by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Today March 14, 2023
MARCH 14, 1933
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones was born in Chicago. His trumpet play won him a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Time magazine named him one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century, and his gift for arranging songs made him sought after as an arranger, a musical director and a producer. He has received a record 79 Grammy nominations, which includes 28 wins.
Jones also showed a talent for scoring films, starting with the 1964 film, The Pawnbroker, breaking through many color barriers. In 1968, he became the first African American to be nominated twice within the same year for an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
In 1995, he received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his charity work. In 2013, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Two years later, his daughter, Rashida Jones, produced an award-winning documentary that detailed his life from battling poverty on Chicago’s South Side to producing some of the world’s most beloved music.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
President Biden awards the Medal of Honor to U.S. Army veteran Col. Paris Davis on March 3 for his actions during the Vietnam War. (The Washington Post)
In the early hours of June 18, 1965, Capt. Paris D. Davis led the 12 members of his Special Forces team and about 90 South Vietnamese trainees stealthily through the jungle of Bong Son in Vietnam’s Binh Dinh province. The company successfully raided an enemy camp, killing scores of North Vietnamese soldiers, some while they were still in their cots. And then the tables turned. The Washington Post | Read more >>
Meet 26-year-old Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the first Gen Z member in Congress, and now labeled “the coolest member” in the House.
SHORTLY AFTER 7 P.M. on January 3, down a cobblestone alley in the splashy Washington, DC, waterfront known as The Wharf, a steady pulse emanated from Union Stage. Inside was a raucous scene: strobing lights, high-top tables covered with empties, the stagnant smell of beer-soaked floors. A backlit white sign near the entrance read “Tonight: Swearing In Concert of Maxwell Alejandro Frost.” Inside, an eclectic crowd—half dressed like they’d just left meetings on Capitol Hill, the other half like ’90s teens—filled the dance floor. “I am too old for this shit,” one attendee near the bar quipped with a laugh as music thumped in the background.VANITYFAIR | Read more >>
In “The Light We Carry,” the former first lady will share her approaches to dealing with challenging times. Her 2018 memoir, “Becoming,” was one of the best-selling books of all time.Read More
Lusia Harris, a basketball legend, had a stellar career at Delta State University, which is located in Cleveland, Miss. During her heyday with the DSU Lady Statemen, the well-oiled team won three AIAW championships in 1975, 1976, and 1977 under Coach Margaret Wade, also a legend as well. Harris was a 6-3 powerhouse center and always attracted a crowd on game night as the students on campus and the local community would hardly miss any of the women’s games.
The documentary film, titled "The Queen of Basketball", is worth watching. Produced by Ben Proudfoot, the founder of Breakwater Studios, it chronicles Harris growing up in Minter City, a small community in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, and attending Delta State University (just down the road from her hometown) to lead the Lady Statesmen to the three national championships that brought national attention to the university. After her college career, she almost took the basketball court with the New Orleans Jazz as the first woman ever officially drafted by the NBA. But because of family obligations and a reluctance to compete with men on the court, Harris never played a game.
This very educational film is around 22 minutes and portrays an interesting life journey for a basketball legend.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Mississippi’s Black Communities Turned Around Their Covid Rates. Next Up: Make Strides on Vaccines.
Michaela Gibson Morris
At its first pop-up vaccination event on April 10, the Northeast Mississippi Coalition Against Covid 19 gave shots to nearly 40 people in Shannon, a town where roughly 60% of some 1,800 residents are African American.
Though a fraction of the doses typically given out at large mass vaccination sites, the event was a success, say organizers — a coalition of health care providers and elected officials. Held outdoors, it allowed for a physically distant, communal atmosphere that many have missed over the past year.
“People would get their shot, and then say, ‘I’m going to get my wife or my daughter,’” said Dr. Vernon Rayford, a Tupelo internal medicine physician and coalition member.
The group has held two more events and administered a total of 110 doses, Rayford said. More pop-ups are scheduled.
Mississippi had already narrowed an outsize gap in covid-19 incidence and mortality rates for its Black residents, leveraging community partnerships to promote masks and physical distancing while dispelling rumors. Now health advocates hope to stretch those partnerships to help ensure vaccines reach all Mississippians equally.
It appears to be working. Vaccine rates are neck and neck among Black and white residents, with available state data showing a slightly higher rate for whites and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing the opposite. Mississippi isone of the few states where the Black rate isn’t lagging significantly behind the rate for whites.
And as of mid-May, African Americans, who make up 38% of the state’s population, are getting 40% of the doses given each week, said state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers.
“We continue to reach parity with our doses,” Byers said during a May press conference.
This is the latest phase of Mississippi’s dramatic turnaround on covid among its Black residents.
In the first four months of the pandemic, the incidence of covid was almost three times higher for African Americans than whites — 1,131 cases per 100,000 for Black Mississippians compared with 403 cases per 100,000 for whites. Mortality in those first months was almost twice as high for African Americans — 46.2 per 100,000 compared with 24.6 per 100,000 for whites, based on an analysis of weekly covid reports published by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
“Covid revealed what many already knew in the public health community: that the inequities in Black and brown communities have existed for a long time,” saidVictor Sutton, who directs the state health department’s preventive health and health equity division.
That disproportionate toll on Black Mississippians started to wane, though, as covid cases began a rapid climb in the state and the rest of the country in the fall. Public health officials saw per capita rates of infection and deaths for African Americans drop below the rates of the white population. Through the peak of the holiday covid wave in mid-January, the infections and deaths rose for both groups, but the rates for African Americans remained lower than for whites.
State health department officials pointed to outreach through churches, historically black colleges and universities and community organizations that reinforced the importance of masking and physical distancing among African Americans. Efforts were also underway to reach other underserved groups, including Hispanics across the state, Native Americans in eastern Mississippi and Vietnamese communities on the Gulf Coast.
While Mississippi was among the first states to drop its mask rules, the groups hit hardest by the pandemic were more open to masking and physical distancing than the overall population, health officials said.
“It didn’t get political in the African American community,” Rayford said.
In Tupelo, the Temple of Compassion and Deliverance’s Bishop Clarence Parks was among the Mississippi clergy who used his pulpit both in his church and on Facebook. He lost his 91-year-old mother to covid on April 9, 2020. Hers was among the first cases diagnosed in Tupelo.
“It did give me a sense of urgency,” Parks said. “I saw what covid was doing.”
In addition to moving church services online and into the parking lot, Parks made a point to talk to his congregation about how to protect themselves, their parents and grandparents from covid. As small groups came back inside the church, masks were required. He talked to other pastors about safeguarding their flocks. Parks, 61, posted on Facebook when he got his covid vaccine.
In his congregation of 400, Parks estimates about 15 became infected with covid.
“My mom is the only one in our church who passed from covid,” Parks said.
Mississippi Valley State University, a historically Black school in Itta Bena, a town in the Mississippi Delta, hosted drives to distribute masks and information on protective measures, plus hosted Zoom community meetings to reach beyond its campus boundaries.
“We’re trying to focus on the Delta,” said La Shon Brooks, chief of staff and legislative liaison for the Mississippi Valley president.
Parity on vaccines, though, got off to a slow start. When supply was limited and appointments were snapped up in minutes in February, African Americans were receiving about 15% of the vaccines distributed through the state health department. As more vaccine became available, the department started sending thousands of doses to community health centers and clinics serving large minority populations, said State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.
“We want to make sure we‘re addressing trust and access issues,” Dobbs said during a February press conference.
In southwestern Mississippi, Alcorn State University, a historically Black school, organized a vaccine clinic in partnership with the state health department and local county emergency management agency. Located in a rural county with the closest hospitals about 45 minutes away by car, the university has attracted between 160 and 200 Mississippians to each drive-in clinic session. The organizers even made walk-up appointments available to reach students and staff members on campus.
“We’re drawing a wide range of ages and races,” said Jennifer Riley Collins, Alcorn State’s covid response coordinator.
In recent weeks, the state health department has increased efforts to partner with community groups on smaller vaccination events and to reach the homebound. They are also working to direct the public to pharmacies and clinics offering the vaccine.
Health advocates remain concerned that more Mississippians of all races and ethnicities need to be vaccinated or the state risks another wave of infections that could overwhelm health care resources.
In survey results released in mid-May, the Mississippi State Health Department, which polled 11,000 state residents across all 82 counties between December and March, found that 73% were likely to take the vaccine, but as of Thursday only 33.7% of the state’s residents had rolled up their sleeves for at least one dose, according to CDC data. Nationwide, the rate was 49.9%.
Among African Americans, the survey found 56% intended to get vaccinated, compared with 80% of white Mississippians.
“We’re still at risk,” Dobbs said. “We still have a large part of the population that is still vulnerable.”
Even as racial equity in vaccine distribution has improved, closing the gap among the still hesitant and skeptical remains a significant challenge to achieving widespread immunity.
Health care workers, ranked as top vaccine influencers in the health department survey, will need to switch out of their traditional role of giving monologues and engage instead in a dialogue to understand what is preventing the unvaccinated from getting the shots, said Dr. Jeremy Blanchard, chief medical officer for Tupelo-based North Mississippi Health Services.
“We need to listen more effectively,” Blanchard said.
This article first appeared on Kaiser Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.
Jill Biden to visit Mississippi as COVID-19 vaccination rate sputters
by Will Stribling | Mississippi Today June 21, 2021
First Lady Jill Biden will visit COVID-19 vaccination sites in Jackson on Tuesday as part of the Biden Administration’s nationwide tour to reach Americans who haven’t been vaccinated and promote vaccine education.
The visit comes as Mississippi continues to rank last in the nation in the share of its population that has been vaccinated. Only 32% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated despite significant gains made in recent months in vaccinating the most vulnerable and making vaccine access more equitable.
Mississippi is also the state furthest behind in reaching President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one COVID-19 shot into the arms of 70% of adults by July 4. Just over 36% of Mississippians are currently vaccinated, providing no hope the state will reach even 50% by Independence Day. If vaccination rates don’t improve significantly, the state wouldn’t reach that 70% threshold for well over a year.
No significant improvement is on the horizon as the state’s vaccination rate continues to tank. The 15,073 shots given last week represent a decrease of over 87% from February’s peak.
As the state's vaccine rate continues to sputter, Gov. Tate Reeves announced last week that the last remnants of COVID-related government policy in Mississippi — the state’s COVID-19 emergency orders — will expire on Aug. 15, more than a year after the orders were first enacted.
“While a State of Emergency should no longer be necessary after August 15, all Mississippians should remain vigilant, get vaccinated, and follow public health guidance,” Reeves said in a statement.
Even though Mississippi has remained under a state of emergency order due to the pandemic, there have been virtually no safety protocols in effect formonths.
Reeves also announced that emergency COVID-19 operations with the Mississippi National Guard will end on July 15. The guard’s involvement has been an essential component of the state’s vaccine rollout, assisting the Mississippi State Department of Health with the logistical challenges of operating vaccination sites and putting shots in the arms of thousands of Mississippians.
“The governor’s timeline to lift Mississippi’s State of Emergency declaration on August 15, 2021, ensures our over 1,500 service members complete all necessary out-processing requirements and receive the benefits and entitlements they have earned during their dedicated service to our state,” Maj. Gen. Janson Boyles, the adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, said in a written statement.
The Mississippi Department of Health reported on Friday that 1,071,623 people in Mississippi — about 36% of the state’s population — have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 953,00 people have been fully inoculated since the state began distributing vaccines in December.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
I learned today the Tupelo Automotive Museum's collection of fabulous vehicles will be auctioned off in April.
If you haven't been to Tupelo, Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis - the King or Rock and Roll - then it's worth a day trip, cross-country trip, or even an around-the-world trip to see the fine collection of memorable classics. The auction is expected to attract car collectors and antique vehicles enthusiasts from all over the globe.
I was there shortly after it opened 16 years ago and have been back since then for another stroll down a memory lane of dream cars. That's when I came across a 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, which I thought had enough chrome to outfit everything else in the museum. I have always been a Jaguar fan and there was no shortage of Jaguars from the 40s and 50s, including a 1948 Jaguar Mark IV, and the most beautiful car I had ever seen - a 1955 Jaguar XK140 - all decked out in what looked like a Pearl White.
I'm sure car buffs from all over the world will convene in Tupelo April 25-27 for the auction of all times. I'll try to be there myself.
It'll be bitter-sweet as the unique vehicles find new owners and homes. I'll miss the cars, but will always have the memories.
As the nation and world mourn the passing of former President George Herbert Walker Bush, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine also expressed his thoughts about President Bush’s impact on the Space Exploration initiative.
"NASA and the nation mourn the passing of President George Herbert Walker Bush, a leader who was a passionate advocate for space and the power of hope,” said Bridenstine in a statement. “The President noted it was humanity's destiny to explore, and America's destiny to lead. We salute this great American leader, who challenged us to chart a course for the future to benefit all humanity."
Birdenstine also lauded the president’s long service to our nation as a congressman, ambassador, director of Central Intelligence, and as an aviator in World War II even before assuming his duties as commander in chief, have left a long and enduring legacy.
Other notable contributions by President Bush to the space program included his vision of “a journey into tomorrow, journey to another planet and a manned mission to Mars.
It‘s ironic that NASA’s Insight Mars lander made a successful landing on the Red Planet on Nov. 26, just about a week before President Bush’s death on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. His vision was to help sustain NASA’s early work on the International Space Station and aid efforts to send humans farther into the solar system for extended periods.
NASA shares the notion it was the President’s will for humanity’s destiny to explore and America’s destiny to lead.
As the 41st President, who died at the age of 94, is remembered during a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2018, NASA salutes “this great American leader, who challenged us to chart a course for the future to benefit all humanity."
NASA is beginning to think about how humans can participate in future space opportunities in Low-Earth Orbit, or LEO.
The National Space Council, along with the Department of State and Commerce, are working reports that examine the challenges of human spaceflight and the potential economic contributions.
NASA and its collaboration interagency partners have four lofty goals in mind that include:
1. To achieve a continuous U.S. presence in LEO – both NASA astronauts and private citizens – in order to support the use of space by U.S. citizens, companies, academia, and international partners and to maintain a permanent American foothold on the nearest part of the space frontier. 2. To create a regulatory environment in LEO that enables American commercial activities to thrive. 3. To conduct human spaceflight research in LEO that will advance the technology and systems required for long-duration spaceflight systems, including systems for interplanetary travel and permanent space habitation. 4. To expand and extend commercial opportunity though international partnerships and engagement.
NASA will be focused on these exploration plans for the coming years as they work toward plans for commercial crews and long-duration human spaceflight systems.
More information can be found here. Let’s start the countdown to launch.
Ukraine is the second largest county in eastern Europe and is about the size of Texas when comparing to the United States, or about twice the size of Italy.
If you’re looking for it on a map, the bordering countries include Russia, Belarus, Poland and Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. After having been under Russian rule for years, Ukraine gained independence in 1991 and has been seeking democracy, prosperity and economic stability going forward for the past 27 years.
Although the Crimean Autonomous Republic, or the Crimea peninsula, is a part of the Ukraine, the Russian Federation returned in 2014, we’ll have to say this southern peninsula, along with about one-third of Luhans’k and Donets’k oblasts, is currently occupied by Russia.
You can’t reflect on Ukraine for long and not think about the Chernobyl nuclear power station explosion in 1986 in the town of Pripyat, where a radioactive plume spread across Europe. Around 30,000 people were evacuated, and a little over 32 years later, the site remains inhabitable to this day, except for limited amounts of time.
Although not in a current conflict, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe and has the world’s third largest nuclear weapons arsenal. According to the Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book, the military is composed of ground forces, high mobility assault troops, naval forces and air forces. There is a compulsory military service requirement of 20-27 years of age.
The Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council) building in Kyiv is home to Ukraine's 450-member parliament. Photo credit: Central Intelligence Agency
Ukraine has a Semi-presidential republic form of government, with the current leader of state being Petro Poroshenko, who has been in power since 2014, with his term ending in 2019. This form of government calls for the leadership of the state and government to be separate. Therefore, Volodymyr Groysman, the prime minister elected in 2016, serves as head of government.
Ukraine by the numbers
Category
Statistics
Population
44.1 million
Capital City (Kiev)
2.96 million
Area in square miles
375,028
Achieved independence
1991
Government
semi-presidential republic
Currency
Hryvnia
Birth rate
10.3/1,000 population
Death rate
14.4/1,000 population
Language
Ukrainian 67.5%; Russian 29.6%
Dominant religion
Orthodox Christianity
Ethnic Groups
Ukrainian 77.8%; Russian 17.3%
Median age
40.6 years
Gross domestic Product (GDP)
$368.8 billion
Labor force
17.99 million
Unemployment
9.5 %
Telephone land lines
7.1 million
Telephone mobile subscribers
55.7 million
Internet users
23.2 million
Registered air carriers
17
Airports
187
Source: Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook
Approaching the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv, the official ceremonial residence of the president of Ukraine. The palace is one of two magnificent Baroque buildings in Ukraine designed by the renowned architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli (the other is Saint Andrew's Church, in Kyiv). Photo credit: Central Intelligence Agency
The capital city of Kiev, or Kyiv for the traditional spelling, with a population of around 2.96 million, is the seventh-largest city in Europe and has a time difference of seven hours ahead of Washington, DC.
Since gaining their independence, the Ukraine has been striving for a better economy and it seems that U.S. investors are taking notice. With an abundance of natural resources, such as coal, metals and fossil fuels, along with an emerging hi-tech industry, Ukraine is moving forward to improve its business environment. The American Chamber, founded in 1992 and with offices in 44 European countries, is currently playing an important in promoting the Ukrainian economy.
Regarding the latter mention of technology, the Ukraine has gotten a reputation throughout Europe for being a haven for IT skills, with scores of programmers, engineers and outsourcing centers. Among U.S. firms utilizing Ukraine’s pool of IT talent, estimated to be around 90,000, Google and Oracle are leading the way. The founders of WhatsApp and PayPal have roots in the Ukraine, as well as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Even with the presence of Russia in the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine seems determined to move forward toward economic revival by using its natural resources and strong IT presence to secure its place in world markets.
As I write this, it has been 27 days since acclaimed actor and comedian Bill Cosby started a three to 10-year prison sentence for sexual assault. About a year earlier, Harvey Weinstein, a film producer, was also in the news regarding sexual assault allegations. Most recently, Brett Kavanaugh, now a confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice, faced a dramatic hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for allegations of sexual assault against three women.
It might can be said Weinstein’s allegations sparked the #MeToo movement involving high-profile figures. The Temin and Company, a boutique management consultancy firm, has created a database of 810 people accused of #MeToo related conduct, using the arrest of Cosby in December 2015 as a benchmark.
According to Temin’s “#MeToo Index” research, the accusations range from the arts and entertainment sector and businesses to media and broadcasting, as well as colleges and universities.
Weinstein revelations spurred increase in public accusations
Month
Year
Accusations
June
2017
10
July
2017
10
August
2017
9
September
2017
11
October
2017
78
November
2017
119
December
2017
10
While the nation was focused on the Cosby sentencing and then the Kavanaugh hearings, October 5 rolled around as being one year since Weinstein’s allegations of decades of sexual misconduct. The Temin research shows sexual assault allegations increased following his public revelations.
Increase in accusations grow monthly after Weinstein
Month
Year
Accusations
April
2018
28
May
2018
39
June
2018
24
July
2018
39
August
2018
41
September
2018
35
As the allegations dominated the news cycles, various organizations and corporate boards were caught up in the shockwaves and consequences, forcing many to pay serious attention to the allegations and take some action against those being accused of sexual misconduct. The Temin report said it simply as “no one wants to be a #MeToo company.”
Most accusations from entertainment, politics, business
Month
Accusations
Arts & Entertainment
234
Politics and Government
192
Business
(including 40+in finance)159
Media and Broadcasting
114
Colleges and Universities
63
The #MeToo movement has grown into a powerhouse very quickly, and Temin believes narrative of victims sharing their stories and metrics, such as the data in this report, will help expose “long-hidden truths” of sexual assault.
Temin also believes more and more organizations will investigate their corporate cultures and more incidents will be exposed.
Final resolutions of cases not still pending
Month
Accusations
Arrested (some before or after being fired)
75
Deceased (3 committed suicide)
18
Fired
146
Resigned
18
Retired
18
Suspended, or are on leave
55
Lost work (including entertainers or sports figures)/others
104
No repercussions
221
The Temin company, who also specializes in crisis, reputation, and culture management, concluded from their study that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
British singer and songwriter Emeli Sande' take a break from the piano for a playful moment during the filming of the Lincoln Journey series. (Photo courtesy of The Lincoln Motor Company)
The Lincoln Motor Company is more than about manufacturing fine automobiles. Here of late, the luxury brand of Ford Motor Company has been showcasing inspiring African-Americans who have big dreams of being successful.
Through their "The Journey" campaign, Lincoln seeks out entrepreneurs, artists and others who have followed their dreams in the African-American community.
One such person is Emeli Sande', a British award-winning singer and songwriter who loves creating music on the piano as she shared her "Journey of Unconditional Love" while being featured as the first artist in the program.
Sande' does not see her music as being commercial; she draws inspiration from the people around her and finds the experience incredible and humbling.
"When my fingers tough the keys, I can speak 10 more languages," said Sande'. "I hope the music will last longer than my life will."
The campaign will consist of seven videos and also include award-winning filmmaker Nelson George; award-winning director Kenny Leon; award-winning artist Danny Simmons; artist Afua Richardson; photographer Terrence A. Reese; and acclaimed couture designer Bobby Joseph.
Their stories will be chronicled on the "Lincoln Now" storytelling platform, which will also take an insiders look at artisans and craftspeople in the fields of art, design, fashion, cuisine, engineering and more.
The series will also be available on Lincoln's social median channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
I mostly dozed through the 86th Academy Awards in my favorite easy chair, but I'm glad I was awake for that special moment when Lupita Nyong'o won her Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in the film "12 Years A Slave," which also won the best picture award.
The naps came as the film "Gravity" gathered Oscar after Oscar for best film editing, visual effects, cinematography, original score and several others. I think the film deserved them all, as it is one great piece of work, especially for someone who likes technology. But when it was time for best actress, it was time to wake up.
If you haven't seen "12 Years a Slave," it's worth the effort to get to the nearest theater or movie rental kiosk. The dramatic film by Director Steve McQueen, with screenwriting by John Ridley, deals with a part of slavery not widely known to most people – the fact that a free African-American living the good life in New York during that time period could be thrust into slavery and treated like an animal. It happened to Solomon Northup in 1841, where he spent 12 years on a cotton plantation in Louisiana.
That where Nyong'o, the star of the 2014 Oscars in my book, comes into play with powerful acting and humbling emotions for "just a piece of soap" in one of the many scenes that couldn't be ignored be the Academy judges. The Mexico-born actress, who was raised in Nairobi, Kenya, seemed to have used every ounce of her Yale University drama acting skills to bring the story of Patsey, a slave who was said to have picked 500 pounds of cotton a day.
There were a lot of stars taking the walk to the stage to receive their Oscar that night – Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto for "Dallas Buyers Club," Cate Blanchett for "Blue Jasmine" – but none did it as graceful as Nyong'o. With her flowing "Nairobi Blue" dress clutched in each hand, Nyong'o took to the stage in a way that left few dry eyes in audience. It was the most gratifying acceptance of an Oscar that I had ever witnessed. During her speech Nyong'o spoke from the heart in a poetic way that left me teary-eyed.
I'm sure we have not seen the last of Nyong'o. I think her future is bright and in her own words, her "dreams are valid."
The Russian Parliament has given Russian President Vladimir Putin the approval to use military force in the Crimea peninsula territory of the Ukraine.
Ukraine is the largest country in Eastern Europe that borders Russia and several other countries, with crucial grain exports, natural gas and other manufacturing sectors. The capital city of Kiev is the largest city and the country maintains the second-largest military fleet in Europe.
Russia's interest in the region include a lease agreement to keep Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Sevastapol, with operations also in other parts of the region, such as Crimea and Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
U.S. President Barack Obama has warned Moscow that an invasion of Ukraine by Russia would be a clear violation of Russia's commitment to respect the independence and sovereignty and borders of Ukraine and of International laws. Obama has said "there will be costs."
The latest news reports says the Russian Parliament wants the U.S. Russian Ambassador recalled as a further test of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Russia.
The future of political advertising on mobile devices is being threatened by a recent ruling of the Federal Election Commission, or FEC, that says mobile phones cannot incorporate shorter disclaimer messages.
Revolution Messaging, a Washington, DC, mobile strategy firm, is challenging the FEC on their decision and says the action will cost campaigns money, while also limiting the use of mobile ads on handheld devices.
"The Democratic FEC commissioners have no sense of technology available to today's political campaigns," said Keegan Goudiss, Revolution Messaging's partner and head of digital advertising. "They are employing 20th century logic to 21st century campaigns."
According to Revolution Messaging, they were misled by the FEC commissioners after an initial hearing, where they (FEC) said there would be a compromise with a shorter disclaimer. While Republican commissioners felt there was not a need for a disclaimer and would settle on an alternative, the company said Democratic commissioners changed their minds and rejected that approach.
The exemptions from disclaimers offered by the FEC, which included bumper stickers, buttons, pens, water towers, skywriting and other objects, also caused the Revolution Messaging officials to be surprised that handheld devices were viewed differently. In addition, company officials believe the FEC has struggled with issues related to digital technology.
But Revolution Messaging was deemed critical in the FEC's decision to allow donations via SMS and also challenged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to define text message regulations in order to halt political test message spam.
Because of the FEC's ruling, Revolution Messaging officials believe the ruling does nothing to deter bad players in the political arena and will only penalize the good players with higher costs in getting their message across.
It looks like the United States is on the brink of another war, if Congress gives President Barack Obama the "go ahead" to execute a military strike against Syria.
This all came about after Syria allegedly used a form of deadly Sarin gas on its own people, which resulted in more 1,400 Syrians killed, including over 400 children. President Obama had warned the Syrian regime not to cross the "red line" with the use of chemical weapons. But this bully of nation, lead by President al-Assad, ignored Obama and the United Nations plea on Aug. 21 with a suspected gas attack in the suburbs near Damascus, the capitol of Syria.
As the world watch the actions of the U.S. response, warships are in the Mediterranean Sea with plenty of Tomahawk missiles. The United Nation weapons inspectors have left town and all is clear for a U.S. strike, probably of limited scope and precise placement of artillery. According to President Obama, there will be "no boots on the ground."
The U.S. had hoped to gather support from other members of the U.N., but the British Parliament didn't like the idea of a U.S. led strike against Syria. Therefore British Prime Minister David Cameron's military is staying at home. The U.S. also cannot count on any support from Russia, as they are one of Syria's biggest allies. But the French, governed by President Francois Hollande, have showed some interest in joining the U.S. with military action against the Assad regime.
So as we wait for the U.S. Congress to convene in a few days and take up President Obama's proposal to make good on his word of Syria crossing the chemical-weapons "red line," we can only imagine what this could mean in the long term. It could either be a quick in-and-out strike or the U.S. is drawn right smack into the middle of Syria's civil war. This could get messy really fast.
As I was watching "The Butler" in a packed theater on a Sunday with perfect weather, my thoughts also remembered the March on Washington over a half century ago and the gathering that would take place a few days later to commemorate and celebrate the historic event.
It was as if "The Butler" offered a lesson in civil rights history in its own way.
While this movie featured Forest Whitaker portraying the real-life White House butler Eugene Allen, the film also dealt with civil rights over the span of eight U.S. presidents. But the one thing that bothered me is that they left out any mention of the assassination of Medgar Wiley Evers on June 12, 1963, which was only a couple of months prior to the March on Washington. It left me wondering how such a civil rights pioneer and the legacy he left behind didn't even become b-roll, or file footage, in the film.
On the other hand, the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November of that same year couldn't be skipped, as he was one the eight presidents in the movie that Allen, the real-life butler, served under during his days in the White House offices, hallways and kitchen.
The assassination of President Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, was certainly handled in a very emotional way in the film, he was one the eight presidents in the movie that Allen, the real-life butler, served under during his days in the White House and was portrayed as a friend of the civil rights movement who was instrumental in the implementation of the Voting Rights Act. But Kennedy didn't get a chance to sign the legislation into law before his assassination. After the funeral, Whitaker, playing the role of Allen as Cecil Gaines, was presented with a tie from Jackie Kennedy that President Kennedy had worn.
The actual signing of the Voting Rights Act was left to President Lyndon B. Johnson on Aug. 6, 1965, who was featured in "The Butler" as a rather flamboyant President who in one particuar scene, was in the bathroom, seated, doing you know what, with the door open and issuing orders to his White House staff and the ever-present butler standing just outside the door.
"The Butler" movie also had in-depth acknowledgement of The Black Panthers and the Freedom Riders, of which the Butler's own son got involved in a big way, as the Butler tried to "hear nothing and see nothing" while White House discussions and TV new reports of all the racial unrest was all around him.
When I thought about all the Presidents in "The Butler," which included Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, the biggest surprise was the latter – President Reagan. Although Reagan was portrayed as being opposed to sanctions against South Africa, he was shown in the film slipping money to the butler to send to people that requested financial help from the White House. If this is historically accurate, maybe Reagan had a soft side that many people didn't know about.
According to the film, the butler left his job after an invitation to a White House dinner that just bothered him too much, although his wife, Gloria, played by Oprah Winfrey, had a grand ole "wide-eyed" time. After leaving the White House in 1986, after a 34-year career, the butler went on to reunite with his son, the Freedom Rider, Black Panther member and all-around civil rights activist, and even got himself thrown in jail for a while.
As the butler grew old and feeble, he did get a chance to witness the election President Barack Obama in 2008, a moment in history that he thought he would never get a chance to see. In one unforgettable scene, the butler put on Kennedy's tie and shuffled down the hallway of the White House one last time to visit President Obama. He told the young man who was to escort him to the presidential office – "I know the way." The butler died in 2010 at 90.
If you have an interest in civil rights and want to extend your knowledge further, you might even pick up a few additional milestones and historical facts from this film. It is a refresher course of what life was like during a very challenging era of this country's history that included racial unrest, school integration, protests, lunch counter sit-ins, riots and wars on foreign soil.
