Diversity : Buzz

US President Barack Obama? Check. That British crooner who swept the Grammy awards this year. Check.

Not surprising finds on Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. 

There's one that Baltimoreans can be proud of. Freeman A Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, made the list that even Mark Zuckerberg was left out of. 

"But perhaps the most envied science program in the country is at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County," Time writes. "That's where Freeman A. Hrabowski III, 61, has spent 20 years as president turning a humble commuter school into one of the nation's leading sources of African Americans who get Ph.D.s in science and engineering." 

You can read more about him here.  

Baltimore's Constellation Energy Group Inc. has nabbed a spot on a list of 100 socially responsible US companies. 

Corporate Responsibility Magazine placed in the No. 51 on its ranking. The magazine says it chose companies that take steps to address the environment, human rights, philanthropy and diversity. Read more about its methodology. 

Starbucks Corp., 3M Co., Walt Disney Co. and Darden Restaurants Inc. also made the cut. 

Chicago's Exelon Corp. recently acquired Constellation in a $7.9 billion deal. 

Sure, you might own every episode on DVD. But if you ever meet David Simon, don't go waxing poetic about "the Wire."

That's according the New York Times ArtsBeat blog. Writer Jeremy Egner explains:

"Before Mr. Simon went Hollywood, creating the endlessly exalted “Wire” and the current HBO series “Treme,” he was a longtime crime reporter for The Baltimore Sun, and he often evinces that breed’s hard-bitten outlook and allergy to cheap sentimentality."

Simon also tells the Times that he wrote the series for the city of Baltimore. You can read the Q&A with David Simon here.

Broadway World has previewed an upcoming play at Pumpkin Theatre titled "Clever Rachel." The play by Towson children's theater company's is based on a children's book by Debby Waldman. 

"Rachel is smart, maybe the smartest child in the entire village, and she loves to solve riddle," Broadway World writes. "But Jacob, the smartest boy in the boys school, shows up to challenge Rachel. Will they fight each other and become enemies or find a way to work together to make their village a better place?"

The play debuts March 24.

You can read the rest of the preview here. 

Construction began this month on the nation's largest museum devoted to African American history. 

And the $500 million Smithsonian museum will feature a number of Maryland artifacts, writes the Baltimore Sun. This includes a Harriet Tubman's silk shawl and a long house built by freed slaves from Montgomery County. 

"These are among 20,000 objects collected by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which will open on the National Mall in 2015 as the 19th Smithsonian Institution museum," the Sun writes.

"Local experts on African-American history say it's appropriate that Maryland will be featured prominently, since many key figures come from the state."

You can read more about the museum here. 

It is really just Diddy now? P Diddy? Sean Puffy Combs? Sean Diddy Combs?

For Baltimore rapper Los, it's ka-ching!

Diddy's Bad Boy Records has signed up Baltimore rapper Los, writes MTV News in its RapFix blog. 

"We're trying to put that young, youthful energy out in the air and do it the only way that Bad Boy can do it," Diddy tells MTV. 

What makes photography good enough for Good? 

It seems that Baltimore librarian knows the answer. His pics of Baltimore's streets and architecture are highlighted in the magazine. 

"Joust's photographs are united by a cinematic sense of style. A librarian by day, Joust traverses the city and surrounding counties at night, playing with long exposures and teasing out rich tones from the landscape," the magazine writes. 

Here's a link to Joust's blog where you can see more of his photos and notes on Baltimore. 

Baltimore may have had its share of challenges when it comes to race relations.

But Charm City has come a long way and is now more progressive than its counterparts throughout the nation, according to the Daily Beast. The website ranked Baltimore No. 5 in its list of 20 most tolerant cities. Miami, San Francisco, Honolulu and Durham, N.C. ranked above Baltimore.

The Daily Beast looked at the number of hate crimes, same-sex couples and the percentage of African Americans and Asian residents. You can read more about Baltimore's status here.

Darcie Chan is a 37-year-old attorney who has sold 400,000 copies of her self-published book "The Mill River Recluse," writes the Wall Street Journal.

And Chan got her law degree from the University of Baltimore. Numerous literary agents and publishers rejected the book before Chan decided to publish it herself, she tells the newspaper. You can read more about Chan's literary success here. (Registration is required).

Rapper Common is starring in a new movie that is set in Baltimore.

"LUV" is one of the 110 feature-length films that will screen at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Jan. 19-29.

It tells the story of an 11-year-old boy who learns the truth about his uncle on the streets of Baltimore, the Wall Street Journal writes. You can see a complete list of films here.

This article from Bloomberg Businessweek highlighted events in Baltimore's "Occupy" movement, and the community encampment near the Inner Harbor. The article quotes the mayor's office and Occupy Baltimore participants. Read the entire post here.

South Baltimore native Matthew VanDyke is set to leave Libya in a couple of weeks, his mother told the Baltimore Sun after the death of Libya's former leader last week. The 32-year-old who was jailed in Libya for nearly six months and then stayed on to join the rebels seeking to overthrow dictator Moammar Gadhafi — plans to come home "in a couple of weeks," said his mother, Sharon VanDyke. Read the entire post here.

In a program believed to be the first of its kind, Morgan State University has teamed with the Calvert County Watermen's Association to help watermen make the transition to aquaculture.

From the source:

A historically black college and Maryland’s designated “Public Urban University,” 140-year-old Morgan State’s campus is in Baltimore, where about 6,000 students are enrolled. The university offers graduate and postgraduate degrees and has programs in architecture, engineering and education, and other liberal arts programs.

And since 2004, Morgan State has run a marine research facility that is working with the Calvert County Watermen’s Association to provide equipment and training to help the watermen make the transition to oyster aquaculturists while preserving the culture and heritage of the profession.

“I believe we’re the first historically black college with this kind of facility,” said Kelton Clark, director of the Morgan State University Estuarine Research Center.

Read the whole story here.

A new exhibit chronicling the "Great Migration" of African Americans from the South to the North will make a stop in Baltimore's Penn Station following a stint in DC.

From the source:

Amtrak is opening a new exhibit at Washington's Union Station to recount the history of the "Great Migration" of Southern blacks moving to the North early in the 20th century.

Between 1915 and 1970, about 6 million African Americans moved from the South to the North. Many left behind rural farm lives for job opportunities in industrialized cities. Many made the journey by passenger or freight train, which provided the connection for Amtrak.

Read the full story here.

Annapolis has more to offer than its rich maritime history. According to the Washington Post Maryland's capitol city is also replete with history about African-Americans during the Colonial era.

Here's an excerpt:

"Annapolis, with its narrow, cobbled streets overlooking the water, its cute boutiques and taverns, and its historic state Capitol and impressive U.S. Naval Academy, provides for a great Washington escape, even in the bleakness of winter. But during Black History Month, Annapolis also provides a great African American history lesson.