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Posts tagged as “African-American Philanthropy”

Beyoncé’s $7M Gift To Houston

By goodblacknews on July 8, 2014

BeyonceAs a proud native of Houston, Texas, Beyoncé is leaving her mark on the city that groomed her to become an international star. The singer’s hometown pastor says the star has donated millions to his church to help the homeless and feed the poor.
In a recent interview with KHOU 11, Rev. Rudy Rasmus said St. Johns Downtown has benefited from Beyoncé’s $7 million gift to the establishment. Despite her superstar status, the pastor explained the Grammy award-winning artist still has a heart of gold.
“She has a global platform and is doing some amazing work and I’m glad she’s a friend of mine,” Rasmus said. “[…] She’s an incredible human being. Has an incredible heart and has been extremely helpful in our mission and our ministry here.”
Rasmus said Beyoncé has kept the ministry near and dear to her heart because she grew up at that very church and entertained the congregation with her musical talents.
“She used to sing right here,” he pointed out. “I don’t remember the song but I do remember she had long braids, tennis shoes and jeans on. A far cry from what she is today.”
article by Camille Travis via uptownmagazine.com

L.A. Barbers To Use $8.5 Million Grant To Screen Black Men For Hypertension

By goodblacknews on June 24, 2014

Black Barber Shop Health Outreach Program Launches Tour (thumbnail)Barbershops are central to the narrative of Black manhood in the United States.
It is where jokes are cracked, friends are made, issues debated, and, soon, where blood pressure will be tested.
According to the Daily Breeze, Dr. Ronald G. Victor, the head of Cedars-Sinai’s hypertension center, will use a $8.5 million grant to help train Black barbers to check men for high blood pressure.
“Uncontrolled hypertension is one of the biggest health problems facing the African-American community today,” said Victor, the Burns and Allen Chair in Cardiology Research. “Hypertension is called the silent killer because there are no symptoms. We need to find a way to reach out to the community and prevent the serious complications caused by high blood pressure because all too often, by the time a patient finds out they have the condition, the heart and kidneys already have been damaged.”
Read Cedars-Sinai’s statement on the groundbreaking project below:

A Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute physician has been awarded an $8.5 million grant aimed at enlisting African-American barbers in the fight against hypertension, a deadly condition that can cause strokes, heart attacks and organ failure, and which is particularly devastating to African-American men.
Ronald G. Victor, MD, director of the Hypertension Center in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, was the first to subject increasingly popular barbershop-based health programs to scientific scrutiny with randomized, controlled testing. His study, published in 2011 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that if barbers offered blood pressure checks during men’s haircuts and encouraged patrons with hypertension to follow up with physicians, hundreds of lives could be saved annually.
Now, with the grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Victor is about to start a new, randomized, controlled clinical trial that will include 500 African-American male patrons of 20 Los Angeles-area barbershops. All participants will have uncontrolled hypertension and be longtime customers of the participating barbershops. The goal of the new trial is to test the effectiveness of barbershop hypertension programs and whether expanding such programs is feasible and cost-effective.
The Cedars-Sinai-led research study will be conducted in partnership with several California medical centers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 67 million American adults have hypertension. Of that number, 53 million are aware of their condition, 47 million are treated, and 31 million have it under control. Among African-Americans, 43 percent of men and 45.7 percent of women have hypertension, compared to 33.9 percent of White men and 31.3 percent of White women.
Victor’s 2011 study concludes that if hypertension intervention programs were put in place in the estimated 18,000 African-American barbershops in the U.S., it would result in the first year in about 800 fewer heart attacks, 550 fewer strokes and 900 fewer deaths.
“We hope that the new trial’s outcomes will show an even greater benefit while lowering the cost of providing high-quality healthcare for hypertension in a high-risk population,” Victor said.
article via newsone.com

Beyoncé Donates $125,000 to Embrace Innovations to Help Save Infant Lives

By goodblacknews on June 13, 2014

"Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Costume Institute Gala - ArrivalsAccording to MTV Act, Beyoncé is donating $125,000 to Embrace Innovations, an organization that gives out little “sleeping bags” to keep alive underweight infants whose parents can’t afford (or don’t have access to) an incubator.
They aren’t actually sleeping bags, but they look like them, and they are lifesaving and easy to use. Thanks to Beyoncé, there will be pilot testing with these inventions in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda, and Beyoncé could be saving at least two thousand infants via her contribution. The baby warmers have already been used in some areas of the world, but this will ensure more parents are able to get them.
Beyoncé announced her donation while at Gucci’s Chime for Change anniversary party.  Since Chime for Change is dedicated to helping women, it was great timing.  Jane Chen, the TED Fellow and TED speaker behind the baby warmers, was thrilled by the support.
“She [Beyoncé] told me how incredible she thought the innovation was,” Jane said. “I think what struck me was how sweet and genuine she was—and just so excited about our work. One of my most memorable moments was getting to dance with her after we spoke.” Beyoncé’s publicist, who had given birth to a premature baby, also fully understood the importance of this invention.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

USC Alums Eloise and Carlton Blanton Endow Scholarship for Future Principals

By goodblacknews on March 9, 2014
Carlton (PhD ’87) and Eloise (BA ’64) Blanton (Photo/Kathy Christie)

Eloise and Carlton Blanton love to share memories – with many details and specifics –of the principals and school leaders that mentored them throughout their two extraordinary careers as educators.  She recalls Joe Bethel, principal at Loma Vista, who told her to “speak up!”  She speaks lovingly of Carrie Haynes, then in the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) regional office, who encouraged her to pursue a principalship.  Carlton remembers his basketball coach at Cal State Los Angeles, Saxson C. Elliott, who later became a department chair and gave Carlton his first teaching job at Cal State LA.
In many ways, those memories led them to give a gift which will prepare a new generation of school leaders to be just as impactful.
The Dr. Carlton and Eloise Blanton Endowed Scholarship at USC Rossier School of Education will specifically support students who aspire to be school principals.  The Blanton’s generous gift of $160,000 to USC Rossier will support the studies of students who, as the Blantons put it, “have resiliency, bounce back from adversity, are good listeners, and are highly motivated.”  The Blantons care deeply about supporting those students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford a USC education.  “We have always wanted to do this,” they say.
Because for these two – who refer to one another as “my best friend” – their lives together and as educators were greatly shaped by USC.  Eloise Blanton is a hometown girl, whose father owned property in USC’s neighborhood.  Carlton is Texas born and raised, and for the key high school years, he pretty much raised himself.  He moved with his parents to Southern California in 9th grade but, not feeling challenged in his new school, convinced them he could go back to Texas alone.  From the age of 14, he lived on his own in the house they had left behind and went to school, graduating #2 in his high school class at age 16.

Singer Akon Aims to Bring Electricity to 1 Million Homes in Africa Through "Akon Lighting Africa" Initiative

By goodblacknews on February 28, 2014
Singer Akon. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Singer Akon has launched an ambitious endeavor that aims to improve the lives of over one million people in Africa.  His new initiative, “Akon Lighting Africa”, hopes to bring electricity to one million households by the end of 2014 to help promote energy sustainability and sufficiency throughout the continent.  “The lack of electricity is currently a major problem in Africa,” reads the website for the campaign. “A significant number of households in rural areas and even urban cities do not have access to electricity. This is a real obstacle to Africa’s Sustainable Development.”
Akon, who is Senegalese-American, has partnered with local charities and corporations to aid in the efforts of the campaign by addressing Africa’s energy issue and installing solar equipment in households.  The “Right Now” singer will travel and meet with leaders in nine countries in nine days to discuss the project including Senegal, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and the Ivory Coast.
Learn more about Akon Lighting Africa here.
article by Lilly Workneh via thegrio.com

Unsung Black Women in History: Biddy Mason, from Slavery to One of Los Angeles’ Wealthiest Black Entrepreneurs

By goodblacknews on February 11, 2014

From Clutch Magazine:

Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Madame CJ Walker—the list of women typically mentioned during Black History Month is incredibly short. But this year, CLUTCH will celebrate the achievements of black women you may not have ever heard about.

First up: Bridget “Biddy” Mason

Bridget “Biddy” Mason was born on August 15, 1818 in Georgia. Mason was born into slavery and before her death in 1891 she become one of Los Angeles’ wealthiest Black residents and philanthropists.

After working on a plantation in Mississippi owned by Robert Marion Smith, Mason migrated to Utah with the Smiths, who had converted to Mormonism. During the grueling two-thousand-mile journey, Mason herded cattle, prepared meals, and worked as a nurse and midwife. In 1851, Smith moved his brood, including his enslaved servants, to San Bernardino, California.

Rapper Juicy J Awards $50K Scholarship To Biology Student Zaire Holmes (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on January 13, 2014

Juicy J
Last summer rapper Juicy J announced that he was giving away $50,000 in scholarship money. The initial Tweet stated, “I’m giving out a 50K scholarship to the best chick that can twerk” and it illicit a firestorm of response–and applications.  After going through submissions Juicy has selected a winner, but insists that no twerking was required to win.  “50K is a lot of money and I don’t want to waste it on some chick twerkin’ her ass,” he says. “Next time I send a Tweet out about a scholarship take it serious and read the words!”
The winner is 19-year-old Zaire Holmes, a mother and student at the State College of Florida who did read the rules and submitted a video explaining why she deserved the money.  “I’m a biology major so the scholarship would be able to cover all of my lab expenses,” she said hopefully. “A lot of people thought you had to twerk, but you actually had to read the rules!”
Watch Juicy J present Holmes with the check:
http://youtu.be/9fc-vqqjZzs
article by Jerry L. Barrow via theurbandaily.com

Oprah Winfrey's "Biggest Yard Sale Ever" Auction Nets More Than $600,000 for Charity

By goodblacknews on November 3, 2013

Oprah Winfrey
Luca Trovato/Oprah Magazine

Looks like Oprah Winfrey‘s “biggest yard sale ever,” which was held on Saturday, Nov. 2, was a huge success for both the fans and the media mogul.  The OWN founder’s auction, dubbed “The Oprah Winfrey Collection” and featuring hundreds of her personal items, netted more than $600,000, according to the Los Angeles Times.  The sale, which was held at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club, included “antiques, contemporary furnishings, and fine art” from the TV star’s homes in Indiana, Hawaii, Chicago, Santa Barbara and her “La Quinta” estate. Kaminski Auctions ran the event. A few items from her trainer and longtime pal Bob Greene were also put up for auction.
“Had so much fun at the auction which is still going on,” Lee Daniels’ The Butler actress tweeted on Saturday. Oprah’s BFF, Gayle King, shared a photo on her Instagram account, which shows Oprah holding one of her adorable dogs and prepping for the big day.  “Auction day for @oprah getting ready,” King captioned the snapshot.
The biggest selling item(s)? Six 18th century Louis XVI armchairs with hand-embroidered details sold for $60,000, reported by the Times. Certain objects and things exceeded price expectations, like a teapot that sold for $1,000 but was worth less than $100.  Sounds like her many admirers just wanted to get a piece of the icon.
Here are a some highlights and their final pricetags:

Kevin Hart Donates $250K To Struggling Philadelphia School District

By goodblacknews on November 1, 2013

Capture
Kevin Hart, a proud Philadelphia native, is giving back to the city that raised him in the best way possible. After hearing of the financial crisis plaguing the City of Brotherly Love’s school district, the comedian decided to pony up $250K of his own money to support.  Hart made the announcement via a video on Instagram. “Philadelphia, aka the city of brotherly love,” he began in the clip. “I just heard about all the trouble the school district is going through. So I took it upon myself to take $250,000 and put it in the school system to buy new computers. Not because somebody told me to, because I love you, and I put on for my city.”
Additionally, Hart tagged a heartfelt caption with the vid. “My city made me who I am today and for that I am thankful. I will make it my priority to help my city get out of this debt. PHILLY UNTIL I DIE,” read a portion of the message.”
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter thanked Hart for his philanthropic contribution in a statement, saying “I want to thank Kevin Hart for his incredibly generous gift to our schools, recreation centers and citizens of all ages. These computers will have a very meaningful impact on Philadelphia.”  For context, over the summer, Philly closed 24 schools, laid off thousands of employees (including teachers, counselors, vice principals, and the like), and cut numerous extra curricular programs.
article by Chris Thomas via hiphopwired.com

Marquis Taylor Quits Wall Street Job to Help Impoverished Youth Through Basketball

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2013
Marquis Taylor (far left) with a group of young students participating in the mentorship program. (Photo courtesy of Coaching 4 Change website)
Marquis Taylor (far left) with a group of young students participating in the mentorship program. (Photo courtesy of Coaching 4 Change website)

Marquis Taylor, 29, is a man making a difference.  Once a working professional on Wall Street, Taylor left his job in real estate finance and dedicated his time to helping youth in low-income communities through his grassroots organization, Coaching4Change.

As the founder and executive director of the program, Taylor mentors the youth by teaching them the fundamental lessons provided through sports.  His mentoring guidelines are designed to stimulate the educational environment of kids in urban areas and they have proven to bring positive change to these impoverished communities.  Taylor’s mentorship program has directly affected one student in particular who grew up in a single home with eight siblings, according to a story reported by The Huffington Post.
The student was frequently in trouble and failing most of his classes but with Taylor’s guidance, he was able to raise his GPA almost two full points and he became inspired to launch an after-school program where he taught younger students the basics of basketball.  For Taylor, many of the lives of students he has helped reflect on some of the same hardships he faced as a child.