#NNPA BlackPress
2020 Democratic National Convention Rewind Featuring BlackGirlMagic
The overall theme for the 2020 Democratic National Convention was “Uniting America.” It ran four days from Monday, Aug. 17th to Thursday, Aug. 20th.
It was, of course, mostly virtual and originating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The kickoff and Monday’s program theme was “We the People.”
There was a video that included Dolores Huerta, Donna Hylton, Daniel Dae Kim, Jeynce Pointdexter, Transgender Advocate.
In a segment titled, “We the People Demand Racial Justice” Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd spoke live from Houston, Texas, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, and author Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner were in a discussion with Joe Biden.
The highlight and closer for the opener was former First Lady Michelle Obama.
She uttered the names of both George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and made reference to “. . . a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered, stating the simple fact that a Black life matters is still met with derision from the nations’ highest office. . . . going high is the only thing that works because when we go low when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that’s drowning out everything else. ”
She added: “[s]o let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
“You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation.”
“So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.”
Referencing Kanye West, ” . . . this is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning. We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012. . . We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow-up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and families do the same.”
And finally, she advises “[w]e have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.”
Tuesday night’s them was “Leadership Matters”.
Video clips of the late Barbara Jordan: “We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future.”
Stacey Abrams said “America faces a triple threat: a public health catastrophic, an economic collapse, and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality… In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve; who hear our dreams and work to make them real: who defend our way of life by protecting our right to vote. Face with a president of cowardice, Joe Biden is a man of proven courage. He will restore our moral compass by confronting our challenges, not by hiding from them or undermining our elections to keep his job.”
“In a time of voter suppression at home and authoritarians abroad, Joe Biden will be a champion for free and fair elections, for a public health system that keeps us safe, for an economy that we build back better than before, and for accountability and integrity in our system of justice.”
“We stand with Joe Biden because this isn’t just about defeating Donald Trump. We are in this to win for America. So let’s get it done.”
Tracee Ellis Ross introduced the night with remarks from Caroline Kennedy, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Dr. Jill Biden, and a performance by John Legend.
Wednesday’s theme was “A More Perfect Union”. Kerry Washington introduced “A More Perfect Society” “A More Perfect Union . . . Means Ending Gun Violence”
“A More Perfect Union . . . Means Tackling Climate Change.” Performance by Billie Ellish.
“A More Perfect Union . . . Means Keeping Immigrant Families Together”. Performance by Prince Royce.
“A More Perfect Union . . . Means Women Lead”. Remarks by Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Mariska Hargitay, Ruth Glenn, and Carly Dryden.
A More Perfect Economy included remarks by Elizabeth Warren.
More Perfect Leadership, included remarks by Barack Obama and the Nominating Speech by Maya Harris, Meena Harris, and Ella Elmhoff and Kamala Harris with a performance by Jennifer Hudson.
Barack Obama said: “[t]onight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala’s ability to lead this country out of dark times and build it back better.”
Kamala in accepting the nomination for Vice President of the Democratic Party, evoked the names of women who inspired her including her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, Mary Church Terrell, Mary McCleod Bethune, Fannie Lous Hamer, Diane Nash, Constance Baker Motley, and Shirley Chisholm.
She gave a shout out to the Divine 9, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and her HBCU brothers and sisters. She graduated from Howard University.
She too spoke of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and ” . . . the lives of too many others to name.”
The DNC concluded on Thursday, August 20 with a theme of “America’s Promise”.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke and said: “People often think they can’t make a difference . . . every person in the movement mattered — those who made the sandwiches swept the church floors, stuffed the envelopes. They too changed America. We have cried out for justice, we have gathered in our streets to demand change, and now, we must pass on the gift John Lewis sacrificed to give us, we must register and we must vote.”
Joe Biden accepted the nomination and quoted Ella Baker: “[g]ive people light and they will find a way.”
Biden said: “One of the most important conversations I’ve had this entire campaign is with someone who is too young to vote. I met with six-year-old Gianna Floyd, a day before her Daddy George Floyd was laid to rest. When I leaned down to speak with her, she looked into my eyes and said “Daddy changed the world.”
He ended with “[f]or love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear. Light is more powerful than dark. This is our moment. This is our mission.”
To see videos for each night go to the DNC YouTube page.
#NNPA BlackPress
PRESS ROOM: The Allen Lewis Agency Named Ally Supplier Diversity: Supplier of the Year for 2024
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “This recognition from Ally is deeply appreciated,” said Chandra Lewis, co-founder and COO of TALA. “Receiving Ally’s Supplier Diversity: Supplier of the Year award is a testament to the strength of our team, our strategic approach and our ability to use relationships to deliver meaningful business results for our clients.”
The post PRESS ROOM: The Allen Lewis Agency Named Ally Supplier Diversity: Supplier of the Year for 2024 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
DETROIT– Ally Financial has recognized The Allen Lewis Agency, a full-service marketing and communications agency, as its Supplier Diversity: Supplier of the Year for 2024. The award was given at the Ally 4th annual Supplier Diversity & Sustainability Symposium, on Feb. 29 in Charlotte, N.C.
In 2023, TALA led media outreach and marketing efforts for the fifth anniversary of Moguls in the Making, Ally’s HBCU entrepreneurial pitch competition. It also introduced the brand to new opportunities such as the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), where Ally led a panel on financial education for filmmakers, and leveraged professional connections and years of experience in multicultural marketing to amplify Ally’s partnership with UnitedMasters.
“We are honored to work with Ally and its incredible team members,” said Jocelyn (Allen) Coley, co-founder and CEO of TALA. “The work Ally is doing to bring financial education to a more diverse, multicultural audience through outreach to the creator community aligns with our own passions and priorities. We’re proud to be part of programs such as Moguls in the Making, the American Black Film Festival, and Art Basel, raising awareness within a diverse, often underrepresented audience.”
Ally, the nation’s largest all-digital bank, started its supplier diversity program in 2020 to highlight its commitment to supporting the advancement of an inclusive and sustainable marketplace. The brand strives yearly to increase its spending with diverse suppliers – creating economic value, mobility, and a sustainable future for all.
“When Ally launched its Supplier Diversity program four years ago, our goal was to build an ecosystem of partners and suppliers who truly represented our communities,” said TJ Lewis, Ally senior director of Supplier Diversity and Sustainability. “From the beginning, TALA’s success in forging connections between Ally and minority-focused media has greatly expanded the visibility of our brand to the audiences we most want to reach. Their work is worthy of recognition.”
“This recognition from Ally is deeply appreciated,” said Chandra Lewis, co-founder and COO of TALA. “Receiving Ally’s Supplier Diversity: Supplier of the Year award is a testament to the strength of our team, our strategic approach and our ability to use relationships to deliver meaningful business results for our clients.”
About The Allen Lewis Agency:
The Allen Lewis Agency (TALA) is a full-service marketing and communications agency committed to helping clients build their brands and expand their business through a range of services including strategic brand development, media relations, diversity, equity and inclusion, advertising, events and reputation management. Founders Jocelyn (Allen) Coley and Chandra S. Lewis bring more than 40 combined years of corporate experience with a breadth and depth of services that are unmatched. Now in its eighth year in business, TALA is a certified Minority Business Enterprise, Women Business Enterprise, Women-Owned Small Business and a certified Association of National Advertisers diverse supplier that has employed a national team of experts who have decades of experience servicing major brands with positive measurable results. Learn more about The Allen Lewis Agency at https://www.theallenlewisagency.com.
The post PRESS ROOM: The Allen Lewis Agency Named Ally Supplier Diversity: Supplier of the Year for 2024 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
#NNPA BlackPress
OP-ED: A Silent Killer No More
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Data from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City shows that more than 13 percent of African American men between the ages 45 and 79 will develop prostate cancer in their lifetimes. And Black men have a 70 percent higher rate of developing prostate cancer than White men. The American Cancer Society also shockingly predicts that Black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than their White counterparts.
The post OP-ED: A Silent Killer No More first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
By Hamil R. Harris, NNPA Contributing Writer
Political provocateurs are determined to stir up controversy over Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s failure to tell President Biden about his treatment for prostate cancer. Yet, his desire to keep the matter private—and out of the public eye—is in line with what many men, particularly men of color, have done for decades. The reticence to share details of a medical condition is understandable, but prostate cancer is a silent killer in the Black community and the time has come to give it a voice.
In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose son Dexter recently passed from prostate cancer, I ask: How long? How long will Men of color suffer in silence and die alone? How long will too many brothers hide their plight?
When he finally commented publicly about his condition, Austin offered regrets about keeping silent and then made an important pledge. He said that by not initially disclosing his diagnosis, he “missed an opportunity to send a message on an important public health issue,” while noting the prevalence of prostate cancer, particularly among Black men. Encouraging all men to get screened, Austin promised, “You can count on me to set a better example on this issue today and for the rest of my life.”
Any cancer diagnosis is a private matter. But men like Dexter King and Austin can help so many others who are prone to prostate cancer. Keeping the surgery and treatment a secret would only have continued to add to the stigma surrounding prostate cancer. That would have been a disservice to the thousands of men of color diagnosed annually.
Indeed, data from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City shows that more than 13 percent of African American men between the ages 45 and 79 will develop prostate cancer in their lifetimes. And Black men have a 70 percent higher rate of developing prostate cancer than White men. The American Cancer Society also shockingly predicts that Black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than their White counterparts.
These figures are appalling when considering that prostate cancer is one of the most treatable forms of the disease with the five-year survival rate for men diagnosed with it being greater than 99 percent if the cancer is detected during the early stage.
While there are numerous reasons for why this disparity between Black and white men exists – decades of structural racism, environmental issues, certain comorbidities, different molecular pathways in the body of Black men – a great deal of the reason comes down to the fact that Black men are disproportionately not being screened for prostate cancer as early or as regularly as White men.
A recent study published in JAMA Oncology by a team at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center found that Black men get fewer PSA (prostate specific antigen) screenings; they are more likely to be diagnosed with later stage cancer; they are less likely to have health insurance; and they have less access to high-quality care and other disparities that can be linked to a lower overall socioeconomic status.
Given his platform as Secretary of Defense, I am happy that Austin recognized his duty to be open and honest about his battle with this disease. And in doing so, he now joins groups and individuals who are already working on spreading awareness for prostate screenings who can act as guideposts.
For example, Mount Sinai Medical Center recently unveiled the Robert F. Smith Mobile Prostate Cancer Screening Unit, which will visit New York City neighborhoods where men could be at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. The mobile home sized bus is named after the African American philanthropist and venture capitalist who donated almost $4 million to launch the program. Smith, who has led many philanthropic endeavors aimed at supporting the African-American community, obviously realizes that it takes a preemptive approach to combat the scourge of prostate cancer by going directly into the communities most affected by the disease. In announcing the prostate screening initiative, Smith tied it to larger inequities in our society that leave African Americans behind. “It’s unconscionable that in our great country and at this moment of technological breakthrough, Black Americans are still subject to staggeringly worse health outcomes,” he said. “We can fix this.”
Thankfully there are individuals like Smith and now Austin to use their platforms to spread awareness for this deadly – yet very treatable – form of cancer and ensure that more people don’t die needlessly.
Hamil R. Harris is an award-winning journalist and contributing writer for the NNPA
The post OP-ED: A Silent Killer No More first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
#NNPA BlackPress
Chevrolet and National Newspaper Association Offer Summer Internship: Discover the Unexpected Fellowship
NNPA NEWSWIRE — The importance of diverse storytelling has never been more evident, and Chevrolet, in partnership with the NNPA, is committed to empowering the next generation of storytellers. By offering this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the DTU Fellowship seeks to make a lasting impact on both the individuals selected and the media landscape. The application window for the DTU Fellowship closes on April 1, 2024.
The post Chevrolet and National Newspaper Association Offer Summer Internship: Discover the Unexpected Fellowship first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
In a bid to amplify Black voices and highlight diverse stories, Chevrolet, in collaboration with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), invites budding journalists, content creators, and communications enthusiasts to embark on the summer internship of a lifetime through the Discover the Unexpected (DTU) Fellowship.
The DTU Fellowship is geared towards students of historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) who are passionate about storytelling and eager to contribute to the media landscape. This opportunity offers a platform for aspiring journalists and provides financial support in the form of a $10,000 scholarship and an $8,000 stipend.
One of the key aspects of the DTU Fellowship is the chance to collaborate with some of the largest and most influential Black-owned newspapers in the community. The collaboration aims to bridge the gap between emerging talents and established media outlets, fostering an environment of mentorship and shared knowledge.
The selected DTU fellows will embark on a transformative journey beyond conventional internships. This experience promises exploration, learning, and, most importantly, amplifying their voices. The fellowship recognizes the unique perspectives of HBCU students and aims to provide a platform for these voices to be heard.
What sets the DTU Fellowship apart is the hands-on guidance and mentorship provided by industry professionals who understand the power of diverse perspectives. Fellows can elevate content and gain career-building knowledge through interactions with seasoned journalists and media experts.
The importance of diverse storytelling has never been more evident, and Chevrolet, in partnership with the NNPA, is committed to empowering the next generation of storytellers. By offering this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the DTU Fellowship seeks to make a lasting impact on both the individuals selected and the media landscape.
As the application deadline approaches, interested individuals are encouraged to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity. The application window for the DTU Fellowship closes on April 1, 2024. The tight deadline emphasizes the urgency and exclusivity of the opportunity, urging potential applicants to act promptly.
The Discover the Unexpected Fellowship by Chevrolet and the National Newspaper Association represents a unique chance for HBCU students to receive financial support for their education and gain invaluable hands-on experience in collaboration with influential Black-owned newspapers. By taking part in this transformative journey, aspiring journalists have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the media industry. Don’t miss out on the chance to elevate your content and amplify your voice – apply before the April 1, 2024 deadline!
The post Chevrolet and National Newspaper Association Offer Summer Internship: Discover the Unexpected Fellowship first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Opponents of San Francisco’s Prop E Hold Rally in Front of City Hall
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Nigerian Bank Chief Killed in Helicopter Crash on Way to Superbowl XVIII
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Who Are the Top Donors in the Alameda County District 5 Supervisor’s Race?
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Inheriting the Mantle: Who Will Carry the Legacy of John George?
-
Alameda County2 weeks ago
Michael P. Johnson Garners Major Support in Run for Alameda County Superior Court Judge
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Berkeley Considers New Law to Help Tenants Buy Where They Rent
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
S.F. Board of Supervisors OKs Mayor Breed’s Streamlining Legislation to Speed Up New Residential Treatment, Care Beds
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of February 28 – March 5, 2024