1.
Durham, North Carolina
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Durham is a city in the U. S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County, though portions also extend into Wake County in the east, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated the citys population to be 251,893 as of July 1,2014. Durham is the core of the four-county Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Area and it is the home of Duke University and North Carolina Central University, and is also one of the vertices of the Research Triangle area. The Eno and the Occoneechi, related to the Sioux and the Shakori and they may have established a village named Adshusheer on the site. The Great Indian Trading Path has been traced through Durham, and Native Americans helped to mold the area by establishing settlements, in 1701, Durhams beauty was chronicled by the English explorer John Lawson, who called the area the flower of the Carolinas. During the mid-1700s, Scots, Irish, and English colonists settled on land granted to George Carteret by King Charles I, early settlers built gristmills, such as West Point, and worked the land. Prior to the American Revolution, frontiersmen in what is now Durham were involved in the Regulator movement, according to legend, Loyalist militia cut Cornwallis Road through this area in 1771 to quell the rebellion. Later, William Johnston, a shopkeeper and farmer, made Revolutionaries munitions, served in the Provincial Capital Congress in 1775. Large plantations, Hardscrabble, Cameron, and Leigh among them, were established in the antebellum period, by 1860, Stagville Plantation lay at the center of one of the largest plantation holdings in the South. There were free African-Americans in the area as well, including several who fought in the Revolutionary War and this road, eventually followed by US Route 70, was the major east-west route in North Carolina from colonial times until the construction of interstate highways. Steady population growth and an intersection with the road connecting Roxboro and Fayetteville made the area near this site suitable for a US Post Office, Durhams location is a result of the needs of the 19th century railroad industry. The wood-burning steam locomotives of the time had to frequently for wood and water. Eventually a railway depot was established on land donated by Bartlett S. Durham in 1849, sherman occupied the nearby state capital of Raleigh during the American Civil War. The last formidable Confederate Army in the South, commanded by General Joseph E. Johnston, was headquartered in Greensboro 50 miles to the west. After the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia by Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9,1865, fortunately for Durham, its future had nothing to do with 19th-century politics. As both armies passed through Durham, Hillsborough, and surrounding Piedmont communities, they confiscated the areas Brightleaf Tobacco, the community of Durham Station grew slowly before the Civil War, but expanded rapidly following the war. Much of this attributed to the establishment of a thriving tobacco industry. Veterans returned home after the war, with an interest in acquiring more of the tobacco they had sampled in North Carolina
2.
Gospel music
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Gospel music is a music genre in Christian music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music varies according to culture. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, Gospel music usually has dominant vocals with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century, with roots in the oral tradition. Hymns and sacred songs were repeated in a call and response fashion, most of the churches relied on hand clapping and foot stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a cappella, the first published use of the term Gospel Song probably appeared in 1874. The original gospel songs were written and composed by such as George F. Root, Philip Bliss, Charles H. Gabriel, William Howard Doane. The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music, following World War II, gospel music moved into major auditoriums, and gospel music concerts became quite elaborate. Gospel blues is a form of gospel music. Southern gospel used all male, tenor-lead-baritone-bass quartet make-up, progressive Southern gospel is an American music genre that has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades. Christian country music, sometimes referred to as gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair. It peaked in popularity in the mid-1990s, bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music. Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is popular in countries such as Ireland. British black gospel refers to Gospel music of the African diaspora, some proponents of standard hymns generally dislike gospel music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, with distance, there is a greater acceptance of such gospel songs into official denominational hymnals. Gospel music in general is characterized by dominant vocals referencing lyrics of a Christian nature, subgenres include contemporary gospel, urban contemporary gospel, Southern gospel, and modern gospel music. Several forms of gospel music utilize choirs, use piano or Hammond organ, tambourines, drums, bass guitar and, increasingly, electric guitar. In comparison with hymns, which are generally of a statelier measure, several attempts have been made to describe the style of late 19th and early 20th century gospel songs in general
3.
Christian hip hop
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Christian hip hop is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization, edifying some members of the church and/or simply entertaining. It emphasizes the use of positive and uplifting messages to promote faith, Christian hip hop, blending rhythmic music and faith-based lyrics, first emerged on record in 1982 with a track entitled Jesus Christ by Queens, New York artist McSweet. The first full-length, Christian hip hop album, Bible Break, other early Christian hip recording artists from the mid-1980s included P. I. D. who recorded to funky rock rhythms, as well as JC & the Boys and Michael Peace. The first notable full album released was Stephen Wileys Bible Break, written by Wiley, in the same year by David Guzman founded JC & The Boyz. Some of Americas premiere Christian rappers, such as, Michael Peace, SFC, Dynamic Twins, MC Peace, a more commercially successful crew known as P. I. D. Michael Peace is an American rapper and one of Christian raps first solo artists, in the late 1980s, other crews emerged, including dc Talk, E. T. W. and S. F. C. ETW was led by producer/artist Mike Hill who went on to one of the largest inner city youth groups in the country out of Tulsa Oklahoma. S. F. C. was led by Chris Cooper who originally rapped as Super C and later became Sup the Chemist, Christian emcee Danny D-Boy Rodriguez was another well-known early Gospel rap artist, but was murdered in 1990 in Texas. She would go on to release an album in 1991. The 1990s saw the trend of funky rap artists blending faith and rap, such as D. O. C. who emerged from Oklahoma as well as the Gospel Gangstaz from Compton. In 1991, JC Crew emerged featuring Maximillian and T-Bone, other Christian rap artists include Dynamic Twins, Freedom of Soul, IDOL King, Apocalypse, 12th Tribe, and Holy Alliance. 12th Tribe and Holy Alliance were produced by Scott Blackwell of MYX Records, S. F. C. s 1992 album Phase III was DJed and produced by DJ Dove, whose credits also include the Gang Affiliated, Gospel Gangstas 1993 debut album. Around the same time as Phase III, Dynamic Twins came out with their 1993 album No Room To Breathe, Freedom of Soul followed with their second album, The Second Coming, also their last album as a group. The label was among the first to market the Contemporary Christian music market through distribution at Christian bookstores and playing on Christian radio. This trend continued with other such as Tooth & Nails Uprok Records and others that gave an outlet to hip hop artists who identified themselves as Christian. Recently, a number of artists and labels such as Reach Records, Grace and Peace Records, Kirk Franklin joined with the 1 Nation Crew in the album Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC. In September 2009, the Higherground Record Pool and One Accord DJ Alliance held their first Gospel DJ Conference at the Crowne Plaza, Queens, the first known Gospel DJs were honored at the event. Kingdom Affiliates Record Pool also was represented at the conference, most recently Christian rap artists like Lecrae and his label-mates from Reach Records have been setting records with sales and award-winning albums
4.
Singing
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Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist, Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists, Singers may perform as soloists, or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Singing can be formal or informal, arranged or improvised and it may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, or ritual, as part of music education, or as a profession. Excellence in singing requires time, dedication, instruction, and regular practice, if practice is done on a regular basis then the sounds can become more clear and strong. Professional singers usually build their careers around one specific genre, such as classical or rock. They typically take voice training provided by teachers or vocal coaches throughout their careers. Though these four mechanisms function independently, they are coordinated in the establishment of a vocal technique and are made to interact upon one another. During passive breathing, air is inhaled with the diaphragm while exhalation occurs without any effort, exhalation may be aided by the abdominal, internal intercostal and lower pelvis/pelvic muscles. Inhalation is aided by use of external intercostals, scalenes and sternocleidomastoid muscles, the pitch is altered with the vocal cords. With the lips closed, this is called humming, humans have vocal folds which can loosen, tighten, or change their thickness, and over which breath can be transferred at varying pressures. The shape of the chest and neck, the position of the tongue, any one of these actions results in a change in pitch, volume, timbre, or tone of the sound produced. Sound also resonates within different parts of the body and an individuals size, Singers can also learn to project sound in certain ways so that it resonates better within their vocal tract. This is known as vocal resonation, another major influence on vocal sound and production is the function of the larynx which people can manipulate in different ways to produce different sounds. These different kinds of function are described as different kinds of vocal registers. The primary method for singers to accomplish this is through the use of the Singers Formant and it has also been shown that a more powerful voice may be achieved with a fatter and fluid-like vocal fold mucosa. The more pliable the mucosa, the more efficient the transfer of energy from the airflow to the vocal folds, Vocal registration refers to the system of vocal registers within the voice. A register in the voice is a series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds
5.
Pastor
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A pastor is usually an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, the term may be abbreviated to Pr or Ps, a pastor also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. The word pastor derives from the Latin noun pastor which means shepherd and relates to the Latin verb pascere - to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat. The term pastor also relates to the role of elder within the New Testament, many Protestant churches call their ministers pastors. Present-day usage of the word is rooted in the Biblical image of shepherding, the Hebrew Bible uses the Hebrew word רעה. English-language translations of the New Testament usually render the Greek noun ποιμήν as shepherd, the two words occur a total of 29 times in the New Testament, most frequently referring to Jesus. For example, Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd in John 10,11, the same words in the familiar Christmas story refer to literal shepherds. 1 Corinthians 9,7 - Paul says, of himself and the apostles, in the United States, the term pastor is used by Catholics for what in other English-speaking countries is called a parish priest. The Latin term used in the Code of Canon Law is parochus, the parish priest is the proper clergyman in charge of the congregation of the parish entrusted to him. Many Protestants use the term pastor as a title or as a job title, United Methodists, for example, ordain to the office of deacon and elder, each of whom can use the title of pastor depending upon their job description. These pastors may be lay people, seminary students, or seminary graduates in the ordination process, and cannot exercise any functions of clergy outside the charge where they are appointed. The use of the pastor can also be regional in some denominations, including some parts of the Methodist, Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist, American Churches of Christ. The use of the pastor to refer to the common Protestant title of modern times dates to the days of John Calvin. Both men, and other Reformers, seem to have revived the term to replace the Catholic priest in the minds of their followers, the pastor was considered to have a role separate from the board of presbyters. In some Lutheran churches, ordained clergy are called priests, while in others the term pastor is preferred, ordained clergy are called priests in the Episcopal Church, as in all other branches of the Anglican Communion. Bercot, David W. Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up, newAdvent. org, The Catholic Encyclopedias entry on the term pastor. LifeWay. com, Articles to help the pastor in the roles of preacher, missionary, leader, shepherd, and person
6.
Mezzo-soprano
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A mezzo-soprano or mezzo is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-sopranos vocal range extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above. In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C, the mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in music, early music. Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, such roles include Despina in Mozarts Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni. Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdis Macbeth, the vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal quality difference. Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories, coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano, a coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C, some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C or high D, but this is very rare. What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles, coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas, The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C to the A two octaves above middle C. This voice has a smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles and this voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano
7.
Albertina Walker
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Albertina Walker was an American gospel singer, songwriter, actress, and humanitarian. She was popularly referred to as the Queen of Gospel Music, Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, Georgia, and her father in Bibb County and they moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County and four born in Chicago, Albertina was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson, her friend and confidante, whom Jackson took on the road when Albertina was just a teenager. Shed say, Girl, you need to go sing by yourself, in 1951, she formed the group called The Caravans. In the early 1950s Walker founded her own Gospel music group The Caravans, the Caravans membership has included, James Cleveland, Bessie Griffin, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Loleatta Holloway, John McNeil, Cassietta George, and Delores Washington. Her discovery of these resulted in the nickname Star Maker. Walker retired The Caravans in the late 1960s, performing as a solo artist, Albertina recorded her first solo project Put a Little Love in Your Heart in 1975. She also recorded several projects together with Reverend James Cleveland. To date, she has recorded over 60 albums, including gold selling hits Please Be Patient With Me, I Can Go to God in Prayer, The Best Is Yet to Come, Impossible Dream, and Joy Will Come. Walker sang for United States presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and South Africas president, Nelson Mandela. In 1995, Walker joined Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow and Lois Walden to record an album in common, Good News in Hard Times. Walker recorded an album with her group The Caravans entitled Paved the Way. Performers included Walker, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Robert Estevis, the album was dubbed by Billboard magazine as one of the most memorable releases of 2006 and entered the Billboard charts in the top ten and remained in the top forty for sixteen weeks. Paved the Way was nominated for a Grammy, Dove, Soul Train Music Award, Albertina earned many awards and honors over her six decades of music ministry. In 2005, the Grammys honored her contributions to the Gospel music industry, R. E. A. - Robert Estevis Award for the album, The Caravans, Paved The Way She was also the recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship. President George Bush honored Albertina Walker for her contribution to Gospel music May 31,2002, Ms. Walker is featured in the book entitled Whos Who in Black America as well as other volumes related to the Golden Age of Gospel Music. She received several keys to cities and was honored at the Chicago Gospel Festival where a bench bearing her name was placed in downtown Chicagos Grant Park
8.
Patti LaBelle
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Patricia Louise Holt-Edwards better known under the stage name Patti LaBelle, is an American singer, author, actress, and entrepreneur. LaBelle began her career in the early 1960s as lead singer and front woman of the group, Patti LaBelle. After the group split in 1976, LaBelle began a solo career, starting with her critically acclaimed debut album. Less than two years later, in 1986, LaBelle scored with the album, Winner in You. LaBelle eventually won a 1992 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her 1991 album, Burnin, followed by a second Grammy win for the live album and her 1990s albums, Burnin, Gems and Flame, continued her popularity with young R&B audiences throughout the decade. LaBelles success has extended as an actress with a role in the film, A Soldiers Story. In 1992, LaBelle starred in her own TV sitcom, Out All Night, a decade later, LaBelle hosted her own lifestyle TV show, Living It Up with Patti LaBelle on TV One. In 2015, LaBelle took part in the competition, Dancing with the Stars. In a career that has spanned fifty years, she has more than 50 million records worldwide. LaBelle has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame, in 2005, the World Music Awards recognized her years in the music business by awarding her the Legend Award. Possessing the voice of a soprano, LaBelle was included in Rolling Stone on their list of 100 Greatest Singers, LaBelle is commonly identified as the Godmother of Soul. LaBelle was born Patricia Louise Holte on May 24,1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and her father was a railroad worker and her mother was a domestic. Despite enjoying her childhood, LaBelle would later write in her memoirs, Dont Block the Blessings, when Patti was seven, she was sexually molested by a family friend. At twelve, her parents came to an end though Patti remained close to her father. When she was fifteen, she won a talent competition at her high school and this success led to Patti forming her first singing group, the Ordettes, in 1960, with schoolmates Jean Brown, Yvonne Hogen and Johnnie Dawson. The group, with Patti as front woman, became an attraction until two of its members left to marry. In 1962, the Ordettes included three new members, Cindy Birdsong, Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx, the two girls having sung for another defunct vocal group. That year, they auditioned for record label owner Harold Robinson
9.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
10.
GMA Dove Award
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A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards took place in Atlanta, Georgia during 2011 and 2012, the ceremonies feature live musical performances and are broadcast on TBN. The awards were established in 1969, and represent a variety of styles, including rock, pop, hip hop, country. The Dove Awards were originally conceptualized by Gospel singer and songwriter Bill Gaither, the idea of the award being represented by a dove is credited to Gaither and design for the award itself is credited to gospel singer Les Beasley. The first GMA Dove Awards were held at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, in 1971, the awards moved to Nashville. There were no awards held in 1979, due to a decision by the Gospel Music Association to move the awards from autumn to spring, every ceremony since has been held in the spring. The first televised ceremony was the 15th GMA Dove Awards of 1984, the awards were held in Nashville until 2011 before being presented at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in 2012. They returned to Nashville in 2013, and have held at the Allen Arena on the campus of Lipscomb University since. The General Field includes seven awards which are not restricted by genre, Song of the Year is awarded to the songwriter, prior to the definition, the only qualified music was that sold in Christian Booksellers Association affiliated stores. The new standards resulted in complaints by fans and artists after thirteen entries were disqualified as being too secular in the 1999 Dove Awards. The rules were rescinded afterwards, and many groups disqualified by the rulings in 1999 were winners in 2000, Christian pop culture Gospel Music Association of Canada Covenant Awards Official website GMA website Past winners
11.
MCI Communications
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It was headquartered in Washington, D. C. Founded in 1963, it grew to be the second-largest long-distance provider in the U. S and it was purchased by WorldCom in 1998 and became MCI WorldCom, with the name afterwards being shortened to WorldCom in 2000. WorldComs financial scandals and bankruptcy led that company to change its name in 2003 to MCI Inc, the MCI name disappeared in January 2006 after the company was bought by Verizon. MCI was founded as Microwave Communications, Inc. on October 3,1963 with John D. Goeken being named the companys first president. The initial business plan was for the company to build a series of relay stations between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The relay stations would then be used to interface with limited-range two-way radios used by truckers along U. S. Route 66 or by barges on the Illinois Waterway. The long-distance communication service would then be marketed to shipping companies that were too small to build their own private relay systems. In addition to the radio services, MCI soon made plans to offer voice, computer information. The fledgling business began a process of raising capital and submitting applications to the Federal Communications Commission for appropriate licenses, hearings on Microwave Communications initial application between February 13,1967 and April 19,1967 resulted in a recommendation that the FCC approve MCIs application. AT&T quickly sought a reversal of the ruling, and when the FCC denied their request, the FCCs decision was upheld, thus creating a new industry, privately manufactured devices could be connected to the telephone network as long as the manufacturer met interface standards. In 1968, William G. McGowan, an investor from New York with experience in raising venture capital, met with the board of Microwave Communications to discuss financing plans for the business. As a result of meetings in June and July, Microwave Communications of America, McGowan also made an investment into the new corporation large enough to pay all outstanding debts of the combined businesses and create a cash reserve. The investment also provided McGowan a stake in the company and a seat on the board, despite a 1967 recommendation that MCIs application be approved, final authorization for MCI to begin operations was delayed until after H. Rex Lee became an FCC Commissioner in October 1968. The FCC issued a ruling on Docket 16509, MCIs licensing request. By a decision of 4–3 MCI was licensed for operation and this ruling was quickly appealed by AT&T, and after a denial of the appeal by the commission, AT&T filed a suit with the U. S. Court of Appeals to have the ruling overturned. Between September 1969 and February 1971, fifteen new regional carriers were created, in July 1969, MICOM also purchased an equity position in Interdata, an independent regional carrier that was applying to build a microwave relay chain between New York City and Washington, D. C. MCI began selling data transmission services to paying customers on January 1,1972, to pay for the microwave transmission and relay equipment needed for build-out, MICOM began a series of private stock offerings in May 1971. In July 1971, MICOM was restructured into MCI Communications, MCI went public on June 22,1972, selling an initial offering of 3.3 million shares
12.
VH1
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VH1 is an American cable television network based in New York City that is owned by the Viacom Global Entertainment Group, a unit of Viacom Media Networks. The channel was first launched on January 1,1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting Systems short-lived Cable Music Channel and it was originally created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and the original owner of MTV. As of February 2015, approximately 92.6 million US households receive VH1, also frequently featured in the networks early years were videos for Motown and other 60s oldies consisting of newsreel and concert footage. It was introduced on January 1,1985 with the performance of The Star-Spangled Banner by Marvin Gaye. From the start, Video Hits One was branded as a version of its sister/parent channel. It played more jazz and R&B artists than MTV and had a rotation of urban-contemporary performers. Its early on-camera personalities were New York radio veterans Don Imus, Frankie Crocker, Scott Shannon, Jon Bauman, Bobby Rivers, later VJs included Tim Byrd of WPIX-FM, a station whose eclectic ballad-and-R&B oriented format mirrored that of VH-1, and Alison Steele. Rosie ODonnell later joined the outlets veejay lineup, ODonnell would also host a comedy show featuring various comedians each episode. The format left room for occasional ad-libs by the VJ, a godsend for emcees such as Imus, in true Imus style, he used a 1985 segment of his VH-1 show to jokingly call smooth-jazz icon Sade Adu a grape for her oval-shaped head. At first many different musicians guest-hosted the program, but eventually musician/songwriter Ben Sidran became the permanent host, new-Age music videos continued to play on the channel into the 1990s. They would be seen on the Sunday morning 2-hour music video block titled Sunday Brunch, once VH1 established itself a few years later, they catered to Top 40, adult contemporary, classic rock, and 1980s mainstream pop. For a time, even music videos aired in a one-hour block during the afternoons. They started out using MTVs famous Kabel typeface font for their music video credit tags and it was later replaced in 1991 by a larger font, with the year the video was made added to the lower column that identified the label on which the album was released. In 1993, the name of the director was included at the bottom of the credits. Every week, the Top 21 Video Countdown usually had a different guest host, occasionally, they had themed countdowns as well, such as Elvira hosting scary videos for Halloween in 1991. Long blocks of videos by a particular artist or band, theme. One popular weekend program was called Video Rewind, in blocks of 1980s videos from one particular year would play for an hour. There was also a short-lived hour-long program called By Request in which viewers could call a 1–900 hotline number to request their videos, also in 1991, a popular morning program was introduced called Hits News & Weather that ran from 7 AM to 9 AM ET
13.
White House
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The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D. C. It has been the residence of every U. S. president since John Adams in 1800, the term White House is often used to refer to actions of the president and his advisers, as in The White House announced that. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style, construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior, reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular South portico in 1824, because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, in the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as an area for social events. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space, by 1948, the houses load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the rooms were completely dismantled. Once this work was completed, the rooms were rebuilt. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, the property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Presidents Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of Americas Favorite Architecture, in May 1790, New York began construction of Government House for his official residence, but he never occupied it. The national capital moved to Philadelphia in December 1790, the July 1790 Residence Act named Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the temporary national capital for a 10-year period while the Federal City was under construction. The City of Philadelphia rented Robert Morriss city house at 190 High Street for Washingtons presidential residence, the first president occupied the Market Street mansion from November 1790 to March 1797, and altered it in ways that may have influenced the design of the White House. As part of an effort to have Philadelphia named the permanent national capital, Pennsylvania built a much grander presidential mansion several blocks away. President John Adams also occupied the Market Street mansion from March 1797 to May 1800, on Saturday, November 1,1800, he became the first president to occupy the White House. The Presidents House in Philadelphia became a hotel and was demolished in 1832, the Presidents House was a major feature of Pierre Charles LEnfants plan for the newly established federal city, Washington, D. C
14.
The Recording Academy
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The Recording Academy is a U. S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals. The Recording Academy is headquartered in Santa Monica, neil Portnow is the current president of The Academy. The Recording Academy, which began in 1957, is known for its Grammy Awards, in 1997, the Recording Academy launched The Latin Recording Academy, which produces the Latin Grammy Awards. Michael Greene was the founder and the first President of the Latin Grammys, the origin of the Academy dates back to the beginning of the 1950s Hollywood Walk of Fame project. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce asked the help of recording industry executives in compiling a list of people in the music business who should be honored by Walk of Fame stars. This was the start of the Academy and also of the Grammy Awards, the Producers and Engineers Wing is a part of the academy made up of producers, engineers, mixers, and other technically involved professionals. It is composed of almost 6,000 members, the producers and engineers wing addresses various aspects of issues facing the recording profession. They also support music and recording arts education, the P&E Wing also advocates for the use of professional usage of recording technology as well as the preservation of recordings. The members of this division make up a portion of those who vote on the Grammy Awards each year. The Grammy University Network is an organization for students who are pursuing a career in the music industry. It offers forms of networking, interactive experiences and programs, advice from music professionals. The Recording Academy supports the MusiCares Foundation, an organization which provides money. The Academy has twelve chapters in various locations in the United States, the twelve chapters are, Atlanta, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, New York City, Pacific Northwest, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Texas and Washington D. C. List of music organizations in the United States The Latin Recording Academy Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy Producers and Engineers Wing
15.
Whitney Houston
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Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time, Houston is one of pop musics best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hits and she is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houstons debut album, Whitney Houston, became the debut album by a woman in history. Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazines list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album, Whitney, became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Houstons first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard. The films original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and its lead single, I Will Always Love You, won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act to sell more than a million copies of an album within a week period under Nielsen SoundScan system. The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the albums of all time. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale, the Preachers Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history. On February 11,2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, the official coroners report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American, Whitney Houston was born on August 9,1963 in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. and her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American, through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love and her aunt was Aretha Franklin. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey
16.
Faith Evans
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Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles in 1993 for a career in the music business, after working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Blige and Carl Thomas and released three platinum-certified studio albums between 1995 and 2001, including Faith, Keep the Faith and Faithfully, in 2003, she ended her relationship with the company to sign with Capitol Records. Following a longer hiatus, Evans released her fifth album Something About Faith on the independent label Prolific/E1 Music in 2010, other than her recording career, Evans is mostly known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher The Notorious B. I. G. Wallace, whom she married on August 4,1994, a few weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photo shoot, a 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and the band 112, named Ill Be Missing You, won Evans a Grammy Award in 1998. Also an actress and writer, Evans made her debut in the 2000 musical drama Turn It Up by Robert Adetuyi. Her autobiography Keep the Faith, A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2008, Evans was born on June 10,1973, in Lakeland, Florida to an African American mother, Helene Evans, a professional singer. Her father, Richard Swain, who was Caucasian, was a musician who left before Evans was born, Faith had known Johnnie Mae and Orvelt Kennedy as her grandparents. It was not until a couple of later that Helenes career floundered. Faith, however, was afraid to leave what shed been used to, raised in a Christian home, Evans began singing at church at age two. At age four, she caught the attention of the congregation of the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Newark when she sang The 5th Dimensions song Let the Sunshine In. After graduating from school in 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing. In 1993, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked as a backup vocalist for singer Al B, when she was noticed by musician Sean Puff Daddy Combs. Impressed with her, Combs contracted her as the first female artist to his Bad Boy Entertainment record label during 1994, Faith became a success based on the singles You Used to Love Me and Soon as I Get Home. The album was certified platinum with 1.5 million copies sold. A year before, on August 4,1994, Evans married rapper, Wallace, after having met him at a Bad Boy photo shoot. During early 1997, after her separation from Wallace, but before his death, Faith began dating Russaw during her and Wallaces separation and after Wallace died, Evans became pregnant by Russaw. The couple had their first son Joshua on June 8,1998, during the summer of 1998, Evans and Russaw were married, and on March 22,2007, they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw
17.
Kirk Franklin
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Kirk Dewayne Franklin is an American gospel musician, choir director, and author. He is known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, Gods Property and One Nation Crew, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, Franklin was raised by his aunt, Gertrude, having been abandoned as a baby by his mother. Gertrude collected and resold aluminum cans to raise money for Kirk to take lessons from the age of four. Kirk excelled in music, being able to read and write music and he received his first contract offer at the age of seven, which his aunt turned down. He joined the choir and became music director of the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir at the age of twelve. He was accepted and later there was an announcement of a girlfriends pregnancy, Kirk Franklin studied music with Jewell Kelly and the Singing Chaparrals at Oscar Dean Wyatt High School. He was under her tutelage for music direction as she allowed him to be the pianist for the choir, after the shooting death of a friend, Franklin returned to the church, where he began to direct the choir once again. He also co-founded a gospel group, The Humble Hearts, which recorded one of Franklins compositions, impressed, Biggham enlisted him to lead the DFW Mass Choir in a recording of Franklins song Every Day with Jesus. This led to Biggham hiring Franklin, just 20 years old at the time, to lead the choir at the 1990 Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention, in 1992, Franklin organized The Family, which was a seventeen-voice choir, formed from neighborhood friends and associates. In 1993, the group, now known as Kirk Franklin & The Family, released their debut album and it spent almost two years on the Gospel music charts and charted on the R&B charts, eventually earning platinum sales status. It remained at No.1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart for 42 weeks and it was the first gospel music album to sell over a million units. Two years later, after releasing a 1995 Christmas album entitled Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas, the album was certified 2x platinum and earned Franklin his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. 1997 brought another album, a collaboration with the vocal ensemble Gods Property, Gods Property from Kirk Franklins Nu Nation was No.1 on the R&B Albums chart for five weeks, No.3 on the Pop charts, and would go on to be certified 3x platinum. It also brought Franklin another Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, in 1996, Franklins song Joy was recorded by Whitney Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir. With production by Houston and Mervyn Warren, the composition was included on the soundtrack to the movie The Preachers Wife. On November 2,1998, Gods Property sued Franklin, the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Franklin induced Gods Property founder Linda Searight into signing an onerous and one-sided contract with B-Rite Music. The Nu Nation Project was released in 1998, together with Crystal Lewis, and the Family, Lean on Me and the second single Revolution were considerable hits, and the album contained a version of another Withers song Gonna Be a Lovely Day. The Nu Nation Project went on to top the Billboard Contemporary Christian Albums chart for 23 weeks and the Billboard Gospel Albums chart for 49 weeks, also in 1998, Franklin had made a guest appearance on the hit television sitcom Sister, Sister
18.
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (film)
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Why Do Fools Fall in Love is a 1998 American romantic drama film, directed by Gregory Nava and released by Warner Bros. The film is a film of the brief but intense life of R&B/Rock and roll singer Frankie Lymon, lead singer of the pioneering rock. Moreover, the highlights the three women in his life, each of whom claim to have married Lymon and lay claim to his estate. Written by Tina Andrews, Why Do Fools Fall in Love stars Halle Berry, Vivica A. Fox, Lela Rochon, and Larenz Tate, Little Richard also appears in the film as himself. Lymon was 13 years old when the teenage group Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers erupted from radios and jukeboxes with their 1956 hit Why Do Fools Fall in Love. after Mr. Rock and Roll, Lymon started a solo singing career, but it all fell apart. Lymons career was over by the time he was 18 years old, ending credits shows the real Frankie Lymon singing his song Goody Goody. Little Richard also makes a appearance, while Miguel A. Nunez. The film ends with Emira winning Frankies estate, although Elizabeth was named the legal surviving spouse of Frankie Lymon, the screenplay of the film, written by actress-turned-screenwriter Tina Andrews, took fifteen years to be produced. Director Gregory Nava used most of the staff from his prior film Selena. Filming locations include, Jacksonville, Florida, Los Angeles, California, the film was first presented at the Urbanworld Film Festival, New York on August 8,1998. The film opened in wide release on August 28,1998, why Do Fools Fall in Love ran for 8 weeks domestically and eventually grossed $12,506,676 in the United States. At its widest release the film was shown in 1,377 screens, the taglines used by the producers of the film to market the film include, The story of three very different women. With one husband in common Three different women married Frankie Lymon, by the end of the film, were not even left with anyone to root for, we realize with a little astonishment, waiting for the court verdict, that we dont care who wins. Yet, film critic Peter Stack liked the film and believes director Nava smartly juggles a lot of elements in the picture. He wrote, Why Do Fools Fall in Love is a fresh, enlightening example of how to take a tragic American show-business story and make it funny, warm, brims with joyful spirit and raucous comedy. Deftly juggles a surprising number of elements, but they all work, wins ALMA Award, Outstanding Latino Director of a Feature Film, Gregory Nava,1999. American Black Film Festival, Black Film Award, Best Actor, nominations ALMA Awards, Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film in a Crossover Role, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role in a Feature Film, Alexis Cruz,1999, American Black Film Festival, Black Film Award, Best Screenplay, Tina Andrews, Best Soundtrack,1999
19.
Little Richard
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Richard Wayne Penniman, known as Little Richard, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. His music also played a key role in the formation of popular music genres, including soul. Little Richard has been honored by many institutions and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and he is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Little Richard was born Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5,1932, in Macon and he was the third eldest of the 12 children of Leva Mae and Charles Bud Penniman. His father was a deacon who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side and owned a nightclub. His mother was a member of Macons New Hope Baptist Church, initially, Little Richards first name was supposed to have been Ricardo but an error resulted in Richard instead. The Penniman children were raised in a neighborhood of Macon called Pleasant Hill, in childhood, he was nicknamed Lil Richard by his family, because of his small and skinny frame. A mischievous child who played pranks on neighbors, Little Richard began singing in church at a young age, possibly as a result of complications at birth, Little Richard had a slight deformity that left one of his legs shorter than the other. This produced an unusual gait, he was mocked for its allegedly effeminate appearance, Little Richards family was highly religious, joining various A. M. E. Baptist and Pentecostal churches, with family members becoming ministers. Little Richard enjoyed the Pentecostal churches the most, because of their charismatic worship and he had observed that people sang to feel their connection with God and to wash their trials and burdens away. Little Richards initial musical influences were gospel performers such as Brother Joe May, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, may, who as a singing evangelist was known as the Thunderbolt of the Middle West because of his phenomenal range and vocal power, inspired the boy to become a preacher. Little Richard attended Macons Hudson High School, where he was a below-average student and his musical talent, however, was recognized there when he learned to play the alto saxophone. His mother recalled how Richard was always musical and that when he was young, he would beat on the steps of the house. She also recalled that Richard was so quick at learning to play the saxophone that he was allowed to play with the marching band immediately. While in high school, Little Richard obtained a job at Macon City Auditorium for local secular. Little Richard sold Coca-Cola to crowds during concerts of star performers of the day, such as Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder, on October 27,1947, Sister Rosetta Tharpe heard 14-year-old Little Richard singing two of her gospel recordings before her concert at Macon City Auditorium
20.
The Fighting Temptations
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Through the choirs music, Darrin brings the church community back together all the while seeking a relationship with Lilly. The film is notable for its soundtrack and ensemble cast, the film received mixed reviews upon release. Aunt Sally Walker, Darrins great-aunt, attempts to defend MaryAnn but fails, MaryAnn and Darrin are last seen on a bus saying goodbye to Aunt Sally, as they sadly wave to each other. In 2003, Darrin has grown up to become an advertising executive in New York City with a bad habit of lying. His only true friend and secretary, Rosa Lopez, does a job at keeping his credit problems under control. However, Darrin has achieved so much under false pretenses, having faked his college degree and high school diploma, eventually, his lies soon catch up with him and get him in trouble with his paranoid boss and Darrin loses his job. After being tracked down by an investigator, Darrin soon finds out that Aunt Sally has died. Darrin returns to his hometown of Monte Carlo, Georgia, and on the way, when Darrin arrives, he finds a new friendship in Lucious, the towns happy-go-lucky, womanizing cab driver. At Aunt Sallys funeral, Shirley Caesar makes an appearance as a character who was an old friend of Sally. Upon taking charge of the choir, Darrin discovers that it has fallen into decline over the years. Paulina holds a grudge against Darrin because of his mother and for stealing her spot as choir director, after several setbacks, Darrin eventually recruits many new members, most of which he does so by promising half of the competitions prize money to them. Several weeks later, Paulina reveals that Darrin forgot to enter the choir into the auditions on time, luckily, the audition judge, Luther Washington, who is also the towns prison warden, lets them perform in a show for his prisoners when their booked act cancels. Thanks to Lillys beautiful looks and voice, the choir performs well, Washington also lets Darrin borrow three convicts who can sing. The three convicts are Bee-Z Briggs, Lightfoot, and Mr. Johnson, after weeks of success, the choir has become more popular, as more people have joined both it and the church. Lilly starts to trust Darrin and develops feelings for him as well. However, Paulina takes a message for Darrin in a call from Rosa and learns of his past troubles. The next afternoon at a barbecue, Paulina deliberately reveals Darrins secrets with a polite demeanor. Lilly, furious and heartbroken about this, tells Darrin that she doesnt care what he does, she was using him because he was using her
21.
Cuba Gooding Jr.
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Cuba Gooding Jr. is an American actor. For his portrayal of O. J. Simpson in the FX drama series The People v. O. J. Simpson, American Crime Story and he co-starred in the sixth season of the FX anthology series American Horror Story, subtitled Roanoke. His other films include As Good as It Gets, American Gangster, Lee Daniels The Butler, Gooding was born on January 2,1968 in The Bronx, New York City. His mother, Shirley, is a singer with the Sweethearts, Gooding has three siblings, April, Omar, and Tommy. His paternal grandfather, Dudley MacDonald Gooding, was a native of Barbados and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1972 after his fathers music group had their hit single Everybody Plays the Fool, two years later, the elder Gooding left the family. He served as president in three of them. He became a born-again Christian at age 13, in 1994, Gooding married his high school sweetheart, Sara Kapfer, with whom he has three children. In 2014, Kapfer filed for separation from Gooding. Gooding filed for divorce in January 2017, goodings first job as an entertainer was as a breakdancer performing with singer Lionel Richie at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. After high school, Gooding studied Japanese martial arts for three years, before turning his focus toward acting, early on, he landed guest starring roles on shows like Hill Street Blues, Amen and MacGyver and also had a tiny part in the popular comedy Coming to America. Goodings first major role was in John Singletons inner-city crime drama Boyz n the Hood, in which he played the lead, a box office surprise and critical hit, the film is now considered a modern classic. He followed this success with supporting roles in films such as A Few Good Men, Judgment Night, Lightning Jack. Most significantly, it earned Gooding an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and his exuberant Show me the money. Line in the film became a catch phrase. Additionally, his Oscar acceptance speech has often cited for its enthusiasm. Additionally, though not well received critically, the family comedy Snow Dogs was a commercial success, other roles of note during this time include Theo Caulder in the psychological thriller Instinct and the voice of Buck in the Disney animated film Home on the Range. On top of this, Gooding had allegedly turned down roles in films such as Amistad in the aftermath of his Oscar win. Ultimately, neither his earlier successes nor his leading roles in a couple of independent films
22.
National Endowment for the Arts
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The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U. S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the NEA had its offices in Washington, D. C. It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, in March of 2017, a proposal to eliminate all federal funding for the program was put forward by the Trump administration. The NEA is dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established, bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Between 1965 and 2008, the agency has made in excess of 128,000 grants, from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Congress granted the NEA an annual funding of between $160 and $180 million. In 1996, Congress cut the NEA funding to $99, since 1996, the NEA has partially rebounded with a 2015 budget of $146.21 million. For FY2010, the reached the level it was at during the mid-1990s at $167.5 million. The NEA is governed by a Chairman appointed by the President to a four-year term and this body consists of 14 individuals appointed by the President for their expertise and knowledge in the arts, in addition to six ex officio members of Congress who serve in a non-voting capacity. On June 12,2014, Dr. Jane Chu was confirmed as the 11th Chair of the NEA by the Senate, the NEA offers grants in the categories of, 1) Grants for Arts Projects, 2) National Initiatives, and 3) Partnership Agreements. The NEA also grants individual fellowships in literature to creative writers and translators of exceptional talent in the areas of prose, the NEA has partnerships in the areas of state and regional, federal, international activities, and design. The state arts agencies and regional organizations are the NEAs primary partners in serving the American people through the arts. Forty percent of all NEA funding goes to the state arts agencies, the NEA also manages the National Medal of Arts, awarded annually by the President. The NEA is the largest grantmaker to arts organizations in the nation, artist William Powhida has noted that in one single auction, wealthy collectors bought almost a billion dollars in contemporary art at Christies in New York. He further commented, If you had a 2 percent tax just on the auctions in New York you could double the NEA budget in two nights. Upon entering office in 1981, the incoming Ronald Reagan administration intended to push Congress to abolish the NEA completely over a three-year period, another proposal would have halved the arts endowment budget. In 1989, Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association held a press conference attacking what he called anti-Christian bigotry, in an exhibition by photographer Andres Serrano. The work at the center of the controversy was Piss Christ, republican Senators Jesse Helms and Al DAmato began to rally against the NEA, and expanded the attack to include other artists. Prominent conservative Christian figures including Pat Robertson of the 700 Club, on June 12,1989, The Corcoran cancelled the Mapplethorpe exhibition, saying that it did not want to adversely affect the NEAs congressional appropriations
23.
Gospel Music Hall of Fame
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This is an incomplete list of those inducted into the GMAs Gospel Music Hall of Fame, listed alphabetically with the year of induction. Many of these were honored posthumously for their contribution in gospel music and these artists include, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, Larnelle Harris, Steven Curtis Chapman, dc Talk, Jars of Clay. Others associated with Grahams ministries are also inductees, George Beverly Shea, Cliff Barrows, Ralph Carmichael, southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame
24.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
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The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination, with a reported 10 million visitors in 2003, as of 2017, the Walk of Fame comprises over 2,600 stars, spaced at 6-foot intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background, in the upper portion of each star field the name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters. Below the inscription, in the half of the star field. Approximately 20 new stars are added to the Walk each year, special category stars recognize various contributions by corporate entities, service organizations, and special honorees, and display emblems unique to those honorees. The moons are silver and grey terrazzo circles rimmed in brass on a square pink terrazzo background, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E. M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamor, Harry Sugarman, another Chamber member and president of the Hollywood Improvement Association, receives credit in an independent account. A committee was formed to flesh out the idea, and a firm was retained to develop specific proposals. By 1955 the basic concept and general design had been agreed upon, multiple accounts exist for the origin of the star concept. By another account, the stars were inspired, by Sugarmans drinks menu, which featured celebrity photos framed in gold stars. In February 1956 a prototype was unveiled featuring a caricature of an example honoree inside a star on a brown background. The committees met at the Brown Derby restaurant, and included such prominent names as Cecil B, deMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse L. Lasky, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, Mack Sennett, and Walter Lantz. A requirement stipulated by the audio recording committee specified minimum sales of one million records or 250,000 albums for all music category nominees. The committee soon realized that many important recording artists would be excluded from the Walk by that requirement, as a result, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was formed for the purpose of creating a separate award system for the music business. The first Grammy Awards were presented in Beverly Hills in 1959, construction of the Walk began in 1958 but two lawsuits delayed completion. The first was filed by local property owners challenging the legality of the $1.25 million tax assessment levied upon them to pay for the Walk, along with new street lighting, in October 1959 the assessment was ruled legal. The second lawsuit, filed by Charles Chaplin, Jr. sought damages for the exclusion of his father, chaplins suit was dismissed in 1960, paving the way for completion of the project. Woodwards name was one of eight drawn at random from the original 1,558, the other seven names were Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, and Ernest Torrence
25.
Shaw University
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Shaw University, founded as the Raleigh Institute, is a private liberal arts institution and historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded on December 1,1865, it is the oldest HBCU in the Southern United States, the founder of Livingstone College studied at Shaw, before transferring to Lincoln University. What became North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University was located on Shaw’s campus during its first year, the university has won CIAA championships in Football, Basketball, and Mens Tennis. In 2007, Shaw received $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation to support its Nanoscience, in 2004, Shaw University received $1.1 million from the U. S. Department of Education to develop an Upward Bound Program. The University also offers programs in Divinity, Religious Education. The Center for Alternative Programs in Education has centers in Greenville, Kannapolis, High Point, Rocky Mount, Ahoskie, Fayetteville, Durham, Wilmington, the school was founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. By 1915, supported by the American Baptist Home Mission, the school had 291 students, in 1867 the school consisted of three buildings, two of which were Antebellum cabins. As of 1875 when Shaw Collegiate Institute became Shaw University only two structures existed – The Shaw Building and Estey Seminary. It provided instruction services, a library, and lodging, the seminary, reputed to be the first building ever erected for the education of African-American females, was devoted to training women in cooking, sewing, music, and the like. Henry Martin Tupper bought the material from which the women made garments and he sold the garments in an effort to pay for the cost of the material. In 1879, a major building was erected – a chapel. Greenleaf of Springfield, MA, a liberal contributor. The upper part of the building was accessible by stairs, doors on either side of the tower provided entrance to the dining room. At the right of the chapel was a room and at the left a library. A storeroom existed under the stairway, funds saved from the school were used to build this structure. These were augmented by contributions of $650 from O. H, Greenleaf, Captain Ebenezer Morgan, and Deacon O. B. It was renamed Shaw Collegiate Institute after Elijah Shaw, benefactor of Shaw Hall, in 1875, it became Shaw University. In 1873, Estey Hall was built, marked the first female dormitory on the campus of a school in the United States
26.
Southeastern University (Florida)
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Southeastern University is a private Christian liberal arts university located in Lakeland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1935 in New Brockton, Alabama as a Bible college, relocated to Lakeland in 1946, the school has six colleges and is the largest Assemblies of God educational institution in the United States. The university offers 54 bachelor’s degrees, fifteen masters degrees, originally located in a former high school building in New Brockton, Alabama, it opened its doors to students on November 4,1935, under the direction of four faculty members. Two years later, in May 1937, the first graduation exercises were held, seventeen students received diplomas for the two-year academic program. SEBI continued classes in New Brockton until 1940 when a decision was made to consolidate the school with Beulah Heights Bible Institute in Atlanta, the school was known from 1940 to 1942 as the Beulah Heights—South-Eastern Bible Institute. In 1946, the board of directors voted to secure a permanent location for the full development of the school. A new campus location was purchased later that year in Lakeland, the Atlanta campus was sold, and development of the new site began. Student body growth continued at the new central Florida campus along with the academic program, SEBI became South-Eastern Bible College in 1956 when the school began offering four-year, bachelor’s degree programs. After adding education degrees, the board of directors changed the school name to Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God in 1977. In 1986, Southeastern was granted accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges. Accreditation was reaffirmed in 1991,2001, and 2011, since then, the university has also formed the colleges of behavioral and social sciences and natural and health sciences. In 2014, it began its first doctoral program, the EdD, Southeastern University is organized into six colleges. The College of Arts & Media houses the Department of Communication, Department of Humanities, Southeastern University offers 54 majors leading to the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees. In addition to these, the university also offers fifteen masters degrees and they also incorporate a full online program that offers 23 of their own campus degrees including nine undergraduate degrees, thirteen masters degrees, and their Doctor of Education degree. Freshman Dorms Bauer Hall—Freshman male housing, upperclassman Dorms Aventura Hall—Female housing suites for 4 or 8 students. Bethany Apartments—Male/female apartments for 4 students, destino Hall—Male housing suites for 4 or 8 students. Esperanza Hall—Female housing suites for 4 or 8 students, south Pointe—Male/Female housing apartments that accommodate 3 or 4 students. Valencia—Male/Female housing apartments that accommodate 3 or 4 students, buena Vida—Male/Female housing suites that accommodate 4 or 8 students
27.
Raleigh, North Carolina
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Raleigh is the capital of the state of North Carolina, the seat of Wake County in the United States. Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its oak trees. The city covers a area of 142.8 square miles. The U. S. Census Bureau estimated the population as 451,066 as of July 1,2015. It is also one of the cities in the country. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County, Raleigh is home to North Carolina State University and is part of the Research Triangle area, together with Durham and Chapel Hill. The Triangle nickname originated after the 1959 creation of the Research Triangle Park, located in Durham and Wake Counties, partway between the three cities and their universities. The Research Triangle region encompasses the U. S. Census Bureaus Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area, the Raleigh Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 1,214,516 in 2013. Most of Raleigh is located within Wake County, with a small portion extending into Durham County. Raleigh is an example in the United States of a planned city. It was chosen as the site of the capital in 1788. The city was laid out in a grid pattern with the North Carolina State Capitol in Union Square at the center. Raleigh is home to cultural, educational, and historic sites. The Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Raleigh features three venues and serves as the home for the North Carolina Symphony and the Carolina Ballet. Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek is a large music amphitheater located in southeast Raleigh, one U. S. president, Andrew Johnson, was born in Raleigh. Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina, was the first nominal capital from 1705 until 1722, the colony had no permanent institutions of government until the establishment at the new capital New Bern in 1743. In December 1770, Joel Lane successfully petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly to create a new county, on January 5,1771, the bill creating Wake County was passed in the General Assembly. The county was formed from portions of Cumberland, Orange, the county gets its name from Margaret Wake Tryon, the wife of Governor William Tryon
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Delta Sigma Theta
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Delta Sigma Theta is a not-for profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that target the African American community. DST was founded on January 13,1913, by 22 collegiate women at Howard University in Washington, membership is open to any woman who meets the requirements, regardless of religion, race, or nationality. Women may join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university, the current 25th national president is Dr. Paulette Camille Walker. The first public act of Delta Sigma Theta was the Womens Suffrage March in Washington D. C. on March 3,1913, today, it is the largest African-American Greek-lettered organization. Since its founding, DST has been at the forefront of creating programming to improve political, education, in addition to establishing independent programming, the sorority consistently collaborates with community organizations and corporations to further its programming goals. The new initiates wanted to establish an organization, enlarge the scope of the sororitys activities. They felt Alpha Kappa Alpha was solely a derivative of the Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity with no individual meaning and were not Greek distinctive letters. They also wanted to change the symbols, change the sorority colors, in 1912, these 22 undergraduates voted to change the organizations name to Delta Sigma Theta. This new name was to reflect the desire to change the direction of the group. The 22 undergraduate Alpha Chapter students sought to move towards social activism and greater public service, according to Delta Sigma Thetas historian Paula Giddings, the 22 young women were concerned that since Alpha Kappa Alpha was not incorporated, there was no legal entity. Since there was no charter, there was no authority to other chapters. The 22 declined and unanimously voted to reorganize, even prior to Delta Sigma Theta being approved by the Howard University administration, thus Delta Sigma Theta was founded on January 13,1913, by the 22 students. On January 20,1930, the organizations Grand Chapter was nationally incorporated, Delta Sigma Theta was one of the key African American organizations to participate in the Womens Suffrage March on March 3,1913. Immediately following the founding, Delta Sigma Theta members quickly mobilized to build and develop infrastructure, one of the first orders of business was to have an oath, which was written by Mary Church Terrell in 1914. In the early years, individual chapters would implement various programs to meet the needs of their local communities, the 1920s began a decade of significant development within Delta Sigma Theta. The organization began to develop uniformity in programming and communication between the chapters of the sorority, in 1920, May Week was inaugurated and the Official Publication of the Sorority was established as The Delta. Also in 1920, Omega Chapter was established to recognize deceased Sorors, Alexander was voted first Honorary Grand President of Delta Sigma Theta. The Official Delta Sigma Theta Hymn, written by Florence Cole Talbert, regions were established in 1925, and the Jabberwock was established as the scholarship fundraiser
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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MusicBrainz
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MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open data music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the placed on the Compact Disc Database. MusicBrainz has expanded its goals to reach beyond a compact disc metadata storehouse to become an open online database for music. MusicBrainz captures information about artists, their works, and the relationships between them. Recorded works entries capture at a minimum the album title, track titles, and these entries are maintained by volunteer editors who follow community written style guidelines. Recorded works can also store information about the date and country. As of 26 July 2016, MusicBrainz contained information about roughly 1.1 million artists,1.6 million releases, end-users can use software that communicates with MusicBrainz to add metadata tags to their digital media files, such as MP3, Ogg Vorbis or AAC. As with other contributions, the MusicBrainz community is in charge for maintaining and reviewing the data, besides collecting metadata about music, MusicBrainz also allows looking up recordings by their acoustic fingerprint. A separate application, such as MusicBrainz Picard, must be used for this, in 2000, MusicBrainz started using Relatables patented TRM for acoustic fingerprint matching. This feature attracted many users and allowed the database to grow quickly, however, by 2005 TRM was showing scalability issues as the number of tracks in the database had reached into the millions. This issue was resolved in May 2006 when MusicBrainz partnered with MusicIP, tRMs were phased out and replaced by MusicDNS in November 2008. In October 2009 MusicIP was acquired by AmpliFIND, some time after the acquisition, the MusicDNS service began having intermittent problems. Since the future of the free service was uncertain, a replacement for it was sought. The Chromaprint acoustic fingerprinting algorithm, the basis for AcoustID identification service, was started in February 2010 by a long-time MusicBrainz contributor Lukáš Lalinský, while AcoustID and Chromaprint are not officially MusicBrainz projects, they are closely tied with each other and both are open source. Chromaprint works by analyzing the first two minutes of a track, detecting the strength in each of 12 pitch classes, storing these 8 times per second, additional post-processing is then applied to compress this fingerprint while retaining patterns. The AcoustID search server then searches from the database of fingerprints by similarity, since 2003, MusicBrainzs core data are in the public domain, and additional content, including moderation data, is placed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0 license. The relational database management system is PostgreSQL, the server software is covered by the GNU General Public License. The MusicBrainz client software library, libmusicbrainz, is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, in December 2004, the MusicBrainz project was turned over to the MetaBrainz Foundation, a non-profit group, by its creator Robert Kaye
