Monday, February 15, 2021
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!
 |
| 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/
Monday, January 18, 2021
Sunday, January 10, 2021
From Quarterback to Chaplain
An excerpt from InsideHook -
Randall Cunningham Makes Move From Quarterback to Chaplain
He's now addressing the spiritual needs of the Las Vegas Raiders
BY TOBIAS CARROLL
Writing at The New York Times, Kalyn Kahler explored how Cunnngham’s life after his playing days had ended eludes each comparisons. Kahler writes about how Cunninghm and his wife Felicity settled in Las Vegas — where Cunningham had an outstanding collegiate career — in 2002. In 2004, he was ordained as a pastor.
The idea to bring in Cunningham as the Raiders’ chaplain came about when the team moved to Las Vegas. Raiders coach Jon Gruden — whose time as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator had overlapped with Cunningham’s time playing in Philadelphia — came up with the idea. “That guy warms my heart,” Gruden told the Times.
Stevie Wonder Could See the Difference
From Buzzfeed -
32 Pictures that Show The Huge Difference Between The "Protests" At The Capitol Vs. The Black Lives Matter Protests - Spot the difference.
by Matt Stopera & Dave Stopera - BuzzFeed Staff
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/pictures-from-capitol-vs-2020
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Too Cute!
From Bored Panda -
Mom Makes Fun Of Her Model Brother By Having Her Toddler Recreate His Poses, And Result Is Hilariously Adorable (45 New Pics)
By Hidrėlėy
https://www.boredpanda.com/baby-copies-uncle-model-poses-babyandthebody/
Sunday, December 27, 2020
How The Multi-Billion Dollar HOT CHEETOS Idea Was Born! (Creator, Richar...
🗣 @dionnewarwick pic.twitter.com/Hrl3QTnFIP
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 21, 2020
🗣 @lauren_lablue pic.twitter.com/gbzG3ukvxK
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 21, 2020
An Unexpected Blessing, Year After Year
An excerpt from USA Today -
Decades ago, a mystery man spent thousands to give an Ohio family 'a nice visit from Santa Claus'
By Mark J. Price, Akron Beacon Journal
 |
| Mary Arnold sits at a table with her nine children on Dec. 23, 1955, to look for gift ideas in the Beacon Journal after receiving $100 from a mysterious benefactor in Akron. The kids, from left, are Carla, 3, Gary, 5, Mona, 9, Gale, 8, Cathy, 14, Donna, 7 months, Gerald 2, John 7, and Royal 11. Beacon Journal File Photo |
AKRON, Ohio — Santa Claus really did exist.
Helen Arnold met him unexpectedly in 1953 while shopping at Polsky’s department store in downtown Akron.
The brief encounter changed her family's lives. From that year to 1965, the Arnolds had a generous secret Santa at Christmastime.
With her weekly pay as a dishwasher, Helen had only $37 to spend on gifts in 1953. Her husband, Roy, had been laid off from the Akron Sanitation Department, and the couple had eight kids — Cathy, Royal, Mona, Gale, John, Gary, Carla, and Gerald — and would soon welcome a ninth, Donna. A 10th child, Marsha, had died as a baby.
They resided in a small home below a nearby bridge. In addition to the family of 10, Helen’s parents, brother, two sisters, and their three children also lived there.
Royal Arnold, 76, of Akron understood that it was a struggle for his parents to pay the bills. He even offered to make do with less so that his siblings might have more.
“I remember telling her that ‘If you don’t have enough to get me a Christmas gift, don’t worry about it,’” he said.
Royal was 9 years old in 1953 when he and three siblings accompanied their mom to Polsky’s. They were browsing the bargain basement when a stranger approached them.
“Are these your children?” the man asked Helen. “They’re lovely children and well-behaved.”
Before Helen knew what was happening, the stranger placed a $20 bill in her hand and said: “Buy them something nice for Christmas.”
He then disappeared into the bustling crowd. It happened so fast that Helen didn’t get a good look at him, but she later described him as short, white and slim, maybe 50 years old with graying brown hair.
“All I remember is holding my mother’s hand and my mother was shocked,” Royal said.
It was a Christmas miracle. Helen went home that night and jotted a note to the Akron Beacon Journal, now part of the USA TODAY Network:
(This is Faye. Please click the link for the rest of the story. It gets better and better.).
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/24/secret-santa-helped-akron-ohio-family-christmas-over-decade/4010569001/
Patient asks if I can also fix teddy bear just before being put off to sleep... how could I say no? pic.twitter.com/WOKFc5zr91
— P. Daniel McNeely (@pdmcneely) September 30, 2018
He Created Science Kits for Kids
An excerpt from CNN -
This California teen started a nonprofit to help kids learn about science. He just got accepted into Stanford
By Simret Aklilu, CNN
(CNN)Every year, high school seniors anxiously wait for college admissions letters, hoping they get accepted into their dream schools. Ahmed Muhammad was one of them.
So when Muhammad got accepted into Stanford University, he was delighted. "It was a dream come true," Muhammad told CNN. "It still doesn't feel real."
He will become a first-generation college student.
Over the course of his high school career at Oakland Technical, the California native has taken nine college classes on top of his high school workload -- no small feat for a senior who not only tutors students and plays as point guard for his school's varsity basketball team, but also runs a nonprofit that designs science kits for kids.
The nonprofit, Kits Cubed, became the main focus of his personal statement for Stanford University.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/25/us/cali-teen-science-stanford-trnd/index.html
A 19 year old + A Billionaire = A Christmas Miracle
An excerpt from the Chicago Sun-Times -
How a young woman on Chicago’s West Side infused a billionaire with the Christmas spirit of giving
But in a fairer society, there would be so much less need for charitable giving to begin with.
By CST Editorial Board
At the end of a year that has seen particular hardships and struggles, hundreds of charitable organizations working to ease the pain got early Christmas gifts in the form of surprise multimillion dollar donations.
The money — some $4.2 billion in the last four months — was donated to 384 organizations across the country by the philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, and she says her inspiration was a young Black woman on Chicago’s West Side, Alycia Kamil.
“In March, a 19-year-old girl in Chicago sent a group text to her friends suggesting they buy supplies for people in their neighborhood who had lost their jobs,” Scott, the former wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, wrote recently, expressing her admiration for Kamil. “She posted two Google forms — one for people who needed help and another for people with help to give — and by two days later they’d raised $7,000.”
Two days. That’s all it took. And with that money, Kamil and her friends were able to deliver $200 to $300 worth of groceries to 30 families.
“I wanted to do a more hands-on thing to be considerate of the people who, even if they get the money, they have to take the bus and then bring all these groceries on the bus,” Kamil told USA Today. “It’s about the importance of understanding communal living. We should all be able to resource and depend on each other.”
We can’t think of a better expression of the Christmas and holiday spirit. But it’s a reminder, as well, of the great and growing wealth inequality in our country, made worse by the pandemic, that makes such charitable giving so necessary.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/12/24/22197522/alycia-kamil-chicago-mackenzie-scott-donation-editorial
The Black Wall Street Massacre
An excerpt from the NY Times -
The Haunting of Tulsa, Okla.
A recently unearthed mass grave may soon provide answers about what happened to victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
By Brent Staples
The Tulsa, Okla., police department set the stage for mass murder in the spring of 1921 when it deputized members of a mob that invaded and destroyed the prosperous Black enclave of Greenwood. The armed marauders who swept into the community in the early hours of June 1 wreaked havoc in the spirit of a police directive that urged white Tulsans to “Get a gun, and get busy and try to get a nigger.”
They murdered at will while forcing Black families from their homes. They looted valuables that included jewelry, furs and fine furnishings. They used torches and oil-soaked rags to set fires that incinerated homes, churches, doctors’ offices, hotels and other businesses across an area of 35 square blocks.
The first day of June was less eventful on the other side of the tracks, in white Tulsa’s business district. In his 1968 memoir, “Oklahoma Boy,” Ross Warner recalls that his work took him to the First National Bank building, on the corner of Fourth Street and Main. “From time to time on June 1,” he writes, “we heard sirens and, on looking out of the window, saw trucks headed south on Main Street with Negro bodies in them. We saw at least 30 or 40 hauled away in this fashion.”
A few years after the appearance of “Oklahoma Boy,” the Tulsa County undersheriff, E.W. Maxey, told a local historian that as a teenager he, too, had been present on Main Street that day in 1921. He recalled seeing five or six trucks moving up the street carrying Black bodies “stacked up like cordwood.” He had no idea where the dead were taken but presumed they were being hauled “out somewhere” to be disposed of in ditches.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/opinion/tulsa-race-massacre-mass-grave.html?referringSource=articleShare
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Black Men Have the Shortest Lifespans of Any Americans. This Theory Expl...
The Skepticism is Justified
An excerpt from the New Yorker -
African-American Resistance to the COVID-19 Vaccine Reflects a Broader Problem
By Jelani Cobb
Yet, for Black America, the story extends far beyond Trump. In September, when Walter Kimbrough, the president of Dillard University, a historically black institution in Louisiana, announced that he had volunteered for a vaccine trial, and encouraged his students do likewise, the Internet exploded with references to the Tuskegee experiment. In that four-decade-long medical scheme, which began in 1932, nearly four hundred African-American men with syphilis were led to believe that they were receiving treatment, but were, in fact, left untreated, so that doctors could chart the course of the disease. In the nearly fifty years since the experiment was exposed, it has become a central reference point for understanding Black Americans’ relationship to the medical establishment. The story of Henrietta Lacks—a Black woman who died in 1951 of cervical cancer, and whose cancerous cells had been harvested for research, without her knowledge, by Johns Hopkins Hospital, replicated, sent to labs around the world, and later sold commercially—has likewise become shorthand for medical exploitation. That history, chronicled in works such as Harriet Washington’s “Medical Apartheid” and Dorothy Roberts’s “Killing the Black Body,” is, in part, what hampered efforts to recruit African-American volunteers for the trials, and now hampers efforts to get African-Americans vaccinated.
In this context, conversations about the vaccine are inevitably balancing acts between the unknown likelihood of contracting, or succumbing to, the virus and the known medical history of the African-American population. Such concerns are not walled-off by discipline, which is why the coercive approach of the N.Y.P.D. this spring, and the events that sparked the months of Black Lives Matter protests this summer, also contribute to a broader skepticism about—if not the science itself—the good faith of the system in which it exists. On Monday, Thomas Fisher, a Black E.R. physician at the University of Chicago Medicine, told me that “our essential people are getting sick, but being pushed to deliver food and drive Ubers, and things like that, without P.P.E.” He added, “It’s hard to imagine that we won’t also reflect maybe these same inequities with the distribution and uptake of this vaccine.”
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/african-american-resistance-to-the-covid-19-vaccine-reflects-a-broader-problem
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Great Chocolate Muffin Recipe
An excerpt from Mashed -
These Costco copycat chocolate muffins are better than the real thing
By Molly Allen
Biting into a Costco muffin is an experience like no other. The texture is on point, the flavor is great, and they're huge. They're perfect for sharing or munching on all morning long. And while the blueberry and poppy seed versions are delicious options in their own right, there's just something so incredible about Costco's chocolate muffins.
Now, you can reproduce those giant, moist, and flavorful chocolate muffins in your own kitchen with this recipe. With just a handful of ingredients, a few minutes of your time, and a whole lot of chocolate chips, you'll have freshly baked Costco copycat chocolate muffins ready at home in no time.
Read More: https://www.mashed.com/290597/costco-copycat-chocolate-muffins/?utm_campaign=clip
Job Hunting Advice
An excerpt from CNBC -
If you say any of these 6 things during the job interview, don’t expect to get an offer: Career expert
By J.T. O’Donnell, Contributor
Each and every little thing you say (yes, even just one sentence) during a job interview shapes whether or not a hiring manager thinks you are a strong fit for the job.
And sometimes, it may be tempting to give an answer that felt right at the time, but in hindsight was extremely poor and made you seem weak or average. That’s why it’s important to remind yourself in advance of what to resist saying.
Here are six responses to avoid if you want to boost your chances of landing an offer, along with tips and examples of what to say instead:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/15/if-you-say-any-of-these-things-during-job-interview-dont-expect-an-offer-says-career-expert.html
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Beware of Mad Men
An excerpt from OkayPlayer -
Chris Rock On Joe Biden’s Election Win: “I Wasn’t Jumping For Joy”
By Elijah Watson
“You know, Donald Trump did this thing… Like, when security companies build new locks or security systems, they hire crooks to show you the weaknesses of the system. Well, Donald Trump showed us the weakness of our government,” Rock said. “Now, it’s up to Joe Biden and Congress and the Senate to get rid of those weaknesses—to instill safeguards that actually protect us from unqualified, mad men and mad women, so that we never have to be at the mercy of a person that does not exhibit empathy and competence.”
https://www.okayplayer.com/news/chris-rock-joe-biden-election-win-fargo.html
Thursday, December 10, 2020
We’ve teamed up with @Kaepernick7! Introducing Change the Whirled Non-Dairy, the flavor that's supporting the fight to dismantle systems of oppression and empower Black and Brown people. Coming to freezers in 2021! Learn more: https://t.co/7c0Se2vut4 pic.twitter.com/LY90ObEwCj
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) December 10, 2020
A Dog Walks Into A Walmart . . .
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
A dog was missing for weeks. Then it wandered into Walmart and found its owner working at the register.
By Sydney Page
June Rountree and her husband circled their neighborhood night after night looking for their beloved lost dog Abby.
Rountree, 60, realized the dog was missing Nov. 8, when she went to the backyard of their home in Dothan, Ala., and instead of seeing her 4-year-old black-and-white dog, she was horrified to see only Abby’s collar and leash, which was secured to a ground stake.
Despite their efforts, there was no sign of Abby, and the Rountrees were beginning to lose hope.
Three weeks later, an unlikely and perhaps miraculous turn of events left them convinced Abby is either the luckiest or the smartest dog in town.
Rountree, a longtime cashier at Walmart, was busy working her regular shift at register No. 6 on Nov. 28.
She heard a commotion, then looked up and saw a dog inside the store over by the ice machine. People were trying to catch the dog as it ran around.
“I said, ‘It can’t be,’ ” said Rountree, who then watched staff members trail the dog as it darted through the aisles.
“I was like, ‘What in the world is happening?’ ” said Danielle Robinette, 42, a customer service associate at the Walmart. “I’m a huge animal lover, so I just followed her, and she ran up to register No. 6.”
It was Abby.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/12/04/missing-dog-walmart-reunion/
Tarantino's Top 12 Films. Do You Agree?
From Far Out -
From Scorsese to Spielberg: Quentin Tarantino picks the 12 greatest films of all time
By the Far Out Staff
50 Rarely Seen Historical Photos
From Bored Panda -
50 Rarely-Seen Historical Photos That Might Change Your Perspective On Things
By Liucija Adomaite and Austėja Akavickaitė
https://www.boredpanda.com/amazing-rare-historical-photos/
Advice for Teens
From Buzzfeed -
Adults Are Sharing Things That Teenagers Today Should Avoid, And It's Actually Helpful
TBH, good advice for any age...
by Ryan Schocket, BuzzFeed Staff
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/adults-share-things-teens-should-avoid
Wrongfully Imprisoned
An excerpt from Unilad -
Man Who Was Wrongfully Imprisoned For 8 Years Overturned His Own Conviction And Became A Lawyer
BY: EMILY BROWN
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| A man who was wrongly imprisoned for sexual assault aged 17 managed to overturn his conviction and now works as a defense lawyer to free other people who have been wrongly convicted. |
He explained:
Everyone has a constitutional right to an effective attorney. And so therefore, my constitutional right was violated by not having an effective attorney.
Using newspapers he had access to in prison, Adams identified attorneys litigating cases that could support his argument and managed to work with one to begin drafting a habeas petition. In 2004, Adams’ case was taken on by the Innocence Project, who told him they didn’t understand ‘how on Earth you are in here with 28 years’.
Eight years after his arrest, the Innocence Project argued Adams’ case to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The court unanimously overturned Adams’ conviction on the grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel, and in February 2007 he had all charges against him dismissed.
Following his release, Adams enrolled in college and received his associate’s degree, followed by a bachelor’s in criminal law. In May 2015 he graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and went on to be hired by the Innocence Project.
He now works for his own private practice and uses his power as a lawyer to prevent people facing the same fate he did.
https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/man-who-was-wrongfully-imprisoned-for-8-years-overturned-his-own-conviction-and-became-a-lawyer/
The Sacrificial Lambs
An excerpt from the NY Times -
How Black People Learned Not to Trust
Concerns about vaccination are unfortunate, but they have historical roots.
By Charles M. Blow
The unfortunate American fact is that Black people in this country have been well-trained, over centuries, to distrust both the government and the medical establishment on the issue of health care.
In the mid-1800s a man in Alabama named James Marion Sims gained national renown as a doctor after performing medical experiments on enslaved women, who by definition of their position in society could not provide informed consent.
He performed scores of experimental operations on one woman alone, an enslaved woman named Anarcha, before perfecting his technique.
Not only that, he operated on these women without anesthesia, in part because he didn’t believe that Black women experienced pain in the same way that white women did, a dangerous and false sensibility whose remnants linger to this day.
When he finally got his experiments to be successful, he began to use them on white women, but he would begin to use anesthesia for those women.
As medical writer Durrenda Ojanuga wrote in the Journal of Medical Ethics in 1993: “Many white women came to Sims for treatment of vesicovaginal fistula after the successful operation on Anarcha. However, none of them, due to the pain, were able to endure a single operation.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/06/opinion/blacks-vaccinations-health.html
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Official Music Video) - Black Vi...
Black Brass
An excerpt from the NY Times -
‘Is Austin on Your List?’: Biden’s Pentagon Pick Rose Despite Barriers to Diversity
With retired Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III’s nomination to be the first Black defense secretary, the Pentagon comes face to face with its record as a place where people of color struggle to climb.
By Helene Cooper
WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, who is on the brink of becoming the first Black man to be secretary of defense, rose to the heights of an American military whose largely white leadership has not reflected the diversity of its rank and file.
For much of his career, General Austin was accustomed to white men at the top. But a crucial turning point — and a key to his success — came a decade ago, when General Austin and a small group of African-American men populated the military’s most senior ranks.
As a tall and imposing lieutenant general with a habit of referring to himself in the third person, General Austin was the director of the Joint Staff, one of the most powerful behind-the-scenes positions in the military. His No. 2 was also a Black man, Bruce Grooms, a Navy submariner and rear admiral. Larry O. Spencer was a lieutenant general who was the arbiter of which war-fighting commands around the world got the best resources. Dennis L. Via was a three-star general who ran the communications security protocols across the military.
And Darren W. McDew, a major general and aviator with 3,000 flight hours, was a vice director overseeing the plans the Joint Staff churns out.
At one point in 2010, the men thought they should capture the moment for posterity since nothing like that had happened before and likely would not happen again. They summoned the man who had made it happen, their boss, Adm. Mike Mullen, President Barack Obama’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, into a room for a photo.
“What is this about?” Admiral Mullen asked when he walked in.
“History,” General McDew replied.
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| From left, Brig. Gen. Michael T. Harrison, Lt. Gen. Larry O. Spencer, Lt. Gen. Dennis L. Via, Adm. Mike Mullen, Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, Rear Adm. Bruce Grooms and Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew in 2010. Most of these men went on to higher ranks.Credit...via Darren W. McDew |
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/us/politics/biden-lloyd-austin-defense-secretary.html?referringSource=articleShare