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The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will soon be a part of the curriculum for Oklahoma schools

3 mins read
tulsa race

Oklahoma leaders announced Wednesday the state will be moving forward with embedding the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre into the curriculum of all Oklahoma schools.

On the last day of May in 1921, a white mob estimated at 10,000 people descended on the Greenwood District — then an affluent black neighborhood in Tulsa known as Black Wall Street — and burned it to the ground. Hundreds of African-Americans were killed.
Tulsa Race

Hundreds more were unaccounted for. But that part of history went unmentioned for decades in classrooms across the state.

The killings remained “Tulsa’s dirty secret,” state Sen. Kevin Matthews said at a news conference Wednesday.

And while school districts have begun teaching about the massacre, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said in the news conference, the state’s education department will be releasing a curriculum framework this April to bolster those efforts throughout the state.

The framework, Hofmeister said, will give teachers “extra support and resources” when teaching about the massacre. “What we want to ensure is that … we are teaching in a grade-appropriate level those facts that have not been taught in a way they should have been taught in Oklahoma,” she said.

“This is … our history and we should know it.”

Tulsa Race

Starting this fall, students from elementary through high school will learn about the event, officials said.

Deborah A. Gist, the superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools — which ran a pilot program teaching the material that’s about to go statewide — said it wasn’t until after she got into teaching that she learned about the massacre, despite being a student of the school system she now oversees.

“What I’m deeply committed to in Tulsa Public Schools is making sure that never happens again,” she said.

With the century mark of the harrowing event approaching, Sen. James Lankford said at the news conference that the whole country will soon “pause … and will look at Tulsa and will ask the question ‘what has changed in race relations in Tulsa in 100 years.'”

“It’s a reasonable question,” he said. Teaching about what happened is a step toward progress, officials say.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said that going forward, the question is “how we can use this horrible tragedy to instruct and inform and make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

“This isn’t something that you just read about in history books and think that’s something that happened 100 years ago, it can never happen again,” he said at the news conference. “That’s exactly what people in 1921 in Tulsa probably thought too.”

He said he hopes to see more “black ownership of business in Greenwood and in Tulsa” in the future.

“This is an incredibly important thing for us to have moving forward in our city.”

 

Source: CNN

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USC Offering Free Tuition to Families Making Under $80,000

3 mins read
usc

The University of Southern California announced Thursday that it will eliminate tuition for students whose families have an annual income of $80,000 or less and will no longer be considering home ownership when calculating students’ financial aid.

The changes will begin with first-year students entering USC in the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021, and will be “phased in with each new entering class,” according to a news release from the university.

“We’re opening the door wider to make a USC education possible for talented students from all walks of life,” USC’s president Carol Folt said in a written statement.

Each eligible undergraduate student will get up to $45,000 more in financial aid, according to the university’s website.

Undergraduate tuition at USC is estimated at $57,256 and it can cost up to $77,459 to attend when factoring in the cost of fees, books, supplies, transportation and housing.

USC will be increasing its undergraduate aid by more than $30 million annually to help over 4,000 students once the policies are fully implemented, and officials expect that one-third of students in the fall 2020 and spring 2021 classes would benefit, according to the release.

The private university already gives out about $640 million in financial aid to undergraduate students every year and estimates that two out of three students receive some form of assistance.

No longer considering home equity as a factor will mean students would qualify for more financial aid.

When calculating aid, many of the country’s prestigious schools ask applicants about when their homes were purchased and for how much. This means that if the university calculates that the home is high in value compared to annual income, they award the student less in financial aid.

Stanford University has also removed home equity from financial aid calculations.

The Los Angeles Times compared USC’s new policies to those of the University of California, which is known for its generous financial aid and high numbers of low-income students.

Transfer students at USC will not be eligible for the new policies, but they can still receive financial aid under previous policies, the Times reported.

USC draws tens of thousands of applicants each year. In 2018, a record 64,000 people applied and only about 8,200 got in— an 11% acceptance rate.

“This significant step we are taking today is by no means the end of our affordability journey,” Folt’s statement read. “We are committed to increasing USC’s population of innovators, leaders and creators regardless of their financial circumstances. Investing in the talent and diversity of our student body is essential to our educational mission.”

Folt was named the university’s president last year as USC dealt with the fallback from the college admissions bribery scandal, which involved charges against wealthy parents who prosecutors say paid large sums so their children would get a spot at the university.

 

Source: KTLA

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Bowie State University Opens Food Pantry Lounge That Feeds Students For Free

2 mins read
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Bowie State University, working with Food Lion, announced Monday it is opening a new on-campus nutrition lounge supplying free and healthy foods.

Through Food Lion Feeds, the retailer donated $10,000 to get the space up and running.

“This gift from Food Lion Feeds, along with the ongoing partnership of Food Lion and Capital Area Food Bank, will make an incredible difference for our Bowie State students, who sometimes struggle to afford healthy food options,” said Brent Swinton, vice president of institutional advancement. “The Bowie State Nutrition Lounge is emblematic of the university’s mission. This campus community provides wraparound support to empower our students to reach their full potential. The nourishment and healthy foods provided in the Nutrition Lounge will empower our students to advance their academic success and personal well-being.”

The Bowie State Nutrition Lounge will give students a specific space, especially for commuters, to relax, study and access healthy foods.

The university partnered with a local Food Lion store and Capital Area Food Bank to keep the lounge stocked regularly.

Many of Bowie State’s students only eat one meal per day, according to a university press release, so they believe a lounge will allow the students to get a healthy snack during a school day.

This is the sixth space Food Lion Feeds has established at a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association school since 2015.

“As the official Grocery Partner of the CIAA and deeply committed to Bowie and the greater Baltimore community, we’re excited to join with Bowie State and help nourish students right on campus,” said Jason Bullock, Food Lion director of operations in the Bowie, Md., area. “Students should be focused on learning, not where their next meal will come from. Caring for our neighbors in the towns and cities we serve is important to us, so we’re excited about this new space to help nourish the Bowie State community.”

 

Source: ABC

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13 year old violinist heading to New York to play at Carnegie Hall

5 mins read
violinist

Lincoln Haggart-Ives is about to do something many musicians have only dreamed of. The thirteen year old violinist, from Vaughan, Ontario., is headed to New York to play at Carnegie Hall.

“I was really excited. I was mind-blown,” Haggart-Ives said of his reaction when he learned his audition tape for the American Protégé Music Competitions had been successful.

violinist
Lincoln Haggart-Ives

“I didn’t really expect that to happen but it happened, so I was really happy and excited. I was just shocked.”

American Protégé is designed for young musicians, actors and singers on the path to a successful career; and gives participants an opportunity to showcase their unique talents.

Organizers say the 2018-2019 competitions attracted the largest number of very competitive applicants on record, hailing from every corner of the world including various parts of the U.S. and 58 other countries.

Lincoln’s mom, Maria Haggart, says she found out about the competition from a neighbour and immediately found the “opportunity for the kids to play at Carnegie Hall” very appealing.

violinist

“I thought to myself, ‘I’ll just put Lincoln in and see what happens,'” Haggart told CBC News.

“So, I submitted the video and then last Thursday we just got word that he placed and he will be playing in the winners’ recital in June.”

Preparing for the big stage

Haggart-Ives says he’ll be playing Csárdás, which is one of his favorite pieces.

Csárdás — by Italian composer Vittorio Monti — is a rhapsodical concert piece written in 1904, originally composed for violin, mandolin or piano.

“It has different parts to it. For example there’s a fast bit and there’s a slow bit,” he explained.

The teen admits he does get a bit nervous sometimes when he has to play to a large audience, but he has his own way to calm his nerves.

“Sometimes I get a little nervous, but when I start playing I lose it and I just focus on the thing I’m doing and it goes away and then I do fine,” he said.

“I just practice the pieces I’m going to play and I just try to perfect it and make it sound as good as possible.”

Learning new pieces is what Haggart-Ives likes the most about playing the violin.

violinist

“I like to branch out and to explore different types of pieces and try to just play as many different pieces as possible, to challenge myself more and more to play different pieces in higher levels,” he said.

‘Very musical’ from he was a baby

Lincoln’s mom said he started music lessons one month before his fourth birthday.

“I thought that the violin was the best instrument to start him on because it’s a sizable instrument. He started on the box violin and he started playing an actual instrument when he was four,” Haggart said.

“He just took off with it… He was very musical from the time he was a little baby.

“We used to play music for him when he was really young, before he could even walk or talk. We would play The Beatles and Coldplay. His favourite actually was Amy Winehouse. He loved Amy Winehouse and he would like to dance around that,” Haggart added.

The proud mom says, “It’s just been a journey for us. There have been challenges and obstacles but it’s been very, very rewarding.”

But for Lincoln, this is only the beginning.

Next on his bucket list is to play in an Orchestra.

“Maybe the Toronto Symphony Orchestra or the National Orchestra,” he said.

 

Source: CBC

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This Black Entrepreneur Went From Foster Care to Homelessness To Owning a $2M Hair Care Line

1 min read
hair care

Cosmetologist Jerricha Hoskins has always wanted to be like Madam CJ Walker. “I’ve been using all the hair care products on the market but none worked out for me.

So, I started formulating things and introducing them to the public. In a little over two years, I built a $2 million dollar business,” she said.

hair care

Her line, Arcani Coil Care, carries everything from vegan-based temporary hair colors to men’s beard care kits and kids mousse.

Once homeless, the mom of six says her new reality is sometimes hard to believe. Jerricha was placed in foster care at 15-years-old after her mother dropped her off at Daybreak Dayton, a youth services organization, and never returned. Three years later she found herself homeless and pregnant, left to care for her son alone.

Her staff includes mostly single mothers and foster kids who are aging out of the system.

“I’m very passionate about working with at-risk youth because I was an at-risk youth at one time. I know that if I was able to see something like this at an earlier stage it would’ve gave me that extra push,” she said.

Her products are being shipped from her Dayton office around the world to Zambia, Canada and the Caribbean with Houston, Atlanta and Chicago being her top American suppliers.

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Black Sculptor creates dark skin prosthetics to boost patients’ confidence

3 mins read
Black Sculptor

John Amanam is a 32 year old creative sculptor and former movie special effects expert from Nigeria. His knowledge of art has helped him produce hyper-realistic prosthesis of several body parts including the ears, nose, fingers, toes, and legs.

Black Sculptor
John Amanam, founder of Immortal Cosmetic Art

He was inspired by a cousin who lost several fingers in an accident. “I was thinking of ways to help him as a sculptor and thought to myself, since I’ve sculpted human beings, why can’t I mould something that can actually be used on a human body?”

John said that after his cousin’s accident he started to feel more empathy towards others who had experienced a similar loss.

“They had this feeling of discomfort whenever they were around other people. I saw it as a challenge. If I could give back or solve this need, it would go a long way to ease that emotional trauma and loss of confidence,” he added.

black scuptor
John Amanam works on a prosthetic hand

“I just want them to feel at home and be whole, aesthetically.”

Until now, most prosthetics available in Nigeria have been white, or made from materials such as wood that also look unrealistic.

“You rarely find people with black skin prosthetics,” Amanam said. “I want this need to be met within Africa. I want to reach out to Blacks all over the world as well, by making this process accessible, at an affordable rate.” The pieces are sold for at least 40,000 naira ($111).

Black Sculptor
A patient shows his new prosthetic hand

He says although there is room for improvement, his products have been medically approved for patients who are in need of body part replacements.

“I have been to many hospitals and the product has been well received because the materials used in producing are medically approved.”

According to John, he intends to open a factory in Akwa Ibom, his home state where he intends to produce the products in large quantities for local and international export.

Tony O. Lawson

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Black Inventor Creates Underwear to help patients with Catheters and Leg Bags

2 mins read
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Brian Mohika BSN, RN (and a United States Air Force veteran) is a nurse, inventor, and founder of CathWear, an all-in-one catheter management system built into a comfortable, high-quality unisex brief.

While working as a specialist in Interventional Radiology, Brian Mohika would hear consistent complaints from patients who had drains placed inside of their organs. These patients would complain about irritated skin from leg straps constantly sliding up and down their legs.

black inventor
Brian Mohika, CEO of CathWear

To eliminate this movement, they would overtighten their leg straps, which in turn would reduce blood flood to their leg, further complicating an already bad situation. Patients also complained about inadvertently dislodging tubes while trying to undress or go to the restroom. In many instances, this would lead to a trip back to the hospital for another placement procedure.

In addition to the myriad of medical complications associated with standard leg straps, patients complained of the daily stress associated with choosing clothing that properly conceals their leg bags. Something as simple as wearing summer clothes such as shorts or dresses is simply not an option for many patients.

One day, Brian walked into a procedure room and saw a patient who had his pants down. The patient had a bag safety-pinned to his underwear. It was at this moment when Brian was inspired to create CathWear. He went home and drew the design. He then purchased a pair of underwear, some supplies and had someone build the prototype with his guidance.

Once complete, he applied for a patent. The patent was granted on July 16, 2013.

During the lengthy process of finding the right manufacturer, CathWear was able to register with the FDA, own their own Medicare code (which allows doctors to write a script for CathWear), and register as a Certified Veteran owned company.

 

 

Tony O. Lawson

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7 Black Opera Singers You Should Know

4 mins read
black opera singer

Opera has a long and rich history, but it has not always been inclusive. For many years, Black opera singers were denied opportunities to perform on the world’s greatest stages.

Today, there are many Black opera singers who are dominating the stage, both nationally and internationally. These singers are breaking down barriers and inspiring a new generation of artists.

In this article, we will highlight seven Black opera singers who you should know. These singers are all incredibly talented and accomplished, and they are making significant contributions to the world of opera.

Black Opera Singers

J’Nai Bridges has been heralded as a rising star, gracing the world’s top stages in repertoire ranging from traditional favorites to world premieres to spirituals and standards.

Russell Thomas is an American operatic tenor. He has performed leading roles at some of the worlds leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, the English National Opera, among others.

South African native, Sunnyboy Dladla made his successful BBC Proms debut in the 2018 festival with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle.

 

American-born tenor Lawrence Brownlee captivates audiences and critics around the world, and has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today”.

Pretty Yende, OIS is a South African operatic soprano. She has performed leading roles at opera houses internationally, including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera.

John Thomas Holiday, Jr., is an American operatic countertenor who has won several major music competitions and has appeared in supporting and leading roles with several American opera companies.

 

Pumeza Matshikiza, a Lyric soprano from South Africa graduated Cum Laude, then at the Royal College of Music, London with a full three-year scholarship and in the Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

 

Vuvu Mpofu taught herself to sing by mimicking the singers on two opera DVDs and, several years later, her talent was spotted by a voice coach. Now, the soprano has mentors in the world’s foremost opera companies.

 

Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE is a Jamaican-born British operatic bass baritone. In 1976, he made his London opera debut with English National Opera. He has since sung at the Met, Covent Garden, Paris Bastille, the opera houses of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the major European cities.

Solomon Howard is a graduate of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He garners high praise from the press for his vivid performances on the great opera and concert stages of the world.

Hailing from Norfolk, Virginia, young tenor Frederick Ballentine is a graduate of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, and the Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.

 

by Tony O. Lawson

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Kobe Bryant leaves behind a Business Empire that stretched beyond the Basketball court

8 mins read
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Kobe Bryant’s legacy extends beyond his time on the basketball court. He was also known to the business world as a brand-builder; an investor; and a coach to other athletes and company founders.

Bryant died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California at the age of 41.

“For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Sunday. “He was generous with the wisdom he acquired and saw it as his mission to share with future generations of players.”

Beyond the court

Bryant diversified his career by breaking into the investing world even before leaving the NBA. In 2013, he co-founded venture capital firm Bryant Stibel along with Web.com founder Jeff Stibel.

kobe bryant business

In creating the company, Bryant followed the model of a select number of other sports legends who have been able to transform skills developed on the court into business success. NBA Hall of Fame point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson was among the first in 1987, when he founded investment firm Magic Johnson Enterprises, which invested in a number of sizable businesses, including Starbucks and New York’s LaGuardia airport.

Bryant’s firm now has more than $2 billion in assets, with investments in dozens of technology, media and data companies. Bryant Stibel claims at least 10 successful exits, including Dell and Alibaba. It also has investments in Fortnite creator Epic Games, digital payment company Klarna and household products firm The Honest Company.

“You’ve got to have strong entrepreneurs, that’s really the key for us is looking at the people,” Bryant said in an interview with CNBC in September. “Yes, it’s important to see those returns, right? But it’s also important to have great opportunity, great relationships with our investors, great opportunities with our entrepreneurs to help them grow and put them in situations where they can be successful.”

Separate from the firm, Bryant also made millions of dollars on his investment in sports drink Body Armor, which in 2018 boosted its valuation by selling a stake to Coca Cola.

kobe bryant quotes

Bryant’s reputation as a star athlete and brand builder has been one of the portfolio’skeys to success.

“When Kobe puts his stamp of approval on something and really gets behind you as a partner, the world of sports and everyone across the spectrum of the sports industry takes note and you’re suddenly validated in a way that most startups just don’t experience until much further on,” skincare brand Art of Sport founders Brian Lee and Matthias Metternich said in a statement about the company’s development prior to Sunday on Bryant Stibel’s website.

Other athletes have taken note of Bryant’s experience as an investor.

“I think Kobe’s somebody who’s been super fun to kind of pick his brain about some things,” Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps told the Wall Street Journal in August. “We’ve had the privilege and the opportunity in our sports to be successful and reach the pinnacle and we know what it takes to get to that top level. So now, it’s always the challenge for the athletes to find that drive outside of the sport.”

In 2016, Bryant founded Granity Studios, a media company that focuses on creative storytelling around sports.

Through this company, the basketball star wrote and narrated a short film called “Dear Basketball,” which won the Academy Award for best animated short film in 2018. Granity has also released a set of books for young adults, along with Bryant’s autobiography, “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play.”

 

Building the Black Mamba brand

Bryant, known in basketball as “Black Mamba,” began to build his brand as an athlete early in his career as a Nike (NKE) endorser.

Bryant first signed a deal with Nike in 2003. He was one of an elite group of NBA players who signed with the brand that year, including LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. That helped the shoe company solidify its position in the basketball world for the next couple decades following Michael Jordan’s 2003 retirement.

8 Feb 1997: Guard Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the Slam Dunk Contest trophy at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport

As Bryant’s success on the court grew, so too did his Nike partnership. The brand put out multiple lines of Kobe shoes and gear. In 2017, the company brought Bryant on stage with then-CEO Mark Parker at its annual investor meeting to celebrate the launch of Nike’s new business strategy.

Nike partnered with Bryant and the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club to launch a youth basketball league, called the Mamba League, in 2017, to give hundreds of kids free access to the sport. Bryant later created the Mamba Sports Academy to provide broader athletic and lifestyle training to competitors at all levels in a number of sports.

Bryant was on his way to a Mamba Sports Academy game Sunday when the helicopter crashed.

“We are devastated by today’s tragic news. We extend our deepest sympathies to those closest to Kobe, especially his family and friends,” Nike said in a statement Sunday. “He was one of the greatest athletes of his generation and has had an immeasurable impact on the world of sport and the community of basketball. He was a beloved member of the Nike family. We will miss him greatly. Mamba forever.”

Bryant has also been involved in the NBA’s efforts to expand its audience beyond the United States, particularly in China. In 2015, he worked with Alibaba Group to release the basketball star’s documentary “Kobe Bryant’s Muse” through its Tmall Magic Box TV in China.

The deal also involved working with Bryant to create a new social media platform “bringing new avenues of connecting China’s young people directly to Kobe and his philosophies,” according to a press release from Alibaba announcing the partnership. Additionally, the company sells a number of Kobe-branded products on its retail platform.

Bryant also had endorsement deals with a number of other brands throughout his career, including McDonald’s (MCD), Sprite, Nintendo (NTDOF) and Turkish Airlines.

 

SOURCE: CNN Business

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HOW TAHIIRAH HABIBI AIMS TO DIVERSIFY WINE

4 mins read
TAHIIRAH HABIBI

Wine lovers like to talk about how wine brings people together. But in her years of experience working at restaurants in Philadelphia and Miami, Tahiirah Habibi saw something missing in the wine world. “I was working as a sommelier, and I was building a great career, but I didn’t see people who looked like me,” she says. “I always felt it was a stretch to see another person of color, and I decided to put my talents back into my community.”

tahiirah habibi
Photo Credit: Imbebe

In 2017, Habibi launched The Hue Society, planning events such as the annual Black Wine Experience in New Orleans, that helps connect the wine world with an African-American audience. “There’s a lack of opportunities to increase wine knowledge in the community, and there’s a desire for that knowledge,” she says. “I felt like it was time to focus on building up the confidence of people of color, and making sure they’re included in the conversations, and in the marketing.”

At events such as Charleston Food + Wine, Essence, and Aspen Food & Wine, Habibi breaks down some of the barriers that she sees as obstacles keeping wine from finding this more diverse audience. “It’s about creating experiences that people of color are able to relate to,” she says. “They can come and have fun and see people who look like them, and taste all these different wines—that’s how you learn.

It doesn’t have to be this in-your-face thing—it has to be about inclusion. I’ve always worked with all kinds of people, and this gives me the opportunity to uplift my community.”

TAHIIRAH HABIBI
Photo credit: Vine Pair

And the Hue Society’s mission isn’t just about opening the doors of the wine world to a wider, more diverse audience. Habibi highlights the work of other African American wine professionals, not only introducing them to a wider audience, but providing the kind of visibility and support that’s needed to make the larger wine world more inclusive. “The community is still very small, and building that up is necessary—you can’t be what you can’t see,” she says.

“When I was putting together the Hue Society, I found it important to have visuals—to show there are other people who look like you doing this, and that makes you realize that you can do it, too. This can be a career path for you, when you may not have realized there was even an open door before. The playing field is being leveled, and the only way to do that is to continue to create exposure, and make people feel comfortable with the topic of diversity in wine.”

 

Source: Imbibe

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