[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWXAEutqoAQ&w=560&h=315]
According to thegrio.com, President Barack Obama has teamed up with viral video star “Kid President” for a new web ad promoting the annual White House Easter egg roll. In the amusing clip above, “Kid President” is summoned by the President to spread to word about how to throw your hat in the ring for a ticket to the special holiday event.
“Kid President, looks like you got my message,” Obama says. “Yes Mr. President, I got your message,” Kid President responds, using a tin can phone. “This is historic … Kids dancing. Eggs rolling. I’m in!” he adds.
“Kid President”, who real name is Robby Novak, is a 9-year-old from Henderson, Tenn., who became a social media superstar after his YouTube video, “A Pep Talk from Kid President to You”, became a massive hit.
It has since garnered over 10 million views. The Easter egg roll will be held on April 1st. The lottery to score tickets opened Thursday at 10 a.m. It closes at 10a.m. this coming Monday.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Good Black News
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), born in Tyron, North Carolina and better known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York and worked in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Among Simone’s most popular recordings were “My Baby Just Cares For Me”, “I Put A Spell On You”, “I Loves You, Porgy” “Feeling Good” and the civil rights protest song “Mississippi Goddam.” Learn more about this amazing musician’s life and music here and watch her live performance of “Ain’t Got No… I Got Life” below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcXI2BIUOQ&w=420&h=315]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Official portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama in the Green Room of the White House, Feb. 12, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
The first lady’s new official portrait has been released for President Obama’s second term. While still wearing pearls, Michelle Obama is sporting a distinctly different look in comparison to her official portrait from 2009.
The first lady’s fashion choice, hairstyle, and location of the photo are different. Mrs. Obama recently weighed in on her widely publicized choice to sport bangs, calling it the result of a “mid-life crisis.” In this term’s portrait she is also seated, as opposed to standing.
article via thegrio.com
Beyonce Knowles attends ‘Beyonce: Life Is But A Dream’ New York Premiere at Ziegfeld Theater on February 12, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)
Beyoncé’s HBO documentary Life Is But A Dream may have garnered mixed reviews, but it pulled in record ratings for HBO. The superstar’s documentary had the “largest audience for a HBO doc since Nielsen revised its method of measuring viewership in 2004,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Beyoncé’s documentary premiere drew 1.8 million viewers, breaking the previous record of 1.7 million set by Spike Lee’s Hurricane Katrina opus When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts in 2006.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
Christine Carter is the CEO of the Against All Odds Foundation, which provides educational programs and social services for at-risk youth, but she could be the organization’s charter member.
As a child, Carter says her mother, a teen prostitute, traded her out for sex in order to get drugs. Her father was also a drug addict. At 5, left alone home with her infant brother, Carter took him to school with her. That’s when she became a part of the foster care system.
When she was 7, Carter’s mother died of complications from HIV/AIDS, and she began bouncing between foster homes and relatives who lived in the rugged housing projects of Newark, New Jersey. Facing abuse and neglect, Carter describes herself as the “residue of the 1980s crack era.”
“My childhood was one that no child should endure. I was physically abused, neglected, and literally left for dead,” Carter told TheBlackManCan.
But Carter refused to let the troubles of her early life define her.
“The adversity that I faced as a child prepared me for life’s greatest challenges. Growing up as an orphan compelled me to become a social worker and give back to those most vulnerable. If it were not for my childhood, I would not be where I am, nor would there be an Against All Odds Foundation,” Carter said.
Homeless Kansas City man, Billy Ray Harris, who returned an engagement ring a woman accidentally dropped in to his cup last Friday, is reaping the benefits of the mantra “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
For Sarah Darling and husband Bill Krejci, simply thanking Billy Ray Harris (pictured) for holding on to their ring wasn’t enough. Nor was giving the homeless man all the money they had the day he returned it to them. So days later, they decided to step it up, starting a financial support campaign for Harris.
“My wife was interviewed, and I noticed that on some websites people were asking how they could help Billy Ray,” Krecjci told the New York Daily News. “That’s when I got the idea to start the campaign.”
Krejci went to fundraising site Give Forward and started a donation’s page for Harris, which will remain active for the next 90 days. As of Tuesday evening, the page has garnered almost $14,000. “A couple of days ago we noticed it was really starting to gain traction,” Nate St. Pierre, GiveForward’s director Of communications, told the News. “He (Krejci) put the goal at $1,000, and had no idea it would get so big.”
Darrell Wallace, Jr., driver of the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, poses with the Coors Pole award after qualifying for pole position for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East American Real TV 150 at Dover International Speedway on September 28, 2012 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Darrell Wallace Jr., is set to make history as only the fourth black driver with a full-time ride in a NASCAR series. Wallace takes the wheel for the Truck Series race Friday at Daytona International Speedway. He is signed with Joe Gibbs Racing and will drive the No. 54 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Wallace joins Wendell Scott, Willy T. Ribbs and Bill Lester as the only full-time black drivers in the 65-year history of NASCAR. Scott, one of the original pioneers, is the only black driver to win a race. Wallace, the son of a white father and black mother, openly talks of becoming the Tiger Woods of NASCAR. He wants to become a star who can transcend the sport and prove people of all colors can race.
Copyright 2013 Dan Gelston, The Associated Press via thegrio.com
One of the earliest writings of Jupiter Hammon, the first African-American poet to be published, has been found. Born into slavery in Long Island, New York, he was allowed to explore his master’s library. Hammon went on to publish his first work, “An Evening Thought,” in 1760.
Julie McCown, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Arlington, was researching several libraries for a particular poem and found success at Manuscripts and Archives at Yale University Library in Connecticut. The poem, published in 1786, is telling of Hammon’s evolved thoughts on slavery in America, according to Cedrick May, a UTA professor.
Julie McCown, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Arlington, was researching several libraries for a particular poem and found success at Manuscripts and Archives at Yale University Library in Connecticut. The poem, published in 1786, is telling of Hammon’s evolved thoughts on slavery in America, according to Cedrick May, a UTA professor.
Sheri Crawley’s inspiration for a day for brown skin girls came from her daughters Laila, 8, (left) and Aliya, 6 (right). Photos/Sheri Crawley (Courtesy Photo)
After relocating to a Midwest suburban neighborhood in 2010, Sheri Crawley’s noticed a change in her bubbly, energetic and confident daughter Laila. Her daughter began attending kindergarten at predominantly White school and began longing for long, blonde hair like her classmates. Crawley, who has read several studies about skin bias such as the 1940s Doll Test by Dr. Kenneth and Mamie Clark, where young Black children thought White dolls were prettier than darker skinned dolls, knew she had to curtail her daughter’s perception of her brown skin.
“We can’t pretend skin tones don’t matter in our country. Girls on an everyday basis are dealing with issues in their classrooms and even in their relationships,” said Crawley. “We have so few representations of women in a positive light. We need to have a discussion now with our children.” After praying and seeking direction from God, Crawley said she and her husband set out to create a doll for their daughters that would celebrate their appearance and heritage. The result is the Pretty Brown Girl Doll.
“As we look at the state of Black America, we are further away now than we have ever been to our culture, our ethnicity and our ancestry,” said Crawley. “It’s time to get back to the basics and really celebrate it.” Since the release of the first doll, the Crawley family has expanded Pretty Brown Girl to books-journals such as “My First Day of School” by Sherri Crawley, baby gear, Obama T-shirts, wristbands, pledge cards and curriculum-based workshops held by groups across the country.
This month, the Pretty Brown Girl Foundation is gearing up to launch the first International Pretty Brown Skin Day set for Feb. 23. That day is to be a day of empowerment and encouragement designed to help young girls appreciate their varying and diverse complexions and skin tones while the develop self-esteem and confidence.
“We can’t pretend skin tones don’t matter in our country. Girls on an everyday basis are dealing with issues in their classrooms and even in their relationships,” said Crawley. “We have so few representations of women in a positive light. We need to have a discussion now with our children.” After praying and seeking direction from God, Crawley said she and her husband set out to create a doll for their daughters that would celebrate their appearance and heritage. The result is the Pretty Brown Girl Doll.
“As we look at the state of Black America, we are further away now than we have ever been to our culture, our ethnicity and our ancestry,” said Crawley. “It’s time to get back to the basics and really celebrate it.” Since the release of the first doll, the Crawley family has expanded Pretty Brown Girl to books-journals such as “My First Day of School” by Sherri Crawley, baby gear, Obama T-shirts, wristbands, pledge cards and curriculum-based workshops held by groups across the country.
This month, the Pretty Brown Girl Foundation is gearing up to launch the first International Pretty Brown Skin Day set for Feb. 23. That day is to be a day of empowerment and encouragement designed to help young girls appreciate their varying and diverse complexions and skin tones while the develop self-esteem and confidence.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials, MJ, was born on February 17, 1963 and is a six-time NBA champion as well as six-time MVP with the Chicago Bulls. He is currently the majority owner and chairman of the Charlotte Bobcats and is considered the greatest basketball player of all time. Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.
To learn more about his life and career, click here and to watch him in action, click on the video below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bDKq4O8bhc&w=560&h=315]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson