Over the weekend, Good Black Newsoffered a remembrance and playlist of one of the world’s most iconic and influential jazz singers, Ella Fitzgerald, in honor of her 103rd birthday. But what about those women who also contributed mightily to jazz but are not commonly recognized?
“This week’s playlist is inspired by Giovanni Russonello’s New York Times piece, “10 Women in Jazz Who Never Got Their Due.” This collection includes the oft-forgotten artists mentioned in the piece, including Mary Lou Williams, Jutta Hipp, Marian McPartland, Hazel Scott, Dorothy Ashby, Shirley Scott and Alice Coltrane, though it also features several current artists who are also frequently overlooked like Vi Redd, Nubya Garcia, Linda Oh and others.
This one was a real pleasure and education to compile. Do enjoy. And stay safe, you all.”
Of course, it would take a superstar group of powerful Black women to sell and make a movie about The Clark Sisters, the pioneering Detroit siblings who are now in their fifth decade of rocking the gospel music world.
Tonight’s “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel” (airing on Lifetime at 8PM) comes from executive producers Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott, co-executive producer Holly Davis Carter, writer Camille Tucker and director Christine Swanson.
I had my own Clark Sisters experience while working as an executive at TV One back in 2007-08, where The Clark Sisters were the subjects of one of the very first episodes of network’s successful biography series “UnSung,” a show I developed and initially oversaw.
At the time, I generally knew enough about The Clark Sisters to recognize their breakthroughs in transforming the gospel music sound – and I felt that the world had not generally afforded them enough credit for that. But I didn’t know much else about their personal story and ended up fascinated by the conflicts and struggle, and of course, all the music. It’s not a surprise to me that producer Carter said she’s been trying to make this movie for 15 years – it is a worthy story to tell.
In honor of this movie accomplishment, Good Black News offers a career-spanning Spotify playlist below to allow you to keep enjoying the patented Clark Sister Sound all weekend long.
The Clark Sisters Playlist was crafted to include most of the key hits from The Clark Sisters – as well as highlights from the solo careers of Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Twinkie Clark, and even from next generation Clark family gospel superstar Kierra Sheard (who plays her mom Karen in the movie). For good measure, there’s also a rare solo track from Jacky Clark-Chisholm (a duet with movie exec producer Blige), and a coda from Dr. Mattie Moss Clark herself.
Jacky, Denise, Elbernita (Twinkie), Dorinda, and Karen were the five daughters of Mattie Moss Clark, a pioneering gospel music figure herself, who while raising her daughters also served as a minister of music for the Church of God In Christ, first at the local level in Michigan, but eventually at the national level.
Although we as a species are currently going through unprecedented times of hardship and uncertainty as we grapple with a global pandemic, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the creation of Good Black News a decade ago on March 18, 2010.
You can read the detailed story of GBN’s inception and creation here, because what I want to celebrate today more than anything else is you, GBN’s loyal readers and followers, who, in concert with the Good Black News Team, have slowly but steadily built a strong, respectful, and loving community that is willing to celebrate positivity, action, achievement, humor and humanity on a daily basis.
I will admit to having wanted to do more to celebrate ten years of GBN – offered a proper retrospective of our best stories, the times we’ve been news, big up our Top Fans, announce new plans for expansion, perhaps even throw a party! – but between personal and professional challenges this past year (sick family member, demanding day job), plus the current state of affairs due to coronavirus, these words I’m writing in this moment shall have to suffice.
Thank you for the appreciation you’ve shown GBN the past decade via follows, likes, comments, shares, reblogs, letters and e-mails, as they inspire me daily to keep GBN going.
Good Black News remains a labor of love for me and Lifestyle Editor Lesa Lakin, and we gratefully acknowledge the decade’s extraordinary volunteer contributors (in alphabetical order):
Rebecca Carpenter, Susan Cartsonis, Dena Crowder, Julie Bibb Davis, Alyss Dixson, Dan Evans, Gina Fattore, Julie Fishman, Michael Giltz, Eric Greene, Thaddeus Grimes-Gruczka, Skip Heller,Ashanti Hutcherson, Warren Hutcherson, Fred Johnson, Epiphany Jordan, Fabio Koelsch, Brenda Lakin, Joyce Lakin, Ray Lancon, John Levinson, Jason Lief,Neeta McCulloch, Hanelle Culpepper Meier, Jeff Meier, Catherine Metcalf, Minsun Park, Tajamika Paxton, Patrick-Ian Polk, Flynn Richardson, Rosanna Rossetto,Gabriel Ryder, Terry Samwick, Becky Schonbrun, Susan Shaffer, Kelly Spears, Callie Teitelbaum, Teddy Tenenbaum, Arro Verse, Marlon West,and Joshua A.S. Young.
And extra special thanks to friend and best-selling author Terry McMillan for being the inspiration behind it all. P.S. GBN Patron Saint Terry has a new book arriving March 31. Consider checking out It’s Not All Downhill From Here! (amazon link)
Please continue to help us spread GBN by sharing, liking, re-tweeting and commenting, and consider following GBN on the main page, as well as wherever you are on social media.
Please also consider joining our e-mail list via our “Contact Us” tab on goodblacknews.org. We will only use this list to keep you updated on GBN and send you our upcoming weekly e-newsletter (which may finally launch for real for real, as we will soon have a lot more time to focus on it!) — nothing else. And, of course, you may opt out at any time.
Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to providing you with more Good Black News in the coming decade, and beyond!
Dr. Carl Allamby (photo via Cleveland State University)
Good Black News recently read an inspiring story at cleveland.com about Dr. Carl Allamby, 47, a career auto mechanic who figuratively changed lanes and recently graduated from Northeast Ohio Medical University. Allamby, who grew up in East Cleveland, is currently doing his residency in emergency medicine at Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital.
After returning to school to take business classes and falling in love with medicine via a required biology course, Allamby’s chemistry teacher told him about a new program at Cleveland State University called Partnership for Urban Health that sought to recruit and train doctors, especially minority doctors, to practice urban communities. The program offered intense undergraduate classes, help preparing for the Medical College Admissions Test, and then, if successful, a spot at the Northeast Ohio Medical University.
“There are so many times throughout the different hospitals where I will walk in and [a black patient] will say, ‘Thank God there’s finally a brother here,’” Allamby said.
“We absolutely need more black doctors, he said, noting mistrust that has a long history, including the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis, where black patients were victimized.
“I think you remove a lot of those barriers when there is a person there who looks like you,” he said.
Research shows that black patients fare better with black doctors. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research last year found that black men, who have the lowest life expectancy of any American demographic, were more likely to share details with black doctors and to heed their advice. Having a black doctor was more effective in convincing them to get a flu shot than a financial reward.
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Founder and Editor-In-Chief (@LakinHutcherson)
Yesterday I had the pleasure and honor of being a guest on Boston public radio station WBUR‘s nationally-syndicated show On Pointto discuss the current push and need for good news in the media (and to continue to spread the word about Good Black News).
David Folkenflik is the host and moderator of On Point, and Hilary McQuilkin produced the hour for broadcast. Other guests on this show with me are David Beard (@dabeard), founder of The Optimist newsletter at the Washington Post, who also writes for the Recharge newsletter of Mother Jones and Gail Rosenblum(@grosenblum), editor of the Inspired section at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
To hear our discussion on why good news and solutions-based reporting is on the upswing and so necessary in our culture right now, click here and enjoy!
GOOD BLACK NEWS proudly celebrates its ninth anniversary today, March 18, 2019. Although initially launched on March 18, 2010 as a Facebook page (read the detailed story behind GBN’s creation here), in September 2012, GBN created this dedicated website, goodblacknews.org, which has allowed us to anchor our presence on the internet and provide archives and search functions to you, our loyal readers.
The outpouring of appreciation you’ve shown us over the years via follows, likes, comments, shares, reblogs and e-mails means the world to us, and only inspires GBN to keep working to find ways to expand, improve and create more original content.
Good Black News remains a labor of love for our Founder/Editor-In-Chief (Lori Lakin Hutcherson) and Lifestyle Editor (Lesa Lakin), and we must gratefully acknowledge this year’s volunteer contributors: Susan Cartsonis, Dena Crowder, Julie Bibb Davis, Alyss Dixson, Dan Evans, Gina Fattore, Julie Fishman, Michael Giltz, Eric Greene, Thaddeus Grimes-Gruczka, Skip Heller,Ashanti Hutcherson, Warren Hutcherson, Fred Johnson, Epiphany Jordan, Fabio Koelsch, Brenda Lakin, Joyce Lakin, Ray Lancon, John Levinson, Rebecca Mayer, Jeff Meier, Catherine Metcalf, Minsun Park, Flynn Richardson, Rosanna Rossetto,Terry Samwick, Becky Schonbrun, Susan Shaffer, Kelly Spears, Callie Teitelbaum, Teddy Tenenbaum, and Arro Verse. You are all deeply, greatly appreciated.
Please continue to help us spread GBN by sharing, liking, re-tweeting and commenting, and consider following GBN here on the main page, as well as wherever you are on social media. We are @goodblacknews on most venues, but here are all the links: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, RSS feed, and LinkedIn.
Please also consider joining our e-mail list via our “Contact Us” tab on goodblacknews.org. We will only use this list to keep you updated on GBN and send you our upcoming weekly e-newsletter (launching this year – for real this time!) — nothing else. And, of course, you may opt out at any time.
GBN believes in bringing you positive news, reviews and stories of interest about black people all over the world, and greatly value your participation in continuing to build our shared vision.
Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to providing you with more Good Black News in the coming year, and beyond!
Good Black News would like to start 2019 off by thanking our readers and followers, old and new, for making 2018 yet another year of progress and perseverance. Even when times and events are challenging, your steady support always keeps us going!
Please continue to read, share and spread the word as we continue to strive to share positive information with you as often as we can as much as we can. Happy New Year!
GBN thanks you for your support and goodwill throughout the years, and we wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a blessed and bountiful Kwanzaa and Happy Holidays all around. May honesty, positivity, responsibility and fortitude help us all do our part to change ourselves and the world for the better in 2019 and beyond!
Today, when family and friends traditionally come together for a special meal to offer gratitude for blessings, each other, and the ability to survive life’s most humbling challenges, GBN wants to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
We’d also like to express our gratitude to you, our followers, and offer thanks for your continued presence, positivity and support. Love and community are more important than ever – enjoy!
Dear Good Black News readers – chances are most of you are unaware that earlier this month, our goodblacknews.org site was hacked and (temporarily) completely wiped off the internet. Luckily, we were able to recover our data and immediately begin work to re-secure GBN. We would have let this remain a behind-the-scenes matter, if not for one thing – the verbiage left on our profile page, the only page we could access while the site was down. Our screenshot of it is below:
In case that is hard to make out clearly, it says: Good Blackuski News Likely I K Kim KK J
We suspect the message above was tailored to target Good Black News and its content. Whether this was the work of a hate group, or of those posing as one to create disruption and stoke anger or fear, the bottom line is Good Black News is not and will not go down, will not be erased and will not alter our positive and pro-active vision one whit.
Over the years GBN has received several racist and/or hateful tweets, emails and comments – our typical response has been to delete, block and move on with little to no acknowledgement of the vitriol. But now, in the era of #TimesUp and #MeToo, it no longer feels right to ignore the ugliness that comes our way, even if pointing it out may invite more of it.
Regardless, we will continue to stay true to our mission and philosophy to be an unfailing and reliable source for all the good things black people do, give, and receive all over the world.
If you want to help us continue to grow as a force, please consider amplifying our site and its cause by encouraging your friends and loved ones to follow us so that we may all be well-informed, stronger and brighter together.
Onward and Upward,
Lori Lakin Hutcherson and Lesa Lakin
GBN Editors
