Ms. Cathy Hughes

Radio One, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROIAK and ROIA) will celebrate 30 years of service to the community with 30 days of giving back in October 2010. Radio One is the one of the largest broadcasting companies in the country and the largest that primarily targets African-Americans.

All 1300 employees, at all 52 radio stations, in all 16 markets will roll up their sleeves to give back to the local communities that have embraced them for the last three decades, as they “Celebrate 30 Years with 30 Days of Giving.”

“Radio One has a rich history of community focus and involvement,” said Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chairperson of Radio One. “During these tough economic times, things are extremely challenging for many, so we thought this would be a great way to show our gratitude and celebrate our long-standing relationship with our listeners and their communities.  Radio One will continue to build on its legacy of being in the community, listening to the community and giving listeners a voice to let them know what’s going on in their communities.”

The stations have enthusiastically embraced Celebrating 30 Years with 30 Days of Giving and are compiling a broad range of events and activities that are reflective of the needs within their communities. Each market has been encouraged to develop a community calendar of charitable events, which will occur daily throughout the month of October. Each station is required to devote at least one activity to helping the homeless. Homelessness has been on the rise over the past decade and some estimate the population to be as many as 2.5 million. About 42 percent of the homeless population is African-American and nearly 40 percent of them are children under the age of 18.  Other station initiatives will include activities, such as, live broadcasts from local food banks, coat drives, health expos and charity walks, just to name a few. In addition to volunteering, each station will feature charitable organizations, on-air, to highlight their community involvement.

This is not only a call to action for Radio One employees, but also for the listeners within each local community.

The wait is over family as Aretha Franklin, yesterday in New York, revealed her choices for starring roles in the highly anticipated bio-pic based on her New York Times best-selling autobiography, Aretha: From These Roots.

The all star lineup features Oscar award-winning actress Halle Berry in the role of a younger Aretha Franklin, and Oscar and Tony winning superstar Denzel Washington in the role of her father-Rev. C.L. Franklin, the legendary minister, national evangelist, pastor and civil rights leader.  Franklin selected Oscar-nominated Terrence Howard for the role of her life-long friend and music icon Smokey Robinson; Blair Underwood for the role of her brother and long-time manager Cecil Franklin; and Nia Long for the role of her sister, Erma Franklin.  She also chose award-winning gospel singers LaShun Pace and Karen Clark Sheard to take on the roles of members of the world-renowned gospel group, the Ward Singers, with Karen Clark Sheard in the role of Kitty Parham. The Ward Singers greatly influenced Ms. Franklin’s life and career.

According to Franklin, these actors are enthusiastic about the project and have agreed to take on these roles, subject to further negotiation. During the summer, she had the opportunity to discuss the film with Denzel Washington when he was starring on Broadway in August Wilson’s Fences. He was very interested in the role.  She also had a very positive response from her in-person conversations with Terrence Howard and others. Franklin reports that she will be reviewing the script next week, putting the film another step closer to production.

VIA:  SmokeyRobinson.Com

The dictionary defines the popular term “comfort food” as “food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal.” It has been known to have a buffering effect as it soothes the soul and spurs memories of more “comforting” times. If that concept holds up in the kitchen, then it makes perfect sense that it should hold true in the living room with its aural equivalent. While it’s already a known fact that popular songs often connect with listeners in a highly personal way, often recalled alongside life’s more personal moments, only a few distinctive voices in popular music can achieve that same effect with instantaneous familiarity. With his eternally smooth and instantly recognizable falsetto alone – without the strings, bass, guitar or drums – legendary singer/songwriter/producer SMOKEY ROBINSON’s honey-coated voice absolutely is the audio equivalent of comfort food…comfort food for the soul…with soul. In following with the aforementioned definition, the Motown legend’s forthcoming ROBSO Records CD, Time Flies When You’re Having Fun has certainly been “prepared in a traditional style,” while that oh-so-familiar, highly identifiable crooning has an indisputable “nostalgic or sentimental appeal.”

Indeed, the “traditional” element of Time Flies When You’re Having Fun had already been determined while Robinson was recording his last CD, 2006’s pop/jazz standards collection Timeless Love. Just as that particular project had been recorded live in the studio with musicians – the first time he had recorded a full LP that way in years – Smokey knew he wanted to record his newly-written contemporary R&B songs in the very same fashion. In fact, he was so inspired by recording the “old school way” that the recording schedule for both projects actually overlapped. “I was having such a ball making that project (Timeless Love),” he explains. “I hadn’t intended on doing them simultaneously because I knew that Timeless Love was the one I was going to come out with. But things were going so well with that project that I said, ‘I’m gonna start putting in some of the original material I’d written for my new CD (Time Flies When You’re Having Fun) and record it this way too.’ I knew I was going to do these particular songs, but I didn’t realize I was going to wind up recording them live like I did with Timeless Love. So I did and we had a ball.” Though he’s the first to acknowledge and appreciate the technologically advanced way that recording for most releases are done today, like the cleaner sound and creative lee-way afforded by ProTools, Robinson was steadfast in his penchant for live instrumentation for this CD. “I think that you still don’t get that feeling that you used to get in the old days when everybody was in the studio together,” says Robinson, whose early Motown classics were recorded in this fashion. “That way was like doing a concert, because everybody was feeding off of each other. It’s just that live vibe.”

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Check out “Ebony Eyes” by Smokey Robinson and Rick James:

Roslyn M. Brock’s election as chairman of the NAACP is being hailed by the civil rights organization as a “generational shift” in leadership. Her ascension to the chair makes her the fourth woman to hold the position in the 101 year history of the civil rights organization.

Brock, elected by the NAACP’s 64-member board today, succeeds Julian Bond, who did not seek re-election to the seat he had held since 1998. In announcing his pending resignation in late 2008, Bond, 69, a longtime civil rights activist who helped organize student sit-ins and anti-segregation protests as a youth, gave a nod to America’s new leadership as a reason for his decision.

“We have dynamic new leadership,” Bond said in a 2008 statement to the Chicago Defender. “The country has a new president in Barack Obama; the organization has a new CEO in Benjamin Jealous; and we’ll soon have a new Chairman of the NAACP Board. The NAACP and the country are in good hands.”

Brock, 44, was elected as the first woman vice chairman of the NAACP in February 2001. She is a beneficiary of the movement forged by Bond and countless other civil rights leaders who sought, fought and died for the equal rights and opportunities for African-Americans. She holds multiple degrees, and is a vice president for Bon Secours Health System Inc.

Yet, while her chairmanship is touted as being about change, some may suggest otherwise given that Brock has been involved in the NAACP since she was a freshman in college at Virginia University in Richmond, VA.

Such assertions don’t bother Brock, who organized grass roots activities involving Virginia’s black college students to help elect L. Douglas Wilder as the nation’s first black governor since Reconstruction.

“I cut my teeth from there and have been involved since then,” she added. “I continue to be amazed at the civil rights stalwarts and the opportunity to work with them.”

Brock peppers her conversation with mention of Bond, Myrlie Evers Williams, board chair from 1995 to 1998, and Benjamin Hooks, her mentor who served as the NAACP’s executive director from 1972 to 1977. At the same time, she knows that the NAACP’s future lies in a new strategies, which she calls “PGA: policy, governance and accountability.”

“I’d like for it to be more strategic in its focus,” she said. “Historically the NAACP rallies and tells us what its against. I’d like for it to be more proactive and strategic. During our policy making sessions…we pass myriad resolutions year after year. I really want to assess that process.”

Jealous, 37, said he is excited about Brock’s election because he believes she is the “right person at the right time who brings a sense of urgency of someone who grew up after Brown v. Board and the Voting Rights Act” to current societal ills such as high murder rates and incarceration among African-American males. He added that Brock’s connections to faith communities, along with her fundraising abilities, will continue to help drive the NAACP.

Ronald Walters, a retired professor and director of the African-American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland, applauds the NAACP’s election of Brock. Like Bond, he says she will complement Jealous’ presidency.

Brock represents a new generation of leadership and “coming from the inside is good and it’s good that the organization continues to have women in leadership roles,” Walters said.

Also, because the NAACP, which has 500,000 members between ages 55-60, historically attracts older people from religious backgrounds, Brock’s relative youth and corporate background will help raise its image among young professionals, Walters noted.

While questions remain how effective Brock will be, she and Walters are adamant when responding to questions about the organization’s relevance.

“Is it relevant? Absolutely yes,” said Walters. “There are two NAACP’s —the one the media write about and the other is when Joe or Henry calls when they are in trouble on their jobs. The calls to the local branches…..how do you duplicate that function in terms of the breadth of this country? No organization surpasses the service of the NAACP.”

Brock concurs, saying that although the organization continues to make strides through its use of social media and technology, it will continue to use tried and true strategies such as organized protests and marches.

“The Tea Party used marching effectively,” she said, referring to the current political movement that advocates limited government. “It’s long been a tool in our arsenal.”

On January 18, 1958, hockey player Willie O’Ree of the Boston Bruins takes to the ice for a game against the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first black to play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Born in 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, O’Ree was the son of a civil engineer, in one of Fredericton’s only two black families. He began skating at the age of three, and joined a nearby hockey league when he was only five. During five years playing with his older brother on teams in Fredericton, O’Ree became known as one of the best players in New Brunswick. After one season with the Quebec Frontenacs of the Quebec Junior Hockey League, he joined the Kitchener Canucks of the Ontario Hockey Association Junior “A” Hockey League, setting a career-high mark of 30 goals during the 1955-56 season. That year, a puck struck O’Ree in the right eye during a game, robbing him of 95 percent of the vision in that eye.

O’Ree managed to conceal the injury and continue his hockey career, joining the Quebec Aces of the prestigious Quebec Hockey League in 1956. During his second season with Quebec, the Boston Bruins of the NHL called up the 22-year-old O’Ree to replace an injured player. On January 18, 1958, the Bruins were playing the two-time Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens at Quebec’s Montreal Forum. O’Ree took to the ice as a forward with the Bruins’ third line, as the Bruins pulled off an upset 3-0 victory. He didn’t score, or record a penalty, and the historic event took place amid little fanfare.

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The NAACP elected a health care executive as its youngest board chairman Saturday, continuing a youth movement for the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.  Roslyn M. Brock, 44, was chosen to succeed Julian Bond. She had been vice chairman since 2001 and a member of the NAACP for 25 years.

Brock works for Bon Secours Health Systems in Maryland as vice president for advocacy and government relations, and spent 10 years working on health issues for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. She joins Benjamin Todd Jealous, the 37-year-old CEO of the NAACP, as leader of the 500,000-member organization.

Brock said she plans to focus on pushing for policy changes to eliminate inequality, strengthening the relationship between the national and local NAACP branches and holding people accountable.

“It’s not always what someone is doing to us, but what we are doing for ourselves,” Brock said in an interview.

The departure of Bond, 70, after 10 years as board chairman marks a turning point for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Pepole.

Bond came of age in the segregated South, helped found the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and was on the front lines of the protests that led to the nation’s landmark civil rights laws. He is a symbol and icon of “the movement,” which was a defining experience for older generations.

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VIA:  AltheaGibson.Com

Born August 25, 1927 in Silver, SC, A right-hander, grew up in Harlem. Her family was poor, but she was fortunate in coming to the attention of Dr. Walter Johnson,
a Lynchburg VA physician who was active in the black tennis community. He became her patron as he would later for Arthur Ashe, the black champion at Forest Hills (1968) and Wimbledon (1975). Through Dr. Johnson, Gibson received better instruction and competition, and contacts were set up with the USTA to inject her into the recognized tennis scene.

A trailblazing athlete who become the first African American to win championships at Grand Slam tournaments such as Wimbledon, the French Open, the Australian Doubles and the United States Open in the late 1950s. Gibson had a scintillating amateur career in spite of segregated offerings earlier in the decade.

She won 56 singles and doubles titles during her amateur career in the 1950s before gaining international and national acclaim for her athletic prowess on the professional level in tennis.

Gibson won 11 major titles in the late 1950s, including singles titles at the French Open (1956), Wimbledon (1957, 1958) and the U. S. Open (1957, 1958), as well as three straight doubles crowns at the French Open (1956, 1957, 1958).

Check out this tribute to Althea Gibson:

Watch Althea win @ Forest Hills 1957:

Washington, D.C., native Taraji P. Henson didn’t always know that her smoldering charisma and beautiful face would make her a professional actress.

On the contrary, she originally studied electrical engineering when she enrolled at North Carolina Agric & Tech. She later transferred to Howard University, where she attended classes while working as a secretary at the Pentagon, and as a singer and dancer aboard a cruise ship. She eventually changed her academic focus to theater and graduated in 1995.

Henson’s career began with appearances on Homicide: Life on the Street and ER, but it really took off when she was cast in a major supporting role in 2001′s Baby_Boyand 2004′s Hustle_&_Flow, in which she also showcased her vocal talents, singing on the track “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” for the movie’s soundtrack, which took home the Best Song Oscar that year. Henson later moved on to take major roles in Smokin’_Aces and Talk to Me. Henson made the most of her work as the mother of the backward-aging man in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and her performance garnered Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy.