AFRICA US TODAY MAGAZINE
Poliosocionomics of World Peace
Issue III,XIV www.africaustoday.dotcom.wordpress.com 312/880-7016 April- May 2014 U.S.- $4.99 Canada- $5.99 London- 3 Pounds
More than $28 Million in Funding Announced for Secondary Education in Developing Countries
Today’s Black Woman Expo Byron Allen, the “Walmart of Television” Book Club
2014 Black Heritage Awards
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More Than $28 Million in Funding Announced to Spur Fresh Thinking for Secondary Education in Developing Countries Published April 24, 2014
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A partnership of philanthropic organizations announced today $15,788,327 in grants and a commitment of an additional $13 million in the next year for innovative projects that will increase the participation, quality, and relevance of secondary education for economically disadvantaged and marginalized children in developing countries. The announcement was made at the Global Philanthropy Forum’s Annual Conference. Through the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education, the MacArthur Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation, Human Dignity Foundation, Intel Foundation, and an anonymous donor, announced 23 investments that will support innovative initiatives that provide learning opportunities and life and livelihood skills for underserved youth between the ages of 12 and 19 in East Africa, Nigeria, and India. The Partnership also announced its third request for proposals to support this work, and the addition of two new members to the Partnership’s ranks in 2014: Dubai Cares and Comic Relief. Both organizations have historically focused on primary education in developing countries, and join the Partnership in an effort to secure the transition of students from primary to secondary education. The investments announced today and funding in 2014 will support projects that pilot new approaches, bring to scale successful models, and research critical questions about how to innovate in secondary education. Projects supported seek to equip marginalized children with livelihood opportunities through education, to improve teachers’ effectiveness, and to increase demand for, access to, and retention within formal and informal secondary schooling. The grants include an investment of more than $5 million to support the Education Development Center in Rwanda, which will provide secondary students with work-readiness skills and school-to-work transition support and will incorporate these programs into the secondary education system nationwide. “With our partners, MacArthur’s support for these innovative projects reflects our belief that more education for girls improves their lives and benefits society,” said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. “Girls with higher levels of education on average marry later, have smaller families, survive childbirth at higher rates, experience reduced incidences of HIV/AIDS, have children more likely to survive to age five, earn more, and contribute to higher rates of economic growth at the national level.” “Secondary education is a critical step in a young person’s journey to higher education or the workforce,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “This partnership is testing new ideas and scaling approaches that have the potential to transform how education is accessed, while improving the quality and relevance of what is being taught.” Second round support from the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education:
AFRICA US TODAY 5
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR BARBARA KENSEY
5
More than $28 Million in funding Announced for Developing Countries
9
Mass kidnapping of Nigerian Girls
10
Byron Allen, former stand-up comic runs the “Walmart of Television”
17
Black Florida Teenage Lawyer of Bahamian descent
19
Highlights from 2014 Black Heritage Awards
22 Forest Whitaker talks about Oscar snubs
27
Bronzeville Diva, Senabella Showcase at Theater Memorial Dedication
30
EventsToday’s Black Woman Expo 2014 Macy’s Flower Show
Published April 24, 2014
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Robert L. Scott Sr. Photography
Contents
More Than $28 Million in Funding Announced to Spur Fresh Thinking for Secondary Education in Developing Countries A partnership of philanthropic organizations announced today $15,788,327 in grants and a commitment of an additional $13 million in the next year for innovative projects that will increase the participation, quality, and relevance of secondary education for economically disadvantaged and marginalized children in developing countries. The announcement was made at the Global Philanthropy Forum’s Annual Conference. Through the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education, the MacArthur Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation, Human Dignity Foundation, Intel Foundation, and an anonymous donor, announced 23 investments that will support innovative initiatives that provide learning opportunities and life and livelihood skills for underserved youth between the ages of 12 and 19 in East Africa, Nigeria, and India. The Partnership also announced its third request for proposals to support this work, and the addition of two new members to the Partnership’s ranks in 2014: Dubai Cares and Comic Relief. Both organizations have historically focused on primary education in developing countries, and join the Partnership in an effort to secure the transition of students from primary to secondary education. The investments announced today and funding in 2014 will support projects that pilot new approaches, bring to scale successful models, and research critical questions about how to innovate in secondary JOHN E. SMITH JR.education. Projects supported seek to equip marginalized children with livelihood opportunities through education, to improve teachers’ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF effectiveness, and to increase demand for, access to, and retention within formal and informal secondary schooling. The grants include an investment of more than $5 million to support the Education Development Center in Rwanda, which will provide secondary students with work-readiness skills and school-to-work transition support and will incorporate these programs into the secondary education system nationwide.
More than $28 Million Funding Announcement, Today’s Black Woman Expo, Black Heritage Awards Highlights
“With our partners, MacArthur’s support for these innovative projects reflects our belief that more education for girls improves their lives and benefits society,” said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. “Girls with higher levels of education on average marry later, have smaller families, survive childbirth at higher rates, experience reduced incidences of HIV/AIDS, have children more likely to survive to age five, earn more, and contribute to higher rates of economic growth at the national level.”
“Secondary education is a critical step in a young person’s journey to higher education or the workforce,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “This partnership is testing new ideas and scaling approaches that have the potential to transform how education is accessed, while improving the quality and relevance of what is being taught.” Second round support from the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education:
This issue focus on some of the highlights from some events such as Today’s Black Woman Expo produced by Merry Green Productions and 2014 Black Heritage Awards produced by Mary L. Swopes. We also take a look at how Byron Allen, former stand-up comic has become the “Walmart of Television” with his production company Entertainment Studios. There are still untapped opportunities available. You have to keep your mind and eyes open. Stay positive, prepare yourself, and if necessary reinvent yourself.
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8 Africa US Today
Mass
Kidnapping of Nigerian
Girls
If it had happened anywhere else, this would be the world’s biggest story.
Need International Outcry
More than 230 girls disappeared, captured by members of a brutal terrorist group in the dead of night. Their parents are desperate and anguished, angry that their government is not doing enough. The rest of the world is paying little attention. Frida Ghitis The tragedy is unfolding in Nigeria, where members of the ultraradical Islamist group Boko Haram grabbed the girls, most believed to be between 16 and 18, from their dormitories in the middle of the night in mid-April and took them deep into the jungle. A few dozen of the students managed to escape and tell their story. The others have vanished. (Roughly 200 girls remain missing.)
The latest reports from people living in the forest say Boko Haram fighters are sharing the girls, conducting mass marriages, selling them each for $12. One community elder explained the practice as “a medieval kind of slavery.” While much of the world has been consumed with other stories, notably the missing Malaysian plane, the relatives of the kidnapped girls in the small town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria have struggled for weeks with no resources to help them. The Nigerian government allayed international concerns when it reported — incorrectly — that it had rescued most of the girls. But the girls were still in captivity. Their parents raised money to arrange private expeditions into the jungle. They found villagers who had seen the hostages with heavily armed men. Relatives are holding street protests to demand more help from the government. With a social media push, including a Twitter #BringBackOurGirls campaign, they are seeking help anywhere they can find it. Nigerians demand government do more to save abducted girls It’s hard to imagine a more compelling, dramatic, heartbreaking story. And this is not a one-off event. This tragedy is driven by forces that will grow stronger and deadlier if the captors manage to succeed.
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Black Teenage Lawyer-Florida Resident of Bahamian Descent An American teenager has become the youngest person in more than 600 years to become a qualified barrister in England and Wales. At the age of just 18, Gabrielle Turnquest is not even old enough to buy an alcoholic drink in her home town of Windermere, Florida, but she has become the youngest person ever to pass The Bar exams. The average lawyer pass-
es the Bar Professional Training Course at the age of 27, but Gabrielle was called to The Bar last month through the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn after passing her Graduate Diploma in Law at the University of England. Law when she was just 17.
So much, so young: Miss Turnquest made history at her last university when she became its youngest undergraduate, gaining a psychology degree at just 16
Trainee lawyers did have to be at least 21 to be called to The Bar before a change in the law in 2009. Now that she’s passed, Gabrielle is to attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in a bid to break into the niche market of fashion law. Gabrielle also hopes to sit the multi-state Bar in the US. Nigel Savage, President and Provost at The University of Law, said: ‘Like Gabrielle, students from across the globe are recognizing the importance of having a legal qualification that is widely recognized in other legal jurisdictions. ‘The growing globalisation of law firms and the need for more international expertise means that it is becoming increasingly more important for young legal professionals to have experience across different legal markets if they are going to maximize the number of job opportunities that are available to them.’ Ambitious: Miss Turnquest will not work as a barrister in the UK, but will instead return to her native America where she hopes to become a fashion lawyer.
Black Heritage Awards 2014 Highlights John E. Smith Jr. Photography
Thelma Ware & Kim Lewis
Rev. Helen Cooper
Dr. Marie Tolliver and guests
Dr. Marie Tolliver
Dr. Mildred C. Harris
Dr. Louverta Hurt
Paul J. Adams III AFRICA US TODAY 19
Black Heritage Awards 2014 Highlights John E. Smith Jr. Photography
Mary Swopes & S.African Consul General- Vuyiswa Tulelo
S. African Consul General- Vuyiswa Tulelo Red Carpet Interview
Judge Dorothy Jones, Red Carpet Interview
Mary Swopes & Sis. Claudette Muhammad
Ayinde Jean Baptiste, Ayinde’s guest & Lionel Jean Baptiste
Kathryn Davis, guest (standing), Ruth-Eva Konna, & Dr. Mildred Harris (seated)
Greg McDonald, Mary Swopes, & Vernon Lloyd
Beverly & Vernon Lloyd
Joy Binion & Dr. Phalese Binion
20 Africa US Today
Cynthia Stutts & Dr. Phalese Binion
Mary Swopes , Greg McDonald, & Dr. Mildred Harris (l-r, clockwise)
Deborah Ross, vocalist
Black Heritage Awards 2014 Highlights John E. Smith Jr. Photography
Mary Swopes
S. African Consul General -Vuyiswa Tulelo & Paul J. Adams III
Congressman Danny K. Davis, & Mary Swopoes
Paul J. Adams III, 2014 Black Heritage Award Recipient, Mary l. Swopes, Congressman Danny K. Davis
Dr. Mildred Harris, 2014 Black Heritage Awards Recipient
Dr. Marie Tolliver, 2014 Black Heritage Award Recipient
Joy Binion, vocalist
Ayinde Jean Baptiste, Guest Speaker
John Blair, 2014 Black Heritage Award Recipient
Greg McDonald performing AFRICA US TODAY 21
Forest Whitaker talks 'The Butler,' 'Fruitvale Station' Oscar snubs The Oscar winner said he isn't too bothered that 'The Butler,' which he starred in, and 'Fruitvale Station,' which he co-produced, did not receive any nominations. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014, 4:49 PM 27
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Forest Whitaker, who stars in the upcoming film ‘Repentance,’ poses for a portrait in Los Angeles.
Forest Whitaker isn't much bothered by being one of the season's biggest Oscar snubs. Although he's won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, it's always been about the craft for the veteran actor. So repeated comments that he deserved a nomination for his leading role in "Lee Daniels' The Butler" and for "Fruitvale Station," which he co-produced, just roll right off. "I've been doing this for years and my goal is purely to expand the human experience, to expand myself and connection with other people," he said in a recent phone interview to promote his new film "Repentance." "That's my real goal. It's always nice when people celebrate me or my work. But that's not
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Bronzeville Diva, Senabella showcase at Memorial Theater Dedication
Bronzeville Diva, Senabella with Robert “Baabe” Irving III- keyboards, Frank Russell-bass, Kwame Steve Cobbs-drums, D-Rainee-sax, guitar were the featured performers at Princena Scott Oaddams Memorial Theater , dedicated to Robert L. Scott Sr.’s mother at One Stop Productions, Chicago, IL. The event was hosted by Emcee Lofton Emenari- WHPK, The Sherard Show & guest performers were Chuck-a-luck, Johanna and Fanta Celah. John E. Smith Jr. Photography
26 AFRICA US TODAY
(Contd.) Bronzeville
Diva, Senabella showcase at Memorial Theater Dedication
Bronzeville Diva, Senabella with Robert “Baabe” Irving III- keyboards, Frank Russell-bass, Kwame Steve Cobbs-drums, D-Rainee-sax, guitar were the featured performers at Princena Scott Oaddams Memorial Theater , dedicated to Robert L. Scott Sr.’s mother at One Stop Productions, Chicago, IL. The event was hosted by Emcee Lofton Emenari- WHPK, The Sherard Show & guest performers were Chuck-a-luck, Johanna, and Fanta Celah. John E. Smith Jr. Photography
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28 Africa US Today
AFRICA US TODAY MAGAZINE
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EVENTS
Today’s Black Woman Expo 2014, Chicago, IL
Photo by Olawale Idreez Today’s Black Woman is produced by Merry Green Productions and was held at McCormick Place, Chicago, Il.
LisaRaye’s workshop
30 Africa US Today
LisaRaye
LisaRaye’s workshop
Photos by John E. Smith Jr.
EVENTS
Macy’s Flower Show, “The Secret Garden”
Photos by John E. Smith Jr.
The annual Macy’s Flower Show opened the gates to the beautiful and mysterious Secret Garden! On the 9th floor, you could wander winding paths with a multitude of floral displays put together by a reknown team of floral designers. There were games, cooking demostrations, arts & crafts, a garden inspired fashion show, performances and more. The show was sponsored in part by HGTV Magazine, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and Royal Caribbean International.
AFRICA US TODAY 31
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author It was during his time at Northeastern, about '86-'87, that Idreez heard Harold Washington speak to the students during his run for re-election as mayor. Idreez found himself captivated by the political nature of Washington's words and how well he spoke English. This experience is what motivated Idreez to switch from continuing his education in accounting to political science. Although Idreez imagined himself as a well-to-do politician, it was this academic path that steered his love towards writing through the work he put into his thesis. He fell in love with the craft of writing and followed his heart forward from there. Idreez is a smartly dressed man, who chuckles easily and speaks pointedly about what he believes in. He was involved with the production of two papers post-college: The African Voice and Afrik. He also took a job at The Celebrity International magazine. Although he enjoyed freelancing for these publications, he hoped that instead of writing for other people he could begin his own publication, and one day would. Idreez's family in Nigeria used to tease him about wanting to be a journalist, because his English has never been very good. People also told him he would make more money pursuing a career in accounting. But Idreez had his mind set on being a writer- nothing else. He compares this experience to a Bible passage that says a prophet is not without honor except in his own house or hometown. Although initially his family didn't agree with his decision, they've not only grown to support him- but also write him letters requesting that Idreez write letters to the government of their state in Nigeria, and focus more of his work on African happenings. Idreez says he just laughs. "Whatever you do in life, if you persevere- then people have no choice to see that and respect what you're doing." 32 Africa US Today
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