Soledad O’Brien‘s new documentary “Black in America: Black & Blue” premieres Tuesday, November 18 at 9 PM ET on CNN. The new installment of her “Black in America” series touches a hot button issue, in the wake of the Ferguson, MO shooting and riots. The documentary will portray the personal stories of the men affected by aggressive policing tactics, many of whom were able to document the confrontations in shocking videos.
Among the stunning statistics that O’Brien points out, the NYPD reported made more than 5 million stops between 2002 and 2013. 80 percent of those stops were African American or Latino, and 88 percent of the stops did not result in arrests, summons, or evidence of any crime.
“What is so shocking is that this police practice was used around the country – and in some places still is – with the theory that police were stopping criminals,” said O’Brien. “It’s shocking that the city where this was popularized was stopping so many innocent people.”
See the full press release below:
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Donna Brazile, a key Democratic political strategist, author, and journalist has announced that she has donated her papers to the Special Collections Unit of the Louisiana State University Libraries. Brazile is a 1981 graduate of the university.
The collection includes 32 boxes of materials. Included in the archives are photographs, correspondence, drafts of speeches, memoranda, campaign management and research files, and memorabilia.
Brazile currently serves as vice chair for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. Previously, she was interim chair of the DNC and chaired its Voting Rights Institute. In 2000, Brazile was the campaign manager for the presidential bid of Al Gore. She has taught in the women’s studies program at Georgetown University, the University of Maryland-College Park, and the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.
Brazile is a nationally syndicated columnist and a political commentator for ABC News and CNN. She is the author of Cooking With Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics (Simon and Schuster, 2004).
article via jbhe.com
An all-expenses-paid program for high school student journalists from low-income backgrounds will take place for 10 days next summer on the campus of Princeton University. The program is entering its 13th year; since 2002, approximately 250 students from high schools across the country have participated. The program’s goal is to diversify college and professional newsrooms by encouraging outstanding students from low-income backgrounds to pursue careers in journalism.
Classes at the program are taught by reporters and editors from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Daily Beast, Time, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, Sports Illustrated, CNN and NPR, among other media outlets. Students meet with numerous Princeton professors, as well as Princeton’s president and dean of admissions. They report an investigative story, cover a professional sports event, produce a TV segment, and publish their own newspaper. And they receive guidance on the college admissions process not only during the 10 days of the program, but also during the fall of their senior year of high school.
Students selected for the program will have all their costs, including the cost of travel to and from Princeton, paid for by the program, which will run from August 1-11, 2014. The application process will take place in two rounds. The first round of the application should be filled out online here: https://fs4.formsite.com/pusjp/form1/secure_index.html. This part of the application must be completed by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, February 21, 2014.
Erik Oberholtzer, CEO and co-founder of California restaurant chain Tender Greens, had been trying for years to figure out how to help young people. Last year, Oberholtzer’s company started a charitable program dubbed the “Sustainable Life Project.” The three-month program targets young people ages 18 to 24 who are transitioning out of foster care, who may be at-risk of becoming homeless or ending up in prison, reports CNN.
The Sustainable Life Project partners with local organizations to recruit young adults transitioning out of the foster care system to participate in a 12-week culinary arts and agriculture internship program. Youth transitioning out of foster care face unique challenges that make them especially vulnerable. Distrust, abuse, neglect and general lack of access to resources and guidance often make navigating adulthood difficult, according to the Tender Greens website. Without primary needs like housing, vocational training and legal support, these youth frequently don’t have the luxury of dreaming beyond finding a home and employment.
The young people visit artisan food makers, urban farmers and food-processing facilities to learn about the sources of their food. They get culinary arts training from restaurant chefs, and they receive a paid internship inside one of the company’s 12 restaurants. The restaurant chain then conducts interviews and takes up to eight students every three months.
Some 15 youths have graduated from the Sustainable Life Project since it started, and 10 who have landed restaurant jobs, CNN reports. Tender Greens pays students an hourly wage for their internship and covers transportation costs for farm visits. Oberholtzer started the program at a time when many CEOs were focused on surviving the recession. But Tender Greens was in the midst of a rapid expansion. The company grew from $7.3 million and 115 employees in 2009 to $28 million in revenues and 450 employees in 2013.
The young people visit artisan food makers, urban farmers and food-processing facilities to learn about the sources of their food. They get culinary arts training from restaurant chefs, and they receive a paid internship inside one of the company’s 12 restaurants. The restaurant chain then conducts interviews and takes up to eight students every three months.
Some 15 youths have graduated from the Sustainable Life Project since it started, and 10 who have landed restaurant jobs, CNN reports. Tender Greens pays students an hourly wage for their internship and covers transportation costs for farm visits. Oberholtzer started the program at a time when many CEOs were focused on surviving the recession. But Tender Greens was in the midst of a rapid expansion. The company grew from $7.3 million and 115 employees in 2009 to $28 million in revenues and 450 employees in 2013.
Juror B29 told Robin Roberts in an interview made public Thursday that she favored convicting Zimmerman of second-degree murder when deliberations began. But by the second day of deliberating, she realized there wasn’t enough proof to convict Zimmerman of a crime. Juror B29 is the second juror to go public with what went on during deliberations earlier this month. She allowed her face to be seen and used her first name, Maddy, unlike JurorB37 who was interviewed on CNN last week with her face obscured.
article by via blackamericaweb.com
NEW YORK (AP) — Soledad O’Brien is joining her former “Today” show colleague Bryant Gumbel at HBO’s “Real Sports.” HBO said Wednesday that O’Brien will be a reporter on the monthly magazine show. Her first story, due later this month, is about war veterans who use martial arts to help them cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.
O’Brien most recently was a morning show host on CNN, but the news network has given the program an overhaul that will debut next week. HBO also agreed to a deal with O’Brien’s production company, Starfish Media Group. O’Brien played college rugby, but her experience covering sports is limited.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
article via thegrio.com
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5elloa4kOc&w=560&h=315]
On Monday, Charles Ramsey became a national hero. Ramsey is the next door neighbor to the three Castro brothers, who allegedly held three women captive in a Cleveland home for more than a decade. Ramsey says shortly after he’d returned home from McDonald’s on Monday, he heard “a girl going nuts” at the Castro house.
It was Amanda Berry. But Ramsey didn’t know who she was. He’d lived next door to the Castro brothers and barbequed with Ariel Castor in the back yard. But he’d never seen this young woman before. “She said help me get out,” he says. “I figured it was a domestic violence dispute,” he told The Associated Press. The door would only open a crack, so he told her to kick out the screen. “She comes out with a little girl and says ‘Call 911.’
Soledad O’Brien is going back to her alma mater. The former anchor of CNN’s now-cancelled morning show “Starting Point” was named a distinguished visiting fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, reports the Huffington Post.
Harvard said O’Brien would spend the 2013-2014 year delving into topics related to public education in America.
“On Appian Way, in the heart of the Ed School campus, a banner reads, ‘Education Is a Civil Right.’ I believe this passionately and look forward to ensuring that right is a reality by working with the students, faculty, and staff at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the rest of the Harvard University community,” O’Brien said. “This appointment is both honor and opportunity.”
O’Brien left CNN’s earlier this year, after network president Jeff Zucker announced his plans for a new program with co-hosts Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan. Although O’Brien left her daily hosting gig, she said she would continue to work with the network by producing documentaries independently with her own production company.
article via eurweb.com
In this day and age, when we see stories about “the first African American” to do something. Today is the start of 2013 and these “firsts” are still happening across geographies and industries. One last one to cross off the list is “first African American to direct an animated film.” Peter Ramsey directed the DreamWorks film Rise of the Guardians, the blockbuster holiday movie that, over the course of its six-week release, has grossed more than $90 million. This week, it rounds out the top ten with $4.9 million, in a field packed with movies like The Hobbit, This Is 40, Django Unchained, and Les Mis.
Rise of the Guardians, is about a group of Immortal Guardians, including a tough-as-nails Easter Bunny and tattooed Santa Claus, who must protect the Earth from an evil spirit. The film has been a great success overseas, and has helped Ramsey’s profile rise in the past few weeks. The 49-year-old never finished college, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, but takes the time to speak to schoolkids, to let them know that this is something they can work towards.
“I want them to know they can do it. You can start with a piece of paper and a pencil. There’s no limit to the kinds of stories they can draw,” he says.
Above, CNN talks with Ramsey about his rise in the animated film industry.
Never Too Late For Justice: Syracuse University Law School Professor Paula Johnson and her team work with families to solve cold cases from the Civil Rights era! Watch the story on CNN by clicking here.