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

Bringing the Funk!

 

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/

Why We Need a White History Month | The Amber Ruffin Show

"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

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

Amend: The Fight for America | Official Trailer | Netflix

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

#Dontbeadick

Using your voice is a political choice | Amanda Gorman

Madame President!

NCeePhotography

 https://cafemom.com/news/maryland-photographer-first-birthday-photoshoot-kamala-harris

Tap dance showdown between toddler and seasoned pro

Hate Speeding Tickets?

 

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

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2021/01/25/baseball-hall-fame-ballot-latroy-hawkins/6696285002/

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

Swing Tables

 

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