Pinterest and The Knot will change how they promote plantation weddings

Two well-liked wedding sites have agreed to change their policies around how they market former slave plantations after they were contacted and urged to do so by Color of Change, a national civil rights organization that shines a light on injustices and challenges discriminatory people, organizations and practices.

The Knot Worldwide, which owns The Knot and Wedding Wire, and Pinterest have agreed to stop promoting former slave plantations as romantic wedding sites and/or to alter the romanticized language that these venues are allowed to use on their web sites to try and attract couples, according to BuzzFeed.

READ MORE: Nicki Minaj’s mother drops Gospel single and dishes on her daughter’s surprise wedding

“Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. Plantations represent none of those things,” a spokesperson from Pinterest emailed to BuzzFeed. “We are working to limit the distribution of this content and accounts across our platform, and continue to not accept advertisements for them.”

Pinterest added in its email to NBC News that they are “grateful to Color of Change for bringing attention to this disrespectful practice.”

Pinterest says it will revise its policies to now restrict former plantation wedding content on its website and will also turn off search recommendations to these sites. Users will still be able to hop on Google and look at former slave plantation venues on Pinterest, however, those searches will soon be accompanied by an advisory warning that some content may violate Pinterest’s policies. Pinterest also vowed to no longer run advertisements on plantation search results so it will no longer make money from these venues.

Although The Knot will still allow former slave plantations to advertise on its sites as wedding venues, it will alter the flowery adjectives these venues can use. The Knot is working with Color of Change on its updates, but said its new language rules would also apply to all wedding venues advertising on its sites and not just former slave plantations to try and thwart any effort from former plantations to change its branding to something altogether different, like a manor, according to NBC News.

“Color of Change brought an issue to light about the way venues with a history of slavery describe their properties to couples. We’re currently working with Color of Change to create additions to our current content guidelines that will ensure all couples feel welcomed and respected on our sites,” according to a statement The Knot released to NBC News.

Arisha Hatch, vice president at Color Of Change, said the civil rights organization is attempting to draw attention to “all the different ways that the wedding industry is disrespecting Black folks by romanticizing forced labor camps that brutalized millions of slaves.” One way the organization is doing this is to show that this sort of thing would never be allowed to occur at former concentration camps.

“If we were talking about concentration camps, it would be weird and disrespectful and egregious for folks to be seeking to have their weddings at these locations,” Hatch said in an email to theGrio.

READ MORE: Color of Change demands Comcast withdraw its Supreme Court challenge to the Civil Rights Act of 1866

Color of Change also reached out to Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides magazine, and Zola, but the organization said so far Pinterest and The Knot are the only two that have responded.

Might be time to see if their advertisers will respond.

The post Pinterest and The Knot will change how they promote plantation weddings appeared first on theGrio.

from theGrio https://ift.tt/2YtOCk1

Sen. Cory Booker Reveals $100B Plan to Invest in HBCUs

According to The Hill, presidential hopeful Cory Booker has put forth a $100 billion plan to invest in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Booker is a current New Jersey senator (since 2013) who previously served as the 36th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 2006 to 2013. He is currently running to become the second black president of the United States.

As the son of two proud HBCU grads (@FISK1866 and @NCCU!), I’m proud to announce that today my campaign is proposing the boldest-ever plan to invest in HBCUs: https://t.co/j7kpKmGRjV

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 3, 2019

Sen. Booker has outlined his HBCUs and MSIs plan:

Ensure that HBCUs and MSIs (minority-serving institutions) are able to provide a world-class education in world-class facilities:

• Build on the investments of the Future Act by investing an additional $30 billion in competitively-awarded grants by the Department of Education to enable HBCUs and MSIs to expand and improve STEM education and help with recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. Importantly, an investment of this scale would provide schools the security of funding for years to come, avoiding a situation where STEM funding for HBCUs can be held hostage by Congressional Republicans seeking leverage to push their legislative agenda. 
• Provide $30 billion in grants to upgrade infrastructure, including facilities and technology, at HBCUs and MSIs to ensure all students have access to a world-class education in world-class facilities.
• Build on his bill, the HBCU Capital Financing Improvement Act, which would allow more institutions to access financing to improve or construct classrooms, libraries, laboratories, dormitories, instructional equipment, and research instrumentation. Cory would also double the total amount of loans available through the HBCU Capital Financing Program.     

Related: Dell Technologies Builds Tech Pipeline for Black and Latinx Students

Put HBCUs at the center of the fight against climate change:

• Booker will require that at least 10% of his $400 billion 50-State Climate Moonshot Hubs are based in HBCUs and MSIs. Each hub would be focused on reasserting our global leadership in Research and Development (R&D) and leading the way in tackling the most important challenges in basic science, applied research, manufacturing, and commercialization.

Expand collaboration between HBCUs and federal agencies:

• Sign into law the Parren Mitchell Minority Business Education and Empowerment Act, a bill proposed by former Rep. Elijah Cummings that would require the SBA to collaborate with HBCUs to establish Small Business Development Centers and develop entrepreneurship curricula. 
• Fight to pass the HBCU PARTNERS Act, which would direct federal agencies to make a concerted effort to support HBCU participation in federal programs and grants.

Make college affordable for all Americans:

• Fight to pass the Debt-Free College Act, which would help students who attend public colleges, HBCUs, or MSIs graduate without debt by providing public funding to cover the full cost of college, including tuition, fees, and living expenses.
• Double the value of Pell Grants from $6,200 to $12,400, which about three in four students at HBCUs rely upon, and ensure that Dreamers are eligible to receive them. He would also fight to pass the Restoring Education and Learning Act to extend eligibility to incarcerated individuals. And, Cory would require that HBCUs and MSIs make up 10% of higher education institutions in the Second Chance Pell Grant Program.
• Work with Congress to pass the What You Can Do for Your Country Act, which would strengthen and expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program that provides debt cancellation to those who enter public service like teachers, social workers, public defenders and those who serve in the military. Borrowers would have their student debt cut in half after five years in public service and receive full debt forgiveness after 10 years in public service. Cory will also fight for his STRIVE Act, which would forgive loans for teachers incrementally and provide full forgiveness after seven years.
• Forgive student loan debt for low-income students who are struggling to repay their debt and for those who received degrees from failed for-profit colleges. 
• Make it easier to apply for student aid by simplifying the FAFSA for low-income students who qualify for other programs, as in his Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act. He would also make the FAFSA more accessible for all by removing the prior drug conviction question on the FAFSA.
• Ensure access to affordable child care at HBCUs, community colleges, and other MSIs and invest in the child care workforce by passing his Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers (PROSPECT) Act, which provides grants to MSIs and community colleges for student parents who need child care and invests in infant and toddler educators. 

Read more about his plan here.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2RmtlqF

Sen. Cory Booker Reveals $100B Plan to Invest in HBCUs

According to The Hill, presidential hopeful Cory Booker has put forth a $100 billion plan to invest in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Booker is a current New Jersey senator (since 2013) who previously served as the 36th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 2006 to 2013. He is currently running to become the second black president of the United States.

As the son of two proud HBCU grads (@FISK1866 and @NCCU!), I’m proud to announce that today my campaign is proposing the boldest-ever plan to invest in HBCUs: https://t.co/j7kpKmGRjV

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 3, 2019

Sen. Booker has outlined his HBCUs and MSIs plan:

Ensure that HBCUs and MSIs (minority-serving institutions) are able to provide a world-class education in world-class facilities:

• Build on the investments of the Future Act by investing an additional $30 billion in competitively-awarded grants by the Department of Education to enable HBCUs and MSIs to expand and improve STEM education and help with recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. Importantly, an investment of this scale would provide schools the security of funding for years to come, avoiding a situation where STEM funding for HBCUs can be held hostage by Congressional Republicans seeking leverage to push their legislative agenda. 
• Provide $30 billion in grants to upgrade infrastructure, including facilities and technology, at HBCUs and MSIs to ensure all students have access to a world-class education in world-class facilities.
• Build on his bill, the HBCU Capital Financing Improvement Act, which would allow more institutions to access financing to improve or construct classrooms, libraries, laboratories, dormitories, instructional equipment, and research instrumentation. Cory would also double the total amount of loans available through the HBCU Capital Financing Program.     

Related: Dell Technologies Builds Tech Pipeline for Black and Latinx Students

Put HBCUs at the center of the fight against climate change:

• Booker will require that at least 10% of his $400 billion 50-State Climate Moonshot Hubs are based in HBCUs and MSIs. Each hub would be focused on reasserting our global leadership in Research and Development (R&D) and leading the way in tackling the most important challenges in basic science, applied research, manufacturing, and commercialization.

Expand collaboration between HBCUs and federal agencies:

• Sign into law the Parren Mitchell Minority Business Education and Empowerment Act, a bill proposed by former Rep. Elijah Cummings that would require the SBA to collaborate with HBCUs to establish Small Business Development Centers and develop entrepreneurship curricula. 
• Fight to pass the HBCU PARTNERS Act, which would direct federal agencies to make a concerted effort to support HBCU participation in federal programs and grants.

Make college affordable for all Americans:

• Fight to pass the Debt-Free College Act, which would help students who attend public colleges, HBCUs, or MSIs graduate without debt by providing public funding to cover the full cost of college, including tuition, fees, and living expenses.
• Double the value of Pell Grants from $6,200 to $12,400, which about three in four students at HBCUs rely upon, and ensure that Dreamers are eligible to receive them. He would also fight to pass the Restoring Education and Learning Act to extend eligibility to incarcerated individuals. And, Cory would require that HBCUs and MSIs make up 10% of higher education institutions in the Second Chance Pell Grant Program.
• Work with Congress to pass the What You Can Do for Your Country Act, which would strengthen and expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program that provides debt cancellation to those who enter public service like teachers, social workers, public defenders and those who serve in the military. Borrowers would have their student debt cut in half after five years in public service and receive full debt forgiveness after 10 years in public service. Cory will also fight for his STRIVE Act, which would forgive loans for teachers incrementally and provide full forgiveness after seven years.
• Forgive student loan debt for low-income students who are struggling to repay their debt and for those who received degrees from failed for-profit colleges. 
• Make it easier to apply for student aid by simplifying the FAFSA for low-income students who qualify for other programs, as in his Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act. He would also make the FAFSA more accessible for all by removing the prior drug conviction question on the FAFSA.
• Ensure access to affordable child care at HBCUs, community colleges, and other MSIs and invest in the child care workforce by passing his Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers (PROSPECT) Act, which provides grants to MSIs and community colleges for student parents who need child care and invests in infant and toddler educators. 

Read more about his plan here.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2RmtlqF

New York City Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ Casts Charlotte Nebres as First Black Marie

Misty Copeland is an inspiration to the youth! According to The New York Times, the New York City Ballet has cast their very first black ballerina to play the character of Marie.

Eleven-year-old Charlotte Nebres is the first black girl to star in this year’s rendition of “The Nutcracker,” which has been ongoing since 1954. Nebres, whose mother’s family is from Trinidad and her father’s family is from the Philippines, attends the School of American Ballet.

In addition to Nebres securing a lead role in the ballet, the other young leads are Tanner Quirk (her Prince), who is half-Chinese; Sophia Thomopoulos (Marie), who is half-Korean, half-Greek; and Kai Misra-Stone (Sophia’s Prince), who is half-South Asian.

When Nebres was asked why ballet is important to her, she responded, “To me, it just feels like when I dance I feel free and I feel empowered. I feel like I can do anything when I dance. It makes me happy, and I’m going to do what makes me happy. You don’t need to think about anything else.”

NYC Ballet announced The New York Times story about the children cast on its Instagram account, “IN THE NEWS // The four children who alternate the roles of Marie and the Nutcracker Prince were recently profiled in The New York Times by Gia Kourlas. She sat down with them to discuss the rehearsal process, their lives off-stage, and their roles in the ballet.⁠”⠀

Misty Copeland became the first female African American principal at American Ballet Theater when Nebres was 6 and she remembers. “I saw her perform and she was just so inspiring and so beautiful,” she said. “When I saw someone who looked like me on stage, I thought, that’s amazing. She was representing me and all the people like me.”

School of American Ballet, which is the official school of New York City Ballet, is changing with the makeup of students attending. Over the past seven years, 62 S.A.B. students have become City Ballet apprentices; of those, 21 identify as nonwhite or mixed; and of those, 12 refer to themselves as black; four of them are women.

 George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® is one of the most complex theatrical, staged ballets in the Company’s active repertory. The popularity of the ballet is immense and it provides an unforgettable spark to everyone’s holiday season.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2Lp6zdV

New York City Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ Casts Charlotte Nebres as First Black Marie

Misty Copeland is an inspiration to the youth! According to The New York Times, the New York City Ballet has cast their very first black ballerina to play the character of Marie.

Eleven-year-old Charlotte Nebres is the first black girl to star in this year’s rendition of “The Nutcracker,” which has been ongoing since 1954. Nebres, whose mother’s family is from Trinidad and her father’s family is from the Philippines, attends the School of American Ballet.

In addition to Nebres securing a lead role in the ballet, the other young leads are Tanner Quirk (her Prince), who is half-Chinese; Sophia Thomopoulos (Marie), who is half-Korean, half-Greek; and Kai Misra-Stone (Sophia’s Prince), who is half-South Asian.

When Nebres was asked why ballet is important to her, she responded, “To me, it just feels like when I dance I feel free and I feel empowered. I feel like I can do anything when I dance. It makes me happy, and I’m going to do what makes me happy. You don’t need to think about anything else.”

NYC Ballet announced The New York Times story about the children cast on its Instagram account, “IN THE NEWS // The four children who alternate the roles of Marie and the Nutcracker Prince were recently profiled in The New York Times by Gia Kourlas. She sat down with them to discuss the rehearsal process, their lives off-stage, and their roles in the ballet.⁠”⠀

Misty Copeland became the first female African American principal at American Ballet Theater when Nebres was 6 and she remembers. “I saw her perform and she was just so inspiring and so beautiful,” she said. “When I saw someone who looked like me on stage, I thought, that’s amazing. She was representing me and all the people like me.”

School of American Ballet, which is the official school of New York City Ballet, is changing with the makeup of students attending. Over the past seven years, 62 S.A.B. students have become City Ballet apprentices; of those, 21 identify as nonwhite or mixed; and of those, 12 refer to themselves as black; four of them are women.

 George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® is one of the most complex theatrical, staged ballets in the Company’s active repertory. The popularity of the ballet is immense and it provides an unforgettable spark to everyone’s holiday season.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2Lp6zdV