JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (BlackNews.com) — Courtney Wesh, creator and host of the first ever Black Success Summit 2015, announced that the online event will be conducted Thursday, Jan. 29 through Feb. 7. The 10-day summit is free and features more than 15 hours of audio interviews from 15 personal development experts throughout the nation. Topics will include financial wellness and relationships to leadership and wealth-building.
“ “I’’ve been fortunate to connect with Black experts and benefit from their expertise in fields ranging from entrepreneurship, communications skills, networking and wealth-building”,”said Wesh. “Black Success Summit 2015 is a valuable and convenient way for Black Americans to learn strategies they can use to better themselves in multiple ways.”
The Summit is free, but participants must register to ensure they’’re notified when the event will begin and obtain instructions on how to access the sessions. Sessions will be streamed in MP3 format and can be accessed via iPhone, iPad and Android enabled mobile devices. The Summit highlights all facets of personal and professional development and is designed to address the issues and concerns of a Black audience.
The online Summit will include presentations by best-selling author, Dr. Dennis Kimbro, and nationally recognized nutritionist and best-selling author Dr. Rovenia “Dr. Ro” Brock. Presenters will include Duane Carlisle, director of sports performance at Purdue University, Club Rhino, Inc. founder and CEO, Jerry Clark; SpeakEtc. founder and principal, Robyn Hatcher, Nicole Roberts Jones of Motivating the Masses, and George “Hit” Richards of Calisthenics Kingz.
Sessions are appropriate for individuals of all ages. Stress, uncertainty and lack of direction are major concerns for many Black Americans. Participants will learn how to overcome negative influences, discover their passion, and create a strategic plan with effective goal-setting for Black success.
Networking is an essential component of entrepreneurship and wealth-building. The Summit’s experts will share the techniques and strategies they use themselves to attain success and explain how individuals can begin to achieve their own personal goals in three to six months.
The first Black Success Summit 2015 is free and provides participants with the tools, techniques and strategies to set effective goals and achieve success in building wealth, relationships, health and wellness. Beneficial for individuals of all ages, attendees will learn how to unlock their personal power and potential for growth and success.
Wesh can be reached at 910-302-8359 or via email at BlackSuccessSummit@gmail.com. For more information or to register, visit www.BlackSuccessSummit.com.

RT: She’s baaaaaacccckkkkk and @goldietaylor is ready to go head to head with the GOP from her new gig as Sr Editor @BlueNationRev #bnrnews
WASHINGTON /PRNewswire/ — Blue Nation Review, the go-to destination for leading progressive news and commentary, is proud to announce a big addition to its editorial lineup. In an email to staff earlier, Executive Editor Jimmy Williams welcomed veteran journalist, opinion writer and filmmaker Goldie Taylor to BNR, where she will serve as Senior Editor and Columnist.
“As long as I’ve worked with Goldie, I’ve known she was a tour de force, someone I’d always go to as a voice for those who don’t have one,” Williams said. “Goldie’s own real life struggles have given her the strength to become a powerful voice for women, especially women of color. To be a good journalist, you have to know what and how people feel. Simply put, Goldie can relate to the struggles most Americans know to be real and she’ll be a great asset here at BNR.”
Taylor’s 25-year career spans from her behind-the-scenes and on-camera work in cable news to leading global communications campaigns. She has been featured on every major broadcast and cable news network and is a frequent guest on a full host of local and national radio shows, including NPR, and is regularly featured in print and digital publications, including the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Daily Beast, Salon, Ebony, Essence, Creative Loafing, St. Louis Post Dispatch, TheGrio.com, CNN.com, and MSNBC.COM, among others.
“I’m eager to join the BNR team because they don’t pretend to be another old beltway media outlet,” Taylor added. “Its fine to cover what happens in Washington, but we have to do more than just scan the headlines; we, at Blue Nation Review, have a duty to explain why a story matters to us – why it matters to you.”
In addition to her debut piece surrounding the Mugshots of Black Men Used For Sniper Target Practice in South Florida, Taylor live tweeted the President’s State of the Union Address.
Taylor has earned a reputation for helping major brands diversify and expand their appeal. Taylor was the chief architect of Procter & Gamble’s “My Black is Beautiful” and the marketing force behind CNN’s “Black in America.” However, she is perhaps best known for “Show me your papers”, a televised op-ed that debuted on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. And her upcoming documentary, #89Blocks, charts the rise and decline of her hometown — East St. Louis, Ill.
Taylor now joins a talented team of writers and recovering journalists who offer up a hip, irreverent skewering of the latest news at Blue Nation Review, a rapidly growing news commentary outlet owned by global media brand MOKO. Quickly becoming the source for snarky, sassy and trusted progressive commentary, the audience for BNR’s site already exceeds that of Talking Points Memo and Wonkette.

     The Home Depot to award $50,000 to three HBCU’swith a total of up to $255,000 to nine winning HBCUs for campus and facility upgrades
(Black PR Wire) — Atlanta, GA, January 20, 2015 —The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, announced that applications are now being accepted for its 2015 Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant Program.This program, established in 2010, provides support for campus improvement projects at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country. Since the program’s inception, approximately one million dollars in grant money has been awarded.
This year, the Retool Your School Grant Program will use a new grant structure which will award a total of $255,000 in grants to nine accredited HBCUs in $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 grant denominations. Based on student enrollment, schools will be categorized into one of three clusters — schools with 4,000 students or more, schools with between 3,999 and 1,201 students, or schools with less than 1,200 students. “This is a very exciting year for The Home Depot’s Retool Your School program,” says Melissa Brown, Manager, Multicultural Marketing, The Home Depot.“For the first time, student bodies are competing for grant money against schools their same size. This allows for larger and more impactful improvements to be made to the winning schools.”
To be considered, HBCUs must log on to www.retoolyourschool.com to complete and submit the letter of intent by February 10, 2015, and a full proposal by February 26, 2015. Online voting will take place from February 27 to April 20, 2015 at www.retoolyourschool.com. During the online voting period, HBCU supporters can view descriptions of projects and cast one vote per day per device for their favorite HBCU project. Supporters can also capture votes for their school by using the designated hashtag (found on the website) for each school via their social media channels. Each use of a school’s Retool Your School designated hashtag counts as one social media vote. Following the online vote, a panel of distinguished judges will also evaluate each school’s project proposals within the qualifying clusters. Judges will consider the depth of each proposal and the school’s ability to execute the project within the respective budgets of $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000, as applicable.
Proposals for all three grants must highlight how each project will make a lasting, positive impact on the HBCU campus.The Home Depot will announce the grant recipients on May 11, 2015. About The Home Depot® The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,269 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. In fiscal 2013, The Home Depot had sales of $78.8 billion and earnings of $5.4 billion. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index. # # #

 TORRANCE, Calif./PRNewswire/ — Lexus is proud to announce 19 recipients of the 2014 Lexus Verses and Flow Scholarship. The new scholarship program is presented in partnership with ten of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and is an expansion of the groundbreaking “Verses and Flow” program, featuring poetry, spoken word and music. Each scholarship recipient will be awarded $5,000 in recognition of their community leadership and academic excellence.
The recipients of the Lexus Verses and Flow scholarship are:
•    Clark Atlanta University – Adisha Penn and Marquea Alexander
•    Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, Fla.) – Tatyana Smith and Zemoria Johnson
•    Grambling State University (Grambling, La.) – Tamaika LaRocque and Prentiss Smiley
•    Hampton University (Hampton, Va.) – Tommie Collins
•    Howard University (Washington D.C.) – Alana Jones and Ayanna McFarland
•    LeMoyne-Owen College (Memphis, Tenn.) – Ashanti Carr and Tashika James
•    Morehouse College (Atlanta) – Oren Davidson and Timothy Tukes
•    North Carolina A&T University (Greensboro, N.C.) – Adriana Sawyer and Garner Stewart
•    Spelman College (Atlanta) – Chelsea Banks and Shelby Smith
•    Xavier University (New Orleans) – Anh Nguyen and Hallie O’Quine

“In alignment with the Lexus Pursuit of Potential initiative to support our youth, we are proud of the work these scholarship recipients are doing in school and in their communities,” said Brian Smith, Lexus vice president, marketing. “These HBCU student leaders have the tools to succeed and we expect they’ll do great things for society in the future.”
The launch of the scholarship coincided with the fourth season of “Lexus Verses and Flow,” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award-nominated variety show. Lexus Verses and Flow was broadcast on TV One. Blending electrifying musical and soul-stirring spoken word performances, the eight-episode season featured mega-watt stars Maxwell, K. Michelle, Joe, Johnny Gill, Ruben Studdard, Candice Glover, Gary Clark Jr., Sebastian Mikael, Leela James, Anthony Hamilton, Alice Smith, and Mali Music alongside more than 25 of the best up-and-coming poets http://lexus.us/1BUyohA .
For complete information about the Lexus Verses and Flow Scholarship and a list of the participating HBCUs please visit: http://luxuryawaits.com.

Contributions designated to further boost college retention and graduation rates, seen as key to ensuring the fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream for America

TORRANCE, Calif.– In honor of the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Toyota Financial Services (TFS) has announced that it has made a donation totaling $50,000 to five Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs).
The five recipients of a $10,000 TFS donation, Bowie State University, Saint George’s County, Maryland; Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware; Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia; and Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland all provide exceptional educational opportunities within many of the communities in which TFS operates.
“While at Morehouse, Dr. King observed that ‘Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of life,’” said Mike Groff, TFS president and CEO.
“To help further the principles he so effectively championed, and in keeping with TFS’ deeply held commitment to diversity and inclusion, TFS is honored to support the mission of HBCUs and the dreams they help make possible.”
“In the years since we launched our Making Life Easier program to support education initiatives, after-school programs and financial literacy among underserved youth, TFS has provided millions of dollars in scholarships to deserving students across the nation and our associates have devoted their time and talents to many meaningful national – and community – based programs,” noted John Ridgeway, Corporate Manager, Customer Service Center – East for TFS, who presented the donations to each institution on behalf of the company. “As an extension of our existing relationship with HBCUs, including a partnership with the Toyota Green Initiative, we believe our contribution to these fine institutions will help them with the critical task of addressing issues that impact student retention and will help create a bright future for the populations they serve.”
TFS has been recognized for its longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion, including being named as a DiversityInc Top 50 company for six years in a row and has been consistently recognized by Black Enterprise, Hispanic Business and the Human Rights Campaign as a best company for diversity and best places to work. TFS executives actively support and sponsor the company’s many diversity and inclusion initiatives.
For more on Toyota’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, please visit www.toyota.com/diversity.

Posted by Valerie Jarrett, Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell on January 22, 2015 at 12:41 PM EST
When Astrid Muhammad heard her phone ring this past Friday, the last thing she expected was a call from the White House inviting her to attend this year’s State of the Union as a guest of the first lady.
A wife and mother of two young children, Muhammad woke up on a spring morning in 2013 and knew something was wrong. A visit to the doctor in May revealed a mass growing on her brain. At the time she didn’t have health insurance and delayed treatment and surgery that, according to neurosurgeons, would mean the difference between life and death. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies could have refused treatment for her pre-existing tumor, charge higher rates or denied her coverage altogether. But, after discovering the Health Insurance Marketplace, Muhammad was able to find quality affordable health insurance coverage. So this past summer, she had her tumor successfully removed and is now moving on with her life.
And she is not alone. She attended the President’s State of the Union address as a representative of all those who have received insurance and care which has changed or saved their lives, or given them the peace of mind they need to rest more easily, without the worry that an unexpected health challenge could threaten their lives or livelihoods.
During this African-American Community Week of Action, leaders, communities and families across the country are working together to ensure that all of their loved ones, neighbors and fellow Americans have the health insurance they need – and that those who are not covered visit HealthCare.gov to get covered right away.
Since the start of Affordable Care Act’s first open enrollment period last year, the uninsured rate among non-elderly African-Americans has declined by 30 percent. In just one year, 1.7 million uninsured African-Americans gained health coverage, and that doesn’t include the 500,000 African-American young adults who now have coverage under their parents’ health insurance plans. And as more Americans take advantage of the current open enrollment period that ends Feb. 15, 2015, those numbers will continue to grow.
These strides are particularly important given the unique health challenges, and historic and structural barriers to care often faced in African-American communities. African-Americans have the highest cancer mortality rate of any ethnic group, a lower average life expectancy than white Americans, along with higher rates of infant mortality and chronic disease.
The Affordable Care Act is helping to change the way many in African-American communities think about their health, the need for coverage, and for those who already had coverage – it has protected their investment.
But the Affordable Care Act is breaking down many of the health barriers this community has faced. An estimated 7.8 million African-Americans now have access to expanded preventive services such as mammograms, well-child visits and flu shots with no out-of-pocket costs. And with the investment of $11 billion in community health centers nationwide, the law is dramatically expanding access to quality care facilities in many African-American neighborhoods.
Still, for every story like Astrid’s, there remain countless more Americans in need of insurance, in need of quality care, and perhaps still unaware that the coverage they need is just a few clicks or a phone call away.
So visit HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 to find out more. This year’s Open Enrollment period ends on Feb. 15, so if you or someone you care about is in need of health insurance, do not wait. Get covered today.

Valerie Jarrett is a Senior Advisor to the President and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls. Sylvia M. Burwell is the 22nd Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.