Sunday, February 28, 2021
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Only 4 Black Fortune 500 CEOs
An excerpt from GoBankingRates -
There Are Only 4 Black Fortune 500 CEOs
See the leaders who are carving a new path.
By John Csiszar
In spite of all the progress made in Black representation in America, these advances have yet to translate to the C-suite in corporate America. With the resignation of Tapestry CEO Jide Zeitlin in July 2020, the number of Black CEOs among the Fortune 500 dropped to a woeful four. One person will soon be added to that list as Rosalind Brewer, Starbucks’ chief operating officer, will take over as the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. She will be leaving Starbucks at the end of February and will then be the only Black woman CEO at a Fortune 500 company. Unfortunately, this list will shrink again when Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier retires in June 2021.
Over the complete history of the Fortune 500, which dates back to 1999, there have only been a total of 18 Black CEOs leading America’s Fortune 500 companies. The peak year for representation was 2012, when a still-anemic total of six Black CEOs led corporate America’s most prominent companies. As Black History Month unfolds, it’s a good time to take a closer look at the four Black CEOs paving the way for future leaders of color.
https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/business/fortune-500-includes-only-4-black-ceos/
Racial Gaslighting
An excerpt from Your Tango -
How To Know If Someone's Racially Gaslighting You — And 10 Ways To Respond
By Angelique Beluso
Experiencing racism can be a lonely experience at times. And It's exhausting to have to defend your experience. But in moments like these, it's important to stand your ground and speak your truth.
There are ways to respond to racial gaslighting that allows you to stand up for yourself while encouraging a healthy discourse.
Here are a few ways to respond to racial gaslighting:
1. “My experience is not up for debate.”
2. “This is my truth of what happened, please don’t try and invalidate that.”
3. “I would never question if you experienced racism, please don’t question if I did.”
https://www.yourtango.com/2021340295/how-to-know-if-someone-racially-gaslighting-you-ways-to-respond
Monday, February 15, 2021
More HBCU Love
From Newsone -
Black History In The Making: 21 HBCU Graduates Who Are Changing The World In 2021
By Bruce C.T. Wright
https://newsone.com/playlist/hbcu-graduates-changing-the-world/
Love This Momma!
🎶 SINCE U BEEN GONE 🎶
— Maryland Basketball 🐢 (@TerrapinHoops) December 12, 2018
"Mom please sto-"
🎶 I CAN BREATHE FOR THE FIRST TIME 🎶 pic.twitter.com/4b5DQ7SzdE
Sunday, February 14, 2021
The Black Panthers Revisited
From the NY Times -
Stay Close
From the NY Times -
The Lost Astronaut
From the NY Times -
The Orangeburg Massacre
An excerpt from Newsone -
‘Orangeburg Massacre’ In South Carolina Occurred On This Day In 1968
Written By D.L. Chandler
One of the most stirring tragedies of the civil rights movement during the 1960s took place in the small town of Orangeburg in South Carolina. On this day in 1968, police officers fired in to a crowd of Black students protesting segregation, killing three and wounding 28 others, in what has been called the “Orangeburg Massacre.”
After Black students were denied entry to the Whites-only All Star Bowling Lane alley and began protesting at the establishment’s door, the students — now numbering into the hundreds — gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to demonstrate against the bowling alley. The students were raucous and sparked a bonfire, with the group throwing firebombs and other objects. As an officer put out a fire, he was hit with an unknown object. Police claimed to hear gunfire and began to fire in to the throng.
The police killed three people that day: Samuel Hammond and Henry Smith, both students at SCSU, and Delano Middleton (all pictured above), a student at nearby Wilkinson High School. 28 others were injured by both gunfire and other weapons, including one pregnant young woman who reported having a miscarriage a week later due to beatings by police.
https://newsone.com/2190700/orangeburg-massacre/
Dr. Patricia Bath, Black Doctor Who Revolutionized Eye Surgery
An HBCU Gets Animation Studio
An excerpt from The Black Detour -
Bowie State University Makes History Becoming First HBCU With Animation Studio
An animation studio is opening at Bowie State University, making history becoming the first historically Black college or university, NBC Washington reported. The university partnered with the Oscar-nominated animation house, LAIKA, to make the animation studio a reality.
“The partnership will enhance BSU’s animation curriculum, with the goal of providing a career pathway for BSU students into the animation industry,” LAIKA said in a statement. LAIKA will fund upgrades to Bowie State’s green screen studio, that will allow stop-motion animation production according to the press release. The art form includes the movement of objects, puppets, filmed at a high rate to create the illusion of movement.
https://theblackdetour.com/bowie-state-university-becomes-first-hbcu-with-a-animation/
I Love FAMU! My HBCU!
An excerpt from The Undefeated -
My HBCU experience has been life-changing
We are taught to stand tall, be confident and make our presence known
By Marissa Stubbs
My HBCU has served as my haven, a place where I can be unapologetically Black. The discussions that take place in our classrooms go beyond the four walls of our illustrious institutions. Instead, we carry them with us into the real world and apply them to our daily lives. Addressing topics such as racism, police brutality and systematic oppression helps us see where we as students can come in and help make a change.
Every time I step on campus, I feel like I belong and I’m protected. After graduating, I will be sure to carry the lessons I’ve learned and apply them to my everyday life. Choosing an HBCU was one of the best decisions I’ve made, and I will forever be grateful for the knowledge my university has instilled in me.
https://theundefeated.com/features/my-hbcu-experience-has-been-life-changing/
Bird
Nolan Richardson talking about Larry Bird might be the funniest clip you see on Twitter today 😂 pic.twitter.com/cDKoPMfJuT
— Tye Richardson 🐗 (@TyeSportsRadio) February 11, 2021
Sunday, February 7, 2021
The Mothers of Martin, Malcolm & James
An excerpt from People -
The Three Mothers Shares Untold Stories of MLK Jr., Malcolm X, James Baldwin's Moms
Anna Malaika Tubbs writes about the surprising and sometimes heartbreaking lives of Alberta King, Louise Little and Berdis Baldwin
By Morgan Smith
Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X. James Baldwin. These three men — among the most influential in the Civil Rights Movement — are celebrated for challenging racism and hatred through their prose, ideas and activism. During Black History Month, especially, Instagram feeds and classrooms are filled with inspiring quotes and lessons imparted to us by these leaders.
Yet little is known about the women who raised them. Anna Malaika Tubbs's biography, The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation seeks to change that, telling the stories of Alberta King, Louise Little and Berdis Baldwin — the women who loved, taught and pushed their sons to greatness.
https://people.com/human-interest/new-book-the-three-mothers-shares-untold-stories-of-mlk-jr-malcolm-x-james-baldwins-mothers/
"No Thanks" to Black History Curriculum
An excerpt from The Hill -
Utah school allowing parents to opt students out of Black History Month curriculum
BY CELINE CASTRONUOVO
A Utah charter school that incorporates Black History Month into its lesson plans is now facing backlash from some after the school announced it was allowing parents to opt students out of the curriculum.
Maria Montessori Academy Director Micah Hirokawa announced the decision in a Friday post on the school’s private Facebook page, according to local news outlet the Standard-Examiner.
Hirokawa wrote that he “reluctantly” sent a letter to families stating that administrators were allowing them “to exercise their civil rights to not participate in Black History Month at the school.”
Hirokawa said in the post that “a few families” had asked not to participate in the curriculum, though he declined to tell the Standard-Examiner the exact number of parents who had contacted the school or the reasons they gave for making the request.
The public charter school director added that the demand from parents “deeply saddens and disappoints me.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/537677-utah-school-allowing-parents-to-opt-students-out-of-black-history-month
Woman in Dubai Faces Jail & $140K Fine for Text
An excerpt from the Insider -
British woman in Dubai faces jail time and $140,000 fine for rude WhatsApp message to her roommate
By Joshua Zitser
A British woman in Dubai has been told she could face up to two years in jail and a 500,000 AED ($136,129) fine for swearing at her roommate in a WhatsApp message, according to MailOnline.
The unnamed woman faces charges under the United Arab Emirate's cybercrime laws, the news outlet reported.
She is accused of writing "f--- you" to her Ukrainian ex-roommate after arguing about the use of a dining room table, MailOnline's Paul Thompson said.
The 31-year-old woman admits to sending the rude message last October but prosecutors have yet to bring forward a formal legal case, according to MailOnline.
The prosecutors are waiting to file a forensic report on the woman's phone before a case is brought forward, the news outlet said.
The woman was arrested when trying to board a flight from Dubai International Airport to London's Heathrow Airport, the Independent reported.
She has since tried to contact her former roommate to resolve the situation but her request was rebuffed, the paper said.
https://www.insider.com/dubai-woman-faces-jail-140000-fine-rude-message-to-roommate-2021-2
Friday, February 5, 2021
Recognizing White Privilege
Rep. Dean Phillips: "I'm here tonight to say to my brothers & sisters in Congress & all around our country, I'm sorry. For I've never understood, really understood, what privilege really means. It took a violent mob of insurrectionists & lightning-bolt moment in this very room." pic.twitter.com/PqnoBMiQDu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2021
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Explaining White Privilege
If trying to understand sharing your inherent privilege, think: when someone shorter than you needs to see the stage better at a show, you usually let them stand in front of you, right? You both get to enjoy the show, it’s only a slight inconvenience, and you. don’t. shrink.🙂
— Arlan 👊🏾 (@ArlanWasHere) August 28, 2018
Madame President!
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| NCeePhotography |
https://cafemom.com/news/maryland-photographer-first-birthday-photoshoot-kamala-harris
More "Trauma-Free Blackness" Please
An excerpt from CNN -
We need more 'trauma-free Blackness.' Here's a start
There are vast regions of Black life that are filled with joy, romance and beauty. Here are some favorite examples.
By John Blake
I was scrolling through Facebook one evening when I noticed an odd image that someone had posted on my page. It was a screenshot of a solitary Black man on roller skates, freeze-framed in the middle of a country road flanked by horse pastures.
As I clicked on the video I braced myself, expecting to see a Black person being brutalized by police or accosted in public by White strangers. But that's not what I saw.
The man flashed a wide smile and he started to dance. He had a gray beard, but he skated like someone 20 years younger: rolling his shoulders, shimmying his hips while Mary J. Blige sang "Not Gon' Cry" in the background. Soon I was smiling, too.
The video had no caption, but I had a name for what I was watching: It was a snapshot of what I call "trauma-free Blackness."
Here's my wish for a new year: more trauma-free Blackness.
Last year was a rough one for most Black people. We watched videos of Black men being brutalized or killed and read about Black women fatally shot in their homes by police. We've watched a pandemic devastate our community. At times I, too, have felt exhausted by what one writer calls "the relentlessness of Black grief."
But my boogie-down skater buddy reminded me of something I had almost forgotten: There is a Blackness that exists outside of trauma.
There are vast regions of Black life that have nothing to do with suffering or oppression. We lead lives that are also filled with joy, romance, laughter and astonishing beauty, but those stories don't tend to grab the headlines. It's time to change that.
What follows are my favorite examples of "trauma-free Blackness" -- striking expressions of Black life that aren't filtered through the lens of racism.
I also asked my CNN colleagues to join me in creating a list of our favorite trauma-free moments. To do so we pored through movies, TV, music, art, literature, internet memes and other slices of Black culture. It's by no means an exhaustive list -- just a good place to start.
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/trauma-free-blackness-culture-queue/index.html
LaTroy Hawkins - Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot
The First Black Fighter Pilot
An excerpt from Mental Floss -
Eugene Bullard, the World's First Black Fighter Pilot
BY MELANIE HAMILTON
Eugene Bullard survived some of the deadliest battles in military history, became the world's first Black fighter pilot, and even had his own monkey sidekick—and all before the age of 30. He went on to spy on Nazis and fifth columnists, rub shoulders with Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and earn the nickname "Black Swallow of Death." More than that though, Bullard was a pioneer who laid the groundwork for Black servicemen everywhere.
FROM RUNAWAY TO PRIZEFIGHTER
Bullard was born on October 9, 1895, in Columbus, Georgia, to a former enslaved Haitian man and a Muskogee Creek woman. Slavery had been abolished in the South only 30 years prior and still cast a long, dark shadow. Bullard was no stranger to discrimination, hardship, and outright violence. At 10 years old, he witnessed his father narrowly escape a lynching; not long after, his mother died unexpectedly.
Bullard ran away from home when he was 11. By chance, he found a group of Romani in Atlanta, Georgia, known as the Stanley Clan. They took him in as one of their own. But after spending six years tending to horses and living a nomadic lifestyle, Bullard was ready for a change. He hoped to head to France—a place his father had never visited, but spoke of often.
At 17, Bullard stowed away on the Marta Russ, a German merchant ship bound for Europe. Shortly after departing the ship at port in Aberdeen, Scotland, he joined a vaudeville troupe where he performed as a boxer and quickly became one of Great Britain's most beloved prizefighters. But he still yearned for France.
Bullard would soon reach his goal. After some time with the troupe in Great Britain, he was booked for a fight in Paris in 1913. "When I got off the boat train in Paris, I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. Here I was in the place I had wanted to be and to see all my life. And it was wonderful," he wrote in his journal.
Because of his Haitian roots, Bullard was fluent in French. This, combined with Paris's liberal lifestyle, made him decide to stick around the City of Love for a while. But the start of World War I quickly changed his plans.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/640184/eugene-bullard-first-black-fighter-pilot
The Original King of Buffalo Wings
An excerpt from the NY Times -
The Story of John Young, the Original King of Buffalo Wings
His restaurants closed and his glory faded, but a historical reclamation effort is bringing new attention to the secret sauce he perfected.
Text by Rachel WhartonIllustrations by Koren Shadmi
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/dining/buffalo-wings-john-young.html?referringSource=articleShare
A Mama's Boy
An excerpt from the Chicago Sun-Times -
I’m a mama’s boy, no apologies. I was Mama’s joy. Manchild in the Promised Land.
By John W. Fountain
I’m a mama’s boy. This hasn’t always been easy to admit. But those late nights when I saw her sit, staring out the bedroom window, trying to hide the salty tears that fell like midnight rain for years and stained her pillow.
I could always plainly see her pain, though I was just a boy with no answers for the bitter pill called Life. Or for those ill men who are cancer. Or those men who failed her. I always felt her pain, her strain, her drain.
I’m a mama’s boy, though I bear my father’s name.
I was Mama’s joy. Manchild in the Promised Land. Eating from Mama’s tender brown hands as Mama sought to devise a plan to raise a Black boy to be a decent Black man.
A mother at 17, she went back to high school to graduate. I stare at her picture in cap and gown with admiration that only punctuates: I’m a mama’s boy.
Mama’s boy on those 60’s early sun-kissed mornings, when me and Mama danced. And she held my hand. And I held hers, as we twisted and mash-potatoed. Danced the Watusi and “the bird.”
“Love” was the word.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/1/29/22257026/john-w-fountain-mothers-and-sons-chicago-west-side
14 Year Old Environmental Scientist and Entrepreneur!
An excerpt from Black Enterprise -
14-YEAR-OLD EARNED A MASTER’S DEGREE AND NOW SHE’S AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST AND ENTREPRENEUR
by Charlene Rhinehart
Young environmental scientist Dorothy Jean Tillman garnered national attention when she received her master’s degree at 14-years-old.
Now, the Chicago teen is breaking into entrepreneurship by exposing more youth to opportunities in STEAM. She’s giving more Chicago youth a headstart in life by showing them what’s possible.
“I know, one thing that I would want every kid to know is that what I did is an option and that they can do it too,” said Tillman to Rolling Out. “It doesn’t take a genius or someone who has been learning forever. I’m not perfect. I’m not the smartest person in the world. It just takes dedication.”
From Environment Scientist to Entrepreneur
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) is a growing field and Tillman wants more youth to know how they can get involved.
The 14-year-old has always had a passion for STEM, obtaining high rankings in all those subjects in school. This inspired her to pursue a master’s degree at Unity College. Tillman made history as the youngest environmental and sustainable scientist in the U.S. Her desire to expand opportunities is stronger than ever since COVID-19 has eliminated many traditional activities for youth.
https://www.blackenterprise.com/14-year-old-earned-a-masters-degree-and-now-shes-an-environmental-scientist-and-entrepreneur/
What Makes Food "Black?"
An excerpt from USA Today & the Louisville Courier-Journal -
'Is butter pecan ice cream a 'Black thing'?' Louisville podcast explores how race impacts food.
By Dahlia Ghabour - Louisville Courier-Journal
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It all started with ice cream.
After working at Louisville Cream in the hip downtown Louisville NuLu district for a year, Kelly Nusz noticed a pattern she was too shy to ask anyone about. After a Google search didn't answer her question, she finally decided to ask her friend and boss, Louisville Cream owner Darryl Goodner.
"Is butter pecan ice cream a 'Black thing'?"
Goodner laughed. "Of course, it is."
"Why?" she asked.
Well, Goodner didn't really know what to say. He'd grown up eating it and had fond memories of the cheap ice cream he'd get from the store and share with his family. It was the flavor his relatives always gravitated toward.
But was it part of his heritage as a Black man in America?
That question launched a conversation, which led to research, which led to some answers and more questions. What made a food a "Black" food versus a "white" food? And what foods that we eat today have a racist history attached to them that people don't know about?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/01/black-owned-louisville-cream-launches-butter-pecan-podcast/4318599001/