Lehigh Valley Black News Network is an informative eNewsletter & Black Blog Pusher designed to inform you about events and community information related to the connection and inclusion of communities of African-Black-African American descent throughout the Lehigh Valley and the State of Pennsylvania. The LV BNN e-letter is distributed and viewed by over 5000 internet readers from the Lehigh Valley Region, parts of Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Reading Pennsylvania.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Monday, January 20, 2020
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Move 9 member Delbert Orr Africa freed 1.18.2020 after 42 years in prison
 Delbert Orr Africa with his daughter after his release from prison. Only one of the nine, Chuck Africa, remains behind bars. Photograph: Brad Thomson
Jan, 18, 2020 , Ed Pilkington is chief reporter for Guardian US. He is the author of Beyond the Mother Country. Twitter @edpilkington. Click here for Ed's public key
|
One of the great open wounds of the 1970s black liberation struggle came closer to being healed on Saturday with the release of Delbert Orr Africa, a member of the Move 9 group who has been imprisoned for 42 years for a crime he says he did not commit.
Del Africa walked free from Pennsylvania’s state correctional institution, Dallas, on Saturday morning after a long struggle to convince parole authorities to release him. He is the eighth of the nine Move members – five men and four women – to be released or to have died while in prison.
Only one of the nine, Chuck Africa, remains behind bars.
The nine were arrested and sentenced to 30 years to life following a dramatic police siege of their communal home in Philadelphia which culminated with a shootout on 8 August 1978. In the maelstrom a police officer, James Ramp, was killed with a single bullet. Move has always denied that any of its members were responsible. Read more
Whites must stop appropriating, start appreciating MLK
Editorial Jan 17, 2020 Michael Coard Philadelphia Tribune
Michael Coard can be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as at AvengingTheAncestors.com. His “Radio Courtroom” show can be heard on WURD96.1FM.
On Monday, white America will celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 91st birthday, even though he was born on Jan. 15 in 1929.
And just like white America got the date wrong, it also got MLK himself wrong. Or, better stated, it continues to treat him wrong by appropriating instead of appreciating this revolutionary. Yes, I said revolutionary — and I meant it, too. I’ll explain why shortly.
By the way, if y’all white folks play that 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech one more damn time, I’m gonna scream! That speech wasn’t even his first at the Lincoln Memorial. MLK had already given one six years earlier in 1957 in front of a massive crowd of up to 30,000.
He is much more than that 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech. He is much bigger than that 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech. He is a revolutionary “recidivist ex-con” who had been jailed 29 times for his “anti-social” behavior. And if he said today in 2020 what he said back in 1963, which was that “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws,” y’all white folks would call the cops on him. And they’d beat him, shoot him, and/or kill him.
Before I explain his indisputable revolutionary street cred, allow me to explain white America’s appropriation of MLK. This country treats him as if he were some kind of malleable clay that it can mold into exactly whatever it needs him to be, which is a milquetoast, flag-waving, white folks-absolving, capitalist accommodationist. But he was none of that. Quite the contrary, he was a composed rabble-rousing, USA racism-condemning, white folks-castigating, socialistic disruptor.
You want proof? Here’s the proof. It’s irrefutable and chronological:
His first act of civil rights protesting occurred in 1950 when he was a mere 21 years old and it happened not far from Philly in Maple Shade, N.J., while he was living in Camden and attending classes at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester as reported by Patrick Duff, a local historical researcher/investigator. MLK, then known by his birth name, Michael, was refused service at Mary’s Cafe in Maple Shade because of his race. When he insisted upon being permitted to purchase a ginger ale beverage there, the proprietor pulled a gun and fired shots in the air. Instead of taking no for an answer, MLK filed a complaint with the police and the shooter was arrested. He later called that incident his first civil rights activism.
MLK in 1956 applied for a license to carry one of the many guns he kept for self-protection and family protection at his home, which was described by an eyewitness reporter as an “arsenal.”
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Allentown Art Museum: Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Monday, JANUARY 20, 2020 | 11AM-7PM
Celebrate and engage with African American art, history, and culture on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Art Museum. The celebration includes free admission and art-making activities that will immerse you and your family in the motifs and imagery explored by prominent African American artists.
EVENT SCHEDULE: Web link: https://www.allentownartmuseum.org/mlkcelebration/
During the celebration, they’ll be performing Stolen Moments: The First 100 Years of Jazz which feature artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.
Monday, JANUARY 20, 2020
11AM: Museum opens
Lower Level
12:30-2PM: NAACP luncheon
3-4PM: Educational performance by JazzReach
4:15PM: Powerful Poetry with Justice Davis
5:15-6:15PM: Performance by Troupe Da Da
Main Level
11:30AM-12PM: Performance by Resurrected Life Community Church choir (1st act)1:30-2PM: Performance by Resurrected Life Community Church choir (2nd act)
Upper Level
11AM: Collaborative Media Expressions (CME) short films (1st act)11:30AM: Community art making with Amber Arts
1:30-3PM: Poetry workshop with Chloe Cole-Wilson
4PM: Collaborative Media Expressions (CME) short films (2nd act)
Arts Park
6:30PM: Lantern ceremony, includes read passages from Why We Can’t Wait
Friday, January 17, 2020
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
THE WHITNEY HOUSTON SHOW: Thur, March 5, 2020 at 7:30 PM @ the State Theatre Center for the Arts
THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL: THE WHITNEY HOUSTON SHOW
@ the State Theatre Center for the Arts
453 Northampton Street
Easton, PA 18042
610-258-7766 x204
Fx: 610-258-2570
Thu, March 5, 2020 at 7:30 PM
A Tribute to Whitney Houston
starring Belinda Davids
Back by Popular Demand! The Greatest Love of All, A Tribute To Whitney Houston, starring the breathtaking voice of Belinda Davids (Showtime at the Apollo!) with full band and dancers live on stage. All of Houston’s most memorable tunes are lined up for Davids’ treatment, including Pop highlights “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” “How Will I Know” and “I’m Every Woman,” favorites from her movie career and of course all her most iconic and timeless ballads including “I Have Nothing,” “Didn’t We Almost Have it All,” “Run to You,” ” One Moment in Time” and “I Will Always Love You.”
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Lawmaker proposes reparations for state mistreatment of black community
12/15/19 BY JOHN FINNERTY CNHI HARRISBURG BUREAU
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s history of legislation dealing with race is a mixed bag, researchers say.
Pennsylvania passed a law barring slavery in 1780 and passed legislation barring enslavers from capturing runaway slaves in 1826.
But other legislation made it more difficult for blacks to fully participate as equal members of society, said state Rep. Christopher Rabb, D-Philadelphia.
Rabb has authored legislation that would call on the state to fully examine what role the state government had in enacting racist policies and call for reparations to make up for it.
Rabb said that slavery in Pennsylvania has been documented as early as 1639, with Philadelphia becoming the region’s largest port for importing enslaved Africans.
“Slavery, and its legacy, is an atrocity,” Rabb said. “There are different kinds of reparations.”
While the state passed the 1780 and 1826 laws, which were opposed to slavery, Pennsylvania lawmakers also repeatedly took actions to make lives more difficult for blacks, said Richard Saylor, an archivist for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Read more here
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s history of legislation dealing with race is a mixed bag, researchers say.
Pennsylvania passed a law barring slavery in 1780 and passed legislation barring enslavers from capturing runaway slaves in 1826.
But other legislation made it more difficult for blacks to fully participate as equal members of society, said state Rep. Christopher Rabb, D-Philadelphia.
Rabb has authored legislation that would call on the state to fully examine what role the state government had in enacting racist policies and call for reparations to make up for it.
Rabb said that slavery in Pennsylvania has been documented as early as 1639, with Philadelphia becoming the region’s largest port for importing enslaved Africans.
“Slavery, and its legacy, is an atrocity,” Rabb said. “There are different kinds of reparations.”
While the state passed the 1780 and 1826 laws, which were opposed to slavery, Pennsylvania lawmakers also repeatedly took actions to make lives more difficult for blacks, said Richard Saylor, an archivist for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Read more here
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Join the team at Northampton Community College!
Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem, PA 18020
Positions Currently Open
Full time:
Director, Financial Aid
Chef, Culinary Operations
Dean, STEM
Electromechanical Technology Teaching Faculty
Electronics Technology Teaching Faculty
Program Manager, CAD-CAM Technologies
Director, Automotive Technology
Part time:
Custodian/Grounds
Adjunct teaching positions (various)
Other positions also available include adjunct instructors, regular part-time, and various pool positions. Applicant pools are reviewed for these positions as necessary.
Candidates are encouraged to visit our careers site, as postings are subject to change.
Northampton Community College serves more than 35,000 students a year at the Main Campus in Bethlehem, a branch campus in Tannersville, and the Fowler Family Southside Center in south Bethlehem.
The College is also one of the largest employers in the region with more than 1,700 full- and part-time employees. We offer a competitive salary and excellent fringe benefits package for full-time employees, which includes health, dental, term life, long-term disability, retirement and educational assistance
The College is also one of the largest employers in the region with more than 1,700 full- and part-time employees. We offer a competitive salary and excellent fringe benefits package for full-time employees, which includes health, dental, term life, long-term disability, retirement and educational assistance
NCC is an Equal Opportunity Employer”.
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)