Greene County Democrat

Tag: NNPA Newswire

  • ‘BlacKkKlansman’ delivers critical and powerful message

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Contributor

    Director Spike Lee talks with Denzell Washington, Jr. actor in film.

    Even though “BlacKkKlansman” is set in the 1970s, the themes in the film are just as relevant today as they were back then, Anita Bennett, the managing editor and creator of Urban Hollywood 411, told NNPA Newswire. “We have a president who constantly attacks Black athletes, newscasters and politicians, and white nationalists marching in the streets,” she said.

    “The racial climate in this country is toxic, [so] if Spike Lee can open just one person’s eyes to the systematic racism that African Americans face every day, then he accomplished what he set out to do,” Bennett said. The longtime entertainment journalist joined a chorus of other experts who noted that Lee’s latest film continues to receive positive reviews, with critics and fans alike celebrating it for sparking a much-needed conversation about the current political climate and the complex relationship between law enforcement and the Black community. Several critics and actors told NNPA Newswire that Lee has deftly used his platform to expose systemic injustice while advocating for African-Americans and other minorities. Bennett said it’s important that the Black Press continues to spotlight films like “BlacKkKlansman,” “Sorry to Bother You,” and “Blindspotting.” “The Black Press champions and helps spread the word about films from African-American directors and writers, as well as movies that focus on issues important to the black community,” Bennett said. “The Black Press – and I’m not talking about gossip websites – but industry-focused outlets like EUR Web, Blackfilm.com, and Urban Hollywood 411, write stories about these films and post interviews with the people behind him. We talk about the movies on social media and encourage Black audiences to go see them,” Bennett said. Actor, director and film producer Shiek Mahmud-Bey said the Black Press enables filmmakers like himself, Tyler Perry and Spike Lee, to remain relevant and provides a platform to tell the untold stories that are meaningful to African-Americans. “It’s a one-hand-washes-the-other thing,” said Mahmud-Bey, the CEO of 25th Frame Films. “Only the Black Press can tell our story the way it needs to be told and only Black filmmakers can put that story in perspective and deliver it to a wide audience on screen,” he said. “BlacKkKlansman” earned about $11 million during its opening weekend, making it Lee’s third best box office debut. Based on a true story, the film tells of undercover Black detective, Ron Stallworth, who manages to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. It has earned positive reviews from audiences and critics with an A-rating on CinemaScore and a 97 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Spike Lee has always been socially consciously aware as a filmmaker, going back to ‘Do The Right Thing,’” said actress turned film critic, Carla Renata, who’s known for her website, “The Curvy Film Critic.” “As a filmmaker he uses the art of dialogue, the lens and his actor’s performances to illustrate his point of view on any given subject allowing the film to do the talking for him,” Renata said. “Given that ‘BlacKkKlansman’ is adapted from Ron Stallworth’s novel, Lee amplifies this former detective’s experience and puts his spin on it as only a Spike Lee Joint can do. ‘BlacKkKlansman,’ along with ‘Blindspotting’ and ‘Sorry To Bother You’ are the perfect films for the perfect climate that have infiltrated hate and Neo-Nazi behavior into our daily existence via our current administration,” said Renata, a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications. She added: “It’s no coincidence the film was dedicated and released on the anniversary of the Charlottesville attack and rally where Heather Hoyer was mowed down like a dog and murdered. It’s also no coincidence that the last image you see is the American flag fading to Black and White turned upside down. Perfect image analogy for where we are as a society.” Renata said also that she believes Black Hollywood has a love/hate relationship with Black Press. Most artists, actors, studios, publicists and films reach out to the Black Press at the start in order to get that word of mouth buzz happening, she said. “Once the artist, actor or film has been accepted by mainstream media, their marketing/publicity teams abandon the same Black media that helped them gain acceptance in some of those arenas,” Renata said. “We are almost treated like the ‘black sheep’ of the family that no one likes to talk about or acknowledge.  It’s sad…but true,” she said. Diarah N’Daw-Spech, the co-founder of ArtMattan Productions and the annual African Diaspora International Film Festival, said a number of Black filmmakers have used films to make social commentaries directly tied to serious issues in their communities. She cited Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene whose film, “Molade,” served to denounce the mistreatment of women in his native country, particularly the practice of sexual mutilation, N’Daw-Spech said. “Film is a powerful social media and a powerful source and tool for change. It is important for filmmakers in general and Black filmmakers in particular to realize and use their power through their film making the way Spike Lee and Ousmane Sembene do and did it,” she said. N’Daw-Spech said the Black Press has always been a “natural ally” to Black filmmakers. “Black Hollywood is one of the important platforms available to Black talent. Black Hollywood can use its influence to tell meaningful stories the way Spike Lee does it. When it does, the Black Press should support and celebrate it,” she said. While “BlacKkKlansman” isn’t perfect, it’s insightful, timely and entertaining, Bennett concluded. “The movie raises some important issues about racism, police brutality and stereotypes in classic Hollywood films like D.W. Griffith’s ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” she said. “Spike Lee touches on a lot of hot-button issues, but he smartly sprinkles the film with humor, so that it’s not too heavy-handed. Can we talk about the ending of the film? It’s powerful, heartbreaking and will make you leave the theater thinking. I’ve encouraged everyone I know to go see this important film,” Bennett said.

  • Newswire : Patients, health professionals observe World Sickle Cell Day

    By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

     

    Sickle Cell disease workers.jpg

    KC Morse (left) and Dr. Biree Andemariam (right) say that more work needs to be done to empower sickle cell disease patients

    It’s been 100 years since sickle cell disease (SCD), a hereditary blood disorder, was first discovered. And, according to health experts, it’s no secret that an alarming number of children and adolescence have died, and the condition remained in the province of pediatrics.
    Known as “the silent killer,” SCD is one of the most common genetic disorders in the United States where about 100,000 citizens currently live with the disease.
    With Tuesday, June 19 deemed World Sickle Cell Day, researchers said approximately 270,000 babies worldwide are born each year with sickle cell disease.
    With one in 365 African American babies born with SCD and one in 13 born with the trait, Black people are disproportionately affected by the disease, which also primarily affects those of Latin American, Indian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent.
    Actress and director KC Morse, one of the many African Americans living with SCD, recalled her first major pain crisis, where she didn’t have the support of her loved ones.
    Morse told NNPA Newswire that she was attending college in Allentown, Pennsylvania while her parents were three hours away in Connecticut on a late Saturday night when she returned to her dorm room and began experiencing the excruciating pain known to just about every SCD patient.
    “It was my first experience on my own outside of my comfort zone,” said Morse, now 25. “When it happened, I was really afraid to call anyone. It was 2 a.m. and I felt alone, and I wasn’t sure about calling an ambulance or campus safety because I wasn’t sure they’d understand.”
    Like so many others battling the disease, Morse said she often has to give way to the limitations imposed by SCD. “One of my biggest challenges is that I’ve always been a very busy person. I studied in school theater and we’ve had exhausting rehearsals until 11 p.m. and there was homework and I joined a sorority,” she said. “I loved being busy, but I had to realize that I had to slow down because I needed rest because exhaustion triggers attacks and crisis.”
    Morse said things were a little different in high school, where students go home after school and are afforded the opportunity to rest and hit the reset button.
    “In college, you’re on your own and creating your own schedule and I realized that I wasn’t given myself time to rest and recuperate,” she said. “It took a long time to realize that I can’t do that, and I have to know when to say ‘no’ to things and I had to realize that keeping hydrated is a key and when you’re very busy, water isn’t something you think about, but it affects me. Most of my severe attacks were, because of dehydration.”
    Dr. Biree Andemariam, a noted hematologist, associate professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center, and founder and director of the adult sickle cell center at the New England Sickle Cell Institute, said Morse’s experience and reaction isn’t uncommon.
    However, Dr. Andemariam said the tide is slowly beginning to turn as more people become aware of SCD. “The disease is not anything to be ashamed of,” said Dr. Andemariam, who also serves as Chief Medical Officer on the board of directors for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
    “Researchers and doctors are really beginning to understand the impact of chronic pain [although] many people living with SCD typically don’t let friends or extended family know about the diagnosis,” she said.
    Dr. Andemariam continued: “It’s really important for families to understand that no one did anything wrong and, as far as we can tell, with medical advances people are living longer now.”
    Morse said that she plans to launch a new video series on Facebook depicting what it’s like living with SCD, which will appear on the page, “Spotlight on Sickle Cell Disease.” n“I think people need to be aware of SCD and there’s a need to start a national discussion,” Dr. Andemariam said.
    Still, Dr. Andemariam added, that there’s a lot more education and advocacy occurring across the country and there’s enhanced education in the medical community.
    “The focus today is on the effect of having SCD; on the social and emotional well-being of those living with the disease,” Dr. Andemariam said. “There’s lots of efforts underway to broaden the medical community and empower patients to have the best knowledge and to develop patterns that will ensure they will have access to medical care and finding out who the best physicians are in their community.”
    For Morse, who is producing and starring in the upcoming New York stage show, “Tumbleweed,” World Sickle Cell Disease Day, is a time to reflect and count her blessings, she said.
    “I try to live my best life and I think somedays are good and somedays are bad. I’ve been very fortunate to have good days and have family and friends who have been extremely supportive,” Morse said. “I can’t imagine having this disease without having people there holding my hand and telling me it’s going to be okay.”
    This article was originally published at BlackPressUSA.com.

  • NAACP National Board makes dramatic move to regain relevance

    By Lauren Victoria Burke (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

    cornellbrooks_3794_fallen_web120.jpgCornell Brooks of the NAACP

    Why did the NAACP’s national board vote to part ways with their president, Cornell William Brooks? Several longtime members contacted by the NNPA Newswire were shocked to hear the news. Brooks, 56, has served in the position since May 2014. Some NAACP insiders said that there was a lack of communication between the NAACP’s large board of directors and Brooks. Others say that a lack of fundraising prowess was the reason.
    On the day the board voted to end Brooks’ tenure as president (his current contract expires on June 30), NAACP Board Chairman Leon Russell announced that the 108 year-old organization is “re-tooling” and embarking on “an organization-wide refresh” in response to the “audacious challenges” in “today’s volatile political, media and social climates.”
    During an interview with American Urban Radio Networks, Brooks was asked why he was being let go. He responded: “I can’t point to any substantive reason. What I can point to is this: the NAACP over the course of less than three years, is more visible, more vocal, growing in members, donors, presence in the courts and in communities across the country.”
    Brooks continued: “We’ve had nine court victories against voter suppression in ten months. We not only demonstrated in Flint, we filed suit in Flint…online membership is up 87 percent and online paper membership is up seven percent. Online donations are up 800 percent,” Brooks added. On May 21, Brooks was bombarded on Twitter with positive praise from well-wishers for his three years as NAACP President.
    Brooks was also instrumental in spotlighting the damage President Donald Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions will likely do to voting rights with a demonstration in Alabama that resulted in Brooks’ highly publicized arrest.
    During a May 19 media call on the end of Brooks’ presidency, NAACP National Board Chairman Leon Russell and Vice Chair Derrick Johnson told reporters that the search for a new leader will start immediately and focus on, “renewed nimbleness and vigilance so that we can aggressively respond to the current climate of political unrest as well as the assault on human rights.”
    Russell also added that, “we don’t have a job description in front of us.”
    Russell said that there would be a, “system-wide and strategic revisiting of processes…that will ensure the NAACP can address these 21st century challenges.”
    Russell also said that he and Johnson would manage the day-to-day NAACP operations on an interim basis until a replacement for Brooks is found. They also announced a NAACP “listening tour” in an effort to be informed “by the people we serve” and to “harness grassroots energy” while at the same time listening also to current staff, past leaders in the Civil Rights Movement and “philanthropic” groups.
    The NAACP makes this startling leadership change at an incredibly crucial time. President Donald Trump is reeling amidst accusations of collusion with the Russian government, during the 2016 election season and obstruction of justice involving former FBI Director Jim Comey’s investigation of it. Attorney General Sessions easily represents one of the biggest threats to policy issues disproportionately impacting African Americans.
    But the NAACP has clearly taken a back seat in terms of national attention. Younger, tighter and more focused movements such as Black Lives Matter, Color of Change and now The Indivisible Movement have leveraged social media and narrowed priorities to push there agendas as the NAACP has remained in a traditionalist managerial model that would appear ill-suited for the times.
    The vote by the 64-member NAACP national board to part ways with Brooks took place during a quarterly board meeting in Florida and on the same day that Dr. Rev. William Barber stepped down as NAACP North Carolina State President. Barber has led the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina and won political and public relations attention as a result. He is now focused on a diverse “poor people’s campaign” modeled after Dr. Martin Luther King’s own work.

    Lauren Victoria Burke is a speaker, writer and political analyst. She appears on “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin every Monday. Lauren is also a frequent contributor to the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com. Connect with Lauren by email at LBurke007@gmail.com and on Twitter at @LVBurke.

  • President Trump signs Executive Order on HBCU’s

     

    HBCU Presidents Request $25 Billion in Aid from The White House
    By Lauren Victoria Burke (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

    president-trump-and-hbcu-presidents

    President Trump with HBCU Presidents in Oval Office at  the White House

    President Trump signed an executive order to focus more attention on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on Tuesday, February 28.

    Although HBCUs comprise just three percent of higher education institutions in the U.S., “HBCUs contributed 19 percent of the nearly 9 percent of all bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering awarded to Blacks in 2010,” according to American Institutes for Research (AIR).

    AIR also reported that “By 2010, approximately 33 percent of all Black students who earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and statistics attended HBCUs, and HBCUs produced nearly 37 percent of all Black undergraduates who received bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences.”

    Every president since Jimmy Carter has issued an Executive Order establishing a White House Initiative on HBCUs. The order Trump signed will have a key difference: Trump’s order will move the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, previously part of the Department of Education, into the White House.

    During the Obama Administration, the late Dr. George Cooper, headed the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Cooper was succeeded by Dr. Ivory Toldson, who left the post in June 2016 to lead the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM), a non-profit group in Washington, D.C.

    A February 27 photo-op with President Trump in the Oval Office and group “listening session” meeting with Vice President Michael Pence with over 60 HBCU presidents was the first meeting of its kind with HBCU presidents and chancellors in at least eight years.

    HBCU presidents, who are in Washington, D.C., this week, also have decided to request $25 billion from the Trump Administration to assist their schools.

    At a HBCU president’s reception on Monday night, Grambling President Rick Gallot told the NNPA Newswire that the priorities of HBCUs are, “spending on campus infrastructure and an increase in year around Pell Grants.”

    A senior White House Official in the Trump Administration briefed reporters on February 27 at the White House on moving the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities into the White House and assigning an executive director.

    The initiative on HBCUs, “lost track, because they didn’t have the full force of the White House behind them. This HBCU order will do that by repositioning the initiative in the White House,” the senior Trump Administration official said.

    The senior White House Official added that the administration wants HBCUs to serve as partners in the President’s urban agenda and that the administration also wants to increase the private sector’s role in supporting and strengthening their participation in federal programs. HBCUs did not fare well during the Obama Administration. In 2009, the Obama Administration failed to renew a two-year appropriation for HBCUs of $85 million a year. The money would later have to be restored by concerned Democrats who controlled Congress.

    HBCUs collectively lost over $300 million in grants and tuition after a bureaucratic level decision in 2011 enacted in Obama’s Department of Education made obtaining Parent PLUS loans much more difficult. As a result, 28,000 HBCU students were negatively impacted.

    In September 2013, President Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan apologized to HBCU leaders and advocates for the Parent PLUS loan decision. In 2012, Duncan proposed an end to a three-year implementation of summer Pell Grants. The elimination of summer Pell Grants is an issue HBCU presidents often say they’d like restored. Almost two-thirds of African American undergraduate students receive Pell funding.

    In 2015, President Obama proposed two years of free community college without consulting HBCU advocates. Many of those advocates viewed the proposal as a threat to HBCUs. The proposal, which was never enacted by a Republican-controlled Congress, was later changed to include HBCUs.

    In early 2015, during a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, President Obama expressed what many members later told the NNPA Newswire was a lack of support for HBCUs. President Obama was critical of HBCU graduation rates and loan policies.

    In February 2015, President Obama’s own HBCU Board of Advisors Chair, Hampton University President Dr. William Harvey, was critical of the Obama Administration. “We are not consulted when it comes to policy changes and decisions impacting – in a major way – the institutions on whose behalf we are to advocate,” said Harvey. “It happened with Pell. It happened with Parent PLUS. And, now it is happening with the new community college initiative.”

    Regarding their visit to the White House on Monday, that included seeing President Trump and Vice President Pence, many HBCU presidents said they were happy to see HBCUs receiving attention within the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, but they were cautiously optimistic.

    “There was very little listening to HBCU presidents today. We were only given about two minutes each, and that was cut to one minute, so only about 7 of maybe 15 or so speakers were given an opportunity today,” wrote Dillard President Walter Kimbrough detailed in a column posted on Medium on the night of February 27. The HBCU presidents convened at the Library of Congress on February 28 for an all day session with members of Congress.