President Joe Biden Honors Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and Others with Lifetime Achievement Award
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. has received the President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service and Civil Rights. Dr. Chavis received the award during a ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta. “On behalf of the NNPA and the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust, as well as on behalf of all my fellow Civil Rights Movement comrades who were present at the President Joe Biden 2022 Lifetime Achievement Awards on the
Getty & The Smithsonian Acquire Ebony And Jet’s Iconic Photo Archives
Photo: Getty Images Seven decades of iconic Black stories and photos from Ebony and Jet magazines will soon be digitized and available to the public, Smithsonian Magazine reports. Over four million negatives and prints from Ebony and Jet, both produced via the Johnson Publishing Company starting in the 1940s and ’50s, have been acquired by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and the Getty Research Institute, according to a joint statement by the two entities. The Getty Trust is putting up $30 million towards processing the digitization of photographic negatives, photos,
The Lasting Legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
by Dr. Aleesia Johnson and Dr. Christina Grant “If it were not for Black women, Black people would not have been educated in this country.”- Dr. Sharon Contreras, Superintendent, Guilford County Schools On a Friday morning in June, 13 Black women who serve as school superintendents across the United States gathered in front of a monument. We’d made a very intentional decision to come together in tribute to one of our foremothers whose path shaped the way for so many of us – Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. If you don’t know Dr. Bethune’s name,
Meet Greg Robinson — HBCU grad who fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
Courtesy of Black Information Network Photo: Getty Images An HBCU grad who comes from a family of sharecroppers is the man behind the James Webb Space Telescope project, which recently unveiled groundbreaking images of distant galaxies, New York Times reports. Gregory Robinson brought the long-stalled NASA project back on track after years of delay and unanticipated costs when he came on as program director in 2018. The James Webb Space Telescope project started back in 2002 and was first scheduled to launch in 2010. A myriad of problems continued to push back the launch date costing NASA over
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Becomes Minority NFL Owner
Courtesy of Black Information Network The nation's first African American female Secretary of State is joining the Denver Broncos as a minority owner of the team, CBS Sports reports. On Monday (July 11), the Broncos announced the addition of Condoleezza Rice to its ownership group. Rice joins the ranks of Mellody Hobson, who became the first Black female NFL owner with her addition to the Broncos last month. "A highly respected public servant, accomplished academic, and corporate leader, Secretary Rice is well known as a passionate and knowledgeable football fan who has worked to make the sport stronger and
Beyond Juneteenth: Breaking the Chains to Access Capital and Achieve Real Freedom
Vercie Lark, left, Region 7 Great Plains Administrator and Ted James, right, Region 6 South Central Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration By Vercie Lark and Ted James Being black and walking away from a person who legally owned you became reality on June 17, 1865, when Texas became the last state to implement the Emancipation Proclamation. The day, now known as Juneteenth, has become one of celebration for black Americans. It was a start. As black Americans, however, we continually must ask the question: “Are we truly emancipated?” While important to celebrate a
Manifesting the Legacy of Our Liberation
This post was originally published on Seattle Medium Activist and CEO of the Black Future Co-op Fund argues that it is a time to envision what is possible outside of systemic oppression. By T’wina Nobles Opal Lee is the grandmother of Juneteenth. For most of her life, she has advocated to make Juneteenth a national holiday. In 2016, she even walked from her home in Ft. Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C., traveling two and a half miles each day to symbolize the two and a half years Black Texans waited for emancipation. At 94
Biden Appoints Keisha Lance Bottoms As Top White House Advisor
President Joe Biden has tapped former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to join the White House as a top advisor as upcoming November midterm elections loom over the administration. On Wednesday (June 15), Biden announced Bottoms' appointment as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, per the Washington Post. Bringing Bottoms into the fold will add a needed Black woman's perspective amid a political time that will determine the fate of the rest of Biden's presidency. The former mayor joins Biden's inner circle during a tumultuous time for the administration — with inflation
Despite Apathy, Activists and Strategists Urge Black Voters Not to Sit out 2022 Midterms
The failure of Congress to pass legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act have frustrated African Americans. With new voter suppression laws, the leaked Roe V. Wade opinion, and the assault on many other rights, some question whether the voting bloc that allowed Democrats to take the White House and control both houses of Congress will abandon the polls during the midterm elections. “Black voters are understandably frustrated with the lack of reform around voter rights, but the lack
AMERICA’S TRUE LIFE – WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
by Ennis Leon Jacobs, Jr I recently wrote an opinion editorial titled “America’s True Critical Race Theory” in response to the political debate in Florida on this civic controversy. I had ulterior motives because my son is deeply immersed in the topic, and a friend, who is a state leader, was deeply moved by the Florida legislative proposals. The article recalled an experience in high school when, during a band trip, I and a classmate were ushered out of the home of a host student because of our