Delta Sigma Theta sorority donated 17,000 meals to Hurricane Barry victims

As Hurricane Barry approached Louisiana, Delta Sigma Theta sorority scrambled Friday to wrap up its national convention early to escape the storm's impacts in New Orleans.

But the service organization and its caterer, Centerplate, weren't about to let the meals that had been prepared for members go to waste. The group donated 17,000 meals to the Second Harvest Food Bank of South Louisiana, which will store them in a cooler through the storm, and then give them to residents who weather Barry, the food bank said Friday in a Facebook post.

"We are delighted that Centerplate donated the food we purchased making it available as a result of us terminating our convention early," the sorority's national president and CEO, Beverly Smith, said in a statement. "With 16,000 attendees and two food functions canceled -- our Sisterhood Luncheon and closing Soiree Celebration -- there was inordinate amounts of food that would have been wasted. Kudos to Centerplate."

Second Harvest Food Bank spokesman Jay Vise thanked the sorority for its donation.

"It's really heartwarming for these ladies ... when their major conference gets canceled, the first thing they thought of was to help other people," Vise said.

Founded in 1913, Delta Sigma Theta is a predominantly black sorority with more than 200,000 members nationwide.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Congressional Black Caucus member to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Primaries go both ways

Queens (NY) Democratic boss and 11-term congressman Greg Meeks took a thinly-veiled jab at fellow Big Apple Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday, urging her to back off her racially-tinged feud with party leaders or face a fight for her political life.

In an interview with the Daily News, Meeks fumed over Ocasio-Cortez’s recent racial beef with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and pushed back against her left-wing allies at Justice Democrats for openly backing insurgent candidates trying to unseat members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

He also said the CBC can play the same game.

In an interview with the Daily News, Meeks fumed over Ocasio-Cortez’s recent racial beef with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and pushed back against her left-wing allies at Justice Democrats for openly backing insurgent candidates trying to unseat members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

He also said the CBC can play the same game.

“Primaries go two ways," Meeks said when asked whether his wing of the party would consider challenging progressive members next year, including Ocasio-Cortez. “If someone picks a fight with somebody else, you fight back. That’s what my parents told me.”

Meeks stressed there weren’t any current plans to challenge Ocasio-Cortez, but left the door open: "If you get in the ring, expect that people are going to start throwing punches.”

The Justice Democrats, a progressive political action committee that is closely aligned with Ocasio-Cortez and propelled her to victory in 2018, has already backed primary challenges against CBC members, including 10-term Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.).

Meeks said the Justice Democrats and left-leaning lawmakers may be shooting the party in the foot.

“I would hope that these individuals would realize who the opposition is here,” Meeks said, referring to Republicans. “The focus should be to keep the majority, grow the majority and win the presidency.”

[NY DAILY NEWS]

Black Mayors to Trump : Do Not Circumvent the Supreme Court on the Census Citizenship Question

The African American Mayors Association celebrates that the Supreme Court's decision requiring the Department of Commerce to remove the citizenship question from the 2020 Census will not be challenged by the Trump Administration.

African American mayors from across the country previously highlighted the danger of including a question like this in a letter to Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross; and director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Steven Dillingham. With the Trump Administration's attempts to circumvent the Court's ruling, AAMA cautions against any and all efforts to target vulnerable populations with citizenship data.

"We were happy to know that the highest Court in the land had struck down a flagrant attempt by the Trump Administration to undermine and undercount millions of people of color making their home in our country. The ruling reaffirmed the rule of law and the checks and balances that make our nation great," said AAMA President, Mayor Hardie Davis, of Augusta, Georgia. "Now is the time for the Trump Administration to comply with the letter and spirit of the ruling to prevent disenfranchisement for the communities we lead."

AAMA commends the advocates who are continuing to fight for a fair and accurate census. Latinos, Afro-Latinos, as well as those from the African and Asian Diasporas, deserve to have resources allocated fairly in their communities and have equitable representation in government. African American mayors will continue to fight to ensure we have an accurate census count and that citizenship data is not used to target vulnerable populations.

About AAMA

The African American Mayors Association (AAMA) is the only organization exclusively representing over 500 African-American mayors across the United States. AAMA seeks to empower local leaders for the benefit of their citizens. The role of the AAMA includes taking positions on public policies that impact the vitality and sustainability of cities; providing mayors with leadership and management tools; and creating a forum for member mayors to share best practices related to municipal management.

SOURCE African American Mayors Association

Chicago Defender cease print publication, moves iconic news content to digital platform

The Chicago Defender, launched in 1905 by John Sengstacke Abbott, was originally a four-page, six column handbill. Producing news of interest to the black community, it became a vocal advocate for issues of the day, including the migration north, anti-lynching legislation, and for integrated sports.  And it was the first newspaper to have a section devoted to children, the Bud Billiken Page.  The Defender had its ups and downs, its slowdowns and rebirths across the century.

It was at one point the largest African American newspaper in the world and the first to achieve national distribution in the country. It went from a weekly publication to a daily, and back to a weekly. John Sengstacke, nephew of the founder, took over the paper.  He was a mover and shaker in the community:  he brought together the publishers of African American newspapers and organized them into the NNPA; he acted as a counsel to presidents, and was instrumental in advocating for integration in the armed forces. After his death in 1997, who the paper was bought by Real Times Media.

The Defender was always in the forefront of the struggle for racial equality in Chicago and beyond, and it continues that role today and will in the future.

The Chicago Defender is now embracing the next generation for media, moving toward a digital platform. Real Times Media, which acquired the Chicago Defender in 2003, announced that on July 11 the paper will evolve from a printed newspaper and relaunch as a digitally-focused content platform dedicated to online editorial, premiere events, custom publishing, and archival merchandising.

“It is no secret that the media and publishing landscape has shifted drastically and the pace of change continues at dizzying speeds,” said Hiram E. Jackson, chief executive officer of Real Times Media. “That is why, over the past few years, we’ve made significant investments in digital media. The Defender already has a digital daily edition, one that reaches hundreds of thousands of readers weekly.  We are just continuing that trajectory for the Defender.”

Real Times Media is an innovator in the African American news and entertainment space. “For more than 10 years we have developed new ways of reaching and touching our community, particularly through targeted events,” said Jackson.

Readers of the Chicago Defender will be able to get their news daily online, rather than waiting for the weekly paper to come out.  Research has shown that those who look to the Defender for news, entertainment and information want the flexibility of receiving that content when and how they want it and digital is the preferred format.

 “We understand that to some of our loyal readers, this rite of passage is a painful one. However, we are committed to preserving the legacy of the Chicago Defender and are excited to be making this bold step to ensure its vitality for the next 100 years,” said Jackson “We remain committed to being an iconic news organization, but we must double-down in the areas where we are seeing growth. Ceasing print operations allows us to do that. And readers of the Defender are now all over the city, reaching them online is a win-win for all of us.”

“The Chicago Defender will lead the way in reinvigorating news delivery for the African American press, one that makes business sense in this digital age,” said Jackson.  “This trailblazing move will allow the Defender to not only continue, but to thrive. All of us at Real Times Media are excited about this next act.”

Although the Chicago Defender will no longer print a weekly edition, it will continue to highlight pivotal moments via special print editions to create more capacity to actively engage with the community.  With this transition, the publication will retain its existing editorial and management staff and continue to offer its signature events — Men of Excellence, Women of Excellence, the relaunch of Who’s Who in Black Chicago, and activities surrounding the Bud Billiken Parade. Additionally, the money saved by not producing a print edition will go back into developing more content on a daily basis.

Currently the Defender prints 16,000 weekly papers, but it has almost half a million unique monthly visitors to its website.

 “There is so much opportunity for the Chicago Defender, on a digital platform, to grow nationally and become a premier player in the African American media space,” adds Jackson.

The Defender’s final weekly issue in print is scheduled to hit newsstands on July 10, 2019. The brand will seamlessly begin publishing daily content of interest to the Chicago community on July 11 at www.chicagodefender.com.

NABJ Names Karen Attiah 2019 Journalist of the Year

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 12, 2019) –“Bold, fearless and timely” are words used by fellow journalists to describe the work of Karen Attiah, the 2019 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Journalist of the Year.

 

The annual award recognizes a black journalist who has amassed a distinguished body of work with extraordinary depth, scope and significance to the people of the African Diaspora.

 

The Journalist of the Year Award will be presented to Attiah duringNABJ’s National Convention & Career Fair, which will be held Aug. 7-11 in Miami, Florida. More information is available at NABJConvention.com.

 

Attiah is the Global Opinions editor for The Washington Post, where she commissions and edits commentary on global issues from a variety of international writers and often writes on issues relating to race, gender and international politics, with a special interest in Africa. Attiah is a previous winner of NABJ’s Salute to Excellence Award in Digital Commentary and is the recipient of the 2019 George C. Polk Special Award. She recently received an honorary doctorate from Dickinson College for her contributions to the field of journalism.

 

 

“NABJ is proud to recognize Karen Attiah as the 2019 Journalist of the Year,” said NABJ President Sarah Glover. “Karen has courageously used her commitment to her craft to provide thought-provoking commentary and insights that have led to positive dialogue and the visibility of issues that have not only impacted people of color and minority communities, but also journalists around the globe. I’m especially proud to see how Karen has propelled the tragedy of her writer’s death into a purpose-driven calling to further the cause for press freedom.”

 

In 2018, Attiah was celebrated for raising her voice and using the power of her pen to bring attention to and offer ongoing coverage of the murder of fellow Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Attiah’s reporting of Khashoggi’s death helped bring international coverage to the political persecution he faced as a journalist, which caused him to flee Saudi Arabia in 2017. Her work also inspired ongoing global dialogue about protecting the role of the free press.

 

"This is a huge honor to receive the NABJ Journalist of the Year award. To be invited to be in the company of black journalists, writers and storytellers who have broken barriers and paved the way for me to be in this field is nothing short of incredible,” said Attiah, upon being notified of her recognition. “But most importantly, after the murder of my colleague and friend Jamal Khashoggi, this recognition is a humbling call to action –that I must help to honor his legacy by speaking and writing against oppression and injustice around the world."

 

In her acclaimed editorial “'I can’t breathe’: The power and tragedy of Jamal Khashoggi’s last words,” Attiah provides a sobering description of how her fellow columnist’s last words eerily echoed the last words of Eric Garner. She highlighted the devastating “cruelty with which lives, and dreams, have been asphyxiated” at the hands of “people in power.” Garner died in 2014 in police custody, after an NYPD officer put him in a chokehold.

 

Attiah has leveraged her platform to bring light to systematic issues that gravely impact the black community worldwide. In the editorial “Christine Ford, Anita Hill and the dangerous myth of the strong black woman,” Attiah wrote about how institutions have historically mistreated black women when it comes to sexual abuse and exploitation by using “perceived strength” as an excuse to not see them as “vulnerable or effective witnesses to their own pain,” even in the era of “me too.”

 

Attiah has also used her writings to underscore the importance of diversity in media. In her editorial “Why did it take Vogue 125 years to have a black photographer shoot a cover?" she discussed the challenges black photographers face in a predominantly white industry and also emphasized that the importance of diversity in powerful publications should become a norm and not just a milestone.

 

“Karen has been a tireless force—as editor, writer and video journalist—to bring new voices, diverse viewpoints and critical issues to our readers and viewers,” said Fred Hiatt, Washington Post Editorial Page editor. “Last year, in the face of a state-sponsored murder that represented personal loss to her as well as professional loss to all of us, Karen refused to bow or be cowed. She helped ensure that the crime would not be forgotten or excused but that, on the contrary, it would become a marker in the struggle for free expression everywhere.”

 

Attiah will receive the Journalist of the Year Award at the NABJ Salute to Excellence Gala during the NABJ Convention on Saturday, Aug. 10, at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. The awards ceremony is the only event in the United States that honors exemplary coverage of African/African-American people or issues exclusively. The Salute to Excellence Gala also highlights the work of media organizations and individuals involved in print, broadcast and online journalism, marketing and communications.

 

Click here to purchase tickets or register for the #NABJ19 Convention.

 

Media Contact:

 

Kanya Stewart

Director of Communications

kstewart@NABJ.org