Baseball Little League All-Star pitcher Mo’ne Davis makes Hampton University softball debut

Six years after she grabbed the hearts of the world as the first girl in the baseball Little League World Series to pitch a winning game, Mo’ne Davis is going on to burn up the fields for the well-known HBCU Hampton University.

In her inaugural game for Hampton, located in Hampton, Va., Davis helped the Pirates beat North Carolina A & T 15-4 in the team’s season opener, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Davis, who is from Philadelphia, told the news organization she was a little jumpy about her college-level debut in Greensboro, N.C.

”On the bus ride, I was nervous,” said Davis, 18. “It was the first real game that actually matters so I was a little nervous. But once Coach Angie (Nicholson) said, ‘Go out there and have fun. You guys have worked so hard, just play your game,’ that just shook the nerves away.”

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Davis said she is enjoying the calm outside of the spotlight that vaulted her to the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2014 and made her a national hero. For now, she told the Inquirer, she just wants to enjoy the college experience and work on her game.

“I wasn’t really big into the spotlight,” she said. “That’s not who I am. It’s nice to be out here. It’s just fun to be with this team.”

Nicholson told the news organization that one of Davis’ best qualities is her humility.

“It’s the coolest thing ever,” Nicholson said. “She doesn’t make it a big deal. That’s what’s great about it. You would never know it. She doesn’t see herself in that light.”

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Nicholson said Davis is one of her best players but she still has to work on her hitting.

Davis said she hopes to improve enough to land a spot on the conference all-freshman team.

”I think this should be a fun season,” she said. “Really, overall, I just want us to do well at as a team, hopefully win the conference — but just to go out there and fight with my brand new family I have and play for them.”

 

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(WATCH) Congress Members Respond to President Donald Trump’s Tweets

Just a few hours before President Donald Trump took the stage to address the nation at this year’s State of the Union, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, hosted her annual Millenial Media Row. It was an event created to open up a space between digital media outlets and members of the Congressional Caucus. 

“This is perhaps the most important event that we do all year,” she told TheGrio. “The whole idea is,  we got to invite people into this capital that normally don’t get invited into the capital. We want you all to know this is yours too.”

Congresswoman Waters, or as we affectionally know her as “Auntie Maxine”, is not afraid to voice her disapproval towards the President and she has been a driving force behind his impeachment. President Trump was recently acquitted by the Senate after being charged for two articles of impeachment: one for abusing his power and the other for obstruction of Congress. 

READ MORE: True Story: Maxine Waters Talks Politics, Feminism & Being “Auntie Maxine”

“He is so disruptive, so dishonorable that he should be impeached. As a matter of fact, the House of Representatives did impeach him. I believe it was December the 18th, about 8:20 in the evening. We voted to impeach him. We sent it on over to the Senate. They have been intimidated by this president. They don’t want to stand up to this president. They don’t have the guts to do what America needs. And so whatever he says, just dismiss it as another lie,” Waters said.

Auntie Maxine is not the only one fighting to get the president out of office. TheGrio spoke with other members of Congress about their current views of the president, especially his case of twitter fingers. 

President Trump has become notorious for voicing his opinions and thoughts on twitter, and we brought up some of his latest tweets to the congress members to get their initial reactions and their take. 

My Approval Rating in the Republican Party = 95%, a record! Big Iowa win. Approval Rating overall = 53%, a new high. With our great Economy and other major successes, would be 20 points higher without the phony Witch Hunts and Hoaxes???

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020

 

“So ninety-five percent is very suspicious,” Congresswoman Gwen Moore told TheGrio. “It is so sad to see people who are very decent people are abdicating their own moral conscious, their own intelligence. For this president who is corrupt, who’s abused his power, who has questionable mental health and has no values. It’s sad for our democracy.”

Where’s the Whistleblower? Where’s the second Whistleblower? Where’s the Informer? Why did Corrupt politician Schiff MAKE UP my conversation with the Ukrainian President??? Why didn’t the House do its job? And sooo much more!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2020

Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence– MI 14, simply called out the president on his lack of clarity on the term “Whistleblower”.  “President Trump, I often struggle with your ignorance. The whole purpose of a whistleblower law is to protect and to allow them to be anonymous. I struggle with your ignorance.”

Wall is moving along strong, tall and quickly. Thank you Jim for all of your help! https://t.co/1dlC0dZ0ui

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2020

In response to the Wall tweet, Congresswoman Barbara Lee called out Trump’s bluffs “Another lie. What can I say? He just lies, lies, lies.” 

READ MORE: Stacey Abrams predicts she’ll be president by 2040

And of course, we couldn’t leave out President Trump’s infamous error on what state Superbowl Champions the Kansas City Chiefs were based. He mistakenly tweeted and deleted Sunday, that the Kansas City Chiefs represented the Great State Kansas very well, not realizing that the team is based in Missouri. Although, the tweet was deleted social media users were quick to screenshot and blast Trump. 

“Let me introduce you, Mr. President, to a map and give you a geography lesson 101. Or perhaps you could actually check with your staff before hitting post because Kansas City Chiefs play in Missouri. Duh.” said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. 

The list of tweets from President Trump goes on and on, and the congress members were not holding back with their responses to the Commander in Chief. 

The full digital story “Trump Tweets” can be found above.

 

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Disgraced school principal resigns after saying ‘karma’ caused Kobe Bryant’s death

A high school principal in Washington state has resigned after suggesting that ‘karma’ caught up with basketball great Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash Jan. 26 in Calabasas, Calif., along with his daughter, Gianna, 13, and seven others.

Liza Sejkora, former principal of Camas (Wash.) High School, was referring to allegations of rape made against Bryant in a highly publicized 2003 case, thrown out of criminal court when the accuser declined to testify. A civil case with Bryant’s accuser, a Colorado hotel employee, was settled out of court.

On Friday, schools Superintendent Jeff Snell announced Sejkora’s departure, KGW8 reported.

“This has been a tumultuous week,” Snell said in a statement. “However, I’ve been impressed with the level of professionalism our staff members have displayed as well as the caring and compassion from our families.”

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The superintendent said the school district is working on a transitional plan, according to KGW8.

The development comes after a swift national backlash in reaction to Sejkora’s comment, made in a now-deleted Facebook post the day Bryant died.

“Not gonna lie,” the former principal wrote. “Seems to me that karma caught up with a rapist today.”

She ended the post with an emoji of someone shrugging.

A screenshot of the post was taken in the hour that Sejkora had it up, drawing widespread criticism and a plan by students to stage a walkout.

READ MORE: Date set for Kobe Bryant and Gigi’s public memorial service at Staples Center

On Friday, Sejkora said in a statement that she was working on a departure plan with school district officials.

“I am working with the Camas leadership to resign my position as principal of Camas High School,” she said. “Students and staff deserve to have a learning environment free of disruptions.”

Before the principal’s resignation, Snell said he could not understand the remarks.

“Anytime there’s a loss of life, I hope that all of us come together and rally around that,” KGW8 quoted Snell as saying. “It didn’t come across that way. That’s really unfortunate.”

 

 

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Philly girl gifted with charter school scholarship by Trump at State of the Union already enrolled at the school

Well, this is uncomfortable… It turns out that the Black Philadelphia girl that President Trump announced at his recent State of the Union address would be getting a scholarship to be able to attend the charter school of her choice is already a student at the school.

Janiyah Davis was one of a handful of people of color asked to stand during the president’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Nancy Pelosi shreds Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech. Right there on the podium.

Trump, entering a re-election campaign that some experts predict will largely hinge on Black voters, characterized the fourth-grader as one of many youngsters reportedly trapped in failing public schools.

in actuality, Davis already is attending a charter school and it’s one that is well- known and highly sought, the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting. In September, Janiyah transferred to Math, Science and Technology Community Charter School III, also known as MaST III. It is funded by taxpayers and, so, there is no tuition.

Janiyah’s mom, Stephanie Davis, told the news organization that there was a lot of confusion around her daughter’s invitation to the president’s annual speech at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. A few weeks ago, she got a telephone call from the principal at her daughter’s former school, Olney Christian School, saying Janiyah may be up for a scholarship. Then, Davis told the Inquirer, she received a call from a man who repeated the scholarship possibility and advised Davis to expect a call from the White House.

“I thought it was a scam,” Davis said, adding that she didn’t believe it until she received an official email from the administration.

READ MORE: George Washington University president apologizes for racially insensitive comment

Even then, the teacher’s assistant and mom said, she had no idea she and her daughter would be asked to stand during the speech.

“I never knew it was going to be this big,” Davis told the Inquirer.

Janiyah’s previous school cost $5,200 a year, which Davis was struggling to pay, she said.

Davis said she was “surprised” and “honored” about being asked to stand during the 90-minute speech. She said she also was surprised about the scholarship.

Angela Morabito, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, told the Inquirer that Janiyah was picked for a scholarship because “Education freedom is about going to the best school for your child. Even the ‘best’ school, as ranked by statistics and averages, isn’t the best fit for every child.”

 

 

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Former Pro Football Player and Republican Congressman J.C. Watts Spearheads First Black News Channel, Launching Nationally This Week

Did it really take a former Republican congressman to finally launch the first black news network?

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