All 20 NBA teams playing today will wear special shooting shirts in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The NBA announced their “Dream Big” campaign earlier this month to celebrate MLK Day and Black History Month.
A video featuring Chris Bosh aired during four nationally televised games today, as well as during games aired on NBA TV. Original content and interviews will run on air and digitally on NBA.com until the end of February.
The shooting shirt for MLK Day features the “Dream Big” logo on the front. The shooting shirt for Black History Month was created in collaboration with Miami Heat guard Ray Allen. The shirt will feature four prominent African-Americans, Dr. King, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman and Bill Russell, in the NBA logo on the front and the “Dream Big” logo on the back.
The NBA’s “Dream Big” campaign is also designed to reach children and educate them on the history of African-Americans. The league is teaming up with EverFi, an educational technology company, launch digital curriculum in 30 schools across the country during February. The curriculum is focused on the extensive contributions by blacks.
“The ‘Dream Big’ campaign honors African-Americans for their countless contributions that have opened doors for people around the world,” said Saskia Sorrosa, NBA Vice President of Multicultural/Targeted Marketing in a press release. “With the the NBA’s young and diverse fanbase, we felt it was important to creat a program that would engage kids by educating them about black history to positively impact the future.”
Keep an eye out for the new shooting shirts today and throughout the month of February.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
Posts tagged as “Martin Luther King Jr.”
On March 22, 1956, the 27-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was having a horrible day. He’d just been convicted for his role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and sentenced to pay $1,000 or spend 386 days in jail. After the ruling and motion to appeal, he walked out of the courthouse a temporarily free man, but his spirit was shaken.
All of a sudden, his wife Coretta rushed at him, threw her arms around him, and kissed him in front of about 300 people who’d gathered outside. The biggest smile ever captured on King swept across his face, and his eyes lifted to the heavens with the giddiness of a young man in love.
In the photo that caught this moment, we see a side of him that sometimes gets lost in our remembrances. For all the important things that Dr. King would go on to do in his life, that day he was just a regular young man whose rough day was made better by a little sugar from the one he loved.
Remembering King as a man, not just a legend
Today, the nation pauses for a moment to pay homage to the legacy of Dr. King. During his less than fifteen years in the national spotlight, he became the voice and embodiment of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Our perception of him is deeply influenced by the iconic pictures and films of King delivering powerful speeches, leading marches in the Deep South, and with his hand outstretched towards the sea of people at the 1963 March on Washington.
These many images and the society-shifting changes that his efforts helped bring about have elevated him to a heroic status with a larger-than-life character. This deification pushed him into a place in our memories that sometimes feels beyond our reach of comprehension as fellow mortals.
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On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, President Barack Obama honored the legacy and spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with his own inspired speech this afternoon, echoing the call to freedom and justice that King’s own “I Have A Dream” speech did 50 years ago today. Obama’s speech was the culmination of a full day of celebration of the March on Washington’s golden anniversary. Watch his entire address above.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom turns 50 today. A new PBS documentary reveals the details of what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described would be considered the “greatest demonstration for freedom” in American history. Narrated by Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, The March dedicates the majority of the 55 minute running time to the build-up of the momentous event (see clip below).
Some 250,000 people gathered in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963, to raise awareness of the poor economic realities of African-Americans and to demand the passage of strong civil rights legislation. Clayborne Carson, a professor of history at Stanford University, was just 19 when he attended the march. “Every time I think back, I draw different meanings from it because of my subsequent experiences,” Carson told theGrio.com. “At the time I would not have fully understood the significance of what Dr. King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.”
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Carson, whose commentary is featured in The March, is also the director of Stanford’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. He says America does not have a good track record when it comes to understanding what King stood for. “The main thing we’ve gotten right is that he deserves a national holiday,” Carson said. “He was the most prominent figure in one of the most important movements in American history.”
“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In recent weeks, marches and rallies, town hall meetings and more have united people from all races to address inequities in the judicial system,change perceptions of black men and boys and address questions concerning why race remains a strong determinant in Americans’ pursuit of happiness. This moment, which has involved calls for a boycott of Florida, in addition todemonstrations in dozens of cities, takes on even greater importance with the approach of the fiftieth anniversary of the historic March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” this August.
The convergence of these events and concerns for our nation’s future call for reflection on the state of the “dream” a half-century later, and urge action among citizens to tackle the most pressing challenges of the twenty-first century: mass incarceration, failures in education, and more.
How can we channel our collective energy and resources to transform our communities? Throughout August and beyond, you can help by contributing time, talent and treasure in observance of Black Philanthropy Month 2013.
Participate in Black Philanthropy Month 2013
Four leaders in the movement to advance black philanthropy, African Women’s Development Fund USA (www.usawdf.org), BlackGivesBack.com (www.blackgivesback.com), Community Investment Network (www.thecommunityinvestment.org) and the Giving Back Project (http://givingbackproject.org/) are launching Black Philanthropy Month 2013 (BPM 2013) on August 1 to bring together these threads of need to be met with productive purpose.
The BPM 2013 launch in August will kick off concerted efforts that will continue through a subsequent six-month multimedia campaign to foster civic engagement around philanthropy, amplify authentic stories of black philanthropy, cultivate the next generation of givers and expand opportunities for people of African descent to give through new and traditional channels, including giving circles, global giving, crowd funding, volunteerism and more.
Valaida Fullwood, strategist for the Giving Back Project and author of the award-winning book Giving Back: A Tribute to Generations of African American Philanthropists, shared her thoughts on the aftermath of the watershed events in 1963 that many will be commemorating this August. She also urges us to remember that, although much has changed, much is still needed to help others reach for the dreams and mountaintops King spoke of during that era.
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, born May 19, 1930, was an African-American playwright and writer. Her best known work, the play A Raisin in the Sun, was inspired by her family’s battle against racial segregation in Chicago. Hansberry was the youngest of four children of Carl Hansberry, a successful real-estate broker, and Nannie Louise Perry who was a school teacher. In 1938, her father bought a house in the Washington Park Subdivision of the South Side of Chicago, violating a restrictive covenant and incurring the wrath of many neighbors. The latter’s legal efforts to force the Hansberrys out culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1940 decision in Hansberry v. Lee, holding the restrictive covenant in the case contestable, though not inherently invalid.
Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but found college uninspiring and left in 1950 to pursue her career as a writer in New York City, where she attended The New School. In 1951, she joined the staff of the black newspaper Freedom under the auspices of Paul Robeson, and worked with W. E. B. DuBois, whose office was in the same building. A Raisin in the Sun was written at this time and completed in 1957. In 1953, she married Robert Nemiroff, a Jewish publisher, songwriter and political activist. She later joined the Daughters of Bilitis and contributed two letters to their magazine, The Ladder, in 1957 under her initials “LHN” that addressed feminism and homophobia. She separated from her husband at this time, but they continued to work together.
In 1959, Raisin In The Sun debuted, becoming the first play written by an African-American woman to be produced on Broadway. The 29-year-old author became the youngest American playwright and only the fifth woman to receive the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. A Raisin in the Sun was revived on Broadway in 2004 and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival of a Play. The cast included Sean “P Diddy” Combs as Walter Lee Younger Jr., Phylicia Rashad (Tony Award-winner for Best Actress) and Audra McDonald (Tony Award-winner for Best Featured Actress). It was produced for television in 2008 with the same cast, garnering two NAACP Image Awards.
While many of her other writings were published in her lifetime – essays, articles, and the text for the SNCC book The Movement, the only other play given a contemporary production was The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window ran for 101 performances on Broadway and closed the night she died. After a battle with pancreatic cancer she died on January 12, 1965, aged 34. Hansberry’s funeral was held in Harlem on January 15, 1965. Paul Robeson gave her eulogy. The presiding reverend, Eugene Callender, recited messages from James Baldwin and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. which read: “Her creative ability and her profound grasp of the deep social issues confronting the world today will remain an inspiration to generations yet unborn.” She is buried at Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.
article via wikipedia.org
AMC’s Emmy Award-winning drama series Mad Men, about advertising executives in the 1960s, though critically-acclaimed, has often taken flak in its six seasons for not acknowledging or dealing with the racial tensions of the times. This season, which takes place during the tumultuous year of 1968, has already devoted more airtime to its most prominent African-American character, Dawn, the lead character Don Draper’s secretary. And last night, in an episode titled “The Flood,” the show recreated perhaps the most historic moment in the civil rights struggle — the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The show’s characters learn of King’s death over the radio and in an advertising awards show crowd. Meanwhile, panic spreads as rioting takes hold in major cities across the country. Vintage Walter Cronkite reports play as police and ambulance sirens blare. In one scene, a character is upbraided for lamenting the loss of TV advertising profits in the wake of MLK’s death. In another, a black character calls out rioters for not living up to King’s example. Additionally, the African-American secretaries are all suddenly treated with kid gloves by their white supervisors — aware that the civil right’s leader’s death is perceived as a blow to the fight against racial prejudice.
To read more about this Mad Men episode, check out the links below:
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2316401/Its-somber-day-Mad-Men-tackles-assassination-Martin-Luther-King-Jr.html#ixzz2RtmdqyNY
- http://thegrio.com/2013/04/28/mad-men-recreates-day-martin-luther-king-died/
- http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/04/why-mad-men-got-the-martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-so-very-right-and-why-the-newsroom-would-have-failed
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson; additional reporting by Lesa Lakin
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is seen in this undated file photo. Martin Luther King Jr., leader in the African-American civil rights movement was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis. (AP Photo)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech the evening before his assassination was especially resonant, considering the events that followed. Popularly known as the “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech, King delivered the words at the Church Of God In Christ headquarters, Mason Temple, in Memphis, Tenn., on this day in 1968.
Full of prophetic themes and such, King was addressing the Memphis Sanitation Strike and was galvanizing workers in a call for unity and nonviolent protests. One of the more chilling moments of the speech is the foretelling of his death, which some experts feel was the speech’s most poignant moments. Dr. King would be assassinated the very next day at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis at the age of 39. Watch part of the speech below:
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article by D.L. Chandler via newsone.com
Bryant Gumbel on the set of “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel”
Robin Roberts’ ABC special about her bone marrow transplant and “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” were among the 39 winners of this year’s Peabody Awards honoring the best in electronic media in 2012. The honorees were announced at a ceremony on the University of Georgia campus, but the awards won’t be handed out until a luncheon event in New York City on May 20.
Also awarded, Comedy Central’s “D.L. Hughley: The Endangered List,” an hourlong special on whether black men should be on the endangered species list; and the Smithsonian Channel’s “MLK: The Assassination Tapes,” which used rare footage collected at the University of Memphis in 1968, to relive the events leading up to the murder of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and its aftermath.
Andrew Young (pictured throughout) has not been in public office since 1990, but his contributions as a politician to the Civil Rights Movement and his service as an elected official have catapulted him to legendary status. Even after a failed gubernatorial bid, Young has gone on to do amazing work as a private citizen. Today, NewsOne celebrates another milestone of Young as he reaches the rich age of 80 today.
Born in 1932 in New Orleans to parents Andrew Sr., a dentist, and Daisy Fuller, a schoolteacher, Young benefited from a middle-class upbringing that was rare for many African Americans during the Great Depression. By Young’s own admission, he didn’t take advantage of his good fortunes and nearly failed out of Howard University but eventually graduated in 1951. It was expected that Young would enter the dentistry field, but he went on to obtain a divinity degree from Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut.
Young’s path to becoming the pastor of Bethany Congregational Church in Thomasville, Ga., in 1955 also placed him squarely in the mix of the burgeoning fight for equal rights. Although the times were turbulent, Young organized voting registration drives and other activities centered on civil rights despite the obstacles faced.