Latest news with #OperationPUSH
Axios
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
IBE Summer Celebration season returns to Indianapolis
The marquee event of Indiana Black Expo's programming is back to celebrate the summer and promote unity within the Circle City. Why it matters: IBE's Summer Celebration is the largest annual fundraiser for the statewide nonprofit and an Indianapolis staple that has welcomed crowds for more than five decades. How it works: Proceeds generated by the event pay for year-round initiatives related to education, business development, community learning, performing arts, college scholarships and more. Since 1983, IBE has provided more than $5 million in college scholarships. The big picture: The gathering arrives just one weekend after a mass shooting occurred in downtown Indianapolis, hours after the city's Fourth of July fireworks. Two were killed and five were wounded in the shooting, sparking public safety changes and a proposal to extend the youth curfew in Marion County to get kids off the street two hours earlier each night. The Summer Celebration suffered its own gun violence when 10 people were hurt in separate downtown shootings during the 2010 festivities. What they're saying: Organizers and police are focused on making IBE's 2025 Summer Celebration safe. "It will take every sector — families, faith leaders, businesses, schools, elected officials and grassroots organizations — working side by side to rebuild the village it takes to raise and protect our children," IBE president and CEO Alice Watson said in a statement. Flashback: The first Indiana Black Expo gathering took place in 1971 and was inspired by the Rev. Jesse Jackson-led Operation PUSH exposition held in Chicago in 1969. Donny Hathaway, an NBA-ABA game and crowning the first Indiana Black Expo Queen were highlights of the inaugural Summer Celebration. If you go: The 2025 IBE Summer Celebration runs through July 20. The full list of events can be found here. Here are a few can't-miss standouts. 📽️ The Black Film Festival in IBE's Black Box Theater on Saturday will feature the premiere of IBE's "Telling Our Story: A Month Is Not Enough" documentary. 💼 Monday and Tuesday's Business Conference at the Indiana Convention Center will offer free workshops for small businesses on topics like preparation strategies for commercial loans and economic trends. 📚 Thursday's Education Conference is headlined by keynote speeches from Veritas Schools founder Brandon P. Fleming and Shaun Woodly, creator of the "Teach Hustle Inspire" movement. 🏆 The Pacers Sports & Entertainment luncheon on July 18 will honor people like Deniece Williams, Wendell Pierce, Chiney Ogwumike and Alfre Woodard. 🎵 outdoor concert returns to Carroll Stadium July 18 with Keith Sweat, SWV, Cameo, Deniece Williams and Christopher Williams taking the stage. 🩺 The Indiana Health Fair takes place from July 18-20 in the Indiana Convention Center, offering more than $4,000 worth of free health screenings. 🎤 DJ Kid Capri, Da Brat and Larenze Tate will be in the house for IBE's All White Affair Concert July 19 at the Indiana Convention Center.
Chicago Tribune
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Lester Holt, former Chicago anchor, stepping down at ‘NBC Nightly News'
Lester Holt is ending his run as anchor of 'NBC Nightly News' this summer, making him the latest high-profile news personality to exit a role. Holt, 65, told staff Monday of his plans to depart the signature broadcast of NBC News. He will remain in the division as anchor of its true crime newsmagazine 'Dateline,' where he will have an expanded role. 'After 10 years, 17 if you include my years on the weekends, the time has come for me to step away from my role as anchor of Nightly News,' Holt wrote in a note obtained by The Times. 'It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to work with each of you every day, keeping journalism as our true north and our viewers at the center of everything we do.' NBC News has not selected a successor to Holt. Tom Llamas, who is the anchor of the evening newscast on streaming service NBC News Now, has been considered a leading candidate for the role. Holt will be the second evening news anchor to step away from the job in recent months. Norah O'Donnell left the 'CBS Evening News' in January after a five-year run. While Holt's exit is being presented as his decision, it's likely NBC News management is looking to bring down the multimillion salary that has come with the job. Hoda Kotb, a favorite host at NBC's 'Today,' left in January after the network attempted to reduce her salary in a new deal. Holt stepped into the 'NBC Nightly News' role in June 2015 after Brian Williams was suspended after lying about his reporting on the Iraq war. Holt had been the weekend 'NBC Nightly News' anchor and Williams' primary substitute. He provided a smooth transition, with the program running either first or second in the 25-to-54 age group that advertisers want to reach with news programming. His lengthy broadcast resume includes a 14-year run in Chicago, where Holt became a local TV news fixture before rising to national prominence. In 1986, WBBM-Ch. 2 hired Holt away from WCBS-TV in New York amid a boycott of the CBS-owned Chicago station by Operation PUSH over the demotion of longtime anchorman Harry Porterfield. Operation PUSH celebrated Holt's hiring as a victory, while the station denied it was related to the boycott. Holt found his footing as a popular and respected news anchor in Chicago. In 1996, Holt was named to replace legendary anchorman Bill Kurtis at the helm of the 10 p.m. newscast alongside Linda MacLennan at WBBM-Ch.2. Four years later, Holt left for cable news network MSNBC. Holt's Chicago broadcast legacy lives on through his son Stefan Holt, who grew up in Lincoln Park and has been co-anchoring the 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on WMAQ-Ch. 5 since 2020.
