Magic Johnson company gives $2 million to Grambling State University

Grambling State announced that Magic Johnson’s SodexoMAGIC donated one of the largest unrestricted gifts in the University’s 118-year history. The $2 million contribution comes only four months into the multi-year partnership between the University and international food service and facilities management giant.

“Significant investments in student advancement are essential to our efforts to build the most vibrant academic community possible,” said Grambling State University President Rick Gallot. “I want to thank SodexoMAGIC’s leadership for their outstanding partnership and generous support of our deserving students.”

Supporting Rapid University Growth

This July, Grambling State launched a multi-year dining partnership with SodexoMAGIC that included a host of academic and community benefits for the rapidly growing university. The new agreement will deliver $6.7 million in facility renovations and add new, major-brand restaurants to campus. In addition to an enhanced food service program, the deal garners a $51 million return on investment built into the five-year renewal option.

The $2 million contribution comes at an important time in the University’s growth as a technology leader, which includes the launch of Louisiana’s only bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and infrastructure developments like the state’s first Digital Library and Learning Commons.

“Our dining partner has made many commitments to advance some of the University’s top priorities such as educational innovation, holistic student advancement and infrastructure upgrades,” said Martin Lemelle, Executive Vice President. “Their $2 million contribution is leading the way for unprecedented growth and development.”

Investing in Education

The agreement also includes bolstering support for Grambling State’s advancing technology degree programs and forthcoming community focused STEM education program. The University is established as a tech and STEM leader in higher education, having recently been approved to propose Louisiana’s first Bachelor’s in Cloud Computing and designated for a Center of Academic Excellence in Mathematical Achievement for Science and Technology.

“Students matriculating at Grambling State will be thoroughly prepared for the most in-demand career opportunities of the 21st century,” said Provost, Dr. Connie Walton. “SodexoMAGIC’s investment provides the fuel to ensure that our degree programs and educational opportunities are aligned with the demands of the world around us.”

Enhancing Student Opportunities

SodexoMAGIC’s bequest will count toward the ongoing Bring It Home fundraising campaign spearheaded by the University’s Office of Advancement. The gift doubles the campaigns $1 million goal.

“Grambling State is growing faster than ever and our community of support is matching the pace with their donations,” said Marc Newman, Vice President of Advancement. “The outpouring of support from our partner, SodexoMAGIC, is a huge catalyst for university growth.

Proceeds from the Bring It Home campaign have historically provided thousands of students with financial aid gap funding, supplied scholarships, and other forms direct student support.

For media interviews and more information on Grambling State University, email mediarelations@gram.edu or call (318) 243-5012.

To show your support for Grambling State, visit www.gram.edu/giving.

Missing Clark Atlanta University student Alexis Crawford found dead

A missing Clark Atlanta University student has been found dead, Atlanta police said Friday.

Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said the body of Alexis Crawford was found in a DeKalb County park in metro Atlanta.

Crawford was last seen by her family on Oct. 30.

Clark Atlanta alerted students to the news via email and social media.

“Panther Family, we are devastated by the tragic reports regarding our own Alexis Crawford. We are here for you!” the school tweeted.

Clark Atlanta students also received a letter from CAU President George French Jr. Friday evening.

“Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with her family and with everyone who knew and loved Alexis,” he said. “Investigators say this was an isolated, off-campus incident and there was never a threat to any other members of the community.”

[WRDW]

Local group working to create African-American historic district in Georgia town.

A local group is working to create an African-American historic district in North Augusta, Georgia.

It's part of an ongoing effort by the Heritage Council of North Augusta, along with local historians, to educate the community on the full history of the city.

Black News Channel to launch January 6, 2020

Tallahassee, Florida—November 6, 2019--Black News Channel (BNC) announced today that it has updated the launch of the nation’s only African American news network to January 6, 2020 in order to more than triple its viewing audience. Network executives credit advancements in new technologies and the advent of new distribution platforms as the catalysts for rethinking their launch strategy.

“The launch of BNC will be a historic event, and our highly qualified journalists are chomping at the bit to be on-air now,” says Bob Brillante, co-founder and CEO for BNC. “But if we have a chance to more than triple our viewing audience in January 2020, then this was an easy call to make.”

“Our network is about providing intelligent programming that is informative, educational, inspiring and empowering to our African American audience, so they are participants in a national conversation,” says J.C. Watts, Jr., co-founder and chairman for BNC. “If we have the opportunity to include the largest African American audience possible from day one, then that should be our top priority.”

BNC plans to release more information about how and where customers can view the network’s programming in the coming weeks

ABOUT BNC

Black News Channel is an independent network that is minority owned and operated, and it will be the nation’s only provider of 24/7 cable news programming dedicated to covering the unique perspective of African American communities. BNC is the endeavor of the network’s visionaries and co-founders, Chairman J.C. Watts, Jr. and CEO Bob Brillante. BNC will provide access to information and educational programming to meet the specific needs of this growing and dynamic community that is a major consumer of subscription television services. BNC will provide an authentic, new voice that represents African Americans in mainstream media and fosters political, economic, and social discourse; the network will be one voice representing the many voices of African Americans. BNC’s programming will illuminate truth about the unique challenges facing urban communities and help close the “image gap” that exists today between the negative black stereotypes perpetuated by mainstream media news and our enterprising African American communities.

New Book Presents Ida B. Wells as a Model for Today’s Justice Seekers

Born enslaved, Ida B. Wells was a powerful reformer and witness for justice from 1878 until her death in 1931. An investigative journalist and newspaper publisher, Wells led an anti-lynching campaign, worked for women’s suffrage, and founded organizations to improve the lives of African Americans. Wells is being rediscovered; this year the city of Chicago, where Wells lived and worked for more than three decades, renamed a major downtown thoroughfare “Ida B. Wells Drive.” Now, in their new book Passionate for Justice: Ida B. Wells as Prophet for Our Time (Church Publishing, $18.95 paper, September 17, 2019), African-American scholar/activist Catherine Meeks, and Anglo pastor Nibs Stroupe reclaim Wells as a guide for those seeking to respond to the current state of affairs in the U.S.

“Fearless, ferocious, formidable, and feminist,” Wells, who was “intersectional before it became cool,” dedicated her life to the idea of equity and justice for all. “She worked for the betterment of a country that saw her as a black woman and second class citizen,” the authors write. With her tenacity and courage, she modeled the fierceness and dedication required to be a voice for justice. “Wells did the work no one else would do. She kept showing up where she wasn’t wanted.”

“Her dogged adherence to the mission of anti-lynching work and fighting for women’s suffrage along with overall liberation for black people serves as an amazing model for us in the twenty-first century,” Meeks writes. “We have allowed ourselves to be kidnapped by the illusion of liberation because a few laws got overturned and we gained access to a bit of delegated white power. That illusion has caused us to allow ourselves to be less compassionate than we need to be toward others in our own communities.”

Wells defined herself not as a former slave, but as a daughter of God. This affirmation of her equal humanity made her a vocal and fierce opponent of a system that classified African Americans as less than human. “Her work against lynching angered the white population the most because she refused to allow the white narrative that blamed lynching on the behavior of black people, especially the men, to stand as the truth,” the authors write.

Meeks and Stroupe bring a unique joint perspective to this work: both grew up in segregated Arkansas. They walked a parallel path, they write, kindred souls “poised toward the search for liberation from our earliest days and while we had no way to name that quest, there was an inexplicable spirit of grace that moved us along that path.”

The book features an introduction by Wells’s great-granddaughter, Michelle Duster, who writes: “As our country experiences efforts to divide and oppress people…the life and legacy of Ida B. Wells can be a guide and inspiration for those who are committed to equality and justice.” The foreword is by Stacey Abrams, the first black female from a major party to run for governor in the history of the United States: “In Passionate for Justice, we find a compass that points us to the future, where we can each give voice and action to justice, equity, and life-giving community. Ida Wells would have had it no other way.”

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