https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjAhiPHtLYI
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Black-Owned Food & Drink Brands
An excerpt from HuffPost -
17 Black-Owned Food And Drink Brands You Can Shop Online
August is National Black Business Month. Here are delicious ways to show your support.
By Shontel Horne
 |
| HuffPost |
More than 124,000 businesses identify as Black-owned, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Every day is a good day to support Black-owned businesses, but with National Black Business Month taking place in August, now is an especially great time to get familiar with and continue to support Black-owned brands — particularly in food and drink.
The 17 food and beverage brands below are sure to become staples in your kitchen for years to come. Add them to your shopping list and stock up on everything from olive oil to vegan cheese.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-owned-food-drink-businesses_l_610bead9e4b041dfbaa65821
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
What Kind of Driver Are you?
An excerpt from Upworthy -
Awesome chart shows you how far you can drive on empty
By Tricia Leigh Zeigenhorn
There are two types of people in this world – those who panic and fill up their cars with gas when the needle hits 25% or so, and people like me who wait until the gas light comes on, then check the odometer so you can drive the entire 30 miles to absolute empty before coasting into a gas station on fumes.
https://www.upworthy.com/awesome-chart-shows-you-how-far-you-can-drive-on-empty
Click on the link for a better view of the chart. - Faye
Snoop and Kevin react to Jade Carey's gold medal | Olympic Highlights wi...
https://youtu.be/wm7vg2Nknd4
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Young Black Aspiring Doctors
An excerpt from Black Enterprise -
YOUNG BLACK ASPIRING DOCTORS IN NYC GETTING GUIDANCE THROUGH MENTORSHIP PROGRAM #BLACKBUSINESSMONTH
by Jeroslyn Johnson
 | |
| These 45 Black youths got an inside view of medicine through a new, week long medical internship. (Erskine Isaac ivisionphoto.com) |
Medical Internship Week kicked off in NYC last week and included a group of young Black aspiring doctors looking to break the lack of diversity in the medical field.
There was 45 Black youth included in the program for aspiring doctors, nurses, and surgeons, NY Daily News reports. The group of aspiring medical professionals with ages from eight to 18 enjoyed five days of shadowing surgeons and watching medical procedures to get firsthand experience ahead of pursuing careers in the field.
“I LIKE TO SEE BLACK DOCTORS,” SAID SIXTH-GRADER KAYNE MCKNIGHT. “WHEN I GO TO THE DENTIST AND THE DOCTORS, I DON’T REALLY SEE BLACK DOCTORS. IT’S MOSTLY WHITE DOCTORS.”
Dr. Anthony Watkins, a transplant surgeon at NYU Langone, is one of the creators of the program and expressed his hope to break the racial disparities he has seen get worse over the decades. Watkins noted how there were more Black men in medical school in the 1970s than there are in recent years. Through Medical Internship Week, Watkins aims to break the barriers.
“Knowing that ‘Oh, someone who looks like me can do it’ can instill that confidence,” Watkins said. “That’s really a critical component. The ultimate goal is … to spark that interest, and hopefully tackle this problem, and address diversity.”
The Whitewashing of Black Music
An excerpt from Far Out Magazine -
The whitewashing of Black music: Five singles made popular by white artists
By Mick McStarkey
 |
| Big Mama Thornton was a pioneering musician. (Credit: Alamy) |
This week marks the anniversary of the date that Big Mama Thornton first recorded the iconic single ‘Hound Dog’ in 1952. The song is widely regarded as one of the most iconic tracks in rock and roll history. Since Thornton’s original was put to wax, the song has been covered well over 250 times. In this sense, the blues staple can be considered to be in the same category as what ‘Greensleeves’ is to folk: a key standard, setting out its defining features.
The chances are that many of you will not have even heard of Big Mama Thornton, or the fact that she was the first artist to perform the now-iconic track. Written by the duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for Thornton, it is quite telling that Elvis Presley was the one who popularised the song in 1956. His version is often thought of as being the original, which is not the case.
In 1999, Rick Kennedy and Randy MacNutt perfectly captured the impact Thornton’s original had on music. They argued that it helped to “spur the evolution of Black R&B into rock music”. The transformative effect of this cross-pollination cannot be underestimated.
The irony of the song is that when Thornton initially sang it, she did so in the form of a ballad. However, Leiber and Stoller believed that the song should be more up-tempo, as they had forged it specifically “to suit her personality—brusque and badass”. Thus, Leiber sang it, accompanied by Stoller on the piano, conveying to Thornton how they thought it should be performed.
Luckily Thornton agreed, and the song the trio recorded the number became one of the most important hits ever captured. The track is so influential that Maureen Mahon, a professor of music at New York University, claimed that the original is “an important (part of the) beginning of rock and roll, especially in its use of the guitar as the key instrument”. The song would reach number one on the R&B chart and be popularised in the appropriate musical community. However, the song remained relatively unknown in the mainstream until Elvis Presley put his own spin on it.
What made Elvis’ version so popular and Thornton’s not? After all, one would wager that Thornton’s is the best version out of all of them, a swaggering, sexualised number that was just as groundbreaking lyrically as it was musically. So why then does the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ still take all the plaudits?
Unfortunately, the reasons are all too familiar. Firstly, we need to cast our mind’s back to the era, 1950s America. Thornton, being the larger-than-life Black woman that she was, was clearly up against it in her fight for success, the measure of which was relevant to the time. Thornton’s original preceded the desegregation of schools by a year, and Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Malcolm X wouldn’t truly make their voices of civil rights protest heard until the ’60s.
Trustworthy kids show banknotes to security camera while shopkeeper is away
https://youtu.be/euTvYiIBYBU
Letterman's Most Intriguing Guest
An excerpt from Today -
David Letterman reveals his most intriguing guest and we think you'll be surprised
"I found her spirit to be huge," the TV legend said.
By Drew Weisholtz
 |
| Letterman's interview with the Grammy winner was a powerful experience for him. Courtesy of Netfix |
Letterman, 74, was asked on SiriusXM’s "Comedy Gold Minds with Kevin Hart" podcast which guest he found the most intriguing.
“Based on your elaboration of ‘intrigue,’ it was a young woman who lives in Los Angeles who's in the music world, very successful, by the name of Lizzo,” Letterman said. “My prior expectation of this experience was, at its best, neutral.”
The 'Truth Hurts" singer had been a musical guest on “The Late Show” in 2014 before she became a household name but Letterman said he did more research on her for about six weeks to prepare for his interview with her on his current talk show.
He said their conversation made quite an impression on him.
“But almost everything you said about my reaction to her after the fact, happened,” he said. “Delighted. Comfortable. Didn't want to leave. Wanted to stay in her house. Wanted to help her. I wanted to go around and find out who was handling her, and I wanted to screen them.
“I wanted to make sure she was being taken care of because I found her spirit, Kevin, to be — and maybe I'm hyperbolic here on this — but I found her spirit to be huge, not like anything I had experienced. I know there are people like that. And I know there are people like that in show business, but this particular episode, I was delighted by — still am.”
https://www.today.com/popculture/david-letterman-his-most-intriguing-guest-his-netflix-show-t228235
Racism is Not a Footnote
An excerpt from The Players Tribune -
Racism Is Not a Historical Footnote
By Bill Russell, NBA Hall of Famer
 |
| Bettmann/Getty Images |
I once interviewed Lester Maddox on my television show. It was 1969 and he was well known at the time as a Southern segregationist and former chicken restaurateur turned politician. Maddox and I had diametrically opposing perspectives. He got out of the restaurant business after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed so that he wouldn’t have to serve Black people, while I once refused to play an exhibition game after a restaurant refused to serve me or my Black teammates.
Maddox made a show out of his refusal to integrate his restaurant. He waved axe handles and guns at peaceful protesters and argued, loudly, that being forced to serve Black people encroached on his freedom. He closed his restaurant in Atlanta, ran for governor of Georgia, and won.
So why would I give a platform to an individual who held such racist beliefs? First, part of freedom is allowing everyone — even the most hateful people — to speak. And second, doing so also exposes how a person comes to hold such beliefs. Now, Lester Maddox wasn’t exactly an intellectual giant, so I doubt he would’ve been able to question the culture he had been born into if he tried, but having him on my show exposed him for the fool he was and might have also given other people some things to think about regarding the plausibility of “separate but equal.”
Even though that moment has long since passed, I’m struck by how similar it felt to the moment I’m living through now. In 2020, Black and Brown people are still fighting for justice, racists still hold the highest offices in the land, and kids today still grow up with cultural norms that aren’t different enough from the ones that Lester Maddox grew up with.
In 2020, Black and Brown people are still fighting for justice.
Now, when I say Black and Brown people are still fighting for justice 50 years after I interviewed a prominent segregationist — “an old country boy” who ran for political office on a platform of hate and won[1]— I don’t mean to sound surprised. I’m not. White people are surprised by that. In fact, I find that white people are often surprised that racial injustice still exists outside of a few “bad apples.” This surprise is particularly dangerous because racial injustice is rampant throughout every sector of American society, from education to health care to sports, and the fact that this remains surprising to many reveals exactly how different Black and white people’s experiences of life in America are.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/bill-russell-nba-racial-injustice?utm_source=RSS
Kaep on Netflix
It’s been incredible to create COLIN IN BLACK AND WHITE with @ava and @StarrburyMike. Thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly to bring these stories to life. The series premieres on @netflix Oct 29. pic.twitter.com/UWK6gfsKBE
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) August 12, 2021
Sisters Breaking Barriers
An excerpt from Black Enterprise -
PURDUE UNIVERSITY RENAMES 2 RESIDENCE HALLS FOR 2 SISTERS WHO HELPED INTEGRATE CAMPUS HOUSING
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton
 | |
| Winifred and Frieda Parker (Image: Courtesy of Purdue) |
Purdue University has announced the renaming of the Griffin Residence Halls after Winifred and Frieda Parker. Back in June, the Purdue Board of Trustees had approved a request from Provost Jay Akridge to rename the Griffin Residence Halls after the Parker sisters. The family efforts back in the 1940s compelled Purdue to integrate its student housing. The Parker Hall residences are the first buildings on campus to be named for Black alumnae.
After the Parker sisters enrolled at Purdue University in the fall of 1946, the sisters and their parents started up the campaign that forced the institution to integrate its student housing. The Parker sisters were among the first Black women to move into the Bunker Hill residence halls after the University ended its segregated housing policy in January 1947.
“It’s one of those stories of persistence and path-breaking action and really opening up doors for so many others—both women and women of color,” says Akridge. “These two women were Boilermakers in every sense when you think about some of those characteristics that we like to lift up and celebrate.”
Monday, August 16, 2021
These Colleges Cover 100% of Your Financial Aid
From Go Banking Rates -
12 Colleges That Cover 100% of Your Financial Aid
You can graduate debt-free from these schools.
By Gabrielle Olya
 |
| SpVVK / Getty Images |
Some colleges and universities are doing their part to lessen the student loan burden that many graduates are facing by providing loan-free financial aid packages. No-loan institutions offer financial aid packages that feature a combination of grants, scholarships, work-study aid and other components that allow students to attend without having to worry about graduating with debt.
"No-loan schools are basically telling students of modest or even extremely low income that they should apply if they have the grades and extracurricular [activities] to be considered, and that they don't have to worry about the high price tag as long as they are able to get accepted," Kevin Ladd, chief operating officer and co-creator of Scholarships.com, told U.S. News.
While this does not mean these schools are free to attend, it does mean that these institutions aim to cover each family’s demonstrated financial need -- the difference between the cost of attendance and the expected family contribution -- so that loans aren't required to make up the difference.
This Looks Delicious!
From Taste of Home -
North Carolina Sonker Is the Dessert Recipe You Haven’t Tried Yet
By Tiffany Dahle
 |
| TIFFANY DAHLE FOR TASTE OF HOME |
Love blueberry pie but don't want to fuss over a complicated crust? This step-by-step blueberry sonker recipe will be your new go-to summer dessert!
Sonker is North Carolina’s most popular dessert that most people have never even heard of, let alone baked at home. It was invented to feed a hungry crowd, and a wide variety of sonker recipes are handed down from generation to generation in Surry County, North Carolina. The bakeries, diners and home cooks there use the best fruit from each season to bake sonkers throughout the year.
To taste the real deal, stop at several local spots on the Surry Sonker Trail and experience the many flavors of the Carolina sonker for yourself. No road trip in your future? Make this blueberry sonker recipe at home and you’re an hour away from blueberry heaven!
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/north-carolina-sonker-recipe/
Aretha Franklin - So Swell When You're Well
From Inside Hook -
The 20 Best Aretha Franklin Songs You Probably Don’t Know
These lesser-known songs could use a little more R-E-S-P-E-C-T
How Does He Do That?
A collection of me turning into random objects. pic.twitter.com/ValPdPNJIj
— Kevin Parry (@kevinbparry) July 13, 2021
Congratulations!
An excerpt from Black Enterprise -
28-YEAR-OLD WINS VIRAL WINE CONTEST; RECEIVES $10,000 MONTHLY SALARY AND FREE RENT FOR A YEAR
by Charlene Rhinehart
 |
| (Image Credit: Instagram) |
Austin-based wine connoisseur Lindsay Perry was recently selected as a new employee of Murphy-Goode Winery. The 28-year-old will move to California this fall to pursue her dream job. As a contest winner, she will receive a salary of $10,000 per month and live went free for a year while indulging in some of the best wines.
Perry participated in the company’s “A Really Goode Job” viral competition. According to Inside Edition, Perry beat out over 7,200 other applicants who submitted videos for the Sonoma-based Murphy Goode Winery wine competition.
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