Newark, U.S.A. — The Street League Skateboarding DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy (SLS) will cap off an amazing 2012 season with its winner-takes-all Championship. The historical event features the top eight Street League pros battling for $200,000 – the largest first place prize purse in skateboarding history, an all new 2012 Chevy Sonic, plus the highly coveted Nixon Championship watch and ring set. The Street League pros qualified into the Championship are as follows:

• Nyjah Huston
• Chaz Ortiz
• Paul Rodriguez
• Luan Oliveira
• Sean Malto
• Bastien Salabanzi
• Chris Cole
• Ryan Sheckler

2011 Street League Champion Sean Malto is back to defend his title against an all-star lineup including Paul Rodriguez, Nyjah Huston, Ryan Sheckler, Chaz Ortiz and Chris Cole. The eighteen-year-old Ortiz and the thirty-year-old Cole have multiple second place finishes between them, but each has yet to win a Street League contest. With an impressive second place finish earlier this season, European Selection winner Bastien Salabanzi is the lone Street League rookie to earn a spot in the final eight.

Ryan Shecklerand Paul Rodriguez are veteran contest skaters and fan favorites, both coming off of incredible recent performances including P-Rod’s first league win at Stop Three in Arizona last month. Come August 26th, it could be anyone’s day to take the most elite title in professional street skateboarding.

Last year’s final event left fans on the edge of their seats as Nyjah Huston was ultimately denied a season sweep by Sean Malto who put a stop to Huston’s historical win streak. The seventeen-year-old Huston has yet to win a Street League championship since the league added the winner-take-all finale as the Championship instead of a season-long point system that was in place in its inaugural year.

“We’ve had an amazing year so far and there is no better way to end it than our winner-take-all Championship” says Street League creator Rob Dyrdek. “We know each one of these 8 pros has what it takes to win. On August 26th we’ll see who can rise to the occasion when the stakes are highest to become Street League Champion.

The stage is set for our best Street League ever.” “Most of the guys that are usually in the top spots—Chris Cole, Malto, P Rod—will make it an incredible Championship,” said winner of this season’s first two stops Nyjah Huston. “P Rod has been killing it lately. Got to look out for him. All those guys…This is pretty much the top of all the dudes in skateboarding and Street League, so it’s going to be interesting.”

The 2012 season has been one for the history books, with record-breaking crowds for skateboarding, and undeniable excitement with each event ending with the top three skaters within one or two points of each other in the final attempt. Nyjah Huston and Paul Rodriguez are the only skaters to win Street League events this season, but the victories have not come easily.

Bastien Salabanzi was a single trick away from winning in Kansas City, as was Chaz Ortiz in Ontario, and Chris Cole in Arizona who suffered the same fate after missing their final attempts.Street League’s $1.6 million purse is the largest in skateboarding history and almost double the combined winnings for all other skate contests. The SLS tour culminates in a winner-takes-all Championship inNewark, NJ at the Prudential Center on August 26.

The SLS Championship will feature the Golden Ticket winners of the first three stops of the 2012 tour along with the remaining top six qualifiers who will compete for $200,000 as well as the title of Street League Champion. The Championship will air LIVE on ESPN2 on August 26 at 5pm ET. Check www.streetleague.com for the complete pre-show and Chevrolet Overdrive webcast schedule.

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Atlanta, May U.S.A – In the just-released book “The New Black Politician: Cory Booker, Newark and Post-Racial America” (NYU Press, 2012), Emory University political scientist Andra Gillespie uses Newark, N.J., and its mayor, Cory Booker, as a case study to explain the breakdown of racial unity in black politics. “The New Black Politician” presents a challenge to the current understanding of the connection between racial solidarity, voter choice and policy preferences.

Newark’s Booker – one of the nation’s most visible city mayors – is more than a singular success story. His rise to power represents a dramatic shift in American politics as a vanguard of young, affluent black leadership has emerged the past 15 years. These “new black politicians” often clash with older generations of African American leadership for power while reshaping municipal and national politics in the process.

The 2002 Newark mayoral race, a contentious battle between the young challenger Booker and the more established incumbent Sharpe James – is one of a series of contests in which young, well-educated, moderate black politicians have challenged civil rights veterans for power.

Gillespie examines the decade-long evolution of African American politics in New Jersey’s largest city and its meaning for American politics. The book features first-hand observation and interviews with many of Newark’s key players (including Cory Booker), and provides a current understanding of contemporary African American and mayoral politics.

Booker’s rise to power demonstrates how younger African Americans seeking office often build political alliances that circumvent the traditional black political establishment, and deliberately work to establish more diverse appeal, outreach and power centers among the electorate. It was with such a multi-cultural coalition that President Barack Obama, originally a political outsider, propelled himself to the White House, Gillespie says.

Based on eight years of intense and ongoing research, Gillespie shows that while both poor and affluent blacks pay lip service to racial cohesion and to continuing the goals of the Civil Rights Movement, the reality is both groups harbor different visions of how to achieve those goals and what those goals will look like once achieved.

In the book, Gillespie explains why Booker lost in 2002, how he won in 2006 and was reelected in 2010. She provides a framework of advice for younger African Americans considering forays into politics.

Image Courtesy of  mistydawnphoto / Shutterstock.com

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Nearly one in five African-American babies in Newark is born too soon, and a new community-based program announced aims to help more of these babies be born healthy and full-term.

March of Dimes launched Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait, a program to reduce preterm births in Newark.  Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait is a partnership of the March of Dimes, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, the City of Newark Department of Child and Family Well Being, Newark Beth Israel, UMDNJ – The University Hospital and Newark Community Health Centers, conducted in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.

The primary goal of this partnership in Newark is to reduce the rate of singleton (one baby) preterm birth with particular concern for reducing preterm birth within the African-American community. The March of Dimes has been working with prenatal care providers and community-based organizations to select interventions and develop materials specifically for African-American women.

African-American women are more than one and a half times as likely to have a preterm baby compared to white women; and disparities persist even when age, education and other demographics are considered. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2009, the preterm birth rate in Newark for African-American women was 18.6 percent, while the overall rate for the city was 16.5 percent — both substantially higher than the statewide preterm birth rate of 12 percent.

In Newark the preterm birth rate is more than 66 percent higher among African-Americans babies when compared to non-Hispanic whites. ”Preventing preterm birth saves babies’ lives and opens up a healthy future for them and their families,” said LaVerne Council, chair of the March of Dimes Board of Trustees.

“Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait will offer more New Jersey moms, especially African-American moms who are at greater risk, the best information and services geared especially for them.”

Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait provides education for perinatal providers, pregnant women, and the greater Newark community on the problem of preterm birth, its risk factors and strategies for reducing risk.  Additionally, it provides a supportive structure for implementing bundled evidence-based clinical and public health interventions to reduce preterm birth.

HBWW-Newark works to increase early entry into prenatal care by building strong collaborations among the health department, healthcare providers and community organizations as only 55% of African-American women receive prenatal care within the first trimester.

“Preparing for a new baby should be a time of great excitement,” said Mary O’Dowd, New Jersey Health and Senior Services Commissioner. “Premature birth is the number one obstetrical problem in the U.S. and African-American women in particular, across all socioeconomic groups, are at a much greater risk of delivering their babies too soon.  Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait aims to help prevent preterm births with a model that combines clinical, educational and community efforts to improve overall systems of care.”

“I am proud to be working with the March of Dimes to implement Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait inNewark,” said Newark City Council woman Mildred Crump. “Culturally competent prenatal care and education messages are vital to improving birth outcomes in our city.”

“Johnson & Johnson is committed to improving the health of mothers and babies worldwide.  Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait has proven that community-based programs can reduce pre-term birth rates. We are excited to be a partner in this project which focuses on a particularly vulnerable group of mothers and babies right here in New Jersey,” said Joy Marini, Director, Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson.

The Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait program is an important component of the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign, a nationwide effort to address the growing problem of premature birth, the leading cause of newborn death and a major cause of serious health problems. Prematurity costs U.S. society 26 billion dollars every year. The March of Dimes also funds research to find the causes of premature birth.

“I thank the March of Dimes for marshaling their considerable reputation and resources to address the critical issue of preterm birth in African-American women,” said New Jersey State Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. “Like other March of Dimes efforts, I have no doubt this new community-based program will raise awareness and prove tremendously effective.”

In 2007 in Kentucky, Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait began as a demonstration project of the March of Dimes, the Kentucky Department of Health and the Johnson and Johnson Pediatric Institute. Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait is now a signature program of the March of Dimes with 13 sites nationwide in Kentucky, Texas, and New Jersey.

The article African-American Premature Babies In Newark On The Rise appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Nearly one in five African-American babies in Newark is born too soon, and a new community-based program announced today aims to help more of these babies be born healthy and full-term.

The March of Dimes has launched Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait, a program to reduce preterm births in Newark.  Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait is a partnership of the March of Dimes, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, the City of Newark Department of Child and Family Well Being, Newark Beth Israel, UMDNJ – The University Hospital and Newark Community Health Centers, conducted in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.

The primary goal of this partnership in Newark is to reduce the rate of singleton (one baby) preterm birth with particular concern for reducing preterm birth within the African-American community. The March of Dimes has been working with prenatal care providers and community-based organizations to select interventions and develop materials specifically for African-American women.

African-American women are more than one and a half times as likely to have a preterm baby compared to white women; and disparities persist even when age, education and other demographics are considered. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2009, the preterm birth rate in Newark for African-American women was 18.6 percent, while the overall rate for the city was 16.5 percent — both substantially higher than the statewide preterm birth rate of 12 percent.

In Newark the preterm birth rate is more than 66 percent higher among African-Americans babies when compared to non-Hispanic whites. ”Preventing preterm birth saves babies’ lives and opens up a healthy future for them and their families,” said LaVerne Council, chair of the March of Dimes Board of Trustees.

“Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait will offer more New Jersey moms, especially African-American moms who are at greater risk, the best information and services geared especially for them.”

Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait provides education for perinatal providers, pregnant women, and the greater Newark community on the problem of preterm birth, its risk factors and strategies for reducing risk.  Additionally, it provides a supportive structure for implementing bundled evidence-based clinical and public health interventions to reduce preterm birth.

HBWW-Newark works to increase early entry into prenatal care by building strong collaborations among the health department, healthcare providers and community organizations as only 55% of African-American women receive prenatal care within the first trimester.

“Preparing for a new baby should be a time of great excitement,” said Mary O’Dowd, New Jersey Health and Senior Services Commissioner. “Premature birth is the number one obstetrical problem in the U.S. and African-American women in particular, across all socioeconomic groups, are at a much greater risk of delivering their babies too soon.

Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait aims to help prevent preterm births with a model that combines clinical, educational and community efforts to improve overall systems of care.” ”I am proud to be working with the March of Dimes to implement Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait in Newark,” said Newark City Councilwoman Mildred Crump. “Culturally competent prenatal care and education messages are vital to improving birth outcomes in our city.”

“Johnson & Johnson is committed to improving the health of mothers and babies worldwide.  Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait has proven that community-based programs can reduce pre-term birth rates. We are excited to be a partner in this project which focuses on a particularly vulnerable group of mothers and babies right here in New Jersey,” said Joy Marini, Director, Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson.

The article African-American Babies Born Too Soon appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.