Call it “The Midas Touch.” Dr. Randal Pinkett, season four winner of NBC’s The Apprentice and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BCT Partners, a national consulting firm delivering a full-range of program management, research and evaluation, technical assistance, and information technology services to the U.S. Government, has been awarded two contracts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).

BCT Partners will provide a broad range of research, evaluation, technical assistance, and training services to SAMHSA as well as mission critical IT requirements such as Cloud Computing, Mobile Applications, Information Security and Health IT across the entire federal government. In doing so, BCT will capitalize on the anticipated opportunities resulting from the Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold President Obama’s health care law.

Our boys are at risk. Consider there are approximately 184,578 children between the ages of 10 and 17 in Broward County. Black children account for roughly 32%, yet they represent 51% of delinquency referrals versus 25% for white children. Fifty-five percent are judicially disposed, 57% are detained and 61% are committed to a secure facility, compared to their white counterparts at 25%, 15% and 12%, respectively. 

Procter & Gamble’s My Black is Beautiful Partners with UNCF and Black Girls Rock! to Challenge the African American Community to Help Create a Beautiful Future for Black Girls

Procter & Gamble’s My Black is Beautiful (MBIB) announced Imagine a Future, a new initiative designed to positively impact the lives of one million black girls over the next three years.

Nationwide (February 6, 2012) -- Empower a girl, empower a world. During Black History Month, a Detroit Metro based company is pushing for a national movement. Pretty Brown Girl is asking all girls and women across the United States and around the world to celebrate themselves, families and friends. This is a great way for brown girls of all ages, cultures and ethnicities to empower themselves and boost their self-confidence.

On Saturday, February 25, 2012, Pretty Brown Girl (PBG) is encouraging families, youth mentoring groups, civic organizations and churches locally and nationally to embrace the differences among their youth. It is important for girls to understand that no matter what their skin tone they are beautiful inside and out.

The Pretty Brown Girl collection includes the book, My First Day of School and the PGB pledge; which encourages girls to Dream Big. There are also T-shirts, bags, other accessories and the anticipated Pretty Brown Girl Doll; available this Spring. Now girls and women are proudly describing themselves and others as pretty brown girls with this simple but powerful message.

In August 2011, Sheri and Corey Crawley launched Pretty Brown Girl, LLC in Detroit at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History. The couple was inspired to start the company by their daughters Lailia and Aliya. When the family relocated to a Detroit suburb, Sheri observed changes in her oldest daughter's behavior. Laila lost her bubbly personality and became more withdrawn and timid during school hours. She began to make comments that she wanted her hair to look like that of her classmates as opposed to her own beautifully textured hair. When Sheri began sharing her observations with other moms, she realized that different families were having similar experiences. Those incidents combined with a news report, that showed children of all ages and backgrounds still have negative connotations of people with darker skin tones, made Sheri and Corey realized there is a need for positive messaging to girls around the world.

The Pretty Brown Girl collection can be purchased online at www.prettybrowngirl.com.

To request an interview or for more information, please contact Damali Hill, Director of Publicity at (888) 594-5507.

To commemorate and celebrate the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent, American historian Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week. The first celebration occurred on Feb. 12, 1926. For many years, the second week of February was set aside for this celebration to coincide with the birthdays of abolitionist/editor Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, as part of the nation's bicentennial, the week was expanded into Black History Month. Each year, U.S. presidents proclaim February as National African-American History Month.

Challenging black female reality stars to stop destroying their image and start being more mindful of their impact, a Chicago-based TV & radio personality issues "The Black Woman's Manifesto 2012."

Fed up with the violent behavior displayed by black women on reality TV, Monique Caradine says it's time that women of influence speak out and set a new standard for black womanhood. That's why she recently issued the Black Woman's Manifesto for 2012.