Seven Global Honorees and 100 Student Authors and Illustrators recognized at iWRITE’s 10th Anniversary Luncheon and Book Signing
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Seven Global Honorees and 100 Student Authors and Illustrators recognized at iWRITE’s 10th Anniversary Luncheon and Book Signing

Houston nonprofit iWRITE Literacy Organization honored 100 student authors and illustrators on Saturday at the 10th Anniversary iWRITE Luncheon & Book Signing. The event focused on stories on international culture and honored seven women who exemplify global leadership and represent the seven continents of the world. Honorees included Alex Blair, Dr. Seun Adigun, Lisa Helfman,…

Kedrick Brown: Making a Difference on Stage and in the Classroom
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Kedrick Brown: Making a Difference on Stage and in the Classroom

1.How did acting become such an important part of your life?   Acting was never actually a dream of mine.  I was 12 years old when I got my first chance at the stage. I played numerous roles in the play Rumpelstiltskin at Abell Jr. High School.  After the show my speech and drama teacher…

Awakening of a “New Renaissance”
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Awakening of a “New Renaissance”

By Shelondra Peavy According to Wikipedia, the Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. During this era, it was also known as the “New Negro Movement”, named after The New Negro, a 1925 anthology edited by Alain Locke. As a professor at Howard University during…

Houston’s Youth is having a “Hunger Free Summer” Thanks to Kids’ Meals
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Houston’s Youth is having a “Hunger Free Summer” Thanks to Kids’ Meals

Local nonprofit Kids’ Meals kicked off its annual Hunger Free Summer initiative in June in an effort to provide hundreds of thousands of nutritious meals to children in underserved communities. Local McDonald’s owner/operators stepped in to support the summer-long program, which runs through August 31 and raises funds and awareness for Kids’ Meals’ mission to…

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5 ways to make your graduate feel great this season

(BPT) – In keeping with tradition this time of year, parents across America are getting ready to celebrate the graduation achievements of their children, nieces, nephews and other friends and relatives. Many will be moving forward from preschool, elementary school or middle school. A whopping 3.3 million will graduate from high school. And at the…

Inspiring children and young adults to try computer science
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Inspiring children and young adults to try computer science

(BPT) – Math, science, history and … coding? For today’s students, learning how to code is becoming just as important as learning how to read. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says computer science is the fastest growing profession within the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) field. They also project that, by 2020, there will…

6 ways to stay safe around the water this summer
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6 ways to stay safe around the water this summer

(BPT) – Summer is fast approaching, which means that more children will be in and around water areas such as pools, lakes and oceans. Like many parents, you worry about your children’s safety around water, no matter how old they are. According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of injury death among children…

Real-life examples of how unique partnerships bring change
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Real-life examples of how unique partnerships bring change

How unconventional coalitions improve communities   Most of us can come up with at least one good idea to help solve our community’s most pressing challenges.   Moving that solution past the kitchen-table discussion stage to implementation is the challenging road down which every idea must pass. It takes time, effort and capital to develop…

Texas motorists: Slow down or move over for stopped emergency vehicles
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Texas motorists: Slow down or move over for stopped emergency vehicles

Save a Life. #SlowDown #MoveOver After a recent outbreak of fatality and injury incidents involving tow truck drivers and other first responders, Texas motorists are asked to slow down or move over for stopped emergency vehicles including tow trucks, police cars and fire trucks. “Our tow truck licensees work hard every day to help people…

Government Shutdown Hits African Americans the Hardest
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Government Shutdown Hits African Americans the Hardest

By Stacy M. Brown,NNPA Newswire Correspondent With over 50,000 federal employees, the fourth congressional district in Maryland represents the fifth largest number of workers, and Maryland likely counts as the third-largest impacted state by the government shutdown, according to Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown. “So, I’m hearing about this, like my colleagues, each and every day…

Black History Month: Two Centuries of Black History and the Black Press
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Black History Month: Two Centuries of Black History and the Black Press

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent In the March 2018 story, “Race News: Chronicling the Black Press and fight for Justice,” journalist Tony Pecinovsky noted that the rocky relationship between journalism and the struggle for African-American equality, like any other courtship, is full of ebbs and flows, fluctuations that often times mirror larger societal…

City of Houston Begins New MLK Day Tradition 41ST Annual Original MLK Day Parade will Unite Houstonians
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City of Houston Begins New MLK Day Tradition 41ST Annual Original MLK Day Parade will Unite Houstonians

This month Houstonians will join people from across the county to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, January 21, is the official observance of Dr. King’s birthday, who would have turned 89 years old if his life had not been cut short by an assassin’s bullet. As the country pauses to remember the late…

Wells Fargo Invests $1.6 Billion to Help Revitalize D.C.’s Minority Neighborhoods
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Wells Fargo Invests $1.6 Billion to Help Revitalize D.C.’s Minority Neighborhoods

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent Wells Fargo and Washington, D.C. community leaders this week announced a $1.6 billion investment in the nation’s capital – particularly in Wards 7 and 8 — that have a high African-American population. The announcement, which occurred at THEARC in Southeast, D.C., was heralded as an effort to unlock…

Fighting the good fight: 5 misconceptions about U.S. poverty
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Fighting the good fight: 5 misconceptions about U.S. poverty

  (BPT) – Many Americans will pass right by the Red Kettles and ringing bells of The Salvation Army this season. Some simply have little money to spare for those in need this year. But others will consciously opt out because of misconceptions about why so many Americans – 39.7 million people, a full 12.3…

Financial Planning Month: 5 things you can do to take the fear out of your finances
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Financial Planning Month: 5 things you can do to take the fear out of your finances

October is Financial Planning Month, so there is no better time to face your financial fears and make actionable changes to get yourself on track when it comes to managing your money. While nearly half of Americans (47 percent) find the prospect of financial planning scary, it doesn’t have to be.   If you find…

Why public transit is a key economic issue for growing cities
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Why public transit is a key economic issue for growing cities

We’d love to take our daily commute for granted. Except, we can’t. It is essential that we continue to make public transportation as efficient as possible for commuters. Over the decades, as a nation we have put investing in our transportation infrastructure, particularly our bus and rail systems, on the back burner. The result: Today’s…