Good Black News

Brooklyn High School Preps Students For Technology Jobs

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2012

Students use computers even in English class at the Pathways in Technology Early College High School, also known as P-Tech.(Michael Appleton for The New York Times)

Flakes of green paint are peeling from the third-floor windowsills. Some desks are patched with tape, others etched with graffiti. The view across the street is of a row of boarded-up brownstones. Students attended an Introduction to Computer Systems class at Pathways in Technology Early College High School in Brooklyn. The building and its surroundings in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, may look run-down, but inside 150 Albany Avenue may sit the future of the country’s vocational education: The first 230 pupils of a new style of school that weaves high school and college curriculums into a six-year program tailored for a job in the technology industry.

By 2017, the first wave of students of P-Tech — Pathways in Technology Early College High School — is expected to emerge with associate’s degrees in applied science in computer information systems or electromechanical engineering technology, following a course of studies developed in consultation with I.B.M.

Venus Williams Ends Long Victory Drought At Luxemborg Open

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2012

LUXEMBOURG, Oct. 21 (UPI) — Venus Williams earned her first victory since February 2010 Sunday, downing Romania’s Monica Niculescu in the final of the Luxembourg Open. Williams dispatched Niculescu 6-2, 6-3, snapping the longest victory drought in the 32-year-old former world No. 1’s career. Her previous victory came at the 2010 Acapulco event.

“Coming to the tournament this week I was just trying to play well,” Williams said. “I didn’t know if I could win this event, so to stand here as the winner is a wonderful way for me to end the year, and it really makes me look forward to next year as well.” Niculescu was appearing in just her second career final after falling to Victoria Azarenka at the 2011 Luxembourg event.

RZA Releases Short Animated Prequel To “The Man With The Iron Fists”

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2012

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoPkmD8RC9U&w=560&h=315]

As was announced at the end of September, ahead of the film’s theatrical opening, RZA has released a short animated version of the film on Machinima’s YouTube channel, which he worked on with Eric Calderon (writer/producer of Afro Samurai). The Man With The Iron Fists will see a USA theatrical release on November 2. It stars RZA himself, Russell Crowe, Pam Grier, Lucy Liu and others; Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth served as producers on this $20 million project.

UK Puts Haitian Art In The Picture With Major Exhibit

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2012

Kafou - Haiti, Art & Vodou exhibition

Paintings by Frantz Zephrin are showcased in the Kafou – Haiti, Art & Vodou exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

Haiti is often known for its grinding poverty, brutal oppression and natural disasters but the biggest exhibition of its art ever staged in the UK aims to provide more of a balance. “When you walk in here, hopefully it is, on a simple level, visually eye-popping, astonishing,” said the director of Nottingham Contemporary, Alex Farquharson. “These images speak to a very rich culture. There is a lot of joy.” Farquharson was speaking ahead of the opening of a major show of Haitian art inspired by Vodou, the religion which has been a central part of people’s lives since Haiti became the world’s first black republic in 1804.