When I agreed to travel to Jackson, Tennessee, to speak to students, faculty, staff, and community members at their Inaugural Leadership Conference, little did I know what was in store. In addition to the warm reception, the local news coverage, and the camaraderie from my longtime friend Dr. Logan Hampton, the president of HBCU Lane College, revisiting the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is an experience I will never forget on the drive back.

I made two new friends on the sojourn: chief Steaven Joy, my security detail and driver and Darryl M. Bell, the actor from the hit TV show A Different World. Bell is also a producer, an entrepreneur, a fierce advocate of people of color in STEM, and not surprisingly, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

(L-R: Chief Joy, L Michelle Smith, and Darryl M. Bell)

Bell wanted to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

We visited the landmark museum just a few days before the 51st anniversary of King’s assassination. There were people waiting in the rain to experience the context of King’s death—what led up to and culminated in his last breath on the balcony of Lorraine Motel.

A tour guide walked us through historical periods that violently affected black people: Jim Crow-era segregation, boycotts, and protest. Bell and I joined a sit-in at one of the many lunch counters in the South, where students faced violence despite their commitment to non-violent protests.

(A statue of Rosa Parks sitting on the bus in Montgomery)

There were statues of blacks who participated in the Montgomery boycotts for some 138 days, protesting racism. We eventually learned what brought King to Memphis in the first place—the unfair treatment of the city’s sanitation workers at the time.

(Bell stands in front of the iconic sign at the Lorraine Motel)

Though from behind the glass, we observed room 306—preserved in time and undisturbed—where Dr. King and Abernathy stayed until that fateful moment on the balcony.

We came face to face with the death of an absolute hero.

Listen to a special double episode of The Culture Soup Podcast today to hear a special fireside chat between me and Bell at the Lane College Leadership Conference. Part two features a conversation with Hampton on the importance and remaining relevance of HBCUs.

Black Enterprise Contributors Network 

The post How I Revisited the Last Moments of Martin Luther King’s Life appeared first on Black Enterprise.

BGN had the hottest ticket in town Friday, April 12 for the Star Wars Celebration Chicago.

We truly did score this time. The tickets had been sold out for months (except for Monday and not much is happening then). The panel to be in was the Star Wars: Episode IX panel that was packed with reveals, shocking info, and stuff you won’t hear anywhere else. Here are the top 10 moments that did us in on our first day at the celebration.

Don’t Question Lando Calrissian’s motives.

Billy Dee Williams, who plays the infamous Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise, spoke on all things Lando at the panel. However, when host Stephen Colbert asked Williams if Lando was really a good guy, Williams gave an answer no one expected. “I have to explain this to people, and I don’t understand why.” He goes on about how Lando is not the only morally gray guy in the series, and in fact, the man has saved the main characters many times. Williams asks, “but did you die?” He shut Colbert down and made the crowd go wild, by channeling an equally shady Mr. Chow from The Hangover.

Kelly Marie Tran’s Welcome.

No character in the history of the Star Wars franchise has been so viciously attacked in public as Kelly Marie Tran, for playing Rose in The Force Awakens. Racist and alt-right Star Wars fans attacked the actress for her statements on diversity. Tran was also the target of hatred at the diversity Star Wars was introducing into its roster of featured characters. Tran iterated a truth that even I as felt as a Black girl growing up with Star Wars. We had to imagine ourselves in the role of the characters we were given. We had no one that looked like us.

She was bullied and threatened so bad that the actress went off social media for quite a while. Today, when Colbert announced her, the fandom welcomed Tran back with standing applause the went on longer than the applause for JJ Abrams, the director. Tran blushed and thanked the crowd as people shouted, “We love you!” from the crowd.

Black Girls Represent on the Force

They got a new Black girl on the team! Naomi Ackie was introduced to the crowd. She will be Jannah, a character who may or may not be one of Lando’s love-children. As we let the shot wear down, she told the story of the day she found out about her role. Ackie got a call for Abrams and apparently made a commotion over landing the role of a lifetime. Her father shushed her and told her she was putting on a bit too much noise.

The Reveal of 4 New Aliens

Abrams revealed 4 new aliens that will be joining the franchise. We look forward to more information on these characters as they come.

Introducing Dio!

A new and very cute little droid rolled onto the stage. Dio is joining, BB8 and R2D2 as the scene-stealing mechanical cuteness of the series. He seems to get along with the others. Let’s hope things are amicable in the film as well.

Happy Birthday, Daisy!

The audience broke into an improper, ground-swelling birthday song that surprised Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in Rogue One and The Force Awakens. She basically told everyone that she a Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver (who was not in attendance), would not be romantic in the new installment.

Stephen Colbert was one of the earliest Star Wars fans

Colbert revealed to the crowd that he got to see an advanced screening of the first Star Wars movie A New Hope in 1977. He recounted the story of winning movie tickets from a radio station. He and a friend went to see the movie three weeks before it premiered to the rest of the nation. He is one of the oldest fans, “three weeks longer than any of you,” he told the crowd.

The Trailer Reveals

First, the title Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker just teases that one of our favorite main characters will be back. It helps that Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, has already hinted that he will be back for this film. Then, a dark damaged body in the distance has the distinct dimple of a Death Star destroyed. Then, Carrie Fisher’s image which conjured tears. But, the thing that got me was the voice at the end, after the trailer. The lights went up revealing the actor Ian Mc Diarmid who played Darth Sidous in The Phantom Menace. He growled, “roll it, again,” and everyone went wild as the trailer played another time.

The Lego Star Wars Reveals

At the panel “20 years of Lego Star Wars” I learned a few things. First, all of the designers of the Lego Star Wars books, games, toys, and animation are fans of Star Wars and/or Legos. One of the game designers admitted to having more Boba Fett figures in his office, “than a 50-year-old man should have.” They then unveiled the must-have toy of this festival —the Tantive IV. The toy will be released on May 4. However, 250 of them will be available for sale this weekend.

That is if you participated in and won a lottery to purchase one of 50 of the toys that will be available each day.

Goodwill is here! With Goodwill prices too!

For the Star Wars fan who is on a budget, there is hope of taking home a souvenir. I stumbled upon a Goodwill booth tucked away in Exhibition Hall. Booth 2354 is run by the thrift store charity that resales donated items in order to raise money for community outreach. Stop by for a secondhand tee or lightsaber. It may not be new in the package, but it will be new to you and a Star Wars souvenir!

The Star Wars Celebration runs through Monday. Monday tickets are still available. See www.starwarscelebration.com for more details.

The post 10 Reveals, Tea Spills, and Deals We Found at Star Wars Celebration appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Wonder Twins #3 returns after that deep dive into the psychi of American prison systems and the impression that can be made on an outsider with no concept of the punitive approach. Writer, Mark Russell, doesn’t hold back in the 2nd issue so it makes sense that things are toned down a bit this time around. This week the Wonder Twins find themselves in the cross-hairs, and there’s only one individual who can come to their aide before the twins are ground to a pulp!

I’ve really been enjoying Stephen Byrne’s work, and have been especially fond of his ability to take the words being delivered by Mark Russell and give them visual purpose. One example of this greatness is captured in the panel below. Jayna exhibits a downtrodden and defeated attitude because of the fallout from their mishandling of Drunkula last issue. The imprison over institutionalize mindset is beautifully dragged through the mud.

Opposite Jayna is Superman’s unwavering, yet genuine matter-of-fact naivety. Mark Russell is really on another level in the brief moments he uses Superman as his chosen vehicle of understanding and familiarity for the Wonder Twins. He’s the relatable alien they can lean on when trying to make sense of this wild planet of terrestrials that are still trying to figure it all out. It’s all on display when Supes says, “On Earth, the most important power you can have isn’t shape-shifting. It isn’t flight or strength..or invulnerability. It’s seeing everything wrong with this world…and somehow not going crazy.” So powerful and so true. Reminds of the amazing work being put in by Snyder on Batman Who Laughs.

After Superman warns our unsuspecting twins that they’re officially on the villain radar, they slack on being prepared and get captured by the Pee Wee Legion of Doom. Of course, this is all a part of the setup so that Gleek can show how useful a performance monkey can be. Does he wind up saving the day? Wind up being an undercover villain? You’ll have to find out in Wonder Twins #3 when it drops on Wednesday!

7 Lex Luther Loans out of 10

Reading Wonder Twins? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.

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The post Wonder Twins #3 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

Source: Jason Miller / Getty

A year after its opening, the students at LeBron James’ I Promise Academy have made a complete turnaround academically.

Last year, the students scored extremely low on their state exams, putting them in the lowest percentile.  Fast forward to now and the third grade students’ test scores have jumped to the ninth percentile while the fourth graders are now in the 16th. Ninety percent of the students that met their academic goals exceeded 70 percent of students nationwide. The test scores for the I Promise Academy improved at a higher rate than 99 out of 100 schools nationally.

“These kids are doing an unbelievable job, better than we all expected,” James told The New York Times. “When we first started, people knew I was opening a school for kids. Now people are going to really understand the lack of education they had before they came to our school. People are going to finally understand what goes on behind our doors.”

The excitement comes from their test scores from the Measures of Academic Progress assessment.

When James started this school he was praised for giving back to his community and focusing on education however no one knew what to expect and some doubted the school would be deemed good. The students who fill the third and fourth grade classrooms were already labeled as some of the worst students in Akron. Thankfully,  the school and students defied the odds and have exceeded expectations so far.