By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

For 30 years, the Tennessee Tribune and its publisher Rosetta Miller-Perry have set the standard for news covering Nashville and beyond.

During a sold-out celebration on Sunday, December 5, Miller-Perry, the trailblazing 2019 National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, captured another high honor.

“Yes, the 30th anniversary of the Tennessee Tribune certainly has to be celebrated here in Nashville, but this is global,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. declared to the hundreds gathered at the Lighthouse on the Lake in Hendersonville.

“As of this day, we claim [Miller-Perry] as the Queen Mother of the Black Press of America,” Dr. Chavis exclaimed as the crowd rose to its collective feet, responding with a thunderous ovation of approval.

The crowd featured several notable dignitaries, including NNPA Chair Karen Carter Richards, Houston Forward Times Associate Editor Jeffrey Boney, Tennessee State University President Dr. Glenda Glover, Nashville Mayor Jim Cooper, and U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.).

Ambassador and Gospel Legend Dr. Bobby Jones served as the introduction speaker, while Dr. Chavis provided the keynote address.

“This is a tremendous honor for me to celebrate with Rosetta Perry,” Dr. Glover told NNPA Newswire.

“We’re so pleased to have someone so courageous and eager to assist in making things right here in Nashville. We really appreciate her because she’s such an institution here and throughout the state of Tennessee.”

In November, The Tennessee Tribune, which opened a store in the Nashville Airport, remains as integral today as it was when it began 30 years ago, Dr. Jones asserted.

“Perhaps even more so,” Dr. Jones remarked.

“The impact of health disparities, the educational gap, and the voting rights are among the other critical concerns that this wonderful media piece has exposed in our city,” Dr. Jones continued.

“The Tennessee Tribune is pressing on and still here, and we want it to be that way for a long time.”

A longtime supporter of the Tribune, Mayor John Cooper, called Miller-Perry “a force of nature.”

“She began as a pioneer in the industry, and she’s been speaking the truth no matter what,” Mayor Cooper stated. “That’s why, 30 years later, her words speak to our conscious. She advocates passionately for the future of our city, for affordable housing, for HBCUs, for our communities, and for us to have a better city.”

The Tribune reaches more than 150,000 readers with its unique perspective on the issues and concerns of African Americans.

The weekly newspaper has become a lifeline for many who desire the unvarnished truth. It also provides a window into the historical life of Miller-Perry.

She joined the U.S. Navy in 1954, and Miller-Perry supported the Civil Rights Movement and joined Dr. Martin Luther King in marches from Selma to Washington.

As a federal observer for the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Miller-Perry arrived in Memphis during the 1968 sanitation workers strike when an assassin’s bullet cut down Dr. King.

She remained in government service until she started the Tribune in 1991.

Determined to bring a Black perspective and speak truth to power, Miller-Perry remained steadfast in operating the Tribune even after banks repeatedly turned down her loan requests.

“I’ve been in this business for 30 years, and it was tough,” Miller-Perry insisted.

“Many times I’ve had to fight with advertisers, and one time, it almost broke me,” she said.

Miller-Perry relayed a story of integrity and activism when Sen. Barack Obama sought the presidency in 2007.

“When Obama ran for office, I was so naïve that I went and got the names of every unregistered Black voter in the city of Nashville, and I had the nerve to print those names,” she recalled.

“I had a company that paid us over $100,000 a year to advertise, and I banked on that [money],” she continued.

“We had to bank on that to print, and they closed me down. [However], when they did that, another company came and paid the same amount. Eventually, the other company came back to us, but it has been a struggle for all Black newspapers.”

Miller-Perry said there’s a quintessential lesson all Black-owned newspapers must learn.

“We have to struggle together,” she declared. “I’ve never in my life said it’s about me. Everything I’ve done in this city is to help other people. I didn’t open the news store just for me. I’m 87 years old, and if I haven’t made any money, I’m not going to make any now. So, we’ve got to be together.”

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Police killings in the United States have been massively undercounted according to a study by the University of Washington. The study was published on September 27 in the Lancet, peer-reviewed medical journal.

Researchers compared data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) federal database alongside data from three groups tracking deaths in police custody and news reports. The study demonstrated the disproportionate impact of police killings on Black people in America.

Last summer, after the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, there were protests in the streets around the U.S. The moment brought forward even more analysis over police violence. Over the last five years several high-profile killings of African Americans in the U.S. have been caught on camera and forced legislatures to re-evaluate policing policies.

The study in part read that, “across all races and states in the USA, we estimate 30,800 deaths from police violence between 1980 and 2018; this represents 17,100 more deaths than reported by the NVSS. Over this time period, the age-standardized mortality rate due to police violence was highest in non-Hispanic Black people, followed by Hispanic people of any race. This variation is further affected by the decedent’s sex and shows large discrepancies between states.”

Talks around details on language in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in Congress ended in late September after a dispute between Republican Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) over what Scott defined as “defunding police.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told NNPA on September 30 that he has not given up on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and is looking for a way to revive the conversation and move the legislation forward.

“I am not giving up and I’ve gone over it with my staff and asked: What are our options?” Sen. Booker told NNPA.

The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO, National Newspaper Publisher Publishers Association

Disproportionate mass incarceration of people of color in America continues. The calls for prison reform include proposals to lower telephone rates for prisons throughout the United States. This would benefit African Americans and other communities of color who have family members currently incarcerated.

Companies that provide communications services to prisons and jails have long drawn criticism for charging high prices for phone calls and emails between inmates and their families and friends. I’ve previously written about one such company – Securus Technologies – which in January 2020 did something rarely seen in corporate America, acknowledging past failures and making specific commitments to do better.

So, what has the company done over the last year to deliver on its promises?

They’ve brought in a number of outside advisors, including attorney and entrepreneur Yusef Jackson, who earlier this year joined the executive team of Aventiv, Securus’ parent company. Aventiv announced in April 2021 that Jackson, the son of Rainbow/PUSH founder The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, would be helping with the lowering of the price of calls and other services for the incarcerated as Aventiv worked to change some of its business practices and respond to criticism of the industry.

The company also says they have renegotiated contracts with more than 100 correctional facilities to lower the cost of calls, and over 50% of their calls now cost less than $1. During the pandemic they also provided free calls, emails, and video chats – more than 95 million in total.

According to Aventiv CEO Dave Abel, the next big step in their effort to lower costs is expanding a program that lets friends and family of the incarcerated subscribe to a monthly call package that charges a flat rate as an alternative to paying by the minute for talk time. Securus announced a pilot program last year, which has since expanded to nine facilities across the U.S.

Across nine of the prison facilities, more than one third of calls have been made under the subscription plan, and the plan has reduced the per-minute cost of calls by over 50 percent, according to data shared by Securus. The company’s data also showed that under the subscription plan, users utilized 75 percent of the maximum call time afforded by facilities, reflecting a rise of 15 percent compared to per-minute calls.

And in an initial customer survey, 80 percent of subscribers said they felt the service was easier to use, and 70 percent would recommend a subscription plan to family and friends.

Securus is now working to expand the program across all its facilities, but would require approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which currently only allows per-minute phone plans. Securus has petitioned for a waiver that would exempt the pilot subscription plan from the FCC’s rulemaking on per-minute call requirements, allowing them to provide subscriptions in jails and prisons in all 50 states.

This could ultimately have a big impact: there are over 2 million incarcerated Americans in thousands of facilities across the country.

“Now that we have seen the positive impact of these subscription plans, we know we need to make them available to as many people as possible,” said Abel. “We’re in the process of working with the FCC to modernize the regulation to allow for this type of cost saving program, while ensuring there are still strong consumer protections in place.”

Some prison reform advocates and critics, however, have still questioned Securus’ intentions with the subscription.

Anything Securus does “is designed to … gouge the consumer and maximize their profits,” Human Rights Defense Center Executive Director Paul Wright said, according to Communications Daily. Others have criticized the level of detail offered by Securus with Prison Policy Initiative General Counsel Stephen Raher saying that the company’s petition to the FCC “doesn’t suggest that Securus is serious about doing that.”

Abel, however, says the company has provided extensive detail to the FCC, and argues that any apprehensions about the program are misguided.

“We began this program as a response to specific requests we heard from family and friends of incarcerated Americans,” he said. “Now that we have the data showing us that this is something the community values, we believe that we have a duty to expand these services.”

While awaiting further instruction from the FCC, Abel said the company is continuing to look for other ways to help connect the incarcerated community to the outside world.

“Those who are incarcerated deserve affordable access to the life-changing technology that the rest of us enjoy,” he said. “Our goal is to put a tablet in the hands of every incarcerated individual we serve.”

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer/Host of The Chavis Chronicles (TCC) on PBS TV Stations across the nation and can be reached at dr.bchavis@nnpa.org.

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., President and CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Association

Whenever I have had the responsibility during the past six decades to weigh in on a vital civil rights issue on behalf of Black America and other communities of color throughout the United States, I have not hesitated to speak out. Now is the time to publicly address the urgent issue of equal access, diversity, equity, and inclusion of Black-owned media in our nation’s communications industry.

In this era of the global digitalization of media and other high technological innovations in the communications industry, Black-owned and other minority-owned media cannot afford to be denied access to the rapidly evolving industry innovations.

The issue today is that Black-owned radio stations and other minority-owned media businesses should be permitted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to compete fairly and equitably with large television and cable stations that geotarget audiences across America.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has a strategic alliance with the National Organization of Black-Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) and with the Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council (MMTC). We are all working together to ensure that the FCC will approve a rulemaking change that will enable minority-owned radio stations to engage in geotargeting of content to their audiences. This change is necessary because the FCC’s antiquated rules, written forty years ago, don’t give radio stations the chance to compete in the current media environment.

The FCC has as its mission to regulate “interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.” The proposed rulemaking change will substantially increase the access to geotargeting by minority-owned radio stations and other minority-owned businesses that is so vital and effective in today’s global and national media marketplace.

This is another crucial national civil rights issue. This is an issue of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Last month I wrote to the FCC to stress this point. I emphasized, “I have spent much of my career as a civil rights leader focused on ensuring that technological developments like the one at issue in this proceeding, lift all of America, and not just some of us. Too often, I have seen the benefits of technological development accrue to the privileged, with little or no benefit to disadvantaged communities, including some with which I work on a daily basis.”

I concluded in the letter to the FCC: “Geotargeting technology would give minority-owned broadcasters an enhanced ability to compete with the larger station groups…The technology would enable them to better serve their communities with localized content. In addition, for those broadcasters that choose to use this technology, since it is voluntary, they can give minority-owned businesses an affordable outlet for their messages. In short, I now believe that

this technology is beneficial to minority communities, including radio broadcasters, small businesses, and the public they serve.”

We recall that President Joe Biden announced, “On my first day in office, I signed Executive Order 13985 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government), which established that affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government.”

We commend the Biden-Harris Administration thus far in its first year striving to move the nation forward on equity and diversity matters even during the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the epidemic of partisan politicization of issues and supporting public policies that will improve and enhance the quality for life of all Americans. On this issue of media reform, we hope and resolutely call for the FCC in 2022 to be aligned fully with the official stated commitments of the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure fairness, equity and diversity.

The proposed FCC rulemaking change is also supported overwhelmingly by all of the major national civil rights organizations including the NAACP, National Urban League, National Action Network, National Council of Negro Women, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, National Congress of Black Women, Hispanic Federation, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, U.S Black Chambers, and many more.

The time for the FCC to act and to approve the proposed rulemaking change submitted is now because it will help to empower all minority-owned radio and other media businesses.

Millions of Americans, particularly from underserved communities, deserve and have a fundamental civil right to have access and to be included.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr, is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer/Host of The Chavis Chronicles (TCC) on PBS Television Stations across the nation. He can be reached at dr.bchavis@nnpa.org.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), which represents the Black Press of America, has embarked on a national series featuring NBA owners on the issue of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Because of the Phoenix Suns and owner Robert Sarver’s significant outreach to the African American community, which occurred long before the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement, the NNPA began the series with Sarver.

Sarver first discovered his interest in basketball as a teenager.

His father, Jack Sarver, a native of Flint, MI, enjoyed a friendship with then-University of Arizona Athletic Director David H. Strack, who recruited a local high school coach named Fred Snowden.

Strack hired Snowden as the head coach of the university’s men’s basketball team, making him the first African American major college basketball head coach.

“Coach Snowden was an esteemed high school coach in the Detroit area, and my dad was from Flint. So, they had a bond,” Robert Sarver told NNPA Newswire.

“I had never really gone to games other than a few Suns games early in my life, but the coach said, ‘you have to get season tickets,’ and that’s when I really started watching basketball,” Sarver added.

Coach Snowden and the Sarver family not only enjoyed a working relationship but formed a close bond that connected beyond basketball.

The elder Sarver named Coach Snowden to the Board of Directors of Sarver’s American Savings and Loan.

Soon, the Sarvers and Snowdens enjoyed familial association.

Over time, Robert Sarver witnessed how different his life was from Snowden.

It began to dawn on Sarver that the 1972 hiring of Coach Snowden would represent a personal realization.

That would help him understand better the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion – even as the nation reckoned with the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement and the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sarver witnessed the blatant discrimination faced by Coach Snowden and his family, particularly during road trips.

“The early years were not easy at all,” Snowden’s daughter, Stacey Snowden, recalled in a recently published interview.

“There was not a lot of acceptance and racial tolerance and so forth at that time,” Stacey Snowden remembered.

“We lived under the constant threat of life with death threats and bomb threats all the time. That was difficult, but we persevered and got through it. My father knew that these are the types of things you have to endure as a pioneer. He got through it and created something really, really special in the Arizona basketball legacy.”

Sarver also recalled the racism Coach Snowden experienced.

He said the experience helped shape his views not just on basketball but something far more significant: fighting for justice and defying inequities.

“It was the first time seeing it firsthand. It was a real eye-opener,” Sarver declared.

For 17 years as owner of the Suns — and for decades beforehand — Sarver has pressed for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

His businesses have run without controversy, operating without complaints or rumors of discrimination.

Sarver serves as the Executive Chairman of Western Alliance Bancorporation, the largest financial institution headquartered in Arizona.

The bank remains one of the most active business lenders in Arizona.

He’s also the co-founder of Southwest Value Partners, a more than 30-year-old real estate investment fund.

Sarver served as a director of SkyWest Airlines and the Phoenix-based Meritage Corporation.

According to his biography, under Sarver’s leadership, the Suns and Phoenix Suns Charities have given over $25 million in donations to local non-profits and provided thousands of hours of community service work by players, coaches and employees.

Ten years ago, following a conversation surrounding dropout rates with Arne Duncan (Secretary of Education for the Obama administration), Sarver also spearheaded the “SunsCentral” initiative. Through this initiative, the Suns organization “adopted” Central High School in Phoenix, which is an inner-city high school with a student body comprised of nearly 85% people of color. Over the last ten years, the SunsCentral initiative has provided over 200,000 hours of tutoring, and has dramatically improved the graduation rates of the neighborhood school.

A 1982 graduate of the University of Arizona, Sarver earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and, one year later, he became a certified public accountant.

When NBA players and owners agreed to become more inclusive and promised better diversity measures following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Sarver and the Suns led the way.

They transformed the team’s former home, the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, into a voting site. The move occurred in response to repeated conversations within the Suns organization about racial inequality.

Led by African American head coach Monty Williams, the Suns provided the team’s personnel an open forum to discuss racism.

Sarver also agreed to provide days off to employees, encouraging them to serve as poll workers during the 2020 elections.

The organization also partnered with the BYU Sports Business Club in Arizona and the Ballard Center for Social Impact to host a case competition to develop a diversity and inclusion plan for the Suns.

When asked to evaluate how some view the Suns’ organization as an example of an NBA team fully embracing DE&I, Sarver said the answer is simple.

“I think it’s in our DNA. I know it’s in my DNA from my upbringing with my parents and family and the thought process of trying to do the right thing,” Sarver responded.

“We’ve been very progressive even in the early days of my ownership – making sure of it in our hirings and work in the community,” Sarver continued.

“The culture of our organization, especially our players and employees, is committed to inclusion and social justice, even taking positions that may be adverse to our business and maybe a little controversial.”

The Suns owner continued:

“My dad had a saying that ‘you vote with your heart, not your wallet,’ and that stuck with me. I’m very proud of what the organization has done in the community over the past 18 years, and I think we’ve made a difference.”

Sarver also fully supported the NBA’s hiring of Oris Stuart as the league’s chief people and inclusion officer earlier this year.

Stuart leads the league’s combined Human Resources and Diversity and Inclusion groups and oversees diversity and inclusion strategies for the NBA.

The hire should prove a tremendous boost to the league’s overall goal of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Sarver said.

“I think [DE&I] is at the heart of who we should be as a society,” Sarver asserted.

“I’ve had the chance to see firsthand discrimination and the evils of it. I think it’s incumbent upon everyone to do the right thing, and often that means taking a position that may be a little uncomfortable for some. To me, it’s a way of life. That’s what I try to do. It’s the roadmap that I’ve followed.”

Merriment and magic abound with entertainment, shopping and more  

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Disney is sprinkling the magic of the holidays throughout its parks, experiences and products this season.

Whether celebrating on the east coast, west coast, on the high seas or enjoying at home, families will find enchanting experiences and merry-making to enjoy this season.

Walt Disney World Resort

The Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll presented by AdventHealth invites guests to gaze with wonder at elaborately decorated, Disney-trimmed trees as they explore the shopping, dining and entertainment district at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. One tree in particular is inspired by Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog,” and features Princess Tiana. (Kent Phillips, photographer)

The Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays presented by AdventHealth brings seasonal fun from around the globe to the Walt Disney World Resort theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., through Dec. 31, 2020. Inside World Showplace, JOYFUL! A Celebration of the Season takes guests on a magical journey of holiday music as part of this year’s festival. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)

As the 50^th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World Resort continues in Florida this holiday season, festive décor can be found throughout the resort. Iconic Christmas trees are on display across The Most Magical Place on Earth, including a 70-foot-tall tree at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays presented by AdventHealth runs through Dec. 30 with special live entertainment, Holiday Kitchens around World Showcase, a Holiday Cookie Stroll and more. The Candlelight Processional, a beloved holiday performance and Disney Parks tradition, returns with a lineup of celebrity narrators telling the Christmas story, a choir of Disney cast members and a live orchestra. Celebrity narrators for this year’s event include actor Courtney B. Vance, actor Blair Underwood and Alton Fitzgerald White from Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway. Also returning this year is “JOYFUL! A Celebration of the Season,” a stirring and uplifting performance of music in celebration of Christmas and Kwanzaa, performing on the World Showcase Plaza Stage.

Disney Springs, the Walt Disney World shopping, dining and entertainment district, is transformed into a winter wonderland full of sparkling lights, enchanting décor and holiday surprises. A returning favorite, the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll presented by AdventHealth, features 20 elaborately decorated themed trees, including “The Princess and the Frog” and an all-new tree inspired by “Black Panther.”

The holiday spirit can be enjoyed at Disney’s water parks with three refreshing holiday treats available at Blizzard Beach from Dec. 12 to Jan. 7. They include the Orange Bird Holiday Citrus Swirl DOLE Whip, Merry Merry Melon frozen cocktail and Peppermint Milkshake.

Disneyland Resort

Holidays at the Disneyland Resort is the most magical time of the year and the merry festivities take place now through Jan. 9, 2022. The parks are transformed into a magical holiday experience with spectacular décor that includes more than 25,000 poinsettia, cyclamen and flowering plants around the Resort, adding color, theming and seasonal magic, 50,000 twinkling LED lights that shine on sparkling “icicles” on Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle and a magnificent 60-foot-tall Christmas tree on Main Street, U.S.A., decorated with nearly 1,800 ornaments.  Guests will enjoy a distinctly Disney holiday experience with beloved traditions that include the return of “A Christmas Fantasy” Parade and  “Believe… In Holiday Magic” fireworks spectacular.

Guests at Disney California Adventure Park will create new memories during Disney Festival of Holidays as they discover the sights, sounds and tastes of a diverse season of celebrations, including Christmas/Navidad, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day. The festivities include live entertainment, shopping for themed merchandise and culinary delights at eight Festival Food Marketplaces, including Holiday Duets, Winter Sliderland and A Twist on Tradition. A team of Disney chefs drew on inspiration from their own unique stories to handcraft some of the new festive foods on the marketplace menus this year.

At Pacific Wharf, guests will find holiday-themed menus with special food and drink to be savored while listening to The Mistletoes, an a capella ensemble that performs classic holiday songs with rhythm and soul. Here as well, younger guests will discover craft stations and cookie decorating kits to add to their holiday fun.

Disney Holiday Specials on ABC

“The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” and Disney Inspiration Campus honor inspirational leaders in their community, including Louisiana educator Marco French, at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The holiday special airs on Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 P.M. EST on ABC (Matt Stroshane, photographer).

A Disney holiday special airing Christmas Morning (10 a.m. – 12 p.m. EST/PST) on ABC will provide families opportunities to experience the magic of Disney right from home, featuring performances from Chance the Rapper, Jimmie Allen and more, along with magic moments for deserving, inspirational individuals.

Trevor Jackson will join Sherry Cola, Derek Hough and Julianne Hough in hosting the Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade. Orion Jean, an inspiring 11-year-old from Dallas, will be celebrated for his Race to Kindness campaign, which creates “missions” to give back to his community, including providing more than 100,000 meals, 500,000 books and 500 toys to date.

Another hero was celebrated during “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” special that recently aired on ABC. Louisiana State Principal of the Year Marco French was awarded $20,000 from Disney Imagination Campus for his tireless efforts to forge bonds with and care for his students and community in Shreveport. Two years after stepping into the role, he transformed the struggling elementary school and earned the distinction of becoming one of Louisiana’s Outstanding Schools. Disney Imagination Campus, located at both Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Resort in California, aims to provide a reimagined line of educational experiences for visiting student groups that harnesses beloved Disney franchises. “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” is available for streaming currently on Hulu.

Disney Cruise Line

In the spirit of holiday cheer, Disney Cruise Line adds sparkle to each ship during Very Merrytime Cruises, with Disney characters dressed in festive attire, special stem-to-stern holiday events, traditional “turkey day” fanfare, Christmas feasts, “snow flurries” and New Year’s Eve galas. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)

On sailings through December 25th, the Disney Cruise Line fleet is decked from bow-to-stern with holiday cheer and entertainment during Very Merrytime Cruises. Holiday magic is unwrapped for the whole family with holiday decor, festive activities, Santa and Mrs. Claus, culinary offerings unique to the season and favorite characters in their finest holiday attire.

Disney Ultimate Toy Drive

As part of the Walt Disney Company’s efforts to inspire a world of hope, it is holding the 2021 Disney Ultimate Toy Drive benefiting the Marine Toys for Tots Program to provide toys to children in need this holiday season.

Disney kicked off the campaign on November 4^th with a $500,000 donation to Toys for Tots during Good Morning America on ABC where co-anchor Michael Strahan and ABC News Correspondent Will Reeve announced the donation. Families and fans can join the Disney Ultimate Toy Drive and give back to those who need it most this holiday season by donating a toy online at shopDisney.com through this December 24th or by donating a new, unwrapped toy in person at Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort or Disney Springs at Walt Disney World through this December 14th.

Disney’s relationship with the Marine Toys for Tots Program began in 1947 when Walt Disney and his animators personally designed the original Toys for Tots train logo that is still used today. Learn more about the Disney Ultimate Toy Drive at Disney.com/ToyDrive.

Disney Consumer Products

This holiday season, Disney Consumer Products and shopDisney.com are teaming up to support Make-A-Wish with, “From Our Family to Yours: “The Stepdad,” a new animated short about togetherness and the power of storytelling. It features the new single “Love Runs Deeper” performed by Grammy Award-winning singer Gregory Porter.

Disney’s Minnie Mouse Plush and Journal featured in the video are available for purchase exclusively on shopDisney.com.

The new single celebrates Disney’s relationship with Make-A-Wish and as part of Disney’s holiday gifting, it is giving support valued at more than $2 million to Make-A-Wish International and its network of affiliates to grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses around the world.

Disney Parks Blog

The Disney Parks Blog Holiday Hub features an exclusive “Everything Holidays” section

The Disney Parks Blog Holiday Hub features an exclusive “Everything Holidays” section

Those wishing for extra special celebrations at home can check out the Disney Parks Blog Holiday Hub, featuring the Everything Holidays section, full of holiday-themed stories, recipes and activities families can enjoy right at home.

No matter the pace or the place, something festive and fun awaits this holiday season from Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.