Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 4-4-17

HBCU News
Grambling Grad Is Executive Producer Of BET’s New Series ‘Rebel’
Xavier vs. Grambling State University graduate, Randy Hug- gins is the executive producer and writer of BET’s new series, ‘Rebel’ starring Danielle Mone’ Truitt.
U. S. Senator Kamala Harris Will Be Howard University’s 2017 Commencement Speaker
Howard University an- nounced last Wednesday that Senator Kamala D. Harris will deliver the keynote address during Howard University’s 149th Commencement Convoca- tion on Saturday, May 13, 2017.
Senator Harris will address members of the Class of 2017 along with their families, univer- sity trustees, officers, faculty, staff, and alumni.
“Throughout her trailblazing career, Senator Harris has demonstrated her commitment to youth in a variety of ways,” said Howard’s president, Dr. Frederick. “She is a leader in mentorship programs, has au- thored legislation to fight child
U. S. Senator Kamala Harris from California will be the speaker.
exploitation and unashamedly shattered both racial and gender barriers.”
Senator Harris is both the first African-American and first woman to serve as Attorney
General for the State of Califor- nia. She is also the second African-American woman in his- tory to be elected to the United States Senate.
Throughout her career, Har- ris—a lifelong public safety and civil rights leader—has worked diligently to advocate for chil- dren and students.
She established California’s Bureau of Children’s Justice and fought to reduce elementary school truancy so that every Cal- ifornia student can exercise his or her constitutional right to an education. As Attorney General, Harris successfully sued preda- tory for-profit colleges that scam students and veterans.
Grambling State alum, Randy Huggins told Rollingout last week, how proudhewastobeapartofthe production of BET’s new breakout series ‘Rebel’.
Huggins stated, ‘that the only reason he became a writer was because of his experience at his alma mater Grambling State University.’
During his time at the uni- versity he took theatre courses as electives and one of his classmates, Erica Wright, now known as singer and en- tertainer, Erykah Badu, told him he should start writing down his thoughts and ideas because she’d never heard such crazy stories.
“Twenty-five years later, here I am,” Huggins said. “She was the first person to en- courage me to write.”
Huggins is a native of De- troit, received his B.A. in His- tory from GSU. After graduating he taught third grade and fifth grade in the Detroit public school system prior to relocating to Los An- geles, where he currently lives with his wife, Korin.
He has had the opportunity to write and produce for hit shows such as “The Shield”, “Crash”, “The Unit”, “Trauma”, “Criminal Minds”, and “Prime Suspect” before
landing on STARZ hit drama series “Power,” starring Omari Hardwick.
“How I became a part of ‘Rebel’ was, during a business meeting I was asked to pitch my idea of the series, which meant I had to come up with a story on the fly,” Huggins said. “I did and they approved me, then we all walked into BET to do the same. We were blessed to get the green light.”
Huggins is now the execu- tive producer for ‘Rebel’, which made it’s debut March 28 at 9 p.m. EST.
Along with Huggins, Dal- las Jackson is also an execu- tive producer with music for the pilot composed by soulful artist Jill Scott.
Rebel is a John Singleton drama series, (his first-ever TV series) which stars Danielle Moné Truitt as Rebecca “Rebel” Cole, Brandon Quinn as Michael “Mack” McIntyre, Angela Ko as Cheena Lin, Mykelti Williamson as Mr. Rene Knight, Cliff “Method Man” Smith as Terrance “TJ” Jenkins, Giancarlo Esposito as Charles Gold, Mikelen Walker as Malik Knight, LaTanya Richard- son as Detective Jones, Lauren London as Kim, and Tamala Jones as Jackie.
Terrence J Is Ambassador For American Black Film Festival’s (ABFF) First Greenlight Academy
North Carolina A&T grad,
Terrence ‘Terrence J’ Jenk- ins has taken on the role of am- bassador for The American Black Film Festival’s (ABFF) first ABFF Greenlighters Acad- emy.
The academy is a new educa- tional and career development initiative targeted to African American college students with an interest in pursuing executive careers in film and television.
This is a pipeline program that inspires its participants to be- come heads of various divisions within the Hollywood studio sys- tem and nurtures future film and television executives who will be leaders of this industry.
The inaugural Greenlighters Academy launched in Los Ange- les this month.
As the first official program under the new ABFF INSPIRES umbrella, the ABFF Green- lighters Academy will educate students on the inner workings of the film and television busi-
Terrence J attended HBCU North Carolina A&T in Greens- boro, NC. He is an actor and producer and ABFF’s first am- bassador for its Greenlight Academy.
ness while granting them access to leading industry experts who will share valuable career build- ing tips, along with guidance based on their own career trajec- tories.
Terrence recognizes the im- portance of giving back and helping African American stu- dents understand the corporate side of the film and television in- dustry. Through his company, Jenkins Entertainment Group, Terrence has been optioned to develop and executive produce original content for both MTV
and VH1.
Terrence also took his tal-
ents to the silver screen and starred in such films as Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, Think Like A Man, Baggage Claim, The Perfect Match, and more.
Past television hosting jobs have included BET’s popular music countdown show, 106 & Park and E! News’ daily enter- tainment news show.
Terrence will host the two- day intensive boot camp in Los Angeles where students will at- tend sessions with top corporate entertainment executives, agents, department heads, and production company owners.
“I am happy to partner with the ABFF on the Greenlighters Academy. While in college, I al- ways searched for information on how to break into Hollywood. This program is the answer and I look forward to being a part of the next generation of entertain- ment business executives,” says Terrence Jenkins.
Advocates: HBCUs Take A Devastating Hit In Trump’s Budget
President Donald Trump previewed a budget plan “that could have a severe impact on black colleges” earlier last week, according to HBCU advocates. Briana Thomas writes at Capital News Service that Trump’s “America First” proposal “decreases Department of Education funding by 13 per- cent, leaving some programs that support minority students unfunded.”
President Donald Trump’s so-called “skinny budget” proposes spending cuts that could have a severe impact on black colleges, according to advocates for those institutions.
The $9 billion budget cut to the Department of Education in- cludes a “devastating hit” for black colleges, said Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., co-chairman of the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus.”
Black college students who rely on Pell Grants and finan- cial aid will suffer with the cuts.
Chairman of the Congres- sional Black Caucus Rep. Cedric Richmond said in a statement that Trump’s “skinny budget” does more harm than good for the Black commu- nity.
“Trump’s budget proposes to maintain $492 million funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority- Serving Institutions, but drasti- cally cuts the federal programs that serve these institutions and their students.
“This budget proposal is not a new deal for African Americans. It’s a raw deal that robs the poor and the middle-class to pay the richest of the rich,” Richmond said.”
“Our students need access to financial aid so they are not bur- dened by crushing debt after graduation,” University of Mary- land Eastern Shore President Juliette Bell explained.
Bell added: “Infrastructure enhancements, support for re- search and innovation, and year- round Pell Grants are some of the needs.”
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