An excerpt from AP News -
Southern states join to promote civil rights tourism
By Jay Reeves
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Southern states that once fought to maintain racial segregation are now banding together to promote civil rights tourism at sites including the building where the Confederacy was born and the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died.
Fourteen states stretching from Kansas to Delaware, including all of the Deep South, are joining to promote the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, which will highlight about 130 sites linked to the modern civil rights movement. The joint effort is being unveiled as part of the MLK holiday weekend.
Individual Southern states have used such promotions for years, beginning with a black history trail launched by Alabama in the 1980s, but never before have they joined together in a single push to bolster civil rights tourism, said Lee Sentell, a leader of the effort.
“Everyone wants to showcase their landmarks. For the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, we’re saying ’What happened here changed the world,’” said Sentell, Alabama’s tourism director.
Most states participating in the promotion are part of the Atlanta-based Travel South USA, which is funded by state tourism agencies to lure visitors to the region. The organization has launched civilrightstrail.com and is placing advertisements in national magazines to promote the trail.
https://apnews.com/65c188db42cb4c0d98c0fd65a6fe332c/Southern-states-join-to-promote-civil-rights-tourism?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&stream=top-stories
Monday, January 15, 2018
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Medical Treatment of Black Women
An excerpt from Vox -
What Serena Williams’s scary childbirth story says about medical treatment of black women
Black women are often dismissed or ignored by medical care providers. Williams wasn’t an exception.
By P.R. Lockhart
A new Vogue profile of Serena Williams sheds light not only on the health risks that can come with childbirth, but also how those factors — coupled with racial bias in the medical field — can have dangerous, even life-threatening results for black women.
In Vogue’s February cover story, Williams recalls dealing with serious complications shortly after the recent birth of her daughter, Alexis Olympia. Williams explains that the problems started the day after her daughter’s birth by Cesarean section, when Williams felt short of breath. Due to her history of pulmonary embolisms (Williams underwent emergency treatment for a life-threatening embolism in 2011), the tennis star quickly alerted a nurse about her symptoms.
But the response wasn’t what she expected. Vogue writer Rob Haskell explains:
She walked out of the hospital room so her mother wouldn’t worry and told the nearest nurse, between gasps, that she needed a CT scan with contrast and IV heparin (a blood thinner) right away. The nurse thought her pain medicine might be making her confused. But Serena insisted, and soon enough a doctor was performing an ultrasound of her legs. “I was like, a Doppler? I told you, I need a CT scan and a heparin drip,” she remembers telling the team. The ultrasound revealed nothing, so they sent her for the CT, and sure enough, several small blood clots had settled in her lungs. Minutes later she was on the drip. “I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!”
Williams adds that she continued to have problems after this scare. Williams coughed frequently due to the embolisms, and the coughs were forceful enough to cause her C-section wound to rupture. When she went in for surgery, doctors found that a hematoma had filled her abdomen, a result of the blood thinners. A filter was placed into one her major veins to keep more blood clots from traveling to her lungs. When she finally returned home, Williams needed six weeks of bed rest.
https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/11/16879984/serena-williams-childbirth-scare-black-women
What Serena Williams’s scary childbirth story says about medical treatment of black women
Black women are often dismissed or ignored by medical care providers. Williams wasn’t an exception.
By P.R. Lockhart
A new Vogue profile of Serena Williams sheds light not only on the health risks that can come with childbirth, but also how those factors — coupled with racial bias in the medical field — can have dangerous, even life-threatening results for black women.
In Vogue’s February cover story, Williams recalls dealing with serious complications shortly after the recent birth of her daughter, Alexis Olympia. Williams explains that the problems started the day after her daughter’s birth by Cesarean section, when Williams felt short of breath. Due to her history of pulmonary embolisms (Williams underwent emergency treatment for a life-threatening embolism in 2011), the tennis star quickly alerted a nurse about her symptoms.
But the response wasn’t what she expected. Vogue writer Rob Haskell explains:
She walked out of the hospital room so her mother wouldn’t worry and told the nearest nurse, between gasps, that she needed a CT scan with contrast and IV heparin (a blood thinner) right away. The nurse thought her pain medicine might be making her confused. But Serena insisted, and soon enough a doctor was performing an ultrasound of her legs. “I was like, a Doppler? I told you, I need a CT scan and a heparin drip,” she remembers telling the team. The ultrasound revealed nothing, so they sent her for the CT, and sure enough, several small blood clots had settled in her lungs. Minutes later she was on the drip. “I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!”
Williams adds that she continued to have problems after this scare. Williams coughed frequently due to the embolisms, and the coughs were forceful enough to cause her C-section wound to rupture. When she went in for surgery, doctors found that a hematoma had filled her abdomen, a result of the blood thinners. A filter was placed into one her major veins to keep more blood clots from traveling to her lungs. When she finally returned home, Williams needed six weeks of bed rest.
https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/11/16879984/serena-williams-childbirth-scare-black-women
Friday, January 12, 2018
Yes Indeed!
From Very Smart Brothas -
10 Reasons I’m Glad I Was Raised in a Black Household
By Panama Jackson
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/10-reasons-i-m-glad-i-was-raised-in-a-black-household-1821891589
10 Reasons I’m Glad I Was Raised in a Black Household
By Panama Jackson
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/10-reasons-i-m-glad-i-was-raised-in-a-black-household-1821891589
A New Low
An excerpt from the New York Times -
‘The Lowest White Man’
By Charles M. Blow
Trumpism is a religion founded on patriarchy and white supremacy.
It is the belief that even the least qualified man is a better choice than the most qualified woman and a belief that the most vile, anti-intellectual, scandal-plagued simpleton of a white man is sufficient to follow in the presidential footsteps of the best educated, most eloquent, most affable black man.
As President Lyndon B. Johnson said in the 1960s to a young Bill Moyers: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
Trump’s supporters are saying to us, screaming to us, that although he may be the “lowest white man,” he is still better than Barack Obama, the “best colored man.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/opinion/trump-immigration-white-supremacy.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed
‘The Lowest White Man’
By Charles M. Blow
Trumpism is a religion founded on patriarchy and white supremacy.
It is the belief that even the least qualified man is a better choice than the most qualified woman and a belief that the most vile, anti-intellectual, scandal-plagued simpleton of a white man is sufficient to follow in the presidential footsteps of the best educated, most eloquent, most affable black man.
As President Lyndon B. Johnson said in the 1960s to a young Bill Moyers: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
Trump’s supporters are saying to us, screaming to us, that although he may be the “lowest white man,” he is still better than Barack Obama, the “best colored man.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/opinion/trump-immigration-white-supremacy.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Again?
From USA Today Network -
School's homework asked for 3 'good,' 3 bad reasons for slavery
By Darryl Enriquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Administrators at a Lutheran school here apologized Wednesday for a fourth-grade homework assignment that asked pupils to write "3 'good' reasons for slavery and 3 bad reasons."
Trameka Brown-Berry shared the assignment Tuesday on Facebook asking if others found it offensive. Her son, Jerome Berry, is a fourth-grader at Our Redeemer Lutheran School.
The post set off a cry from Facebook respondents and a community leader that the assignment was insensitive and offensive.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/01/10/slavery-homework-assignment/1022098001/
School's homework asked for 3 'good,' 3 bad reasons for slavery
By Darryl Enriquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Administrators at a Lutheran school here apologized Wednesday for a fourth-grade homework assignment that asked pupils to write "3 'good' reasons for slavery and 3 bad reasons."
Trameka Brown-Berry shared the assignment Tuesday on Facebook asking if others found it offensive. Her son, Jerome Berry, is a fourth-grader at Our Redeemer Lutheran School.
The post set off a cry from Facebook respondents and a community leader that the assignment was insensitive and offensive.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/01/10/slavery-homework-assignment/1022098001/
1968
From The Atlantic -
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/50-years-ago-in-photos-a-look-back-at-1968/550208/?utm_source=&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/50-years-ago-in-photos-a-look-back-at-1968/550208/?utm_source=&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
She's On Fire!
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
First Black Woman On U.S. Olympic Long-Track Skating Team Started Sport Only 4 Months Ago
Erin Jackson is black girl magic! ✨
By Taryn Finley
A 25-year-old long-track speed skater is gearing up for the 2018 Winter Olympics just four months after she first took to the ice.
Erin Jackson qualified for the U.S. team last Friday when she came in third place in trials for the 500-meter race behind two former Olympians, Brittany Bowe and Heather Bergsma.
The Florida resident finished her first run 39.22 seconds and clocked in at 39.04 in her second run. Jackson told NBC Sports that she was surprised she had made the squad.
“I really wasn’t expecting any of this, just coming in as a newbie, just trying to do the best I can,” Jackson said. “I still don’t even know.”
Jackson became the third black athlete to make a U.S. Olympic speedskating team, and the first black woman to qualify for the long-track competition.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/first-black-woman-to-compete-on-olympic-speed-ice-skating-team-picked-up-sport-4-months-ago_us_5a54ed65e4b0efe47ebd4ef7
First Black Woman On U.S. Olympic Long-Track Skating Team Started Sport Only 4 Months Ago
Erin Jackson is black girl magic! ✨
By Taryn Finley
A 25-year-old long-track speed skater is gearing up for the 2018 Winter Olympics just four months after she first took to the ice.
Erin Jackson qualified for the U.S. team last Friday when she came in third place in trials for the 500-meter race behind two former Olympians, Brittany Bowe and Heather Bergsma.
The Florida resident finished her first run 39.22 seconds and clocked in at 39.04 in her second run. Jackson told NBC Sports that she was surprised she had made the squad.
“I really wasn’t expecting any of this, just coming in as a newbie, just trying to do the best I can,” Jackson said. “I still don’t even know.”
Jackson became the third black athlete to make a U.S. Olympic speedskating team, and the first black woman to qualify for the long-track competition.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/first-black-woman-to-compete-on-olympic-speed-ice-skating-team-picked-up-sport-4-months-ago_us_5a54ed65e4b0efe47ebd4ef7
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
The Incredible Woman That Oprah Referenced
From Essence -
Recy Taylor: 12 Facts About The Brave Woman Whose Painful Story Inspired Everyone From Rosa Parks To Oprah
By RACHAELL DAVIS
https://www.essence.com/awards-events/red-carpet/golden-globes/recy-taylor-facts-oprah-winfrey
Recy Taylor: 12 Facts About The Brave Woman Whose Painful Story Inspired Everyone From Rosa Parks To Oprah
By RACHAELL DAVIS
https://www.essence.com/awards-events/red-carpet/golden-globes/recy-taylor-facts-oprah-winfrey
Monday, January 8, 2018
What Made It So Powerful
An excerpt from the New York Times -
What Politicians Could Learn from Oprah Winfrey
By JAMES PONIEWOZIK
But to argue that Ms. Winfrey should run for president — or shouldn’t — simply because she’s a celebrity oversimplifies the issue. Most celebrities would make terrible candidates. (No offense, Kid Rock.) The real consideration here is why Ms. Winfrey is a celebrity, and all those qualifications were on display in that speech.
It’s a master’s stage performance. It builds from kitchen confession to mountaintop thunder. It shifts perspective cinematically — close in on young Ms. Winfrey sitting on the linoleum floor, pull back to a panorama of America. It uses preacherly rhythms and even cliffhangers (“a young worker by the name of … Rosa Parks”).
But above all, it’s a story. And it’s a story about stories. It moves from the personal (young Ms. Winfrey watching Sidney Poitier win an Oscar) to the communal (women in Hollywood, and women working on farms and even “some pretty phenomenal men”). It links “your truth” and “absolute truth.” It tells the audience: I have my struggle, and I know you have yours, and that connects us all in the sweep of a global struggle.
Conventional politicians can do that too, though it’s not easy or common. Barack Obama was no one’s idea of a shoo-in when he announced his campaign. But he synthesized his biography (as the “kid with a funny name”), his country’s current struggles and an idea of generational social progress into one evocative narrative — change.
People are drawn to stories for a reason: In politics as in art, they say more than a list of bullet points.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/arts/television/oprah-winfrey-president-television.html?hpw&rref=television&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
What Politicians Could Learn from Oprah Winfrey
By JAMES PONIEWOZIK
But to argue that Ms. Winfrey should run for president — or shouldn’t — simply because she’s a celebrity oversimplifies the issue. Most celebrities would make terrible candidates. (No offense, Kid Rock.) The real consideration here is why Ms. Winfrey is a celebrity, and all those qualifications were on display in that speech.
It’s a master’s stage performance. It builds from kitchen confession to mountaintop thunder. It shifts perspective cinematically — close in on young Ms. Winfrey sitting on the linoleum floor, pull back to a panorama of America. It uses preacherly rhythms and even cliffhangers (“a young worker by the name of … Rosa Parks”).
But above all, it’s a story. And it’s a story about stories. It moves from the personal (young Ms. Winfrey watching Sidney Poitier win an Oscar) to the communal (women in Hollywood, and women working on farms and even “some pretty phenomenal men”). It links “your truth” and “absolute truth.” It tells the audience: I have my struggle, and I know you have yours, and that connects us all in the sweep of a global struggle.
Conventional politicians can do that too, though it’s not easy or common. Barack Obama was no one’s idea of a shoo-in when he announced his campaign. But he synthesized his biography (as the “kid with a funny name”), his country’s current struggles and an idea of generational social progress into one evocative narrative — change.
People are drawn to stories for a reason: In politics as in art, they say more than a list of bullet points.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/arts/television/oprah-winfrey-president-television.html?hpw&rref=television&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
Quote
Even Bill Kristol, newly woke, couldn’t resist joining in: “Oprah: Sounder on economics than Bernie Sanders, understands Middle America better than Elizabeth Warren, less touchy-feely than Joe Biden, more pleasant than Andrew Cuomo, more charismatic than John Hickenlooper. #ImWithHer.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/opinion/oprah-2020-president-globes.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/opinion/oprah-2020-president-globes.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
What Real Smart People Say About Themselves
From the Atlantic -
How Actual Smart People Talk About Themselves
Hint: not by discussing IQ
By JAMES FALLOWS
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/how-actual-smart-people-talk-about-themselves/549878/?utm_source=&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
~~~~~~~~~~
This article is too good to cheery pick.
Enjoy!
How Actual Smart People Talk About Themselves
Hint: not by discussing IQ
By JAMES FALLOWS
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/how-actual-smart-people-talk-about-themselves/549878/?utm_source=&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
~~~~~~~~~~
This article is too good to cheery pick.
Enjoy!
What Would He Do?
From the New Yorker -
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2018-01-15?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&stream=top-stories
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2018-01-15?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&stream=top-stories
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Harsh Treatment in the Middle East
An excerpt from the OZY -
RISING IN THE MIDDLE EAST: FORCED LABOR FROM AFRICA
By Laura Secorun Palet
It was a Wednesday afternoon in August 2017 and dozens of people were lining up on the platform of Noor Bank metro station, in Dubai. As the train approached, a man jumped in front of it.
The police report revealed he was a 36-year-old migrant worker from Uganda. His embassy said he was likely “frustrated” by poor working conditions, a local daily wrote a few paragraphs on the case, then the news moved on.
But the suicide only punctuated a widespread new pattern of labor exploitation of thousands of African migrant workers in the Persian Gulf States. A recent report by a Ugandan parliamentary committee revealed that, in 2017, at least 35 Ugandans killed themselves in the United Arab Emirates — mostly as a result of unpaid wages and abuse.
While continued international pressure on the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has managed to improve the working conditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian migrants, recruitment agencies are now moving on to Africa.
http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/rising-in-the-middle-east-forced-labor-from-africa/82554?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01072018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
RISING IN THE MIDDLE EAST: FORCED LABOR FROM AFRICA
By Laura Secorun Palet
It was a Wednesday afternoon in August 2017 and dozens of people were lining up on the platform of Noor Bank metro station, in Dubai. As the train approached, a man jumped in front of it.
The police report revealed he was a 36-year-old migrant worker from Uganda. His embassy said he was likely “frustrated” by poor working conditions, a local daily wrote a few paragraphs on the case, then the news moved on.
But the suicide only punctuated a widespread new pattern of labor exploitation of thousands of African migrant workers in the Persian Gulf States. A recent report by a Ugandan parliamentary committee revealed that, in 2017, at least 35 Ugandans killed themselves in the United Arab Emirates — mostly as a result of unpaid wages and abuse.
While continued international pressure on the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has managed to improve the working conditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian migrants, recruitment agencies are now moving on to Africa.
http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/rising-in-the-middle-east-forced-labor-from-africa/82554?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01072018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Getting Schooled on Prison Life
An excerpt from the OZY -
THE BEST BOOKS ON PRISON GANGS I READ WHILE SERVING TIME
By Seth Ferranti
When I first got locked up, in 1993, I didn’t know a thing about prison, so I had to learn fast. It was either that or end up on the wrong end of a shank. I had a release date, and I was intent on making it. Prison has its own parlance, unofficial rules and customs. As a guy from the suburbs, I needed to immerse myself in prison gang culture real quick. So I read a lot. By reading I gained insight into where the gangs were coming from, which I hoped would alleviate any potential problems. (By reading I also satisfied my insatiable appetite, which began in my youth, for the unknown and potentially dangerous.) Here are best of those books.
http://www.ozy.com/good-sht/the-best-books-on-prison-gangs-i-read-while-serving-time/82163?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01072018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
THE BEST BOOKS ON PRISON GANGS I READ WHILE SERVING TIME
By Seth Ferranti
When I first got locked up, in 1993, I didn’t know a thing about prison, so I had to learn fast. It was either that or end up on the wrong end of a shank. I had a release date, and I was intent on making it. Prison has its own parlance, unofficial rules and customs. As a guy from the suburbs, I needed to immerse myself in prison gang culture real quick. So I read a lot. By reading I gained insight into where the gangs were coming from, which I hoped would alleviate any potential problems. (By reading I also satisfied my insatiable appetite, which began in my youth, for the unknown and potentially dangerous.) Here are best of those books.
http://www.ozy.com/good-sht/the-best-books-on-prison-gangs-i-read-while-serving-time/82163?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01072018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Ingenious!
https://uw-media.ydr.com/video/embed/109179352?sitelabel=reimagine&platform=desktop&continuousplay=true&placement=uw-videoassetplayerhtml5&broadcastonly=true&pagetype=video-asset
Stepping Up
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
A school sought 50 men to stand in for absent fathers at ‘Breakfast with Dads’ — nearly 600 showed up
By Valerie Strauss
Something somewhat extraordinary happened last month at Billy Earl Dade Middle School in Dallas.
The school — with a student population of nearly 900, about 90 percent from low-income families — planned to host its first “Breakfast with Dads,” according to the Dallas Morning News. About 150 male students, ages 11 to 13, signed up. But event organizers were concerned that some would attend without a male figure at their side, so they put out a call for volunteers who could serve as mentors.
“When a young person sees someone other than their teacher take interest in them, it inspires them. That’s what we want to see happen,” the Rev. Donald Parish Jr., pastor of True Lee Missionary Baptist Church and the event organizer, told the Morning News.
A call for volunteers by children’s advocate Kristina Chäadé Dove — who has served on what is called a site-based decision-making team for the middle school — was published on social media in early December.
When the day came for the event, nearly 600 men showed up to help and mentor the boys, some of them volunteering for the first time.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/01/06/a-school-sought-50-men-to-stand-in-for-absent-fathers-at-breakfast-with-dads-nearly-600-showed-up/?utm_term=.11c622323ae2
A school sought 50 men to stand in for absent fathers at ‘Breakfast with Dads’ — nearly 600 showed up
By Valerie Strauss
Something somewhat extraordinary happened last month at Billy Earl Dade Middle School in Dallas.
The school — with a student population of nearly 900, about 90 percent from low-income families — planned to host its first “Breakfast with Dads,” according to the Dallas Morning News. About 150 male students, ages 11 to 13, signed up. But event organizers were concerned that some would attend without a male figure at their side, so they put out a call for volunteers who could serve as mentors.
“When a young person sees someone other than their teacher take interest in them, it inspires them. That’s what we want to see happen,” the Rev. Donald Parish Jr., pastor of True Lee Missionary Baptist Church and the event organizer, told the Morning News.
A call for volunteers by children’s advocate Kristina Chäadé Dove — who has served on what is called a site-based decision-making team for the middle school — was published on social media in early December.
When the day came for the event, nearly 600 men showed up to help and mentor the boys, some of them volunteering for the first time.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/01/06/a-school-sought-50-men-to-stand-in-for-absent-fathers-at-breakfast-with-dads-nearly-600-showed-up/?utm_term=.11c622323ae2
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Shoveling While Black
An excerpt from The Atlantic -
I Was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway
A retired Major League Baseball player explains how he's trying to turn an upsetting encounter with the police into an opportunity for dialogue.
By DOUG GLANVILLE
A police officer from West Hartford had pulled up across the street, exited his vehicle, and begun walking in my direction. I noted the strangeness of his being in Hartford—an entirely separate town with its own police force—so I thought he needed help. He approached me with purpose, and then, without any introduction or explanation he asked, “So, you trying to make a few extra bucks, shoveling people’s driveways around here?”
All of my homeowner confidence suddenly seemed like an illusion.
It would have been all too easy to play the “Do you know who I am?” game. My late father was an immigrant from Trinidad who enrolled at Howard University at age 31 and went on to become a psychiatrist. My mother was an important education reformer from the South. I graduated from an Ivy League school with an engineering degree, only to get selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. I went on to play professionally for nearly 15 years, retiring into business then going on to write a book and a column for The New York Times. Today, I work at ESPN in another American dream job that lets me file my taxes under the description “baseball analyst.”
But I didn't mention any of this to the officer. I tried to take his question at face value, explaining that the Old Tudor house behind me was my own. The more I talked, the more senseless it seemed that I was even answering the question. But I knew I wouldn’t be smiling anymore that day.
After a few minutes, he headed back to his vehicle. He offered no apology, just an empty encouragement to enjoy my shoveling. And then he was gone.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/04/i-was-racially-profiled-in-my-own-driveway/360615/?utm_source=&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
I Was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway
A retired Major League Baseball player explains how he's trying to turn an upsetting encounter with the police into an opportunity for dialogue.
By DOUG GLANVILLE
A police officer from West Hartford had pulled up across the street, exited his vehicle, and begun walking in my direction. I noted the strangeness of his being in Hartford—an entirely separate town with its own police force—so I thought he needed help. He approached me with purpose, and then, without any introduction or explanation he asked, “So, you trying to make a few extra bucks, shoveling people’s driveways around here?”
All of my homeowner confidence suddenly seemed like an illusion.
It would have been all too easy to play the “Do you know who I am?” game. My late father was an immigrant from Trinidad who enrolled at Howard University at age 31 and went on to become a psychiatrist. My mother was an important education reformer from the South. I graduated from an Ivy League school with an engineering degree, only to get selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. I went on to play professionally for nearly 15 years, retiring into business then going on to write a book and a column for The New York Times. Today, I work at ESPN in another American dream job that lets me file my taxes under the description “baseball analyst.”
But I didn't mention any of this to the officer. I tried to take his question at face value, explaining that the Old Tudor house behind me was my own. The more I talked, the more senseless it seemed that I was even answering the question. But I knew I wouldn’t be smiling anymore that day.
After a few minutes, he headed back to his vehicle. He offered no apology, just an empty encouragement to enjoy my shoveling. And then he was gone.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/04/i-was-racially-profiled-in-my-own-driveway/360615/?utm_source=&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
Shipping Container Homes
From the Travel Channel -
http://www.travelchannel.com/interests/travels-best/photos/11-creative-shipping-container-homes-around-the-u-s
http://www.travelchannel.com/interests/travels-best/photos/11-creative-shipping-container-homes-around-the-u-s
Carpet Stain Remover Art
.@NathanWyburnArt created a celebrity artwork of Harry & Meghan, using @DrBeckmannUK Carpet Stain Remover! He used our award-winning product to clean a stained carpet to reveal a portrait of the glamorous royal couple 😍— Dr Beckmann (@DrBeckmannUK) January 5, 2018
RT+F to #win this amazing product and try it yourself! pic.twitter.com/aiM6GrJm2a
Friday, January 5, 2018
Experiencing Prejudice
An excerpt from E! News -
Jennifer Hudson Reveals How She Experiences Prejudice on a Regular Basis
by MIKE VULPO
Just because she's a celebrity doesn't mean Jennifer Hudson is exempt from experiencing prejudice.
While the Oscar-winning actress and powerful singer has found huge success in such a competitive industry, The Voice coach can't forget some occasions where she felt less than.
"There have been several situations where I get on a plane and [the air steward] assumes that I'm [meant to be] in the back of the plane," Jennifer recalled in the February issue of Cosmopolitan UK. "That happens a lot. I'm like ‘No, my seat is up there [in first class], thank you.'"
In fact, some of the prejudice Jennifer experiences happens at her house.
"People also assume that my home belongs to my white driver, Charles. One time, I was having something moved into my house and they wanted to know where to put it. I said, ‘There.' [The removal man] just stood there," she recalled. "When Charles came in, he asked him, ‘So where would you like these things?' Charles said, ‘She said she wanted it right there. You're talking to the wrong person.'"
http://www.eonline.com/news/903851/jennifer-hudson-reveals-how-she-experiences-prejudice-on-a-regular-basis
Jennifer Hudson Reveals How She Experiences Prejudice on a Regular Basis
by MIKE VULPO
Just because she's a celebrity doesn't mean Jennifer Hudson is exempt from experiencing prejudice.
While the Oscar-winning actress and powerful singer has found huge success in such a competitive industry, The Voice coach can't forget some occasions where she felt less than.
"There have been several situations where I get on a plane and [the air steward] assumes that I'm [meant to be] in the back of the plane," Jennifer recalled in the February issue of Cosmopolitan UK. "That happens a lot. I'm like ‘No, my seat is up there [in first class], thank you.'"
In fact, some of the prejudice Jennifer experiences happens at her house.
"People also assume that my home belongs to my white driver, Charles. One time, I was having something moved into my house and they wanted to know where to put it. I said, ‘There.' [The removal man] just stood there," she recalled. "When Charles came in, he asked him, ‘So where would you like these things?' Charles said, ‘She said she wanted it right there. You're talking to the wrong person.'"
http://www.eonline.com/news/903851/jennifer-hudson-reveals-how-she-experiences-prejudice-on-a-regular-basis
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Natural Glory
From Creative Soul Photography, Atlanta - Afro Art
http://creativesoulphoto.com/afroart-series/
http://creativesoulphoto.com/afroart-series/
Poor Oregonians
From the Huffington Post -
Internet Trolls Oregonians After Self-Serve Gas Law Takes Effect
“Apparently there’s an entire state of people in America who are incapable of filling their own car with petrol.”
By David Lohr
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-self-serve-gas-law-comments_us_5a4bafdde4b0b0e5a7a8dab5?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Internet Trolls Oregonians After Self-Serve Gas Law Takes Effect
“Apparently there’s an entire state of people in America who are incapable of filling their own car with petrol.”
By David Lohr
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-self-serve-gas-law-comments_us_5a4bafdde4b0b0e5a7a8dab5?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Fixing "Oh Sh*t"
An excerpt from OZY -
HIT 'SEND' TOO FAST? THIS ENTREPRENEUR HAS A FIX FOR THAT
By Lisa Rabasca Roepe
Maci Peterson knows too well the potentially disastrous consequences of sending a text to the wrong person or firing off an email whose meaning gets lost in transit. When autocorrect altered a text she sent to her then boyfriend — and she couldn’t figure out how to retrieve it — she set her sights on solving a universal problem.
Her solution was the basis for On Second Thought, a Silicon Valley company Peterson founded in 2014, after winning the #StartupOasis pitch competition at South by Southwest. Initially, it was the only company offering a texting app that allows users to recall messages before they get delivered. Since then, a number of competitors have cropped up, including RakEM and unSend.it.
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/hit-send-too-fast-this-entrepreneur-has-a-fix-for-that/81126?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01032018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
HIT 'SEND' TOO FAST? THIS ENTREPRENEUR HAS A FIX FOR THAT
By Lisa Rabasca Roepe
 |
| Maci Peterson |
Maci Peterson knows too well the potentially disastrous consequences of sending a text to the wrong person or firing off an email whose meaning gets lost in transit. When autocorrect altered a text she sent to her then boyfriend — and she couldn’t figure out how to retrieve it — she set her sights on solving a universal problem.
Her solution was the basis for On Second Thought, a Silicon Valley company Peterson founded in 2014, after winning the #StartupOasis pitch competition at South by Southwest. Initially, it was the only company offering a texting app that allows users to recall messages before they get delivered. Since then, a number of competitors have cropped up, including RakEM and unSend.it.
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/hit-send-too-fast-this-entrepreneur-has-a-fix-for-that/81126?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01032018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
The Secret Chinese Restaurant in Madrid
An excerpt from OZY -
THE SECRET CHINESE RESTAURANT IN AN UNDERGROUND CAR PARK IN MADRID
By Melissa Kitson
Good Chinese can be hard to find in any city. In Madrid, it’s extra difficult. You don’t just need to know the place; you need to know how to find it. For example, Zhou Yulong — widely considered to be Madrid’s best Chinese restaurant — is hidden in an underground car park in the city’s center.
But don’t think about asking for directions. No one calls the restaurant by its name. Instead it’s known as el chino secreto, el chino subterráneo or even the Blade Runner restaurant. It’s best to go with a regular; otherwise the instructions are a little confusing, like: Follow the dingy staircase to a dingy corridor. Walk past the entrance to the car park. There, opposite the industrial lift, you’ll see Zhou Yulong.
http://www.ozy.com/good-sht/the-secret-chinese-restaurant-in-an-underground-car-park-in-madrid/82383?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01022018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
THE SECRET CHINESE RESTAURANT IN AN UNDERGROUND CAR PARK IN MADRID
By Melissa Kitson
Good Chinese can be hard to find in any city. In Madrid, it’s extra difficult. You don’t just need to know the place; you need to know how to find it. For example, Zhou Yulong — widely considered to be Madrid’s best Chinese restaurant — is hidden in an underground car park in the city’s center.
But don’t think about asking for directions. No one calls the restaurant by its name. Instead it’s known as el chino secreto, el chino subterráneo or even the Blade Runner restaurant. It’s best to go with a regular; otherwise the instructions are a little confusing, like: Follow the dingy staircase to a dingy corridor. Walk past the entrance to the car park. There, opposite the industrial lift, you’ll see Zhou Yulong.
http://www.ozy.com/good-sht/the-secret-chinese-restaurant-in-an-underground-car-park-in-madrid/82383?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01022018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Cutting Edge Biochemist
An excerpt from OZY -
CAN THIS BIOCHEMIST BYPASS ORGAN DONORS?
By Tafline Laylin
I follow Kevin Dzobo to the cafeteria at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town, where his young son, Kevin Jr., sits absorbed in his tablet. They both seem eager to get on with their Saturday, yet the stem cell researcher patiently indulges my questions about his work in regenerative medicine. Dzobo, one of 16 emergent African scientists to be awarded the prestigious Next Einstein Forum fellowship for 2017–19, is chipping away at potentially groundbreaking medical research that could one day give humans what the humble salamander already has: the ability to regenerate their own tissue and organs.
Dzobo, 42, detours from discussing the details of his work to mention the nearby Groote Schuur Hospital — the site, in 1967, of a stunning advancement in human medicine when Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant. Yet barriers to organ transplantation remain, says Dzobo, like locating a donor or a match. “What we’re trying to do is come up with ways to find this endless supply of organs and tissue,” explains the senior research scientist with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and lecturer at UCT’s Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences.
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/can-this-biochemist-bypass-organ-donors/81979?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01022018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
CAN THIS BIOCHEMIST BYPASS ORGAN DONORS?
By Tafline Laylin
I follow Kevin Dzobo to the cafeteria at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town, where his young son, Kevin Jr., sits absorbed in his tablet. They both seem eager to get on with their Saturday, yet the stem cell researcher patiently indulges my questions about his work in regenerative medicine. Dzobo, one of 16 emergent African scientists to be awarded the prestigious Next Einstein Forum fellowship for 2017–19, is chipping away at potentially groundbreaking medical research that could one day give humans what the humble salamander already has: the ability to regenerate their own tissue and organs.
Dzobo, 42, detours from discussing the details of his work to mention the nearby Groote Schuur Hospital — the site, in 1967, of a stunning advancement in human medicine when Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant. Yet barriers to organ transplantation remain, says Dzobo, like locating a donor or a match. “What we’re trying to do is come up with ways to find this endless supply of organs and tissue,” explains the senior research scientist with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and lecturer at UCT’s Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences.
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/can-this-biochemist-bypass-organ-donors/81979?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01022018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Monday, January 1, 2018
Best Pancakes
From Buzzfeed -
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jesseszewczyk/best-pancake-recipe?utm_term=.scGnpMXPk#.cxY0A4OBd
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jesseszewczyk/best-pancake-recipe?utm_term=.scGnpMXPk#.cxY0A4OBd
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Great Teams Share These Traits
An excerpt from INC -
Google Spent 2 Years Studying 180 Teams. The Most Successful Ones Shared These 5 Traits
Insights from Google's new study could forever change how teams are assembled.
By Michael Schneider
Over the years, Google has embarked on countless quests, collected endless amounts of data, and spent millions trying to better understand its people. One of the company's most interesting initiatives, Project Aristotle, gathered several of Google's best and brightest to help the organization codify the secrets to team effectiveness.
Specifically, Google wanted to know why some teams excelled while others fell behind.
Before this study, like many other organizations, Google execs believed that building the best teams meant compiling the best people. It makes sense. The best engineer plus an MBA, throw in a PhD, and there you have it. The perfect team, right? In the words of Julia Rozovsky, Google's people analytics manager, "We were dead wrong."
~~~~~~~~~~
Through Google's Re:Work website, a resource that shares Google's research, ideas, and practices on people operations, Rozovsky outlined the five key characteristics of enhanced teams.
1. Dependability.
Team members get things done on time and meet expectations.
2. Structure and clarity.
High-performing teams have clear goals, and have well-defined roles within the group.
https://www.inc.com/michael-schneider/google-thought-they-knew-how-to-create-the-perfect.html
Google Spent 2 Years Studying 180 Teams. The Most Successful Ones Shared These 5 Traits
Insights from Google's new study could forever change how teams are assembled.
By Michael Schneider
Over the years, Google has embarked on countless quests, collected endless amounts of data, and spent millions trying to better understand its people. One of the company's most interesting initiatives, Project Aristotle, gathered several of Google's best and brightest to help the organization codify the secrets to team effectiveness.
Specifically, Google wanted to know why some teams excelled while others fell behind.
Before this study, like many other organizations, Google execs believed that building the best teams meant compiling the best people. It makes sense. The best engineer plus an MBA, throw in a PhD, and there you have it. The perfect team, right? In the words of Julia Rozovsky, Google's people analytics manager, "We were dead wrong."
~~~~~~~~~~
Through Google's Re:Work website, a resource that shares Google's research, ideas, and practices on people operations, Rozovsky outlined the five key characteristics of enhanced teams.
1. Dependability.
Team members get things done on time and meet expectations.
2. Structure and clarity.
High-performing teams have clear goals, and have well-defined roles within the group.
https://www.inc.com/michael-schneider/google-thought-they-knew-how-to-create-the-perfect.html
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Friday, December 29, 2017
Flipping the Script
An excerpt from OZY -
TRAP KITCHEN LA: WHERE FORMER GANG RIVALS COOK FOR KENDRICK AND KOBE
By Jemayel Khawaja
When I first talk to Malachi “Spankihanas” Jenkins, he’s cooking up pineapples and lobster at Snoop Dogg’s compound in Inglewood, California. He and his partner, Roberto “News” Smith, are two of the unlikeliest hot (and haute) chefs in American cuisine right now. Over the past few months, Jenkins and Smith have cooked for everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Kobe Bryant, seen their business triple in revenue in 2016 alone and become local celebrities in their south Los Angeles neighborhood.
Jenkins and Smith’s upstart, Trap Kitchen LA, is a plate-by-plate catering service started in 2013 in a cramped apartment kitchen in Compton. Alongside the likes of Bronx-based culinary upstarts Ghetto Gastro, Trap Kitchen is flipping the script on not just soul food, but the whole restaurant industry. They cook for locals and celebrities alike, charging $10 a plate and selling upward of 100 meals every day, all with a staff of just two and headquarters in home kitchens.
~~~~~~~~~~
A few years ago, Jenkins and Smith were on a very different path. After moving to south LA from the west side as a kid, Jenkins learned to cook by making dinner for his younger sister while their single mom worked late. Although officially in Crips territory, he skirted gang affiliation because of his mother, who earned Malachi the name “Spanky” — she would physically drag him home if he stayed out too late. As a youth, Jenkins made acquaintances with a kid named “Bad News” Smith, a distant relative from a friendlier branch of the opposing Piru Blood faction. As young adults, the guys bounced through uninspiring jobs as cashiers, auto detailers and ice cream men, and hustled everything from jewelry to hair weaves to drugs, racking up arrests for petty crimes and narcotics possession in the process.
At the same time, Jenkins had eyes set on a different future. He enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas. But he couldn’t quite leave his ’hood. While visiting home in 2010, Malachi witnessed his friend’s murder by gunshot during a gang-related scuffle. It stuck with him. After a period of exile in Portland, he realized escaping LA wasn’t the answer — changing it was. In 2013, Jenkins reconnected with Smith, who was fresh out of jail for marijuana possession and looking for a way to turn his street hustle legitimate, even removing the “Bad” prefix from his street name as a signal of his intent. Together they formed Trap Kitchen; its name is an acronym for “Take Risks and Prosper.”
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/trap-kitchen-la-where-former-gang-rivals-cook-for-kendrick-and-kobe/72254?utm_source=weeklydose&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12292017&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
TRAP KITCHEN LA: WHERE FORMER GANG RIVALS COOK FOR KENDRICK AND KOBE
By Jemayel Khawaja
When I first talk to Malachi “Spankihanas” Jenkins, he’s cooking up pineapples and lobster at Snoop Dogg’s compound in Inglewood, California. He and his partner, Roberto “News” Smith, are two of the unlikeliest hot (and haute) chefs in American cuisine right now. Over the past few months, Jenkins and Smith have cooked for everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Kobe Bryant, seen their business triple in revenue in 2016 alone and become local celebrities in their south Los Angeles neighborhood.
Jenkins and Smith’s upstart, Trap Kitchen LA, is a plate-by-plate catering service started in 2013 in a cramped apartment kitchen in Compton. Alongside the likes of Bronx-based culinary upstarts Ghetto Gastro, Trap Kitchen is flipping the script on not just soul food, but the whole restaurant industry. They cook for locals and celebrities alike, charging $10 a plate and selling upward of 100 meals every day, all with a staff of just two and headquarters in home kitchens.
~~~~~~~~~~
A few years ago, Jenkins and Smith were on a very different path. After moving to south LA from the west side as a kid, Jenkins learned to cook by making dinner for his younger sister while their single mom worked late. Although officially in Crips territory, he skirted gang affiliation because of his mother, who earned Malachi the name “Spanky” — she would physically drag him home if he stayed out too late. As a youth, Jenkins made acquaintances with a kid named “Bad News” Smith, a distant relative from a friendlier branch of the opposing Piru Blood faction. As young adults, the guys bounced through uninspiring jobs as cashiers, auto detailers and ice cream men, and hustled everything from jewelry to hair weaves to drugs, racking up arrests for petty crimes and narcotics possession in the process.
At the same time, Jenkins had eyes set on a different future. He enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas. But he couldn’t quite leave his ’hood. While visiting home in 2010, Malachi witnessed his friend’s murder by gunshot during a gang-related scuffle. It stuck with him. After a period of exile in Portland, he realized escaping LA wasn’t the answer — changing it was. In 2013, Jenkins reconnected with Smith, who was fresh out of jail for marijuana possession and looking for a way to turn his street hustle legitimate, even removing the “Bad” prefix from his street name as a signal of his intent. Together they formed Trap Kitchen; its name is an acronym for “Take Risks and Prosper.”
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/trap-kitchen-la-where-former-gang-rivals-cook-for-kendrick-and-kobe/72254?utm_source=weeklydose&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12292017&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
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