POPS.LIFE

Born on this day…

October 17, 1956

Mae Carol Jemison: Physician, Astronaut (first Black woman to travel in space)

Books:

Find Where The Wind Goes: Moments From My Life

The 100 Year Starship

Journey Through Our Solar System

Exploring Our Sun

Discovering New Planets

Quote:

“Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.”

Additional Quick Read:

Meet a Super Scientist!

Photograph by Lydia Kearney Carlis. Photo courtesy of Kearney family. 

Thomas James (TJ) Kearney, an Arkansas sharecropper and descendent of Arkansas slaves, at age 105, holding his youngest great-grandchild at the time, who was less than one-year old. TJ lived to be 107. He and his wife had 19 children, 18 of whom graduated college. The majority went on to receive advanced degrees, becoming lawyers, judges, and public servants. Several worked in President Clinton’s Arkansas administration, with two joining him in his presidential administration.

When I captured this image, I was struck by all of the history my grandfather had experienced, evident in every line and wrinkle. And, that was juxtaposed with all of the unbridled possibilities available to his children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren because of his life’s work, accomplished largely through the sweat of TJ’s brow, with hands literally on the plow.

“A lot of the books featuring lesbian, gay and queer-headed families are based on a narrative of bullying and harassment,” noted the Toronto-based transgender activist.

“We need books that are celebratory, inclusive, fun and engaging enough to be interesting to kids with straight or cisgender parents, too.”

So, Bergman decided to do something about it: he and his husband started their own publishing company, Flamingo Rampant, through a Kickstarter campaign.  

You might be an autism parent if… Double tap if you liked this post

Cosplaying families are awesome families and this particular family has pulled off some of the best Simpsons cosplay we’ve seen yet. Look closely and you’ll notice that the dad fully committed to his role as Homer Simpson by shaving his head to look like he has Homer’s sparse, stylized combover. (We’ll just assume that Bart was out playing with Milhouse and Maggie was down for a nap when the photo was taken.)

Photo shared by Redditor Ze-skywalker.

The girls have been invited to a roller skating birthday party- ahhh!  Two 3-year olds, one with special needs (aka acts bananas), a wide open space to run away from me, and I’m supposed to get roller skates on them, then chase them around?

Born on this day…

October 13, 1902

Arnaud Wendell Bontemps: Poet, Author, Educator, & Librarian

Selected Titles:

Popo and Fifina

The Fast Sooner Hound 

Bubber Goes to Heaven

Drums at Dusk: A Novel

God Sends Sunday:  A Novel

Black Thunder: Gabriel’s Revolt: Virginia, 1800

Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers

Quote:

“How dare anyone, parent, schoolteacher, or merely literary critic, tell me not to act colored.”

Additional Quick Read:

Arna Bontemps: Documenting the Harlem Renaissance

CALL TO ACTION

OCT 20 - NATIONWIDE

#99Seconds Event

Truth In Reality, in conjunction with the Ferguson Response Network, has partnered to host our signature #99Seconds event on October 20, 2016 in ten cities across the U.S.  The name #99Seconds is based on the fact that in the US a woman is sexually assaulted every 90 seconds and battered every 9 seconds.

This national initiative to honor the experiences of survivors of domestic and sexual violence is being held in light of the recent controversy around director, writer and actor Nate Parker’s film Birth of a Nation and his sexual assault trial.  With very little exception, the entire narrative has been focused on the accused perpetrators. Truth In Reality CEO Sil Lai Abrams and Ferguson Response Network founder Leslie MacFadyen decided to partner on this initiative in an effort to challenge society’s tendency to erase or silence victims and survivors by re-centering them and providing a platform for their voices and experiences to be heard.

The current list of cities hosting events (in formation) are:

New York, NY

Houston, TX

Chicago, IL

Charlotte, NC

Baltimore, MD

Grand Rapids, MI

Washington, DC

Minneapolis, MN

Exact locations and times will be announced shortly.

If you would like to host your own #99Seconds event, download the #99Seconds Event Overview, Event Run of Show, and submit your event details to: http://bit.ly/FergusonNatlReponseForm

Jozef Jason came to the Fuller Cut barbershop for one reason: the kid’s mohawk. It’s almost second-grade picture day and he wants to look good. He hops up onto an antique swivel chair and asks his barber for the new ‘do.

“It’s high on the top and short on the bottom, and lines that go in a diagonal line where the top is gonna be,” explains the 7-year-old.

Jozef came for the mohawk, but his dad, Keith Jason, chose this barbershop over all the others in Ypsilanti — a working-class town just outside of Ann Arbor, Mich. — for a different reason. At the Fuller Cut, kids get a $2 discount if they read a book aloud to their barber.

“It’s an amazing thing,” Jason says. “It’s helping my pockets, it’s helping their education and it’s helping prepare a better future for them, so I love it.”

This program made its way to Ypsilanti because of Ryan Griffin, who’s been cutting mohawks, fades and tapers here for 20 years. He says he first read about a similar literacy program in Harlem, N.Y., so he asked his boss if they could replicate it. Within a few weeks people in the area were donating books to the cause.

Choose A Book And Read To Your Barber, He’ll Take A Little Money Off The Top