Today we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington :August 28, 1963.
50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
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Monthly Archives: August 2013
A discussion: Will Black Actresses Ever Catch Up?
Kerry Washing, Issa Rae are winning, but what about other Black Women in Hollywood?
It was a big deal when Kerry Washington was revealed as the cover girl for Vanity Fair’s August issue. An actress who’s been around for more than a decade and who has finally hit big as the star of the hit ABC political drama Scandal, she is the first black woman who’s not Beyoncé to pose solo on the front of the mag since 1993.* And since this is the publication whose annual Hollywood issues tout the “next big things” and the A-list elite, the significance of this (along with her Elle cover in June) cannot be overstated.
Interesting question…
7 Interesting Facts About HBCUs
I have been reading some interesting information and articles about HBCUs. From debating their relevance in modern higher education, to financial issues and leadership issues at various campuses, HBCUs have been met with much criticism and scrutiny as of late. I plan to continue to read, research and report my findings along with a little of my own opinions from my higher education experience and experience as an HBCU student and alum.
To kick off the coverage on HBCUs below are 7 interesting facts that many people do not know about HBCUs:
7 Interesting Facts about HBCUs
- There are 105 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the US.
- HBCUs have graduated a Nobel Prize Winner, astronauts, educators, generations of public leaders, politicians, professional athletes, celebrities and many more individuals who have made unique and impactful contributions to society.
- Cheyney University in Pennsylvania is the oldest HBCU.
- Howard University, known as the “HBCU Flagship” is the only HBCU to have a line item in the federal budget. Howard was founded in 1867.
- In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the Executive Order establishing the White House Initiative on HBCUs. The basis of this initiative is to for the advocacy and lobbying for HBCU financial relationships with federal agencies through contracts and grants. In 2012 these financial relationships fell $115 from the previous year.
- HBCUs graduate a higher percentage of students majoring in computer sciences than other colleges.
- Howard University and Meharry Medical College were the only HBCUs that offered medical education until 1975, when the Morehouse School of Medicine was established.
Content for this post was adapted from the August 2013 issue of Essence Magazine
Female Genital Mutilation Continues
I recently came across an article in the International Business Times regarding Female Genital Mutilation that I found to be quite interesting. The UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) gathered data over the last 20 years to create a comprehensive report on statistics regarding female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation also known as “FGM/C includes female circumcision or genital cutting, clitoral or labial excision, sutures, cauterization and symbolic piercings and pinpricks”.
The report focused on 29 countries (with the majority being in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Egypt, Iraq, and Yemen) where FGM/C is concentrated and continues. There are currently laws against FGM/C in at least 24 of these countries, but surprisingly, the practices still continue. In fact, three of the countries (Somalia, Guinea, and Djibouti) with laws strictly prohibiting FGM/C have the highest rates of practices for women ages 15-49. Statistics from the report also showed that there are 14 countries where at least half of all women are engaged in FGM/C practices.
More interesting than the numbers on modern practices are the approval rates of women and girls in countries where FGM/C practices exist. According to the report, 50 % of women Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Egypt support FGM/C practices while a large percentage of women and girls in 19 of the 29 countries studied believe the practice should end. Discrepancies were noted within the report. Moreover, it is also important to note that serious risks associated with FGM/C practices have been reported and include a range of serious health problems from infection, to infertility, and death.
For more information regarding FGM/C and to view the actual report, visit the UNICEF official website at www.unicefusa.org . You can also visit the Orchid Project’s website at www.orchidproject.org for more information on the history FGM/C practices and other resources.
This picture illustrates the concentration of FGM/C practices. Source: www.orchidproject.com
Open Stax College = Open Source Textbooks
First off let me hit you with this: .
What do I keep saying about open source text books? They are the wave of the future. There are many cases for them including the fact that the knowledge in all text books is basically the same, (for math, english and history, it generally does not change), text books from major publishers are expensive (and schools are seeing their funding cut left and right) and they are copywritten for some reason (how do you copywrite addition, grammar and a year of the past?)
Here we have Open Stax an inititive of Rice University (the Ivy League of the South):
OpenStax College is a nonprofit organization committed to improving student access to quality learning materials. Our free textbooks are developed and peer-reviewed by educators to ensure they are readable, accurate, and meet the scope and sequence requirements of your course. Through our partnerships with companies and foundations committed to reducing costs for students, OpenStax College is working to improve access to higher education for all.
OpenStax College is an initiative of Rice University and is made possible through the generous support of several philanthropic foundations.
Psychology, Physics, Biology, Economics, Pre-Calculus to name a few. All Free all accessible. All students should at least give it a look to see if they can benefit from it in their current situation or future education, I shall be adding them to my personal collection of knowledge.