@jamestalarico Texas Republicans are trying to force public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. I told the bill author: “This bill is not only un-constitutional and un-American, it’s deeply in-Christian.” #txlege ♬ original sound - James Talarico
An excerpt from Time.com
Rosalynn Carter Hired a Wrongfully Convicted Murderer to Serve as White House Nanny. They Remained Lifelong Friends
BY KATHY EHRICH DOWD
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| Amy Carter playing on the White House grounds with Mary Prince. National Archives and Records Administration/Wiki Commons |
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Send your name to space via NASA’s ‘Message in a Bottle’
The space agency is inviting people to submit their names by the end of the year for inclusion on a mission to one of Jupiter’s moons
By Erin Blakemore
In 2024, a new spacecraft will hurtle toward Jupiter in a bid to learn whether its moon Europa is capable of supporting life. The craft will carry more than high-tech sensors: It also will bear a poem and hundreds of thousands of human names.
Yours could be one of them.
NASA is asking people to submit their names ahead of the mission’s October 2024 launch. Those submitted by the end of 2023 will go into space on the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which should enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2030.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/11/19/nasa-name-in-space-europa/
An excerpt from NPR -
It was founded as a way to raise awareness and celebrate the quirks of living with dementia. Even though 37% of the orders are delivered wrong, 99% of customers are happy, the restaurant says.
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
At last, a diploma for Black deaf students who set historic precedent
A court victory in 1952 allowed them to attend school in Washington. On Saturday, Gallaudet University finally gave them a diploma and an apology.
Perspective by Theresa Vargas
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| Janice Boyd Ruffin tears up after accepting a diploma on Saturday during a ceremony at Gallaudet University honoring students who attended a segregated school on the university's campus in the 1950s. (Minh Connors/The Washington Post) |
Robbie D. Cheatham knew her worth. She also knew other people didn’t always see it.
“She had a lot of things that happened to her in life, really hard, hard stuff, because of being deaf, because of being Black, because of being a woman,” Cheatham’s daughter Krissi Spence told me. “She was so strong mentally and emotionally because she had to be. She had to fight.”
She had to fight in ways that Spence only fully realized after her mom’s death in December at the age of 86.
It was then that she learned Cheatham was part of a group of Black deaf students who weren’t allowed to attend the only school for deaf children in Washington, the city where they lived, until their families filed a class-action lawsuit in 1952. Then, despite a court victory, they weren’t treated the same as the White students who attended kindergarten through 12th grade at the Kendall School on Gallaudet’s campus. Black students were enrolled in the Kendall School Division II for Negroes. They were placed in a separate classroom with separate teachers, and when it came time for them to graduate, unlike their White peers, they weren’t given diplomas.
On Saturday, Gallaudet University held a poignant ceremony aimed at righting that wrong. Officials handed out diplomas for 24 Black deaf students who should have received them more than six decades earlier. Five of the six students who are still alive made it to the ceremony.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/07/22/deaf-black-gallaudet-diploma/
An excerpt from The New York Times -
A Pie Shop on Chicago’s South Side Serves More Than Dessert
With her first brick-and-mortar bakery, Justice of the Pies, the pastry chef Maya-Camille Broussard focuses on creativity — and inclusivity for people with disabilities.
By Kayla Stewart - Reporting From Chicago
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| The pastry chef Maya-Camille Broussard has opened a new bakery in Avalon Park on the South Side of Chicago. Credit...Taylor Glascock for The New York Times |
The South Side of Chicago brims with inimitable African American culture and history, and the pastry chef Maya-Camille Broussard is adding her brand of sweetness to the place where she was born and raised. In June, Ms. Broussard opened the first brick-and-mortar store of her longtime delivery and wholesale pie business, Justice of the Pies.
The shop, in a former dentist’s office in Avalon Park, one of the South Side’s many historic, predominantly African American neighborhoods, serves Ms. Broussard’s inventive pies and pastries, such as her calling cards — a blue cheese praline pear pie and a strawberry basil Key lime pie — along with unorthodox items like her salted caramel peach pie and a deep-dish chilaquiles quiche.
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| One of her signature desserts, strawberry basil Key lime pie, is available at the bakery. Credit...Taylor Glascock for The New York Times |
An excerpt from hbcusports -
Nike unveils official images of latest FAMU x LeBron collaboration. See the heat
By Brandon King
Since the inception of the branding partnership between NBA legend LeBron James and Florida A&M, the Rattlers have some of the most visually appealing team-exclusive footwear in recent memory.
The FAMU men’s and women’s hoops teams have taken to the hardwood in team-exclusive iterations of LeBron XVIIIs, XIXs, and XXs.
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| Photo Lebron-FAMU XX |
Excerpts from Inc.
Bill Gates Says the Path to Lifelong Success and Happiness Comes Down to 4 Simple Choices
Four memorable lessons about achieving success from Bill Gates.
Bill Gates on embracing your uniqueness
Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world ... if you do so, you are insulting yourself.
~~~~~
On failure and learning from mistakes
Gates once said:
It's fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
From TeenVogue -
Tamia Potter Is One of the Only Black Women Neurosurgeons in the U.S.
Only 0.6% of neurosurgeons in the country are Black women.
BY ADAIRA LANDRY
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| Tamia in the operating room STEPHONX PHOTOGRAPHY |
Tamia Potter will soon become the first Black woman neurosurgery resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, an institution founded nearly 150 years ago. This achievement is even more remarkable given that, as of 2019, only 0.6% of neurosurgeons in the United States were Black women. Potter is on the brink of breaking a barrier, yet her origin story provides insight into just how much distance a Black woman must travel to succeed.
Potter was born and raised in Crawfordville, Florida, a small town where front doors are rarely locked and neighbors feel like family. And as a child — when she wasn’t outside mud bogging on an ATV or eating fresh food from her grandparent’s farm — she studied the human body. Inspired by her mother, a nurse, Potter developed an early, insatiable curiosity for anatomy and science. During high school, Potter became a nursing assistant and cared for patients in nursing homes suffering from dementia. While in college she was able to observe neurosurgery in the operating room, a moment that truly inspired her path. Potter would go on to complete medical school at Case Western Reserve University with plans to become a neurosurgeon herself.
Teen Vogue explored her journey — full of sacrifice, insecurity, and mentorship — into one of the most competitive and time intensive specialties in medicine.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/tamia-potter-black-women-neurosurgeon
Hello Folks,
It's been so long since I've posted; I forgot my address, login, and everything!
So much has happened.
I retired as a K-8 principal after 24 years in education. Returning after COVID was exhausting.
I moved from Sacramento to Houston. The cost of living is so much cheaper in Texas.
I purchased a home sight unseen that I absolutely love and have had so much fun making into a home.
I discovered I needed back surgery. Had it. Thank God it was successful, and I'm recovering from that nicely.
I've missed you.
But I've had mixed emotions being in my office. This is where I lived when I worked remotely and I hated it. If I never have to Zoom again, I'm OK with that.
I know it's silly, but I still avoid this room.
Anyway, I'm back.
If anyone is interested in continuing to FollowFaye, I'll be posting more than once a year from now on. Promise.
An excerpt from Black Enterprise -
COLLEGE BASKETBALL STAR BECOMES FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO EARN DOCTORATE IN BIOCHEMISTRY AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
By Jeroslyn Johnson
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| FIU |
Chantrall Frazier made her way through college as a star player on the women’s basketball team. But she’s leaving the school having made history in another area.
As part of Florida International University’s 2022 graduating class, Frazier became the first Black woman at the university to earn her Ph.D. in biochemistry. Frazier brought her passion for biochemistry to the school after obtaining her bachelor’s degree at the HBCU–Savannah State University.
Through her groundbreaking research, Frazier received departmental funding and funding from the Dubai Police. The Florida Education McKnight Fellow and Florida AGEP Pathways Alliance (FL-AGEP) scholar’s work helped to pave a lane for collaborations with the FIU research community. She also created optimized protocols for examining human odor profiles to understand the odors that attract mosquitos.
@yourprouddad Happy Sunday❤️. Is school out for you??
♬ gymnopédie no.1 - Edits
https://www.upworthy.com/dinner-with-dad-tiktok?rebelltitem=7#rebelltitem7
A 5th-grade boy is going viral for his beautiful rendition of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come.’ Jordan Hollins' performance won him Best of Show at a local talent contest in Shreveport, Louisiana. If you have 60 seconds, this might be just the video you need to watch today. pic.twitter.com/gelGiO9SxU
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 26, 2022
An excerpt from Buzzfeed -
Every Time There's A Mass Shooting, The Onion Writes The Same Story. Today, It Featured All 21.
The Onion's editor-in-chief, Chad Nackers, explained why after the Uvalde shooting it reposted every variation of its story "'No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens."
By David Mack, BuzzFeed News Reporter
It jokingly bills itself "America's finest news source," but for years now the Onion has done exceptional, biting coverage of a very American phenomenon.
Each time there is a high-profile mass shooting, the satirical website publishes a variation of the exact same story.
Starting with the 2014 attack in Isla Vista, California, that killed six people, the Onion published a piece titled "'No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens."
In the years since, it has published that same headline 20 more times.
"It's just incredibly draining and it's hard to actually find like new angles on it," Onion Editor-in-Chief Chad Nackers told BuzzFeed News in an interview on Wednesday. "And this kind of encompasses everything and it just works so well and it captures the helplessness of it."
On Wednesday, the Onion published its 21st variation of the story — this time in response to the murder of 19 elementary school children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas, the previous day.
For the first time ever, the Onion devoted its entire front page to all 21 past stories and linked all the past pieces in a long Twitter thread.
"Today, it kind of shows how powerful that looks when the entire homepage is filled with showing that nothing has been done for eight years," Nackers said.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/onion-mass-shooting-story-no-way-prevent-this-uvalde
From Newsweek-
See the whole list @
https://www.newsweek.com/republican-senators-nra-funding-texas-school-shooting-uvalde-1710332
Senators bankrolled by the NRA:
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) May 25, 2022
Mitt Romney: $13,648,000
Richard Burr: $6,987,000
Roy Blunt: $4,556,000
Thom Tillis: $4,421,000
Marco Rubio: $3,303,000
Joni Ernst: $3,125,000
Josh Hawley: $1,392,000
Mitch McConnell: $1,267,000
Ted Cruz: $176,000
An absolute disgrace.
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| Photo Courtesy of Travel Noire |
The couple explained how difficult it was to find Airbnbs that Black people owned. However, they were determined to start the initiative due to the discrimination many encountered on the app.
“It didn’t take us long to realize that there should be an easier way for Black travelers to book Black-owned or hosted Airbnbs. So, we decided to put together an extensive list of Black-owned stays all over the country, not only for ourselves but for the benefit of the Black travel community,” Boyd added.
Earlier this year, the couple broadened their list by searching cities and listings on the platform, narrowing it down to a list with more than 200 plus Black-owned or hosted Airbnb stays across the nation.
The company has launched Project Lighthouse, an initiative that partners with other organizations such as NAACP to dismantle the growing discrimination on the app. However, Boyd and Hughes believe their list is much easier for Black guests and Black hosts to find, offering a quick and immediate solution to the problem.
“We’ve kept in touch with many of the Black hosts we’ve stayed with over the last seven months. We launched a separate Instagram account, @blackairbnbs, to amplify the Black-owned Airbnb listings from our blog and also share tips from the guest perspective to help [Black] hosts attract more bookings on the app,” Hughes said via press release.
An excerpt from Business Insider -
There are 7 self-made billionaires under 30 on Forbes' billionaires' list this year, and more than half of them are Stanford dropouts
By Marielle Descalsota
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| Left to right: Henrique Dubugras, Andy Fang, and Ryan Breslow. Brex; Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images; Cindy Ord/Getty Seven self-made individuals under the age of 30 were named in Forbes' World's Billionaires List this year. And of those seven, four dropped out of Stanford University. |
The world's youngest self-made billionaires all built their fortunes by founding startups. All but two individuals are US citizens. They are collectively worth $16.1 billion, reported Forbes.
Brazilian-born corporate credit-card startup founders Pedro Franceschi, 25, and Henrique Dubugras, 26, are the world's youngest self-made billionaires named in Forbes' list this year. The pair founded Brex in 2017 after quitting Stanford eight months into their freshman year. Franceschi and Dubugras are worth an estimated $1.5 billion each, per Forbes.
Nikole Hannah-Jones teaches Chris Wallace about white people
OPINION: Either CNN host Chris Wallace doesn't know history, or he thinks Nikole Hannah-Jones shouldn't discuss how America's 'greatest generation' fought against democracy for Black people.
By Michael Harriot
https://thegrio.com/2022/04/08/nikole-hannah-jones-teaches-chris-wallace-about-white-people/
Chris Wallace Goes At Nikole Hannah-Jones for Claim Greatest Generation 'Violently Suppressed' Black Voters in Heated CNN+ Exchange https://t.co/6q1RyKcwzi via @mediaite pic.twitter.com/X95MhXtt7e
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) April 7, 2022
From Black Enterprise -
VICTOR AGBAFE IS ON THE PATH TO BECOME A DOCTOR AND A LAWYER
By Yolanda Baruch
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| Victor Agbafe (Screenshot) Image Credit: Victor Agbafe Twitter |
Victor Agbafe is an academic anomaly; he gained acceptance to all eight Ivy League universities and is enrolled in both medical and law school, WBTV reports.
After he made public of his admissions to the most prestigious schools, many took notice of the Wilmington, North Caroline native, a straight-A student, and an athlete from the Cape Fear Academy.
Agbafe went on to complete undergraduate studies at Harvard University and, two years later, enrolled in medical school at the University of Michigan and law school at Yale University, according to WBTV.
https://www.blackenterprise.com/victor-agbafe-in-on-the-path-to-become-a-doctor-and-a-lawyer/
An excerpt from INC -
These 4 Words Are a Sure Sign Your Team Has a Toxic Culture
If you find your team saying this phrase, you have some work to do.
BY JASON ATEN, TECH COLUMNIST
If you manage people, one of your biggest challenges is motivating your team and keeping them focused on what's most important. It's a challenge because people are people and are sometimes easily distracted. As a leader, however, you need everyone contributing and working together towards what really matters.
Of course, the most important thing for your team might look different depending on your business. Still, I'm guessing you probably spend a lot of time trying to build a culture that prioritizes taking care of your customers, and supporting each other. If you don't, most of the other things you're trying to accomplish won't really mean much.
He's a simple tip: If you find your team using these four words, you probably have some work to do. I'd even argue that if you ever hear them, your team might have a toxic culture.
"It's not my job."
Unfortunately, that's a pretty common mentality for a lot of people when they show up for work. A lot of people like to have a very defined role with a list of tasks they can cross off. Everything that's on the list is their responsibility, and everything else is someone else's problem.
Except, it doesn't work that way in the real world. Too often, a job description becomes an excuse to ignore anything that's not listed as a bullet point. It's easy to think that anything else is someone else's problem. It's easy to look at something going wrong and think "that's not my job."
Here's the thing--if it's important, it's never not your job.
https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/these-4-words-are-a-sure-sign-your-team-has-a-toxic-culture.html
@jettiegirl28 I think I just started a nuclear war #divorce #divorcetok #BigComfy #EasyWithAdobeExpress ♬ original sound - KK
From the Washington Post -
The remarkable brain of a carpet cleaner who speaks 24 Languages
By Jessica Contrera
From Upworthy -
A professor asked students to send photos of their dogs doing classwork. It quickly got out of hand.
By Jisha Joseph
'I probably now have a collection of maybe 60 dogs. Some are at the computer. Some are reading,' the professor revealed.
https://scoop.upworthy.com/professor-asked-students-dogs-doing-homework-internet-exploded
Guaranteed to bring a smile. - Faye
It is not a work of art made of black stone or granite. She is Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech. The most beautiful among the black beauties. She is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the darkest skin ever seen on earth. She is also known as the QUEEN OF DARK. pic.twitter.com/gbyoNizcEJ
— Mynameis...Miro (@zg4ever) February 17, 2022
An excerpt from Black Enterprise -
24-YEAR OLD TO MAKE HISTORY AS YOUNGEST BLACK FEMALE PILOT FOR COMMERCIAL AIRLINES
by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors
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| (Image: Blacknews.com) |
Miracle Izuchukwu, who is from New York City, will soon break barriers when she officially becomes part of the 1% of Black female pilots for major commercial airlines around the world.
Now 24-years old, she is currently in training to become a Commercial Airline Pilot and continues to inspire other people with her story.
Miracle, whose parents are Nigerian, says that she grew up in a very discouraging environment. She said her ambitions were often looked down on because of her gender, but she did not let it stop her from dreaming big.
From Southern Living -
How Late Is Too Late To Call Someone? Southerners Know the Answer
Manners matter, even over the phone.
By Kaitlyn Yarborough
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| istock photo |
No matter the quickness and ease that texting and emails lend to our busy lives, nothing will ever beat an old-fashioned phone call. The stories and details simply cannot be mimicked in text form, no matter how cute and cheeky the smiley faces and heart emoticons seem. Yet, just like with anything else in the South, there are manners to mind, even when it comes to your weekly gossip session with a girlfriend or daily touch-base with your sister. When is it too late to call someone? Here's the Southerner-friendly breakdown, but it's not necessarily clear-cut.
Like with anything, social rules of any nature—but particularly etiquette-related ones—aren't set in impenetrable stone. In order to work, they need to bounce and bend to adapt to different situations, moments, people, and cultures. That goes for phone calls, too. The cutoff time you would call a cousin with young children isn't necessarily the same deadline you'd give to your best friend who loves to pour a glass of vino and plan the next girls' trip just as much as you do. You wouldn't call a professional acquaintance as late as you would one of your close family members. Basically, manners aren't manners if you don't wield them correctly.
However, there are general guidelines about phone etiquette that are always important to heed—unless in the case of an emergency, of course. Firstly, if the sun's down, so should be the cellphone. Busy weeknights and fun-filled weekends deserve their own precious consideration, so Southerners know to keep the calls to the daylight as much as possible, which albeit gives you more flexibility during the sunlight-filled summer months than the winter. Summer is for evening porch hangs and light-hearted gossiping phone calls, anyway.
Secondly, respect your elders. (This one applies to many scenarios in the South.) Likely, your mother and great-aunt didn't grow up with pings and rings coming in past dinnertime. It's best to handle any social business with your older family members and acquaintances prior to 4 p.m. This guideline isn't steadfast by any means, but a good rule of thumb is to respect people's time and evening routines, especially if they go to bed early.
Lastly, the later it is, the shorter to keep it. As the day winds down, it can be hard now for most of us in the modern technological world to wind down with it. Keep catchup "phone dates" with friends and family under an hour (and around 30 minutes if possible), especially if calling after business hours. This makes it easy for both parties to keep to their schedules and get things done.
In short, if the clock is ticking past 6 p.m., Southerners might not pick up. It's nothing personal—rather, it's just that dinner is on the stovetop and the next episode of Yellowstone is calling our name.
https://www.southernliving.com/culture/etiquette/when-is-it-too-late-to-call-someone
An excerpt from All Recipes -
Why We Call Coffee a "Cup of Joe"
Several theories attempt to explain the phrase.
By Stacey Lastoe
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| istock photo |
One theory on cup of joe's origin goes like this: In 1914, a ban on alcohol on U.S. Navy ships imposed by the Secretary of the Navy Josephus "Joe" Daniels meant that the strongest drink available aboard the ship was black coffee. It wasn't long before the angry sailors began referring to the hot drink as Joe or cup of joe, a nod to the Navy secretary.
Gabrielle Bernstein, co-founder of Joe Coffee Company, of which there are now 20 in New York City, subscribes to this theory: "What I always heard about the origin story of cup of joe was that it was during World War II, and there was a sergeant who didn't allow the troops to drink booze, so he gave them a lot of coffee instead." The booze-banning sergeant's name was Joe, and so, says Bernstein, "they started calling coffee 'a cup of Joe.'"
Another theory plays into this story: Many believe that the nickname cup of joe is a way of saying coffee is common — it's a common man's drink. Joe, being a common name, represents the basic beverage (though these days, coffee is often anything but basic). Coffee wasn't a cappuccino or a latte or a flat white or cold brew. It was coffee grounds and water. Hot, caffeinated, and open to milk or sugar additives, coffee was regular. Low-brow, low-key, cheap, and purpose-serving.
The third and no less compelling explanation for how cup of joe came about goes back to the 1930s when coffee's most popular nickname was jamoke, from mocha java. Some linguists say joe is a shortened version of jamoke. British etymologist and writer Michael Quinion's research supports this understanding of cup of joe's origin.
From the Huffington Post -
These Black Photographers Showcase Images of Black Life That Too Often Go Unseen
By Erin E. Evens and Christy Havranek
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| Burden Bearer |
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-photographers-everyday-life_n_6214f954e4b0d1388f0b52cb
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Why So Many Billionaires Live in California
Blame Silicon Valley.
By Soumya Karlamangla
 | |
| From left, the Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, and the Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.Credit...From left: Eric Thayer for The New York Times, Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times, Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images |
Of the 100 wealthiest people in America, 26 live in California.
That’s more than any other state, and not simply a byproduct of California’s large population. If the country’s 100 top billionaires were evenly distributed, we would expect just 12 of them to reside here.
Yes, this is largely because of Silicon Valley. But it’s also a reflection of the fact that California has the fifth-largest economy in the world, said Richard Walker, an emeritus professor at U.C. Berkeley who studies economic geography.
“California has been the main engine for American growth for the last 50 years,” Walker told me. “This is not sufficiently acknowledged — how immense the California economy is.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/us/billionaires-california.html
An excerpt from the Washington Post Magazine -
A story about some words I can’t say
By Damon Young
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| (Monique Wray for The Washington Post) |
The first thing I learned about my new White classmates at St. Bartholomew Catholic School was less a “new thing learned” and more a rejection of an old thing thought.
Months earlier (this was in the early ’90s), my parents decided to pull me out of Pittsburgh public schools and enroll me there to start sixth grade. If you’d asked Dad why they made that decision, he’d probably talk about “pre-AP courses” or “the benefits of didactic parochial instruction” — exactly what Black parents who ship their kids to predominantly White suburban schools are supposed to say. But if you knew my dad, and you asked that same question, he might tell you the truth: I was a talented basketball player, and their ball program was the best in western Pennsylvania. Getting me there was one step toward his (later successful) master plan of getting me a full ride to college.
Anyway, I assumed the White boys there would be soft. And it’s not like I was hard. But I was hood. And I thought that meant I was inherently tougher than anyone not from a place like where I was from. Especially suburban Catholic White boys. But my new classmates and teammates were the sons of plumbers and deli owners, school nurses and construction workers. They ripped and roasted and fought just as quickly — and just as well — as anyone from my neighborhood did. Months later, when we outfought the rest of the diocese to cap an undefeated hoop season, I never felt so good to be so wrong.
The second thing I learned about my new White classmates happened my third day there. It was recess, which meant each of the 50 sixth-graders finished whichever combination of carbs and veggies were served at lunch that day and then rushed to the rectory-adjacent parking lot for our 16 minutes of freedom before the fifth period bell rang. Most of the boys took part in a football-like substance where the football was a Koosh ball and we played “stop-grab” instead of two-hand touch.
You can't stop here. Click the link to get to the point he's making. - Faye
From the Washington Post -
An assistant principal read the children’s book ‘I Need a New Butt!’ to second-graders. He was fired.
By Jaclyn Peiser
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| Toby Price with his wife, Leah. (Toby Price) |
When a guest who was scheduled to read to second-graders over Zoom this month didn’t show up, Toby Price, the assistant principal at a Mississippi elementary school, improvised.
Price’s boss at Gary Road Elementary School suggested Price read to the students, so he reached for one of his favorite children’s books: “I Need a New Butt!” written by Dawn McMillan and illustrated by Ross Kinnaird.
“It’s a funny, silly book,” Price, 46, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “I’m a firm believer that … if kids see that books can be funny and silly, they’ll hang around long enough to see all the other cool things that books can be.”
The students “thought it was hilarious,” Price recalled. But the superintendent for the Hinds County School District near Jackson, Miss., did not, and about an hour after the event, Price was placed on administrative leave. Two days later, on March 4, he was fired.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/11/toby-price-principal-fired-childrens-book/
An excerpt from PUCK -
Ukraine, Racism, and the Wars We Ignore
War shatters lives, but also reveals what binds us together. I’m clinging to a hope that this war will bring out the best in us, both in Ukraine and beyond.
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| Photo by Murat Saka via Getty |
I’ve been feeling more tired than usual these past two weeks. It took me a few days to identify the reason. Maybe it was the rapid unmasking of my fellow Americans? Or was it the fact that I took two cross-country flights in five days? No, it turns out the real reason for my fatigue was that I hadn’t scheduled a war in my calendar. Yet war has been occupying my mind, my heart, and my screens. Watching Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has drained, enraged, and inspired me all at once.
I don’t generally operate on a daily basis with Ukraine or Russia on my mind. That changed within two days of the invasion after a friend from Eastern Europe, currently living close to me in Southern California, asked his American wife whether his family could move in with them, if it came to that. Without warning, I found myself near tears. This couple had previously been plotting the reverse migration: spending more time in Europe, that civilized place where universal healthcare is the norm and school and childcare costs don’t bankrupt families. But suddenly America looked safer and more stable, even with our wealth inequality and no-longer-notable school shootings. Being in Putin’s line of fire was a clearer and more present danger.
Then, after the unanticipated and deep sadness, came an even less familiar feeling: violent rage. I had a sudden urge to go to Ukraine and fight Russians.
https://puck.news/ukraine-racism-and-the-wars-we-ignore/
You'll need to sign up to unlock 1 free article. This is so worth the trouble. - Faye
An excerpt from Hunker -
Why Do People Put Peanuts in Coke?
By ANNA GRAGERT
 | |
| Image Credit: @djunaskye/Instagram |
Have you ever seen someone put shelled peanuts into their bottle, can, or cup of Coca-Cola? If you're not from the South, the answer is likely no, and you're probably questioning the combination we just described. However, it really is a thing!
According to the National Peanut Board, food historian Rick McDaniel revealed that the peanut-Coke trend likely started during the 1920s. This is when packaged, shelled peanuts began making their way into country stores and gas station aisles — the same places where you'd find a bottle of Coke.
But, how exactly did the peanuts end up inside the Coke? McDaniel believes that working Southerners would pour the peanuts directly into their Coke to avoid getting their hands dirty or to prevent their already-dirty hands from touching the peanuts, since places to wash up might not have been readily available. Pouring the peanuts from the bag into the Coke could have also been a way for them to keep their hands free for work.
"What resulted was a mix of savory and sweet deliciousness," says Esquire writer Justin Kirkland, describing his first time trying peanuts in Coca-Cola as a child growing up in the South. "Better yet, the peanuts stick around, stay crunchy, and give you a nice little snack at the end of your beverage. Think of it like the working man's strawberries in champagne."
https://www.hunker.com/13770660/why-do-people-put-peanuts-in-coke
An excerpt from the New York Times -
David Olusoga Wants Britain to Face Its Past. All of It.
For more than a decade, the historian and broadcaster’s work has focused on bringing his country’s uglier histories to light. Recently, more people are paying attention.
By Desiree Ibekwe
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| Olusoga in a scene from the docu-series “One Thousand Years of Slavery” on the Smithsonian Channel, for which he served as an executive producer.Credit...Smithsonian Channel |
LONDON — In December, when a British court cleared four Black Lives Matter protesters of criminal damages for toppling the statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century slave trader, in June 2020, it was thanks in part to David Olusoga’s expert testimony.
Olusoga, a historian whose work focuses on race, slavery and empire, felt a duty to agree to address the court on behalf of the defense, he said in a recent interview, since “I’ve been vocal about this history.”
At the trial in Bristol, the city in southwest England where the Colston statue was toppled, Olusoga, 52, told the jury about Colston’s prominent role in the slave trade and the brutalities suffered by the African people Colston sold into slavery.
The closely watched court decision was greeted with concern by some in Britain and relief by others, and Olusoga’s role in the defense offers just one recent example of his work’s impact on British society.
Olusoga’s comments in court are consistent with a frequent focus of his wider work as one of the country’s most prominent public historians: that long-forgotten or buried past injustices can be addressed in the present day in public-facing, accessible media.
Olusoga’s latest TV work is “One Thousand Years of Slavery,” which premieres on the Smithsonian Channel on Monday. The show, which he executive produced alongside Bassett Vance Productions, a production company helmed by Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett, takes a wide-ranging, global look at slavery through the familial stories of public figures like Senator Cory Booker and the actor David Harewood.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/arts/television/david-olusoga-black-history.html
An excerpt from WCTV.TV -
FAMU student’s design featured in Target stores nationwide
By Raghad Hamad
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| Kah’Milah Ledgester's Target 2022 design submission. (FAMU Communications) |
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - A Florida A&M University student won Target’s 2021 HBCU Design Challenge, bringing her design to Target stores nationwide.
Participants created t-shirt designs and graphics for Target’s 2022 Black History Month campaign challenge, and Kah’Milah Ledgester, a senior graphic design student at FAMU, won a top three reward.
“This was my challenge as a creative,” Ledgester said. “I felt elated because I did something that scared me.”
Her work, according to the Adel, Georgia, native, highlights Black women and the vibrancy that surrounds them. Ledgester stated that she wanted to demonstrate the beauty of Black women through this project.
https://www.wctv.tv/2022/02/07/famu-students-design-featured-target-stores-nationwide/
