Happy Friday! This week we are highlighting singer Miguel Jontel Pimentel, better known simply as Miguel. He is of Mexican American and African American descent. Miguel was born in San Pedro, California on October 23, 1985. He grew up there and attended and graduated from San Pedro High School. As Miguel grew up, he was exposed to a myriad of music genres. He listened to all different styles of music from Funk, Hip Hop and R&B, to Classic Rock and Jazz. Throughout high school, Miguel created music; and in [...]
Race-based Affirmative Action Supreme Court Decision Politico In 1996, voters in California approved Proposition 209, a ballot initiative that made the state the first in the country to ban race-based affirmative action in public universities. The proposition’s chief architect was Ward Connerly, a California businessman who championed the initiative as a member of the University of California’s Board of Regents. In the years since Prop 209’s passage, Connerly — now 84 years old — has risen to prominence as one of the most powerful and out-spoken opponents of affirmative action [...]
IT’S FAMOUS FRIDAY! Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals was born on December 19, 1963, and is an American actress. She made her film debut in My Bodyguard (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her performance as Alexandra Owens in Flashdance (1983). Beals was born and raised in the South side of Chicago, the daughter of Jeanne (née Anderson), an elementary school teacher, and Alfred Beals, who owned grocery stores Beals' father was African American, and her mother is Irish American. She has two brothers, Bobby and Gregory.[5] Her father died when Beals was nine. Beals had a minor role in the 1980 film My [...]
FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU I received a survey from the Census Bureau this week just because I am on their mailing list. It had the following questions: What sex were you assigned at birth, on your original birth certificate? Male Female Do you currently describe yourself a male, female, or transgender? Select all that apply. Male Female Transgender I use a different term, please specify: ______________ Are you of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin? Yes No What is your race? Please select one or more. White Black or African [...]
Hispanic Population Surpasses White Population in Texas Hispanic Texans are now the largest demographic group in the state, outnumbering white Texans by nearly 129,000 people, according to the latest U.S. census estimates. We are interested in the way the U. S. Census Bureau continues to avoid using the appropriate, respectful terminology for the Multiracial population. The notes to the most recent statistics include this: The “other” category includes people who are American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, or two or more races, excluding those who [...]
Ahead of Juneteenth, congressional lawmakers again seek to remove exception for slavery from US Constitution A group of Democratic lawmakers has reintroduced a joint resolution to negate a clause in the 13th Amendment of the Constitution that permits slavery or involuntary servitude “as a punishment for crime.” The “Abolition Amendment” was introduced on Wednesday ahead of Juneteenth – the national holiday commemorating the end of slavery – by Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Nikema Williams of Georgia. The 13th Amendment presently says, “Neither slavery nor involuntary [...]
A Michigan school cut a 7-year-old biracial girl's hair, but she won in the end Yahoo News spoke to Jurnee Hoffmeyer about hair discrimination — a day before Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the Crown Act into law. Michigan girl, Jurnee Hoffmeyer, before and after her hair was cut on school property. (Hoffmeyer family) In March 2021, Jurnee Hoffmeyer, a biracial 7-year-old, had her hair cut by staff at her elementary school. She knew this didn’t seem right — and questioned why they were doing this to her. “It made [...]
It’s Famous Friday!
Happy Friday everyone! I’m AJ Rempel, highlighting Miles Morales, a comic book superhero. Miles Morales is a teenage superhero and one of the many variants of Spiderman. Miles is Puerto Rican and Black, he was the first Black Spiderman and first biracial Spiderman being introduced in a comic in August 2011. After this Miles made a couple more appearances in tv shows like Ultimate Spider-Man where he would make a cameo in season 3 and season 4, he would also be the main character in Sony’s video game Spider-Man Miles [...]
The Supreme Court issued a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty by rejecting all the constitutional challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in Brackeen v. Haaland, requiring state courts to make active efforts to protect Native children and keep Native families together. Congress passed ICWA in 1978 to address the nationwide crisis of state child welfare agencies tearing Native children from their families and placing them in non-Native homes, in an attempt to force Native children to assimilate and adopt white cultural norms. So much for interracial families!