49 posts tagged “cultural studies”

At a photo shoot on lower Broadway, a whole mess of stylists and publicists are hovering over Brooklyn-born, Harlem-raised Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, adjusting her outfit, her costume jewelry, her lushly swooping hairpieces. Sidibe is a good sport about it, rolling her eyes only when the song changes on the sound system. “Is this Taylor Swift?” she groans. One woman in the retinue, meeting her for the first time, gushes, “You look totally opposite to your character.” “Thanks,” says Sidibe dutifully. “I’m actually … not her.” The confusion is understandable if you’ve seen the film in which Sidibe stars. As Claireece “Precious” Jones, the obese, abused, 16-year-old hero of Precious (based on the sexually graphic 1996 novel Push, by Sapphire), the 26-year-old actress gives one of the most moving and primal performances in recent memory. The film (opening November 6 after playing the New York Film Festival) has been a festival standout since Sundance, where it won two major awards, followed by the top prize at the recent Toronto Film Festival.

Too often, as a society, we insult our young people, labeling them as a lost generation. Here's a young man who has taken leadership in to his 11-year-old hands.Jonathan E. McCoy gave a rousing speech earlier this year to his church in Baltimore about why our community needs to drop the 'N' word. His speech, "A New Petition," called for the discontinuation of that six-letter word, and the slang usage of the word. "I'm sending a message to everyone who knowingly or ignorantly uses this word to describe our people, whether you're a gangster rapper who uses it to communicate with your boys, or someone who looks down on us who haven't got a college education," said the pint-sized orator. "Whatever the case, it's time to discontinue the use of this word. It is implausible that 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we still use this word that holds no worth in our lives nor our future." Watch McCoy's speech:According to his Facebook fan page, Jonathan has always been a gifted child. At an early age, he learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and was immediately drawn to Dr. King's commitment to justice for all. Jonathan's early desire to effect change, inspired him to use petitioning as a way to call out injustice.His first act of petitioning apparently involved hand washing. While in the second grade, says his Facebook profile, Jonathan asked his fellow classmates to sign a petition that would allow students the choice to opt out of the school's enforced hand sanitizer policy and instead wash their hands with soap and water. When his teacher found out about the petition, she settled the request in the children's favor. Since presenting a "New Petition" to the 1,500 plus congregants at Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Jonathan has appeared on Black America Web with Tom Joyner, and spoken at numerous events around the country. Through his relationship with Morehouse College, Jonathan has promoted what is called a "Free Zone" initiative whic...

Change was coming to Yale, too — the University’s African American Studies Program launched in September of that year, along with the Afro-American Cultural Center, which stands today, as it did then, at 211 Park St.

A Latino family in Manassas, Virginia, is celebrating the baptism of their two young boys, at a party held in their grandfather’s backyard. The police arrive in response to a noise complaint, and ask to see the grandfather’s ID. The family’s account says that he provided it, but the police report say that he refused; both accounts agree that the grandfather was then Tasered three times in rapid succession, on his own property, and then charged with ‘public intoxication.’ The pregnant mother of the two boys ran to help him as he lay on the ground — and was also Tasered, then charged with assaulting a police officer.

Sims, who died on Aug. 1 of cancer at age 61, was one of the first black supermodels. Her appearance on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal in 1968 broke the color barrier at mainstream women's magazines, and she went on to grace the covers of Cosmopolitan, Essence and Life. While she was not the only successful black model from that era (there were others, among them Donyale Luna), she was the first dark-skinned model to enjoy such a measure of mainstream success. (Read about the role of race in modeling.)

The book came out 70 years ago as the world was sliding into war and, amid the spreading bloodshed and chaos, "Drums at Dusk," an impassioned work by African American writer Arna Bontemps, was soon forgotten.

It was once said: "The best thing you can do for poor folks is to not be one."While it's unclear who originated that saying, the man who seemed to embody the principle was Dr. Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, better known to the rest of us as Rev. Ike, who died this week at age 74.If Michael Jackson was the King of Pop, then Rev. Ike was the King of Pop Preaching, giving personification to the blessed bling-bling, holy roller stereotype that seems so present in today's black church. But Ike was unabashed about riches being a goal, and he appealed to many -- especially during the '70s -- who were tired of preachers whose message was for their congregations to suffer and wait for their reward in heaven.And I gotta say, of all the cats in the holy hustle game, he was probably the most colorful.In fact, he was pretty clear that most people misinterpreted the Bible when it comes to finance:"The love of money is not the root of all evil,It is the lack of money.Have you ever seen a rich man down in the street mugging someone?No!You can talk all you want about the pie in the sky and the sweet bye and bye,but what about the good ol' now and now?!"Ike was the son of a Dutch-Indonesian Baptist preacher and an elementary school teacher in Ridgeland, S.C., and he eventually founded his own church there. But the conventional message was not enough for him, and he wound up in Boston with his first foray into superpreaching through the faith-healing game. You know, stuff like slapping people on their foreheads and "curing" their paralysis.He streamlined his message by the time he got to New York and eventually opened up in a theater in Manhattan, calling it the Palace Cathedral, which is still in existence today. From there, he became arguably the first successful black televangelist to send his message through the airwaves.But his flamboyance and money-driven message parted with the traditional dirge of most preachers and earned him the resentment of many who felt he was a charl...

ROBERT LAWRENCE Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. (1935-1967) United States Air Force Major Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., was the first African American chosen by NASA to be an astronaut. He was a senior USAF pilot, accumulating well over 2,500 flight hours--2,000 of which was in jets. Major Lawrence flew many tests in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to investigate the gliding flight of various unpowered spacecraft returning to Earth from orbit, such as the North American X-15 rocket-plane. His research was instrumental in proving the steep-descent gliding concept that would later be employed with the Space Shuttle. In June 1967 Lawrence successfully completed the Air Force Flight Test Pilot Training School at Edwards AFB, California. That same month he was selected by NASA as an astronaut in the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program, thus becoming the first African American astronaut. The MOL project would eventually lead to today's International Space Station. Major Lawrence was killed on December 8, 1967 in the crash of an F-104 at Edwards AFB. He was flying backseat on the mission as the instructor pilot for a flight test trainee learning the steep-descent glide technique. The pilot of the aircraft successfully ejected and survived the accident, but with major injuries. During his brief career, Major Lawrence earned the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Citation. After many years of relative obscurity, his achievements, dedication, and sacrifices for the nation were finally recognized on December 8, 1997, when his name was inscribed on the Astronaut Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Story Highlights Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut, sends every graduate to college Principal Steve Perry founded the school to serve kids with backgrounds like his Capital Prep boasts a near zero dropout rate; Perry sets the highest of expectations Angela Burt-Murray: Parents must act as advocates for their children

AP Photo In Thursday's press conference, President Obama called the Cambridge Police Department "stupid" for arresting Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. Daughter Elizabeth Gates interviews her dad about what happened to him in jail, how this affects whites too, and why she shouldn’t give up on America yet.