Four Black NFL Coaches Fired on Black Monday, Only Two Remain

The day after the NFL season is a time where teams will be reevaluating their season and firing their head coaches, but many people are concerned that “Black Monday” has severely impacted some of the black coaches in the league.

There have been eight head coaches from different NFL teams that have been fired so far, but four of those coaches are black.

Here is a list of some of the coaches that have been fired so far, according to Sports Illustrated:

Marvin Lewis: The Cincinnati Bengals coach told his staff that he had been fired.

Vance Joseph: The Denver Broncos let go of their head coach on Monday after going 6-10 this season.

Steven Wilks: The Arizona Cardinals have fired coach Wilks after a rough season of going 3-13.

Todd Bowles: New York Jets owner Woody Johnson will look for another coach after firing Bowles on Monday.

Hue Jackson, the former Cleveland Browns coach was fired in October

Coaches losing their jobs at the conclusion of the regular season is routine and expected, as they fall victim to the merciless pressure from owners and fans to succeed year after year. In addition to the five black coaches fired, three white coaches were let go this season, in Green Bay, Tampa Bay and Miami. But with the N.F.L. under pressure to increase the percentage of minority coaches and executives, the makeup of the latest class of jettisoned coaches was especially startling.

The two black head coaches still in the N.F.L. are Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers (12-4), who are headed to a wild-card playoff game Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, and Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6-1).

With eight coaching vacancies, it is possible that some of the recently dismissed coaches will be leading candidates for those openings; their experience and certain attributes may be a better fit with other teams. Jackson, for example, was on Lewis’s coaching staff in Cincinnati. And there are other minority candidates, like the Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Stanford Coach David Shaw, whose names have popped up in coaching discussions.

But the next several weeks will unquestionably heighten the scrutiny on the N.F.L.’s hiring practices and how reliably, or willingly, the Rooney Rule will be employed.

Gulliver would not admit something that many onlookers and people around the N.F.L. have long suspected: that teams have been doing only the bare minimum to comply with, or sidestepping, the Rooney Rule. After all, if the rule was working as intended, and the percentage of minority coaches and executives was growing steadily, why would the rule need to be strengthened?

Under the new regulations enacted a few weeks ago, when teams are looking to fill positions, they must interview at least one minority candidate from a list kept by the league’s Career Development Advisory Panel, or a minority candidate not currently working with a team. Teams also must keep detailed records of who they interview, which is perhaps a response to criticism from minority candidates who say they are routinely called, but not formally interviewed, by teams trying to do the least possible to fulfill their obligations. After it was first established, the Rooney Rule appeared to be having an impact. By 2011, eight N.F.L. teams had coaches of color, the most to that point, or since.

[SOURCE: NYTIMES]

African-American women to head two of Missouri's largest courts

Judge Robin Ransom

Starting in January, African-American women will lead two of the busiest courthouses in Missouri for the first time in history.

Judge Gloria Reno was elected the presiding judge of the 21st Circuit in St. Louis County in October and began serving that month, because her predecessor had retired. Judge Robin Ransom will become presiding judge of the 22nd Circuit, which hears cases in St. Louis, in January.

Presiding judges handle some administrative work for the courts, such as deciding which judges will handle what types of cases. As presiding judge in the city, Ransom handles most preliminary matters, like motions to dismiss.

p>The two women were elected to the presiding judge post by their fellow judges — something Ransom called an honor and privilege.

"These are people that you work with and you respect, but you don’t understand the level of confidence that people really have in you until your own colleagues support you for a position of this nature,” she said.
Reno agreed.

Judge Gloria Reno

“It’s always really nice when you get the support of your peers, even more so than when it’s coming from outside,” she said. “The fact that people you have worked with for a number of years have this kind of faith and confidence in you.”

Both judges hope that will allow people who distrust the system a space to be heard.

“When I walk into a room, it’s very obvious that I’m a black female,” Ransom said. “I don’t need to announce that. I think the one thing that makes me very proud in this role with those two particular identifying factors is that we’ve had a lot of stressors in our communities over the last few years. I’m hoping that in our roles, we can really get to some of those people who don’t feel that they’re represented and let them know that just because a decision doesn’t go your way, it doesn’t mean that we’re not listening.”

Reno added: “The fact that we are here, in these positions, I think, is an indication that the system works. I believe that it may, of course, foster some trust.”

Both women say they want to use their positions as the public face of the courts to encourage jury service. Both will also push for the expansion of diversion programs like mental health or drug courts, which allow defendants facing low-level charges to go through intensive treatment in exchange for having the charges dropped.

“It costs a lot of money to incarcerate a person,” Reno said. “This is a cheaper way of dealing with those who come into the courts for alcohol, for drugs and for mental-health issues.”
Reno, as presiding judge in St. Louis County, also has oversight authority of the county’s 82 municipal courts, which handle minor ordinance violations. Many are facing lawsuits for violating the rights of defendants.

Reform is a work in progress, she said.

“We’re making sure that all of the judges on our muni courts are certified, that all the muni courts operate the way any other court would, with proper signage, with the separation of powers.”
Reno says she hopes to have all 82 municipal courts online by the end of her first year as presiding judge.

“If we are really making real progress in that, I think I’ll consider that to be a positive, for sure,” she said.

Ransom said she wants to spend her first year getting 15- to 25-year-olds excited about “the court system, the judiciary, their city where they live.

“I have so many people that I run into every single day, and they have nothing good to say about their futures or their city,” she said. Success will be “if after 12 months, I can say I’ve reached out to some of those people and had some of our younger kids from the city really appreciate not only where they live, but to appreciate that this is the best system that I think we have.”

Presiding judge terms generally last for two years, but Ransom may leave before her term is complete: She is one of three finalists for a seat on the Missouri Court of Appeals.

After 3 plus decades in prison Mumia Abu-Jamal granted right of appeal

A judge in Philadelphia has reinstated appeal rights to former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal — convicted of killing a city police officer more than 30 years ago — who has long maintained his innocence as his case gained international attention.

Advocates of Abu-Jamal praised the decision by Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker as a significant development toward winning the freedom of a man whose case generated decades of protest and thousands of supporters in the "Free Mumia" movement.

"This is an unheard of legal victory," said Rachel Wolkenstein, former lawyer and longtime activist for Abu-Jamal. "This is the best opportunity we have had for Mumia's freedom in decades."

Abu-Jamal has been incarcerated since his 1982 conviction for killing white Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in a racially charged case. The judge who issued the latest decision called the case one of the most polarizing shootings in the city's history. In 2011, prosecutors dropped the execution case against Abu-Jamal because of flawed jury instructions and instead agreed to a sentence of life in prison.

For years, Abu-Jamal's attempts at securing a new trial were denied. In the latest legal argument, his lawyers argued that Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille should not have presided over Abu-Jamal's appeals battles. Castille was formerly Philadelphia's district attorney whose office fought to keep the activist and prolific writer behind bars.

Castille refused calls from Abu-Jamal's supporters to recuse himself from hearing the appeal, saying he never directly worked on the case. In 2012, Abu-Jamal's advocates thought he lost his final appeal when the state Supreme Court rejected a claim challenging the validity of forensic evidence that was used to convict him.

In his legal opinion on Thursday, Tucker said Castille made the wrong choice, because even the appearance of being biased can be damaging to the judicial system.

"The claim of bias, prejudice and refusal of former Justice Castille to recuse himself is worthy of consideration as true justice must be completely just without even a hint of partiality, lack of integrity or impropriety," Tucker wrote.

Tucker's ruling has breathed new life into the hopes of Abu-Jamal's supporters that he may one day be granted freedom.

[SOURCE: NPR]

The Five Heartbeats is headed to Broadway!

The Five Heartbeats, Robert Townsend’s story about the trials and tribulations of a band of five talented guys in a musical group during the rise of Motown, is on its way to Broadway.

The story is loosely inspired by the behind-the-scenes rise of such groups as The Temptations and The Dells.

The Broadway play will “tell a similar story with music that people know from the movie, but there is a composer, Grammy-Award winner, a guy who has won some big awards who already said he will write an original song for us,” said Townsend. He told Deadline that he is in negotiations with a Broadway producer and is writing the Broadway play with Kennen Ivory Wayans,” his original partner on the The Five Heartbeats’ movie script.

Taking this story to Broadway will bring it full circle for Townsend, who started his acting career in theater — first in the Windy City as part of ExBag (which later become the Chicago Theater Company) and then in New York acting Off Broadway with Woodie King, Jr. and the New Federal Theater troupe.

[SOURCE: DEADLINE]

Maxine Waters Chosen by House Democrats to Chair Financial Services Committee

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) released the following statement after being approved by the Democratic Caucus to serve as the first woman and the first African American Chair of the House Financial Services Committee:

“I am honored to have been selected by my colleagues to be the first Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee in the 116th Congress. Since 1995, I have served as Ranking Member or Chairwoman of every Subcommittee under the Committee’s jurisdiction, taking on important issues on behalf of consumers, investors, and vulnerable populations. As Chairwoman, I will continue to prioritize protecting consumers and investors from abusive financial practices, making sure there are strong safeguards in place to prevent another financial crisis, expanding and supporting affordable housing opportunities, tackling the homelessness crisis, encouraging responsible innovation in financial technology, promoting diversity and inclusion in the financial services sector, conducting appropriate oversight and ensuring that hardworking Americans and small businesses have fair access to the financial system and opportunities to thrive. I consider it a privilege to hold the Chairwoman’s gavel and look forward to working with my fellow Democrats, Ranking Member McHenry and my colleagues across the aisle on commonsense solutions that benefit hardworking Americans and strengthen our economy.” 

Congresswoman Maxine Waters has served as a Member of Congress and the Financial Services Committee since 1991. Throughout her decades of public service, Ranking Member Waters has gained a reputation as a fearless and outspoken advocate for women, children, people of color and the poor. In her various leadership roles on the House Financial Services Committee, she has fought for the protection of consumers, investors, small businesses and vulnerable populations.

Preventing Another Financial Crisis
In 2010, Ranking Member Waters and her Democratic colleagues worked tirelessly to pass the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, landmark legislation to prevent another financial crisis, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency dedicated to protecting America’s consumers from financial abuses. Ranking Member Waters was one of 10 Committee Members to be selected to serve as a conferee on the Dodd-Frank Act.

A central driver of the crisis was predatory mortgage lending, which intentionally targeted minority communities with toxic products and resulted in devastating foreclosures across the country and an immense loss of generational wealth. Democrats specifically designed Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Bureau to prevent the harmful practices that caused the financial crisis.

The Consumer Bureau protects consumers from predatory and abusive financial practices in areas such as mortgage loans, private education loans, and payday loans.

Despite Republican efforts to destroy the Consumer Bureau, Ranking Member Waters has fought to make sure it is not impeded from its important work cracking down on industries that have a history of harming consumers, including debt collectors, payday lenders and consumer reporting agencies.

Auntie Maxine
This Congress, Ranking Member Waters’ activities as the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee have generated unprecedented public attention as she has consistently and vocally pushed back against a harmful Republican agenda.

While she has always been outspoken in her efforts to protect hardworking Americans and ensure fairness in this country, the era of social media has allowed for her longstanding efforts to be shared with millennials who have dubbed the Ranking Member as “Auntie Maxine.”

During a June 2017 exchange at a hearing with Trump Administration Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Ranking Member Waters repeatedly 'reclaimed her time’ after the Secretary failed to answer questions regarding her request for information about President Trump’s shady financial dealings and pressed him for answers. During another notable exchange, Ranking Member Waters yielded ‘not one second’ to a Republican Congressman during a May 2018 House floor debate on a harmful Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau guidance on indirect auto lending intended to combat discriminatory practices.

Historic Committee Chairwoman
As Chairwoman or Ranking Member of every Subcommittee under the Committee’s jurisdiction since 1995, Ranking Member Waters has always worked to create opportunities, ensure fairness, and protect the economic wellbeing of all Americans.

She has spearheaded efforts on important issues such as housing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 financial crisis, the subprime mortgage meltdown, public housing reinvestment, and affordable flood insurance.

Some of her most notable work includes her efforts to mitigate foreclosures to keep American families in their homes during the housing and economic crisis and the creation of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which provides grants to states, local governments and nonprofits to fight foreclosures, home abandonment and blight and to restore neighborhoods. Through two infusions of funds, the Congresswoman was able to secure $6 billion for the program.

With a Republican Majority in Congress, she has also used creative methods in Committee to push a Democratic message. This Congress, she has twice utilized a rarely used parliamentary maneuver to force historic Democratic hearings on Chairman Jeb Hensarling's harmful Financial Choice Act, which she called the Wrong Choice Act, and the Equifax data breach.

Ranking Member Waters has long advocated for consumers, investors, small businesses and vulnerable populations as illustrated by her extensive legislative history.

This Congress, she has so far introduced the following financial services bills to improve our financial system and the state of hosing in this country.. 

1. H.R. 3937, the Megabank Accountability and Consequences Act, which would require regulators to fully exercise their authorities and shut down megabanks that repeatedly harm consumers;
2. H.R. 2076, the Ending Homelessness Act, which would help to ensure that every American has a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home;
3. H.R. 3160, the Public Housing Tenant Protection and Reinvestment Act, which would ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing for the 1.1 million families who rely on public housing;
4. H.R. 3755, the Comprehensive Credit Reporting Reform Act, which would overhaul our broken system of credit reporting and hold the credit reporting bureaus accountable;
5. H.R. 3936, the National Flood Insurance Program Debt Forgiveness Act, which would forgive the debt of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP);
6. H.R. 3519, the Bad Actor Disqualification Act, which would protect investors by preventing the SEC from automatically waiving disqualification for bad actors;
7. H.R. 3357, the Military Consumer Protection Act, which enhances protections for military servicemembers from abusive Wall Street practices by giving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau authority to enforce the Servicemember Civil Relief Act (SCRA);
8. H.R. 6220, the Restoring Fair Housing Protections Eliminated by HUD Act of 2018, which restores several fair housing protections that HUD Secretary Ben Carson has eliminated;
9. H.R. 5555, The FHA Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2018, which would enhance oversight of and compliance with FHA’s loss mitigation requirements in order to help borrowers avoid foreclosures;
10. H.R. 4160, Preventing Foreclosures on Seniors Act of 2017, which would make reforms to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgages for Seniors (HECM) program to help seniors remain in their homes;
11. H.R. 4159, Making FHA More Affordable Act of 2018, which would repeal the requirement that the FHA charge insurance premiums for the life of the loan, and reinstate the FHA’s previous policy of terminating premiums when the outstanding principal balance reaches 78 percent of the original home value;
12. H.R. 6102, the Homeowner Mortgage Servicing Fairness Act of 2018, which would protect homeowners against foreclosure and increase the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) oversight of mortgage servicers that conduct business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac;
13. H.R. 5833: Expanding Housing Opportunities for Foster Youth Act of 2018, which would permanently authorize $200 million annually in appropriations for family unification program (FUP) vouchers, which is estimated to provide a FUP voucher for every foster youth in need of one;
14. H.R. 6972, the Consumers First Act, a bill to block the Trump Administration’s anti-consumer agenda and reverse efforts, led by Mick Mulvaney to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
15. H.R. 6320, Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act, which requires the SEC to consider certain types of amendments to Rule 10b5-1 to ensure that corporate insiders are not able to indirectly engage in illegal insider trading through changes to their trading plans;
16. H.Res.895, Recognizing the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and the contributions of Lawrence Parks and Timothy Simons;
17. H.Res.886, a resolution that affirms the Brooke Rule, which ensures that families receiving federal housing assistance do not pay more than 30 percent of their adjusted income on rent, and remains a widely recognized standard for affordability of rental housing; and
18. H.Res.442, Of inquiry directing the Secretary of the Treasury to provide certain documents in the Secretary's possession to the House of Representatives relating to President Trump's financial connections to Russia, certain illegal financial schemes, and related information.

She has also co-led several bipartisan measures this Congress, including H.R. 6139, a bill to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to carry out a study to evaluate the issues affecting the provision of and reliance upon investment research into small issuers; S. 488, the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018 (JOBS Act 3.0), a package of strong capital-formation legislation to help America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs and to protect investors; and H.R. 3110, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Insurance Member Continuity Act, a bill to extend the term of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) independent member with insurance expertise, which became law.

Additionally, in previous Congresses, the Congresswoman has played a key role in major bipartisan legislation that eventually became law, including the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, the Community Lender Regulatory Relief Act and the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act.

Barack and Michelle Obama top 2018 'Most Admired' lists

Although they may not be in the White House anymore Barack Obama and Michelle Obama both top Gallup's annual most admired man and woman survey in the United States.

For the first time in 17 years, a woman other than Hillary Clinton has been named by Americans as the woman they admire most. Former first lady Michelle Obama, who finished second to Clinton three times and is currently touring to promote her recently released autobiography, won by a significant margin this year. Oprah Winfrey was second, with Clinton and Melania Trump next.

Most Admired Woman

Michelle Obama

Oprah Winfrey

Hillary Clinton

Melania Trump

Queen Elizabeth

Angela Merkel

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ellen DeGeneres

Nikki Haley

Malala Yousafzai

Nancy Pelosi

Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama was the winner among men for the 11th consecutive year, including one year as president-elect, eight as president and two as former president. President Donald Trump ranks second for the fourth year in a row.

Most Admired Man

Barack Obama is now just one first-place finish short of tying Dwight Eisenhower for the most times being Most Admired Man. Eisenhower won the distinction 12 times -- the eight years he was president from 1953 through 1960, as well as in 1950, 1952, 1967 and 1968.

Barack Obama

Donald Trump

George W. Bush

Pope Francis

Bill Gates

Bernie Sanders

Bill Clinton

Dalai Lama

Joe Biden

Elon Musk

Mike Pence

[SOURCE: GALLUP NEWS]

Spelman College Receives $30 Million Gift to Support New Center for Innovation & the Arts

Trustee Ronda Stryker and spouse, William Johnston donated the largest gift from living donors in the college's 137-year histo

(BPRW) UNCF-member institution Spelman College has received the largest gift from living donors in its 137-year history from long-standing Spelman trustee Ronda Stryker and spouse William Johnston. The transformative $30 million gift will help build the Center for Innovation & the Arts, the College’s first new academic facility since 1996.

Chicago architect, Jeanne Gang, founding principal of the firm Studio Gang, has completed a schematic design of the 85,000 square foot building that will occupy a current parking lot at Spelman at the corner of Westview Drive and Lee Street.

  

“As former educators who believe strongly in social justice, Bill and I have great appreciation for how Spelman provides a superior education for students that encourages them to be global change agents,” said Stryker, a director of the medical equipment company Stryker Corp., as well as vice chair and director of Greenleaf Trust, an investment bank chaired by Johnston.

"Spelman alumnae are leaders across every field imaginable, breaking new ground, while tackling some of the world's most challenging issues from health disparities to the digital divide. We are thrilled to support a building that will encourage students to master technology, innovation and the arts."

Stryker has been a trustee of Spelman since 1997 and currently serves as the vice chair of the Spelman College Board of Trustees and chair of the Board’s Arts, Innovation & Technology Committee.

Consistent and extraordinary giving from the Stryker family has had a significant impact on Spelman. Their gift to establish the Gordon-Zeto Center for Global Education, for example, funded the expansion and ongoing operation of the College’s study abroad program. As a result, the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report notes that Spelman sends more Black students to study abroad than any other baccalaureate college in the country with 75 percent of its 2018 graduating class having studied abroad.

Support from the Stryker family has benefitted numerous other Spelman initiatives, including the Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts, science initiatives, summer internships, the Annual Fund, the President's Safety Net Fund, and renovations to Sisters Chapel and the Wellness Center at Read Hall.

“Ronda Stryker has been staunchly committed to the mission and ideals of Spelman College for more than 20 years. She has been an unstinting advocate for our students and has supported a wide range of strategic initiatives, critical to Spelman’s long term sustainability and the success of our students,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman.

“With this historic gift, yet again, Ronda’s support will be transformational. Her contribution ensures that Spelman students will be prepared to tackle the challenges of our changing world through innovation, creativity and the dynamic intersection of science, technology, engineering, arts and math (also known as STEAM).”

Including the generous gift from Stryker and Johnston, the College has raised more than one-third of the total cost of the CI&A, which received its first support from Leonard and Louise Riggio in 2016. The cost of the new facility, which includes an operating endowment and state of the art technology, is $86 million.

The Center for Innovation & the Arts

The CI&A enables the College to bring together in one building its considerable strength in STEM with its award-winning programs in the arts. The hub of the building will be the Innovation Lab, co-directed by Brown-Simmons Professor of Computer Science Jerry Volcy, Ph.D., and Associate Professor De Angela Duff, MFA, whose work sits at the intersection of art, design, and technology, in consultation with Senior Adviser Topper Carew, Ph.D., a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.

For the first time in the College’s history, the same building will house all of Spelman’s arts programs – art, art history, curatorial studies, dance, digital media, documentary filmmaking, photography, music and theater.

A major feature of the building will be its “Front Porch,” an element of the design that opens up the entrance of the CI&A to the Westside community and offers a set of ground floor amenities. They include an expansion of the award-winning Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, a digital theater housing publicly accessible performances, technology events, film screenings and a cafe.

A schematic of the CI&A demonstrates the innovation and intentionality behind creating a unique interdisciplinary environment. The facility will offer different scales of gathering and assorted modes of connecting and collaborating for learning and risk taking in the liberal arts.

ARTS@Spelman New Programming
Under the leadership of award-winning, innovative independent filmmaker, Ayoka Chenzira, Ph.D., division chair for the Arts, Arts@Spelman has developed a new initiative and several new majors and minors that join Music and Theater & Performance including:

• Documentary Filmmaking (major)
• Photography (major)
• Dance Performance & Choreography (major)
• Art History (major)
• Curatorial Studies (minor)
• Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History and Curatorial Studies, funded with a recent gift from the Walton Family Foundation

Several distinguished faculty have joined Spelman in the past three years either as permanent or distinguished visitors. They include photographer Myra Greene, filmmaker Julie Dash, director/performer/choreographer Aku Kadogoand playwright Will Power. Art historians and curators, Cheryl Finley, Ph.D.,associate professor at Cornell University, and Lowery Stokes Sims, Ph.D., former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and former executive director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, serve as senior advisers to the Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective. Andrea Barnwell-Brownlee, Ph.D., also a member of the Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective and director of the Spelman Museum, was recently named Atlanta’s Best Curator by Atlanta Magazine.

Spelman innovation and arts leaders shared their thoughts on this significant gift:

Ayoka Chenzira, Ph.D., Division Chair for the Arts, Spelman College
“This generous gift by Ronda Stryker and William Johnston represents a deep understanding of the value of Black women’s research as it relates to artistic creative expression and the use and integration of technology to help discover and articulate new forms of imaginative processes that engage with global conversations. Spelman students will be at the forefront of these new discoveries as a result of this gift.”

Jerry Volcy, Ph.D. Co-Director, Spelman Innovation Lab, Brown-Simmons Professor of Computer Science
"Ronda's gift takes us one big step closer to realizing a center that aims to prepare women of color to become tomorrow's agents of innovative change.”

Topper Carew, Ph.D., Senior Adviser, Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History and Curatorial Studies
"The Stryker gift will further support the unprecedented ascendancy of the great Spelman women and their continuing stellar contribution to American society."

De Angela Duff, MFA, Associate Professor, Co-Director of the Spelman College Innovation Lab
“Ronda Stryker’s gift empowers Spelman College to educate 21st century, women-of-color visionaries who will create a cultural paradigm shift by embracing creativity at the intersection of the arts and technology and harnessing the power of innovation.”

Trailer for Jordan Peele's new horror film "Us"

Set in present day along the iconic Northern California coastline, Us, from Monkeypaw Productions, stars Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke), and their two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway.

Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family.

After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.

Check out the trailer below:

Kentucky city's first African American mayor sworn in

Hundreds of people came out to watch history being made. On Saturday afternoon, Beverly Chester-Burton was sworn in as the City of Shively's (Kentucky) first African American mayor.

Burton’s journey started as a sharecropper’s daughter from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. However, she made a pit stop in Shively, becoming the city’s first African American mayor.

“I like to think that I am modeling the way for a lot of others that are interested in taking this journey, “ Burton said.

Burton has been dedicated to Shively since her ten years as a city council member. She stayed dedicated after she lost her first mayoral campaign in 2008. Her former UofL classmate and city council member Maria Johnson said when Burton became the first African American on the city council, she knew that was just the beginning.

[SOURCE: WAVE]

Buena wrestler's parents release statement on cutting on son's dreadlocks

The parents of a Buena Regional High School wrestler who was thrust into the national spotlight when an official required him to cut his dreadlocks or forfeit his bout expressed immense, heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming show of support for their son.

Charles and Rosa Johnson, the parents of junior Andrew Johnson, released a statement on Monday morning through their lawyer Dominic A. Speziali.

“Andrew has been deeply moved by the thunderous outpouring of unsolicited support — including from an Olympic wrestler, leading civil rights advocates and elected officials — after the shocking pre-match ultimatum,” the statement said.

“Wrestling has taught Andrew to be resilient in the face of adversity. As we move forward, we are comforted by both the strength of Andrew’s character and the support he’s received from the community. We will do all that we can to make sure that no student-athlete is forced to endure what Andrew experienced.”

[SOURCE: Courier Post]

Ayanna Pressley Will Get The Old Office Of the First Black Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm

Rep.-elect Ayanna Pressley (D), who became the first black woman to ever be elected to Congress from Massachusetts last month, says after she's sworn in she will work out of an office once occupied by her "hero," former Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.).

Wow! TY Mommy for the extra bday luck! We just learned my Congressional Office designation will be #ShirleyChisholm 's former office. How's that for divine intervention, AND the selflessness of my colleague @KatieHill4CA who drew a better lottery# but still wanted me to have it.

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) December 17, 2018

New Jersey Division on Civil Rights investigating wrestler forced to cut off his dreadlocks

Here is an updated statement from Larry White, the Executive Director of the NJSIAA (New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association) who is African American on the black wrestler from Buena, NJ being forced to cut his dreadlocks to compete in a championship match, and the fact that the state is now investigating the incident.

Updated NJSIAA Statement / Buena Regional High School Wrestling

from Larry White, Executive Director, NJSIAA

Saturday, December 22, 2018

“Following up on yesterday’s statement concerning a Buena Regional High School (Buena, NJ) varsity wrestler and a wrestling referee, the NJSIAA can now confirm that the matter will be investigated by state authorities. The NJSIAA will be working with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, providing all requested information. The State investigation will take precedence over the NJSIAA process.

“Further, NJSIAA can confirm that those groups that assign high school wrestling referees in New Jersey will not assign the referee in question until this matter has been thoroughly reviewed. This will help to avoid disruption of events for student athletes .

“Finally, as an African-American and parent – as well as a former educator, coach, official and athlete – I clearly understand the issues at play, and probably better than most. The NJSIAA takes this matter very seriously, and I ask that everyone respect the investigatory process related to all parties involved.”

Lebron James: NFL owners have a slave mentality

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was critical of NFL owners during the latest episode of HBO's "The Shop" on Friday night, saying they have a "slave mentality." This comment came up during a conversation with O'Shea Jackson Sr BKA Ice Cube about the difference between the NBA and NFL when it comes to how both leagues allow players to express themselves.

"In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality," James said during the episode. "And it's like, 'This is my team. You do what the f--- I tell y'all to do. Or we get rid of y'all.'

"The players are who make the ship go. We make it go. Every Sunday, without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., without those players, those guys, there is no football. And it's the same in the NBA."

"The difference between the NBA and the NFL, the NBA is what we believe he [a player] can be. The potential," James said. "In the NFL, it's like what can you do for me this Sunday, or this Monday or this Thursday, and if you ain't it, we moving on."

"I'm so appreciative in our league of our commissioner," James said, referencing Adam Silver. "He doesn't mind us having ... a real feeling and to be able to express that. It doesn't even matter if Adam agrees with what we are saying, he at least wants to hear us out. As long as we are doing it in a very educational, nonviolent way, then he's absolutely OK with it."

"The Shop" is a 30-minute show set in a barbershop where athletes and celebrities have conversations about life and sports.

Cory Booker & Kamala Harris Statement on Senate Passage of Anti-Lynching Bill

U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the below statement following the passage through the Senate by unanimous consent of their bipartisan Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018, historic legislation that would – for the first time in history – criminalize lynching, attempts to lynch, and lynching conspiracies.

The legislation was originally introduced in June by Booker and Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Tim Scott (R-SC). It passed the Judiciary Committee in October.

“Today is an emotional and historic day,” Booker said. “For over a century, members of Congress have attempted to pass some version of a bill that would recognize lynching for what it is: a bias-motivated act of terror. And for more than a century, and more than 200 attempts, this body has failed. Today, we have righted that wrong and taken corrective action that recognizes this stain on our country’s history.

“This bill will not undo the damage, the terror, and the violence that has been already done, nor will it bring back the lives that have been brutally taken,” Booker continued. “It will not reverse the irrevocable harm that lynching as a tool of oppression and suppression has caused. But it will acknowledge the wrongs in our history. It will honor the memories of those so brutally killed. And it will leave a legacy that future generations can look back on – that on this day, in this time, we did the right thing.”

“Lynchings were needless and horrendous acts of violence that were motivated by racism. And we must acknowledge that fact, lest we repeat it,” said Senator Harris. “From 1882 to 1986, Congress failed to pass anti-lynching legislation when it had an opportunity 200 times. Today, by passing this bill, we have offered some long overdue justice and recognition to the victims of lynching crimes."

From 1882 to 1986, Congress failed to pass anti-lynching legislation 200 times. Lynching was used as an instrument of terror and intimidation more than 4,000 times during the late 19th and 20th centuries, according to data from the Equal Justice Initiative.

The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act is supported by the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Equal Justice Initiative.

North Carolina A&T wins Celebration Bowl and are 3X HBCU National Champs!

An HBCU dynasty is born!

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champion North Carolina A&T (10-2) defeated SWAC champion Alcorn State (9-4) 24-22 in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl to become the 2018 HBCU National Champs. This is the Aggie's third national championship in four years.

The Aggies were led by senior Quarterback Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Malik Wilson did his part on special teams by returning a kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown to help seal the game for Carolina A&T.

Rayard will finish his football career with a record of 35-2 as a starter.

This year's senior class will leave with three national championship rings and three SWAC championships rings.

This was first-year Head coach Sam Washington's first national title after taking over for Rod Broadway who retired in January after seven successful years which included two national titles

Congrats to the Noth Carolina A&T Aggies, three-time National Champs!

"Eve's Bayou" to be inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry

The 1997 indie hit "Eve's Bayou," written and directed by Kasi Lemmons and co-produced by co-star Samuel L. Jackson has been named to a select group of America's most influential motion pictures to be inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress because of their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage.

The 1997 “Eve’s Bayou” was written and directed by Black female director Kasi Lemmons and co-produced by Samuel L. Jackson, who stars in this family drama. “It’s such an honor to return from production on my fifth film, ‘Harriet,’ to find that my first, ‘Eve’s Bayou,’ is being included in the National Film Registry,” Lemmons said. “As a Black woman filmmaker it is particularly meaningful to me, and to future generations of filmmakers, that the Library of Congress values diversity of culture, perspective and expression in American cinema and recognizes ‘Eve’s Bayou’ as worthy of preservation. I’m thrilled that ‘Eve’s Bayou’ is being included in the class of 2018!”

The Librarian makes the annual registry selections after conferring with the distinguished members of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) and a cadre of Library specialists. Also considered were more than 6,300 titles nominated by the public.

NAACP urging Facebook users to logout in protest on December 18

LOGOUT FACEBOOK

A Complicit and Complacent Facebook

Facebook’s engagement with partisan firms, its targeting of political opponents, the spread misinformation and the utilization of Facebook for propaganda promoting disingenuous portrayals of the African American community is reprehensible.

We are calling on Congress to conduct further investigations, and calling on users to log out of Facebook, Instagram, and What’sapp on Tuesday, December 18. #LogOutFacebook.

Here’s why:

NAACP remains concerned about the data breaches and numerous privacy mishaps that the tech giant has encountered in recent years, and is especially critical about those which occurred during the last presidential election campaign.

Facebook’s commitment to the Honest Ads Act – an act that would mandate that political ads be clearly labeled as such – was a good first step towards reconciliation of their gross negligence – however much more needs to done to ensure that African Americans will not unfairly bear the brunt of Facebook’s business model.

In March 2018, press reports revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a British big data firm, gained access to the personal information of 87 million Facebook users without the users’ consent. The misuse of data of 87 million users was negligent at best and exploitative at worst.

Earlier this year, the National Fair Housing Alliance filed a lawsuit alleging that “Facebook continues to enable landlords and real estate brokers to bar families with children, women, and others from receiving rental and sales ads for housing. Facebook has created a pre-populated list of demographics, behaviors, and interests that make it possible for housing advertisers to exclude certain home seekers from ever seeing their ads.”

Recent revelations that Facebook hired an opposition research and its work with other deeply partisan strategy firms call into question the notion that Facebook operates with a non-partisan view.

Cory Booker response to rumors about his sexuality: I’m heterosexual

It’s a question he has been asked since entering public life, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker sought to put the rumors to rest as he considers whether to run for president in 2020.

“I’m heterosexual,” Booker told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The interview took place as Booker decides whether to jump into the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. He told NJ Advance Media last month that he would “consider running for president" in 2020 and would "take some time during this holiday season to sit with family and close friends and advisers to give it a really good consideration.”

Despite his best efforts to talk about policies and issues in his campaigns for Newark mayor and U.S. Senate, the unmarried Booker’s sexuality has been a topic of interest. U.S. Sen.. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., faced similar scrutiny when he sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

When Booker first ran for the Senate and was asked about his sexual orientation, Booker answered, “What does it matter?”

Should he win the White House, Booker would be the first unmarried president since Grover Cleveland in 1884. He said it wasn’t necessarily by choice.

“It’s tough to date as a senator,” Booker, D-N.J., told New York magazine in September. “The title I seek the most is probably husband and father."

Booker told the Inquirer that there were more important things to talk about on the campaign trail.

”Every candidate should run on their authentic self, tell their truth, and more importantly, or mostly importantly, talk about their vision for the country," he said.

[SOURCE: NJ.COM]

National Park Foundation Statement on the purchase Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Home

Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation (NPF) issued the following statement regarding the recent transfer of the Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Home to the National Park Service:

As the official philanthropic partner of the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation works with individuals, non-profit partners and companies to benefit our nation’s national parks.

Thanks to private philanthropy, the National Park Foundation facilitated the purchase of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth home from the King Center, the owner of the home since 1973, and its immediate transfer to the National Park Service. The transaction closed on November 27, 2018. As part of Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, the home has been and will continue to be open to the public.

The National Park Foundation is honored to partner with the King Center and the National Park Service to help protect the home in which Dr. King was born and grew up. As a part of the National Park System, this national treasure of such historic significance and meaning will have the ongoing support needed to preserve it for future generations and to ensure that all people are able to access and share the stories and lessons it holds.

The National Park Foundation plays a critical role in helping the National Park Service expand people’s understanding of and direct access to American history. As a part of this tradition, the National Park Foundation is committed to increasing public understanding of and access to African American history and the legacy of the civil rights movement through national parks. As such, the National Park Foundation has helped preserve places like Camp Nelson National Monument, Freedom Riders National Monument, Pullman National Monument, and Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. We are delighted to be able to add Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth home to this legacy.

Further details will be shared at a press event to take place after the King holiday.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren seeks to solidify backing of African Americans

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is seeking to solidify her connection with African-American voters as she prepares to launch a potential presidential campaign amid criticism of her approach to race and identity.

The Massachusetts Democrat visited Morgan State University in Baltimore Friday, marking her third trip this year to a historically black college or university. It follows her widely panned October release of a DNA test meant to bolster her claim to Native American heritage. Her speech Friday offered an opportunity to regain her footing.

``I'm not a person of color,'' Warren said. ``And I haven't lived your life or experienced anything like the subtle prejudice, or more overt harm, that you may have experienced just because of the color of your skin. Rules matter, and our government _ not just individuals within the government, but the government itself _ has systematically discriminated against black people in this country.''

Warren could face additional pressure from Democrats to address race. Bakari Sellers, an attorney, Democratic political analyst and former South Carolina Democratic state representative, urged Warren to more publicly say that ``you were wrong in the way that you interpret and address race.''

``Having that moment of ignorance _ we all do, but we need to address the fact that we were wrong,'' he said. ``I love the fact that she's making attempts to make inroads with the African-American community, but her path is very narrow.''

Mo Elleithee, a veteran Democratic strategist and founding executive director of Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service, described Warren's outreach to African-American and other minority groups as even more vital to her potential campaign in light of the DNA test's poor reception.

``I think it has sort of knocked her off balance a little bit when it comes to issues of identity and minority outreach, broadly,'' Elleithee said, adding that ``the stakes are a little bit higher when you are one of the more recognized candidates at this early part of the process.''

Warren's work to spotlight racial as well as economic inequities is significantly more advanced than her fellow New England liberal icon, Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Vermont Independent is weighing his own 2020 Democratic campaign after struggling to break through with minority voters during his 2016 run.

The theme that Warren struck Friday _ that minorities don't get a level playing field in America _ is one she's long tackled. She drew acclaim from Black Lives Matter activists for a 2015 speech that acknowledged ``we have not made enough progress'' toward creating fairness and opportunity for African-Americans. She slammed the nation's criminal justice system as ``racist'' in August during a Q&A with Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond, with whom she partnered again this week on affordable housing legislation backed by civil rights groups.

Democratic strategist Symone Sanders said Warren ``does a good job of authentically and honestly speaking not just to communities of color'' but also ``incorporating race into policy prescriptions.''

Sanders, a former campaign aide to the Vermont senator who is not currently working with any 2020 hopeful, said Warren's ``trip at the finish line'' on her DNA analysis isn't ``indicative of Elizabeth's Warren's understanding of communities of color, or of the type of presidential campaign she would run.''

In remarks last month to the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, Warren reiterated her critique of a justice system that research has shown gives black offenders stiffer punishment.

Warren has ``proven that she has the skills to relate to an audience that is of color,'' Sharpton told The Associated Press. ``Her image before was a New Englander, academia-type policy wonk. And she's been able to, in her delivery, show some real passion toward things of concern like health care, criminal justice and the kinds of things that you don't expect a New England professorial type to show passion and connection.''

Asked if Warren's ancestry was a fight that he would have advised her to pursue, Sharpton said: ``I might have fought it differently, but I would have fought it.''

Richmond described ``the passion and the commitment'' that Warren displayed in remarks to their members that led to ``a natural relationship'' working on issues. Four CBC members introduced the House counterpart to Warren's housing legislation on Tuesday.

Richmond also took no issue with Warren's presentation of the story of her past: ``People are always going to look for the negative in no matter what you do. And I just think that she's very authentic, very open, and sometimes that's going to open you up for some criticism on how you did it, why you did it.''

DeJuana Thompson, a former DNC and Obama administration staffer and the founder of WokeVote, recalled that Warren was among the first people that she heard from following the work that her group did in Alabama to help turn out black voters in support of Democratic Sen. Doug Jones.

``She contacted us literally the day after we won and said, `I'm so proud, this is the kind of work that we need to be doing across the country,'' said Thompson, who is not currently supporting any of the prospective candidates. ``It felt genuine, it felt authentic, and it felt like she had been following and watching our work, and I had no idea.''

Aimee Allison, the founder of She The People, an advocacy group focused on political leadership for women of color, called Warren's efforts on race ``authentic'' but candidly described the DNA test release as ``a big stumble,'' adding that the senator's challenge going forward is similar to the one facing other white presidential hopefuls.

``As a white candidate for president, the demographics and the politics and I think zeitgeist really calls for a difference kind of leader than before,'' Allison said, adding that candidates who can't deftly address race ``I don't believe will make it through at all.''

[SOURCE: NAVAJO TIMES]