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Good Black News

Education For Entrepreneurs on a Budget

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2012

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”  -Nelson Mandela

We’ve all heard soaring quotes about the value of an education. The poetry of these words has never been more practical. Today’s business world requires entrepreneurs to make education a priority.

More than keeping you on the top of your game, learning improves your bottom line. Whether you take a class in calligraphy or small business principles, growing your expertise will save you from spending money on consultants and cleaning up after your own mistakes.

With the ramifications of the student loan crisis looming, students and institutions alike are looking for better ways to signal knowledge and skills to employers. Educational institutions are rethinking the way they teach and experimenting with technology to democratize education. In the future, a resume may display a digital badge, showing the completion of an online course rather than a degree.

The debate on the future of education is nowhere near settled. In the meantime, entrepreneurs and life long learners can take advantage of the benefits coming out of the discussion.  Class is in session with the best minds in the world, and tuition is free.

Online courses lack the intimacy of the classroom. Some websites offer assignments and quizzes to track your learning. But, don’t expect the same experience as an in-classroom course.

Cam Newton Donates $150,000 to Three North Carolina Schools

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2012

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton sits with students Tuesday at Randolph IB Middle School, where he announced that his foundation would give $150,000 to be divided evenly among Bradley, Randolph and Thomasboro Academy middle schools. (Photo: Glenn H. Burkins for Qcitymetro.com)

The Cam Newton Foundation has donated $150,000 to three Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.  The money will be divided evenly among Bradley, Randolph and Thomasboro Academy middle schools and will be used for activities and resources that boost school pride, the foundation said.  Newton, a second-year quarterback with the Carolina Panthers, made the official announcement in an auditorium packed with cheering children and teachers at Randolph Middle. He encouraged the students to stay in school and get an education, regardless of their career plans.  The donation was part of the foundation’s newly formed School Pride Program.

Young Entrepreneurs Behind African Lookbook Connect Artists With Consumers Online

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2012
Model poses for online shop African Lookbook (Image: African Lookbook)

A look book has the power to turn a fashion blogger into a spokesperson and an independent designer into a household name. But for entrepreneurs Aaron Kohn and Phil Sandick, starting African Lookbook in 2011 was just another way to share stories. “I was living in Botswana for a couple of years, and then it really hit me how powerful oral history is in bringing together underrepresented, or underreported, groups,” says Sandick, a law student at Northwestern University.

The online platform features exclusive interviews with leading African designers and creative entrepreneurs. The stories shared are a reflection of new and old design traditions, serving as a way to connect artistic narratives with leading universities and research institutions. But documenting oral histories is just one part of the site’s overall goal to expand the reach of African-made design products worldwide.

With African Lookbook, users are able to easily browse through a selection of carefully curated items such as a vintage crochet bag or a Merino wool sweater (often spotted on the streets of Johannesburg). BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the entrepreneurial duo to discuss the importance of African art, how they balance school with their venture, and how teamwork makes the dream work.

Survey Shows Surge In Support of Gay Marriage from the Black Community

By goodblacknews on November 14, 2012

A national exit poll conducted by Edison Research shows that black voters favored their state legalizing gay marriage by 51 to 41 percent

It appears that ever since prominent African American figures have publicly voiced their support of gay marriage, the African American community’s support of gay marriage has surged. A national exit poll by Edison Research shows that black voters favored their state legalizing gay marriage, 51 to 41 percent. Pew polls have also showed an increase from 36 percent in 2011 to 44 percent last month supporting gay marriage.

According to the exit poll conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the NEP, 51 percent of black voters said their states should legally recognize same-s*x marriage, compared with 47 percent of whites who favored this idea.

article via yourblackworld.net

‘Boyz n the Hood’ Reimagined by Interpretive Dancer Kyle Abraham

By goodblacknews on November 14, 2012

Kyle Abraham.jpg

The thirty-five-year-old choreographer Kyle Abraham has come a long way in just a few years. In 2006, he established his company, Abraham.In.Motion, and since then has produced dances that have earned him awards and critical acclaim. In December, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre will première a work that it commissioned from him. For someone whose career has taken off in such a big way, though, he retains a strong connection to his Pittsburgh roots, and shows great integrity in his dance-making, both of which were evident in his newest work, “Pavement,” which Abraham presented recently at Harlem Stage.

Abraham, who is African-American, went to high school in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, a historically black neighborhood, and in several of his previous works he drew on his experiences there. For “Pavement,” he went back to 1991, to reimagine the film “Boyz n the Hood,” about gangs in South Central Los Angeles, which was released that summer. He used the film as a springboard for examining life in Pittsburgh’s African-American communities in the Hill District and East Liberty Homewood and reflecting on the state of the black American experience in the two decades since its release.

But Abraham’s conception was even more sweeping. He also wanted to look at the history that had preceded the strife represented in “Boyz n the Hood,” and found a pertinent source in “The Souls of Black Folk,” the 1903 book by W. E. B. Du Bois, whose essays became instrumental in African-Americans’ struggle for equality in the twentieth century. Du Bois’s text made no appearance in “Pavement,” but Abraham included a quote from it in the program, which hovered over the dance: “Men call the shadow prejudice, and learnedly explain it as a natural defense of culture against barbarism, learning against ignorance, purity against crime, the ‘higher’ against the ‘lower’ races.” In the light of Du Bois’s words from more than a century ago, the realities as depicted in the film are sobering. From the perspective of 1991, when the ravages of H.I.V., crack addiction, and gang genocide were entrenched, not much seems to have gone right.

Chicago Worker Wins NJ Lottery During Hurricane Sandy Cleanup

By goodblacknews on November 14, 2012
john-turner-lottery 16x9

Ghanaian Tech Startup Wins Grand Prize In Global Competition

By goodblacknews on November 13, 2012

Ghana tech startup wins global prize in Global Tech CompetitionDropifi, a startup tech company from Ghana has taken the top spot in the 2012 Startup Open, beating 49 other competitors from around the world, including Canada.

“Each year, thousands of new startups come to life through their experiences in Global Entrepreneurship Week which officially starts today in 130 countries,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week. “By winning the Startup Open, Dropifi is at the top of that list and has a very promising future.”

Dropifi is the result of an encounter that Dropifi’s team leader David Osei had while meeting a business executive.

“I requested his business card after a meeting and the piles of cards he had to wade through was enormous. He was looking for his card amongst others” he recounted. “In 2006 I conceptualized a mobile app that will help people to share, store and organize business cards better.”

Dropifi replaces “contact us” buttons with a smart widget that allows companies to analyze and organize incoming messages more efficiently. The widget allows companies to gather analytical data about the people sending the messages and whether the messages content is positive or negative.

Oprah Seeks Trademark for Organic Products Line

By goodblacknews on November 13, 2012
It looks like media mogul Oprah Winfrey is getting into the organic food business. According to online filings for the US Patent and Trademark Organization, several applications for “Oprah’s Organics” were filed late last month. The filings are to use the name for bath soaps, sunscreen, massage oils, hair products — and also for organic salad dressings and frozen vegetables, soups, beverages and snack dips. Applications for “Oprah’s Farm” for a beverage and catering service and “Oprah’s Harvest” were also submitted for this fall. The addresses for the applicant’s include the Wilshire Boulevard addresses of Winfrey’s business and the Chicago address of Winfrey’s Harpo Inc., offices. Winfrey, who launched her own girls’ school in South Africa and has topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid celebrities this year earning an estimated $165 million, already owns hundreds of acres in Maui, which include a large farm and a bed and breakfast. A rep for Winfrey told us: “The trademarks were filed for Oprah’s farm on Maui to enable the farm to grow and distribute produce on Maui and throughout the Hawaiian Islands.”
article via nypost.com

Obama Honors Military on Veterans Day

By goodblacknews on November 12, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama paid tribute at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington Memorial Cemetery to “the heroes over the generations who have served this country of ours with distinction.”  He said the wreath he laid earlier at Tomb of the Unknowns was intended to “remember every service member who has ever worn our nation’s uniform.”

In a speech at the Memorial Amphitheater, he said America will never forget the sacrifice made by its veterans and their families.  “No ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service,” the president said, adding that the country must commit every day “to serving you as well as you’ve served us.”

Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney to Adapt and Direct ‘Antony and Cleopatra’

By goodblacknews on November 12, 2012

Tarell Alvin McCraney in 2009.Tarell Alvin McCraney (“The Brothers Size”) will direct and adapt a new production of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” as part of a collaboration among the Public Theater, GableStage in Miami and the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Public announced on Monday. The play will have its premiere at the Stratford-Upon-Avon home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where Mr. McCraney is an artistic associate, in November 2013, before being staged in Miami in January 2014 and later that month at the Public.

In addition to directing the production, Mr. McCraney edited the text, reordered the scene structure and relocated the play to “the late 1700s against the backdrop of Saint-Domingue, on the eve of the Haitian Revolution against the French,” according to a news release. Casting will take place in London, New York and Miami, Mr. McCraney’s hometown.

A 2007 graduate of Yale, Mr. McCraney has also written the trilogy “The Brother/Sister Plays,” “Wig Out” and other plays, including “Head of Passes,” which will have its premiere in Chicago next year.

The production will be the latest collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and a New York stage. In 2011 the company had a residency at the Park Avenue Armory as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. In March 2013 its production of “Matilda the Musical,” based on the Roald Dahl children’s book and now running in London, is to begin performances on Broadway.

article by Erik Piepenburg via nytimes.com