Jada Pinkett Smith gives $1 million to arts school

edonline

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Dec 12, 2006, 9:42:13 AM12/12/06

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061212/ap_en_mo/people_pinkett_smith

Actress gives $1 million to arts school

Jada Pinkett Smith has donated $1 million to her high school alma mater, the
Baltimore School for the Arts, asking that its new theater be dedicated to
classmate Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed in 1996.

"It means a lot when you're a teacher and your most famous alumnus comes
back to give a donation," said Donald Hicken, head of the school's theater
department since its founding in 1980 and Pinkett Smith's former theater
teacher. "It really says a lot to the community that the school matters in
people's lives."

The donation from the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, which is based
in Baltimore, will be used for renovation and expansion. The school, which
announced the donation Monday, said it will name its new theater for Pinkett
Smith.

Pinkett Smith, 35, is married to Will Smith, who stars in the new movie "The
Pursuit of Happyness" with their 8-year-old son, Jaden.

The couple had previously given $112,500 to the school.

When a $30 million expansion program is finished in the fall of 2007, the
school will increase its enrollment from 316 to 375 students.

Karen Banfield Evans, executive director of the Smith Family Foundation, and
Pinkett Smith's aunt, said the actress was moved by the school's advances
since she graduated.

Pinkett Smith wanted the theater named for Shakur because of the friendship
they developed at the school. The rapper died after a drive-by shooting in
Las Vegas.

The actress has appeared in movies such as "Ali," which starred her husband,
and "Collateral," and she was the voice of the hippo Gloria in the 2005
animated film "Madagascar."

"The Pursuit of Happyness," a Sony Pictures release, opens in theaters
Friday.

Ellie

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Dec 12, 2006, 9:57:49 AM12/12/06

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edonline" <edonlineSPAMOUT!@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:idKdnfOwd5VbIuPY...@giganews.com...

Why do they have to put a condition on the donation? I can think of better
people to dedicate it to than Shakur. My sister just went through all this
with her son's private school; a murderer's brother wanted to donate
millions but it had to have their last name on the new wing (it was
overruled by outraged school parents, including the murder victim's brother
who's kid goes to the school.) So the jerk reduced the donation to a
fraction of his original amount.

lj

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Dec 12, 2006, 10:45:04 AM12/12/06

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"Ellie" <folica...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Nrzfh.4159$it5.2385@trndny06...

Read it again...they are naming the building after HER and dedicating it to
Tupac (I agree they could find numerous people more worthy of a dedication).
So I guess her donation will be named after her!

A_White_Monkey

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Dec 12, 2006, 11:43:18 AM12/12/06

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Name some people and *why* are they more deserving?

"lj" <lj...@south.net> wrote in message
news:18Afh.4$_S...@bignews2.bellsouth.net...

lj

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Dec 12, 2006, 12:43:39 PM12/12/06

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"A_White_Monkey" <alway...@anywhere.com> wrote in message
news:G_Afh.8374$Z67.1356@trndny02...

You pretty much could pick any random LAW abiding citizen off of the street
who is not a thug as a more deserving person!! No brainer!!!

A_White_Monkey

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Dec 12, 2006, 1:06:03 PM12/12/06

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>
> You pretty much could pick any random LAW abiding citizen off of the
> street
> who is not a thug as a more deserving person!! No brainer!!!

But *you* didn't, so it must not be that easy. How can you say what effect
Tupac had on other people? He must have had an effect on her because she
wanted it dedicated to him:-)

lj

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Dec 12, 2006, 2:08:08 PM12/12/06

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"A_White_Monkey" <alway...@anywhere.com> wrote in message

news:fcCfh.4218$IG6.3116@trndny01...

I gave a generalization...you do know what that means?? It means to just
pick someone anyone and no one in particular. Maybe she wasnted it dedicated
to him because she likes thugs...who knows, but he certainly did not
represent a respectful lifestyle in anyway shape or form. There's many many
more people more deserving, maybe one of her instructors, her mother,
father, cousin, niece, nephew, the receptionist, etc.

A_White_Monkey

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Dec 12, 2006, 3:22:32 PM12/12/06

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"lj" <lj...@south.net> wrote in message news:p6Dfh.41$Iz.27@bigfe9...

>
> "A_White_Monkey" <alway...@anywhere.com> wrote in message
> news:fcCfh.4218$IG6.3116@trndny01...
>> >
>> > You pretty much could pick any random LAW abiding citizen off of the
>> > street
>> > who is not a thug as a more deserving person!! No brainer!!!
>>
>> But *you* didn't, so it must not be that easy. How can you say what
>> effect
>> Tupac had on other people? He must have had an effect on her because she
>> wanted it dedicated to him:-)
>>
>>
>
> I gave a generalization...you do know what that means??

Why yes I do. And we'll *see* just how much YOU know:-)

It means to just
> pick someone anyone and no one in particular. Maybe she wasnted it
> dedicated
> to him because she likes thugs...who knows, but he certainly did not
> represent a respectful lifestyle in anyway shape or form.

I wonder how many people he effected positively? Have you ever heard his
song "Dear Mama"? What about "Keep your head up"? Many women say those two
songs affected them greatly...positively I might add. His *lifestyle* does
not necessarily reflect the postive effect he had on people. Can *you*
understand that?:-)

There's many many
> more people more deserving, maybe one of her instructors, her mother,
> father, cousin, niece, nephew, the receptionist, etc.

In *your* opinion...you DO know what opinion means...right??? You cannot
begin to know what she may have *learned* from him, and it was *her* money
and *her* choice. She chose Tupac Shakur, and in *my* opinion, she found him
deserving. You *can* understand that I hope:-)

lj

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Dec 12, 2006, 5:35:31 PM12/12/06

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"A_White_Monkey" <alway...@anywhere.com> wrote in message

news:ccEfh.5915$Li6.3463@trndny03...

Apparently, you forgot what you asked in the first place: Name someone more
deserving. I gave my answer! There are many more deserving.

A_White_Monkey

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Dec 12, 2006, 11:31:48 PM12/12/06

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> Apparently, you forgot what you asked in the first place:

Nope...I remember exactly what I asked:-)

Name someone more
> deserving. I gave my answer!

Eventually you did,*after* I said something. At first you just gave a
generic reply. THEN you had much more to say...do YOU remember posting this?

"I gave a generalization...you do know what that means?? It means to just

pick someone anyone and no one in particular. Maybe she wasnted it dedicated
to him because she likes thugs...who knows, but he certainly did not

represent a respectful lifestyle in anyway shape or form. There's many many

more people more deserving, maybe one of her instructors, her mother,
father, cousin, niece, nephew, the receptionist, etc."

So since you just had to give *your* opinion on that...I felt the need to
school you on MY opinions. See how that works sport?

There are many more deserving.

In *your* opinion sparky. In mine and Jada Pinkett Smith's...Tupac was
deserving...much more deserving than others:-)

>
>