Across Black America

Apr 4 2013

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced that the Los Angeles City Council has confirmed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s appointment of the Rev. Kevin Sauls to LAHSA’s Board of Commissioners. Sauls is senior pastor at Holman United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles. He is also an ordained elder in the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He serves as a mentor, coach and advocate in the areas of transformational leadership, multicultural/ethnic/racial/lingual congregational development, community and economic development, and justice ministries for equality and dignity.
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The courtyard at the California African American Museum (CAAM) will be filled with dazzling style and creativity during the annual fashion show, “Haute Couture with Hatitude.” Taking place during Target Sundays at CAAM on April 7, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Haute Couture with Hatitude” will be co-hosted by performing artist and choreographer, Ingrid Graham and actor Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter. This marks CAAM’s 9th annual “Hatitude” event where guests have the opportunity to showcase unique hats from their personal collections, as well as designing them while attending the event. Mauva Gaciua, a wardrobe stylist for StarHold Images, will lead a special fashion show.

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

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Across Black America

Mar 28 2013

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
The National Council of Negro Women Inc. (NCNW) of Southern California Area is presenting the return of the “Black Family Reunion Celebration 2013” (BFRC 2013). The BFRC 2013 is hosted by NCNW Southern California Sections: Mary McLeod Bethune, Compton, High Desert, Inland Empire, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Orange County, Pomona Valley, San Diego, San Gabriel Valley, Santa Monica/Venice and View Park. The BFRC 2013 honorary chair is Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas; honorary co-chairs are Congresswoman Diane Watson (retired), Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks; NBC’s “Betty White’s Off Their Rockers” star Reatha Grey and “Mrs. Ethnic World International 2012” Daisi Pollard Sepulveda; BFRC 2013 community Partner is Los Angeles Metro Transportation authority. The NCNW “BFRC 2013” profiles the Black Family in a positive culturally based event that focuses on historic strengths and traditional values. The event will be held July 13, 2013, at 3720 West 54th St., L.A., from Hillcrest Boulevard to Keniston Avenue. BFRC 2013 has openings for vendors (food and non-food), local performers, Gospel singers and persons wanting to volunteer. Please visit NCNW BFRC 2013 website for updates at: www.ncnwscarea.org.

Florida
Prison Fellowship—the world’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families—is partnering with the film “Unconditional” to bring the movie’s life-changing message of hope to thousands of inmates nationwide beginning Easter weekend. Through a special arrangement with Provident Films, Prison Fellowship will screen the film March 30 at Orlando’s Central Florida Reception Center and March 31 at the Desoto Correctional Institution in Arcadia, Fla. The events also feature Prison Fellowship CEO Jim Liske and “Papa Joe” Bradford, a former maximum security inmate now working to improve the lives of Nashville’s at-risk kids, whose life is the inspiration behind the film. “I know what it means to be the man in prison,” Papa Joe said. “And I’m so excited that my story in the film can be used to bring hope to these men and their families. There are more than 2 million children of incarcerated parents in the U.S., and they need our love and encouragement.”

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California

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Across Black America

Mar 21 2013

Here’s a look at African American individuals and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child has joined the cast of “Fela!” The musical, produced by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Stephen and Ruth Hendel, is filled with the exuberant music of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and will be presented from April 26 through May 5, 2013 at the Ahmanson Theater. Tickets are now on sale for this limited engagement. A triumphant tale of courage, passion and love, “Fela!” is the true story of Kuti, who created a new type of music, Afrobeat, and mixed these pounding eclectic rhythms (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies) with incendiary lyrics that openly attacked the corrupt and oppressive military dictatorships that ruled Nigeria and much of Africa. His songs of rebellion were an inspiration to millions.
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UNCF (United Negro College Fund,) the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, recently hosted the second annual UNCF Mayor’s Masked Ball. This year’s UNCF Mayor’s Masked Ball Los Angeles honored NBA Hall of Famer and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Sheryl P. Underwood, co-host of CBS’ The Talk. Both Johnson and Underwood endorsed the work of UNCF and the success of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) and pledged to raise money and to help young men and women with financial resources for quality education to fulfill their dreams.

Here’s a look at African American individuals and issues making headlines throughout the country.

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Across Black America

Mar 14 2013

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

Alabama
The vice president and Black leaders, commemorating a famous civil rights march on Sunday, said efforts to diminish the impact of African Americans’ votes haven’t stopped in the years since the 1965 Voting Rights Act added millions to Southern voter rolls. More than 5,000 people followed Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma’s annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee. The event commemorates the “Bloody Sunday” beating of voting rights marchers—including Lewis—by state troopers as they began a march to Montgomery in March 1965. The 50-mile march prompted Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act that struck down impediments to voting by African Americans and ended all-White rule in the South. Biden, the first sitting vice president to participate in the annual re-enactment, said nothing shaped his consciousness more than watching TV footage of the beatings. “We saw in stark relief the rank hatred, discrimination and violence that still existed in large parts of the nation,” he said. Biden said marchers “broke the back of the forces of evil,” but that challenges to voting rights continue today with restrictions on early voting and voter registration drives and enactment of voter ID laws where no voter fraud has been shown.

District of Columbia
The 2013 Symposium on U.S. Healthcare at Howard University has announced Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, as its keynote speaker on Wednesday, April 10. Health professionals from across the nation will assemble at Howard for the one-day event, held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Armour Blackburn Center, 2397 6th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. Attendees and speakers from health professions will focus on minority health disparities, building the capacity to combat issues through education, research and community leadership, and establishing a pipeline for minorities in STEM careers. Health disparities among minority U.S. populations and ethnic groups are apparent in the adult deaths, infant mortality rates and other oft-cited health measures. By promoting minority preparation for leadership roles and improving access to a more diverse group of health professionals, health outcomes can be improved in vulnerable communities. The event is free and open to the public, although registration is required. To register, visit http://hu2013symposiumonhealthcare.eventbrite.com/

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

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Across Black America

Mar 7 2013

Here’s a look at African American individuals and issues making headlines throughout the country.

District of Columbia
Since 1982, each spring the U.S. House of Representatives sponsors a nationwide high school arts contest designed to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of artists in the nation. Any high school student in the 37th Congressional District of California is welcome to submit their artwork to U.S. Representative Karen Bass’ office to enter the competition. The deadline to enter is April 15. The winner of the competition will win two round-trip airline tickets to Washington, D.C., to attend the unveiling ceremony with members of Congress and special guests. In addition, the winner’s artwork will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year. Starting Monday, April 22, submissions will be displayed in an online gallery on Bass’ website and the public will be able to vote for their favorite. All submissions should be sent to CA37art@mail.house.gov.
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Bread for the World released a new analysis revealing that African American children suffer more hunger and poverty than do U.S. children as a whole. The analysis, titled “Hunger by the Numbers: Hunger and Poverty Among African American Children,” explores the latest figures, breaking down African American child poverty rates across several states and metropolitan areas. In Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, African American child poverty rates are double the overall child poverty rates. In Iowa, the poverty rate for African American children is more than triple the overall child poverty rate. Bread for the World launched its 2013 Offering of Letters campaign, “A Place at the Table,” to raise awareness about persistent hunger in the United States and around the world, and to urge policymakers to find budget solutions without cutting essential programs. The campaign highlights the tireless work of churches and charities to end hunger. But also emphasizes that federal nutrition programs are crucial to hungry people since the combined assistance of churches and charities across the country amounts to only 4 percent of what the federal government provides.

Here’s a look at African American individuals and issues making headlines throughout the country.

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Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.

This Week in LA

Walk-a-Thon

June 1, 2013

Across Black America