Vernita Lee, the mother of media mogul Oprah Winfrey, has died at the age of 83.
People reports that Vernita passed on Thanksgiving at her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Oprah’s spokesperson who confirmed the news shared that Vernita has already been laid to rest in a private burial.
Credit: Bella Naija
The move is coming in a project tagged “CrossCheck Nigeria’’, a collaborative information verification initiative powered by First Draft, a United Kingdom organisation fighting misinformation globally.
CrossCheck Nigeria, due to be launched on Wednesday, will be coordinated by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), an independent and non-profit news agency in the country.
To this end, a two-day boot camp (training programme) opened in Lagos on Monday for about 46 journalists drawn from the participating media organisations.
Addressing participants at the opening session, the Executive Director of First Draft, Dr Claire Wardle, said the project was aimed at improving the quality of information available to the voting public.
Wardle added that CrossCheck Nigeria would also help to debunk misinformation and fake news and sanitise the media space in the run-up to the elections.
She explained that the boot camp was designed to teach the participants about the new verification technology to be deployed for the project, and how to work in the media coalition.
According to her, the project will help the public to understand not only what to trust, but also why.
In his address of welcome, the Executive Director of ICIR, Mr Dayo Aiyetan, expressed concern about the “weaponisation of information either to deceive the public or injure the reputation of opponents’’.
Aiyetan stated that recent local elections in the country had shown that “the social media, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, have become avenues for politicians to spread misinformation, rumour, falsehood and fake news.
He noted that the media had a responsibility to verify information being churned out on social media to ensure that they were true.
“Journalists need to learn the skills to verify and fact-check such misinformation and debunk them before they mislead people or cause harm,” he stated.
The ICIR boss explained that under the project, the participating organisations would work together in disproving fake news or misinformation for greater impact on members of the public.
The participating organisations are NAN, The Guardian, Punch, Daily Trust, The Sun, Tribune, Thisday and The Nation.
Others are Freedom Radio, Premium Times, The Cable, Sahara Reporters, ICIR and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Source: Pulse News
Kristine Guillaume, who is studying literature, history and African-American studies, was elected this month with a promise to steer the traditional bastion of the establishment towards a more diverse, digital-first future.
She has previously served as a chair of a diversity and inclusivity committee, responsible for making The Harvard Crimson more diverse and welcoming to students from all backgrounds.
“If my being elected to the Crimson presidency as the first black woman affirms anyone’s sense of belonging at Harvard, then that will continue to affirm the work that I’m doing,” she told The New York Times.
The 20-year-old is the third black president and first black woman to helm the organization since it was founded in 1873.
Credit: punch.ng
Dr Jane Cooke Wright is a Physician, cancer researcher and first Black woman elected president of the New York Cancer Society. She was born in Manhattan in 1919 to a distinguished African-American family. She obtained an art degree from Smith College in 1942 and three years later obtained a medical degree, graduating with honors, from the New York Medical College.
In 1964, working as part of a team at the N.Y.U. School of Medicine, Dr. Wright developed a nonsurgical method, using a catheter system, to deliver heavy doses of anticancer drugs to previously hard-to-reach tumor areas in the kidneys, spleen and elsewhere. She was the only woman, and only Black person, among the seven researchers who founded the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and later became head of the chemotherapy department and associate dean at New York Medical College. It was the first time a black woman had held such a senior position in a medical school.
Dr Wright worked alongside her father, Dr Louis T. Wright, who was one of the first Black students to earn an M.D. from Harvard Medical school and the first African-American doctor appointed to a public hospital in New York City. Together at the Cancer Research Foundation at Harlem hospital, “The Wrights were one of the first groups to report the use of nitrogen-mustard agents as a treatment for cancer, which led to remissions in patients with sarcoma, Hodgkin’s disease, chronic myelogenous leukemia, and lymphoma. The Wrights were also some of the first researchers to test folic acid antagonists as cancer treatments. ”
After her father died in 1952, Dr Wright took over as Director. The American Association for Cancer Research writes:
“She was among the first researchers to test chemotherapeutic drugs in humans, which produced effective dosing levels and helped saved lives. Dr. Wright began her pioneering work in 1949, and during her 40-year career she published over 100 research papers on cancer chemotherapy and led delegations of cancer researchers to Africa, China, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union. By 1967, she was the highest ranking African-American woman in a United States medical institution. In 1971, she became the first woman elected president of the New York Cancer Society.”
Dr Sandra Swain, 2013 president of ASCO, said of Dr Wright:
“Not only was her work scientific, but it was visionary for the whole science of oncology. She was part of the group that first realised we needed a separate organisation to deal with the providers who care for cancer patients. But beyond that, it’s amazing to me that a Black woman, in her day and age, was able to do what she did.”
Credit: stemwomen.net
It’s tempting to date a co-worker, especially if you work long hours and spend more time with your colleagues than with your friends. “There is something about constantly interacting with someone that creates kinship,” says Mirande Valbrune, an attorney and author of #MeToo: A Practical Guide to Navigating Today’s Cultural Workplace Revolution. “You realize you get along and you make each other laugh, and you do all these things that make people interested in one another.”
Valbrune suggests asking these five questions before you go on your first date with a co-worker.
What is my relationship history?
“If you’re the type of person who can say all of your past relationships ended amicably then maybe you can be more open to an office romance,” Valbrune says. But, if your relationships tend to have a dramatic and contentious ending, you probably want to steer clear of dating a co-worker.
What is my co-worker’s relationship history?
You should exercise extra caution when deciding whether to get involved with someone at your office, Valbrune says. Take the time to evaluate whether you are compatible. Ask about their dating history. Determine if they seem aggressive, possessive or needy. If the answer is yes, you might want to look for romance outside the office.
What is my company’s policy on office romances?
Many companies require employees to disclose a relationship between a supervisor and a worker so that the company can change the reporting relationship to avoid any actual favoritism or the appearance of favoritism, Valbrune says. However, if you are co-workers, the company might still recommend that you disclose the relationship but not require it.
What is our professional relationship?
Even if you’re peers, your work relationship might not be on equal footing. For instance, one of you could have more seniority. One of you could be a position with more status. Even if you’re on different teams, you might interact with each other. For instance, one of you could have the ability to influence the other’s assignments, workload or promotion.
Is this office romance worth the risk?
Think critically before starting an office romance, Valbrune warns, particularly if your company has rules against co-workers dating. “There are definitely benefits if the relationship goes well,” she says. “But you don’t want a casual hook up at the workplace.” It might not be worth the risk if there isn’t a strong interest that will lead to a lasting relationship, she cautions.
Credit: Forbes, Mirande Valbrune, Lisa Rabasca Roepe
Photo credit: Google
Sometimes back, a mate of mine said that she does not like relating with people who had offended her in the past. She said it so poignantly that I had to truly look at her like I was seeing her for the first time. Another spoke so terribly about people that I wondered if she herself came from a race higher than that of humans, or lived among animals. Funny, right?
Almost everywhere you go, you’ll find a man that tries to put his neighbours down. There’s always a fault somewhere. Different narratives about different sets of people in different contexts.
Countless, these narratives are. Is it the one about men? That all men are scum? That all men are misogynistic? Sadist? Sexually pervasive? Egoistic? Immoral? Wicked in their core? Or is it the lie wound around women? That beautiful ones are senseless and the sensible ones are ugly? That women are full of deceit and trickery? That they are the ones responsible for every man’s downfall on the earth? That they have no usefulness apart from being a homemaker?
Or is it the one about men and women in different professions? The promiscuity of doctors and nurses? The deceit of lawyers? The fraud of bankers? The selfishness of politicians? The seductiveness of actresses? The adulterous nature of CEOs and managers? The immorality of artistes? The hypocrisy of spiritual leaders? The list is endless .
Some of these narratives were among the materials that laid our foundation, some we grew into, some we formed for ourselves, some we learnt in school, some we acquired from our interpretation or misinterpretation of the Holy books. When all these keep flying around without end, and even more are added to the league, why will a man not see his fellow human as a potentially dangerous enemy’s? In fact,a dangerous being either with proof or not.
Yes. Some policemen are wolves in human skin. But much more are worthy, in fact, worthier of their profession. Yes. Some ladies are the female version of the devil. But much more have brought so much glory and dignity to the human race. Yes. Some politicians are not even worthy of being referred to as animals, as animals are wiser than they. But much more are striving to truly establish a true government. Some actresses and dogs are of the same sexual value. But much more have attained a high pedestal by their pure efforts. Nothing more, nothing less. And the list, also, is endless. So endless.
So you see, there is still hope in us, in fact, something greater.
Humanity is not dammed, has never been and will never be. There are bad people, but there are also good people. Everything has an opposite version. And as long as there is evil, there will always be light. No conclusion from someone who believes all is lost for humanity is to be believed, because such has not met every one neither has he seen what lies in every heart.
Never, for once, let it enter your mind that humanity is damned. Like Mahatma Gandhi said: ” You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
Making Life More Meaningful
I prepared a speech for an occasion and the content really touched me. Here’s it.
How do we make life more meaningful?
It’s about building homes and making families wherever we are. Take, for instance, a child is given birth to and reared for, say, two years within the confines of the mother’s arms. Then he goes from creche to nursery to primary and secondary schools and finally to the university. Even if he might have lived part of his life with his family, he’d probably spend 13 to 15 hours with outsiders–teachers, classmates, friends, etc.
At a close examination still, you find that the majority of the time in your life is spent with those who are not family. Since this is so, why don’t we make the most of life by building families wherever you may be?
A place of love, care, comfort, laughter, forgiveness, support, solace – that’s what family is, that’s what a home connotes. Being and building homes are about being that trustworthy person people can share deep secrets with, that honest person who doesn’t stab friends in the back, that provider who meets the needs of others in their own little way, that friend in need, that friend indeed. You won’t carry your home everywhere you go, and your family won’t follow you wherever you go. Why not live life in such a way that wherever you may be, amidst friends, colleagues, neighbours, in Nigeria, out of Nigeria, you’re home, you’re with family?
In essence, I write this to propel us all to be and build a home away from home, a family away from family. Only then will Life be much more meaningful.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Oyindamola Grace Osinubi is a student of the University of Ibadan, an aspiring author and a writer.
Facebook handle: Oyindamola Grace Osinubi.
Some of my family members will be shocked but hey I am tired of keeping this secret because it is making me to be sick but here it goes My Name is Busisiwe Mhlongo and I am 24 years old… born in 1994/09/18 ♥?… in 2004 I was staying at my Uncles house in Harding,KZN..his First born son (we call him Sphamo) who was 17/18 years at that time would call me to his room and rape me (I was 10 years old).. this started when I doing grade 4 until I was doing grade 6, around June because that’s when I had my periods for the first time but he did Rape me Vaginally and anally. he did a lot of things that I wouldn’t like to re-iterate here.. I stayed with someone who sexually abused me and I didn’t tell anyone because he said he was going to kill me with Ratex. I kept that secret until this year cause I was struggling mentally and emotionally, Back in February I attempted to commit suicide, overdosed pills-in April I overdosed pills again- In June I starved myself hoping to die- in August I overdosed pills again- in September I attempted to jump out my Res but the security saw me and I couldn’t cause he said Jump I will catch you- in October I started cutting myself from my hand to my elbow and if I feel like the razor isn’t sharp enough I would get another one- I did it until it was beyond my control and I was admitted and of course Psychiatry Ward was my ward,stayed there for weeks and was diagnosed with depression and PSTD….Generally if you know me- I am a Happy person and I love everything about everyone, to be diagnosed with depression was heavy for me and the medication is just too much. My mom and my other family members are aware of this now that have done drastic things. I have never got a call from my cousin say he is sorry. What he did to me was damaging physically, emotionally and sexually. He robbed me my childhood and virginity, I will never be able to know what it’s like to be a child because of the things he did to me, he used a baby oil so that his penis would go in, he would put baby inside me so I can be “wet for him”. He did it for 3 years and he was never satisfied. I have been struggling to even wake up in the morning and eat, let alone to trust a man, I am struggling to believe that I will be fine because depression is not a fly by night thing I am living with depression and PSTD…………. I have lost everything you can think of and if I win this battle – it’s game over for my cousin! I am coming for everything and I know this wil be a lot of drama but I am not going to protect a rapist…
Protesters took to the streets in Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia, and Bilbao, reflecting how the fight to stop violence against woman has become a national cause in Spain.
“We are here for all those women who have been murdered, in Madrid and in Spain. We are taking it very personally,” said Rosa Orea at the Madrid rally.
Since 2003, 972 women have been killed by their partners or ex-partners in Spain, 44 of those so far in 2018, according to government figures.
“The situation has changed for our generation, but we have to keep fighting, because this (violence) happens more than it seems,” said Sofia Serrano a Madrid student.
Violence against women has been a key political cause in Spain since 2004 when new laws were introduced against the crime.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday reinterated his government’s “commitment” to eradicate violence against women and “culture” of sexism.
Credit: Pulse News
Ramona J. Smith is an international award-winning public speaker, who prominently holds the prestigious title of the 2018 World Champion of Public Speaking. She is a powerhouse, one who was unmatched by the 30,000 people she surpassed to reign in the world championship title. She is an educator, speaker, author, blogger and poet. Ramona’s captivating speeches inspire audiences around the world. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations with a minor in Marketing, graduating Magna Cum Laude from the prestigious Baldwin Wallace University in northeast Ohio. Ramona is the mother of miracle boy Ryan, and they reside in Houston, Texas.
In her words; “When you are in the ring of life, you will face some challenges,” “You are going to get hit, you will be punched, you will be bruised. Even though you fall down and stumble, all you have to do is find whatever strength lies within you or outside you from family, friends, faith, your mentors and coaches to help pull you back up. ”
The Houston high school teacher shares her inspiring story with me in this interview
Childhood Influence
Yes. As a child I loved being in the spotlight. I would perform at talent shows; I was in the drama club, and the poetry club. I have never had a fear of public speaking. As a child, I would always fantasize about being on the stage versus sitting in the audience.
Meet Me!
I am a secondary teacher in Houston, Texas. I teach Child Development and Human Growth & Development. I have a handsome, smart and athletic son named Ryan who is currently six years old. I love to travel, read, write, and meet new people.
Being the 2018 world champion of public speaking
I am a member of an organization called Toastmasters International. Every year since 1938, the organization has held an international speech contest. This year over 30,000 members competed at the first level of the contest. Out of 30,000 contestants, the top 10 in the world compete at the finals and the judges vote for the World Champion. I am the first woman to win since 2008, the second African-American woman to win in the history of the contest, and the only fifth woman to win the title since women could compete in the 1970’s.
Public speaking
I have been a public speaker for eight years. I am The Ladybug Speaker. I have spoken to thousands of people all across the globe, from the United States to the United Arab Emirates. I will be launching my business the Ladybug Speaker LLC, in order to become a full-time professional speaker.
What made me Win
Practice, feedback, and originality were three keys to my feat. After every speech contest, I met with other highly qualified Toastmasters in my district for feedback. I tweaked the “little things” and was open to constructive criticism. I practiced my speeches endlessly in order to have a smooth and natural delivery. And most importantly, I wrote my own speeches. They are from my personal life experiences. When I get on stage I’m not afraid of “looking stupid.” I went in front of 2,000 people and made a complete fool of myself with my horrible boxing moves. Yet, the audience connected with me because of my authenticity and transparency.
Challenges
Currently, my biggest challenge is starting my speaking business from the ground up. I have to learn as I go. I have to learn from trial and error. I will have to research and implement marketing strategies, create a business model, and a schedule. I will have to build a team and figure out how to successfully build my business and my brand.
Other Project and Activities
I am the author of the inspirational book for women “Shine Sistah Shine.” I am finalizing my E-Book, which gives readers my top ten public speaking tips. I am preparing for my next world tour where I will be visiting Sri Lanka, India, Kuwait and Bahrain. I am creating new and exciting workshops and webinars for my clients.
Reward
The greatest reward I have receive is hearing about the goals my clients achieve after hearing me speak, reading my book, or having a one on one coaching session with me. It is rewarding transforming lives by sharing my gifts with the world.
In five years…
In five years, I will be 36. I see myself finishing my Master’s degree and starting my PhD. I see myself married with another child. I see my brand being successful and growing internationally. I see myself having a podcast or a series or documentary. I see myself acting in movies and doing more live poetry. I see myself writing more books, and speaking in hundreds of countries to millions of people.
Almost gave it all up
Yes. In 2012, my son was two years old. He was unexpectedly diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. He had to undergo three brain surgeries and 30 rounds of radiation treatment. I felt like giving up on life because I blamed myself. No mother wants to see her child going through something like that. However, God healed him. God healed me. We are both happy and thriving today, and my son is four years cancer free.
Who and what inspire me to be better
My son inspires me to be better. Before I had the responsibility of being a mom, I was lost and rudderless. Once I knew I would be responsible for another human being (especially as an unwed mother), I knew I had to turn my life around and get back on track. When my son was six weeks old, I re-enrolled in college and have since earned two degrees. I have to be my best because I am his example.
Reception
The reception has been phenomenal! I am a well sought after speaker, because I have the title of World Champion of Public Speaking. This makes me an expert in my field, and people are seeking my advice, opinions, and wisdom. I feel like I am truly a global citizen because I have the opportunity to speak all across the globe.
What makes you a woman of Rubies
I am a Woman of Rubies because I am a precious stone. I was a diamond in the rough, yet now I am shining bright. I am regal like a pearl, and timeless like an emerald. I am deep like garnet, and as strong as sapphire. I have become a warrior, a fighter, and a survivor. I have allowed the pressure, damage, and destruction of life to transform me into a limitless being. I am a mother, a giver of life, and a creator.
Appreciation for women in public speaking
I do not think women in any line of work are appreciated, as we should be. In regards to the field of speaking, it is still primarily male dominated. Fortunately, this year three women of color took the top three championship spots in the contest. Women are making strides in this field, and will continue to do so.
Dolce & Gabbana has released an apology video following backlash it received for an ad campaign for their Chinese audience.
The campaign, which features an Asian model attempting to eat Italian food with chopsticks, has been described as racist.
In the clip, a Chinese woman dressed in the brand’s clothes giggles as she tries to use chopsticks to eat a pizza, a large cannoli, and spaghetti.
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana released the video on Facebook, apologising for the ad which resulted in the cancellation of the brand’s show in China on Wednesday.
“In the face of our cultural misunderstanding, we hope that we can earn your forgiveness,” Domenico said.
“We will never forget this experience and lesson, and this sort of thing will never happen again,” Stefano said.
Watch video below:
Credit: Bella Naija
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