Michelle Obama's surprises Detroit students at Motown Museum

Michelle Obama surprised a group of Detroit college students on Tuesday afternoon, walking into the Motown Museum as the young men of color took part in a roundtable discussion on education.

The former first lady was greeted with smiles, looks of astonishment and applause after entering the second floor of the building where Berry Gordy created sonic history more than a half-century ago. She hugged her brother Craig Robinson and Keegan-Michael Key, an actor and native Detroiter who moderated the discussion that was organized by Obama’s Reach Higher initiative.

“This was supposed to be for boys only,” Robinson said after they sat down, eliciting laughter from his sister and the more than a dozen students from nearby Wayne State University.

“What’s going on,” Obama then asked, echoing the title of Marvin Gaye’s classic Motown tune.

“We’re just talking about education,” Key answered, before mock-asking if it would be OK with them if Obama sat in on their chat.

Obama listened as the students spoke about their experiences in life and school and encouraged them to practice “discomfort” and not be afraid to try new things.

Read more: Michelle Obama's surprises Detroit students at t Motown Museum

Senator Tim Scott wants his party to get smarter on race.

Sen. Tim Scott wants fellow Republicans to get smarter about judicial nominees — specifically, to stop nominating judges with questionable records on race.

The South Carolina Republican earlier this month was instrumental in blocking confirmation of a second judge in four months over concerns about how they’ve dealt with race issues in the past.

But fellow Republicans showed no immediate signs they would do anything, anytime soon, to take some of the pressure off Scott, the Senate’s only black Republican.

He is up against members of his party who don’t think any of their nominees are problematic. That includes fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is poised next month to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which evaluates judges and recommends them for or against confirmation.

“I respect (Scott) very much. There’s nobody I respect more than Tim,” said Graham, before dismissing Scott’s concerns that Thomas Farr, a nominee for a judgeship in the Eastern District of North Carolina, might have been behind a voter suppression strategy in 1990 that involved sending purposefully misleading information to African-Americans.

“I don’t think he had a fraught record on race. I think the mail-out was disgusting in 1990, and (Farr) had nothing to do with it,” Graham insisted.

The conservative base that fuels much of the GOP’s political energy is equally dismissive. The day after Scott announced he would provide the decisive vote to kill the Farr nomination, the grassroots advocacy group FreedomWorks blasted out an email with the phone number for Scott’s office.

“Don’t let this strong conservative nominee crash and burn!” read the call to action from FreedomWorks president Adam Brandon. “Urge (Scott) to stand with President Trump and CONFIRM Thomas Farr.”

Meanwhile, Republican leaders have opted to pretend the debate never occurred, keeping Farr’s candidacy in limbo rather than formally withdrawing his nomination.

Fellow black Republicans, though, are concerned.

Read more: Tim Scott wants his party to get smarter on race. His colleagues are making it tough.

Yolanda Ford elected first African American mayor of Missouri City

Missouri City (Texas) voters Saturday elected Yolanda Ford as their next mayor, the first woman and African American ever selected for the city's highest office.

Ford narrowly defeated incumbent Allen Owen, who has been Missouri City's mayor for nearly a quarter of a century. Ford captured about 52 percent of the vote to Owen's 48 percent in Saturday's run-off election.

"I am so proud that the residents of Missouri City have elected me as their mayor," Ford said in a statement. "After having served on the city council for the past five years, and as a lifelong resident, I am deeply invested in the well-being and growth of Missouri City, and I look forward to working with citizens, the city council and others toward its betterment."

Ford, an urban planning manager, will take the oath of office Dec. 17.

[SOURCE: Chron.Com]

Cast of 'Black Panther' announces $250,000 college scholarship

Who wouldn't want to get a college scholarship from Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira?

During the Hollywood Reporter's 2018 Women in Entertainment gala on Wednesday, the three stars of the blockbuster — and now Golden Globe-nominated — film "Black Panther" took the stage to make an announcement sure to excite young fans across the country.

"In support of fostering young diverse voices in entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios is delighted to announce its own 'Black Panther Scholarship,'" said Gurira to a round of applause. "Because we all know, if we want to live in a world that looks more like Wakanda, the first step is invest in some girls and women."

The scholarship will provide a full ride, worth $250,000, for a lucky student to attend Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. Boseman thanked Disney and Marvel executives as well as "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler before opening a white envelope announcing this year's winner — Kalis Coleman.

Coleman, a 17-year-old student from Inglewood, California, was in attendance to receive the award.

When Coleman crossed the stage, Nyong'o crossed her arms over her chest, flashing the quintessential "Wakanda Forever" signal, before giving Coleman a congratulatory hug.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Coleman plans to become a pediatric dermatologist.

[SOURCE: CNBC]

Olivia Hooker first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard laid to rest

The first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard and one of the last survivors of a race riot in Oklahoma has been laid to rest with military honors.

A funeral was held Wednesday in White Plains, New York, for Olivia Hooker. She was 103 years old when she died on Nov. 21.

The Coast Guard says Hooker enlisted in the Coast Guard Women's Reserve in 1945 and rose to the rank of yeoman second class before her discharge in 1946.

Hooker also survived one of the worst race riots in U.S. history. She was 6 years old in 1921 when the late-spring riot destroyed much of a Tulsa neighborhood that had been known as "Black Wall Street."

Hooker was a psychologist and a professor of psychology at Fordham University, where she retired at age 87 in 2002.

[SOURCE: NEWS ADVANCE]