Latest news with #GivingTree
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lady Gaga Praises Queer Music Pioneer Carl Bean in Docu Clip: ‘Anthems Unify People'
Lady Gaga honors queer music icon Carl Bean and the legacy of his 1977 anthem, 'I Was Born This Way' in an exclusive clip from the upcoming documentary I Was Born This Way. In the film, Gaga, Questlove, and Billy Porter are among those who reflect on the song's powerful impact on the LGBTQ community. 'This song is actually the music equivalent of the Giving Tree,' says Questlove, spinning the track on vinyl. More from Rolling Stone Addison Rae's Pop Queen Dreams Are Massive, and Just Out of Reach Timex's New 'Wednesday' Watch Collab Is Worth a Double Round of Snaps How the Director and Stars of 'Pavements' Brought Many Stephen Malkmuses to Life The clip opens with the chart success the song, released on Motown, had in the United States, climbing to Number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, and how it became an 'immediate anthem for the gay community,' embraced by house DJs worldwide. Gaga — who titled her sophomore album after her own Bean-influenced LGBTQ-celebrating anthem, 'Born This Way' — reflects on Bean's legacy. 'This was so much more than just a hit song. When that song stopped charting, they didn't stop playing that song in clubs,' she says. 'And the movement didn't stop.' In the clip, Questlove adds that the track was 'beyond a hit' and one that inspired hope and'revolution.' 'It's an anthem,' he says. 'And anthems never die.' 'Anthems unify people. And they help us to celebrate,' adds Gaga. 'It's people coming together to say, 'This is what we believe in. This is what we care about. We are louder. We are stronger. And we can do it together.'' Bean would eventually leave the music industry, founding the Minority AIDS Project to help underserved populations at the height of the AIDS epidemic and eventually, the first LGBTQ+ ministry called the Unity Fellowship Church. I Was Born This Way has been six years in the making and features Questlove, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Billy Porter as exec producers. Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard direct the film which will premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 5. 'This sequence in the film shows the enduring legacy of Bean's song, and the film demonstrates his lasting influence in so many other surprising ways,' Junge tells Rolling Stone. 'There are so many celebrity bio-docs these days, which I don't disparage — Sam and I have made them — but I think the real joy of documentary is when you are surprised by things you never realized are an important part of our world… hopefully that's what this film does.' 'Not only was his rendition of the song revelatory, but what he did over the decades with his activism for the LGBTQ+ community was both groundbreaking and heartfelt,' Pollard adds. Gaga has long credited Bean — who died in 2021 at age 77 but gave interviews for the film prior to his death — for inspiring Born This Way. Ahead of Pride Month in 2021, she wrote on Twitter: 'Born This Way, my song and album, were inspired by Carl Bean, a gay black religious activist who preached, sung and wrote about being 'Born This Way.' … Thank you for decades of relentless love, bravery, and a reason to sing. So we can all feel joy, because we deserve joy.' { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 1, }, pmcCnx: { singleAutoPlay: 'auto' } } }, playerId: "d762a038-c1a2-4e6c-969e-b2f1c9ec6f8a", mediaId: "0eb6519c-7563-415b-88a9-96e46cac48a4", }).render("connatix_player_0eb6519c-7563-415b-88a9-96e46cac48a4_1"); }); Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Junior Achievement students give checks to three QC nonprofit groups
On Thursday, three local nonprofits each received $2,500 to support their missions, according to a news release. Throughout the 2024-25 school year, elementary students from nearly all Quad City schools learned about giving back to the community while visiting the new Free Enterprise Foundation Junior Achievement Inspiration Center. Students who participated in JA BizTown learned the importance of supporting nonprofits when their fellow students representing the Moline Regional Community Foundation's Giving Tree, shared the impact of three local nonprofits: Niabi Zoo, Living Lands and Waters, and the River Bend Food Bank. Each nonprofit received a $2,500 check from MRCF presented by students at the JA Inspiration Center, 6600 44th Ave., Moline. 'By supporting the Giving Tree we are committed to the next generation understanding how philanthropy will change our community for the better. While students learn how the free enterprise system works in a simulated environment, we wanted to demonstrate the importance of putting inspiration into action,' said Paul Plagenz, president/CEO of Moline Regional Community Foundation. 'This initiative brings philanthropy to life in a way that resonates with students. When young people see that their voices and decisions can direct real dollars to causes they care about, it empowers them to become lifelong community leaders and change-makers,' said Junior Achievement of the Heartland President and CEO Dougal Nelson. About Junior Achievement of the Heartland Junior Achievement is dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. Locally, Junior Achievement of the Heartland serves 24 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Visit here for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This author 'fixed' 'The Giving Tree' with a new ending. Some say it's long overdue.
What if the Giving Tree said "no" to the boy? Thousands of adults online are resonating with alternate endings to classic children's books that may not have aged well in light of modern-day gentle parenting. In his series 'Topher Fixed It,' Atlanta-based playwright and screenwriter Topher Payne reimagines "The Pout-Pout Fish," "Love You Forever," "The Rainbow Fish" and "The Giving Tree." In the original 'Giving Tree,' the tree gives away her apples, branches and trunk for the boy who keeps returning and asking for more. It's been the subject of some criticism for portraying an unhealthy, one-sided relationship. But in Payne's reimagined 'The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries,' the Giving Tree stops at the apples. Instead, the tree shares how she feels about their friendship changing and explains why she doesn't want to give everything away. The boy practices empathy and the tree remains strong and tall for generations to come. The internet is divided: A Facebook user roasted the popular kids book 'Love You Forever' 'Setting healthy boundaries is a very important part of giving. It assures you'll always have something left to give,' the book ends. 'And so the tree was happy. Everyone was.' Many Instagram users applauded the alternate ending, which was shared recently by both Payne and podcaster Adam Grant. Grant's post about the ending on May 4 has racked up 129K likes on Instagram. 'Reading your ending to 'The Giving Tree' healed a little piece of me tonight!' commented one Instagram user. "Thank you for this − I always loathed the message in this book," another wrote. "The original is one of my favorite books," another person replied. "I've read it a hundred times and cry each and every time... I think reading both versions to our kids is key so they can see how the two options play out. Thank (you) for this." Payne says he's also received backlash since he began the series during lockdown in 2020. But he emphasizes the alternate endings are meant to inspire thought, not criticize the originals. He first started the 'Topher Fixed It' series in hopes of prompting nuanced conversations that he remembers having with his aunt when he first read the books as a child. 'What I found in a lot of people's relationship with the book is that maybe that conversation doesn't always happen and so the messaging in 'The Giving Tree' can go off in some pretty wild directions,' Payne said. He wrote the alternate endings to stand alongside the original text to compel conversation, whether that happens when reading to a child or returning to the text as an adult. Other classics: 'Love You Forever' is being called 'unsettling'. These books are just as questionable. 'The stories we're told as children are often one of the few things we all have in common,' Payne said. 'The originals are a classic for a reason. I celebrate them and the (reimagined) stories are meant to stand alongside them, not in place of them.' The 'Topher Fixed It' stories are available for free download from Payne's website. He does not receive monetary compensation for his alternate endings and is not seeking to publish them. Readers have suggested other titles for him to reimagine, but Payne doesn't have any immediate plans to recreate another story. Instead, he encourages others to give it a try. 'If there is a story that you've been told that you would love to consider another option, put that to paper and see what it looks like,' he said. 'It can be really cathartic for you to resolve that story for yourself in that way.' Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Author 'fixed' 'The Giving Tree.' Some say it's long overdue.
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
This author 'fixed' 'The Giving Tree' with a new ending. Some say it's long overdue.
This author 'fixed' 'The Giving Tree' with a new ending. Some say it's long overdue. Show Caption Hide Caption How to find a good book Book recommendations make finding the perfect page turner for any mood a breeze. What if the Giving Tree said "no" to the boy? Thousands of adults online are resonating with alternate endings to classic children's books that may not have aged well in light of modern-day gentle parenting. In his series 'Topher Fixed It,' Atlanta-based playwright and screenwriter Topher Payne reimagines "The Pout-Pout Fish," "Love You Forever," "The Rainbow Fish" and "The Giving Tree." In the original 'Giving Tree,' the tree gives away her apples, branches and trunk for the boy who keeps returning and asking for more. It's been the subject of some criticism for portraying an unhealthy, one-sided relationship. But in Payne's reimagined 'The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries,' the Giving Tree stops at the apples. Instead, the tree shares how she feels about their friendship changing and explains why she doesn't want to give everything away. The boy practices empathy and the tree remains strong and tall for generations to come. The internet is divided: A Facebook user roasted the popular kids book 'Love You Forever' 'Setting healthy boundaries is a very important part of giving. It assures you'll always have something left to give,' the book ends. 'And so the tree was happy. Everyone was.' Many Instagram users applauded the alternate ending, which was shared recently by both Payne and podcaster Adam Grant. Grant's post about the ending on May 4 has racked up 129K likes on Instagram. 'Reading your ending to 'The Giving Tree' healed a little piece of me tonight!' commented one Instagram user. "Thank you for this − I always loathed the message in this book," another wrote. "The original is one of my favorite books," another person replied. "I've read it a hundred times and cry each and every time... I think reading both versions to our kids is key so they can see how the two options play out. Thank (you) for this." Payne says he's also received backlash since he began the series during lockdown in 2020. But he emphasizes the alternate endings are meant to inspire thought, not criticize the originals. He first started the 'Topher Fixed It' series in hopes of prompting nuanced conversations that he remembers having with his aunt when he first read the books as a child. 'What I found in a lot of people's relationship with the book is that maybe that conversation doesn't always happen and so the messaging in 'The Giving Tree' can go off in some pretty wild directions,' Payne said. He wrote the alternate endings to stand alongside the original text to compel conversation, whether that happens when reading to a child or returning to the text as an adult. Other classics: 'Love You Forever' is being called 'unsettling'. These books are just as questionable. 'The stories we're told as children are often one of the few things we all have in common,' Payne said. 'The originals are a classic for a reason. I celebrate them and the (reimagined) stories are meant to stand alongside them, not in place of them.' The 'Topher Fixed It' stories are available for free download from Payne's website. He does not receive monetary compensation for his alternate endings and is not seeking to publish them. Readers have suggested other titles for him to reimagine, but Payne doesn't have any immediate plans to recreate another story. Instead, he encourages others to give it a try. 'If there is a story that you've been told that you would love to consider another option, put that to paper and see what it looks like,' he said. 'It can be really cathartic for you to resolve that story for yourself in that way.' Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@
