NBC News: Podium Politics: Two Medal Ceremonies, Two Different Reactions
While Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas was called "disrespectful," "unpatriotic" and "un-American" during the 2016 Rio Olympic games, many are calling out a double standard.
Last week harsh criticism surrounded her hairstyle selection, her attitude and the lack of placing her hand over her heart during the national anthem.
"Either it was about my hair or my hand not over my heart [on the medal podium] or I look depressed. ... It was hurtful. It was hurtful. It was. It's been kind of a lot to deal with," said Douglas during her last post-competition interview around the increased negative attention.
Days later, after the United States Men's shot put team dominated the medal podium, winners Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovac failed to do the very same thing—put their hand over their heart during the medal ceremony.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: August 21, 2016
NBC News: Native Deen Uses Rap to Combat Stereotypes About Islam
Summer camp may seem like an unlikely place to create a successful, internationally-acclaimed rap group.
But in the early 90s, during an era when the mix of rap and musical activism was at its prime, three amateur, Muslim-American artists saw an opportunity to blend the Islamic faith and hip-hop culture.
Roughly a decade later — the same year as the Sept. 11 attacks — the trio formed Native Deen, a Washington, D.C., based rap group,which celebrates the Islamic-American experience using a fusion of hip-hop and R&B flavor.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: August 7, 2016
NBC News: #BlackLivesMatter Generation Faces Cultural Conflicts at Graduation
Graduation, a traditionally celebratory rite of passage, has also been a harsh awakening to heightened racial and cultural tensions for a number of minority millennial students.
Across the country, students have taken to social media to describe incidents of police brutality, profiling and backlash against cultural clothing displays — actions that, for those students, dampened an otherwise joyous occasion.
Homewood Flossmoor High School, Taiylar Ball, a National Honor Society member and poet, was banned from her senior prom and nearly missed her graduation after performing a poem filled with references to cultural pride at her school's annual senior showcase.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: June 29, 2016
Firenze.Urban.Lifestyle: Hip Hop meets the Renaissance
Studying hip hop meets the Renaissance was never a subject most would put together. But for 20 students, coming from four different institutions, that’s exactly what we did.
The definition of hip hop is a subculture of stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rap. And the definition of renaissance is the rebirth.
We wanted to do something different, something unique, something that was relevant, something new in the world of academia and then bring that all together with that old study abroad experience. So hip hop was it and we thought of Italy. So it had to be Hip-Hop Meets the Renaissance,» says Dr. Asabi Howard of North Carolina Central University (NCCU).
Read more at Firenze.Urban.Lifestyle or Philip Merrill College .
Date of Publication: November 23, 2015
NBC Washington: Watch News4 Live
Did you know that you can watch EVERYTHING on NBC4 on the NBC Washington app?
In addition to the live streams of our news shows offered on this page, NBC4 now offers “Watch Live TV Now” on your smartphone or tablet, as well as on desktop.
Read more here.
Date of Update: April 8, 2015
NBC Washington: Maryland Man Charged With Murder of Girlfriend's Toddler
A Maryland man has been arrested in the death of his girlfriend's toddler.
Police say the little boy, 23-month-old Anthony Winfrey, died of blunt force injuries after Joshua Riley, 29, had been watching him.
Riley was in a romantic relationship with the boy's mother, and they lived together in an apartment in Lanham, Prince George's County Police said.
Riley was watching the boy April 9 when Winfrey's mother got home from work and found him unresponsive, police said. He died six days later.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: April 23, 2015
NBC News: Two Years Later, Women in Congress Fight to #BringBackOurGirls
On Congresswoman Fredericka Wilson's website a clock counted down the days, hours, seconds and minutes since terrorists tore through the village of Chibok, Nigeria and ripped 200 schoolgirls from their community in a violent rampage that shocked the world.
Thursday marked two years to the day.
And, just as the social media hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, galvanized a global community — including First Lady Michelle Obama — to raise their voices in a collective outcry against such brutality, Wilson, a Florida Democrat is hoping to harness the power of social media to address "the security and humanitarian crisis in the region." She is hosting a 'Twitterstorm" on Thursday to refocus attention on the horrors the terrorist group has continued to inflict on West Africa and the plight of the missing schoolgirls.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: April 14, 2016
NBC News: An Office of Her Own: Female Lawmakers Defy Hurdles in Quest to Govern
Rep. Carolyn Maloney was pregnant and terrified that if she told she'd lose her job.
It was the 1980s and the New York Democrat's career was on the rise as senior staffer in the state Senate's minority leader's office, but there were others, men mostly, jockeying to take her place.
And, as she wrote in her book, "Rumors of our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated", the state Senate's human resources representative "wasn't even polite" when asked about leave options. So Maloney got creative and asked a friend of hers to fill in while she was out.
"I remember being scared that I would lose my job when telling my boss I was pregnant with my first child and this jolted something in me," she told NBC News.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: April 2, 2016
Philip Merrill College of Journalism: Shannon Clash Named Student Commencement Speaker (PODCAST)
By Kristine Auble
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Undergraduate students of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism who are graduating later this month have named senior Shannon Clash as Merrill commencement speaker.
Clash is a graduating senior from Baltimore who hopes to pursue a career producing long-form journalism for TV or digital outlets. Clash currently works as a production assistant for NBC4 in Washington, D.C., and as a Millennial advisor to the Maryland Association of Black Journalists’ student chapter.
Read more here.
Date of December 2015
NBC Washington: Giant Gift Card Winner Spreads the Joy
Talk about paying it forward...
The winner of NBC Washington's February Giant Gift Card contest decided she wanted to use her good fortune to spread some to someone else.
Maryland resident Stacey Davis recently returned to the area from Miami, Florida after being homeless for about a year. After reconnecting with family and applying for the NBC4 contest, Davis said she sees the win as nothing but a blessing.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: April 8, 2015
NBC Washington: Consumer Reports Reveals Picks for Best New Cars
Consumer Reports has released its top 10 picks for new cars, and three American manufacturers landed spots on the list.
Topping the list is the 2015 Tesla Model S, and the publication says it's the best car it has ever tested. The electric car is big on power; it can go from 0 mph to 60 mph in five seconds. It also gets 84 miles to the gallon.
Consumer Reports: Behind the Scenes
Consumer Reporter Erika Gonzalez gets an inside look to the inner workings of Consumer Reports Testing Labs in Yonkers, N.Y. (Published Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015)
But there's a catch. The Tesla Model S will cost you $90,000.
Read more here.
Date of Publication: February 24, 2015