ON THIS DAY IN BLACK MUSIC HISTORY: DECEMBER 5

#1 R&B Song 1960:   “He Will Break Your Heart,” Jerry Butler

 

Born:   Reverend James Cleveland, 1931; Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman), 1932

 

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1953   The Harptones’ standard, “A Sunday Kind Of Love”, was released. It was their first of twenty-nine singles between 1953 and 1982.

 

1979   One of rap’s earliest singles, “Christmas Rappin’ ” by Kurtis Blow, made its debut. Though it failed to chart (despite reportedly selling nearly 400,000 copies), it would be recognized by the British public, who sent it to #30. The single would eventually chart three times in the ’90s, strictly based on airplay. Blow had the distinction of being the first rapper signed to a major label (Mercury).

 

1990   Aretha Franklin was honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science (NARAS) with a Living Legend award.

 

1992   Lloyd Price, Little Richard, Little Eva, Bobby Vee, Duane Eddy, and Johnny Preston, among others, hit England on the Giants of Rock ‘n’ Roll concert at Wembley Arena in London.

 

1998   Brandy charted with “Have You Ever,” which would soon become her second hit #1 pop in less than seven months. Not bad for a teen heartthrob who decided she wanted to be an entertainer after watching Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” video. She was also influenced by a Little Richard concert she attended at age eleven.

 

 

1998   Lauryn Hill performed on NBC-TV’s Saturday Night Live.

BLACKS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE: THE SECRETS OF THEIR SUCCESS

 

After years of being labeled an underrepresented minority in computer science, Black Americans are finally on the edge of leaving that category. According to the federal government’s National Center for Education Statistics, Black students received 12.4% of the baccalaurates in computer and information sciences awarded by U.S. colleges and universities in 2005-06. That is nearly equal to the percentage of Black Americans in the U.S.population (12.8%).

 

 

It seems that things seem to be looking up for Black Americans in the computer industry.

 

Here is an excerpt of the report:

“On its face, the news is great: After years of being labeled an “underrepresented minority” in computer science, blacks in the U.S. are on the brink of leaving that category, with bachelor’s degrees in hand.

Since 1996–97, according to the federal government’s National Center for Education Statistics, the number of black students receiving baccalaureates in the field has more than doubled, from 2,463 to 5,875. Just as significant, the percentage of blacks among computer science bachelor’s degree-holders has been rising since 1998, and in 2006, blacks made up 12.4 percent of the candidates receiving those degrees, a proportion almost equal to that of blacks in the U.S. population (12.8 percent).

 

“To use the national lexicon of diversity, blacks have nearly achieved “parity” in computer science at the bachelor’s degree level, a remarkable achievement, especially when one considers the continuing lack of diversity in engineering, where blacks are getting significantly fewer bachelor’s degrees — 3,355 in 2006 — and make up a significantly smaller percentage of the graduates: only 5 percent  of the bachelor’s degree recipients that year.”

 

 

 

That’s the good news.

Or is it?

“But beneath the skin of blacks’ success in comp sci, there are signs of deep trouble. The number of students receiving degrees in the field, including all races and ethnicities, has shrunk by more than 12,000 over the past two years for which the federal government has figures: from 59,488 in 2003–04 to 47,480 in 2005–06.

“Blacks have been underrepresented in most (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, so the fact that they’re up in computer science is good,” says demographer B. Lindsay Lowell, Ph.D., director of policy studies for the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University. But in a May 2008 article titled “Making the Grade,” published in the science journal Nature, Dr. Lowell and Hal Salzman, Ph.D., senior faculty Fellow at Rutgers University’s Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, said students have been steering away from computer science for good reason.

  “When the IT industry was growing, the number of graduates in computer science kept pace, doubling over six years,” they wrote. “Following the collapse of the IT industry bubble, the number of graduates fell by 17 percent between 2003 and 2005. Employment in this field is just now reaching the levels of the boom years but, with little prospect of rapid growth, students seem to be wise in choosing other fields.”

 

Read the rest of the report here:   

 

NSBE News

 

A BLACK BREAKTHROUGH IN COMP SCI!

 

ON THIS DAY IN BLACK MUSIC HISTORY: DECEMBER 4

#1 Song 1971:   “Family Affair,” Sly & the Family Stone

 

Born:   Lee Dorsey, 1924; rapper Jay-Z (Shawn Carter), 1970

 

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1961   The Shirelles’ B-side “Baby It’s You” was issued, soon becoming one of their biggest hits (#8 pop, #3 R&B).

 

1961   Bobby “Blue” Bland charted R&B with “Turn On Your Love Light,” reaching #2. The song become one of his signature hits, crossing pop to the tune of #28. His energetic blues style had earned him the nickname “Blue.” On the same day, blues singer/drummer/guitarist Albert King had the first and biggest of his nineteen hits when he debuted on the R&B charts with “Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong,” reaching #14.

 

1965   Gene Chandler charted with “Rainbow ’65 Part 1” (#2 R&B), his biggest hit after “Duke of Earl.” Chandler, who often performed under the name “The Duke of Earl,” would appear on stage wearing a cape, a top hat, and a monocle.

 

 

1972   Al Green’s (okay, Rev. Al Green) “Let’s Stay Together” reached the charts, rising to #1 R&B for nine weeks and #1 pop. He would go on to have six #1 R&B smashes, including “I’m Still in Love with You” and “Living With You.”

 

 

 

1993   Snoopy Dog charted with debut solo single, “What’s My Name,” reaching #8 pop and R&B. He hit #4 in England the same day he charted in America.

 

1996   LL Cool J was given the Rap Artist of the Year award at Billboard magazine’s seventh annual showcase at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.

 

1997   Salt-n-Pepa, LL Cool J, Ginuwine, and Shaggy, among others, performed at Super Jam 97 at the Fleet Center in Boston.

 

From the book, “On This Day In Black Music History”, by Jay Warner.

ODETTA: 12/31/30 – 12/2/2008

WATER BOY

 

 

ODETTA

 

 

HIT OR MISS

 

CARELESS LOVE

JOAN ARMATRADING: DOWN TO ZERO

LIVING COLOUR: OPEN LETTER TO A LANDLORD

KING’S X: SOMETIME

ON THIS DAY IN BLACK MUSIC HISTORY: DECEMBER 3

#1 R&B Song 1977:   “Serpentine Fire,” Earth, Wind & Fire

 

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1949   John Lee Hooker (one of my favourites!) charted with “Crawlin’ King Snake,” an eventual #6 R&B hit and a staple of white  electric blues bands of the ’60s.

 

 

1955   The Robins charted with “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” (#10 R&B), their last single before half the act separated to fom the Coasters. The single also managed to reach #79 pop, but while the Coasters became rock ‘n’ roll legends, the Robins never had another chart 45.

 

1966   Ray Charles was given a five-year suspended sentence, a $10,000 fine and four years probation for possession of heroin. Charles would eventually go cold turkey during a ninety-two hour stay in a California hospital.

 

1976   Seven gunmen charged into Bob Marley’s house in Kingston, Jamaica. Though he was wounded, he survived the ordeal and promptly moved to Miami, Florida.

 

1977   Twenty-nine-year-old Patti Austin’s debut album, Havana Candy, charted reaching #116. Goddaughter of jazz great Dinah Washington, Austin had been performing since she took the stage at the Apollo Theater at the age of four.

 

1988   Choreographer-turned-singer Paula Abdul charted with “Straight Up,” a dance tune that zoomed to the top spot, becoming the first of her six #1s in less than three years.

 

 

1992   Stevie Wonder received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Songwriters at their seventh annual Salute to the American Songwriter in Los Angeles.

 

1995   B.B. King was honored at the annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.

 

1998   Performing a benefit on the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, B.B. King raised more than $450,000 for American troops overseas.

HEAVENLY SMILE

Were The Heavens Smiling On Us?

December 03, 2008 2:56 PM

 It’s not often that the naked eye can easily find Venus, Jupiter and Earth’s moon. It has to be a one-in-a-million occasion when those three celestial entities actually form a facial expression. Are we dreaming? You be the judge…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD OFFERS GIFT CERTIFICATES

Controversy Erupts Over Gift Vouchers for Clinic Services, Including Abortion

By GIGI STONE
Dec. 3, 2008

 

 

 

This holiday season, Indiana’s Planned Parenthood is offering an unusual stocking stuffer: gift certificates redeemable for health services at clinics throughout the state.

This holiday season Indiana’s Planned Parenthood is offering gift certificates that can be used at 35 clinics across the state for services ranging from contraceptives to abortion.

 

 

 

In these tough economic times, the organization says it made the move toward gift certificates because it is worried that more and more people will forgo basic health care.

“Women in particular are likely to forgo basic medical needs when faced with putting gas in their car or food on the table,” said Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s president and CEO, Betty Cockrum.

 

Planned Parenthood provides contraception, pap smears and other routine health services for women, as well as abortions. The gift certificates, ranging in values from $25 to $100, can be redeemed for all clinic services.

 

Related

Contraceptives Not Sold Here

 

 

 

The Indiana branch is selling the gift certificates on its Web site, touting it as a way to give the gift of health this holiday season.

But the vouchers are sparking controversy. Some anti-abortion supporters see it as less about the gift of affordable health care and more about making a mockery of the holidays.

 

“This campaign to offer lethal gift certificates that Planned Parenthood is engaging in right now is offensive,” said Sister Diane Carollo, director of the Office for Pro-Life Ministry for the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. “And it’s offensive because Christmas is about the celebration of human life.”

 

Planned Parenthood is quick to argue some 95 percent of women who come to their clinics come for basic health services — not abortion.

 

“It’s about basic health care. It’s about annual exams, it’s about pap smears, it’s about birth control,” said Cockrum. “I would be amazed if a dime of it goes toward an abortion.”

 

 

It’s an issue that is spreading beyond Indiana. On ABC News.com today, opinions were mixed. One person wrote: “Wal-Mart gift cards can be used to buy alcohol and ammunition … but nobody is outraged.”

 

Another wrote: “Disgusting!!!!! I am pro choice, but gift certificates for abortion, sick, sick, sick!”

 

Planned Parenthood chapters in Illinois, New York, Alaska and Michigan are considering similar gift certificate programs for the holidays.

But if the organization expands this program, the more it is likely to inflame the never-ending fight over abortion during what is intended to be a peaceful holiday season.

SOURCE:  http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Story?id=6384543&page=1

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People already are screaming that women who visit PP for services, will use these certificates for abortion only. Planned Parenthood is more than just a place to get information on abortion—-whether to have it or not. It is also a place to get ob-gyn counseling, whether or not a woman or girl is pregnant. It is also a place to get information on reproductive rights, information on different types of birth control, to get information (and the facts) on protection from STDs and HIV-AIDS, Pap tests (which at $58.00 a pop [the national average cost] many poor women cannot afford), breast exams, and a place to just talk with a counselor on any questions or doubts a person may have concerning sexuality.

Jeeze-Louise, people (anti-abortionists). Get a grip.

With the caterwauling about women using these certificates only to get abortions (possible for a small faction, but, not for many women), nowhere do I hear any screaming by the anti-abortionists against children born into this world who are raped, battered and mistreated on a daily basis.

Oops, silly me, what do I know.

Anti-abortions screamers are all for the rights of unborn children, fine, but, care nothing much for the children who live among us; children who go to bed hungry, children who suffer in silence; children they pass every day, and would not speak up for if their lives depended on it.

You can cry to high-heaven about abortions, anti-abortion activists.

Where the hell are ya’ for the children alive now who need your voices?

Oh. . . .

. . . .the silence is deafening.

 

The gift certificates can be purchased in increments of $25 online at http://www.ppin.org or for any dollar amount at some Planned Parenthood of Indiana health centers. They can be redeemed at any of the health centers.

 

Planned Parenthood of Indiana: http://www.ppin.org