Zora Ball: Seven and Splendid

Seven-year-old Zora Ball has become the youngest person to create a full-version mobile video game application.

The Philadelphia native presented her new app at University of Pennsylvania’s “Bootstrap Expo,” reports the Philadelphia Tribune.

Ball attends Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School, located in West Philadelphia.

Harambee is where Ball learned the Bootstrap programming language through the after-school program STEMnasium Learning Academy.

The STEMnasium program is 48 weeks and also teaches young students Mandarin Chinese.

“I am proud of all my students,” said Tariq Al-Nasir, science teacher and founder of the STEMnasium program.  ”Their dedication to this program is phenomenal, and they come to class every Saturday, including holiday breaks,” Al-Nasir told the Philadelphia Tribune.

Ball even proved to people attending the “Bootstrap Expo” that she was the app’s developer by reconfiguring her application upon request.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals. 

Now if only people could remember that Kim Kardashyho and Bouncy have nothing on a kid with brains…

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• COMMENTARY: Black 7-Year-Old Genius Invents Mobile Video Game (blackamericaweb.com)
• 7-Year-Old Zora Ball Is the World’s Youngest Game Programmer (jezebel.com)
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• Zora Ball, First Grader, Becomes Youngest Person To Develop Mobile Game App (PHOTO) (jtm71.wordpress.com)
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African American Scientists on their A-Game

Black Children Have Record-Breaking Participation In Science Fair

Science Fair (Photo credit: DML East Branch)

A record-breaking 80 students participated in California’s only African-American science fair, an annual function sponsored by Frank S. Green Scholars Program, at Cypress Semiconductor’s San Jose headquarters.

The students are on a mission to defy the common career paths of sports and music that society oftentimes pressures African-American children to pursue. ”A lot of people consider African-Americans not as smart, and I think showing somebody that, yes, we can do all these things, is important,” said twelve-year-old Natania JonesMitchell, who explained her absorption of light experiment in English and Spanish. When asked how she feels about being the only African-American girl in her grade at her middle school, the pre-teen replied: “Sometimes I get racist jokes, but it’s fun to know I’m different from everyone else — but still the same.”

Tenth grader Cialysiah Washington, can relate to JonesMitchell’s experience. She is one of only two African-Americans in her class. ”Just because I’m African-American, people think I can’t do chemistry. So when I do say I’m into chemistry, they are kind of surprised.” At the science fair, she explained the results of her project, which involved plunging her father’s feet in ice to test the ability of video games to distract from pain.

Founder Debra Watkins believes the program is a refuge of some sort for African-American children to feel comfortable with pursuing a career in the sciences. ”It’s a refuge,” Watkins said. “Sometimes they’re made to feel black people don’t do science. They hear: ‘Who do you think you are?‘ “

Related articles

• African-American science fair attracts record numbers of students to buck the odds in Silicon Valley (mercurynews.com)
• Kidney Disease Progresses Faster In African Americans Than Other Races (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Britney Exline, Nation’s Youngest African-American Engineer (newsone.com)
• Infographic: African-American Personal Finance ‘Down, Not Out’ (mryoungscholar.com)
• Exhibit to explore history of African-Americans in medicine during Civil War (thegrio.com)
• [Real Talk] Colorism: Racism from Inside the African American Culture – My American Story (midwyfecrisis.wordpress.com)

 

The Isiserettes: This is How WE do…

 

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America’s First Black Newspaper

Your Black History: Read About America’s First Black-Owned Newspaper

January 25, 2013 | Filed under: News | Posted by: trammell

By Victor Trammell

It is often humbling as an African-American to learn about the pioneers who paved the way for racial equality in various trades all across the board.

Presently, Floyd Mayweather is arguably the most dominant figure in the sport of boxing. However, the sacrifices of the late Jack Johnson definitely laid the groundwork for African-American boxers to receive the respect in the sport they earn today.

Beverly Johnson rose to fame as a model. She eventually became the first black model to appear on the cover of Vogue Magazine. Today, her line of beauty and hair products are a flourishing name brand. Madame C.J. Walker definitely pioneered the hair and beauty industry for black women in the early 20th century. Walker is also known as the first black female millionairess.

As a writer by trade, it behooved me to learn in my past about the people who pioneered a craft I have always enjoyed. Some of my idols include men like Lewis Diuguid and James Baldwin. But long before the published writings of those two men came about, the first black-owned newspaper vociferously delivered the honorable cause of black justice and independence in the early 19th century.

The news publication was called the Freedom’s Journal. This paper was founded on March 16, 1827 by Peter Williams Jr. and three other blacks. The founders chose two black social activists named John B. Russwurm and Samuel Cornish to be the editors of the newspaper. The problem with the so-called abolitionist newspapers of the time was that they often portrayed whites as the sole saviors chastened to the duty of aleviating the fearsome grip of white dehumanization of blacks.

In the historic first issue of the Freedom Journal the paper’s editors wrote:

“Too long have others spoken for us, too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations. We deem it expedient to establish a paper and bring into operation all the means with which our benevolent creator has endowed us, for the moral, religious, civil and literary improvement of our race.”

The Freedom Journal discontinued around two years after its foundation. However, the paper’s legacy of utilizing the freedoms of speech and free press definitely paved the way for myself and even the online publication I write for today.

 

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• Democracy, The Great Black Out (grinddaileyissues.com)
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Youngest Black Engineer: Brittney Exline

Meet the Youngest Black Engineer in America

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Brittney Exline is special, very special. She’s the Michael Jordan of intellectuals, and getting the attention that she deserves.  Brittney has been named, according to Ebony.com and other sources, to be the young black engineer in the entire United States.   At 19 years old, the University of Pennsylvania grad has achieved more than most will achieve in their lifetime.

In addition to being an extraordinary engineer, Brittney also speaks five languages.  She graduated with minors in five different fields, including Math, Psychology and Classical Studies.  She has worked on Wall Street and also participated in numerous beauty pageants.

As a college professor who’s seen a few young people with this kind of ability, there are a few things you should know.  Children like Brittney are not created by accident.  They are products of great parenting and tremendous guidance by the people who care enough to make the necessary investment. Brittney’s parents, Chyrese and Christopher Exline, deserve as much credit as Brittney herself, because they shaped her reality to be one where their daughter was firmly convinced that anything is possible if you simply put your mind to it.

“I made sure they remained committed even when they wanted to quit,” said Brittney’s mother.   “They learned you can’t quit an activity just because it’s hard. Sometimes you need to stick with something. That’s the only way to learn how to persevere and overcome true obstacles. Eventually, it becomes a part of you. I believe this.”

The second secret about women like Brittney is that there are young people all around us with just as much capacity for greatness.  In too many cases, the child’s greatness is killed off like some kind of virus long before it ever has a chance to develop.  Their potential can also be misguided into some other set of meaningless activities, like running out to the club or dribbling basketballs for a stadium full of white peoople.  Sometimes, the child’s greatness is not activated because the carrier has been trained to sit hypnotized on the couch watching BET for 12 hours a day.  Most of the Brittney Exlines of the black community are physically, spiritually, intellectually and socially aborted before they even get a chance to be great.

So, the most extraordinary thing about Brittney’s story is not what she puts on her resume.  It is the fact that her greatness was nurtured and developed in a way that allows all of us to see just how special this woman was meant to be.  There is probably a Brittney Exline in your own son or daughter and it is your decision to activate that which makes him/her special.  Also, by simply setting high expectations for our kids and pushing them to be their best, we can give them a chance to live as leaders and not as sheep.  This is as much a spiritual exercise as it is an intellectual one, for your passion serves as the fuel for nearly all intellectual endeavors.

For those who are interested in what it takes to produce extraordinary children, I recently conducted an interview with Dr. Mary Stoddard for PurposefulParents.com.  Dr. Stoddard is one of 15 children, all of whom started as share croppers in Louisiana.  Not only did she and all of her siblings graduate from college, but she herself earned both a PhD and law degree.  Also, each of her five children has excelled academically:  Her oldest child is finishing her PhD, her second child is two years from finishing a doctorate, and the rest are doing outstanding things in their own right.  Dr. Stoddard is a reminder that great children are not created by accident; they are created by parents who know that their kids have a purpose.

 

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D J Focus

15-Year-Old Kelvin Doe is an engineering whiz living in Sierra Leone who scours the trash bins for spare parts, which he uses to build batteries, generators and transmitters. Completely self-taught, Kelvin has created his own radio station where he broadcasts news and plays music under the moniker, DJ Focus.

Kelvin became the youngest person in history to be invited to the “Visiting Practitioner’s Program” at MIT. THNKR had exclusive access to Kelvin and his life-changing journey – experiencing the US for the first time, exploring incredible opportunities, contending with homesickness, and mapping out his future.

 

Ms Ruby Dee – 90 Years Old Today

 

 

Happy 90th Ruby Dee! Actress, activist & legend Ruby Dee celebrated her 90th bday this week hosted by a bevy of stars.

 

The event premiered an excerpt from a documentary on her life w/ late husband Ossie Davis.

 

The iconic trailblazer was saluted by ex NYC Mayor David Dinkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett & others. Join us in saluting the queen–happy bday Ruby Dee!

 

 

 

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Visit Freedom from Mental Slavery on Delphiforums

FREEDOM FROM MENTAL SLAVERY

 

Rochelle Ballantyne: TO BECOME THE FIRST BLACK FEMALE CHESS MASTER!

BROOKLYN TEEN ON TRACK TO BECOME THE FIRST BLACK FEMALE CHESS MASTER!

Learn more about the amazing Rochelle Ballantyne below.

From Clutch Magazine: Rochelle Ballantyne, 17, of Brooklyn is taking the chess world by storm. She is on the verge of becoming the first African-American female chess master and her journey has been documented in the film, Brooklyn Castle. Brooklyn Castle tells the stories of five members of the chess team at I.S. 318 middle school in Brooklyn. The film follows the challenges these kids face in their personal lives as well as on the chessboard, and is as much about the sting of their losses as it is about the anticipation of their victories. Ironically, the biggest obstacle thrust upon them arises not from other competitors but from recessionary budget cuts to all the extracurricular activities at their school.

http://thegrio.com/2012/10/29/brooklyn-teen-rochelle-ballantyne-on-path-to-become-first-black-female-chess-master/#s:chess-2

 

 

You Just Never Know …