Tag: jessicajohnson

For the past two years, students in my Black history sports icons course have watched Regina King’s Academy-nominated film “One Night in Miami” to begin our section on Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay.

A significant number of Gen Z Americans and college students appear to be doing a “pivot” back to religion, according to Jay Richards, the director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion and Family at the Heritage Foundation.

One of the Black history documentaries that I had marked on my to-see list is the recently released PBS “Gospel” series that is hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

Controversy has arisen again regarding the upcoming performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” that is scheduled for Super Bowl 58. During last year’s game, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also referred to as the “Black national anthem,” was sung by Sheryl Lee Ralph, affectionately known to “Abbot Elementary” fans as “Miss Barbara.” Grammy Award-winning artist Andra Day will sing it before a packed and star-studded Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. The other highly anticipated pregame selections of the national anthem and “America the Beautiful” will be sung by Reba McEntire and Post Malone respectively.

Toward the end of January, the Pew Research Center published results of a 2023 summer survey it conducted through its American Trends Panel on religious “nones,” people who identify as “atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular.” Out of a targeted sample size of 12,932 U.S. adults, 11,201 participated, resulting in an impressive 87% response rate.

PBS NewsHour’s senior correspondent Judy Woodruff traveled the country for six months last year to get more insight on the partisan divisions, economic struggles and continued skepticism many people have regarding our nation’s institutions. I had some time recently to watch one of her November reports on Steubenville, Ohio, which hit close to home for me.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently presented its seventh National Day of Racial Healing town hall on NBC News NOW, which was broadcast from Los Angeles. The town hall is always held following Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and this year it was hosted by NBC anchors Kate Snow and Zinhle Essamuah.

I happened to catch the recent CBS Morning news interview of Yolanda Renee King, the only grandchild of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. While promoting her new children’s book honoring her grandparents titled “We Dream a World,” Yolanda gave a profound answer when asked what she would say to them if they were alive today.

Colleges and universities are preparing for the spring 2024 semester, and one current trend will be obvious at many campuses throughout the nation: There are fewer young men enrolled at four-year schools.

As 2023 draws to a close, one of the things that I improved this year was my time management.