HBCUs get 1.1 percent of fed research dollars
December 22, 2009
The top ten universities whose black bachelor’s graduates go on to receive doctorates in science and engineering are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), but federal spending at HBCU campuses has gone down over the past four fiscal years–to 1.1 percent of all federal education research spending, according to National Science Foundation data cited in Silicon Ceiling 9: Equal Employment and High Technology. See article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution.
Innovation & Equity: the 10th Annual 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology Symposium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 will tackle this issue as part of crafting a national agenda to retain and expand the more than 600,000 African-Americans who work in cutting edge industries. The symposium will be held at Pier One, Port of San Francisco from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The lion’s share of research funding on American college campuses comes from the federal government–$31 billion of $51 billion—compared to less than $3 billion from industry. Despite laws and regulations promoting equal opportunity in education, higher education institutions have not significantly increased their output of African-Americans in graduate science and engineering fields, although blacks attend bachelor’s programs in science and engineering at the same rate as other groups of Americans. More details at http://www.blackmoney.com
Marcus Books recommends top 20 childrens books
December 21, 2009
http://closethegaps.ning.com/forum/topics/marcus-books-store-recommends
National Academy salutes innovators
January 28, 2010
WASHINGTON – In February, the National Academy of Sciences will hold a series of events in celebration of African American History Month. In addition, NAS has launched a new Web site featuring in-depth biographies of African Americans who have made outstanding contributions to society through science, engineering, and medicine. For more information, visit www.africanamericanhistoryprogram.org.
Supported by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of
Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, the goal of the African
American History Program (AAHP) is to heighten awareness of the
contributions of African Americans to science, engineering, medicine,
and the nation’s welfare. The events and programs organized by the AAHP and its collection of online biographies are also tools for promoting broader understanding of science, engineering, and medicine. The AAHP was established in 1986.
NEW WEB SITE
www.africanamericanhistoryprogram.org
The AAHP Web site features biographies and slideshows of more than 60
African Americans who have made important contributions to science,
engineering, and medicine. The site also highlights historical figures
who paved the way for others through their work in politics, education,
law, and social justice. Recently added members include: Wanda Austin,
president and CEO, The Aerospace Corp., Los Angeles; Meredith Gourdine,
founder, Energy Innovations, Houston ; Wesley Harris, Charles Stark
Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge; Cato Laurencin, vice president
for health affairs, University of Connecticut Health Center, and dean,
University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington; Floyd
Malveaux, executive director, Merck Childhood Asthma Network Inc.
(MCAN), Washington, D.C.; Ken Olden, director emeritus and principal
investigator, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and
the National Toxicology Program, Research Triangle Park, N.C. ; Willie
Pearson Jr., professor of sociology, School of History, Technology, and
Society, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; Gerald Thomson,
Lambert and Sonneborn Professor of Medicine Emeritus and senior
associate dean emeritus, Columbia University College of Physicians and
Surgeons, New York City
Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge with technology
January 13, 2010
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Minority businesses shut out of stimulus loans
December 18, 2009
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=d40e83db3ee2eb66d27effb8a50ac34f
Princess and the Frog is Frank’s Place in animation
December 14, 2009
Scholars of film and television consider 1987-88 CBS series Frank’s Place to be one of the best depictions of the richness of African-American culture, as well as some of the best writing ever in filmed entertainment.
The fact that it was cancelled after only one season has been viewed as evidence of the lack of quality in Hollywood. As the Museum of Broadcast Communications writes, the Image and Emmy award-winning show, birthed by Tim and Daphne Maxwell Reid and Hugh Wilson, was “grounded in a compelling sense of place and a respect.”
The Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog, which opened this weekend, does more than just honor the culture of New Orleans, as Frank’s Place did, but it represents a milestone in the portrayal of the depth and nuance of African-American values and personalities.
Although this has been billed as Disney’s first animated African-American-themed film, in truth, the company has built its animation fame on the back of African-American folklore, thinly disguised through a succession of animal characters, and usually presented in comic caricature.
The top ranking in the opening box office should indicate that animators can explore so much more by authentically researching and presenting the fullness of the syncretization of black life.
Like Frank’s Place, Princess and the Frog is so full of meaning that much of its value can be lost without a full context of the scene. In order to provide young people, and many adults, the setting, I would recommend some advance reading on black life in Louisiana and New Orleans, specifically.
In the early scenes, the contrast between the mansion where lead character’s Tiana’s (Anika Noni Rose) mother Eudora (Oprah Winfrey) works as a seamstress and their home is a point of reality which should not be ignored. Although they live in a shotgun house, it is quite well appointed, which is an element of Southern black culture which should be emphasized.
The conflict and tension in the script is created through a contextualized rendering of African religious practices as retained in the Western Hemisphere. The villain Shadow Man (Keith David) is a conjurer in the tradition of voudon who casts the battle between good and evil in sharply personal terms. Mama Odie (Jennifer Lewis) provides the balancing force that provides a spiritual contrast. Because these practices are not shown in a shallow fashion, it represents another opportunity for further discussion and study. Most young people have not had the opportunity to face these epistemological questions in most of their movie viewing.
One of the critical plot devices which black parents should not miss is the presentation of Tiana as a hard-working girl who passes up the easy road to success through following her father’s dream of opening a restaurant. Even the location she picked is an abandoned mill which needs a lot of work.
The challenge is at the top of the issues facing contemporary black children as they see hard work derided in favor of the “fast life.” In addition to Tiana’s eventual triumph over that easy way out, there are several real life examples to point to.
Like Tiana, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, now on the world stage at the Copenhagen climate change talks, grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, set her dreams high and became a chemical engineer.
Also, current White House social secretary Desiree Rogers was a queen of the Mardi Gras parade growing up in New Orleans.
Most of today’s young people never heard of Frank’s Place because there were too few episodes for syndication.
A filmed counterpart to the context of Princess and the Frog would be Akilah and the Bee, which also portrayed a young black woman facing a choice between hard work and despair.
The best way to take advantage of this great opportunity to build family values during the holiday season is to require young viewers to read a number of books along with the film.
Surrounding them with additional examples of people who overcame serious obstacles to achieve their dreams turns this film from a couple of hours of tear-jerking drama to a transforming catalyst for future growth.
Personally, I’d refused to watch Disney animation and hadn’t shown it to my son when he was young because I saw much of it as minstrelsy by cartoon.
The company has a lot to make up for, but more broadly, Princess and the Frog has the potential to create a whole new genre of stories not only in animation, but also video games and the new venue of webcasts.
Black life is amazingly complex and rich with irony, humor and intensity. Bringing it to life in an authentic way will transform the industry.
The symposium Innovation & Equity: 10th annual 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 will explore how to create new ventures in gaming, robotics and interactivity with a distinguished panel including Andrew Williams, associate professor of computer science at Spelman College; Corey Rosemond, global gaming group manager of Microsoft, Elva Jones, professor of computer science at Winston-Salem State University; Juan Gilbert, chair of human-centered computing at Clemson University and Joseph Saulter, CEO of Entertainment Arts Research Inc.
The culture of New Orleans is just a sample of the stories which beg to be told in film and animation in locales across the United States and globally.
Presenting those images will be a major driver of entrepreneurship and employment at a time when both are solely needed.
Energy to fuel jobs
December 13, 2009
To meet the goals of the upcoming Copenhagen agreement, major changes in industry and residential practices will be required. Eric Smith is one of a growing number of African-Americans insisting that black communities share in that business. He runs Green Depot – San Francisco, a 501(c)(3), non-profit, public benefit corporation funded by an environmental justice grant from the San Francisco Department of the Environment and the Woodbury Fund. Its mission is to bring the economic, health, and environmental benefits of biodiesel to San Francisco residents, focusing on some of the neighborhoods hardest hit by toxic diesel pollution – Bayview Hunters Point and Potrero. Green Depot is also the home of the SF Biofuels Cooperative and the Biofuel Recycling Cooperative, co-creators of the SF Greasecycle program.
Others include Lori Perine, one of the 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology and co-founder of TrueCarbon.org, and Sonja Ebron’s blackenergy.com.
For the average consumer, the relevant issue is saving money, which has been a selling point for blackenergy.com.
To make a significant dent in black unemployment, there must be significant growth in the number and scale of black businesses engaged in renewable energy and energy conservation.
Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Progam
November 25, 2009
288.706 Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Program.–
(1) The Legislature finds that it is in the interest of the public welfare to meaningfully assist minority business enterprises that are vital to the overall economy of this state. It is the intent of the Legislature to promote diversity in state contracting by eliminating barriers to minority business enterprises providing goods and services to this state. Finally, the Legislature recognizes the contribution of minority business enterprises to employment opportunities in this state.
(2) The Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Program is created to promote the development of minority business enterprises, as defined in s. 288.703(2), increase the ability of minority business enterprises to compete for state contracts, and sustain the economic growth of minority business enterprises in this state. The goal of the program is to assist minority business enterprises by facilitating working capital loans to minority business enterprises that are vendors on state agency contracts. The Department of Management Services shall administer the program.
(3) Notwithstanding ss. 215.422(14) and 216.181(16), and pursuant to s. 216.351, under the Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Program, a state agency may disburse up to 10 percent of the base contract award amount to assist a minority business enterprise vendor that is awarded a state agency contract for goods or services in obtaining working capital financing as provided in subsection (5).
(4) Notwithstanding ss. 215.422(14) and 216.181(16), and pursuant to s. 216.351, in lieu of applying for participation in the Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Program, a minority business enterprise vendor awarded a state agency contract for the performance of professional services may apply with that contracting state agency for up to 5 percent of the base contract award amount. The contracting state agency may award such advance in order to facilitate the performance of that contract.
(5) The following Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Program procedures apply to minority business enterprise vendors for contracts awarded by a state agency for construction or professional services or for the provision of goods or services:
(a) Upon receipt of an award of a prime contract or subcontract, a minority business enterprise vendor may seek to obtain working capital financing from a participating financial institution. The minority business enterprise vendor shall complete all the necessary requirements of the participating financial institution in order to obtain a working capital agreement. A minority business enterprise vendor shall only be entitled to participate in the program if a working capital agreement is established with a participating financial institution.
(b) The working capital agreement may provide for a line of credit that is no less than 125 percent and no more than 200 percent of the designated loan mobilization payment described in paragraph (c).
(c) The designated loan mobilization payment is that portion of the base contract award amount that is to be disbursed by the agency under this section. The actual amount of the designated loan mobilization payment shall be no less than $5,000 and no greater than $250,000. The amount of the designated loan mobilization payment shall be:
1. No less than 5 percent and no more than 10 percent of the base contract award amount between the minority business enterprise prime contract vendor and the contracting state agency; or
2. No less than 5 percent and no more than 10 percent of the base contract award amount between a minority business enterprise subcontract vendor and a minority business enterprise or nonminority business enterprise prime contract vendor.
(d) The designated loan mobilization payment shall be disbursed pursuant to the working capital agreement and this subsection and shall be made payable by the contracting state agency to the minority business enterprise prime contract vendor and the participating financial institution using the tax identification number of the minority business enterprise vendor that is the debtor under the working capital agreement.
(e) The following procedures shall apply when the minority business enterprise is the prime contract vendor to the contracting state agency:
1. Pursuant to s. 216.351, the provisions of ss. 215.422(14) and 216.181(16) do not apply to this paragraph.
2. For construction contracts, the designated loan mobilization payment shall be disbursed when:
a. The minority business enterprise prime contract vendor requests disbursement in the first application for payment.
b. The contracting state agency has issued a notice to proceed and has approved the first application for payment.
3. For contracts other than construction contracts, the designated loan mobilization payment shall be disbursed when:
a. The minority business enterprise prime contract vendor requests disbursement by letter delivered to the contracting state agency after the execution of the contract but prior to the commencement of work.
b. The contracting state agency has approved the minority business enterprise prime contract vendor’s letter of request.
4. The designated loan mobilization payment may be paid by the contracting state agency prior to the commencement of work. In order to ensure that the contract time provisions do not commence until the minority business enterprise prime contract vendor has adequate working capital, the contract documents may provide that the contract shall commence at such time as the contracting state agency releases the designated loan mobilization payment to the minority business enterprise prime contract vendor and participating financial institution pursuant to the working capital agreement.
(f) The following procedures shall apply when the minority business enterprise is the subcontract vendor:
1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “minority business enterprise subcontract vendor” is limited to subcontractors and suppliers to prime contract vendors that contract with a state agency.
2. A designated loan mobilization payment for a minority business enterprise subcontract vendor shall be made:
a. Upon approval by the contracting state agency of a letter from the minority business enterprise subcontract vendor and prime contract vendor that requests the designated loan mobilization payment and that indicates that the prime contract vendor is on notice of the request.
b. Payable to the prime contract vendor and the participating financial institution, which shall pay these funds to the minority business enterprise subcontract vendor within 10 business days after the receipt of the funds from the state.
3. No prime contract vendor shall retain more than 5 percent of the amount earned by a minority business enterprise subcontract vendor participating in this program, except that if the prime contract vendor is also participating in this program, the amount the prime contract vendor retains shall be subject to the provisions governing prime contract vendors.
(6) All prime contract vendors shall be required to incorporate the designated loan mobilization payment procedures in subcontract agreements or purchase orders with minority business enterprise vendors participating in this program and to cooperate in the release of designated loan mobilization payments to achieve the objective of providing working capital for minority business enterprise subcontract vendors.
(7) The contracting state agency shall encourage prime contract vendors to make weekly or biweekly payments to minority business enterprise subcontract vendors participating in this program.
(8) The contracting state agency shall monitor compliance with this section. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit the contracting state agency’s right to insist upon strict compliance with the requirements of the contract documents.
(9) The contracting state agency shall not be a party to a working capital agreement between a participating financial institution and a participating minority business enterprise vendor. The participating financial institution shall notify the contracting state agency head of vendor program applications received by such institution.
(10) The Department of Management Services may adopt rules to implement the provisions of this section.
(11) The Department of Management Services shall maintain a listing of financial institutions willing to participate in the Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Program. This list of financial institutions shall not be exclusive. A minority business enterprise vendor who has a working relationship with a financial institution is encouraged to request that the financial institution apply to participate as a financial institution for the program.
(12) The Department of Management Services shall collaborate with the Florida Black Business Investment Board, Inc., and the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development to assist in the development and enhancement of black business enterprises.
History.–s. 1, ch. 2002-303; s. 1, ch. 2003-268; s. 4, ch. 2007-157.
Let’s try a real black Friday
November 23, 2009
On Tuesday, a coalition of civil rights groups plans to ask President Obama what he plans to do about the high unemployment in African-American communities.
Although the national rate is above 10 percent, most of the pain has been distributed among African-American workers, including 80,000 highly skilled information technology workers who do not have jobs in 2009 that they had in 2008, according to Silicon Ceiling 9: Equal Opportunity and High Technology.
Economists say the overall jobs picture will improve in the next quarter, just as the Gross Domestic Product moved into positive territory in the last quarter.
Beset with passing health care and tough decisions on Afghanistan and Iran, it is not likely that the President will choose to spend his political capital on a significant effort to boost black employment. Hate to burst the bubble of the folks wearing Obama T-shirts, which I haven’t seen a lot of lately, but that’s just the reality of the situation.
There is more promise in the efforts of the Congressional Black Caucus to insist that financial regulation provide tough accountability on fair lending to businesses and homeowners, thereby bringing more liquidity into our communities.
However, the solution is not going to come from Washington. Between now and Thursday, we will travel to gather with our relatives and loved ones to share a meal of Thanksgiving. That day, we understand the importance of sharing and supporting each other.
I’m suggesting that we carry that spirit over to Friday morning. Instead of rushing to the nearest department store early in the morning and buying something made overseas, sleep in late, or go to work and take the time to find an African-American business that you can make significant purchases from during the holiday season. If you can’t find anything else, join the NAACP to support their advocacy on our behalf or make an extra offering to your church or community group so that they can help the needy this winter.
In Oakland, CA, James Moore has made that simple with his 25th annual Kwanzaa Gift Show, which aggregates hundreds of vendors.
The spirit of National Black Business Month has encouraged groups around the country to organize buying clubs.
There’s only one sure way to reduce black unemployment. That is to increase the number and scale of African-American owned businesses.
Despite our rough times, African-American income in this country is larger than the entire American Reinvestment and Recovery Act budget. We need to definitely give thanks for the 30-fold increase from the $30 billion black income in 1968.
But if we really want to make the 30 million who perished in the Middle Passage smile, we’ll individually launch our own stimulus reinvestment in our own communities. You don’t need to overcome a Senate filibuster or have hearings in the House.
Remember that scene in New York last year, when people died trying to be first in line at a store.
Instead, you can leisurely take the time to enjoy or begin a relationship with a vendor whom you can be proud of, and continue to patronize all year. And whatever you buy, whether it be in person or online, will have a place of honor in your home or workplace.
In any event, this will be a buyer’s season and whatever discounts you might see on Friday will get even better as the holidays approach.
Let’s try a real black Friday.
Transforming the business landscape
November 19, 2009
Jumpstart sponsors this forum on Dec. 3
http://blog.jumpstartinc.org/index.php/archives/131
