Page 19 - Florida Sentinel 7-25-17

National
Named Interim President And CEO Of National NAACP
JACKSON, MS — Mississippi NAACP leader Derrick John- son has been named interim president and CEO of the na- tional NAACP.
The executive committee of the board of directors unani- mously selected Johnson, who currently serves as vice chair- man of the board.
In a statement released by the NAACP, Johnson called it "an honor and a privilege" to head the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and we won’t waste any time getting to it," he said. "We are facing unprece- dented threats to our democ- racy and we will not be sidelined while our rights are being eroded every day. We re- main steadfast and immovable, and stand ready on the front lines of the fight for justice.”
Mississippi NAACP leader Derrick Johnson named in- terim president and CEO of NAACP.
A week ago, Johnson talked to reporters about kicking off a national listening tour in Au- gust to help the civil rights or- ganization expand its reach, refine its message and re-ener- gize members.
The conference includes guest speakers of color from the Tech world. They include: Morgan De- Baun, CEO, Founder Blavity; Rodney Williams, CEO, Founder Lisnr; Christopher Gray, CEO, Founder Scholly and Ben Silbermann, CEO, Pinterest.
O. J. Simpson In Protective Custody After Being Granted Parole
LAS VEGAS, NV —- Follow- ing the Nevada parole board's decision on Thursday, O. J. Simpson is now in protective custody, having been moved to a separate part of the prison and removed from the general population, according to Ne- vada Department of Correc- tions spokesperson Brooke Keast.
But that's not sitting well with Simpson, according to his attorney Malcolm LaVergne.
"The only thing that's kind of a little bit disheartening for him is that he's had a change of custody status, and they are going to kind of change that for the next couple of months until he's released," LaVergne said. "He's had to move his cell to an area where he is a bit more pro- tected. There's good reason for that.
One of them is for his own safety and basically not to rile things up ... There is a legiti- mate concern about threats."
On Thursday, members of the Nevada Parole Board unan- imously voted to release O. J. Simpson from prison.
With the ruling, the 70-year- old Simpson, who was con- victed in 2008 of an armed robbery involving two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2007 will be released in October.
That year, Simpson had a meeting with a few memora- bilia dealers who he believed had stolen several items from him. The meeting turned vio- lent, and Simpson ran off with the disputed items in his possession. Days later, Simp- son was arrested, and later convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping. According to Simpson, the state of Califor- nia granted him permission to
O.J. Simpson was granted parole on Thursday after spending 9 years in prison for stealing his own memorabilia in 2007.
retrieve his property. Simpson was reportedly a
model prisoner while in jail, and many felt sorry for him.
Some believed that he was given a longer sentence than anyone else would have gotten facing the same charges given that he’d dodged jail time twice before.
Even one of the victims of his crime was in this camp — one of the dealers, Bruce Fromong, testified on Simp- son’s behalf during Thursday’s proceedings.
Members of Simpson’s family were on hand. His daughter, Arnelle Simpson, said, “As a family, we realize he is not the perfect man.” Still, she called him “my best friend and my rock.”
Simpson himself told the board, “I am sorry that things turned out the way they did,” and owned up to his actions. “I spent nine years making no ex- cuses about anything.”
When the final vote to grant parole was read after commis- sioners deliberated just over 30 minutes, Simpson lowered his head and then raised up with a big smile.
Largest Black Tech Conference Set For Nov. 10-11 In San Francisco
This year's AfroTech con- ference, the largest black tech conference in Silicon Valley is back. AfroTech celebrates in- novation, creation, and techies making waves with 2 days of lightning talks, work- shops and a pitch competi- tion on November 10-11, 2017 in San Francisco on Pier 27.
AfroTech is a conference where the founders and em- ployees of some of the fastest-growing tech startups who will present the tactics and strategies they use to grow their products and busi- nesses.
Conversations will range from raising venture funding, combining tech and culture, user design workshops and growth hacking. Afrotech speakers are top class entre- preneurs, CEOs, and innova- tors. The sessions include:
Design, Data and Engineering
Dive deep and learn from CTOs, designers and engi- neers of the world’s fastest growing startups and tech companies.
Entrepreneurs and Startups
In the trenches launching or scaling your business.
Learn from founders and early employees about what it takes to grow your startup, get capital and build a strong team.
Biz Dev, Ops, and Mar- keting
Businesses are only as good as the people on the team. This general track will discuss growth marketing and the challenges and issues growing companies have like hiring, operations and legal.
Collegiate (Sub track)
Students will pick a general track and are required to at- tend student sessions at the conference.
Spelman College Announces New Scholarship For LBGTQ Advocacy At HBCUs
Spelman College, one of the most esteemed HBCUs in the country, last week an- nounced a new scholarship program for its students, those who advocate for les- bian, gay, bisexual, transgen- der and questioning issues.
The Levi Watkins Jr. Scholars Program “will call attention to the importance of making visible the coura- geous and significant work of LGBTQ scholar activists within and beyond the acad- emy, especially at HBCUs,” said Spelman professor and alumna Beverly Guy-Shef- tall, who is founder of the Spelman Women’s Research and Resource Center.
Guy-Sheftall launched the scholars program and lec- ture series to explore contem- porary issues of race, gender and sexuality in May with a pledge of $100,000.
The man for whom the scholarship is named, Dr.
Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. was an honorary degree recipient at Spel man and a iconic surgeon.
Lee Watkins, was Guy- Sheftall’s cousin and a founding member of the Women’s Research and Re- source Center’s National Ad- visory Board. He was also a man who broke many barri- ers.
Dr. Watkins, a Spelman honorary degree recipient, was the first surgeon to suc- cessfully implant an auto- matic heart defibrillator in a human. He was also an influ- ential civil rights activist who helped open the door to hun-
dreds of students of color at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Follow- ing graduation from Vander- bilt University in 1970, where he was the first Black to grad- uate with a medical degree, Dr. Watkins went on to be- come the first Black chief res- ident of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. He later became a professor of cardiac surgery and associate dean at John Hopkins University School of Medicine.
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