Kai Greene wins 2016 Arnold Classic

After a drama filled 2015 Kai Greene came out on top at the 2016 Arnold Classic. Congrats to the champ!

Kai Greene of Brooklyn, New York edged Cedric McMillan of Heath Springs, S.C., to win his third Arnold Classic, the marquee event of the 2016 Arnold Sports Festival.

Greene, who also won the Arnold Classic in 2009 and 2010, joins five-time winner Dexter Jackson, four-time champ Flex Wheeler and three-time winner Jay Cutler as the only men with more than two Arnold Classic trophies.

Greene received congratulations from Arnold Schwarzenegger, a check for $130,000, a Tony Nowak Official Champions Jacket and the champion’s trophy from Eric Hillman of Europa Sports Products and Eric Torgeson of EAS.

The top six were:

1st Kai Greene - 2016 Arnold Classic Champion

2nd Cedric McMillan

3rd Josh Lenartowicz

4th Justin Compton

5th Branch Warren

6th Juan Morel

Before we criticize Leslie Jones character in Ghostbusters...

Leslie Jones is a very talented, intelligent, and gifted comedian which is why Chris Rock pushed for her to be a writer/actor on Saturday Night Live. This weekend with the release of the first Ghostbusters trailer, she felt the need to take to social media to defend her role in the remake of Ghostbusters.

Regular People save the world everyday so if I'm the sterotype!! Then so be it!! We walk among Heroes and take them for granted.

— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) March 4, 2016

Most of the criticism focuses on her portraying a character that fits the stereotype of the loud black woman. There is also some question as to why she couldn't be one of the scientists and is just an MTA worker?

Both may be valid criticisms, but they are criticisms being made without people having seen the movie. At this point we have no idea what Jones' character arch is, we have no idea how the story unfolds or ends. Granted, what is in the trailer does appear to be the loud black woman stereotype but we don't even know if those scenes made the movie or if the movie explains her behavior.

I'm not saying that criticism isn't warranted, but I am stating that fairness is. At least wait until the movie is released before criticizing Jones and her character.

Until then watch the original Ghostbusters and see how Ernie Hudson's character became part of the team.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com

GOP senator: Federal aid not needed in Flint water crisis

Federal aid is not needed in Flint, Michigan, where lead-contaminated pipes have resulted in an ongoing public health emergency, a Republican senator said Friday.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said he is holding up bipartisan legislation to address the water crisis in Flint because Michigan's Republican governor, Rick Snyder, has not asked for federal help and the state does not need it.

"Michigan has an enormous budget surplus this year" and a rainy-day fund totaling several hundred million dollars, Lee said. The state has approved $70 million in emergency funding for Flint, and Snyder has requested at least $165 million more toward the Flint emergency.

"The people and policymakers of Michigan right now have all the government resources they need to fix the problem," Lee said. "The only thing Congress is contributing to the Flint recovery is political grandstanding."

Read more: GOP senator: Federal aid not needed in Flint water crisis

The casting of Nina Simone and why skin color matters

The casting of Zoe Saldana to play civil rights icon and singer Nina Simone in an upcoming biopic has reignited a debate about race and skin tone in Hollywood that goes beyond just black and white.

Criticism about the choice to cast the lighter skinned Afro-Latina actress to play Simone has raged since it was first announced four years ago. In a trailer released this week, Saldana is shown wearing makeup to darken her skin and a prosthetic nose that broadens her nose to make her look like Simone.

"She looks grotesque to me," said Yaba Blay, a political science professor at North Carolina Central University and the author of the book (1)ne Drop: Conversations on Skin Color, Race, and Identity. "This flies in the face of who Nina Simone was. She was very black and she saw color."

Read more: The casting of Nina Simone and why skin color matters

Homeschooling Becoming More Popular with African-American Families

As homeschooling becomes increasingly popular among families across the nation, research shows African-American parents are becoming more interested in homeschooling as an alternative to local government schools.

Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to conducting and collecting research about home-based education, says homeschooling is growing quickly in popularity in the United States, especially among minorities.

“Based on research, we do know that homeschooling has been growing at a fast rate for the last 30 years,” Ray said. “We do know from empirical evidence—not a lot, but some empirical evidence—that over the last 10 to 12 years, it has grown disproportionately faster among minorities, including blacks, than the general rate of growth. My experience confirms that.”

Ray says minority homeschooling families largely have the same concerns as others who have left the government education system.

Read more: Homeschooling Becoming More Popular with African-American Families