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

ByErica Ponder

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,…

City of Houston Announces Winners of Liftoff Houston! Pitch Day 2019 Start-Up Business Plan Competition
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City of Houston Announces Winners of Liftoff Houston! Pitch Day 2019 Start-Up Business Plan Competition

ByErica Ponder

HOUSTON (November 13, 2019) – Three aspiring entrepreneurs earned a vote of confidence and $10,000 in start-up capital on Saturday as the winners of the 2019 Liftoff Houston! Start-up Business Plan Competition.   After roughly six months of workshops and mentoring, nine finalists competed in the Shark Tank style Pitch Day to win $10,000 towards starting their own businesses…

CARE is Essential
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CARE is Essential

ByErica Ponder

By Shelondra Peavy As it relates to the health care of any person who is closest to your heart, you’d naturally want the best possible treatment for them. Whether your loved one needs temporary restorative care or perpetual in-home care, you expect experienced, professional caretakers to uphold the certain standard which you already have etched…

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

ByErica Ponder

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”

ByErica Ponder

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…

For a chance to win free tickets, to Bayou City Art Festival Downtown, October 12 &13, email contact@d-mars.com. Contest ends October 11th at 3pm!
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For a chance to win free tickets, to Bayou City Art Festival Downtown, October 12 &13, email contact@d-mars.com. Contest ends October 11th at 3pm!

ByErica Ponder

For a chance to win free tickets, to Bayou City Art Festival Downtown, October 12 &13, email contact@d-mars.com. Contest ends October 11th at 3pm! About Bayou City Art Festival: Now in its 48th year since the founding of the Westheimer Art Festival, now known as Bayou City Art Festival, the Art Colony Association, Inc. has…

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

ByErica Ponder

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…

Dance Fusion by CJ!:It’s about time! Time for our community to benefit from the C.J. way of “werking it!”
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Dance Fusion by CJ!:It’s about time! Time for our community to benefit from the C.J. way of “werking it!”

ByErica Ponder

Chelsea “C.J.” Jenkins is a certified personal trainer and holds both a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Education from the University of Houston.   This vision has been a long time in the works.   However, if Jenkins had been asked last year at this time if she believed she would be the CEO/Founder/Owner…

Five Reasons to Avoid Using Hope as a Strategy to Grow Your Small Business
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Five Reasons to Avoid Using Hope as a Strategy to Grow Your Small Business

ByErica Ponder

It has been said thousands if not millions of times in the U.S., across North America and throughout the world that running a small business is challenging and is not for the faint hearted.  From dotcoms that start out with lots of venture capital money to donut shops like Billy’s Donuts in Missouri City, Texas…

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5 ways to make your graduate feel great this season

ByErica Ponder

(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

ByErica Ponder

(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

ByErica Ponder

(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

ByErica Ponder

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

ByErica Ponder

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

ByErica Ponder

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

ByErica Ponder

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

ByErica Ponder

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…