ICYMI: Stacey Abrams Calls for Legalization of Sports Betting, Diamond Days and More

Summer 2022 is over and memories of summer 2020 feel like a feverish dream. It felt like the world understood Black Lives Matter when the country saw race riots in which corporations vowed to make equitable change. Racists have lost their minds after the trailer for The Little Mermaid was released. An adult video explaining that a mythical creature that is half woman and half fish could not have dark skin because it was scientifically impossible. The trailer garnered more than a million hates on YouTube, but black parents dispelled fears the movie wouldn’t do well in theaters by sharing the adorable reaction of a black girl to seeing a black mermaid for the first time. Did.

So, here are six news stories you might have missed along the way if you wiped your eyes at the sheer excitement of seeing Black girls see themselves in fantastic ways.

1. Bet on Stacey Abrams

Football season has officially begun (pun intended) and Georgia’s gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, is trying to make money for the state, of course. This week, Abrams launched a campaign in Georgia calling for the legalization of sports betting.

The Democratic campaign deployed 15-second ads targeting voters visiting online gambling sites and online pages linked to the University of Georgia’s top-ranked teams. If successful, the effort to legalize casino gambling and sports betting will expand HOPE scholarships to fund need-based higher education programs.

“Georgians are still gambling, but Kemp is driving them out of state with their taxes,” says the ad’s narrator. “So even if Georgia wins the bet, states like Tennessee get their taxes.”

The ad points to Abrams’ opponent, Gov. Brian Kemp, blocking sports betting, leaving the state missing out on revenue for years. With sports betting legalized, Abrams plans to invest in education.

According to a 2020 poll by Atlanta Journal Constitution About 58% of voters in Georgia support legalizing sports betting.

The article follows the video.

2. Happy 75th Anniversary Crawford

What’s better than Black Love? long and strong black love.

The Tampa couple recently celebrated their Diamond Anniversary or 75th Anniversary. Rather than spend this momentous occasion alone with her, the couple shared it with nearly 100 offspring.

Nate, 94, and Crawford, Virginia, 101, produced five children, 25 grandchildren, 57 great-grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren within four generations, according to WFLA.

The lovers told a new local outlet the secret to a long-lasting marriage, saying, “Love, trusting each other and having faith in God. Put God first and all else will be fine.” ”

3. I think one HBCU made it into the “Best” 100 Universities

The long-awaited list of the annual “Best National Universities Rankings” was released earlier this week, and miraculously only one historically black university made it into the top 100. Selected by US News & World Report, Howard ranked him 89th for the 2022-23 academic year.

The next closest HBCU on the list was Florida A&M University, which ranked 202nd. Ranked at number 299 is North Carolina A&T State University, his HBCU, the largest in the nation.

Over the years, the list and its ranking have been criticized. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recently called for a “cultural change” in higher education. “Too often, our best-resourced schools are chasing rankings that mean little on the scales that really matter. ‘That ranking system is a joke.'”

Of the 101 HBCUs in the country, US New & World Report published another list of the top 10 HBCUs.

1: Spelman College

2: Howard University

3: Tuskegee University

4: Morehouse College

5: Xavier University in Louisiana

6: Hampton University

7: Florida A&M University

8: Delaware State University

T9: Claflin College

T9: North Carolina A&T State University

Howard ranks second only to Spelman, but didn’t Spelman crack the overall top 100 list? Ranked 19th. According to US News & World Report, he was only 77 in HBCUs that met the organization’s eligibility requirements.

4. Broadway theater renamed in honor of James Earl Jones

On Monday, September 12th, the Schubert Organization officially dedicated and opened the newly renamed James Earl Jones Theater (formerly the Court Theater) in honor of the iconic EGOT actor.

After the 2020 race riots, the theater’s name was changed in 2021 after a coalition of Broadway theater owners, producers, directors and other leaders issued the Broadway New Deal. The goal was to promote equitable reform and commitment on Broadway. One stipulation requires his three major theater chains – Jujamcyn, Nederlander and Shubert – to name at least one of his theaters after a black artist. Jujamcyn already had the August Wilson Theater. Nederlander will soon dedicate the Lena Horne Theater, the first Broadway theater to be named after a black woman. Schubert now houses the James Earl Jones Theater.

After a career spanning 60 years, Jones has delivered countless stage and screen performances, including 21 Broadway shows.Jones’ Tony Awards include Best Actor in a Play great white hope (1969) and fence (1987), and the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, he has won seven Drama Desk Awards and has received the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors.

In 1958, a year into his Broadway career, Jones played his first show. Campobello sunriseat the same theater that now bears his name.

Check out Jones’ reaction to the new theater.

The article follows the video.

5. Republicans Call Environmentalist Lawyers “Boo”

A heated exchange between white politicians and black environmental lawyers is taking place online, and both Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others have feelings about it.

On Thursday, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) yelled at expert Raya Salter after a House oversight hearing on climate criticized the fossil fuel industry’s environmental impact and its role on blacks and blacks. It quickly escalated to disrespect when I decided to insult him. brown community.

Salter is a member of the New York State Council for Climate Action and was invited to testify before members of the House of Representatives at a hearing on the lack of accountability in the oil and gas industry. She said the climate crisis is an “unprecedented global crime, and the deciding gun is in the hands of giant oil and gas.”

Predictably, as it became common practice in the Republican Party, Higgins posed open-ended questions and began talking about Salters. Salters pushed back, raising his voice to Higgins for understanding. Instead, he spoke of her as follows. I’m about to give you a say, boo.

“Boo” is used affectionately within the black community, but can also be condescending. And given the view that this is a white man talking to a black woman in a House hearing, the tone leans towards the latter, from opposing parties.

“In the four years I have been on this committee, I have never seen a member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, disrespect a witness. No, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Salter thanked Ocasio-Cortez before saying, “They can come for me all day.”

6. Rise in STDs

who (WHO) announced on Thursday that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) will make a comeback in 2021, a global emergence of non-classical sexually transmitted infections.

Both the United States and Canada have reported increases in at least three STIs: syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. In the United States, syphilis incidence jumped 26% last year during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the largest annual rate of increase since the Truman administration. Gonorrhea he has increased by 2.8%, reaching about 700,000 infections in 2021. Chlamydia, which declined in 2020, increased by 3% last year.

Also, progress in preventing new HIV infections slowed during the pandemic. Some parts of the country, including San Francisco, are now seeing HIV rates rise for the first time in almost a decade.

There were also reports of relapses of neglected sexually transmitted infections. lymphogranuloma (LGV) is increasing among key populations mycoplasma genitalia.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released preliminary data revealing an alarming upward trend all the while battling the Covid and monkeypox outbreaks.

WHO calls on countries to increase funding for STI services and take targeted efforts to expand STI prevention, testing and treatment services, without stigmatizing, blaming or shaming. I urge you to do so. The organization noted that stigma makes it harder to end outbreaks and can stop people from accessing services because of shame.