Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Universal Pictures Kevin Hart & Will Packer Surprise High School, Visit Morehouse Kevin Hart and super producer Will Packer showed up and showed out at Langston Hughes High School where they surprised over 400 students in a packed auditorium while promoting their soon-to-be smash Night School . Welcomed by V-103’s Greg Street, students and teachers went crazy as the special guests stepped on stage, posed for pics and took crowd selfies. Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Universal Pictures Moments later, the crowd exploded when Kevin revealed his generous gift to their school on behalf of the film. Thanks to his additional contribution, a donation of $2,500 turned into $12,500 and brought tears to the principal’s eyes. Office Depot joined in the fun presenting six pallets of classroom supplies and furniture that left the school overflowing with joy. Once they wrapped up, Kevin and Will skrrrted over to the Atlanta University Center for a special REAL Talk event at Morehouse College. Students lined up nearly three hours prior to the standing-room only event where Kevin and Will encouraged students to strive for their goals and support each other. Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Universal Pictures Night School (also starring Tiffany Haddish, Yvonne Orji, Romany Malco and Fat Joe) hits theaters Friday, August 28! Photos courtesy of Paras Griffin for Universal Pictures/Getty Images
Three More Women Reveal Rape Allegations Against Bill Cosby If you’re keeping score at home, mark down three more against America’s favorite “alleged” rapist, Bill Cosby . Three more women, Sharon Van Ert, Pamela Abeyta and Lisa Christie held a news conference to reveal that they too were sexually assaulted by the embattled actor/comedian… Via NBCNews Van Ert said she met Cosby when she was a waitress at a Southern California beachside jazz club in 1976. She said Cosby offered to walk her to her car one night and got in with her. She said she blacked out, woke up later alone and suspected Cosby of drugging and assaulting her. Abeyta said that in 1975, when she was 25 and aspiring to appear in Playboy magazine, she arranged to meet Cosby and was taken to a Las Vegas hotel and given her own bedroom in his penthouse suite. She said she believes her drink was drugged when she attended a show with Cosby and his friends. She awoke later in the comedian’s bed. Christie said she met Cosby when she was a model and aspiring actress aged 18, and he cast her as an extra on “The Cosby Show.” She said she viewed him as a father figure and maintained a platonic relationship with him for two years, but then he attempted to coerce her into sleeping with him. Cotdamn, how many more women are going to come out against this guy once it’s all said and done?? SMH Image via WENN
Norman Lear And Vernon Jordan Among Honorees; Event Raised $1.2 Million For Schomburg Center In Harlem It was where the lawyers in the Brown vs Board of Education case sourced evidence, where actors like Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee got their start, and it’s home to one of the most extensive collection of artifacts from the African Diaspora. It’s Harlem’s Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture, which celebrated 90 years of illuminating black history and culture with a glittering gala. Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr., Al Roker, Deborah Roberts and former NYC Mayor David Dinkins were among the guests at the gala, held Sept. 28 at the Steven A. Schwarzman library building in Manhattan. The event honored Norman Lear, the TV producer behind Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons, political advisor Vernon Jordan, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, poet Elizabeth Alexander and the Ford Foundation. The gala raised $1.2 million to support the cultural institution’s programs and services. As part of the evening, library officials opened up the collection to display some of the Schomburg’s treasures: Malcolm X’s journals from his travels to the Middle East, a telegram from Langston Hughes congratulating Lorraine Hansberry on opening night of her play “A Raisin In The Sun,” and a draft of Richard Wright’s “Native Son.” Founder Arturo Schomburg began collecting artifacts from around the African Diaspora to dispel the idea that blacks hadn’t contributed to civilization. The New York Public Library acquired the collection, and used it as the foundation of its division of Negro Literature, History and Prints, what later became the Schomburg Center. Schomburg’s own grandson, Dean Warren Schomburg, thanked the New York Public Library for “having the vision and commitment to recognize the importance of Arturo’s life and work.” Hit the flip for more from the night: Terrence Jennings
Google pays tribute to celebrated author Zora Neale Hurston. Google Honors Iconic Author Zora Neale Hurston Bout time Google showed Ms. Hurston some respect. According to NY Daily News: Their eyes were watching Google. Google’s daily Doodle, the digital image that greets billions of visitors to the site each day, honored Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston yesterday on what would have been her 123rd birthday. Decked out in a olive green feathered cap and framed by an idyllic Everglades scene, the author’s visage rested on Google’s home page throughout the day. Sophia Foster-Dimino, the San Francisco-based artist behind the Google Doodle, said she was inspired by the author’s legacy. “She brought an incredible wealth of witty, heartfelt prose to our literary history,” said Foster-Dimino. “We’re overjoyed to celebrate her life and accomplishments today.” Hurston, best known for her seminal novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” was born in Florida on Jan. 7, 1891, but she moved to New York in 1925 with only $1.50 to her name. She soon became friends with Langston Hughes and Dorothy West. Carla Kaplan, a professor of American Literature at Northeastern University and author of “Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters,” said the author and anthropologist would be “so tickled” to be praised in such a modern way. “She was a very private woman who loved publicity,” Kaplan said, adding that Hurston often found herself “wanting others to see that she had a glean or a shine.” Hurston’s life in Harlem was often stranger than fiction – the scribe once “borrowed” money from a homeless beggar for a subway fare, claiming she needed the money “worse than you today.” She died in poverty in a Florida welfare center in 1960. “She was always more interested in recognition than she was with money,” Kaplan said. This is huge for Google to celebrate Zora Neale Hurston in this way. Hopefully, this leads to the company paying tribute to more influential African Americans.
Wow. Teachers sure are getting bold these days: Fairfax County school administrators are investigating a student’s allegations of racially insensitive behavior by a veteran English teacher at George C. Marshall High School. Ninth-grader Jordan Shumate said that during class this month, he was reading aloud a poem by acclaimed African American writer Langston Hughes when his teacher interrupted and directed him to read in a “blacker” style. “She told me, ‘Blacker, Jordan — c’mon, blacker. I thought you were black,’ ” said Shumate, who is African American. Shumate told his mother, Nicole Cober Page, about the incident Tuesday. She complained to school administrators. “We take these allegations very seriously, and we’re investigating,” Principal Jay Pearson said Friday. He declined to provide further details. Shumate, 14, and his mother identified the teacher as Marilyn Bart. Bart did not respond Thursday or Friday to e-mail and phone inquiries about the incident. Records show that Bart has worked in Fairfax schools since 1990. Another ninth-grader, Kaila Denny, said she witnessed the incident. Shumate was “just sitting there reading normally like any person would,” Denny said, when Bart instructed him to speak “blacker.” Shumate said that when he refused to continue reading the poem, Bart read it aloud herself, demonstrating what she meant. “She sounded like a maid in the 1960s,” Shumate said. “She read the poem like a slave, basically.” Shumate said he asked Bart that day whether she thinks all black people speak that way. She reprimanded him for talking out of turn, he said, and told him to take his seat. The poem Shumate read in class was Hughes’s “Ballad of the Landlord.” The poem, written in 1940, tells of a black tenant thrown in jail for challenging a deadbeat landlord. “Landlord, landlord,” it begins. “My roof has sprung a leak./Don’t you ’member I told you about it/Way last week? This week, in preparation for reading literature about the Holocaust, the teacher showed photographs to illustrate common stereotypes about different groups of people, Shumate said. Shumate said Bart showed an image of grape soda — a drink of choice among African Americans, according to a racial stereotype — and asked him to explain its meaning. Denny corroborated his account. “I do know the stereotypes,” Shumate said, “but she could change the questions so I’m not like the king of black people.” This lady was way out of pocket for this bullsh*t. SMH at her showing grape soda as the drink of choice for black folks. Man. SMH. Source Photo: WJLA-TV More On Bossip! Underrated Cakes: The Ladies With The Backs You Might’ve Mistakenly Missed Out On! Forbidden Fruit: A List Of Celebrities Who Were Spotted Playing Freaky Kissy Face With Family Members Nicki Minaj Flossin’ Her Cakes In A Pink ‘Kini On The Beaches Of Hawaii For New Music Video Solange Knowles Keeps Her Natural Hair, Vintage, Hippy, Hella Colorful Steez Alive On The Cover Of Time Out New York Magazine
