.

Even though from jump we have been treated unjustly, cruelly, unfairly — we have worked tirelessly to fight for the ideals America is supposed to stand for. Justice. Freedom. Equality. Perhaps we believe in democracy the most because we have always been the most vulnerable when it doesn’t exist.

Hearing Vice President-Elect Harris strut out to Mary J. Blige‘s “Work That” and President Elect Biden sprint out to Bruce Springsteen‘s “We Take Care of Our Own” before their respective speeches, then enjoy the crowd and fireworks to some Jackie Wilson, Coldplay, Hall & Oates and Tina Turner, made me think about some of my favorite takes on patriotic American songs by African American artists that could have been cool to play as well. (My most recent favorite from the past few years? Jon Batiste‘s inventive, unexpectedly moving version of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”)

When my sister Lesa texted me a song she’d been listening to all day — “This Land Is Our Land” by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings — my thoughts turned to action and I started making the playlist below I call “Black Americana” for inspiration now and in the months to come:

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:5X7NWDviuh5ITT9e22wD2a”/]

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Elected to Presidency and Vice Presidency of United States of America

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Elected to Presidency and Vice Presidency of United States of America

By goodblacknews on November 7, 2020

By now, you’ve all heard. All the major news outlets have called the 2020 election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the next President and Vice President of the United States of America.

Good Black News is sharing this momentous piece of news as well, and of course the biggest part of it from our perspective is that the first Black person and the first Black woman ever has been chosen by the majority of voters of America to be their Vice President.

It is a historic and momentous occasion and will today and always be honored as such. Tomorrow, even harder work begins, but today, we sit in this moment, celebrate and rejoice!

What We Can Celebrate Today: Cori Bush Elected as Missouri’s 1st Black Woman in Congress

What We Can Celebrate Today: Cori Bush Elected as Missouri’s 1st Black Woman in Congress

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2020

Nurse and activist Cori Bush, garnered a commanding 84 percent of the vote in Missouri’s 1st District to become the state’s first Black woman representative in the United States Congress.

“This is definitely a night to remember,” Bush told supporters during her acceptance speech.“This has been a historic day from the beginning to the end.”

To quote the New York Post:

Bush had the backing of the Justice Democrats — who helped propel Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to her first upset victory over 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley.

In her August Democratic primary, Bush had her own upset victory, defeating longtime incumbent, Missouri Rep. William Lacy Clay.

Bush got involved with the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014, when Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson.

She joined the protests that erupted in the wake of the shooting and soon began leading the protests in her Missouri district.

Bush has remained engaged in protest work ever since, getting heavily involved in the recent protests surrounding the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

To read more: https://www.vox.com/2020/11/4/21538719/cori-bush-ritchie-torres-jamaal-bowman-election-results

ELECTION DAY: Change Is Gonna Come… If We Vote!

By goodblacknews on November 2, 2020
GBN Co-Editor Lesa Lakin and Editor-in-Chief Lori Lakin Hutcherson voting in 2020

We have been living through the 2020 pandemic, protests, economic crisis and all too real and recent attempts at voter suppression happening across the U.S.

And the last thing anyone needs right now is another long article on the importance of voting. So here it is as succinctly as we can put it:

VOTING the one thing we can do to help ourselves and to help others.

To create the opportunity for change that embraces and includes instead of divides and excludes.

GBN supports the Biden/Harris ticket, because they are about embracing, including, bettering.

The other is not.

So if you haven’t already, please, get to a voting center… and help! (IWillVote.com can tell you where if you don’t know)

Onward and upward,

The Good Black News Editorial Staff