Tuesday, June 07, 2022

Buffalo massacre victim's son speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee on white supremacy and domestic terrorism

Garnell Whitfield's mother, Ruth Whitfield, was killed in the Buffalo mass shooting on May 14. He spoke before hearing on white supremacy and domestic terrorism pleading with them to do something about racial violence in America. Watch his passionate plea below:

Monday, June 06, 2022

AVA DuVERNAY TO RECEIVE 2022 INTERNATIONAL EMMY® FOUNDERS AWARD

NEW YORK, June 6, 2022 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that director, writer and producer Ava DuVernay, one of the most important contemporary voices in American film and television, will receive the 2022 International Emmy® Founders Award at the 50th International Emmy® Awards Gala, on Monday, November 21, 2022 in New York City. DuVernay’s mini-series When They See Us, based on the infamous Central Park Five case, portrayed the injustices brought by police treatment of five falsely accused teens to the attention of millions of people around the world.

“Ava DuVernay is a force of nature and this is reflected in the remarkable scope and volume of her work. She makes significant films and television programs, she uses her platform to reshape our industry and continues to lead a career-long effort to bolster women and people of color in entertainment and ensure inclusivity,” said International Academy President & CEO, Bruce L. Paisner. “We look forward to honoring her extraordinary talent and prolific decade of leadership at ARRAY, with our Founders Award.”

“This honor from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is unexpected and wildly appreciated,” said DuVernay. “I thank the organization for recognizing my work and salute their efforts to ensure that storytellers of all backgrounds are amplified and celebrated.”

DuVernay is an Academy Award nominee and winner of the Emmy®, BAFTA and Peabody Awards, whose directorial work includes the historical drama Selma, the criminal justice documentary 13th and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, which made her the highest grossing Black woman director in American box office history.

DuVernay is currently writing, directing and producing the narrative film adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s bestselling nonfiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent for Netflix. Through her ARRAY Filmworks production company, DuVernay is overseeing production on the final season of her critically-acclaimed TV series Queen Sugar (OWN), as well as recent and upcoming television productions including an untitled romantic drama for Starz, Colin in Black and White (Netflix), DMZ (HBO Max), Cherish the Day (OWN), Naomi (The CW), Home Sweet Home (HBO Max) and One Perfect Shot (HBO Max). Her critically-acclaimed series When They See Us (Netflix) received sixteen primetime Emmy® nominations.

Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival’s Best Director Prize for her micro-budget film Middle of Nowhere, DuVernay amplifies the independent work of people of color and women of all kinds through her non-profit narrative change collective ARRAY. ARRAY is the 2021 winner of the Peabody Institutional Award. DuVernay sits on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, representing the directors branch. She is also a Vice-President of the Directors Guild of America and an advisory board member of the American Film Institute.

The National African Reparations Commission calls for beneficiaries of reparations to be broadened

California’s legislatively mandated task force on reparations for Black Americans recently released a 500-page report, recounting the State’s mistreatment of Black Americans dating back to its founding. In response to the report’s findings, The National African Reparations Commission (NAARC), the nation’s foremost organization for reparatory justice, has released the following statement calling for beneficiaries of reparations to be broadened:

“While California isn’t the only state where reparations are owed to African Americans, I commend the committee on its findings, while also challenging it to broaden its ruling. Limiting eligibility of African Americans who receive reparations will limit the repair for the enormous injuries suffered by all Black people in America across generations,” said Dr. Ron Daniels, Convenor of the NAARC.

“Reparations are also due for the legacies of enslavement: formerly enslaved Africans and newly arrived immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America and the Diaspora, in response to the injuries and harms inflicted after Emancipation through racially exclusionary policies during the era of Jim Crow Segregation and right up to the present. NAARC holds to the position that all Black people who were harmed by America in America, should be repaired by America in America.”

“The historical fact is that centuries of enslavement, post-Emancipation racially exclusionary policies and practices, psychological trauma, racial oppression, violence, and mass incarceration have severely underdeveloped and, in some instances, outright destroyed families and communities in Black America. If America is serious about righting the wrongs of the past, discussions on reparations need to be broad and inclusive and include the descendants of all who suffered and continue to suffer from the effects of the enslavement of Africans in America.”

American Association of Community Colleges Elects Southwest Tennessee Community College President Tracy D. Hall to National Board of Directors

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has elected Southwest Tennessee Community College President Tracy D. Hall to its board of directors to represent the National Council on Black American Affairs (NCBAA). Dr. Hall will serve a three-year term, effective July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2025.

AACC serves as the primary advocacy organization for community colleges across the nation. The Board consists of 32-members, six of which are representatives of affiliated councils. Two affiliated council representatives are elected annually. As an affiliated council of the AACC, the NCBAA assists African American staff and students at community colleges to achieve success in attaining educational and employment goals.

“I am honored to be selected to represent the National Council on Black American Affairs as a member of the AACC board of directors and look forward to serving the board as a champion for college access and success for African Americans and other underserved populations," Southwest Tennessee Community College President Tracy D. Hall said.

AACC is a founding partner of Achieving the Dream, a leader in championing evidence-based institutional improvement that supports positive outcomes for all students. Since taking the helm as president of Southwest in 2015, Dr. Hall has transformed the student experience and laid the foundation for its equity-first culture that focuses on closing achievement gaps and increasing graduation rates, especially among low-income students, first-generation students and students of color. In 2016, Southwest, a Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) in Memphis, Tenn., joined the ATD network to redesign student-centered processes from recruitment to graduation. The College’s transformational work led to the college earning ATD’s prestigious Leader College designation in 2020 and winning the highly competitive national Bellwether Award for Planning, Governance and Finance in 2021.

Southwest also has won AACC awards for teaching and campus best practices to include the 2019 Community College Safety, Planning and Leadership Award and the 2018, 2020 and 2022 Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty Awards.

Dr. Hall is a member of AACC’s Commission on Economic and Workforce Development where she shares insights on how community colleges can close the skills gap and align their programs to support future jobs growth. Her term on the commission ends June 30, 2022.

President Hall also serves on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Board of Trustees as part of the College Delegate Assembly, and on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Memphis Branch, Greater Memphis Chamber and Memphis Medical District Collaborative.

Sunday, June 05, 2022

Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas "incredibly disappointed" by lack of action on gun violence

Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri, says federal lawmakers are "basically just throwing up their hands" in the wake of the recent spate of mass shootings.