The Chicago Public School system has already overseen a record number of school closings and on Thursday the system announced that it would be laying off over 1,000 staff members. In total CPS is sending approximately 1,150 employees to the unemployment line due to a drop in enrollment. About double that number were let go last year when Chicago embarked on its extraordinary school closings. Officials began calling staffers to…
Reported by Andrew Scot Bolsinger A 25-year-old Jamaican who already has earned a doctorate in chemistry will add to his growing academic accomplishments as one of only five chosen for a post-doctoral fellowship at the prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Like many of his fellow Jamaicans, Peter Nelson used education to improve a childhood of poverty. But few have so quickly earned the accolades Nelson has, which include a…
Nina Simone was a legendary jazz, blues, and folk singer and civil rights activist. She was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on February 21, 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina. She began playing piano and singing in her church’s choir at just four years old. Simone grew up poor as the sixth of seven children. After seeing her potential, Simone’s music teacher helped set up a fund to pay for Simone’s…
The United Negro College Fund has been under fire for taking money from any available source. But the organization has struggled to find funding to support the many Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America that are under severe financial strain. UNCF President Michael Lomax has taken criticism for accepting a large donation from Charles and David Koch, two billionaire brothers who recently gave $25 million to the organization. The…
In this very important video, Malcolm X is talking about the importance of owning black businesses. Due to the legacy and history of African Americans being trained to work for whites, we are stuck in a cycle within which we’re taught to believe that our purpose for education or any other training is to get a white-owned company to hire us. The challenge with this line of thinking is that…
Black boys are typically the most likely to be placed in special education. They are also the most likely to be put on special drugs that are designed to control and modify their behavior. What are the long-term effects of giving medication to your children? Are they going to be able to live healthy and productive lives, or are the drugs likely to push them down a path toward a…
Reported by Kacie Whaley Video of a tearful LeVar Burton watching the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter reach $1 million in donations has surfaced. That was the goal amount of funds that Burton—former Reading Rainbow host— and his crew were hoping to raise in order to revive the long-running, award-winning children’s program. The television show— which was dedicated to sparking kids’ interest in reading from 1983-2006—is not only attempting to make its…
Usher, born Usher Raymond IV, is an R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and entrepreneur. Usher was born in Dallas, Texas but grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He has been married once and has two sons. Usher’s first experiences with performing include joining a local R&B quintet, NuBeginnings, at age 11. He competed on Star Search at age 13 which landed him an audition with L.A. Reid who…
Reported by April Taylor Research reported by Pew Research and the New York Times is showing that nearly 1.2 million Americans who identified themselves as “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin,” on the 2000 census have now changed their race identification to “white” on the 2010 census. The astonishing revelation was presented at an annual meeting of the Population Association of America. This is an interesting finding since mainstream media reveres the Hispani…
Dr. Claud Anderson is the current president of PowerNomics Corporation of America , Inc. The Harvest Institute, and WaterLand Fisheries, Inc. PowerNomics is a corporation that facilitates major business development, focusing on inner cities. PowerNomics is also a social-political-economic concept developed by Dr. Anderson that examines race and offers specific principles, strategies and activities for Black America to change behavior, establish accountability, and achieve unity of purpose in a…
Former NBA player and current mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson has be lauded with praise for his role in helping to bring down L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling. What most people don’t know, and what Deadspin pointed out, is that Johnson has his own history of corruption. Johnson was brought in by the NBA players union to help manage the Sterling affair after the Clippers owner was recorded making racially…
Reported by April Taylor Living as a woman presents its own set of challenges; however, living as a black woman can be even more challenging due inequality and prejudice. A recent article by the Atlanta BlackStar highlights some statistics that illustrate just how different being a black woman is than being a white woman in America. They do this by pointing out five significant things that white women get away…
You have to watch this video. SNL decided to air a skit that was put together by the black women who are part of the show. Apparently, they thought it was funny, but the black community does not. The skit consists of a woman making jokes about being in slavery and popping out “super babies” for the master on her plantation. You can see that the woman’s attempts at humor…
By April Taylor The Washington Post is reporting that first lady Michelle Obama toured Howard University along with television host and rapper Bow Wow and 37 students from Chicago public high schools. The school system refers to the college visit that students take annually as, “Escape to the Mecca,” which is supposed to be a play on the fact that Howard University’s nickname, “the Mecca.” On an interesting note, Obama…
KRS-One shares valuable secrets on the history, meaning and philosophy of Hip Hop. Slavery, education, spirituality, culture, modern society, war, the economy, mainstream hip-hop and much more were discussed at this historical event. This speech was held during the Hip Hop appreciation week in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. There, KRS-One held his forty years of Hip-Hop lecture in the Bijlmer neighborhood. [leadplayer_vid id=”5344DD84EDF30″]