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Well, well, well… it was another eventful week and #BrooklynGirlCode™ has all the highlights! Parents-to-be Rihanna & A$AP Rocky exchanged vows in A$AP Rocky’s new music video for his song “D.M.B.” Drake tried his hand in the ancient sport of Fencing in Future’s new video “Wait For U” featuring UK singer TEMS. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited war-stricken Ukraine and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy making Pelosi the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the country since the war began. The stars came out in droves this past Tuesday for Vogue’s annual invite-only Met Gala. And lastly, Muslims all over the world celebrated the end of thirty days of fasting during the month of Ramadan with Eid-al-Fitr on May 2nd.
It was definitely a week for the history books but now that the weekend is here, we can kick back, relax and be happy that we made it! What are your plans for the weekend? Whatever you do, just make sure you enjoy yourself! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode™ <3
November 30th, 2020 marked the 96th birthday of politician, teacher, author and activist Shirley Chisholm. Although she is not mentioned as much as she should be when discussing American politics, Chisholm was an extremely important figure in the American political system.
Shirley Chisholm (born Shirley Anita St. Hill.) began her decorated career as a teacher’s aide in Harlem, N.Y. in 1946. Seven years later in 1953, Chisholm officially entered the world of American politics advocating for Lewis Flagg Jr. who became the first Black judge elected in Brooklyn.
Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress where she served seven terms (1969-1983). In 1972, Chisholm became the first African-American candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America. As well as the first woman ever to run for the Democratic Party as a presidential nominee.
However, in 2005 (only 15 years ago) when Shirley Chisholm passed, there were no national memorial services or even a nationally-televised special to honor her. Why? Chisholm single-handedly paved the way for all of today’s top political figures including fellow Brooklynite Ruth Bader Ginsburg who recently passed in September 2020.
In 2015, ten years after her death, Chisholm was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2019, Shirley Chisholm State Park opened to the public in East New York, Brooklyn . The state park created to honor Chisholm in her hometown is the largest state park in New York City stretching 407 acres. Now all we need is a giant-sized statue erected in Washington D.C. to honor Chisholm who was a giant-sized figure herself.
Let’s start celebrating our heroes while they are still here living and breathing! Shirley Chisholm was a true Brooklyn girl with a vision! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode <3
Shirley Chisholm x United States Vice President Kamala Harris courtesy of Shirley Chisholm Institute.New York City’s first Black Mayor, David N. Dinkins standing in front of a portrait of Shirley Chisholm.Shirley Chisholm teaching early in her career.Shirley Chisholm at work.Shirley Chisholm seated with the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971.Political Activist Rosa Parks and Shirley Chisholm together at an event.Image of Shirley Chisholm State Park in Brooklyn, New York.
Black Panther Party founders Bobby Seal and Dr. Huey P. Newton in front of the official Black Panther Party headquarters. Photo courtesy of Jason Porter Pinterest page.
Today marks the 84th birthday of Black Panther Party founder, political activist Bobby Seale. Bobby Seale was born in Liberty, Texas on October 22nd, 1936. The oldest of three children, Bobby Seale moved to Oakland, California with his family when he was eight years old. Seale would later go on to form the very controversial, but very important Black Panther Party along with Dr. Huey P. Newton in Oakland in 1966. The party which eventually dissolved in 1982 aimed to inform and educate African-Americans on their civil rights and provide free food to residents in inner-city communities.
Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale. Photo courtesy of The Washington Post.
In his later years, Seale wrote a few books, starred in popular television documentaries and became a college professor teaching Black Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA (where my Temple Owls at?!). At 84 years old, Bobby Seale is still on the move educating and empowering. Happy Birthday to a true American Legend! And thank you for coming together with Dr. Huey P. Newton to form the Black Panther Party because two intelligent Black men are better than one! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode.🖤
Photo of Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale. Photo courtesy of Moor Info.
Jumaane Williams after his victory in NYC on February 26th. Photo via the New York Times.
On February 26th, The Big Apple elected a new Public Advocate into office. The young Brooklyn native who goes by the name of Jumaane Williams is also a self-proclaimed “Hip-Hop Head” and as far as we’re concerned, Mr. Williams has already started off his term on two good notes!
Congrats to Jumaane Williams on winning the election and all the best to him on his new position in office! Brooklyn wins again! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode™ 😎
Read the original article about Mr. Williams’ big win published in the New York Times on February 27th, 2019 here.
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition President Desmond Meade. Photo courtesy of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Instagram page @FLRightsRestore
This past Election Day 2018, History was made in the state of Florida. Amendment 4 which will restore the voting rights of convicted felons was passed. Although this amendment had no major impact on this past Tuesday’s election, this will be huge for the state of Florida and the U.S. for future elections including the upcoming Presidential Election in 2020.
In the United States, more than six million convicted felons have lost their voting rights due to their criminal records. Of this six million, over 1.5 million reside right in the state of Florida. Amendment 4 which will go into effect on January 8, 2019 was a long hard fight fought mostly by a 51 year old man by the name of Desmond Meade who is the President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Meade who was born in St. Croix and relocated to Miami, Florida at the young age of five with his family experienced a bit of trouble during his childhood. This trouble would eventually lead him to being convicted of felony cocaine possession amongst other things. After serving his time and being released in 2004, Meade chose to do better in life and decided to go back to school and successfully obtained his law degree from Florida International University. However, because of his past felonies, Meade was not allowed to sit for the bar exam. This is when Meade began his hard fight to get the voting rights of convicted felons restored.
In 2011 Meade became the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. In a quote given to the NY Times for a feature story published on September 26th, 2018 by Emily Bazelon titled Will Florida Ex-Felons finally Regain The Right To Vote?, Meade stated:
“This amazing work that we’re doing, it’s shiny and bright now, and there’s a lot of people that want to attach to it. But there was a time when it wasn’t that shiny. There was a time when I was knocking on doors and nobody wanted to answer.”
Well this last Tuesday, November 6th, all of Meade’s hard work paid off when Amendment 4 was passed! Thank goodness Meade made a decision several years ago after being released from prison to do something more positive with his life. Now millions of reformed criminals will have the right to vote because of Meade’s decision! Thank you Desmond Meade for your courage and bravery and congratulations on this huge victory! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode 🖤
Featured image created exclusively for brooklyngirlcode.com by #BrooklynGirlCode Editor.
It was a crazy and very eventful Summer ’18 to say the least! While some people attributed all the weird and wild events to Mercury Retrograde, others claimed it was just the weather. Either way, #BrooklynGirlCode was there for every weird and wild news happening that occurred.
From the tragic news of Aretha Franklin’s passing to the craziest summer challenges (The Shiggy and Ray J Hat Challenge), we got it covered! Check out #BrooklynGirlCode’s biggest news stories of Summer 2018 below and let’s hope that the Fall 2018 season will be a little less chaotic!
THE WEDDINGS:
We think this one might’ve shocked us the most. After announcing their official marriage in Las Vegas earlier this summer, singer Faith Evans and producer Stevie J had everyone asking questions. Like, “Whaaaaat?” But if they are happy and in love then we are happy for them! We can expect to see Faith Evans appearing on several episodes of the upcoming season of Love &HipHop: Atlanta, as well. Congrats to the couple!
Faith Evans featuring Stevie J, “A Minute”
After having a big Hip-Hop battle with Drake earlier in the summer, Pusha T decided to put the diss tracks on hold and marry long time girlfriend Virginia Williams. Celebrities in attendance included Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and his brother Malice who performed the nuptials. Sweet! <3
Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz decided to join in on the summer wedding trend and married his long time girlfriend Kesha Ward in a lavish ceremony in Miami, Florida on August 18th, 2018. Celebrity guests in attendance included Lil Wayne, Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian (again). Congrats to the lovely couple!
2Chainz and his mother dancing at his wedding in Miami, Florida on August 18th, 2018
THE BATTLES:
When the temperature rises, you know what that means! People are heated and hands are going to get thrown! There were a few battles this summer, but we’re just going to go over the juiciest ones.
Cardi B and Nicki Minaj disappointed the “Upper Echelon Society” of New York City earlier this month by getting into a huge fight at the Harper’s Bazaar Icons party at the Plaza Hotel during New York Fashion Week. This was a long time coming with these two Hip-Hop Divas. So, #BrooklynGirlCode wasn’t surprised at all.
After surprising the industry with her sudden marriage to Stevie J, Faith Evans wanted to make some more headlines and decided to get into a fight with long time rival, hip-hop soul queen, Mary J Blige. Allegedly, the two got into it at a party in the Hamptons being thrown by music mogul Puff Daddy. Both ladies later denied the allegations.
In good news, after watching Cardi B and Nicki Minaj go at it in public, Meek Mill and Drake decided to end their little quarrel and make up on stage in front of their fans. Awwww!
THE SUMMER’S BEST CHALLENGES:
Do the Shiggy! After a young popular blogger from Queens, New York made a dance video to Drake’s song, “In My Feelings” and posted it on Instagram, the whole world went nuts! Everyone was doing The Shiggy and Shiggy himself became an overnight celebrity!
Drake, “In My Feelings”
The Ray J Hat Challenge: Actor/singer Ray J Norwood decided to get in on all the challenge fun and had everyone wearing their hat in different ways after a video of him sporting his cap all kinds of ways went viral.
ARE WE GOING TO IGNORE THE FACT THAT RAY J’s HAT MOVED LIKED 2,000 TIMES IN LIKE 10 SECONDS!!!! 😂😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/IcoAPmAv2q
When we found out earlier this summer that Lezley McSpadden (mother of Michael Brown) was running for Ferguson, Missouri City Council, we were overjoyed! After losing her son so tragically back in 2014, McSpadden decided to be apart of the movement to stop police violence and get involved in politics. We hope she wins!
THE VICTORIES:
Golf legend Tiger Woods came out of hiatus and shocked the masses by taking second place at the 2018 PGA Championships. Get ’em Tiger!
Colin Kaepernick made headlines when he partnered with Nike to promote his “Take a Knee” movement. Whether upset with Kaepernick or extremely happy for him, everyone was talking about it!
A young Naomi Osaka became the new U.S. Open Tennis 2018 champion, upsetting one of the greatest athletes of all time, Serena Williams.
IN MEMORIAM:
“The Queen of Soul”
Aretha Franklin, “Won’t Be Long” (Steve Allen Show 1964)
Aretha Franklin (left) and Mary J Blige (right). The “Queen of Soul” and the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul.”
Hip-Hop Artist, Mac Miller
THE BUSINESS:
The Carters did what they know how to do so well All Summer Eighteen… make that money $$$$$!!! Their On The Run II Tour broke ticket sale records and grossed millions!
A subway advertisement in NYC promoting The Carters’ latest studio album, Everything Is Love.
And to cap off our biggest summer ’18 news stories, actor Geoffrey Owens of The Cosby Show fame got caught red-handed working as a cashier at Trader Joe’s. And believe it or not, it ended up working to his advantage! Movie mogul Tyler Perry offered Owens a recurring role on his hit show, The Have and the Have Nots. Go Figure!
See you all next summer (2019) for more hot and interesting news stories! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode <3
Photo of the Provost Guard of the 107th Colored Infantry, Fort Corcoran, Washington D.C., 1863 courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Another Memorial Day is upon us! And with all the events going on in the world, it’s hard to take a moment to relax and reflect on what Memorial Day really means to us as American citizens. For some, it’s (paid) time off of work and a well deserved break. For others, it’s all about the family gatherings and cookouts and celebrating another season of summer. All of these traditions are well accepted. However, many might not know that the origin of Memorial Day actually started in Charleston, S.C. (a place where most of my family is from) in the 1800’s and the holiday began to commemorate 200+ Union soldiers that died due to the result of poor conditions at the Confederate Prison Camps in Charleston during the Civil War. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture posted a great photo on Instagram of a group of African-American soldiers from the war to educate readers on the origin of Memorial Day. NMAAHC stated in their caption:
“Today is the day that our nation takes pause to celebrate the service and sacrifice of our military heroes that gave their lives to secure our freedoms. The earliest commemoration of what would later become Memorial Day, was organized in a former Confederate Prison Camp in Charleston, S.C. on May 1, 1865. The celebration was established by over 1,000 newly freed African Americans, in addition to U.S. Colored Troops regiments and a small group of white Charlestonians. This group came together to honor the 257 Union soldiers that died as a result of the poor conditions of the Confederate Prison Camp during the war. They removed the soldiers from a mass grave that the Confederates made and created proper burial grounds for Union soldiers. Together they sang hymns, set flowers, and gave readings in honor of the soldiers’ sacrifice. #MemorialDay #MilitaryAppreciationMonth #APeoplesJourney #ANationsStory”
Author Sewell Chan also wrote a great piece for the New York Times titled The Unofficial History of Memorial Day. In the article, Chan gets more in depth about the holiday. A great article to check out when you get a free moment from stuffing your face with cheeseburgers. Salute to all of the soldiers who lost their lives fighting to keep us free so that we can all have the opportunity to celebrate these holidays in peace! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode <3
This past Friday on October 21st, 2016 at approximately 8:30pm EST about 150 teens gathered on Temple University‘s North Philadelphia campus in front of the Pearl Theatre. The teens allegedly gathered after being called together via a social media post. Once the kids who were said to be between the ages of 14-17 years old congregated, they began attacking Temple University students, parents, police officers and even punched one officer’s horse in the head twice. In what seemed to be a well-organized revolt against Temple University Police. By the time the attack was over, there were only about four arrests made.
Why did the kids of this North Philadelphia neighborhood decide to come together and go on this crazy rampage? The only thing I could think of is mass gentrification. I myself am a graduate of Temple University (School of Journalism, Public Relations and Advertising ’04) and prior to graduating, the extreme renovation of Temple University’s North Philly campus was in its early stages.
A crowd of kids gathered on Temple University’s North Philly campus on 10.21.16 and went on a violent rampage. Image via The Washington Post.
Now when I return to Temple’s campus once or twice a year to help out my college Fencing coach and Temple University icon, Dr. Nikki Franke with some of her various competitions (which I myself once competed in), I can see the plan that the university had to take over the entire North Philly area finally coming into fruition. It’s obvious. But, what about the the families who have lived for decades on these blocks and in these buildings that Temple has been taking over at such a rapid pace? What about the people being pushed out of their homes so Temple can build new buildings and facilities and hire other employees who more than likely aren’t even from the neighborhood and have no connection to the neighborhood whatsoever? You’re going to have a lot of angry folks and this time around it was the kids of North Philly saying “Look, we’ve had enough!” Mass gentrification is taking place all over America right now and the truth of the matter is we’re going to see more of these type of events happening due to a whole bunch of people (kids included) being fed up.
Photo via @az_duz_it‘s Instagram and The Washington Post
When I was a student at Temple University, I tutored at a program organized by the university called “Temple Tutors.” Temple University students currently enrolled at the school would go to the various schools in the area and tutor students during and after school hours. I was pretty disgusted everyday I walked into the schools I was tutoring at when I saw how decrepit the school supplies that the students had to use were. Some of the school text books were hanging from the bind, literally. So, this made me think that maybe there are positive effects of mass gentrification, as well? When better schools are being built with better resources this is a good thing. However, there has to be some type of common ground between the people responsible for the renovating and the people who live in the neighborhoods being renovated or else these types of events will continue to take place.
I hope all the families, police officers, students, etc. who were affected by this unexpected revolt are doing well. Sometimes events like this have to occur to make things better. Either way, I will always represent my alma mater to the fullest. “][“U baby!!!
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