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
Good Black News
Members of the Morehouse College 2002 graduating class sing their school song during commencement ceremonies May 19, 2002 in Atlanta. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — A White House official says President Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address at all-male Morehouse College in Atlanta this spring. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is among the historically black institution’s alumni. Commencement is scheduled for May 19.
Obama typically speaks each spring at a handful of college and university commencement ceremonies, including at one of the military service academies. Last year, he spoke at commencement ceremonies at all-female Barnard College in New York.
The White House official declined to speak for the record because the schedule of Obama’s commencement speeches has not been released. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported on Obama’s address at Morehouse.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press article by Darlene Superville via thegrio.com
Soon, officials from digital game creators EA Sports, Activision and many others may beat a path to the doors of the Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School, especially if the school continues to turn our prodigies like first-grader Zora Ball.
Ball has become the youngest individual to create a full version of a mobile application video game, which she unveiled last month in the University of Pennsylvania’s Bodek Lounge during the university’s “Bootstrap Expo.” Seven-year-old Ball has also become a master of the Bootstrap programming language, and when asked, Ball was able to reconfigure her application on the fly using Bootstrap.
Actress Jennifer Beals attends the 5th Annual ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel on February 23, 2012 in Beverly Hills
ABC will see an “L Word” reunion on its new Romeo & Juliet-esque drama pilot “Venice.” The Showtime series’ star Jennifer Beals has signed on for a lead, while creator/executive producer Ilene Chaiken has come on board as executive producer/showrunner, according to Deadline.
“Venice” is a soap about the haves and the have-nots of California’s most seductive city, Venice. It focuses on two rival families and a forbidden and dangerous romance emerging between them as they battle for control of Venice. Beals will play Lisa Carver, the elegant bohemian matriarch of the Carver family, one of the two feuding clans. McG is directing the pilot.
article via eurweb.com
Prince will play three headline shows at the Montreux Jazz Festival this July, for what will be the famous fest’s first edition since its founder Claude Nobs passed away. The master musician will perform over the three nights of July 13, 14 and 15, organizers of the Swiss music event have announced. Montreux is familiar turf for Prince. He first played at the fest in 2007 and returned in 2009, when he delivered two shows in the same evening.
Prince recently returned to the spotlight with the new track “Screwdriver,” and he was on hand at the Grammy Awards to present Gotye and Kimbra with the Record of the Year trophy. On May 19, Prince will receive the Icon Award and perform at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.
Prince Returns with ‘Screwdriver’ Song: Listen
The Montreux Jazz Festival is entering a new era without its founder and former GM Claude Nobs, who died in January after sustaining injuries from a fall while cross-country skiing on Christmas Eve. Just months earlier, he’d stepped away from the event he created back in 1967. The 47th Montreux Jazz Festival runs from July 5-20. The full line-up will be unveiled April 18.
article by Lars Brandle via billboard.com
Prince Returns with ‘Screwdriver’ Song: Listen
The Montreux Jazz Festival is entering a new era without its founder and former GM Claude Nobs, who died in January after sustaining injuries from a fall while cross-country skiing on Christmas Eve. Just months earlier, he’d stepped away from the event he created back in 1967. The 47th Montreux Jazz Festival runs from July 5-20. The full line-up will be unveiled April 18.
article by Lars Brandle via billboard.com
Marvin Gaye performing on stage (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
The story of the late, legendary Motown artist Marvin Gaye will be coming to a stage near you, thanks to the efforts of his sister Zeola “Sweetsie” Gaye. My Brother Marvin is said to provide behind-the-scenes insights in the life of the “Let’s Get It On” singer. “Through the years, I became taken aback and disappointed with everything that had been written, said and published about my family, especially my brother Marvin that wasn’t accurate,” Zeola Gaye said in a press release. The cast for the show includes Lynn Whitfield in the role of Gaye’s mother and Keith Washington as the singer himself.
“In the play, I simply wanted to set the record straight. I wanted to leave a true account about Marvin the man and our family. People need to know what really happened and Marvin would want his fans to really know what happened. We are finally bringing the truth the world needs and must know,” Zeola added in her press release. The show will be on tour throughout several major American cities including Houston, Baltimore and Motown’s birthplace of Detroit starting today (February 15) and concludes in the spring. Click here to buy tickets.
article via thegrio.com
Golden Globe-winning actor Don Cheadle is ready for his close-up. The popular House of Lies star is getting his own Marvel poster for the highly-anticipated sure-to-be summer blockbuster Iron Man 3.
Reprising his role as Capt. James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine (which he took over from Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2) , it looks like Cheadle will be playing a prominent role in the action again in this sequel, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as the titular hero and Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce in the villainous roles. Both Iron Man (2008) and its 2010 sequel grossed over $300 million domestically at the box office. Iron Man 3 hits theaters on May 3.
article via thegrio.com
Serena Williams of the U.S. returns the ball to Poland’s Urszula Radwanska on the fourth day of the WTA Qatar Ladies Open tennis tournament in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — An emotional Serena Williams returned to the top of women’s tennis, overcoming a series of potentially career-ending injuries since 2010 to become the oldest woman ever to hold the No. 1 ranking. The 31-year-old Williams rallied from 4-1 down in the third to beat former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open on Friday. She needed to reach the semifinals to replace Victoria Azarenka at No. 1 when the rankings come out next week.
Williams held up one finger after clinching the match with an ace and wiped away the tears as she addressed the cheering crowd. “I never thought I would be here again,” Williams said. “Oh my gosh, I’ve been through so much. I never thought I would be here.”
Chris Evert held the top ranking in 1985 just shy of her 31st birthday. It has been a long journey back to the top for Williams.
Williams held up one finger after clinching the match with an ace and wiped away the tears as she addressed the cheering crowd. “I never thought I would be here again,” Williams said. “Oh my gosh, I’ve been through so much. I never thought I would be here.”
Chris Evert held the top ranking in 1985 just shy of her 31st birthday. It has been a long journey back to the top for Williams.
U.S. President Barack Obama presents Youth Becoming Healthy founder Pamela Green Jackson with the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor, in the East Room of the White House February 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. ‘Their selflessness and courage inspire us all to look for opportunities to better serve our communities and our country,’ Obama said about this year’s recepients. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is bestowing the Presidential Citizens Medal on the six adults killed in the Newtown, Conn., school shooting in December.
Obama presented the medal to family members of the six educators from Sandy Hook Elementary School in a White House ceremony. He read their names one by one, saying they gave their lives to protect the children in their care.
Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a renowned pediatrician who developed a leading behavioral test for newborns, was also honored, as was former Pennsylvania Sen. Harris Wofford and a handful of others who were recognized for contributions to public service.
Obama says citizenship binds the nation together and captures Americans’ belief in something bigger than themselves.
article by Josh Lederman, Associated Press via thegrio.com
Obama presented the medal to family members of the six educators from Sandy Hook Elementary School in a White House ceremony. He read their names one by one, saying they gave their lives to protect the children in their care.
Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a renowned pediatrician who developed a leading behavioral test for newborns, was also honored, as was former Pennsylvania Sen. Harris Wofford and a handful of others who were recognized for contributions to public service.
Obama says citizenship binds the nation together and captures Americans’ belief in something bigger than themselves.
article by Josh Lederman, Associated Press via thegrio.com
Photo caption: Image – Mortar Practice Grouping – of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Cleveland’s Public
It was in 2010 that researchers verified the service of around 140 black soldiers from the area who fought in the Civil War but were omitted from the tablets. The commission overseeing the monument said it will honor these men, mostly like by inscribing their names on the tablets, and others they uncover through additional research.