Source: Mashable and Venture Studio

While playing for the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the Arena Football League, and pursuing his dream of playing football professionally, Lewis Howes broke his wrist diving for a pass. He gutted out the rest of the season, playing through his injury, but underwent career-ending surgery in the offseason. For the next six months he wore a full-arm cast and went about trying to answer the lingering question, “What now?”

He didn’t have a back up plan — it was football or nothing.

Did you know that African-Americans count for nearly 42 million in the U.S., 13.6 percent of the total population?

By 2050, this proportion is estimated to reach 15 percent.  Although New York had the largest number of blacks of any state, Mississippi had the largest share of this group in its total population — 38 percent.  Black Americans are the largest minority group in 23 states.

Black History Month, or National African American History Month, is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history.

The tradition of Black History Month goes back to the beginning of the 20th Century. NAACP leader and legendary historian and educator Carter G. Woodson originally founded “Negro History Week” in 1926, at a time when most history books simply omitted any African-American history and the central role African-Americans played in the birth of America as we know it. Woodson chose February because it coincided with the birthdays of two men who fought for freedom of American slaves: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

In 1976, Negro History Week was expanded to Black History Month. Since then, Black History Month has offered an opportunity to study, reflect on, and redefine our ongoing legacy in American history.

Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history.

Sources: NAACP and History

Origin of Black History Month

Freedom Riders

Watch Freedom Riders on PBS. See more from American Experience.

Roads to Memphis

Watch Roads to Memphis on PBS. See more from American Experience.

The New Negro / 1957 MLK Interview

Watch The New Negro / 1957 MLK Interview on PBS. See more from The Open Mind.

Dreams of Obama

Watch Dreams of Obama on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

More resources:

- Black History Month Facts here

- The Black Population in the USA here

- African American History Month here

- Watch more PBS program here

- Celebrating Black History Month in Los Angeles here

Get suggestions on where to eat, stay and have fun in LA.

Source: Pragmatic Capitalism

Marketing genius Seth Godin says the world is changing faster than ever and people aren’t adapting fast enough. He says as the industrial age transforms into the technological age your entire mentality has to change. You have to adapt to your surroundings if you want to win the race to the top. Read more here

Source: woxelOr

Michael Jordan to the Max is an American documentary released in IMAX in 2000. The film is about the life and career of basketball player Michael Jordan, focusing mainly on him during the 1998 NBA Playoffs. It is narrated by Laurence Fishburne.
The film includes appearances by numerous celebrities and professional athletes including Phil Jackson, Doug Collins, Bob Costas, Bill Murray, Ken Griffey, Jr., Steve Kerr, Spike Lee, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Ahmad Rashad, and Pat Riley.

A Great Motivation from the Basketball Great Air Jordan! A Must Watch!

]]> http://www.uintheusa.com/blog/2012/01/inspirational-michael-jordan-to-the-max-2000/feed/ 0 http://www.uintheusa.com/blog/2012/01/my-mentor-les-brown-speaks-on-maintaining-a-winning-mindset/ http://www.uintheusa.com/blog/2012/01/my-mentor-les-brown-speaks-on-maintaining-a-winning-mindset/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:35:40 +0000 Jean-Marc http://www.uintheusa.com/blog/?p=6420

A rare and candid TV interview with Martin Luther King, Jr. – unseen in 40 years – is the centerpiece of this timely tribute, featuring exclusive interviews with such notables as Jesse Jackson and Colin Powell that provide fresh insight into the life and personality of the late civil rights leader.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Inspired by advocates of nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi, King sought equality for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986. More here

Daniel Pink on “the surprising science of motivation,” a TED talk that is one of many resources Larry Ferlazzo, a teacher and author, uses in this post.

Today, in lieu of a lesson plan, The Learning Network, New York Times – Education, has invited Larry Ferlazzo, a teacher and author, to write a guest post that brings together a number of recent Times and Learning Network pieces about motivation — and shows practical ways teachers can use them to help students learn to exert self-control, gain self-confidence and motivate themselves to learn and achieve. Read full post here