Year: 2020

Legendary International Opera Star & Civil Rights Trailblazer, Grace Bumbry

     Black talent being shut out of the Golden Globes is not just a travesty but also a testament to the power of the work and the narratives being told that challenge the status quo. Why folks assume that awards shows invested in the same media industries that continue to perpetuate and recycle the vilest stereotypes of Black identity and behavior would somehow acknowledge the stories, performances and behind-the-scenes work that challenges dominant ways of thinking about Black people on and off-screen is befuddling. 

     T.M. Landry is a year-round, tuition-based, non-public school which began in 2005. The school has a unique model to educate students. It is a combination of rigorous courses, self-autonomy, self-efficacy, and a demand for master learning, said co-founders Michael and Tracey Landry. According to its website, the school is designed for students who want to “pursue a serious, purposeful education” and achieve success in college and beyond.

Lenovo, a leader in innovation and developing transformative products, services and solutions, recently released its 2018/2019 Diversity & Inclusion Report. One key highlight is Haben Girma, Harvard Law School’s first deaf-blind graduate joining the team as the first external D&I consultant helping to better integrate the needs of the disability community into its products and workplace.

   The media company that for decades was known as Radio One Inc. for its stable of radio stations across the country, changed its name in 2017 to Urban One, a new name that reflects, its owners believed, its channeled mission of providing media content to urban audiences via all forms of media through its divisions including radio, television programming with its TV One cable network and now the Internet.

The Protest and the Proxy

     It is now 2020, and Black owned media in America is struggling to stay alive, and many in mainstream media believe Black media is not necessary. “Black ownership is dying,” said Armstrong Williams, whose Howard Stirk Holdings owns seven of the Black-owned commercial television stations. “Newspaper ownership, radio ownership – but it’s probably hit TV the hard-est.”

Sowing division, reaping lives

It is an irony of history and a tragedy for the world that before we can finish making resolutions for a new and promising future, let alone begin building one, pathologies and problems of the past continue to pursue us, impose themselves on the present and threaten our very existence. And so, now we are confronted with the real possibility of a war in West Asia (the Middle East) which will no doubt, not only engulf the region, but also extend around the world. To speak of the pathologies and problems of the past is to speak of not only Trump’s thuggish act of war of assassinating Gen. Qassim Suleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Army and perhaps the second highest ranking government member, but also of the continuing legacy and brutal practice of empire, imperialism, raw and unrepentant.

Capital One and Pepsi Co have partnered with retired Miami Heat great Alonzo Mourning and the Mourning Family Foundation  to host the 2020 Zo’s Youth Summit Groove in Fort Lauderdale, FL,  on Friday, January 17, 2020 at Atlantic Technical College – Arthur Ashe campus located at 1701 NW 23rd Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL.