Saturday, December 17, 2016

A Record Year for African American Rhodes Scholars




(L to R) Cameron D. Clarke, Aryn A. Frazier, Christian E. Nattiel, Olivia A. Klevorn, Aaron C. Robertson, Ahmed M. Ahmed, and Cailyn L. Moore
The Rhodes Trust does not publicize the race or ethnicity of scholarship winners. But according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education it appears that this year seven of the 32 Rhodes winners are African Americans. This is the most African American Rhodes Scholars in history.



Following are brief biographies of the African American winners.
Cameron D. Clarke is a senior at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He is the fourth Howard student to win a Rhodes Scholarship. Clarke is majoring in community health education and biology. He is the news editor of the student newspaper at Howard and serves as an intern for the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology at the U.S. House of Representatives. Clarke plans to study for a master’s degree in primary health care at Oxford.
Aryn A. Frazier is a senior at the University of Virginia, where she is double majoring in politics and African American and African studies. Frazier is president of the Black Student Alliance at the university. Frazier, a resident of Laurel, Maryland, plans to study for a master’s degree in comparative politics at Oxford.
Christian E. Nattiel from Madeira Beach, Florida, is a senior at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. At West Point, Nattiel is double-majoring in mathematical sciences and philosophy and is a member of the academy’s handball team. At Oxford, Nattiel will study for master’s degrees in comparative social policy and public policy.
Olivia A. Klevorn is a senior at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. A native of Chicago, Klevorn is majoring in anthropology. At Yale, Klevorn is the director of the Heritage Theatre Ensemble and president of a student-run poetry association. She will study for a Ph.D. in socio-legal studies at Oxford.
Aaron C. Robertson of Redford, Michigan, is a senior at Princeton University in New Jersey. He is majoring in Italian and focuses his research on Afro-Italian literature. At Princeton, he is the co-editor-in-chief of the Nassau Literary Review. Robertson plans to pursue a master’s degree in modern languages at Oxford.
Ahmed M. Ahmed is a biology major at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He is a resident of Rochester, Minnesota. His research is focused on the development of new synthetic strategies for producing polymers. He is the son of immigrants from Somalia. Ahmed will study for a master’s degree in organic and medical chemistry at Oxford.
Cailyn L. Moore is a member of the football team at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. A resident of Carson, California, Moore is majoring in economics at TCU. He was raised in poverty and was homeless. His father was convicted to a life sentence for murder. Moore is the founder of an organization of student athletes who encourage children from disadvantaged groups to attend college. He will study public policy as a Rhodes Scholar.

[SOURCE]



Friday, December 16, 2016

This New Fund Was Created To Help Black Entrepreneurs

A small business lending program has been launched to help African American and minority businesses create jobs and build community wealth. With a focus on bringing capital to underserved groups, the National Urban League’s Urban Empowerment Fund, Morgan Stanley, National Development Council, and Cuyahoga County have come together to offer the Capital Access Fund of Greater Cleveland (CAF).

CAF is a three-year program that provides minority business owners access to capital, offering 50 loans totaling $8 million, as well as pre- and post-loan counseling, to ensure the success of those small business borrowers. With a goal of creating or maintaining a minimum of 300 jobs within those three years, CAF already has completed eight loans, totaling $1.4 million and helping to create or maintain 70 local jobs.

“The level of interest we already have confirms what we already knew—there is a gap in the access to capital for minority businesses, and we should not gloss over that,” said Marc H. M.

Read more: This New Fund Was Created To Help Black Entrepreneurs

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Star Trek: Discovery casts Sonequa Martin-Green as lead

Sonequa Martin-Green, well known to genre fans for her role on AMC’s mega-hit The Walking Dead, has been cast as the lead of Star Trek: Discovery, sources tell EW.

The casting ends meticulous search to find the ideal actress to anchor the eagerly anticipated new CBS All Access drama. Martin-Green will play a lieutenant commander on the Discovery. (CBS Television Studios had no comment.)

Martin-Green is will continue to serve as a series regular on AMC’s zombie drama, where she has played the tough pragmatic survivor Sasha Williams since season 3.

[SOURCE]

Kevin Durant donates $57K to homeless kids in Oklahoma City

Kevin Durant apparently has no hard feelings toward Oklahoma City, despite the backlash he received after leaving the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA offseason.

Durant's foundation has donated $57,000 toward an effort to build a new school for the city's homeless children.

Positive Tomorrows president Susan Agel says in a statement that Durant "has been instrumental" in helping the school's growth.

Durant spent eight seasons in Oklahoma City before leaving has a free agent in June. The move sparked anger among some fans who showed their outrage by burning his Thunder jersey.

[SOURCE]

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

NFL legend Jim Brown meets with President-Elect Trump

Football legend Jim Brown met with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Tuesday to talk about ways to help minorities.

The hall-of-famer and actor told TMZ his goal was to talk to Trump about "helping people," but did not elaborate.

Rev. Darrell Scott, a Cleveland pastor who accompanied Brown, told reporters they were meeting with Trump to discuss Brown's Amer-I-Can program, founded in 1988.

"It's a great, great program. (It) deals with most of the issues that the black community has. It deals with empowerment, entrepreneurship, crime, gangs, drugs, education, prison reform, all of that is in this one program. I've been familiar with it. He's Cleveland. I'm Cleveland. And so we're bringing him here to discuss it with Mr. Trump. Hopefully the administration gets behind it. We can use this program to hit the ground running," Scott said.

Read more: Jim Brown meets with Donald Trump to discuss helping the African American community]