LeBron James realizes that it’s not just young teens in Akron, Ohio, who need a shot at an education, but also adults who haven’t graduated from high school with a diploma.
Well, now James is making sure he helps those who may be the parents of some of those kids receiving the free college education. According to Cleveland.com, as part of a partnership with Project Learn of Summit County, which helps adults get their GED certificates, parents of the children enrolled in the LeBron James Family Foundation’s scholastic-mentorship program can get financial and emotional support to obtain high school equivalency credentials and learn other life skills.
Adults in the program will receive an inspirational letter from James, Hewlett-Packard laptops they can keep if they finish the classes and free bus passes and parking to attend class.
“We are so excited about the I Promise, Too program because a huge part of our foundation’s work [with children] centers around parent involvement,” Michele Campbell, executive director of the LeBron James Family Foundation, said in a news release. “This is an opportunity to help our parents make strides in their own academic careers so they are better equipped to help our students keep their educational promises. We can’t reach our students without their parents’ support, so this program is monumental for our families and their futures.” article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
Five months after her son Tamir was killed by the police in Cleveland, Samaria Rice moved herself into a homeless shelter, unable to stay near the spot where her son was playing with a toy gun one minute, and lay dead the next.
But thanks to an assist from her family, Rice was recently able to relocate to a new house in the city, ABC5 reported. “Emotionally, she just could not take it, and she had nowhere else to go,” Rice’s attorney Walter Madison told Cleveland Scene of Rice’s decision. “It was more comfortable for her in a shelter than it would have been in her own home.”
Due to delays in the criminal investigation, Rice continues to accrue additional legal expenses, which a GoFundMe campaign hopes to offset.
The police officers involved in the case have requested that the family put off its federal civil rights lawsuit . The officers are concerned their testimonies in the federal investigation may self-incriminate them in the criminal case, the New Republic reported.
Tamir’s relatives, however, have protested that request saying that delaying the lawsuit will cause their legal costs to surge and exacerbate their emotional pain, according to the Associated Press.
Tamir still has not been buried because the family is concerned that additional medical examinations could be required, according to the court motion.
Ricky Jackson (YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT) Ricky Jackson, 57, spent 39 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, and on Thursday an Ohio judge ordered the state to pay Jackson $1 million for his wrongful imprisonment, Reuters reports. Jackson was freed from prison last November.
Jackson was informed by a journalist about the $1 million check coming his way. “Wow, I didn’t know that,” Jackson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer after he found out. “Wow, wow, wow, that’s fantastic, man. I don’t even know what to say. This is going to mean so much.”
Jackson was convicted of murder in connection with the death of Cleveland salesman Harold Franks in 1975, alongside two other men, Kwame Ajamu and Wiley Bridgeman, who are brothers. Jackson was the longest-held U.S. prisoner to be eventually cleared of a crime. Ajamu and Bridgeman also were exonerated. Ajamu’s sentence was commuted and he was released from prison in 2003, and Bridgeman was freed shortly after Jackson in November.
A 12-year-old boy named Eddie Vernon testified during the original trial that he saw the attack. Vernon later recanted his testimony, telling authorities that he did not, in fact, witness the crime.
According to Reuters, there was no other evidence linking Jackson to Franks’ death. Other witnesses said that Jackson, who was a teenager at the time, was on a school bus at the time of the killing. article by Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele via theroot.com
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, OH is hosting its 14th annual FREE admission day in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 19, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Museum will offer a day filled with live performances, education programs and family activities that will highlight how people use music to find their voice and create a sense of community.
Visitors are invited to experience the Rock Hall’s many exhibits that showcase how Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and other artists have used popular music to communicate ideas to a wide audience and bring about social change. The day of events is sponsored by KeyBank.
In addition to free admission, visitors will be able to enter for a chance to win a Museum membership, as five Family Roller memberships will be raffled off during the day. For a list of current exhibits and for more information about this and other Rock Hall events, visit http://www.rockhall.com. Klipsch Audio stage entertainment lineup: Jason Walker of Sounds of Entertainment will emcee the events. The Antioch Spiritual Arts Choir, an acclaimed co-ed choir from Antioch Baptist Church who focus on spirituals, folk and gospel music. West Side Community House’s Summer of Sisterhood program began in 2010 under the leadership of Ali McClain, youth services director. The program teaches girls ages 10-18 how the power of creative expression can positively change their community and even the world. The girls work intensively for eight week with professional teaching artists to create original songs, music videos, and live performances of their work. The Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word, a powerful performance arts and spoken word group comprised of adolescent males (age 12-19) from various inner city Cleveland communities. Inspire *1* One, a band comprised of former students from Cleveland School of the Arts. Lake Erie Ink, a writing space for youth is a non-profit that provides creative expression opportunities and academic support to youth in the greater Cleveland community. LEI works with youth from different socio-economic, cultural and academic backgrounds, using creative writing to increase literacy and social engagement. The organization offers creative expression workshops onsite and off, to youth of all ages, including an after school program, weekly evening workshops for teens, and monthly weekend workshops and open mics. Foster Theater Programming:
Programming will be taught by the Rock Hall’s award-winning education staff. Seating is limited. Attendance will be on a first-come first-served basis. Special Presentation: “Rock and Roll and the Civil Rights Movement” This program will explore how a range of artists, from Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke to Berry Gordy at Motown and rock and roll pioneer Fats Domino created a popular music that empowered African Americans to take their rightful place in American society. Young people of all races flocked to their performances and embraced their music, which helped to break down the walls and barriers that the Civil Rights movement was fighting against. Album Spotlight: Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On This special presentation will focus on the making and impact of Marvin Gaye’s landmark 1971 album, which still resonates for listeners today. The full album will be played, with no interruption, with discussion to follow.
Cleveland Browns player Andrew Hawkins on Dec. 14, 2014
After police unions slammed his decision to wear a T-shirt protesting the police shootings of two black people in Ohio, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins gathered the media to explain himself more fully.
Hawkins outlined his rationale, speaking without notes, according to ESPN Cleveland reporter Tony Grossi. He touched on his own upbringing and the role of his children in his lengthy comments.
“I understood there was going to be backlash, and that scared me, honestly. But deep down I felt like it was the right thing to do,” Hawkins said. “If I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward, and I can’t live with that.”
Below is his statement in full:
“I was taught that justice is a right that every American should have. Also justice should be the goal of every American. I think that’s what makes this country. To me, justice means the innocent should be found innocent. It means that those who do wrong should get their due punishment. Ultimately, it means fair treatment. So a call for justice shouldn’t offend or disrespect anybody. A call for justice shouldn’t warrant an apology.“To clarify, I utterly respect and appreciate every police officer that protects and serves all of us with honesty, integrity and the right way. And I don’t think those kind of officers should be offended by what I did. My mom taught me my entire life to respect law enforcement. I have family, close friends that are incredible police officers and I tell them all the time how they are much braver than me for it. So my wearing a T-shirt wasn’t a stance against every police officer or every police department. My wearing the T-shirt was a stance against wrong individuals doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons to innocent people.
“Unfortunately, my mom also taught me just as there are good police officers, there are some not-so-good police officers that would assume the worst of me without knowing anything about me for reasons I can’t control. She taught me to be careful and be on the lookout for those not-so-good police officers because they could potentially do me harm and most times without consequences. Those are the police officers that should be offended.
“Being a police officer takes bravery. And I understand that they’re put in difficult positions and have to make those snap decisions. As a football player, I know a little bit about snap decisions, obviously on an extremely lesser and non-comparative scale, because when a police officer makes a snap decision, it’s literally a matter of life and death. That’s hard a situation to be in. But if the wrong decision is made, based on pre-conceived notions or the wrong motives, I believe there should be consequence. Because without consequence, naturally the magnitude of the snap decisions is lessened, whether consciously or unconsciously.
“I’m not an activist, in any way, shape or form. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred I keep my opinions to myself on most matters. I worked extremely hard to build and keep my reputation especially here in Ohio, and by most accounts I’ve done a solid job of decently building a good name. Before I made the decision to wear the T-shirt, I understood I was putting that reputation in jeopardy to some of those people who wouldn’t necessarily agree with my perspective. I understood there was going to be backlash, and that scared me, honestly. But deep down I felt like it was the right thing to do. If I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward, and I can’t live with that. God wouldn’t be able to put me where I am today, as far as I’ve come in life, if I was a coward.
“As you well know, and it’s well documented, I have a 2-year-old little boy. The same 2-year-old little boy that everyone said was cute when I jokingly threw him out of the house earlier this year. That little boy is my entire world. And the No. 1 reason for me wearing the T-shirt was the thought of what happened to Tamir Rice happening to my little Austin scares the living hell out of me. And my heart was broken for the parents of Tamir and John Crawford knowing they had to live that nightmare of a reality.
“So, like I said, I made the conscious decision to wear the T-shirt. I felt like my heart was in the right place. I’m at peace with it and those that disagree with me, this is America, everyone has the right to their first amendment rights. Those who support me, I appreciate your support. But at the same time, support the causes and the people and the injustices that you feel strongly about. Stand up for them. Speak up for them. No matter what it is because that’s what America’s about and that’s what this country was founded on.”
A memorial for Tamir Rice, shot by the Cleveland police. (TY WRIGHT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
CLEVELAND — The Justice Department announced on Thursday that a nearly two-year civil rights investigation into the Cleveland Police Department had found a pattern of “unreasonable and unnecessary use of force” that resulted in dangerous and reckless behavior by officers, pointing out the kinds of problems that have angered black residents here and touched off demonstrations across the country in recent weeks.
The abuses cited in the report included excessive use of force by the police involving not just firearms, but also less-than-lethal weapons like Tasers, chemical spray and fists, which were sometimes used for retaliation. The report also said the police had used excessive force against mentally ill people and employed tactics that escalated potentially nonviolent encounters into dangerous confrontations.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., in a sign of the Obama administration’s growing concern about contentious police shootings and other use of force — and with demonstrations in New York; Ferguson, Mo.; and elsewhere — traveled to Cleveland on Thursday to announce the findings himself. The city has been roiled by the fatal shooting last month of a 12-year-old African-American boy by a rookie police officer.
“Accountability and legitimacy are essential for communities to trust their police departments,” Mr. Holder said, “and for there to be genuine collaboration between police and the citizens they serve.”
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. met with leaders in Cleveland on Thursday to discuss a report on the city’s police department. (TONY DEJAK / ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – In an effort to combat police brutality in the Black community, the National Bar Association (NBA) recently announced plans to file open records requests in 25 cities to study allegations of police misconduct.
National Bar Association President Pamela J. Meanes Pamela Meanes, president of the Black lawyers and judges group, said the NBA had already been making plans for a nationwide campaign to fight police brutality when Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a White police officer following a controversial midday confrontation in a Ferguson, Mo.
Meanes called police brutality the new civil rights issue of this era, an issue that disproportionately impacts the Black community.
“If we don’t see this issue and if we don’t at the National Bar Association do the legal things that are necessary to bring this issue to the forefront, then we are not carrying out our mission, which is to protect the civil and political entities of all,” said Meanes.
The NBA, which describes itself as “the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges,” selected the 25 cities based on their African-American populations and reported incidents of police brutality.
The lawyers group will file open records requests in Birmingham, Ala.; Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix; Los Angeles; San Jose, Calif., Washington, D.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Miami; Atlanta; Chicago; Louisville, Ky.; Baltimore, Md.; Detroit; Mich.; Kansas City, Mo.; St. Louis, Mo.; Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas, Nev.; New York City; Cleveland, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn., Philadelphia; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio, Texas, and Milwaukee, Wis.
In a press release about the open records requests, the group said it will not only seek information about “the number of individuals who have been killed, racially profiled, wrongfully arrested and/or injured while pursued or in police custody, but also comprehensive data from crime scenes, including “video and photographic evidence related to any alleged and/or proven misconduct by current or former employees,” as well as background information on officers involved in the incidents.
Not only will the NBA present their findings to the public, but the group also plans to compile its research and forward the data over to the attorney general’s office.
Meanes said the group’s ultimate goal is to have a conversation with Attorney General Eric Holder and to ask, and in some cases, demand he seize police departments or take over or run concurrent investigations.
Meanes said federal law prohibits the Justice Department from going into a police department unless a pattern or history of abuse has been identified.
“The problem is that the information needed for that action is not readily available in a comprehensive way on a consistent basis with the goal of eradicating that abuse,” said Meanes, adding that the open records request is the best way to get that information.
Meanes said that the NBA was concerned that the trust had already brrn broken between the police force and the residents of Ferguson and that the rebellion and the protests would continue.
“We don’t think St. Louis County should investigate this. We don’t think the prosecutor should investigate this. There should be an independent third-party investigating this and that is the federal government,” said Meanes.
Phillip Agnew, executive director of the Dream Defenders, a civil rights group established by young people of color in the aftermath of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager in Sanford, Fla., said law enforcement officials taunted, antagonized and disrespected peaceful protesters who took to the streets of Ferguson and at times incited the violence they attempted to stamp out in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown.
“An occupying force came into the community, they killed someone from the community, and instead of being transparent and doing everything they could do to make sure the community felt whole again, they brought in more police to suppress folks who were exercising their constitutional rights,” said Agnew.“If your protocol results in greater violence, greater anger, and greater disenchantment of the people, you have to chart a different course.”
On the heels of the NBA announcement, Attorney General Holder launched two initiatives designed to calm anxiety and frustration expressed by Ferguson’s Black residents towards the local police department over allegations of misconduct, harassment and discrimination.
The Justice Department also introduced a “Collaborative Reform Initiative” to tackle similar concerns with the St. Louis County Police Department and to improve the relationship between police officers and the communities they serve.
In this Thursday, July 17, 2014 photo, from left, outfits from Beyonce’s 2013 Super Bowl performance, 2011″Sweet Dreams,” 2003 “Single Ladies” and 2003 “Dangerously in Love” are displayed in a new exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The Rock Hall announced Friday, July 18, 2014, that outfits from Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance and music videos will debut Tuesday in the Ahmet Ertegun Main Exhibit Hall in its Legends of Rock section next to iconic pieces from Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
NEW YORK (AP) – A fashion exhibit centered on Beyoncé will debut at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in a section previously featuring only Hall of Famers. The Rock Hall announced today that outfits from Beyoncé’s Super Bowl performance and music videos will debut Tuesday in the Ahmet Ertegun Main Exhibit Hall in its Legends of Rock section, next to iconic pieces from Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen.
The 32-year-old Beyoncé would be eligible for induction into the Rock Hall as a member of Destiny’s Child in 2022 and as a solo artist in 2027. The exhibit in Cleveland, Ohio, will feature Beyonce’s ubiquitous black leotard from her “Single Ladies” music video, as well as her body suit, skirt and jacket from her Super Bowl performance last year in New Orleans.
Rock Hall curator Meredith Rutledge-Borger said they have been trying to court Beyonce “for a really long time.” “When we looked at the depth of the amount of stuff that she was willing to send, we just thought, ‘The only way we can really showcase these items is to put them in the Legends of Rock area in the museum,’ which really is the spot that we have to pay tribute to legends of rock, which Beyonce has proven herself to be,” she said in an interview.
Lee Anne Callahan-Longo, the general manager of Beyonce’s production house, Parkwood Entertainment, said the singer was honored and humbled by the opportunity to have her personal items in the museum.
Six days a week, Liz Ferro packs up her car and drives throughout Cleveland to teach young women yoga, swimming and other fitness-based activities. But it isn’t all about breaking a sweat. “It washes away all the cobwebs,” Ferro told TODAY. “Not just out of my brain, but off my heart.”
After using fitness to recover from her own difficult childhood, Ferro now runs Girls With Sole, a non-profit organization committed to helping young women learn to overcome life’s challenges through exercise. “It’s so much easier for them to feel down on themselves,” she told TODAY. Ferro hits the road throughout the week to work out with pre-teen and teenage girls in schools, juvenile detention centers, social services and other organizations throughout the Cleveland area. “My car looks like a sporting goods store exploded in it,” she said. “It’s almost like Meals on Wheels, but we’re fitness and wellness on wheels.”
Girls With Sole, which she founded in 2009, is largely inspired by Ferro’s own past. She lived in four different foster homes as a child. By the time she was adopted, she had been sexually abused and experienced other traumas while bouncing from home to home.
“Sports and fitness was the thing that made me find the empowerment to be able to handle it and resilience to move on and keep moving forward,” she explained. “Even in the darkest times, it literally saved my life.”
Ferro is now turning to the next generation of young women to show them how to use healthy coping mechanisms, including running, swimming, biking and yoga, in the face of hard situations, whatever they may be.
“School has stressed me out so much, and I could always look forward to Wednesdays, when I would see Liz and I would see her smile and her energy,” eighth-grader Gina said. “People feed off that.”
When Girls With Sole participant Jada finished her first 5K, it meant more than crossing a finish line. “It makes me feel like I can achieve something in my life,” she said. “Coming here brings the happiness out of me instead of sadness.”
Click here to see video of this story. article by Amy Eley via www.today.com
Bobby Womack, the multitalented singer-songwriter-guitarist who left an indelible mark on R&B and soul in the 1960s and ’70s, died Friday at 70, his record label XL Recordings confirmed. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012.
A gutsy singer and a superlative guitar player, Womack charted nearly 50 hits, the majority of them self-penned, during his career of more than 40 years. His No. 1 R&B entries were “Woman’s Gotta Have It” (1972) and “Lookin’ for a Love” (1974), a remake of a number he recorded with his family act the Valentinos for Sam Cooke’s SAR label.
Womack also notched a top 20 hit with “Across 110th Street,” the title number from the 1973 crime thriller starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto; Quentin Tarantino appropriated the song for use under the opening credits of his 1997 pic “Jackie Brown,” and it was also employed in the 2007 Denzel Washington starrer “American Gangster.”
Born in Cleveland to a musical and religious family, Womack began singing and playing guitar at an early age. He toured the gospel circuit with his brothers. Cooke – also a product of gospel music, and the former lead singer of the Soul Stirrers – took the act under his wing, and recorded for SAR with a new moniker. After scoring a No. 8 hit in 1962 with “Lookin’ for a Love,” the group reached No. 21 in 1964 with “It’s All Over Now,” which the Rolling Stones turned into a top 30 pop hit the same year.
After Cooke was shot and killed in an incident at a Los Angeles motel in 1964, the Valentinos disbanded. Womack married Cooke’s widow Barbara three months after the singer’s death.
Womack initially made an impression as a sideman, playing guitar on crucial sessions at FAME in Muscle Shoals and American Studios in Memphis behind Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett (who also cut several of Womack’s compositions for Atlantic).
He recorded some lesser R&B chart singles for New Orleans’ Minit Records before signing in 1971 with United Artists Records, where he found his greatest commercial success. His hits for the company – which combined his trademark grit with a softer, acoustic-based sound – included “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha’” ((No. 2, 1971), “Harry Hippie” (No. 8, 1972), “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down and Out” (No. 2, 1973), “You’re Welcome, Stop on By” (No. 5, 1974), “Check It Out” (No. 6, 1975) and “Daylight” (No. 5, 1976). He also crafted some outstanding albums for the company, including “Communication” (1971) and “Understanding” (1972).
Womack segued to Beverly Glen Records in the late ’70s; there he recorded the mellow, widely praised album “The Poet” (No. 29 in 1981) and its 1984 successor “The Poet II” (No. 60).
He wrestled with a serious cocaine addiction that scuttled his career in the ’80s. He recorded sporadically thereafter, and published an outrageous autobiography, “I’m a Midnight Mover,” in 2006. His later life was marred by tragedy, including the murder of one of his brothers, the death of two sons, and the jailing of a third.
However, after making an appearance on Gorillaz’s 2010 album “Plastic Beach,” he enjoyed a latter-day renaissance. Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn co-produced the 2012 XL set “The Bravest Man in the Universe,” which served to reinstate Womack’s reputation as one of the top do-everything talents in R&B. He played a show at L.A.’s Wilshire Theatre earlier this year, and had been scheduled to perform several tour dates in Europe this summer.
Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Watch him perform of one of his best, most well-known songs, “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” below:
Ferro hits the road throughout the week to work out with pre-teen and teenage girls in schools, juvenile detention centers, social services and other organizations throughout the Cleveland area. “My car looks like a sporting goods store exploded in it,” she said. “It’s almost like Meals on Wheels, but we’re fitness and wellness on wheels.”