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Posts tagged as “Anita Hill”

Darnella Frazier, the Young Woman Who Documented George Floyd’s Murder, to be Honored with 2020 PEN America Benenson Courage Award

Darnella Frazier, the Young Woman Who Documented George Floyd’s Murder, to be Honored with 2020 PEN America Benenson Courage Award

By goodblacknews on October 28, 2020

[Daniella Frazier; photo courtesy pen.org]

The literary and free expression organization PEN America announced today that Darnella Frazier, the quick-thinking and courageous young woman who filmed the murder of George Floyd, will receive the 2020 PEN/Benenson Courage Award. PEN America will bestow the award on the 17-year-old Frazier at its virtual gala celebration on December 8.

“With nothing more than a cell phone and sheer guts, Darnella changed the course of history in this country, sparking a bold movement demanding an end to systemic anti-Black racism and violence at the hands of police,” said PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel, author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All.

“With remarkable steadiness, Darnella carried out the expressive act of bearing witness, and allowing hundreds of millions around the world to see what she saw. Without Darnella’s presence of mind and readiness to risk her own safety and wellbeing, we may never have known the truth about George Floyd’s murder. We are proud to recognize her exceptional courage with this award.”

Frazier documented the death of the 46-year-old Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, one of whom—Derek Chauvin—pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck, well after Floyd lost consciousness. Frazier’s video quickly spread across social media and led to a wave of community outrage, a major investigation, and Chauvin’s arrest, as well as the dismissal of the three other officers.

Floyd’s killing, along with the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Dion Johnson, and others, drove a wave of activism across the country crying out for racial and economic justice.

Frazier will receive the award at the 2020 PEN America Gala, this year being held virtually on December 8 and, for the first time, combining the annual Los Angeles and New York Galas, streamed to supporters around the world. The all-virtual gala will include special guests, performances, readings, and the presentation of multiple PEN America honors.

Professor Anita Hill to be Honored With University of California $10,000 Spendlove Prize in Social Justice

By goodblacknews on May 15, 2016

Professor Anita Hill (photo via hammer.ucla.edu)
Professor Anita Hill (photo via hammer.ucla.edu)

article via jbhe.com
Anita Hill, the University Professor of Law in the Heller Graduate School of Policy and Management at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, has been selected as the 10th recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy, and Tolerance. The honor, awarded by the University of California, Merced, comes with a $10,000 prize.
Professor Hill will be honored on October 24 in Merced, 25 years after she testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, alleging sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas who was a nominee for the Supreme Court. Hill worked for Thomas at the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Sherrie Spendlove, who established the award in honor of her parents, stated that “Anita Hill is a powerful role model for having the courage and the integrity to step up and speak the truth, for her calm dignity in holding to her truth in the face of vicious attacks and for her steadfastness in dedicating her life to teaching, mentoring, educating and enlightening young people in the tenets of social justice.”
Professor Hill is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and Yale Law School. Her latest book is Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding a Home (Beacon Press, 2011).

Kerry Washington to Star as Anita Hill in HBO Movie "Confirmation"

By goodblacknews on March 13, 2015

Kerry Washington
(Source: Jon Kopaloff / Getty)

Kerry Washington, the star of Shonda Rhimes’ wildly popular Thursday-night show Scandal, is about to get even bigger with a new project on HBO.
Washington has been announced as the star of an upcoming TV movie about Anita Hill, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The telepic, which is being developed by HBO Films and has a tentative title of Confirmation, will chronicle the nomination hearings held for Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas in 1991.
Thomas’ nomination that year by the first President Bush shook up the country after Hill accused the judge of sexual harassment in a leaked FBI interview. Hill was grilled by Senators about the allegations at Thomas’ confirmation hearing and lambasted by the judge himself.
Washington will play the part of Anita Hill and writer Susannah Grant will be responsible for the script and executive producing the project. Washington herself will also work as an executive producer alongside the CEO of Groundswell Productions, Michael London, and the company’s production president, Janice Williams.
Hollywood Reporter claims that the HBO project could take precedence over Washington’s role in a feature film called Unforgettable while she’s currently away from the Scandal set.
The news comes as HBO readies the rollout of its internet-streaming service HBO Go and plans for the next season of the sprawling fantasy show Game of Thrones.
article by Jay Balfour via theurbandaily.com

Standing by Her Story: Anita Hill Is Celebrated in the Upcoming Documentary "Anita"

By goodblacknews on March 14, 2014
Anita Hill, photographed at Brandeis University, is the subject of a documentary, “Anita.” (CreditTony Cenicola/The New York Times)

WALTHAM, Mass. — On the day in 1991 that the Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, Anita Hill — the little-known law professor who riveted the nation by accusing him of sexual harassment — faced news cameras outside her simple brick home in Norman, Okla., with her mother by her side, and politely declined to comment on the vote.  In the nearly 23 years since, Ms. Hill, now a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis University, has worked hard, she likes to say, to help women “find their voices.” She has also found hers — and she is not afraid to use it.

“I believe in my heart that he shouldn’t have been confirmed,” she said in a recent interview, acknowledging that it irritates her to see Justice Thomas on the court. “I believe that the information I provided was clear, it was verifiable, it was confirmed by contemporaneous witnesses that I had talked with. And I think what people don’t understand is that it does go to his ability to be a fair and impartial judge.”

It was a surprisingly candid comment from a deeply private woman who has long been careful in the spotlight. But the quiet life Ms. Hill has carved out for herself is about to be upended — by her own choice — with the release of a documentary, Anita, opening on March 21 in theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.