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Posts tagged as “Maryland”

Zion Harvey, 9, Throws 1st Pitch at Orioles Game after Double Hand Transplant

By goodblacknews on August 3, 2016
zion harvey
Zion Harvey throws out first pitch at Baltimore Orioles game (Aug. 2, 2016)

article via eurweb.com

Remember the Maryland boy who in 2015 became the first child in the world to receive a double hand transplant? Well, he just threw out the first pitch at an Orioles game.
Zion Harvey, who lost both hands and feet to a severe infection as a baby, was 8-years-old last summer when a surgical team of 40 at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia worked ten hours connecting bone, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, tendons and skin to give him two new hands.
Harvey has been working ever since to regain hand function through rigorous therapy sessions.  On Tuesday, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch for his hometown Orioles.  “Never give up on your dreams, it will come true,” Harvey told WJZ last year.

Zion Harvey with Adam Jones
Zion Harvey with Baltimore Oriole Adam Jones and team mascot (photo via eurweb.com)

Outfielder Adam Jones had the honor of catching Harvey’s ball.  The O’s went on to win their game against the Texas Rangers 5-1.
To watch video of the throw, go to:  http://www.eurweb.com/2016/08/first-kid-receive-double-hand-transplant-throws-first-pitch-orioles-game-watch/

Classmates Pay for Fellow Senior Michael Tertsea's Mother to Fly From Nigeria to Attend His Graduation in Baltimore

By goodblacknews on May 27, 2016
Graduating high school senior Michael Teresa and his mother (
Graduating high school senior Michael Tertsea embracing his mother Felicia Ikpum (abc.com screenshot)

article by Breanna Edwards via theroot.com

When Michael Tertsea was 14, he was offered the opportunity to get an education and play basketball at the John Carroll School in Bel Air, Maryland.  To pursue his dreams, he left his village in Nigeria and his mother, the Washington Post reports.

Four years later, the towering 6-foot-10 teen, who has received a full scholarship to play Division 1 basketball at the University of Rhode Island, was set for graduation and holding on to hopes of making it to the NBA so that he would be able to bring his mother to the United States.
As it turns out, Tertsea’s classmates were one step ahead of him. They had decided that his mom, Felicia Ikpum, should be here for his big day and raised money to fly her all the way to the U.S. to see her son, whom she hasn’t seen in four years, graduate.
According to the Post, the amazing gesture was meant to be a surprise, but Ikpum let the secret slip in one of her weekly phone calls with her son. However, Tertsea was still in awe when he finally got to see her arrive at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on May 20 and give her a hug.
“I was so happy to see her,” Tertsea said. “I’ve changed a lot … she’s been amazed at the person I’ve become.”
The senior class had successfully pulled together some $1,600 for the trip, while a school coordinator worked with Ikpum to make sure she could get her visa on time. When it was finally confirmed, the school’s faculty put up another $500 to pay for the trip.
According to the Post, Ikpum had to travel some 12 hours to Lagos, Nigeria, to board her flight to London, from where she would then fly to Baltimore. It was Ikpum’s first time on an airplane.
Mother and son have been enjoying each other’s company since her arrival last week, the Post reports. Ikpum had pasta for the first time and is in awe of her son’s life in the U.S., from the paved highways to the computerized school her son attends. Tertsea plans to take her to Washington, D.C., to see the monuments and the White House before she returns to Nigeria next week. He also plans to take her to Ocean City, Md., to walk the boardwalk and see the beach, and even to Baltimore to see the National Aquarium.
Tertsea, according to the Post, is thankful for his friends for making his graduation so special. He said that the best part of his life in the U.S. is “seeing a lot of people who show love and care towards me.”
To read more and see video, go to: http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/05/classmates-pay-for-teens-mom-to-fly-from-nigeria-to-baltimore-to-attend-his-graduation/?utm_content=buffera63eb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
 

Morgan State University in Baltimore Designated a National Treasure

Morgan State University in Baltimore Designated a National Treasure

By goodblacknews on May 4, 2016

Morgan State University (photo via wikiwand.com)
Morgan State University (photo via wikiwand.com)

article by Carrie Wells via baltimoresun.com

Morgan State University was named a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on Tuesday, a designation given to only one other historically black college in the country.

The designation will mean Morgan and the National Trust will partner to develop a road map for preserving the university’s historic buildings, which mostly are a mix of Collegiate Revival and Brutalist architectural styles.
That road map will later be used as a template for preserving historic buildings on historically black college campuses across the country, said Dale Green, a professor of architecture and historic preservation at Morgan who is working with the National Trust.
“They have significant rich legacies that most people are unaware of,” Green said. “They’re more than black schools. … They are the only institutions that never barred other races. They very much reflect the American story.”

Acclaimed Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to be Awarded Honorary Doctorate by John Hopkins University

By goodblacknews on May 3, 2016

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Negozi Adichie (photo via venturesafrica.com)

article by Hadassah Egbedi via venturesafrica.com
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of widely-acclaimed novels “Americanah” and “Half of a Yellow Sun”, , has recently been named as one the distinguished achievers to be awarded honorary degrees, this year, by the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, United States. The honorary degrees will be conferred at the university’s commencement ceremony on the 18th of May, 2016.
Adichie will be awarded alongside seven other recognized individuals, visionaries who have made a mark in various fields. They include groundbreaking filmmaker Spike Lee, the founding director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Laurie Zabin, Nobel Prize winner, Richard Axel, amongst others.
Ronald J. Daniels, President of the Johns Hopkins University, describes the group as people who have challenged the status quo and changed the world for the better. They have made a lasting impact on the arts, public health, the law, neuroscience and the resilience of communities here in Baltimore and across the globe.”
This is a very well deserved honor for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. As one of the world’s leading feminists and an insightful cultural critic, she has become quite influential on the global stage over the years, continually gaining recognition. The author who earned a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins’ Writing Seminars in 2003, is no stranger to awards and has amassed quite a number already. Her novel, Americanah, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 2013. In 2008, she won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant.
To read more, go to: http://venturesafrica.com/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-will-be-awarded-an-honorary-doctorate-by-johns-hopkins-university/

"The Wire" and "Treme" Actor Wendell Pierce Invests in $20 Million Project to Bring Jobs to Baltimore

By goodblacknews on April 10, 2016
Wendell Pierce (photo via macraespeakers.com)
Wendell Pierce (photo via macraespeakers.com)

article by Collier Meyerson via fusion.net

Actor Wendell Pierce, best known for his role as Detective Bunk Moreland on The Wire, is investing in a $20 million apartment complex in the arts district of Baltimore, he announced during a panel discussion at Columbia University on Saturday. The actor, 49, told Fusion it’s the beginning of a jobs program he intends to expand to other parts of the city.
A portion of the apartments in the building will be offered to Baltimore artists at a discounted rate, Pierce said. Artists living in the building will also have the opportunity to feature their artwork in the building’s galleries. And Baltimore residents will make up a portion of the construction team hired for the apartment project.
“They’re not going to be the entire workforce, but we wanted to put together a jobs program for people from the community,” Pierce said.
Pierce made the announcement alongside three of his former castmates from The Wire: Sonja Sohn, Felicia Pearson, and Jamie Hector. The actors were part of a panel on community activism. Pierce told the crowd it was an appropriate time to make the announcement, given the circumstance of the event.
Sohn and Hector have each started non-profit organizations for inner-city youth. Hector’s organization, Moving Mountains, is a Brooklyn-based theater company that coaches youth from all five boroughs about both the artistic and corporate sides of the industry. Sohn started ReWired for Change, a Baltimore based-organization.
Construction for Pierce’s apartment complex is slated to begin in July, the actor said. The developers are “shooting for the end of 2017” to complete the project, he said. He declined to disclose which other investors he is working with or the development company, but did say that the project is a private venture.
To read more, go to: http://fusion.net/story/289769/the-wire-actor-wendell-pierce-baltimore-project/?utm_content=buffer50b6b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer 

Oberlin College Acquires a Collection of Papers of Early Civil Rights Activist Mary Church Terrell

By goodblacknews on April 1, 2016
Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell

article via jbhe.com

Oberlin College in Ohio has received an archive of documents relating to Mary Church Terrell.

The papers were donated by Raymond and Jean Langston, the current occupant of the home in Highland Beach, Maryland, where Terrell died. The collection includes documents, letters, diaries, photographs and other artifacts, some dating to the 1890s and earlier.

Mary Church Terrell was the daughter of former slaves. She was a 1884 graduate of Oberlin College and went on to become a teacher and principal of M Street Colored High School, now known as Dunbar High School.

Terrell was the founding president of the National Association of Colored Women and was a charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Terrell was the first African American woman to serve on the Washington, D.C. Board of Education.

In 1949, Terrell, then in her 80s, was refused service at a Washington, D.C., restaurant. She filed suit and in a case eventually decided by the Supreme Court, racial segregation of restaurants in the nation’s capital was ruled unconstitutional.

Mary Church Terrell died on July 24, 1954 at the age of 90.

Baltimore County Schools Announce Minority Male Mentoring Program

By goodblacknews on March 25, 2016
(Photo by Mario Tama/ Getty Images)
(Photo by Mario Tama/ Getty Images)

article by Nigel Roberts via newsone.com 
Many Black and Hispanic male students in Baltimore County schools need help navigating their way to a high school diploma. That’s why school officials are launching a minority male mentoring program, according to WBAL-TV.
“In grades seven to 12, 40 percent of our African-American students, male students in general, and 31 percent of our Hispanic males have been suspended, compared to 23 percent of their white male counterparts,”Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance highlighted at a luncheon with community stakeholders and educators, WBAL-TV reports.
The news station said some educators at the event expressed support:
“He talked about the mentoring program that we all know is so needed. I’m excited to see where that’s going to go and how we help these kids,” stated teacher Rachel Pfister.
The superintendent underscored that the program requires public and private funding to get off the ground. WBAL-TV reported that local taxpayers are contributing almost $500 million.
Baltimore County’s business community supported student programs in the past, and Dance hopes they continue to pitch in.  Commenting after the announcement, businessman Leon Hobson gave a thumbs-up to the mentoring program and told WBAL-TV:
“That’s a major thing, that’s very important, absolutely, because we need to have a little bit more of that, so I was very excited to see that happen.”
Dance also announced a plan to assist the influx of English-learner students–about 5,000 of them since 2006. The school district is considering plans to establish a high school for them that focuses on college and career preparation.
SOURCE: WBAL-TV | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO SOURCE: Inform

Maryland Votes To Remove References To Confederacy From State Song

By goodblacknews on March 18, 2016

Historic Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland, USA
Historic Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland, USA

article by Desire Thompson via newsone.com
The Maryland Senate voted on Thursday in favor of removing lyrics connected to the Confederacy from their state song, The Washington Post reports.
The 38-to-8 decision occurred Thursday after debate about the song, “Maryland, My Maryland.” It was penned by James Ryder Randall in 1861 following the death of his friend, who was shot while protesting against Union troops. The lyrics represent the anger Randall felt towards the North and calls on Marylanders to join the South’s battle against the Union.
Lyrics from the song (including those calling Northerners “scum”) will be replaced with a poem by John T. White about the state’s appearance and natural beauty.
Via The Washington Post:
“I think it’s time to get rid of the verse that basically criticizes and makes us look bad,” said Sen. Ronald N. Young (D-Frederick). “The [song] is degrading to Maryland and should not represent us moving forward.”
However, Sen. Robert G. Cassilly (R-Harford) said Maryland should use the opportunity as a teaching lesson, instead of erasing bad moments from history.
Listen to “Maryland, My Maryland” by clicking here and read the poem here.

Funlayo Alabi Tackles Female Poverty in Northern Nigeria With Skin Care Company Shea Radiance

By goodblacknews on March 13, 2016

Shea Radiance CEO Funlayo Alabi (photo via inc.com)

article by Hadassah Egbedi via venturesafrica.com
Besides passion, a common reason often given by entrepreneurs when asked why, or how they started their businesses often entails discovering a gap in the market, which is often in the process of trying to solve a problem of their own. The background story of Funlayo Alabi, CEO of Shea Radiance, is not any different.
Mrs Alabi currently runs a multi-million dollar skin care company from her kitchen, one she started by chance. Her son was suffering from severe eczema, so she sought a more natural alternative to deal with it. “We had him on steroids. I thought to myself, “This boy is going to live on steroids if I don’t find a more natural alternative,” she told Inc. Alabi who hadn’t been a fan of shea butter as a kid, reluctantly called her mother and asked her to bring some on her next visit to the States.
Found in the tropics of Africa, and only recently discovered by the West, the benefits of Shea Butter have been known to Africans for centuries as it has been used through generations. In Nigeria, it is not uncommon to have someone prescribe the multi-purpose butter which contains unique healing properties to you if you have any skin or hair issues. The site africansheabutter.org provides a long list of conditions shea acts a remedy for including dry skin, rash, blemishes, wrinkles, sunburn, chest cold, and dermatitis.

“I really do believe that a jar of cream is not just a jar of cream. It can change the world.”- Funlayo Alabi

Once Alabi put the shea to use, her son’s skin got better and felt better, plus it had a “beautiful, warm glow.” The woman soon realized the value of what she had on her hands and the largely untapped market that exists. This was about seven years in 2008. So she got right to work, mixing and making shea butter lotions and shampoos in her kitchen. “I have always had a business mind and knew that we could develop high-quality shea butter products and sell them.” Thus, her company, Shea Radiance, was born in Ellicott City, Maryland.

President Obama Nominates Dr. Carla D. Hayden for Librarian of Congress

By goodblacknews on February 25, 2016
Dr. Carla Hayden Librarian Congress
Dr. Carla Hayden (PHOTO CREDIT: YouTube)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

According to whitehouse.gov, President Barack Obama has nominated Dr. Carla D. Hayden as the 14th Librarian of Congress— which would make her the first woman and African-American to hold this prestigious position in the library’s 214-year history.

Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Hayden became the first African-American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award, and also holds an M.A. and a Ph.D from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago.

Obama’s own praise for Dr. Hayden and an accompanying video follow:

Today, I’m nominating someone to be our new Librarian of Congress — the leader of one of our nation’s oldest federal institutions — and I want to introduce you to her.
Meet Dr. Carla Hayden.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnlZjccjNqE&w=560&h=315]
Michelle and I have known Dr. Hayden for a long time since her days working at the Chicago Public Library, and her dedication to learning and education is unparalleled.
More recently, she’s devoted her career to modernizing libraries so that everyone can participate in today’s digital culture. She’s been hard at work revitalizing Baltimore’s library system as the CEO of Enoch Pratt Free Library, updating its technology and raising money to fund essential improvements. Under her leadership, the Pratt library has become the largest provider of public-access computers in Maryland.
As Librarian of Congress, she’ll work in close partnership with Congress, support the copyright office that serves our nation’s creative communities, and explore new ways to share the information housed within  our library through innovative technologies.
And I know she’ll be a good steward for the important role that libraries play in our communities. Last year, during the unrest in Baltimore, Dr. Hayden and the library’s staff kept the doors of the Pratt open as a beacon for the community.
Finally, she’d be the first woman and the first African American to hold the position – both of which are long overdue.
So I hope you’ll take a couple minutes to watch this video and meet Carla for yourself. I have no doubt she’ll make a fantastic Librarian of Congress.
President Barack Obama