African-American workers were key to Atlantic City’s success, new book argues

By Chuck Darrow, Philadelphia Inquirer

WHEN IT comes to the history of Atlantic City, Nelson Johnson literally sees things in black and white.

Johnson, an Atlantic County Superior Court judge from Hammonton, N.J., is the author of Boardwalk Empire, which plotted Atlantic City’s storied tale by focusing on the white power structure from the town’s founding in 1854 through the current casino era. The chapter about early-20th-century political and underworld boss Enoch “Nucky” Johnson was the inspiration for the HBO series of the same name.

Tomorrow, Medford, N.J.-based Plexus Publishing releases Johnson’s The Northside, a parallel history of AyCee’s African-American community.

South Carolina’s Tim Scott among new faces bound for DC

by James Rosen, McClatchy Newspapers

S.C. Rep. Tim Scott flew to Washington on Monday a week before most of his future House freshman colleagues as Republicans tapped him to help lead the largest class of new GOP lawmakers in decades.

Scott and three other pending first-term representatives were named to a 22-member transition team that will craft the rules by which the House will operate as of January under a restored Republican majority.

“Our assignment as a team is to transform the way we do business in Washington and make sure we keep the focus on jobs and the economy, and on cutting spending,” Scott told McClatchy from Charleston International Airport as he waited to fly to Washington.

Initiative to support African-American art

By Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Heinz Endowments and The Pittsburgh Foundation have jointly launched a $650,000 initiative to ensure continuing support for local organizations and individuals whose work focuses primarily on the art of African-Americans.

“Advancing Black Art in Pittsburgh,” established with an initial $325,000 from each foundation, will be officially announced to local arts organizations at Homewood Library today.

For the Museum of American History, a new trove of African American artifacts

Source: Washington Post

Over 40 years, Bernard and Shirley Kinsey, a Los Angeles couple, have acquired every kind of artifact related to the African American experience. In their collection are rare documents, such as a letter from a Union soldier recounting the 1862 murder of slaves in Tennessee and a parade flag of the Buffalo Soldiers. This important and fragile bounty is moving into the National Museum of American History on Oct. 15 in a series of galleries that are a showcase for the planned National Museum of African American History and Culture, to open in 2015.

One letter, written by slaveholder A.M.F. Crawford in 1854, introduces his slave Frances. The letter is stained, but the messages are clear. She is described as “the finest chamber maid I have ever seen in my life, she is a good washer, but at house cleaning she has perfect slight [sic] of hand.” The 17-year-old Frances does not know her fate, but the viewer will probably cry at the clear and attractive handwriting that says “she does not know that she is to be sold.” And Crawford boldly lets the potential buyer know he is using the proceeds for a new stable.

The First African American Breast Cancer Walk Takes Place This Weekend

By Kim Hudson, KPLR11.com

St. Louis hosts its first walk to bring awareness to breast cancer in the African-American community. St. Louisians are about to make history at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park this weekend as they fight breast cancer. It’s called the “Sista Strut” and it will be the first walk that raises awareness about breast cancer in the African American community. The 5K walk and rally starts at the Missouri history museum. Some might ask why do we need a separate walk for African American breast cancer patients. Internist Dr. Valerie Walker presented statistics from the American Cancer Society – endorsed Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

“The five-year relative survival is lower in African-Americans than in Whites for every stage of diagnosis for nearly every cancer. That means wherever we diagnose it, it is worse for African-Americans and it doesn’t even matter the type of cancer.”

Again, the walk starts at the Missouri History Museum tomorrow morning. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. and is $17. Proceeds will go to awareness and resources for those diagnosed with breast cancer as well as their friends and families. And, of course, everyone is invited to attend.

Record number of blacks entering West Point Class of 2014

SOURCE: Mid Hudson News

WEST POINT – The Class of 2014 reports to the US Military Academy at West Point on next Monday, June 28.

The class of 1,400 cadets, selected from over 12,000 applicants, including over 375 minorities, 12 international cadets, and 17 combat veterans who served in Afghanistan, Iraq or both, will report on Reception Day.

There are 250 women in the class, comprising 17 percent. Twenty-six percent of the new class is minorities with 126 African-Americans, 131 Asian-Americans, 125 Hispanic Americans, and 13 Native Americans.

The international cadets come from Cambodia, Costa Rica, Georgia, Jordon, Korea, Lithuania, Qatar, Rwanda, Thailand, Tunisia and Zaire.

During R-Day, the new cadets will begin the process of becoming West Point cadets and future US Army officers.

They will undergo administrative processing, are fitted with their initial issue of military clothing, receive haircuts, medical and physical evaluations, and begin their first lessons in marching, military courtesy and discipline.

Broadway Sees Benefits of Building Black Audience

by Patrick Healy, New York Times

They thought it was about Elvis.

That’s what a focus group of a dozen African-American women concluded about the musical “Memphis” last summer when they were asked to assess the show’s tagline, “The Birth of Rock ’n’ Roll.”

But after seeing artwork featuring Felicia, the black R&B singer in the show, and after hearing about the turbulent romance between the character and a white D.J., the women in the focus group said the show was much more up their alley.

R&B superstar Usher gives $500 checks to brightest kids to improve community

by Simone Weichselbaum, New York Daily News

R&B superstar Usher is giving away $500 checks to some of the city’s brightest kids so they can make a change on the toughest streets in town.

The pop sensation has doled out five grants citywide since September to youngsters in Harlem and the Bronx for a shot at neighborhood glory. Kids in Queens and Brooklyn are also eligible to apply for the youth grants.

“It’s a matter of putting the skills and the financial resources directly in their hands and letting them create change on their terms,” Usher said.

The grants are part of the crooner’s nonprofit New Look that expands his Power by Service project.

CC spreads holiday cheer in hometown

by Bryan Hoch, MLB.com

Yankees ace CC Sabathia helped to make it a happier holiday season in his hometown of Vallejo, Calif., on Monday, playing Secret Santa for the children from the Foster A Dream nonprofit organization.

Sabathia’s “PitCCh In” Foundation made two stops in the hurler’s old stomping grounds, greeting the children from Foster A Dream at a Toyota dealership in Vallejo before presenting each child with a $200 shopping spree at a Sports Authority in Vacaville, Calif.

“Anytime I get a chance to do something here in Vallejo, I try to do what I can,” Sabathia said in an interview on the MLB Network. “It’s fun being able to get back to Vallejo and hang out with my family and see everybody. I’m just excited to be here.”

First African-American in Space Among Four Joining Astronaut Hall of Fame

by Robert Z. Pearlman, CollectSpace.com

The first African-American to fly in space, along with three other accomplished astronauts, are set to join the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in June.

The ninth class of space shuttle astronauts to be added to the Hall’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo ranks since 2001, the 2010 inductees will increase the Florida facility’s total number of honorees to 77. An induction ceremony planned for June 5, 2010 at the Kennedy Space Center will reunite many of the astronauts to celebrate the enshrinement of Guy Bluford, Ken Bowersox, Frank Culbertson and Kathy Thornton.

Mother, daughter share learning, graduation experience at ULM

by Matthew Hamilton, The News-Star

Reva McMillan said she never had qualms giving study advice to her mother, Maria McMillan.

The 25-year-old and the 52-year-old have grown accustomed to one another’s opinions through the hours of drilling on course materials. Before big exams, The McMillans would play the respective roles of professor, write mock tests for each other and always offer critique and encouragement afterward.

“I have no problem telling her, ‘Maybe next time we’ll study a little harder,’ and she did the same for me,” Reva McMillan said. “We’ve studied so much together, I feel like I could be a nurse, like I’m practically receiving half of her degree.”

Residents spoke in one “loud and unified voice” for incoming Police Chief Frank Fowler

by Douglass Dowty, Syracuse.com

Syracuse Deputy Police Chief Frank Fowler paused briefly to collect his emotions during a news conference this morning to announce his appointment as the city’s next police chief.

“In my wildest imagination, in my deepest dreams, I never thought I would be standing here in this position,” Fowler told the crowd of officers, politicians and residents assembled at the Public Safety Building. “My mother, in heaven right now, is smiling down on us.”

Mayor-elect Stephanie Miner said Fowler will be police chief and District Chief Mark McLees fire chief when she takes office Jan. 1.

Scholarship launched for Black males

by Steve Lyttle, Charlotte Observer

Every male African American student who graduates from West Charlotte High School will receive a $1,000 college scholarship, thanks to a gift announced Wednesday by C.D. Spangler Jr.

Spangler, whose two daughters attended West Charlotte, said the Anthony Foxx Scholars Program is aimed at curbing the high dropout rate at the school, where more than half the male African American students quit before graduation.

“We’re not sure if it will work, but we’ll give it a try,” said Spangler, a construction magnate and former president of the UNC system.

The $2 million scholarship fund – to be divided equally among CPCC and the University of North Carolina system – was part of more than $4.5 million awarded by the Spangler Foundation to educational-based programs.

The gifts even included $1,000 for each of the 176 principals in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, for their personal use. Another big benefactor was Teach for America, which received $1.5 million from the fund.

Journalism professor recognized for latest book

By Trent Goldston, The Lariat
Photo credit, Shanna Taylor

Dr. Mia Moody, Journalism professor, has been receiving great reviews for her latest book, “‘Black and Mainstream Press’ Framing of Racial Profiling: A Historical Perspective,” most notably from the publication Journalism and Mass Communication.

Will Crockett, public relations director for the College of Arts and Sciences, said Moody’s recognition from J&MC is monumental.

“This is the flagship journal of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and a premier journal in the field,” Crockett said. “The journal provides leadership in developing theory and introducing new concepts to its readership.”

Dr. Clark Baker, chairman of the journalism department said he was very pleased to hear about Moody’s work being recognized.

“It’s great. We are very proud of her,” Baker said.

Using the Web to adjust the color on TV Minorities find a warm reception through online channels

by DeNeen Brown, Washington Post

A black superwoman appears on your laptop in shimmering blue tights, green socks and a midnight blue cape. Her hair in Afro puffs, she is sitting on a promenade bench. She looks worried and a bit worn out. Her makeup is smeared, probably from crying.

She tells us she has just caught her boyfriend with a “second-rate superhero.” The nerve of him.

The woman, who identifies herself as Fantastica, climbs a railing on a ledge several stories aboveground.

She holds tight to the rail behind her, breathes deeply, then announces dramatically: “Death over dishonor.” And lets go.

You shout at your computer: Girl, don’t go out like that over a man.

The camera shifts. You see her falling, slo-mo.

Morgan is state bar’s first African American president

by Tom Saulding, Indy Star

When Roderick Morgan moved to Indianapolis in 1991 to practice law, he said he could count the number of minorities serving as law firm partners on one hand.Nearly two decades later, he says: “I don’t know everyone’s name, and that’s a good thing.”

On Wednesday, he became the first African-American to be named president of the Indiana State Bar Association.

Morgan, a partner with Bingham McHale in Indianapolis, had been in the state bar’s line of succession for the past few years. And he said he appreciates the historical significance and achievement of leading an organization that at one time excluded blacks from membership.

“Slowly but surely, we’re knocking down those barriers, real or perceived,” said Morgan, 61. “Although I am the first African-American president of the state bar, I certainly hope it doesn’t mean that I’m the last.”

Curtis Granderson wins man of year award

by George Sipple, Detroit Free Press

Tigers centerfielder Curtis Granderson has won the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award.

ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning” show made the announcement Friday that Granderson had received the honor and that St. Louis’ Albert Pujols was named player of the year.

Awards were presented by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Granderson talked on ESPN Radio after the announcement.

“The fact that other teammates and other players throughout the league have acknowledged that as well has definitely been a great thing, too,” he said.

Diverse Washington team a rarity in sport of swimming

by Jamie Secola, Pensacola News Journal

Black swimmers are rare.

But that doesn’t seem to bother Washington High freshman Brittney Foster.

“I don’t feel any different,” Foster, 14, said of being a black swimmer. “I’m used to swimming with all white people.”

This year, however, Foster is one of six black swimmers on the Wildcats’ team, which competes in Friday’s District 1-2A championship meet at the University of West Florida Aquatic Center. Washington figures to be one of the strongest teams in the event.

Derek Jeter’s community service awarded

SOURCE: ESPN

Derek Jeter again found himself the focus of unwanted attention in a season full of honors.

This time, though, with a little self-deprecating humor, he didn’t need prompting to cherish the moment.

The New York Yankees captain was the recipient of the 2009 Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a major league player who combines community service with excellence on the field.

Jeter was presented the award by commissioner Bud Selig and Vera Clemente, Roberto’s widow, before the Yankees played the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter lifts Li’l Jeter’s heart with presents, letter

by Edgar Sandoval and  Samuel Goldsmith, NY Daily News

It’s been a great October for both Bronx Jeters.

Little Jeter Villacis, the 16-month-old heart transplant patient named after the Yankees captain, will finally leave Montefiore Medical Center after two months in intensive care.

And Derek Jeter is giving the family another reason to celebrate with the team’s first World Series berth since 2003.

After reading about little Jeter in the Daily News, the shortstop sent him a Yankee care package with a heartfelt note of encouragement.

“Life is a daily challenge, some more challenging than others, but you are a true star for giving it your all and I strongly admire your strength and courage,” Jeter wrote.

Bronx beauty Kerry Washington comes home to make Broadway debut in ‘Race’

SOURCE: NY Daily News

You’re in rehearsals for “Race,” which will be your Broadway debut on Nov. 19. Excited about that?

AIt’s ridiculously cool. I grew up in the Bronx, and I wanted to do theater long before I wanted to be in a movie. I’ve never done Broadway before, but I had been longing to return to the theater. Originating a role in a play by David Mamet, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, is just an incredible opportunity.

You, James Spader and David Alan Grier play lawyers. Richard Thomas is a client who is accused of assaulting a young black woman. Potentially explosive?

Yes. And without giving anything else away, I’ll say that I’m enjoying the ride of it. Which includes the fact that Mamet is directing.

You’re 32 now. You were performing on stage when you were 8. Was that a good experience?

Absolutely. I feel like I was really lucky to have started in theater. TADA! [Theater on W. 28th St.] was the first place that anybody told me to take out a notebook and to take notes of what the director said. I learned to be on time. More than anything, it taught me about a work ethic, the respect for fellow actors and the importance of consistency, preparation and teamwork. I built sets. I hung lights. It was a communal adventure. Film is collaborative the same way theater is. It was a really important foundation.

New York is a fab food city — where would you grab a bite if you had some free time?

I like Bonobo’s Vegetarian on E. 23rd St. The coconut soup makes me very happy.

Los Angeles Angels OF Torii Hunter continues to inspire hope in hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas

by Wayne Coffey, NY Daily News

Raymond (R.J.) McGregor is a soft-spoken 16-year-old with a wisp of a goatee, a penchant for mumbling and enough pain in his past to take him from here to the Ozarks and back. For the last two years, he has played centerfield and batted cleanup for a state championship baseball team, a 5-9, 160-pound kid with speed and power and outsized ambition, along with a singular rooting interest in the American League Championship Series.

When the Angels and Yankees got things going in a billion-dollar Stadium Friday night, McGregor watched on a fading, 19-inch TV in his mother’s bedroom in a rundown brick rental home, in the most dangerous metropolitan area in the country, according to one recent study.

R.J. McGregor will mostly be tracking one player in the ALCS, No. 48 of the Angels, another centerfielder from Pine Bluff with a horrific back story. Long before he ever scaled any big-league wall or won any of his eight Gold Gloves or earned a penny of his $90 million contract, Torii Hunter had to escape much more perilous obstacles here in his hometown, a gritty city of 52,000 on the Arkansas River that teems with pawn shops, used-car lots and vacant downtown storefronts; where almost a third of the residents live in poverty and 78% of students in the Pine Bluff School District are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

Former Oroville resident, Tuskegee Airman, dead at 84

SOURCE: OrovilleMR.com

A former Oroville resident, who left the area in the 1940s and became one of a unique group of fighter pilots during World War II known as the Tuskegee Airmen, was remembered at a memorial service Friday in Marysville.Samuel L. Broadnax, 84, died early Oct. 7 at his home in Sacramento, said his son, Brian Broadnax.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black military airmen.

Longtime resident Stu Shaner said Broadnax grew up in Oroville and attended Oroville High School until his senior year, when he enlisted in the military. At the age of 17, Broadnax enlisted in the Army Air Corps and trained to become a pilot at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama.

He graduated in 1945 as a fighter pilot.

He was the author of a book about African-American aviation pioneers, and according to his book biography, was a broadcaster and journalist.

After leaving the military, Broadnax attended Yuba College, Howard University and UC Berkeley.

Broadnax’s son, Brian Broadnax, said there are no other relatives remaining in Oroville. The former Orovillian was 84.

Firefighter, union president retires

by Aaron Organ, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel

Jim Ridley has seen a lot in 29 years as a Fort Wayne firefighter. He’s saved countless lives and doused far too many fires.

In the 11 years he’s been president of the firefighters’ union, Local 124, Ridley has extinguished probably a comparable amount of fires, and accomplished success upon success for the benefit of his colleagues.

Ridley, 52, is now stepping down. But he’s not out.

The International Association of Fire Fighters announced this week that Ridley has been named director of its Hazardous Materials and Weapons of Mass Destruction Training Department.

Ridley will be in charge of 102 instructors throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the 11 staff members at his new headquarters in Washington, D.C. His duties will include writing and overseeing the requests of funds through the association, and making sure the requests are met through grant sources that will keep the program running and the training fluid.

Janelle Monae, Mary J. Blige To Be Honored At Black Girls Rock

by Crystal Bell, Billboard

Janelle Monáe, Mary J. Blige, Salt-N-Pepa’s Spinderella and — oddly enough — Anthony Hamilton are among the honorees for the fourth annual Black Girls Rock! Awards, which take place Saturday (Oct. 17) in New York and recognize women of color making strides in arts and entertainment.

Monáe, who is currently working on the followup to her debut album “Metropolis, Suite I: The Chase,” will receive the “Who’s Got Next” award. The alt-R&B singer tells Billboard.com that the honor feels like a call to duty. “Black girls have always been rockin,'” says Monáe. “I just want to make sure I’m also leading by example. I want to continue to inspire other young girls of color to be artists and express themselves creatively.”