An excerpt from Essence -
Black Girl Brilliance Project: Glory Edim On How Well-Read Black Girl Is More Than A Book Club
By BRITNI DANIELLE
It all started with a t-shirt. Three years ago, Glory Edim’s boyfriend gave her a gift that perfectly spoke to her love of books, a shirt with “well-read Black girl” emblazoned on the front. Edim loved the thoughtful present and began wearing the one-of-a-kind item all over town. Soon, people wanted one too.
“It was our inside joke, but it triggered a lot of conversations with folks when I was out in the world,” Edim tells ESSENCE. “I kept having conversations with strangers, other Black women, in public spaces about books.”
The experience inspired Edim to form a book club, and three years later Well-Read Black Girl is a bona fide movement that hosts reading with authors, a thriving online community and an annual festival.
https://www.essence.com/culture/black-girl-brilliance-glory-edim
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
A Welcoming Space
An excerpt from the NY Times: California Today -
A Space for Students Who Need Something to Eat
By JENNIFER MEDINA
As you walk into the room at University of California, Irvine the first thing you notice are the fruit and vegetable baskets: apples, onions, broccoli. There’s a table of students chatting and eating, while one thumbs through a cookbook.
It’s called the Basic Needs Hub — a space for anyone on campus who needs something to eat. It looks like a miniature gourmet grocery, but it is, effectively, a food pantry.
For the last six months, the doors to the hub have been wide open, and the pantry has doled out produce, meat and granola bars, among other goods. Students are not required to show any proof of income to receive the food, though they do receive a document stating that it is meant for those who cannot afford it on their own.
“We are making it O.K. for students to say that they do need help,” said Edgar Dormitorio, the assistant vice chancellor of students affairs. “We know there are students who do without meals rather ask for assistance. We want this to be as low barrier as possible.”
https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/CA_477.html?nlid=38867499
A Space for Students Who Need Something to Eat
By JENNIFER MEDINA
 |
| The grand opening of the University of California, Irvine food pantry in September. Steve Zylius/University of California, Irvine |
It’s called the Basic Needs Hub — a space for anyone on campus who needs something to eat. It looks like a miniature gourmet grocery, but it is, effectively, a food pantry.
For the last six months, the doors to the hub have been wide open, and the pantry has doled out produce, meat and granola bars, among other goods. Students are not required to show any proof of income to receive the food, though they do receive a document stating that it is meant for those who cannot afford it on their own.
“We are making it O.K. for students to say that they do need help,” said Edgar Dormitorio, the assistant vice chancellor of students affairs. “We know there are students who do without meals rather ask for assistance. We want this to be as low barrier as possible.”
https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/CA_477.html?nlid=38867499
Lives Didn't Matter?
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
21 Times Cops Weren’t Held Accountable For The Death Of Black Victims
These are egregious reminders of repeated injustice.
By Lilly Workneh and Taryn Finley
Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Sean Bell. Tamir Rice. Alton Sterling. Aiyana Stanley-Jones.
The list goes on and on of black men, women and children who died as a result of encounters with law enforcement and receive no justice while those responsible for their deaths ― the same ones who pledge to “protect and serve” ― face little to no repercussions.
The St. Anthony, Minnesota, cop who shot Philando Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, seven times was acquitted in June 2017. Castile was in the car with his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter at the time of his death.
Castile’s mother, Valerie, expressed her outrage during a press conference after the trial.
“The system in this country continues to fail black people and will continue to fail us,” she said. “My son loved this city, and this city killed my son. And a murderer gets away.”
Sadly, the anger Castile conveyed is a familiar feeling for those who have witnessed the repeated acquittal of cops who have been involved in unjust killings of black men and women, often over prosecutors’ claims of “lack of evidence.”
Time and again, the nation has mourned the loss of black lives and taken to the streets and social media to demand both an end to these killings and accountability for those involved. Here are 20 other cases where officers have escaped prosecution and walked free.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/14-times-cops-werent-held-accountable-for-the-death-of-black-victims_us_5798d249e4b01180b53114ec
21 Times Cops Weren’t Held Accountable For The Death Of Black Victims
These are egregious reminders of repeated injustice.
By Lilly Workneh and Taryn Finley
Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Sean Bell. Tamir Rice. Alton Sterling. Aiyana Stanley-Jones.
The list goes on and on of black men, women and children who died as a result of encounters with law enforcement and receive no justice while those responsible for their deaths ― the same ones who pledge to “protect and serve” ― face little to no repercussions.
The St. Anthony, Minnesota, cop who shot Philando Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, seven times was acquitted in June 2017. Castile was in the car with his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter at the time of his death.
Castile’s mother, Valerie, expressed her outrage during a press conference after the trial.
“The system in this country continues to fail black people and will continue to fail us,” she said. “My son loved this city, and this city killed my son. And a murderer gets away.”
Sadly, the anger Castile conveyed is a familiar feeling for those who have witnessed the repeated acquittal of cops who have been involved in unjust killings of black men and women, often over prosecutors’ claims of “lack of evidence.”
Time and again, the nation has mourned the loss of black lives and taken to the streets and social media to demand both an end to these killings and accountability for those involved. Here are 20 other cases where officers have escaped prosecution and walked free.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/14-times-cops-werent-held-accountable-for-the-death-of-black-victims_us_5798d249e4b01180b53114ec
Teen Inventor
An excerpt from CNN -
Teen serial inventor returns with pollution filter to clear city skies
By Zeena Saifi, Daryl Brown and Tom Page
Angad Daryani. Remember the name.
The 19-year-old from Mumbai has already gained a reputation. He left school in the ninth grade and then self-educated while working with MIT Media Lab until the age of 17. Daryani has launched multiple startups and social initiatives, and collaborated on a string of inventions that fall squarely into the "Why hasn't someone thought of that before?" category.
There was the "eye-pad," designed to instantly convert written English and French into Braille. The Sharkbot, a $350 3-D printer. A low-cost ECG heart monitor and a vehicle controlled by hand gestures.
Now, Daryani is pushing forward with an industrial-scale air filter to rid skies of pollutants and carcinogens that plague modern cities.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/health/angad-daryani-tomorrows-hero/index.html
Teen serial inventor returns with pollution filter to clear city skies
By Zeena Saifi, Daryl Brown and Tom Page
Angad Daryani. Remember the name.
The 19-year-old from Mumbai has already gained a reputation. He left school in the ninth grade and then self-educated while working with MIT Media Lab until the age of 17. Daryani has launched multiple startups and social initiatives, and collaborated on a string of inventions that fall squarely into the "Why hasn't someone thought of that before?" category.
There was the "eye-pad," designed to instantly convert written English and French into Braille. The Sharkbot, a $350 3-D printer. A low-cost ECG heart monitor and a vehicle controlled by hand gestures.
Now, Daryani is pushing forward with an industrial-scale air filter to rid skies of pollutants and carcinogens that plague modern cities.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/health/angad-daryani-tomorrows-hero/index.html
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
The 2nd Amendment - A Relic From the 18th Century
An excerpt from the NY Times Opinion -
Repeal the Second Amendment
By John Paul Stevens (Retired Supreme Court Justice)
Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society.
That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.
Concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the separate states led to the adoption of that amendment, which provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Today that concern is a relic of the 18th century.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/john-paul-stevens-repeal-second-amendment.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Repeal the Second Amendment
By John Paul Stevens (Retired Supreme Court Justice)
Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society.
That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.
Concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the separate states led to the adoption of that amendment, which provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Today that concern is a relic of the 18th century.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/john-paul-stevens-repeal-second-amendment.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Not Even Close
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
The strange, unexpected public contribution of Stormy Daniels
By Michael Gerson
Americans who find this unremarkable have missed an extraordinary cultural moment. Daniels’s allegations are denied by the White House and an attorney for President Trump’s lawyer. Yet who in their right mind would trust Trump’s word over hers? In this case, the porn star has more credibility than the president of the United States. It is not even close.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-strange-unexpected-public-contribution-of-stormy-daniels/2018/03/26/2c2bce4e-312a-11e8-8abc-22a366b72f2d_story.html?utm_term=.b0fdc1b48a8c
The strange, unexpected public contribution of Stormy Daniels
By Michael Gerson
Americans who find this unremarkable have missed an extraordinary cultural moment. Daniels’s allegations are denied by the White House and an attorney for President Trump’s lawyer. Yet who in their right mind would trust Trump’s word over hers? In this case, the porn star has more credibility than the president of the United States. It is not even close.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-strange-unexpected-public-contribution-of-stormy-daniels/2018/03/26/2c2bce4e-312a-11e8-8abc-22a366b72f2d_story.html?utm_term=.b0fdc1b48a8c
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