FAMU donation scrutiny, ABC President steps down, veneer techs
Friday, May 10, 2024.
What I’m Reading
FAMU donor, CEO speaks out after skepticism around record $237 million donation, Tallahassee Democrat
Florida A&M University recently received a $237 million donation, in what is believed to be the largest single gift in HBCU history. But little is known about donor Gregory Gerami and the trust that put up the money. The university and the donor say the gift is already in the institution’s account, but haven’t released more details. And what’s more, this isn’t his first time pledging a major donation to a university. The president of FAMU announced Thursday that the school is putting a “pause” on the donation.
Edward Dwight, Once Picked to Be the First Black Astronaut in Space, Aims for Space at Last, The New York Times
Six decades ago, Edward Dwight was prevented from becoming the first Black astronaut in space due to racism and politics. Now, at 90 years old, he is expected to be part of a six-person crew heading into space on the latest mission of Jeff Bezos’s space company.
The ‘Black Angels’ who helped cure tuberculosis, The Emancipator
This week is National Nurses week. Have you heard of the professional nurses who moved north during the Great Migration and worked in New York City’s most contagious sanatorium? These nurses fought both disease and dehumanizing conditions to change the course of public health history.
What’s In The News
Across America
Alabama: 17-year-old LeAnna Roberts will graduate from the University of Alabama with her master’s degree soon…
Colorado: State lawmakers passed a bill that would mandate in-person voting centers within local jails to allow people detained there to vote, a nation’s first…
District of Columbia: 3-year-old Ty'ah Settles was shot and killed while inside a car…
Georgia: Ronald Yancey, Georgia Tech's first black graduate, handed Deanna Yancey, his granddaughter, her diploma at a graduation ceremony…
Idaho: A prosecutor won’t bring hate crime charges against an 18-year-old accused of shouting a racist slur at the Utah women’s basketball team…
Louisiana: Black voters won a big victory in the Bayou State. Some White voters said it violated their “personal dignity”...
Maryland: The NAACP and several other organizations sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling on him to pardon former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby…
Mississippi: The University of Mississippi has opened at least one student conduct investigation after videos of pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded by counterprotesters circulated online…
New York: A major lawsuit challenging racial segregation in New York City’s public schools was allowed to move forward…
North Carolina: From Capital B — “Black residents in rural Kinston alleged officials placed their properties on the city’s list for condemnation because they were Black-owned, even though white-owned properties were in worse shape”…
Oklahoma: Viola Ford Fletcher, lovingly known as 'Mother Fletcher,' marked her 110th birthday this week…
Tennessee: A middle school sectional track and field meet was marred by racist threats from lacrosse spectators, according to a report…
What’s Happening
I want to give a special shoutout to two of my Urban Journalism Workshop students, Sheridan Lee and Sanaa Wells, for being selected to participate in the 2024 POLITICO Journalism Institute!...
Florida deputies burst into the wrong apartment and fatally shot U.S. Air Force airman Roger Fortson, according to an attorney for the family. Bodycam video has been released…
12-year-old Kendric Cromer has become the first person in the world with sickle cell disease to begin a commercially approved gene therapy that may cure the condition…
The latest job report seems to paint a more positive employment picture for Black workers, who experienced the highest rates of unemployment during the pandemic…
Sen. Raphael Warnock, Robin Givens, Montell Jordan, Kirk Franklin and more: NewsOne has compiled a list of HBCU commencement speakers this graduation season…
New research has revealed growing disparities in child death rates across racial and ethnic groups, with the death rate among Black youths soaring by 37 percent between 2014 and 2020, compared with less than 5 percent for white youths…
This week, Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a controversial bill the ACLU is calling “a step back for voters’ rights and voting access in the state of Georgia”...
The American Cancer Society is starting a 30-year study to investigate why Black women die from cancer at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group…
Xavier University has canceled U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s commencement speech following student and alumni concern…
Former NBA Slam Dunk champion Nate Robinson is searching for a kidney from a donor with blood type A+ or O. If you can help, learn more here…
Lighthouse Church founder Keion Henderson responded to social media criticism after he told a woman to “hush” during worship…
The Guardian spoke with service workers struggling to make ends meet as the distribution of wages has trended toward CEOs receiving more and more…
This week, Vice President Kamala Harris announced funding to “boost affordable housing, invest in economic growth, build wealth, and address homelessness across America”...
From The New York Times: “The downward spiral of one inmate, Markus Johnson, shows the larger failures of the nation’s prisons to care for the mentally ill”...
Twin sisters Jocyntia and Joyceia Banner bought Woodland Plantation, the birthplace of the 1811 slave revolt, through their nonprofit that fights for “historic and cultural preservation for descendants of enslaved people”...
Entertainment
Media business news: Tyler Perry Studios and non-scripted production company Asylum Entertainment Group have launched a joint venture to develop and produce non-fiction projects for the global market… Tubi has launched Stubios, which it has called “a fan-fueled studio” for aspiring filmmakers and their fans — and Issa Rae will serve as mentor for these creators…Byron Allen is interested in acquiring storied Hollywood giant Paramount Global, and he aims to privatize it before eventually launching an IPO…
Departures: Kim Godwin, the embattled president of ABC News, abruptly announced that she is leaving the network and has decided to “retire from broadcast journalism”...Longtime music critic Kevin C. Johnson is leaving the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a role with Live Nation…
At just 10 years old, Maryland native Gabby Tennor scored a role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York…
This week marked two years since Young Thug was arrested and indicted in the sprawling YSL RICO case. For Billboard, Jewel Wicker wrote about the ongoing trial and why it’s taking so long…
Newly retired basketball legend Candace Parker isn’t slowing down. She was just appointed president of Adidas women’s basketball…
Toronto authorities are investigating after a security guard was shot outside Drake’s home. Then, a day later, an intruder was detained for allegedly attempting to break into the rap star’s mansion…
If you’re still trying to catch up with the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud, US Weekly compiled all of the disses so far. For Andscape, David Dennis Jr. writes that the war is now over — or at least it should be…For NPR, Sheldon Pearce explains the vicious, gripping psychological warfare behind the battle…For Refinery29, Shamira Ibrahim examines how women are collateral damage in rap feuds like these…
For HuffPost, Michael Arceneaux examined some of the highly entertaining and extremely underrated shows on the BET+ streaming platform that deserve more love, including the bold and hilarious series "Diarra From Detroit”...
Ahmed Best, the actor behind the most hated character in the “Star Wars” universe — Jar Jar Binks — talked to The New York Times about how he handled the harsh criticism and how the character is now being embraced by fans…
Check out two really interesting profiles this week: The New York Times interviewed an actor and comedian whom I consider to be highly underrated even to this day: Grief broke Marlon Wayans. Comedy put him back together… T-Pain, the voice behind some of my favorite hits as a teen, talked with Billboard about how he might be more loved than ever before…
Showtime has ordered a seventh season of its popular drama series “The Chi”… “P-Valley” has begun production of season 3 in Atlanta…
Obituaries
Darius Morris, a former NBA player who played for five teams during his four-year career, has died. He was 33…
Gayle McKinney-Griffith, a founding dancer with the groundbreaking Dance Theater of Harlem, has died. She was 74…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 41 seconds!...
“Black Twitter: A People’s History” is now streaming on Hulu…
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is now accepting internships…
For the Washington Post, Alexis Williams visited New York City’s American Museum of Natural History for the new “Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry.” Go check it out…
Attention HBCU alums: Applications for The 19th’s Frances Ellen Watkins Fellowship are open! Work in reporting, audience engagement, or product and technology. The deadline is May 31…