Smithsonian’s African American museum names new director

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has a new president.

On Tuesday, the museum announced that Kevin Young, the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, will take over for Lonnie Bunch III (the museum’s founding director from 2005 to 2019), who is now the Secretary of the Smithsonian.

The leadership change will take effect Jan. 11, the museum said.

Young, an author, a poet, and an editor, led the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (2016-2020) as the institution acquired the manuscript of Alex Haley’s “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” including a once-lost chapter, and the Harlem-based archives of Harry Belafonte and James Baldwin.

Before Young took the helm at the Schomburg Center, he was a professor at Emory University. He was also the curator of the university’s Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, a 75,000-volume collection of rare and modern poetry, and curator of literary collections.

“I look forward to directing the National Museum of African American History and Culture in this next phase of leadership, after its founding, opening and dynamic exhibitions and events,” said Young in a museum press release. “Having visited the museum myself with my family, I know what a powerful place it is, transforming visitors both in-person and online, and revealing the centrality of African American culture to the American experience. I am eager to engage further directions in the museum’s mission, embracing our digital present and future while furthering conversations around Black history, art, liberation, and joy.”

[SOURCE: SUN TIMES]

Air Force football unveils new uniforms honoring Tuskegee Airmen

The Air Force football team unveiled new uniforms that honor the Tuskegee Airmen. The uniforms were revealed Monday as a part of the 2020 Air Power Legacy Series. This year marks the fifth season of the Air Power Legacy Series, according to the Air Force football team. It began in 2016 to honor the Air Force’s history.

The uniform is gray with black lettering, according to the Air Force. The helmets, which are a chrome base, will feature the p-51 aircraft flown by the airmen with the signature red tails and nose that helped identify the squadron. Also on the helmet will be the squadron patches for the 99th, 100th, 301st and 302nd.

Air Force will debut the uniforms for against Navy, on Oct. 3rd, in Falcon Stadium.

Yamiche Alcindor wins 2020 Gwen Ifill Award

The Gwen Ifill Award was established to honor the memory of the legendary co-anchor of the PBS NewsHour, who passed away in November 2016. Gwen Ifill was among the most respected journalists of our time, a trailblazer and an incredible role model and mentor for young journalists. The Award is given annually to an outstanding female journalist of color whose work carries forward Ifill’s legacy.

The Award is open to women journalists of color working in the news media. Candidates for the award will be evaluated on criteria including their record of outstanding achievement in journalism, and the extent to which they represent the values Ifill embodied, including in the areas of mentorship, leadership, and commitment to diversity in journalism.

The 2020 Gwen Ifill Award recipient is PBS NewsHour White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor.

Alcindor released the following statement on Twitter after winning the award:

I'm so honored to receive this year's 2020 Gwen Ifill Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. I miss Gwen's necessary voice this year and I am blessed to have been able to receive her guidance while we had her. I hope we at the @NewsHour are making her proud.

Kentucky AG to release grand jury recording in Breonna Taylor case

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) committed Monday night to releasing a recording of the grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case.

Cameron said in a statement that he plans to release the recording Wednesday in compliance with a judge’s order, despite concerns about how it could affect the ongoing investigation and have other “unintended consequences.”

His agreement to release the recording comes less than a week after the grand jury indicted one police officer involved in the shooting that resulted in Taylor’s death for endangering her neighbors.

“As the special prosecutor, our team has an ethical obligation not to release the recording from the Grand Jury proceedings, and we stand by our belief that such a release could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool,” Cameron said in the statement. “Despite these concerns, we will comply with the Judge’s order to release the recording on Wednesday."

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

BUBBA WALLACE TO RECEIVE THE STAN MUSIAL AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER

Recognizing class, dignity and strength, it’s one of the most important awards in sports. And this year, it goes to one of the most important sports figures of 2020 – an athlete who has had a profound impact on his sport and the national dialogue surrounding racial justice and unity. NASCAR driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. is the recipient of the 2020 Stan Musial Award for Extraordinary Character.

Bestowed annually at the Musial Awards in St. Louis, the Stan Musial Award for Extraordinary Character honors an individual who demonstrates remarkable poise, perseverance and overall sportsmanship. Although this year’s live Musial Awards is unable to take place due to the pandemic, Wallace will be honored – and presented his award – in the Musial Awards television broadcast airing nationally on CBS on Saturday, Dec. 26 (time TBD).

Wallace drives the famed No. 43 car for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series. As the only Black driver in NASCAR’s top circuit, he has been a trailblazer in his sport. In 2013, he won his first of six career NASCAR Truck Series races, becoming the first African-American in 50 years to post a victory in one of NASCAR’s top three national touring series. In 2018, he became the first African-American to race fulltime in NASCAR’s premier Cup Series and finished second in his Daytona 500 debut. Along the way, he has persevered through experiences of being on the receiving end of bigotry and prejudice.

This year, as the nation has grappled with unrest and injustice, Wallace took a courageous, visible stand promoting tolerance, understanding and unity, underscored by his push for NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at races. Under the media microscope, he has demonstrated tremendous grace, humility and decency.

“Bubba Wallace exemplifies what the Stan Musial Award for Extraordinary Character is all about,” said Frank Viverito, president of the St. Louis Sports Commission, which produces the Musial Awards with the National Sportsmanship Foundation. “He has overcome much to be where he is, and he has courageously stepped forward to take an important stand for change. He is most deserving of an award that stands for sportsmanship and character, and is named for Stan Musial, whose own actions promoted racial acceptance and unity.”

In addition to receiving an award named for the greatest Cardinal of them all, Wallace has another St. Louis connection. He is sponsored by St. Louis-based World Wide Technology. Bob Olwig, V.P. corporate business development, said, “World Wide Technology is proud of what Bubba has accomplished and the impact he is having on NASCAR, society and generations to come. We were thrilled to find out the Musial Awards wanted to recognize him. The character, kindness and courage Bubba has shown make him so deserving of this prestigious honor.”

Wallace joins Hank Aaron as a 2020 Musial Awards honoree. The baseball legend is receiving the Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award for Sportsmanship. The Lifetime Achievement and Extraordinary Character awards are two special honors bestowed by the Musial Awards. Other 2020 Musial Award recipients will be announced in the coming weeks.

Past recipients of the Stan Musial Award for Extraordinary Character include St. Louis Blues superfan Laila Anderson, Loyola University Basketball Chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt (now 101 years young), soon-to-be Basketball Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings, and Little League World Series star Mo’ne Davis.

The Musial Awards – presented by Maryville University – celebrate the year’s greatest moments of sportsmanship and those in sports who embody class and character. The national event and its awards are named for St. Louis Cardinals legend Stan Musial, a beloved baseball superstar and civic icon who personified sportsmanship. In addition to keeping alive the legacy of Stan The Man, the mission of the Musial Awards is to encourage kindness, selflessness, integrity and civility in sports and society – and to inspire people across the nation to be good sports. The Musial Awards has taken place in St. Louis since 2005, and in normal times, occurs the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the historic 3,000-seat Stifel Theatre in Downtown St. Louis. It is produced by the St. Louis Sports Commission and the National Sportsmanship Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.