How to Respond to "All Lives Matter"

An excerpt from Readers' Digest - 

How to Respond When Someone Says “All Lives Matter”

By Lorna Grisby

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/GETTY IMAGES

There is actually a productive, positive way to counter this statement that can help promote understanding and combat racism.

Conversations about race are difficult even in the best of times. But over this past contentious year, Americans—both White and BIPOC—have argued over different perspectives on race relations, including whether Critical Race Theory should be taught in schools, how prevalent institutional racism actually is, whether there can be voting-rights restrictions, and the idea of police reform. But few issues are more polarizing than the language people use in their conversations about how to stop racism or whether racism even exists. That’s why you’ve probably heard the slogan “Black Lives Matter” countered with the phrase “All Lives Matter.”

But that response is not only insensitive—it is also completely off-point and lacks historical context, explains David W. Campt, PhD, an expert in cultural competence and the founder of The Dialogue Company. “Of course all lives matter,” he explains. “The reason that I say Black Lives Matter is because, historically, the sad fact is that all lives haven’t mattered equally. That is why I and others are pointing out that Black lives matter also.”

For further context, look at the founding of this country, says Matthew Harper, PhD, an associate professor of History and Africana Studies at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. The Declaration of Independence may have had some lofty ideals of all men being created equal, he notes, but it was written by a man who enslaved 200 Black people. And many constitutional amendments applied only to White people for a very long time. That’s why Harper suggests affirming the statement that all lives do matter and then following up with: “I’m OK with you saying that if it’s not being used to avoid saying Black Lives Matter. Let’s say All Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter.'”

That’s just one of the many comments you may hear and want to respond to in an appropriate and productive way. Here’s how to have calm, productive exchanges, according to our experts. You might also want to listen to these podcasts about race for more tips and a greater understanding of the impact of Black Lives Matter.

https://www.rd.com/article/response-all-lives-matter/

Handle With Care

An excerpt from LoveWhatMatters - 

This Teacher’s 3-Word System To Help Students Through ‘Bad Days’ Is Empathy At It’s Finest

Edited By Sophia San Filippo

Facebook

The world becomes a better place when we not only recognize that everyone has bad days, but when we also care enough to act accordingly.

No matter how big or small, there are just some moments where we could use a little grace. Fourth-grade teacher Rachel Harder recognizes this, and she found an amazing way to help out both her students and their families.

A few years ago, the Kansas teacher attended a trauma conference. She learned that some police stations partner with schools so they can let teachers know when one of their students has a police encounter, something that could cause them to need extra care or attention.

“We loved this idea and figured there had to be a way to make this work within our own classroom community,” Rachel said.

A year after the conference, Rachel had a student with autism who frequently had tough days. To support her, Rachel told the student’s mom to simply text her “handle with care” to let her know when it was going to be one of those days.

https://www.lovewhatmatters.com/teachers-3-word-system-to-help-students-through-bad-days-is-empathy-at-its-finest-kindness/

 

Introducing This Black Woman Master Captain

An excerpt from Essence - 

This Black Woman Master Captain Created A Paint, Sip and Sail Boating Experience

IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT A BLACK WOMAN FILLING A NICHE IN AN OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE LEISURE BOATING MARKET IS MAKING WAVES — LITERALLY.

BY KIMBERLY WILSON

CREDIT: NASHAWN TAYLOR

If there’s one thing Black women will do, it’s excel on land, in the air, and of course, by sea. That’s why it’s no surprise that a Black woman filling a niche in an overwhelmingly white leisure boating market is making waves — literally.

Captain Nashawn Taylor is the genius behind the country’s premiere paint, sip, and sail boating experience, Be You!. But her journey to the company’s current success was not met without its challenges.

Taylor, also a trained police officer, was stunned to find that there were so few Master Captains chartering yachts were Black women. She used her job on the force to find a way to merge her love of water and boating with her every-day work. She realized this would be a stepping stone to getting into the yacht industry.

“I said, what if I just join the marine division [of the U.S. Coast Guard]? The marine division is a special operations division. It’s one of the most elite in the police industry and it’s male dominated,” she says. “In order to get into that unit you had to do obstacle courses, you had to be physically fit. Most women hardly ever try out, but for the most part I was an athlete growing up, and the love of the water was a passion for me.

https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/nashawn-taylor-paint-sip-sail-boating-experience/

Prime Real Estate Returned to Rightful Black Owners

From the LA Times - 

Bruce’s Beach can return to descendants of Black family in landmark move signed by Newsom 

BY ROSANNA XIA

From left, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, Sen. Steven Bradford, Gov. Gavin Newsom,
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Anthony Bruce, great-great grandson
of Charles and Willa Bruce, during Newsom’s signing of SB 796,
authorizing the return of ocean-front land to the Bruce family.
(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

In a history-making move celebrated by reparations advocates and social justice leaders across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has authorized the return of property known as Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of a Black couple that had been run out of Manhattan Beach almost a century ago.

Senate Bill 796, signed into law Thursday by Newsom before an excited crowd that had gathered on the property, confirms that the city’s taking of this shorefront land — on which the Bruces ran a thriving resort for Black beachgoers — was racially motivated and done under false and unlawful pretenses.

“The land in the City of Manhattan Beach, which was wrongfully taken from Willa and Charles Bruce, should be returned to their living descendants,” the legislation declares, “and it is in the public interest of the State of California, the County of Los Angeles, the City of Manhattan Beach, and the People of the State of California to do so.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-30/newsom-signs-law-to-return-bruces-beach-black-family

First Black Admitted to Auburn University

An excerpt from the Montgomery Advertiser -

Harold Franklin broke through racist barriers as Auburn University's first Black student

By Derryn Moten

Dr. Harold Franklin, photographed in 2014 for an Auburn Univerity
alumni publication became the university's first Black student
when he registered for classes in 1964 under a federal court integration
order. Jeff Etheridge / Auburn University

Harold Franklin graduated from Alabama State College, now University, in the spring of 1962.  In the fall of 1963, he made history becoming the first Black student ordered admitted to Auburn University by a federal court.  Franklin is to Alabama State University and Auburn University what Autherine Lucy is to Miles College and the University of Alabama.

~~~~~

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Burke Marshall and the U.S. Justice Department joined the complaint against Auburn on behalf of Franklin. This was the administration of U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

Middle District Court of Alabama Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. handed down his opinion on November 5, 1963, three days after Harold Franklin’s thirtieth birthday.  Judge Johnson wrote, “. . . the State of Alabama is as much to blame for the plaintiff’s inability to satisfy Auburn’s requirement for admission to its Graduate School as if it had deliberately set out to bar the plaintiff from Auburn because he is a Negro.”

On November 6, 1963, a headline in The Burlington Free Press read, “Wallace Calls Admitting Negro to Auburn ‘A Tragic Decision.’”  Governor George Wallace made those remarks at Dartmouth College.

https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/opinion/2021/09/30/harold-franklin-made-history-black-student-auburn-university/5931487001/

Mike Tyson Explains His Biggest Career Fight

https://youtu.be/hi9Hb408Smk

Pastor Speaks the Truth

An excerpt from Comicsands - 

Pastor Gives Christians Who Claim 'Religious Exemption' From Masks And Vaccines An Epic Bible Lesson

By Mike Walsh 

https://www.comicsands.com/pastor-marshall-christian-religious-exemption-2655075172.html

From Housekeeper to Owner of 5-Star Luxury Hotel

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

MEET THE FORMER HOUSEKEEPER WHO IS NOW THE OWNER OF A 5-STAR LUXURY HOTEL

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

Souadou Niang (BlackBusiness.com)

Meet Souadou Niang, a serial entrepreneur and the owner of Palms Luxury Boutique Hotel in Dakar, Senegal, who used to work as a housekeeper at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the United States.

“I started out cleaning toilets. Today, I am the manager of my own five-star boutique hotel with 60 employees,” Niang told BBC Africa.

Born and raised in Dakar, Niang moved to the U.S. at the age of 18. She went from New York to Washington, DC, where she applied for work at the Ritz-Carlton to help pay for her education.

For 10 years, Niang worked cleaning rooms at the hotel while also studying. Throughout those years, she always kept in mind that she would someday become more successful in the field. Sure enough, she eventually got a job with the management team at the same hotel she started working as a housekeeper.

“I rose through the ranks and that’s where I got the passion. I said one day I will go back to my country and show that luxury and quality of service can be achieved there,” Niang said.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/meet-the-former-housekeeper-who-is-now-the-owner-of-a-5-star-luxury-hotel/?test=prebid

Amazon's Only Black Board Member

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

Former Goldman Sachs Executive Edith Cooper Elected As Amazon’s Only Black Board Member

By Jeroslyn Johnson

Edith Cooper (Amazon)

After making history with her executive role at Goldman Sachs, Edith Cooper has been elected to Amazon’s board.

The Slack director is the only Black person on Amazon’s board following Roz Brewer’s exit earlier this year, Seattle Times reports. Cooper has an extensive resume that includes board positions with Etsy, Slack, PepsiCo, and the investment groups MSD Acquisition and EQT AB Group.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/former-goldman-sachs-executive-edith-cooper-elected-as-amazons-only-black-board-member/amp/

Military Recruitment Hurting

An excerpt from Defense One - 

Racial Division, Troops’ Role in Protests Has Hurt Minority Recruiting, Air Force Says

Black interest in military service plummeted after the George Floyd protests. Can the Pentagon undo the damage? 

By Tara Copp

                                            U.S. Air Force basic military graduation Apr. 16, 2020, at the                                                                             320th Training Squadron’s Airman Training Complex on                                                             Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.
                                    U.S. AIR FORCE / JOHNNY SALDIVAR

                                                

Years of racial tension, and the use of National Guard troops last June after the death of George Floyd, have hurt the military’s ability to recruit minorities, the head of Air Force recruiting said Wednesday. 

That drop is part of a worrisome long-term trend that the military is fighting against: that fewer recruitment-age youth show an interest to serve. 

According to the Defense Department’s latest twice-a-year Futures Survey, released in August, the share of eligible youth who reported they have an interest in military service has dropped about two percent overall in the last couple of years, said Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service. 

Most concerning, Thomas said, was that “the biggest drop in propensity to serve is from Black males, Hispanic males, and females.” 

The percentage of Black respondents who reported an interest in military service dropped from 20 percent in summer 2019 to 11 percent in summer 2020, according to the data. By fall 2020, the percentage of Black respondents interested in military service had dropped to 8 percent. 

The percentage of Hispanics reporting an interest in military service dropped from 18 percent to 14 percent over the same time. Interest from recruitment-eligible whites remained steady, from 8 percent in summer 2019 to 9 percent in summer 2020. 

“The last couple of years has done damage, there’s no doubt,” Thomas said. “The data shows us that the racial division in our nation has done damage to our recruiting efforts.”

https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/09/racial-division-troops-role-protests-has-hurt-minority-recruiting-air-force-says/185540/

Mack Wilds On Fatherhood and Mental Health | They Call Me Dad | OWN

https://youtu.be/5VHniUSk04w

https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/mack-wilds-own-spotlight-fatherhood-tristyn/

Michael Kenneth Williams Tribute | HBO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilXnAe6uI68&t=1s

Remember?

From Buzzfeed - 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lizmrichardson/things-gen-z-wont-understand 

Chapter 2 - Golf at an HBCU

An excerpt from AOL Sports - 

J.R. Smith's HBCU journey is a shining example of Black excellence

By SHALISE MANZA YOUNG

J.R. Smith is a two-time NBA champion and a former Sixth Man of the year who earned millions of dollars over the course of his 16 seasons. 

When he retired after his second title, with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, he could have done just about anything. Smith had enjoyed a long basketball career, had picked up a serious love of golf, and presumably had the means to travel the world pursuing that passion.

Instead, the 36-year-old, who jumped straight from Newark's famed St. Benedict's Prep to the NBA, entered college.

And not just any college, the largest HBCU in the country: North Carolina A&T.

What's more, he joined the Aggies golf team.

Best of all for the rest of us, he's basically live-tweeting his experience.

https://www.aol.com/sports/j-r-smiths-hbcu-journey-212019497.html

Soul Food Starter Kits in Stores Nationwide

An excerpt from Black Enterprise -  

BLACK CHEF TURNED ENTREPRENEUR LAUNCHES LINE OF SOUL FOOD STARTER KITS IN GROCERY STORES NATIONWIDE

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

                        Claude Booker (Black News)

Meet culinary expert and business leader Claude Booker, the CEO and founder of Booker’s Soul Food Starters which are now available in over 1,000 grocery stores across the country. His business providing Southern side dishes for buffets was decimated as a direct result of the pandemic, and most buffets remain closed.

He pivoted his business during the pandemic and went from ideation to grocery store shelves with Booker’s Soul Food Starters in nine months. He did not shy away from his commitments to building a supply chain filled with domestic Black-owned businesses. The partnership with other Black businesses encourages more opportunities for those businesses and allows them to employ other Black Americans.

“When the pandemic hit in 2020, I lost 90% of my hot food and steam table business during the shutdown,” said Claude. “We pivoted and created pantry-ready seasonings for soul food during the pandemic because more people were eating at home. We went from creation to 1,000 stores in the midst of a pandemic.”

Booker’s Soul Food Starters enables any home cook to create the traditional flavors of collard greens, mac and cheese, peach cobbler, and more by adding their own fresh ingredients to the starter. The products are now sold online and in over 1,000 locations nationwide, including at Meijer, Stop & Shop, KeHE, Cost Plus World Market, VW Roses, and Sam’s Club.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/black-chef-turned-entrepreneur-launches-line-of-soul-food-starter-kits-in-grocery-stores-nationwide/?test=prebid

Senate Honors the First Black National Bee Finalist from 1936!

An excerpt from Black Enterprise -

SENATE PASSES RESOLUTION TO HONOR FIRST BLACK NATIONAL SPELLING BEE FINALIST WHO WAS CHEATED OUT OF POSSIBLE VICTORY

by Ashantai Hathaway

Cox (Twitter)

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to honor the nation’s first Black National Spelling Bee finalist.

On Thursday, the Senate passed the resolution that would honor MacNolia Cox. In 1936, Cox, just 13-years old, was considered a spelling prodigy with an IQ that was off the charts. Cox was from Akron, Ohio, and became the First Black to qualify as a finalist for the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.

However, getting there was far from easy, and competing was met with racism. Because segregation and Jim Crow laws were still very much in place, Cox and another Black child, 15-year-old Elizabeth Kenny from New Jersey, were forced to travel to the National Spelling Bee in the “colored” car of the train.

The children could not stay at the hotel with the other contestants and were forced to use the back door to enter the Spelling Bee competition.

They also could not sit with the other contestants and instead were told to sit at a card table.

Despite it all, Cox went on to become the first African-American finalist in the Top Five. She was well on her way to win the competition, having thoroughly studied the 100,000 word list given to each speller. 

But the judges, who were all white southerners, plotted against Cox and pulled a word that was not on the list. 

A. Van Jordan, author of “M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A, a book about Cox and the National Spelling Bee, “said that what happened next was a despicable move from the Bee’s judges.

“They pulled a word that was not on that list, and you can’t make this up: the word was nemesis,” Van Jordan said.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/senate-passes-resolution-to-honor-first-black-national-spelling-bee-finalist-who-was-cheated-out-of-possible-victory/?test=prebid

The Signs Alone Will Make You Stop

From Bored Panda - 

https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-restaurant-signs-texas-el-arroyo/

Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine (A capella)

https://youtu.be/87FjkqtK67o

Your Precious Love

An excerpt from UDiscoverMusic - 

It Takes Two: The Greatest Duets In Motown History

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s hit inspires our Motown duets playlist.

By Paul Sexton

On the Billboard Hot 100 for September 9 1967, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell had the highest new entry of the week, at No.73, with “Your Precious Love,” which went on to reach No.5. Their hit-making duet inspires our playlist of Motown’s greatest (and, in at least one case, weirdest) duets.

“Your Precious Love,” written by regular Tamla hitmakers Ashford & Simpson and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, was one of many great examples of the vocal chemistry between Marvin and Tammi before her life was so cruelly cut short. “What we accomplished was to create two characters and let them sing to each other,” Gaye later told writer David Ritz. “That’s how the Marvin and Tammi characters were born. While we were singing, we were in love…but when the music ended, we kissed each other on the cheek and said goodbye.”

https://youtu.be/4Z3btjnwscU

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/takes-two-motowns-greatest-duets/

Oscar Robertson: Standing Up For Them All

An excerpt from the Daily Beast - 

The Basketball Great Who Stood Up to the NBA to Protect His Fellow Players

Oscar Robertson paved the way for athletes to protest and demand the right to choose their employers, at a time when standing up to the league could get a player barred for life.

By Robert Silverman

Bettmann / Getty

Oscar Robertson, one of the greatest players in NBA history and a visionary labor rights leader, is riding out the current stretch of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic down in Florida. It’s not his permanent residence, but like many in the Sunshine State and across the globe, the 82-year-old is worried, Robertson told me in an August phone conversation. He’s been vaccinated, and is taking every precaution, including wearing a mask outdoors, until conditions improve. “Goodness, gracious,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, unbelievable.”

He was baffled to read that a number of pro football players were making a public show of refusing to get the jab. Beyond the spread of the new variant, the risks posed to children and family members, Robertson couldn’t comprehend why an athlete wouldn’t at a bare minimum be looking out for their teammates, regardless of what misinformation they’d been fed. “Why would a player say ‘I don’t want to get the shot’ if he's going to be around other players?” he plaintively asked. “Why would he do that?"

That Robertson would view the ongoing health crisis as requiring greater labor solidarity shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

For all the Big O’s successes on court—the awards and accolades, the titles and medals won, his name scrawled at the top of the NBA’s record books, and the effusive praise from his contemporaries—Robertson’s legacy is also built on the decades spent fighting for justice and equity. He’s stood up to groaning bigots that treated him as less-than-human and threatened his life; he locked arms in solidarity in order to bring an All-Star game to a halt; and he dragged the NBA court and then testified before Congress, demanding that he and his in-demand, talented colleagues should (at a minimum) be able to choose their place of employment. All this was accomplished at a time when an outspoken athlete could easily find themselves on the unemployment line.

“There is a long tradition in our league going back to Oscar and others, including Bill Russell, who spoke out about civil rights issues,” Commissioner Adam Silver told Sports Illustrated’s Jack McCallum in 2020. “It’s a culture that’s been passed down from generation to generation, and Oscar led the fight.”

Over the summer, Robertson watched the Milwaukee Bucks win their first NBA title in 50 years, since he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last led the team to glory. It delighted him to no end. He marveled not just at the tens of thousands who had crammed into what the team dubbed “the Deer District” outside the stadium, but franchises now worth billions, and contracts for the biggest stars topping $200 million. As much as any NBA player, Robertson fought to ensure at least a somewhat more equitable distribution of wealth, though this stretch of NBA and labor history may have faded over time for fans and players alike.

“Some don’t know what the Oscar Robertson Rule is all about,” he said of the 1976 settlement agreement granting NBA players the right to free agency before any of the other major pro sports leagues. According to Robertson, those unaware of his battles should probably ask themselves, “How did it get this way?”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/when-basketball-great-oscar-robertson-stood-up-to-the-nba-to-protect-his-fellow-players