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Protecting Cultural Heritage in Hawaii

Protecting Cultural Heritage in Hawaii

Kelly Lehuakeaopuna Uyeoka is a cultural heritage preservationist working to save cultural spaces in Hawai’i. She is the founder and executive director of Huliauapa’a, a nonprofit organization meant to grow Hawai’i’s communities through culturally based forms of innovative learning, leadership development, and collaborative networking.

Huliauapa’a focuses on developing the next generation of Hawaiian cultural heritage stewards through internship programs and building community capacity.

Preserving Hawai’i’s historical and cultural places is an important matter to Uyeoka and the people of the island. It is a place full of history and culture, yet little preservation has taken place, and the destruction of these places has been more common.

Original post by Priya Chhaya/National Trust for Historic Preservation

Read more here: https://savingplaces.org/stories/people-saving-places-kelley-uyeoka-and-protecting-cultural-heritage-in-hawaii#.YjuN0zfMIUo

Chicago Businessman Donates over $1 million in free gas

Chicago Businessman Donates over $1 million in free gas

Businessman Dr. Willie Wilson donates to Chicago for the second time this March. Both donations were for free gas for those struggling to afford the high prices in Chicago and surrounding suburbs in Cook County. 

The first donation was $200,000 at 10 participating gas stations. The second donation was a total of $1 million in free gas at 48 participating stations. Each car was allotted $50 worth of gas. 

Original post by Joanie Lum/Fox News Chicago

Read more here: https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-free-gas-giveaway-48-places-where-you-can-fill-up-for-free-thursday

Beauty giant Pushes Afro Latina’s Mission to Embrace Natural hair

Beauty giant Pushes Afro Latina’s Mission to Embrace Natural hair

Carolina Contreras is the founder and CEO of Miss Rizos, providing products designed for curly and Afro-textured hair. 

Contreras is Dominican American, and her products will be sold at Sephora, as part of their 2022 Accelerate brand incubator program.

Miss Rizos, Rizos meaning ‘curls’ in Spanish, was once a blog that celebrated natural hair, via the website, social media, and a handful of hair salons. 

As a young adult Contreras decided to spend some time in the Dominican Republic. She intended to learn more about Blackness within the Dominican diaspora since it wasn’t a common topic of discussion. Throughout her trip, while she was sunbathing, two professors approached her and suggested that she stop tanning before she got too dark. Contreras was reminded of the current issue of colorism in her country and explained that she was not bothered by getting darker. The professors mentioned she was strict on embracing her blackness, but she had relaxed hair. This was the moment Contreras realized that she had been conditioned to have relaxed hair through society and lack of knowing any other options. After this encounter, she cut her hair and began her natural hair journey, becoming more in touch with her blackness and later finding her purpose.

Original post by: Sheyla Baez/NBC News

Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/afro-latinas-mission-embrace-natural-hair-gets-push-beauty-giant-rcna16641

Smithsonian Unveils 120 Statues of Women in STEM

Smithsonian Unveils 120 Statues of Women in STEM

The Smithsonian is celebrating Women’s History Month with 120 statues of women who are changing the future.

This new historic exhibit is called “#IfThenSheCan-The Exhibit”. It features 120 life-sized 3D statues of women who have excelled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The exhibit is located at the Smithsonian Gardens in Washington, D.C., and will be on display there and in select Smithsonian museums from March 5 to 27. 

Some of the women included are; Jessica Esquivel Ph.D. in physics, Katrina Popovich, and Rae Wynn-Grant, wildlife explorer.

Original post by Joyann Jeffery/TODAY

Read more here: https://www.today.com/news/news/smithsonian-womens-history-month-120-statues-women-in-stem-exhibit-rcna18633 

Netflix Announces new Mentorship Program

Netflix Announces new Mentorship Program

Netflix announced its second mentorship program for early-career creatives looking to break into the animation industry, and this time around, the focus is on recruiting Native people and veterans. The Netflix Animation Foundation is launching another four-month-long program, and it’s collaborating with IllumiNative and Veterans in Media and Entertainment to identify candidates.

Original post by Carina Dominguez/Indian Country Today

Read more here: https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/a-boost-for-native-creatives-in-animation

You can now read poems from a High School Spoken-word club

You can now read poems from a High School Spoken-word club

A high school spoken word club changed students’ lives, and now you can read their poems. Oak Park and River Forest High School’s Peter Khan created an after-school spoken word club. For over 20 years, the club has provided a space for students to engage in storytelling. “Respect the Mic” is an anthology featuring 76 honest and powerful poems by the clubs’ students and alumni.

 

Read more here: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/18/1080146117/respect-the-mic-book

Deepfake Exhibition shows how Convincing new Technology can be

Deepfake Exhibition shows how Convincing new Technology can be

The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York has a new exhibition called “Deepfake: Unstable Evidence on Screen.” The exhibit looks at the technology of deepfakes and how they’re used to populate viewers.

Deepfakes are deceptive videos created using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is the video ‘In Event of Mood Disaster’ a six-minute film produced by the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality. It’s set in a 1960s styled living room and the 1969 launch of Apollo 11 is played the program cuts to Richard Nixon saying a line from the never-used address written by speechwriter William Safire in case the Apollo 11 team did not return from their mission. 

 

Original post by Jan Recker/Smithsonian Magazine

Read more here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-deepfake-exhibition-shows-how-convincing-the-new-technology-can-be-180979619/

A 50,000-Year-Old Fashion Statement Could Be One of the World’s Oldest Social Networks

A 50,000-Year-Old Fashion Statement Could Be One of the World’s Oldest Social Networks

Scientists have reason to believe that ostrich eggshells carved into beads in Africa 50,000 years ago might have been part of humans’ first social network.

Researchers examined around 1,500 ancient beads excavated from 31 sites across eastern and southern sections of Africa and found artifacts were nearly identical in shape, size, and style.

The findings identified that the oldest beads came from East Africa and spread to South Africa. Possibly a result of seeing someone with the beads and coping with the design when they got to their destination.

Bead wearing in ancient times was a way to express identity and define relationships. Throughout the years, it became more popular and the relation to meaningfulness still exists, for example, wedding rings may display relationship status.

 

Original post by David Kindy/Smithsonian Magazine

Read more here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-social-network-might-have-involved-beads-carved-from-ostrich-eggshells-180979542/

Ludacris Partners with Eldest Daughter to Produce Netflix Animated Series

Ludacris Partners with Eldest Daughter to Produce Netflix Animated Series

Ludacris Partners with his eldest daughter, Karma Bridges, to produce an animated series on Netflix. The show was inspired by Karma herself and will be called Karma’s World and is expected to release soon. Karma’s World is a coming-of-age story that will follow the life of 10-year-old Karma Grant, an aspiring musical artist who wants to change the world with her music.

 

Read more here: https://www.blacknews.com/news/ludacris-partners-daughter-produce-animated-netflix-series-young-black-girls/