California
Cupertino-based Apple is reportedly on the verge of cutting a deal with Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant to promote its “next big thing”—the iWatch. The wrist-sized device will run Apple’s iOS system and connect people to their messages, voice calls and other notifications related to health, such as calories burned. Other celebrities the computer and high tech giant company is considering include Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown and a player from the Boston Red Sox. Word is that the iWatch is in production with a big roll out expected later this year.
The seventh annual Toast to Urban Music Executives will be presented in Beverly Hills this week by Urban Network Digital and Lynn Allen Jeter and Associates. Memphis Will of BET’s “Comic View” will host the toast, which is a pre-BET Awards event celebrating Black Music Month. The years’ honorees include Taj Stansberry, director and photographer of some of the biggest names in the urban industry; Michael “Blue” Williams, music manager and president of Primary Wave Management; Malik Yusef, five-time Grammy Award winner and six-time ASCAP awardee; Jeanine McClean, MBK Entertainment vice president and managing partner; Eesean “E” Bolden, A&R rep for Capitol Records; and Felicia “The Poetess” Morris, owner of Radiofreqz.com.
The mission of the Toast to Urban Music Executives Awards is to recognize influential urban music and entertainment executives for their outstanding commitment, contributions and sacrifices made to preserve the heritage and value of the urban entertainment landscape.
Georgia
Executives from HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) met last week for a national summit to discuss developing regional and national strategies for improving student success. Atlanta, which is home to four HBCUs, including Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College and Morris Brown College, was the host city of the meetings. The summit included discussions on diversity and inclusion, effective retention and graduation programs, and increasing international opportunities.
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights opened this week in Atlanta as a new museum dedicated to the history of the Civil Rights Movement. The 42,000-square-foot facility devotes separate sections to various aspects of the movement and includes the papers, handwritten notes and some 1,100 books from the library of Atlanta native Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The new facility aims to link the Civil Rights Movement with ongoing struggles in America and around the world.
The entrance to the civil rights exhibition is through a tunnel depicting life in the Jim Crow era when local and state laws enforced segregation from the end of the Civil War through the 1960s. Visitors will then pass through a brightly-lit portal chronicling “Brown v. Board of Education,” the 1954 United States Supreme Court case that declared “separate but equal” unconstitutional. One of the most powerful installations depicts the “lunch-counter” protests. Here visitors can put on headphones as they place their hands on the counter and hear the taunts that protesters had to endure. A brightly-lit upper floor examines present-day battles for human rights.
Illinois
A federal judge in Chicago removed himself from a civil case dealing with Michael Jordan after referring to the six-time NBA champion as a “hog” and “Dr. Frankenstein.” The case surrounds Dominick’s Finer Foods’ use of Jordan’s name to promote its stores without his permission. Although Judge Milton I. Shadur denied he referred to Jordan with those words, Jordan’s attorneys claimed that he described the star and Charlotte franchise owner with those words as well as “greedy.” The court has already found Dominick’s liable, but the lingering dispute remains over damages. Jordan is seeking $2.5 million, although at one point the claim was $10 million. While reluctantly removing himself, the 89-year-old judge made an effort to claim that the words “hog” and “greedy” referred to the original claim and not Jordan himself.
In other Michael Jordan news, he was declared a billionaire by Forbes magazine.
New York
The young men known as the “Central Park Five,” who were wrongly accused and convicted of raping a New York City jogger, have reached a settlement agreement worth $40 million. The young Black and Hispanic men, aged 14-16 at the time, served as much as 13 years before their convictions were overturned. The settlement agreement finally resolves a bitterly fought civil rights lawsuit brought over their arrests and incarceration in a crime that rocked the city at the time.
The agreement was reached between the New York City Law Department and the five plaintiffs and still must be approved by the city comptroller and Federal judge Deborah Batts.
The men were convicted in two separate trials in 1990 and locked up until late 2002, when DNA evidence indicated a single man had committed the crime.
The proposed settlement will go to Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Ysef Salaam and Raymond Santana Jr. The lawsuit filed on the men’s behalf accused the city’s police department and prosecutors of false arrest, malicious prosecution and a racially motivated conspiracy to deprive them of their civil rights. During the years of their incarceration, the men have consistently claimed their innocence of the rape of Trisha Meili, the jogger who was left with no memory of the attack. While locked up, three of the accused—Richardson, Salaam and Santana—maintained their innocence at parole hearings, which hurt their chances at reduced sentences.
Shanelle Davis made history last week when it announced that she was the first African American valedictorian out of 8,456 students at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside. The teen said she was surprised by the news.
“It’s an incredible honor. It’s still surreal to me,” she told the New York Times.
Davis’ story of success doesn’t stop there. She is also the recipient of a Milken Family Foundation scholarship and will be the first in her Queens-based family to attend a four-year university. Her school of choice is Harvard. The young scholar said she hopes to be an inspiration to other Black teens to strive for greatness.
Although he was separated from his mother at a young age and tossed around foster care early in his life, Tyree Grant landed with a good family and is set to graduate from the Bronx School of Law and Finance (high school) with a 4.0 grade point average. Grant was only six when he was forced to leave his mother and siblings, and he spent the next two years moving around before being adopted by Walter and Theresa Grant. The 18 year old attributes his success to his family for its unwavering love and support and for encouraging him to focus his time and energy on what matters most. Grant is set to attend Dickinson College on a full scholarship next fall thanks to the Posse Foundation. This organization works to provide access to college for urban youth. Grant said he intends to study law and policy with a minor in philosophy.
A landmark concert took place Monday at Carnegie Hall honoring the legacy of African Americans on Broadway. “The Black Stars of the Great White Way” featured more than 20 singers and a 65-piece orchestra to honor the music of Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Eubie Blake, Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway and Paul Robeson. On hand also to perform were Ben Vereen, Cecily Tyson, Savion Glover, Andre Shields, Chuck Cooper, Phylicia Rashad, Hinton Battle and Chita Rivera.
North Carolina
A teenage girl in Smithfield took her anger for being punished to 911 and as a result, ended up being placed in jail. Jasmyne Keyonia Davis, 16, called 911 after her mother took away her cell phone and grounded her. The cops didn’t appreciate the call and charged the teen with misusing 911 and took her to the Johnson County Jail. Her bond was set at $2,500, with a court date scheduled for Aug. 28.
Tennessee
William “Bill” Rawls Jr. was voted in this month as the first African American mayor of Brownsville. Ironically, Rawls defeated outgoing mayor Jo Matherne, who was the city’s first female mayor. Rawls won the office with 65 percent of the vote. The town’s new mayor co-owns the Rawls Funeral Home and has never held elected office. Rawls will be sworn in on July 8 and serve for four years. The Election Commission reports that Rawls’ entry into the mayoral race attracted more voters in the predominately African American town than ever before.
Texas
Five teenagers from Waco High School and one 20-year-old could spend the rest of their lives in jail over the alleged attack and rape of a 15-year old girl. The suspects, who have been charged with a total of 91 counts, could be sentenced up to 1,300 years each. According to police, two of the teens allegedly talked the girl into cutting school and going with them to one of their homes. The girl has said that she did not know that the other four were already at the home. They then allegedly took turns raping her before driving her back to school, where she reported the assaults. The six are facing steep penalties due to a Texas law known as “acting in concert.” This means each person present at the scene of a crime is responsible for the crime committed.
The heartwarming story of partially blind athlete Isaiah Austin’s dream to play in the NBA was shattered last week when doctors revealed he has a rare genetic disorder that affects his heart. The former Baylor center, who was going to be part of this week’s NBA draft, has been diagnosed with Marfan syndrome. According to the Mayo Clinic, the affliction can weaken the aorta, the artery that supplies blood from the heart to the rest of the body. “They told me that my arteries in my heart are enlarged and that if I overwork myself or push too hard, my heart could rupture,” Austin recently said tearfully on ESPN. During his final season with the Baylor Bears, Austin let it be known that he had a prosthetic right eye after multiple operations couldn’t repair a detached retina. Baylor coach Scott Drew said he hopes Austin will return to Baylor to get his degree and eventually join the coaching staff.
Complied by Carol Ozemhoya
