American poet Elizabeth Alexander (photo via Mark Wilson/Getty Images) article by Stephen A. Crockett Jr. via theroot.com
Acclaimed poet, author and professor Elizabeth Alexander has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize board.
Alexander wrote and delivered her poem “Praise Song for the Day” for President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry American Sublime and a 2016 Pulitzer finalist for her memoir, The Light of the World, according to the announcement on the Pulitzer website.
Alexander has taught at several schools, including the University of Chicago, New York University and Smith College, and was part of the faculty at Yale University for 15 years; she also served as chair of Yale’s department of African-American studies. Alexander was recently named the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University and is the director of creativity and free expression at the Ford Foundation.
As a member of the 19-person board, Alexander will help decide the winners of the Pulitzer Prizes in in journalism, books, drama and music each April. She will serve a three-year term on the Pulitzer Prize board, on which members serve a maximum of nine years.
Learn more about Alexander here.
After much speculation, Malia Obama, the eldest daughter of the President and First Lady has announced her plans to attend Harvard University, but not until 2017.
The White House announced her plans on Sunday, as well as her intention to take a “gap year” so that when she begins, her father will be out of office.
Malia is continuing the tradition of the Obamas who were both Ivy League graduates. Harvard is where both of her parents attended law school, and President Obama graduated from Columbia undergrad and Michelle Obama attended Princeton.
Malia will join a long list of presidential children who have attended the Ivy League school, including John Quincy Adams and his son, John Adams II; Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert; the sons of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt; Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy; and George W. Bush, who went to business school there. The New York Times reports that Malia visited Harvard and a handful of other Ivy League and liberal arts schools last March on the East Coast, but because she accompanied her father to California last month, many believed Stanford was at the top of her list. Apparently Crimson won her heart. Read more at the New York Times.
U.S. Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes (photo via blogcea.org) article by Michael Melia via abc7ny.com
A Connecticut high school history teacher chosen as the National Teacher of the Year on Thursday says she was surrounded by poverty, drugs and violence as a child but imagined other possibilities for her life with help from educators. Jahana Hayes, who teaches at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, CT, was selected for the honor by the Council of Chief State School Officers. She will be recognized by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony this coming Tuesday.
Hayes, 44, grew up in a Waterbury housing project and became a teenage mother while still in high school. She said the influence of her own teachers taught her that a school’s job sometimes overlaps with the job of parents, and she wants her students to know there are no dead ends.
“No matter where you are or how bad you think it is, there’s always opportunities for growth and opportunities for improvement,” she said. “I think too often, especially at the high school level, people deal in absolutes and students get the message that, ‘If I mess up or I don’t do everything exactly right right now, that that’s the end of my story.'”
At an urban school with a widely diverse student body, she said she has found teaching is a lifestyle that extends beyond the contracted hours. She finds herself serving not only as a teacher but also as a counselor, a confidant and a protector of her students.
Kim Hunter Reed (photo via twitter.com) article via jbhe.com
Kim Hunter Reed has been appointed by President Barack Obama as Deputy Under Secretary of Education. Dr. Reed will be a member of the senior leadership team at the Department of Education that oversees higher education in the United States.
Dr. Reed is the former chief of staff for the Louisiana Board of Regents and the former executive vice president of the University of Louisiana System. Earlier, she served on the faculty at Southern University in Baton Rouge and was executive assistant to the president and interim vice president of student affairs at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.
Dr. Reed earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalist and master of public administration degree at Southeastern Louisiana University. She holds a doctorate in public policy from Southern University.
President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House on March 30, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images) article by Josh Lederman, AP via thegrio.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday commuted the prison sentences of 61 drug offenders, including more than a third serving life sentences, giving new energy to calls for overhauling the U.S. criminal justice system.
All of the inmates are serving time for drug possession, intent to sell or related crimes. Most are nonviolent offenders, although a few were also charged with firearms violations. Obama’s commutation shortens their sentences, with most of the inmates set to be released on July 28.
Obama has long called for getting rid of strict sentences for drug offenses that critics say lead to excessive punishment and sky-high incarceration rates. With Obama’s support, the Justice Department in recent years has directed prosecutors to rein in the use of harsh mandatory minimums and expanded the criteria for inmates applying for clemency.
Though there’s wide bipartisan support in Congress for overhauling the criminal justice system, momentum has slowed as the chaotic presidential campaign has made cooperation between Republicans and Democrats increasingly difficult.
Obama, in a letter to the inmates, said the presidential power to grant commutations and pardons “embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws.”
Obama met for lunch Wednesday with people whose sentences were previously commuted to hear about the challenges of re-entering society.
The latest commutations bring to 248 the total number of inmates whose sentences Obama has commuted, more than the past six presidents combined, the White House said. The pace of commutations and the rarer use of pardons are expected to increase as the end of Obama’s presidency nears. To read more, go to: http://thegrio.com/2016/03/30/obama-prison-sentences-drug-offenders-clemency/
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama with Kameria and her family (photo via FACEBOOK) article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
Seven-year-old Kameria had an Easter she’ll never forget.
Imagine being a kid and a fan of President Barack Obama. Then you find out Obama’s term is ending later this year, all while your grandmother is filming you crying with her cellphone. Of course, that’s what viral videos are made of; but in the end, it was all worth it for 7-year-old Kameria. First-grader Kameria got the opportunity to meet the first family at this week’s Easter Egg Roll at the White House, and you can bet she’ll never forget that moment. Source: Little Girl Crying Over President Obama’s Last Days in Office Met the President – The Root
U.S. Representatives (l-r) Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robin Kelly, and Yvette D. Clarke article by Lilly Workneh via huffingtonpost.com
Three black women in congress made history on Tuesday when they announced the formation of the first and only Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.
U.S. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) and Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) confirmed the news in a press release issued by the U.S. House of Representatives. The release described the caucus as a group devoted to creating public policy that “eliminates significant barriers and disparities experienced by black women.”
The formation of the caucus marks a hugely significant moment for minority communities as it is the first of 430 registered congressional caucuses and member organizations that is specifically designed to make black women and girls a priority.
“Black women and girls are disproportionately affected by myriad [of] socioeconomic issues that diminish their quality of life and threaten the well-being of their families and communities,” Rep. Kelly said in a release obtained by The Huffington Post.
“The Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls gives black women a seat at the table for the crucial discussion on the policies that impact them while also providing a framework for creating opportunities and eliminating barriers to success for black women,” she added.
The caucus was inspired by Ifeoma Ike, the co-founder of Black and Brown People Vote, and a collective of six other women involved in the #SheWoke committee which is comprised of leading black women activists who consistently advocate for black women’s rights, including Ike, Nakisha M. Lewis, Tiffany D. Hightower, Shambulia Gadsden Sams, Sharisse Stancil-Ashford, Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever and Sharon Cooper.
Lewis shared the news on Twitter Tuesday:
We officially have a Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls! Let’s get this work done #SheWokehttps://t.co/3rbcV3ziAB
Collectively, these women along with members of congress helped to launch a caucus that will aim to address issues important among black women, like economic equity, education, wellness and safety, among others.
“We want to get everyone, including our sisters, aware of where we statistically fall within these issues. Knowledge is definitely power,” Ike told The Huffington Post. “We’re looking at this space as one of idea-sharing and policy creation. We’re making sure we’re included as a demographic that deserves to be addressed.”
The caucus said in the press release it aims to achieve similar success in the lives of black women and girls that President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative has done for black men and boys. Ike, who worked to help form Obama’s well-respected campaign, expects to apply her expertise and share her experiences as she helps to execute the mission of the new caucus.
“I felt like I was supporting my brother but I didn’t feel like my story or any of my sister’s stories were included,” Ike said of her experience working for the My Brother’s Keeper campaign to The Huffington Post. “Through this work, and meeting other dynamic women, it’s very important, especially in this political climate, that politicians look at our issues. By addressing black women, you address everyone.”
“Black women deserve a voice in a policy making process that frequently minimizes, or altogether ignores the systemic challenges they face.”Rep. Watson Coleman
Ike said the idea for both the caucus and the #SheWoke committee came about during a conversation in her apartment earlier this year, which, among other topics, touched on recent developments in the case of Sandra Bland. Two days later, the #SheWoke committee was formed as was a petition which called on congress members to create a space that puts black women’s issues at the forefront.
“Black women deserve a voice in a policy making process that frequently minimizes, or altogether ignores the systemic challenges they face,” Rep. Watson Coleman said in the release. “This caucus will speak up for them.”
The launch reception of the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls will be held on April 28 in Washington, D.C. To read full article, go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/official-congressional-caucus-on-black-women-and-girls_us_56f18294e4b09bf44a9eae8c
Former MTV News reporter and radio DJ Sway Callowayhas signed with cable channel VH1 as an on-air personality and producer. Calloway will appear in VH1’s tentpole events, executive produce specials and events and bring new programming ideas to the channel.
As a TV star and host of his own national Sirius XM/Shade 45 radio show “Sway in the Morning,” Calloway has interviewed every global hip hop and pop artist of the last 15 years as well as U.S. senators, governors, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joseph Biden and President Barack Obama – four times. And now, with a recurring role in the hit TV series “Empire,” Sway has become a pop culture icon himself. He continues to host “Sway In The Morning” and connect with fans at SwaysUniverse.com.
Sway’s first partnership with VH1 will be on the new series “Behind The…,” an expansion of the renowned VH1 “Behind The Music” franchise that will explore all facets of pop culture and its intersection with current cultural and political issues. Calloway will host and serve as executive producer of the “Behind The…” series.
John King, Jr. (middle) with President Barack Obama (photo via ischoolguide.com article by Emma Brown via washingtonpost.com
The Senate voted on Monday to confirm John King Jr. as U.S. Education Secretary, a move that shows that education has become a rare issue on which a polarized Washington can reach bipartisan compromise.
Seven Republicans joined Democrats in voting 49 to 40 in favor of King’s confirmation at a time when key GOP senators are refusing to even consider an Obama nominee to the Supreme Court.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) — chairman of the education committee who previously served as education secretary under President George H.W. Bush — urged his colleagues to confirm King, arguing that the education department needs a leader who can be held to account as the nation implements a sweeping new education law that replaced the long-maligned No Child Left Behind.
“This vote is not about whether one of us would have chosen Dr. King to be the education secretary. Republicans won’t have the privilege of picking an education secretary until we elect the president of the United States,” Alexander said Monday, 25 years to the day after his own Senate confirmation. “We need a United States Education Secretary confirmed by and accountable to the United States Senate so that the law to fix No Child Left Behind will be implemented the way Congress wrote it.”
King, 41, has been serving as acting secretary since his predecessor Arne Duncan stepped down at the end of 2015. A former teacher, principal and charter-school founder, he led New York’s state education department from 2011 until 2014, when he joined the U.S. Education Department.
