22-year-old, Simone Biles became the first gymnast to ever attempt and land a double-twisting, double somersault dismount off the balance beam, according to Team USA.
The five-time Olympic medalist and 14-time world champion completed the move on Friday at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, Missouri. Watch her spectacular moment below.
Washington University Arts & Sciences alumnus Joe Madison is a groundbreaking radio personality and human and civil rights activist. He has built a legacy of using his voice for those without one.
His radio program, “The Joe Madison Show,” airs nationally weekday mornings on SiriusXM’s Urban View channel 126. During his four-hour program, Mr. Madison, also known as “The Black Eagle,” talks about political and social issues, brings attention to social injustices around the world, and challenges himself and his listeners daily to “do something about it.”
Named one of Talkers magazine’s 100 Most Important Talk Radio Hosts nine times, often in the top 10, Mr. Madison has interviewed world leaders, including President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, among other notable guests.
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Mr. Madison was raised by his grandparents. In the mid-1960s, he attended Wisconsin State, where he was captain of his undefeated freshman football team. As a student leader, he became involved in the civil rights movement. His coach, resenting Mr. Madison’s campus activism, removed him from the team.
Eventually, Mr. Madison received a welcoming call from the athletic director at Washington University, who offered him a spot on the Bears football team. A sociology major, he was an all-conference running back on the football team, a baritone soloist in the university choir and a disc jockey at the campus radio station. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1971, the first in his family to do so.
After becoming active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Mr. Madison, at age 24, was named executive director — the youngest — of the NAACP’s 10,000-member Detroit chapter in 1974.
He was promoted in 1986 by the NAACP’s president, Benjamin Hooks, to serve as the organization’s national political director. Among the highlights of his eight-year tenure, he organized a successful boycott of Dearborn, Michigan, businesses over a racist city law, and he led hundreds of volunteers on a series of successful voter registration marches, including a cross-country “march for dignity” from Los Angeles to Baltimore that also garnered thousands of signatures for an anti-apartheid bill in Congress.
In 1986, he was elected to the NAACP s Board of Directors, a position he held for 14 years. In the midst of his civil rights work, he started another career in 1980 as a socially conscious radio talk show personality on Detroit’s WXYZ-AM. He went on to host talk shows in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The popularity of his WOL-AM show led to syndication on the Radio One Talk Network and eventually to SiriusXM.
A tenacious leader in the cause for social justice, he uses his show as a platform for inspiring action on critical issues. He brought international attention to human rights abuses in southern Sudan from his three trips to the country in the middle of its second civil war. Working with the Swiss-based Christian Solidarity International, he helped free 7,000 Sudanese being held as slaves.
In February 2015, he set a Guinness World Record at 52 hours for the longest on-air broadcast. During the record-breaking show, he raised more than $250,000 for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
In June 2015, Mr. Madison made history again by broadcasting live from Cuba, becoming the first American radio host to do so in more than 50 years.
He has not forgotten the opportunities he received as a Washington University student and continues to give back to his alma mater. A member of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, he has generously supported scholarships, athletics and the university’s Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement. For the past two decades, he has interviewed potential students for the admissions office. In 2017, he received Arts & Sciences’ Distinguished Alumni Award.
A board member of the American Red Cross, his other awards include the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Journalism Award in 2000, the Washington Association of Black Journalists Community Service Award in 1997 and the NAACP Image Award in 1996.
Mr. Madison and his wife of 42 years, Sharon, live in Washington, D.C. They have four children and five grandchildren
Watch Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX 18th Distric)t explain her bill #HR40-Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. The Congresswoman explains why she decided to introduce this very important bill and it's next steps.
WATCH Rep. @JacksonLeeTX18 explain her bill #HR40 - Commission to Study and Develop #Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. The Congresswoman explain why she decided to introduce this very important bill and it's next steps. #UnBoxingTheBill pic.twitter.com/9fU7jMi5q7
— The Black Caucus (@TheBlackCaucus) August 9, 2019
Brian Banks is being released in theaters today.
The movie is the inspirational true story of Brian Banks, an all-American high school football star who finds his life upended when he's wrongly convicted of a crime he didn't commit. Despite the lack of evidence, Banks gets railroaded through a broken justice system and sentenced to a decade of prison and probation. Years later, with the support of Justin Brooks and the California Innocence Project, Banks fights to reclaim his life and fulfill his dreams of playing in the NFL.
The movie is directed by Tom Shadyac and stars Aldis Hodge as Brian Banks, Greg Kinnear , Melanie Liburd, Xosha Roquemore,Tiffany Dupont, Sherri Shepherd, Jose Miguel Vasquez, and Morgan Freeman.
Just days after a string of shootings throughout the U.S., Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Cory Booker spoke Wednesday at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where nine people were killed in a racially motivated shooting in June 2015.
Booker's speech focused in part on the rise of hatred and white supremacy, which he feels are driving recent violent attacks, like the ones in Dayton and El Paso. Watch his speech below.
Toni Morrison, the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, is gone. But her unique voice – earthy, poetic, powerful, elliptical – endures in novels like "Beloved, "Song of Solomon," "Sula" and "The Bluest Eye."
She died Monday at age 88 in New York following a short illness, according to her family and publisher.
The Morrison family issued this statement via Morrison's publisher: “It is with profound sadness we share that, following a short illness, our adored mother and grandmother, Toni Morrison, passed away peacefully last night surrounded by family and friends. She was an extremely devoted mother, grandmother and aunt who reveled in being with her family and friends. The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing. Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life."
The family continued: "While we would like to thank everyone who knew and loved her, personally or through her work, for their support at this difficult time, we ask for privacy as we mourn this loss to our family. We will share information in the near future about how we will celebrate Toni’s incredible life.”
Morrison won a Pulitzer, the Nobel Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Read more: Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize winner, author of 'Beloved,' dies at 88
Unlike our current president, former Former President Barack Obama issued a statement that in no uncertain terms rejected hate and those that both spread and feed off it in the aftermath of the El Paso and Dayton shootings. He also calls for doing something about our gun laws. Read Obama's statement below.
An off-duty Army serviceman is being celebrated as a hero after he saved the lives of several children during Saturday’s deadly mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, but the soldier says he doesn't want the world to focus on him.
"What I did was exactly what I was supposed to do. I understand it was heroic and I'm looked at as a hero for it, but that wasn't the reason for me," U.S. Army soldier Glendon Oakley said Sunday, before breaking down in tears. "I'm just focused on the kids that I could not [save] and the families. It hurts me. I feel like they were a part of me. I don't even know the people that died or the kids that I took with me."
Hear more from this American hero below.
Last July, the Trump administration announced a major new subsidy program designed to help farmers weather America’s ongoing trade war with China. That initiative—dubbed the Market Facilitation Program (MFP)—has become the single largest source of subsidies for farmers.
While many writers have documented the struggles of farmers affected by the trade war, few have scrutinized the distributional effects of the MFP. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has documented that the program has disproportionately helped wealthy landowners and a recent analysis by Donald Carr, a senior advisor for EWG, argues that the MFP has deepened the disadvantages of black and minority farmers.
Data obtained from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showed that the MFP has almost exclusively benefitted white men and their families, who appear to be disproportionately upper middle-class or wealthy. These payments further entrench already drastic inequalities in agriculture, along racial, ethnic, gender, and class lines.
Similar to other USDA subsidies, the MFP has overwhelmingly favored white and male producers. We recently received data from a FOIA request that show the department has funneled more than 99 percent of bailout funds to white operators.
As of today, USDA has distributed more than $8.5 billion to farm operations through the MFP. Of the approximately $8 billion distributed to operations whose owners’ race could be identified, 99.5 percent went to white business owners. Of the more than $6.8 billion distributed to operations in which the owners’ gender could be identified, more than 91 percent went to male business owners. “White farm operators” here includes white Hispanics, but they only account for about 0.1 percent of the total. In other words, non-Hispanic white operators received 99.4 percent of all MFP payments.
The racial disparities are just as stark in states with sizable non-white farmer populations. In Mississippi, for example, where 38 percent of the population is black and 14 percent of farms have a black principal operator, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, only 1.4 percent of the $200 million distributed to farmers through the MFP went to black operators.
Not only did almost all of the funds go to white operators, but an overwhelming share of the funds appear to have gone to upper-middle class and wealthy families. The average family that produces soybeans has a much higher income—and a lot more wealth—than the average family in the U.S. But a disproportionate share of MFP money has been paid out to families operating large-scale farms, who have even more wealth.
These disparities are the result of historical and recent discrimination. The federal government played a role in withholding farmland from, and dispossessing, farmers of color, especially black and Native American ones. And as we documented in a recent article, USDA has done little to address its atrocious civil rights record. The MFP continues to exacerbate these racial inequalities today.
Former first lady Michelle Obama is pouring cold water on calls for her to run for president, saying she believes there are other ways for her to help the country.
She has repeatedly made it clear she has no interest in running for the White House, however, despite repeated calls or suggestions for her to do so.
“Just between us, and the readers of this magazine — there’s zero chance,” Obama said in an interview with The National, Amtrak’s travel and culture magazine, that was published Friday.
“There are so many ways to improve this country and build a better world, and I keep doing plenty of them, from working with young people to helping families lead healthier lives. But sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office will never be one of them. It’s just not for me.”
A New York Police Department judge has recommended the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who faced disciplinary charges over the 2014 death of Eric Garner, according to officials with direct knowledge of the decision.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado handed over her decision on Friday to Officer Pantaleo’s lawyers and to New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, whose attorneys prosecuted the disciplinary case against the officer. Officials from the Civilian Complaint Review Board and Mr. Pantaleo’s lawyers will have up to two weeks to provide comments on the judge’s recommendation to fire Mr. Pantaleo.
The recommendation and comments will then be taken up by NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill, who is expected to terminate Mr. Pantaleo, according to the officials with direct knowledge of the matter. Commissioner O’Neill’s decision is expected later this month.
Gwen Carr, Mr. Garner’s mother, said she had been fighting for justice for her son for five years and the decision was “long overdue.”
“Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD have put up roadblocks and delays every step of the way,” she said. “It brings me some relief to learn that Judge Maldonado has recommended that Pantaleo be fired.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, praised the NYPD for completing the hearing, although he didn’t directly address the contents of Ms. Maldonado’s recommendation, which is being withheld from public disclosure.
“Today, we finally saw a step towards justice and accountability. We saw a process that was actually fair and impartial,” Mr. de Blasio said in a news conference at City Hall. “If you believe there is a fair and impartial process—and I do—letting it reach its conclusion beyond reproach is necessary,” he added.
[SOURCE: WALL STREET JOURNAL]
In an attempt to get someone black to defend Trump's racist comments about Baltimore the Trump administration woke up HUD Secretary Ben Carson and sent to Charm City to tell everyone how great his boss is. Of course, this being Ben Carson things did not go as planned when a local church kicked him and his entourage of their property where Carson had tried to set up a press conference because he had not asked permission to use the property.
Mr Trump flew to Jamestown, Virginia to mark the anniversary – one of a series of events planned this year to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of the colony by British settlers in 1619. Virginia will mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slaves to the state next month.
But the event was overshadowed by Mr Trump’s controversial comments on race in recent days, with several members of the state assembly in Virginia skipping the event. In a statement, members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus (VLBC) said it was boycotting the event because of Mr Trump’s “repeated attacks on black legislators and comments about black communities”.
“The absence of the VLBC will send the message that the members do not condone the president’s participation . . . those who have chosen to attend and remain silent are complicit in the atrocities that he incites,” the statement said.
Read the VLBC's full statement below:
VLBC Press Release On Boyco... by Councilman George L. Cook III on Scribd
President Donald Trump, after a weekend of attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and his Baltimore-area district, began Monday by blasting the Rev. Al Sharpton as someone who "hates whites and cops." and calling him a con man.
Sharpton came back with a witty and biting response:
NEW: Rev. Al Sharpton responds to Pres. Trump's attack this morning: "If he really thought I was a con man, he'd be nominating me for his Cabinet." https://t.co/07y027HWeS pic.twitter.com/014y5jCELb
— ABC News (@ABC) July 29, 2019
After becoming the first American woman in history to sweep the 50 and 100 free at the FINA World Aquatics Championships Sunday, and then anchoring world record on the women’s 4×100 medley relay, Simone Manuel completed the most decorated performance by a woman in Worlds history by winning seven total medals.
Manuel won four golds and three silvers throughout the week. In addition to the free sprint wins and women’s medley relay, she was on the winning mixed 4×100 medley relay, then took silver on the women’s 4×200 free relay and 4×100 free relay, and mixed 4×100 free relay.
Manuel shared the previous record of six medals (she did it in 2017) with seven other women: Shirley Babashoff (1975), Tracy Caulkins (1978), Mary T. Meagher (1986), Kristin Otto (1986), Missy Franklin (2013), Katie Ledecky (2017), and Emma McKeon (2017).
With Sunday’s relay finish, Manuel ties Missy Franklin in medal count (16) and now trails only Katie Ledecky in medal caliber, but American Natalie Coughlin and Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom are also ahead of her in overall count with 20 and 17, respectively.
Rep. Elijah Cummings response to Trump calling his district a rat and rodent infested mess:
Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors.
It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.
- Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) July 27, 2019
HARRIET is set to be released November 1, 2019 and was directed by Kasi Lemons.
The Focus Features film stars Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Jennifer Nettles, and Clarke Peters.
During the 2019 NAACP convention which took place on July 24, 2019, in Detroit, Sen. Elizabeth Warren took part in a forum that was moderated by April Ryan. Warren and Ryan discussed many issues on interest to African American voters. Watch their conversation.
