Cameroon legend Samuel Eto'o says he wants to give back to Africa after completing his studies at Harvard Business School in the USA.
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Tuesday, November 26, 2019
GirlTrek Is Helping Black Families Shake Off the ‘Itis’ and Lace Up Their Walking Shoes This Thanksgiving
Instead of overindulging this Thanksgiving weekend—whether that means a food coma from the greens, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, you name it, or a debt hangover from the Black Friday discounts, deals, and doorbusters—one organization is encouraging black families to get fit together.
In what has become an annual tradition, GirlTrek is calling for black families across the country to pull themselves away from the eating and the shopping and invest their time and resources in their collective health instead by holding a Thanksgiving weekend walk.
“We invite you to join hundreds of women across the country to host a #BlackFamily5K with your family this Thanksgiving. Aunties, uncles, grandparents, and neighbors will gather after dinner on Thursday or during the holiday weekend to walk together,” GirlTrek co-founder Vanessa Garrison said in a statement. “This is a new tradition.”
GirlTrek is the country’s largest public health movement for black women, with 315,000 active members. It encourages black women to use walking as a form of self-care and a first step toward leading healthier and more fulfilled lives—or, as they put it on their website, to “heal our bodies, inspire our families, and to reclaim the streets of our neighborhoods.”
Most of the walks will take place Thursday after dinner, but they can also happen on Friday or Saturday morning. To host a Black Family 5K, register here. You can even print out customizable race bibs to make your family walk photos look official (or for those #Thanksgiving bragging rights on the ‘gram).
“Three years ago we decided to join the #optoutside movement by inviting black families to participate in a new holiday tradition—Black Family 5Ks,” added GirlTrek co-founder T. Morgan Dixon.
“That’s right, we appropriated, rebranded, and flipped a corporate holiday into a pre-Kwanza lovefest,” Dixon continued. “We’ve made Black Friday the new Black Holiday by inviting families to shake off the sweet potato ‘itis, put away the credit cards, gather up all the cousins who done snuck out to ‘go to the store,’ and hit the streets of our neighborhoods for some good ole’ fashion family fun.”
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John Legend calls Trump a “cancer” who should be removed from office immediately
John Legend called Donald Trump a “cancer” who needs to be removed from office after he asked Navy Secretary Richard Spencer to resign.
Legend tweeted out Spencer’s resignation letter, in which he explained how he was asked to quit by Trump because the two don’t see eye to eye on what is meant by “good order and discipline,” according to Newsweek.
READ MORE: John Legend attends Miami hearing that officially permits felons the right to vote
“The President is a cancer and needs to be removed from office as soon as possible,” Legend tweeted.
The President is a cancer and needs to be removed from office as soon as possible. https://t.co/TS1KG7ruFV
— John Legend (@johnlegend) November 25, 2019
In a separate Tweet, Legend adds: “’In July Mr. Trump said that the Constitution gives him ‘the right to do whatever I want.’ Those are the words of a despot, not an American president.”
Spencer was asked to resign by Trump due to how he handled the Navy Seal Edward Gallagher case, in addition to “large cost overruns from past administration’s contracting procedures,” Newsweek reported.
Spencer said he’s out of here because he can’t “in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took,” Spencer said in his letter.
“The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. Good order and discipline is what has enabled our victory against foreign tyranny time and again. The constitution and the uniform code of military justice are the shields that set us apart, and the beacons that protect us all. I have strived to ensure our proceedings are fair, transparent and consistent, from the newest recruit to the flag and general officer level. Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect I no longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me,” Spencer added.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Esper violated his “trust and confidence” for having secret talks with the White House about reinstating Gallagher’s initial rank, Newsweek reported.
READ MORE: 5 reasons John Legend is a legit choice for PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive
Gallagher, a Chief Petty Officer, was charged with war crimes in Iraq, for which he was ultimately acquitted, however, he was convicted of posing with the corpse of a foreign prisoner and demoted to petty officer first class as a result. He faces a disciplinary review.
Trump later reinstated Gallagher back to chief petty officer, which sparked tensions between Trump and the Pentagon.
Can we throw the whole Trump White House away?
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Julián Castro wants you to know he’s still in the race for President: ‘I have the strongest vision for Black voters’
Although the pool of Democratic candidates in the 2020 Presidential race continues to expand to ridiculous proportions, there is in fact, one candidate whose presence was missed from last week’s debate in Atlanta.
Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro is the only Latino candidate in the hodgepodge of choices available and he doesn’t want voters, especially those who are Black and Brown, to forget that he’s still very much in this fight. Although he didn’t meet the financial or polling criteria for the November debate, Castro is still pushing forward to secure his place on stage in December and beyond.
He knows it won’t be easy, but he’s counting on support from the biggest ethnic group voting bloc in 2020, particularly as he details one of the most progressive immigration plans of any of the Democratic candidates. He calls it the People First’ Immigration policy which would protect Dreamers, their parents, those seeking asylum and others who are undocumented, but have successfully contributed to the country.
Then there are the promises Castro has made on reparations if he becomes President, particularly creating a special task force that would explore the possibility of economic remuneration to the ancestors of Black American slaves.
Addressing these and other critical issues, Castro spent time on Sunday in Iowa (a key state) to meet supporters and continue to raise money and his presence in America’s heartland. He also hopes to stay long enough to meet the filing criteria to be on the ballot for the 2020 South Carolina Democratic Primary in February, a state where mostly Black voters will actually get to have their say. The application and $20,000 fee are due by December 4.
In a telephone interview with theGrio, Castro’s tone is soft and selective, but resilient and determined as he talks about why he’s the right Democrat to push Donald Trump out of the ivory tower, once and for all.
TheGrio: First of all, how are you? How has campaigning across America been for you?
Julián Castro: I’ve gotten more used to waking up at 4:30 a.m. to take early morning flights. The hardest part is being away from my daughter, Carina who’s 10 and my son, Cristián who is four and will turn five at the end of the month. You get used to it after doing it for 10 or 11 months. The best part is that I’ve met so many people along the way who have expressed their hopes for their families and for the country. And people who have been very inspiring.
TheGrio: Both Mike Bloomberg and Deval Patrick have recently joined this race. In an already crowded Democratic field, what are your thoughts about them coming in so late and how are you planning to remain a viable contender?
Julián Castro: There’s no question at all that this has been a different kind of primary season. With the candidates who have been around, the new candidates just getting in, the threshold the DNC has put in place and then the craziness of the Trump administration playing out in the background, it has been unique for sure.
READ MORE: WATCH: Meet Julián Castro, the nation’s first Latino president?
Our campaign continues to work hard to get out our message to as many people as possible and to build up support in these early states, especially in Iowa, Nevada and then go on to South Carolina. We’re just trying to work hard and build up our support.
TheGrio: You weren’t at the debate last week because you didn’t meet the financial and poll thresholds. How are you planning to change that for December’s debate in Los Angeles?
Julián Castro: We’re working hard toward the donor threshold. I believe that we will make that and we’re doing what we can to increase name I.D. and get the word out to move up in the polls by December 12, which is cut off.
The polling threshold is a little bit different because there’s no way to directly impact that short of spending millions of dollars, which has been done. We are doing everything we can to get the word out and strengthen our outreach and I feel good that in the last few weeks.
More people have gotten my message, ironically even though I wasn’t on that debate stage. People are taking note. The entire push of this campaign, which is that we need to build an America where everyone counts and that I’ve been speaking up for a lot of people who often are not spoken up for — people who are forgotten, people who are poor or people who are cast aside.
TheGrio: Why should Black voters believe that you to beat Donald Trump?
Julián Castro: I have the strongest vision for the future of our country when it comes to Black voters, especially when we’re talking about investments we need to make in better educational opportunities when so many schools need tremendous improvement. I haven’t been afraid to take on issues that just about every other candidate doesn’t want to touch like police reform and to do it in a blunt and truthful way because it needs to be done.
“I have the strongest vision for the future of our country when it comes to Black voters…”
I wasn’t afraid to take on the issue of reparations, even though some people said, ‘hey, just leave that alone.’ I’ve laid out a plan for how we’re going to make sure that lead is no longer a major public health threat. I’ve been speaking powerfully to so many of the issues that many Americans, but especially Black Americans, face on a daily basis. Maybe most importantly, I have a very strong track record working to boost opportunities for African Americans.
When I was mayor of San Antonio, one of my biggest efforts was on the east side, which traditionally has been largely African Americans, to improve the quality of life for people and neighborhoods. Because of our work, San Antonio got a Promise Neighborhoods grant, a Choice Neighborhood grant and other federal funding under the Obama administration.
Then when I went to HUD, I continued that work and we did the most groundbreaking regulation since the Fair Housing Act called Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing to help ensure that communities across the United States put more effort into breaking down barriers so that everybody in this country has access to opportunities, regardless of their skin tone.
TheGrio: There are many Black voters who have decided to align with former Vice President Joe Biden, for better or worse. How do you get those folks to change their minds?
Julián Castro: My approach has been to be bold and to blunt and to lay out the plan. You know, it’s true. I don’t have nearly the amount of resources that some of the other candidates have, but if you look at our campaign and look at some of the other campaigns, people can see the difference. We’re going to do everything that we can so that more people are able to make that comparison.
And, when people make the comparison, I believe I win.
TheGrio: There has been a lot of buzz around Bloomberg, especially since he apologized for implementing the Stop and Frisk policy in New York City, which unfairly targeted Black and Brown people. As a former mayor yourself, do you think he’s believable?
Julián Castro: I’ll take him at his word, although it is mighty convenient. My hope is that he’s going to delve into more detail about how he would change the problem that we have with policing in America especially when it concerns young Black men and women.
TheGrio: You were one of the first Democratic candidates to really support the idea of reparations. Is this an agenda that you would be committed to supporting, win or lose?
Julián Castro: Absolutely, but honestly I haven’t thought much beyond this election cycle. I have no Plan B right now at all, but I will say there are a number of issues, and that’s one of them, that I would gladly take forward and be a strong voice for in the years to come.
Wendy L. Wilson is the managing editor at theGrio. Follow her rants, raves, and reviews on Twitter @WendyLWilson_
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California Teacher Trashes Students’ Black Lives Matter Posters
A teacher at Del Paso Manor Elementary School in Sacramento, California, decided to give sixth-graders a lesson on white supremacy as he threw away four student art projects because of their “political nature.”
KCRA, an NBC affiliate in Sacramento, originally reported that David Madden trashed student projects that illustrated the significance of the Black Lives Matter movement after they were inspired by a parent who was invited to the class to give a presentation on topics that the students cared about. According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Magli Kincaid gave a lesson on how art can manifest in activism on Sept. 16. After drawing inspiration from Kincaid’s lesson, four students created posters that were ultimately tossed out by Madden.
Subsequently, students and parents expressed their concerns about the matter to the principal of the school and proceeded to seek counsel and support from the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California after they were reportedly confronted by Madden for reporting their trepidations. The lesson given by Kincaid was not her first at the school and she is hoping that it is not her last.
In a letter written to Kent Kern, Superintendent of the San Juan Unified School District, Abre’ Conner, Staff Attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, made it clear that the disposal of the students’ art posters violates their first amendment rights. And, that having received the directive to recreate their projects during class was unnecessary punishment.
The ACLU Stepped In When Leadership Wouldn’t
“Black Lives Matter posters and conversations are protected speech even if the principal and Mr. Madden believe that they are ‘political.’ Education Code § 48907 gives students the right to ‘exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not limited to, the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions, the wearing of buttons, badges, and other insignia.’ Cal. Ed. Code § 48907(a) (emphasis added). This speech must not be “obscene, libelous, or slanderous.” Cal. Ed. Code § 48907(a). First, Black Lives Matter posters are protected speech because they communicate a student’s expression of their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs regarding the support of Black lives. Additionally, the California Legislature squarely contemplated speech such as Black Lives Matter posters to ensure speech, like the type meant to uplift black students and other marginalized groups, was protected under the California Education Code. The District has not and cannot make a serious argument that Black Lives Matter speech is obscene, libelous, or slanderous. Indeed, this type of speech meant to create a more inclusive campus is quite the opposite.”
Report: Charter School Leaders of Color Encourage Families to Support Students
Conner went on to explain censorship, California state laws, and what inclusion actually means.
“There are obvious problems with a teacher and principal who currently have black students in their classroom and school taking the positions that the acknowledgment of Black Lives is controversial and political in nature. Students have a legal right to support their classmates and others within the black community through protected speech by creating Black Lives Matter posters. Indeed, even if the teacher believes that supporting Black Lives Matter is somehow political, the “silencing of a political message because of disagreement with that message, is particularly offensive.” Gillman ex rel. Gillman v. School Bd. for Holmes County, Fla., 567 F.Supp.2d 1359, 1376 (N.D. Fla. Jul. 24, 2008).”
The ACLU made the following demands:
- The District to issue a public apology
- To allow parents to continue volunteering in the classroom
- To hang the Black Lives Matter posters up during the Spring Art Night (if the students want to remake them) that has a Black Lives Matter theme, in addition to the breezeway where the other artwork is hung at Del Paso Manor Elementary
- Curriculum and events that include Black Lives Matter
- A cultural and sensitivity training for staff that is based on our clients’ input and (6) parent engagement training.
Since the incident, the San Juan Unified School District has issued the following statement on Nov. 21:
On Thursday, we received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that asserted students in one of Del Paso Manor’s sixth-grade classes had been censored because of the content of their artwork related to Black Lives Matter. We want all of our families to know that censoring student work because of its content would not be acceptable.
Del Paso Manor and San Juan Unified are committed to developing an equitable environment in all of our classrooms where students feel comfortable sharing their voice. Some of the assertions made in the letter from the ACLU are new information to the district and we will be investigating to determine their validity.
Art docent volunteers are welcomed into our classrooms to deliver district developed lessons aligned to grade-level standards. In this case, the parent volunteer was allowed to provide a lesson that was not prepared by the district’s art program and without having been trained. That should have not occurred and unfortunately led to disagreement between the parent and the classroom teacher on the assignment’s final outcome.
As stated in the letter from the ACLU, the teacher’s understanding of the resulting assignment was for students to produce artwork related to a change they wanted to see within the school itself. Students whose artwork focused on large social issues, which varied in topic, and was not directly tied to the school, were asked by the teacher to complete another poster the next day.
All artwork that met the assignment’s purpose was displayed in the classroom.
It is inconsistent with our values and never our intent or desire for any student to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome to discuss issues that are important to them. We sincerely apologize if this experience made any student feel such discomfort. We are open and committed to continuing our work with students, staff, community partners and others to ensure that our school communities embrace a diversity of thoughts and experiences.
Talk about life lessons.
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Three Baltimore men have been exonerated after serving 36 years
This Thanksgiving will be extra sweet for three Baltimore men released from prison on Monday after wrongly serving 36 years for a murder they didn’t commit. But will they be compensated for the state taking so many years from their lives?
Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart entered the prison system as 16 and 17-year-old teenagers. Yesterday, they received a writ of innocence in the death of 14-year-old middle school student, DeWitt Duckett. They have always maintained their innocence, according to CNN.
READ MORE: Louisiana man exonerated after serving 17 years for a robbery he didn’t commit
“That was hell,” Chestnut said to reporters upon release, CNN reported. “That was miserable.”
Last spring, Chestnut contacted Baltimore’s Conviction Integrity Unit after he found new evidence that could have helped exonerate him, Watkins and Stewart.
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby later joined in on the fight, jointly filing a petition with the men for their release. Yesterday, she apologized to the men for the injustice and told them they were being freed.
“I don’t think that today is a victory, it’s a tragedy. And we need to own up to our responsibility for it,” Mosby said, according to CNN. “There’s no way we can repair the damage to these men, when 36 years of their life were stolen from them.”
“You were all arrested on Thanksgiving 1983. Now you are free to spend the holidays with your loved ones for the first time in 36 years,” Mosby added during a press conference.
On Thanksgiving morning, Chestnut, Watkins and Stewart were arrested for the shooting death of Duckett, who was murdered for his Georgetown University jacket.
The state convicted the three young men based on witness testimony and a Georgetown jacket found in Chestnut’s room – even though his mom produced a receipt and a store clerk testified that Chestnut’s mom had purchased it. Further, the jacket had no blood on it or bullet residue. And like the case of the Central Park Five, the teenage boys were questioned by police without a parent in the room.
READ MORE: Exonerated ‘Central Park Park’ men receive joyful praise and standing ovation at BET Awards
Now the released men are in their fifties – and the state of Maryland has no system in place to compensate the men for their wrongful convictions. Mosby said she plans to push for laws that would pay inmates who are wrongly convicted and that would require a parent to escort underage kids during police interrogations.
Shameful.
The post Three Baltimore men have been exonerated after serving 36 years appeared first on theGrio.
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Monday, November 25, 2019
The Black Woman Who Turned Around the Dallas Mavericks’ Notorious Toxic Culture
Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall changed the toxic culture lingering around the NBA team in less than two years after being named to that position, according to CNN.
Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank personality Mark Cuban lured Marshall out of retirement to change the work environment after Sports Illustrated exposed a “corrosive workplace culture” at the organization. A number of instances of sexual harassment over more than 20 years were unearthed after an independent investigation launched by the Mavericks was publicly released.
“I walked into a bad culture,” says Marshall. “I walked into a place where the women were not valued and treated the way I would like to see them treated. Frankly, I think we had a problem with how we respected and treated people of color. It wasn’t a very diverse and inclusive environment when I got there. And so we needed to do some things.”
Prior to becoming the NBA’s first black woman CEO, the highly respected leader was senior vice president of Human Resources and the chief diversity officer at AT&T before she retired in 2017 to launch her own consulting firm. She was also the first African American cheerleader at UC Berkeley. In 2015, she was named as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America by BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“We are committed to running a business of excellence,” Marshall told BE in an exclusive interview shortly after joining the Mavericks. “Clearly we have work to do, and I walk in knowing that there’s a lot that I don’t know. But I do know how to lead, and how to effect necessary change in an organization.”
When Marshall was named CEO, there were no employees on the executive leadership team who were women or people of color. Under her leadership, she increased diversity by promoting from within and recruiting from outside of the organization. Today, 50% of the executive leadership team are women and 47% are people of color.
“She is driven, smart, compassionate and a realist,” Cuban wrote in an email to CNN. “But those don’t compare to her thirst to learn. She does whatever it takes.”
Marshall hopes her work with the Mavericks will set the standard for inclusion and diversity in all sports organizations. “You don’t get results if you don’t take care of people. And so, that’s why I come to work every day. Literally, that’s what gets me up in the morning,” she told CNN.
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