Commentary: African American Scientists and Inventors
by Black Kos Editor, Sephius1
As most african-american can attest to, our hair is our pride and joy. From a very young age we are introduced to hair care product like Luster's Pink Oil Moisturizer, Crown Royal's Hair dressing, Sta-So-Fro (pronounced Stay So Fro). Later in life you dabble in stuff like S-Curl activator, perms for the ladies, and texturizer for the men. Ahhhhh those were the days.
And lets not forget the hot comb. I have many battle scar. When I young my momma would straighten my hair with the hot comb before she put it into cornrolls. But even with all that, I thank god for those who took initiative in the black hair care industry. People like Marjorie Joyner
(con't)
Marjorie Stewart Joyner was born in Monterey, Virginia on October 24, 1896, the granddaughter of a slave and a slave-owner. In 1912, an eager Marjorie moved to Chicago, Illinois to pursue a career in cosmetology. She enrolled in the A.B. Molar Beauty School and in 1916 became the first Black women to graduate from the school. Following graduation, the 20 year old married podiatrist Robert E. Joyner and opened a beauty salon.
She was introduced to Madame C.J. Walker, a well-known Black businesswoman, specializing in beauty products and services. Walker supplied beauty products to a number of the most prominent Black figures of the time, including singer Josephine Baker. With her fame, Ms. Walker was able to open over 200 beauty salon shops across the United States. After Madame Walker's death in 1919, Marjorie was hired to oversee the Madame C.J. Walker Beauty Colleges as national supervisor.
A dilemma existed for Black women in the 1920's. In order to straighten tightly-curled hair, they could so so only by using a stove-heated curling iron. This was very time-consuming and frustrating as only one iron could be used at a time. In 1926, Joyner set out to make this process faster, easier and more efficient. She imagined that if a number of curling irons could be arranged above a women's head, they could work at the same time to straighten her hair all at once. According to the Smithsonian Institute, Joyner remembered that “It all came to me in the kitchen when I was making a pot roast one day, looking at these long, thin rods that held the pot roast together and heated it up from the inside. I figured you could use them like hair rollers, then heat them up to cook a permanent curl into the hair.” Thus, she sought a solution to not only straighten but also provide a curl in a convenient manner.....Read more
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News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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Stripping funding for Planned Parenthood is stripping funding proportionality form woman of color. The Root: Planned Parenthood Focuses on Black Women
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Last week, the discussion about Planned Parenthood was all about the Susan G. Komen Foundation funding shakeup. Now that's over, and the organization is spreading the word about the reproductive health disparities facing African American Women. Bonus: The extra attention from the recent headlines is predicted to give a boost to the cause.
A documentary title "A Vital Service," is set to premiere nationally in Washington, DC, New York City and Atlanta, as well as on more than 70 college campuses during Black History Month.
It features patients, healthcare providers and politicians, such as Rep. Gwen Moore, whose passionate case against black genocide rhetoric rocked the House of Representatives last year.
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Since colonial times into recent decades, racial prejudice has been a huge factor in the imposition of death sentences in the state. New York Times: Race and Death Penalty Juries
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North Carolina courageously passed the Racial Justice Act in 2009, making it the first state in the country to give death row inmates a chance to have their sentences changed to life without parole based on proof that race played a significant role in determining punishment.
A state court is now hearing the first challenge to a death sentence under that law. Marcus Robinson, who has been on death row since 1994, must prove that state prosecutors discriminated against blacks in selecting juries, affecting the outcomes of cases, including his. His lawyers presented a notable study by researchers at Michigan State University showing this kind of bias.
In 173 cases between 1990 and 2010, the study examined decisions involving 7,421 potential jurors (82 percent were white; 16 percent were black). In 166 cases, where there was at least one black potential juror, prosecutors dismissed more than twice as many blacks from the jury (56 percent) as others (25 percent). With black defendants, like Mr. Robinson, the disparity was even greater. Even accounting for “alternative explanations” besides race for different “strike rates” — for instance, excluding those who expressed ambivalence about the death penalty — the study found blacks were still more than twice as likely to be dismissed.
Under a 1986 Supreme Court case, it is unconstitutional for a prosecutor to strike any potential juror on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender. But the court allowed dismissals of jurors for other reasons — like their attitude toward the death penalty or even their demeanor. Prosecutors often use these reasons as pretexts to eliminate blacks from juries. North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act expressly allows consideration of a pattern across many cases. The study found a regular pattern of state prosecutors intentionally discriminating against potential jurors because of race, even though a judge had ruled that the potential jurors could be counted on to render a fair verdict and sentence in a death penalty case.
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Using the arts to tackle tough social issue. Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Recalling Jonny Gammage: Play about a black man's death at police hands is wrenching
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Mark Clayton Southers has been working on "The Gammage Project" for two years and directing the play through rehearsals as it readies for a Thursday opening. There was a moment when he let his actors do some freestyle acting, just to have a little fun, before getting back to the play.
Painful memories of Jonny Gammage's death echoed through time when Jordan Miles was beaten by police two years ago, a case that became a renewed call to action for Attilio "Buck" Favorini. The playwright teamed with Mr. Southers -- a marriage of the University of Pittsburgh Repertory company and Pittsburgh Playwrights -- to create what is billed as a "docu-drama" of the events of 16 years ago.
Mr. Gammage, the 31-year-old cousin of former Steeler Ray Seals, died during a traffic stop in a confrontation with five police officers on Oct. 12, 1995. Mr. Miles, then a senior at Pittsburgh CAPA, was stopped in his Homewood neighborhood on Jan. 12, 2010, and ended up badly beaten by several officers. In both cases, the injured party was black, the officers were white.
Mr. Miles' physical wounds have healed, but outrage over his ordeal and the Gammage tragedy remains.
Bill Wade/Post-Gazette
Ian Pisarcik as Officer John Vojtas and Corey Talley as Jonny Gammage rehearse the apprehension and fight scene.
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A new report by University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Shaun Harper offers new insight into young, black men who are succeeding in higher education. While the overall trends for black men in higher education are not good – low enrollment and high attrition – Harper wanted to understand how those that succeed do so. (thanks to Yasuragi for the link) Racism Review: Young, Black Men Succeeding in Higher Education: New Research
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Harper conducted two- to three-hour individual interviews with most of the 219 students on their respective campuses. The participants were enrolled in 42 colleges and universities in 20 states. The respective schools fall into six categories, including historically Black public institutions, historically Black private institutions and highly selective, private – and historically white – research universities. Harper hoped that his research would provide solutions to raising low Black male college enrollment and completion rates.
What differentiates those that succeed, the study suggests, is a complicated mix of mostly external factors that appeared to give them a sense that college was not only possible but expected, and that engaged them academically. Among the key influences:
at least one K-12 teacher who took a personal interest in their academic and personal future; adequate financial support to pay for college;a transition to college in which high expectations were set for them as much if not more by influential black male juniors and seniors at their institutions.
The impression left by Harper’s study is that it’s often “serendipitous” when young, black men succeed in college – a caring teacher notices them, they get a good financial aid package, there are peers that show them the way. But, Harper argues that it’s important to focus on the how and why of success, rather than just the litany of dismal studies about academic failure, in order to find a way to help more young, black men get into and finish college. In an interview, Harper said: “I am arguing for a much more intentional institutional strategy. Black male student success ought not to be serendipitous.”
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What Drove a Sudden, Steep Drop in Black Unemployment? ColorLines: Nobody Knows?
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When the Labor Department released the January unemployment rate last week, there was finally some good news to celebrate—and some news that seemed almost too good to be true. Black unemployment saw its steepest drop since the recession began, dipping more than two points. Apparently, that happy improvement was largely driven by black men being hired in larger numbers than anyone can remember.
So what, exactly, is happening here? Nobody saw it coming, and there’s no immediate explanation. I talked to Algernon Austin, director of the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program at the Economic Policy Institute, to get some insight.
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The Front Porch is now open!
Grab a drink and a seat. If you are new-introduce yourself and join in.
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