The Black Doll Affair self-esteem movement

Aiming to change the way black girls are perceived and perceive themselves, with support from a few big names when it launches in 24 states across America and delivers thousands of free Barbie dolls in various cities, The Black Doll Affair’s message will go into overdrive on December 5th.

Lead by Taye Diggs’ kid sister, ShalomIsrael Diggs, on Saturday, December 5th, 2015 at 1:00 pm in 24 states across America, 36 Black Doll Affair Ambassadolls (city and state representatives for The Black Doll Affair) and hundreds of living Dolls (women of all nationalities, primarily black) will deliver a message of self-esteem! That moment in time will mark The Black Doll Affair’s largest black doll delivery ever! Since 2007, supported by their members, fans and corporate sponsors like Macy’s and Mattel, The Black Doll Affair has donated thousands of toy black dolls to little girls across the country and, earlier this year, thirty new Ambassadolls came on board to help this Christmas.

The Black Doll Affair (BDA) announced that it recently named ShalomIsrael as an Honorary Black Doll, appointed her as their Ambassadoll for Harlem, NY and placed her at the helm of its annual national Black Doll Affair Christmas Doll Deliveries in Atlanta - a unique event where living Dolls come to life to deliver donated dolls and a message rooted in self-esteem and love for the doll in the mirror. This year’s Black Doll Affair Christmas Deliveries will occur December 5th at 1:00PM in all time zones. The benefactors of The Black Doll Affair’s gifts have already been chosen by the Ambassadolls. However, in Atlanta at Macy's Greenbriar Mall, beginning at 3:00 PM, on a first come basis, ShalomIsrael and The Black Doll Affair will host a public self-esteem Christmas party and doll giveaway.

"Becoming an Honorary Black Doll has been such a wonderful opportunity. I've had the privilege of meeting amazing women, collaborating with local organizations in Harlem and bringing about self-awareness to myself and others. December 5th marks a very special day. So that I can learn from the Doll that started it all (Dana Hill, BDA Founder) as a new Ambassadoll and take what I learn into Harlem, I am being flown to The Black Doll Affair’s headquarters for its Christmas deliveries at Macy’s Greenbriar Mall. I’m excited to help continue to spread a message of hope, beauty and high self-esteem for black girls,” said ShalomIsrael.

With his book "Chocolate Me" (co-collaborated with his childhood friend Shane Evans) as the official children's book of the BDA and as an Honorary Black Doll Brotha (literally and figuratively speaking, Brothas are what men are called in the BDA), Taye had this to say about his sister joining him in the movement: "I'm proud to know that my sister is aligning herself with the highly esteemed and relevant Black Dolls. The service this organization provides in today's current racial climate is both necessary and appreciated. Knowing ShalomIsrael's enthusiasm and commitment in matters such as these, the possibilities are very exciting! I’m wishing this collaboration good luck, onward and upwards!"

For more information, to get the latest news on Atlanta’s Doll Deliveries and a complete list of doll deliveries around the country, visit blackdollaffair.com. Follow The Black Doll Affair Christmas doll deliveries via our Facebook page at: Facebook.com/theblackdollaffair

About The Black Doll Affair

Founded in 2007, The Black Doll Affair was created as a solution to doll tests that revealed that black children prefer white dolls and view black dolls asugly and bad. Diversity partners with Macy’s, Inc., and Mattel, Inc., The Black Doll Affair [BDA] is a social organization and self-esteem movement driven by its primary members, The Black Dolls. Secondary members are the Black Doll’s Porcelain Pals (non-black members) and Brothas (male supporters). The Black Doll Affair has grown into 24 states across America and Washington, DC. The Black Dolls range in shade and shape. Eighteen years and older, from college students to grandmothers, career women to ladies of leisure, they are women that band together to tackle the black girls issues with shadeism, self hatred and low self-esteem. To deliver their message of internal and external beauty, they donate toy black dolls to toddlers, host self-esteem summitsfor teens and produce special events that promote and uplift black women. For fun, the Dolls, their Porcelain Pals and Brothas, enjoy each other at social play dates. To express the importance of community service, annually they donate hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to philanthropic causes that affect all races. These are the Affairs of The Black Dolls. For more information log onto blackdollaffair.com

Media Contact

Black Doll Affair Publicity

404-590-3655

***@blackdollaffair.com

Milton Crenchaw, a Tuskegee airman, dies at 96

Milton Pitts Crenchaw, of the original Tuskegee Airmen, was one of the first African Americans in the country and the first from Arkansas to be trained by the federal government as a civilian licensed pilot. He trained hundreds of cadet pilots while at Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute in the 1940s and was the catalyst in starting the first successful flight program at Philander Smith College in Little Rock (Pulaski County) from 1947 to 1953. His combined service record extends for over forty years of federal service from 1941 to 1983 with the U.S. Army (in the Army Air Corps) and eventually the U.S. Air Force.

Crenchaw received partial training and physical examinations at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, before returning to Tuskegee for another phase of primary instruction and advance courses in aviation piloting. He graduated with his civilian pilot license and then commercial pilot certificate on August 11, 1941. Crenchaw became a primary civilian flight instructor and eventually one of the two original supervising squadron commanders under Chief Pilot Charles A. Anderson. He and Charles Foxx were the first instructors for the first group of student pilot trainees between 1941 and 1946.

[SOURCE]

NJ legislators speak at #BlackLivesMatter inspired rally.

NJ legislators speak at #BlackLivesMatter inspired rally. By george L. Cook III

On 11/16/2015 a "State House Rally for Justice" was held outside the NJ Capitol building by the NJ Clergy Coalition for Justice. Inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter movement the rally was just not a protest but presented state legislators with three items for legislation to aid in police reform.

1.Legislation that mandates body cameras for all officers in New Jersey.

2. Legislation that calls for an independent prosecutor when an officer is charged with shooting and killing someone.

3. Proper education and training for law enforcement to manage implicit biases.

Watch NJ State Legislators such as Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker and NJ State Senators Nia Gill, Ron Rice, and Ray Lesniak address these issues at the rally below. *Former Speaker of the House and Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver and NJ Senator Peter Barnes were also present but a certain person's iPhone ran out of storage, sorry.

NJ Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker.

NJ State Senator Ray Lesniak.

NJ State Senator Nia Gill

NJ State Senator Ron Rice

DeMarcus Cousins to pay for funeral of slain high school football player

Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins is trying to help the family of a slain high school football player by paying for the funeral, according to a Sacramento city official.

City council member Rick Jennings on Saturday confirmed to multiple media outlets that Cousins, who wanted his gesture to remain anonymous, wanted to take care of the funeral expenses for Jaulon Clavo, a Grant Union High School senior who was reportedly shot in the neck while driving with four other players.

Cousins reportedly has attended Grant Union football games, watching from the sideline, and has made donations to inner-city high school in the past.

The gesture shows another side to Cousins, who made headlines last week after reportedly confronting Kings coach George Karl with a profanity-laced outburst. Cousins, who returned Monday after a four-game injury absence, apologized Wednesday for his actions.

"State House Rally for Justice" New Jersey (#BlackLivesMatter)

NJ CLERGY COALITION FOR JUSTICE
Contact:
Pastor Pernini - 732-284-6054
njclergycoalitionforjustice@gmail.com

On Monday, November 16, 2015, from 11am to 1pm, the New Jersey Clergy Coalition for Justice (NJCCJ) will host a "State House Rally for Justice" at the New Jersey State House, 125 West State St., Trenton, NJ. The rally will focus on the following reforms: mandatory body cameras for ALL officers in New Jersey, an independent prosecutor when an officer is charged with shooting and killing someone, and proper education and training for law enforcement to manage implicit biases. The New Jersey State Legislators must protect citizens and pass reasonable laws that ensure fairness and equality for Black constituents and all New Jersey residents because the public's trust in Police Officers has been broken.

We will gather together under the creed, "Black Lives Matter." Black Lives Matter is a creed because, from the perspective of the long history of racism in the United States (slavery, segregation, racial profiling, mass incarceration etc...), the statement Black Lives Matter is a thing of faith and not fact. We will gather at the State House not in response to a "Call to arms," but rather, to affirm a "Call to lay down arms" in the name of justice and in the name of those who, if given the opportunity, would perhaps prefer to be behind bars instead of in a coffin.

We will gather in support of legislation that mandates body cameras for all officers in New Jersey. “'Knowledge that events are being recorded creates ‘self-awareness’ in all participants during police interactions,' said University of Cambridge officials in a statement on the study. 'This is the critical component that turns body-worn video into a ‘preventative treatment.'” Self-awareness leads to peace, not only internal peace, but external peace between officer and civilian which can result in more civil interactions between officer and civilian, less complaints against officers with a history of accusations of excessive force, and a decline of the use of lethal force by police officers.

We will gather in support of legislation that calls for an independent prosecutor when an officer is charged with shooting and killing someone. "'It’s very difficult to ask prosecutors who depend on police every day to be the ones to arrest and prosecute police,' says Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Irvine School of Law.'" According to President Obama's Task Forces on 21st Century Policing, "The task force encourages policies that mandate the use of external and independent prosecutors in cases of police use of force resulting in death, officer-involved shootings resulting in injury or death, or in-custody deaths."

We will gather in support of proper education and training for law enforcement to manage implicit biases. According to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a speech given at Georgetown University, James B. Comey, "Much research points to the widespread existence of unconscious bias. Many people in our white-majority culture have unconscious racial biases and react differently to a white face than a black face. In fact, we all, white and black, carry various biases around with us."

The purpose of these, and other legislative efforts that call for an increase in police accountability are to make a step towards saving lives and restoring public trust in an institution that is charged with protecting and serving the public. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Our garment of destiny has long since been ripped apart by injustice and broken trust. We have come a long way, but in light of all the police shootings and death, we are now arguing not for freedom from unjust prison sentences, but the ability to live long enough to stand before a judge to receive an unjust prison sentence.

It is the New Jersey Clergy Coalition for Justice's hope that at the State House Rally on Nov. 16, in attempt to mend the single garment of destiny by which we are all tied, that the threads of our repair are woven using as many colors, genders, ethnicities, political affiliations, and religions so as to resplendently represent the beautiful fabric of contemporary American society. When we gather on November 16 at the State House as a diverse body of people from a multiplicity of faith traditions, genders, ethnicities, and political persuasions, we will come together to affirm that black lives matter not only in words, but, with the above listed legislative actions, also in deeds.
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1 Barak Ariel, William A. Farrar, Alex Sutherland. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. September 2015, Volume 31, Issue 3, pp 509-535.

2 Gillian Mahney. "Body Cameras: Experts Weigh In On How They Affect Police Officers." Jul 20, 2015. Web. Oct. 19, 2015. .

3 "Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned." 2014. Web. Oct. 19, 2015. .

4 Ali Winston. "How Special Prosecutors Can Help Bring Police To Justice." Dec. 11, 2014. Web. Oct. 19, 2015. .

5 "The President's Task Force On 21st Century Policing." May 2015. Web. Oct. 19, 2015.

6 James B. Comey. Speeches. Feb. 12, 2015. Web. Oct. 19, 2015.
A Call for Action and Justice at the New Jersey State House
#BlackLivesMatter