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African American news for the week of Oct. 23, 2014.

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Alabama

The Media Arts Institute of Alabama (MAIA), headquartered in Huntsville, has launched the Laser Sharp Project, a Digital Media and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) workforce initiative. It will connect digital media, engineering and communication students from Alabama’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with jobs, internships, research fellowships and mentoring opportunities in the billion-dollar Hollywood media, music, entertainment and photonics industries. Twelve students from Alabama A&M University (AAMU) have been selected for the flagship project. The AAMU student film crew is the first from an HBCU to be invited by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade to produce a real-time film documentary about the pageantry of the 2015 Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl. The film will be called “Huntsville 2 Hollywood: Searching For the Secrets to Success.” MAIA needs financial support to raise $50,000 by Nov. 15 to help pay expenses for these film students from Alabama A&M University and the five adult chaperones who will accompany them. As part of the program, they will visit Hollywood TV studios, tour digital media technology companies and interact with accomplished music and film executives and producers. For more information about the project, visit www.Huntsville2Hollywood.com.

Arkansas

The Arkansas Supreme Court recently struck down the state’s voter ID law, which required voters to show photo IDs in order to be able to vote. The court ruled that the requirement was unconstitutional. The ruling came just days before early voting began this week. According to the Huffington Post, “the high court noted the Arkansas Constitution lists specific requirements to vote: that person be a citizen of both the U.S. and Arkansas, be at least 18 years old and be lawfully registered. Anything beyond that amounts to a new requirement and is therefore unconstitutional.” The ruling could have an impact on the results of the upcoming election, as the race for U.S. Senate between incumbent Sen. Mark Pryor (D) and U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton (R) is a close one. In fact, political analysts say that the Republicans consider it key to their effort to control the Senate.

California

There’s probably no one busier in show business than Pharrell Williams (producer, performer, fashion designer, entrepreneur, judge on “The Voice”), except maybe Will.i.am. He’s also a producer, artist, entrepreneur and now, tech whiz. Last week at the Dreamforce Conference in San Francisco, he introduced PULS, a smart watch that lets its users make phone calls. “This is not a watch by any means,” Will.i.am told Yahoo Tech. “Watches don’t have SIM cards. This is a new type of communication.” It took some 35 engineers and more than two years to develop PULS. Some of the tasks the device can perform include talking and texting and providing access to social media, music, maps and even fitness programs. Will.i.am is no stranger to trending music and entertainment products. He was a founding shareholder of Beats headphones (with Dr. Dre), which was sold to Apple for billions earlier this year.

Florida

The 20-year sentence of Marissa Alexander has been overturned. The mother of two was convicted of aggravated assault in a case where she was accused of attempting to shoot her then-husband who was allegedly trying to beat her. In her effort to elude his attack, she fired a warning shot. Her attorneys argued that she was operating on Florida’s infamous “stand your ground” law. Although the case was compared to the one where George Zimmerman was found not guilty of shooting and killing an unarmed Black teen, the outcomes were totally different, sparking outrage on social media and in the Black community. Even though the warning shot did not harm her ex-husband, the jury rejected her defense and she was sentenced to 20 years. A Florida appellate court ruled last week that jury instructions, which said Alexander had to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that she was acting in self-defense, were incorrect, and that other incorrect instructions were given to the jury.

Illinois

A Chicago program is calling on Black men to help teach and mentor Black boys. The Black Star Project is asking Black male elementary and high school teachers and college professors to meet, create and execute a plan to teach Black boys to read proficiently and provide them with mentorship. According to a statement from the Black Star Project, Black men make up less than 2 percent of all teachers in American schools. Only 10 percent of eighth-grade Black boys in American schools read proficiently. “Black boys are at the absolute rock bottom of the American education system and at the top of the American prison system,” said the release. “It is time for Black men to teach Black boys to read, to perform math and to grow into strong, positive and productive Black men.” The program, which is free and open to boys in grades 1-6, includes free assessment of current reading skills. For more information or to register a young man, call (773) 285-9600.

Missouri

Retail giant Wal-mart has removed ammunition from its shelves in stores in and near Ferguson. Employees were ordered to remove bullets last Monday after protesters gathered outside its stores in the towns of Maplewood and Ferguson, according to KMOV-TV. “If there is a history of violence and looting and other activity that are going on or things that are putting associates and customers at risk—then yes, decisions can be made based on those circumstances,” a Wal-mart spokesperson told the TV station. According to the St. Louis Dispatch, about 50 people were arrested that day.

New York

Next time that your credit card is declined, don’t feel so bad. It’s even happened to the president. Last month in New York City, it happened to President Barack Obama while he was lunching at a restaurant. Apparently, he doesn’t use this particular credit card very much, so when he produced it to pay for the bill, it was initially declined. “It turned out, I guess, I don’t use it enough, so they thought there was some kind of fraud going on,” the president said, chuckling as he added that “thankfully” First Lady Michelle was able to pay the bill. The story came out as the president was signing a bill that outlines steps the government will take to work harder to protect people from identity theft and financial fraud.

Missy Elliott, 43, revealed a new slim and trim figure last week during a performance and after party for Alexander Wang’s H&M, which revealed its new line last week in New York City. Her weight loss comes after a battle with a health issue—Graves disease, which is a rare thyroid problem that causes weight changes. The producer and performer says she has lost about 70 pounds.

North Carolina

An African American teen in Wake County was assaulted and arrested in his parents’ home after police said he was mistaken for a burglar. DeShawn Currie’s adoptive parents are White. The situation occurred when neighbors saw Currie going in and out of the home. Even though it was obvious he wasn’t breaking in—he would simply walk in and out of an unlocked door—neighbors called police. Reportedly, when the cops arrived, they didn’t even ask questions; they just ordered him to raise his hands. He asked why because “this is my home.” The police officers then allegedly told him he was lying, as they pointed to family photos on the wall of White people. Currie says they attacked him with pepper spray, pointed their guns at him and arrested him. Stacy Tyler, Currie’s foster mom, told reporters, “He’s my baby boy just as much as my other three children are. My 5-year-old looked at me last night and said, ‘Mama I don’t understand why they hated our brother, and they had to come in and hurt him.’”

Oklahoma

Hosted by the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and Jay Mac Alumni Association, Hollywood producer Stephanie Frederic received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Oklahoma. Frederic, a graduate of the class of ’82, majored in radio/TV/film and is now executive producer/CEO of FGW Productions in southern California. In addition to being a 2014 Distinguished Alumni recipient, Frederic is scheduled to teach two TV/film production courses at her alma mater during Homecoming week. The honor comes on the heels of FGW Productions wrapping up production for the sequel of Universal’s runaway hit franchise, “Ride Along 2,” starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. Frederic’s company also worked on the first film and was brought along for the ride when the studio started shooting this summer in Miami and Atlanta. Next up for the Black- and woman-owned company is “Light Girls,” a documentary film on “Colorism” for OWN—Oprah Winfrey’s TV Network. Frederic says she is living her dream through her production company, having secured ongoing projects with Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Paramount, Lion’s Gate, NBC and major brands such as Lexus and Lincoln throughout her career.

Washington, D.C.

Metropolitan A.M.E. Church and the Daniel Alexander Payne Community Development Corp. have partnered with PBS’s popular multi-cultural personal finance television series, “Moneywise,” to present the annual Moneywise Financial Empowerment Weekend Summit. The free community event will be held at the 176-year-old Metropolitan at 1518 M St., NW, in downtown Washington, D.C. The weekend kicks off on Friday, Oct. 31, with an Interfaith Community Financial Forum, which will be moderated by Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes, and features Andy Shallal, social justice advocate and owner of Busboys and Poets restaurants; Rev. Jonathan Weaver, senior pastor of Greater Mt. Nebo A.M.E. Church in Bowie, MD, and national chair of The Collective Empowerment Group; and Rev. Willie Wilson, senior pastor, Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. The Friday night Interfaith financial forum will be a live webcast at www.metropolitanamec.org and www.dapcdc.org. The fourth annual Moneywise Summit will convene on Saturday, Nov. 1, with an opening presentation by Kelvin Boston, host of the long-running television show “Moneywise.” Also on the agenda is Maggie Anderson, author of “Our Black Year: Our Family’s Quest to Buy Black in America’s Racially Divided Economy,” and founder of the Empowerment Experiment. Also on hand will be founder and CEO of Frasernet, George Fraser. The summit will also include two panels of financial experts, a performance from national gospel recording artist Doreen Vail and a special tribute to the late Lasana Mack, former co-founder of APPEAL Inc., which will include a presentation by APPEAL Inc. executives. The church’s Frederick Douglass Social Hall will open at the end of the summit for networking, book signings, exhibits, voter registration, and refreshments. For more information, go to www.moneywise2014.eventbrite.com.

The Library of Congress has acquired the African American Oral History Video Collection, according to the library’s James H. Billington. The video archive is a collection of thousands of hours of interviews that capture African American life, history and culture as well as the struggles and achievements of the Black experience. “The History Makers archive provides invaluable first-person accounts of both well-known and unsung African Americans, detailing their hopes, dreams and accomplishments—often in the face of adversity,” Billington said in a release. “This culturally important collection is a rich and diverse resource for scholars, teachers, students and documentarians seeking a more complete record of our nation’s history and its people.” The collection includes 9,000 hours of content that offers 14,000 analog tapes, 3,000 DVDs, 6,000 born-digital files, 70,000 paper documents and digital files and more than 30,000 digital photographs. The History Makers has provided the Library with digital files of all of the analog tapes. The videos are grouped by 15 different subject areas, ranging from science, politics and the military to sports, music and entertainment. Many of the Library of Congress’ rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov.

Compiled by Carol Ozemhoya

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