Beyoncé Shouts Out Blue Ivy For BET YoungStars Award Win
This is Blue Ivy's second BET Awards win.
Twelve-year-old Blue Ivy took home the YoungStars Award at June 30’s 2024 BET Awards. Although the moment was not televised, Beyoncé made sure to shout out her baby girl.
Beyoncé’s self-founded label, Parkwood, shared a congratulatory post for the tween’s win. The YoungStars Award recognizes young entertainers and their already sizable impact on media. Fellow nominees in the category included Akira Akbar, Demi Singleton, Heiress Diana Harris, and JaBria McCullum.
This is Blue Ivy’s second BET award, following her feature in Beyonce’s hit song “Brown Skin Girl” in 2020. Although none of the Carters attended “Culture’s Biggest Night” this year, Jay-Z and Beyoncé also had nominations. The mother of three took home the Viewer’s Choice award for her 2024 hit, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Blue Ivy is emerging as a household name, further solidified by this win. The Grammy winner took part in her mother’s Renaissance World Tour and also has an upcoming voice role in Disney’s live-action Lion King sequel. Her sister, Rumi Carter, recently broke her record as the youngest female artist to chart on the Billboard 100, all thanks to a feature on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter track “Protector.”
Beyoncé not only showed love to her daughter’s win, but to the up-and-coming artists who took part in the Usher Tribute. The singer shared clips of Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monet’s rendition of “Bad Girl,” which paid homage to Beyonce and Usher’s original performance.
Taylor shared how she’s “gagging” at the shoutout from the esteemed artist.
Beyoncé also nodded to Parkwood’s Chloe Bailey for her performance of Usher’s “Good Kisser.” The singer continues to show love to the next generation of entertainers.
Menopause is the process in which a woman’s ovaries begin to fail, normally between the ages of 50 to 60. However, a new initiative implemented by First Lady Jill Biden will work to potentially extend the quality of women’s health. According to research, women in menopause possess a high risk of heart attack and, within the first 10 years, having a stroke.
With the $100 million executive order, Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation, researchers hope to find the key link between longevity, a woman’s reproductive organs, and menopause. The project’s lead is Renee Wegrzyn, the director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, who says ovaries are the “only organ in humans that we just accept will fail one day.”
While Wegrzyn labeled the thought process as “wild,” Buck Institute for Research on Aging assistant professor Jennifer Garrison said not thinking about ovarian function during aging is “kind of missing the boat.”
Researchers have proposed numerous ideas to slow menopause. One is to slow the process of egg depletion, and another is to introduce a synthetic version of a chemical that correlates to egg release—anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Researchers are also examining whether immunosuppressant drugs like rapamycin may slow ovary aging.
Pharmaceutical company Oviva Therapeutics has begun the early stages of testing AMH, primarily on cats and mice. Oviva’s co-founder and chief executive, Dr. Daisy Robinton, described AMH as a “cloth that you cover around the ovary.”
AMH levels determine the size of holes in the cloth—big holes mean a low level—while small holes, meaning high levels of AMH, will release fewer eggs. “The idea is that if a woman loses fewer eggs, she can hold on to her ovarian reserves and the ovaries’ functionality for longer,” Robinton said.
“Is the ovary just a marker of overall health? Or is it that the ovary is timing out and causing poor health?” Stephanie Faubion, the medical director for the Menopause Society, said. “I mean, it’s chicken-egg.”
The bi-partisan bill, which included supporters such as Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WS), Susan Collins (R-ME), will push for a boost for a condition that many doctors claim they aren’t thoroughly trained on.
Out of 145 surveyed OB/GYNs in 2022, 31% said menopause studies were provided in their residency training programs. However, both patients and providers admitted to being confused about treatment for conditions that women will experience. “There’s not enough information about menopause,” Murray said. “It is overlooked, it’s underinvested in, and it’s been left behind. And it is about time that our country and everyone really started taking this seriously.”
Disruptors Summit Ambassador J. Sims Is A Mogul On The Rise
His entrepreneurial endeavors range from media marketing and agriculture to asset management.
J. Sims is no ordinary media mogul. With his business endeavors ranging from agriculture to asset management, the BLACK ENTERPRISE Disruptors Summit Ambassador continues to break barriers in every sector.
J. Sims, an Atlanta native, became inspired by the “blueprint” of Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. He began MC Media Works, a media and marketing agency, with Southern University in 2009 to support emerging artists in the city. With successful clients such as Jagged Edge, Jacquees, and Funny Marco, Atlanta recognized Sims’ achievement by proclaiming Dec. 19, 2020, as MC Media Works Day.
His entrepreneurial spirit later led him to asset management. Sims Global Enterprises, Inc. (SGE) is a vast portfolio of businesses and investments with over 200 acres of land. The private equity firm is expanding one of the two Madame C.J. Walker shops and ensuring families build generational wealth by maintaining their land ownership.
Moreover, this priority of community and philanthropy bleeds into his family-based company, The Sims Farm LLC. The agricultural production business in Dorchester, South Carolina, has provided organic produce to its customers for over 100 years. Forever family-owned remains a part of its mission, as the farm also supports its local community with employment opportunities.
Sims also pours back into the next generation of future trailblazers as he continues growing his expansive empire. His new show, “The CEO Talk,” will feature interviews with top executives and business leaders in the Atlanta area. Furthermore, the series will partner with Kipp Academy to connect with students in educational episodes.
As for his future endeavors, Sims will collaborate with Kelli Sebi, daughter of Dr. Sebi, to develop organic produce boxes and establish a U.S. compound for health and wellness. Sims will continue his outreach and business ventures, centering on agriculture, sustainable living, and entrepreneurship for his growing community.
A disruptor in multiple capacities, Sims remains dedicated to scaling his portfolio while ensuring those around him have the resources and knowledge to excel in any avenue.
Woman, 27, Who Allegedly Ran Over Husband And Baby, Charged With Child Abuse
Polk County charged the woman with child abuse after she ran over her baby and refused to take the injured boy to the hospital for treatment.
Aaliyah Ross, a 27-year-old from Lake Wales, Florida, was arrested for child abuse and domestic battery after allegedly running over her husband and their 16-month-old son with her car.
The event, which occurred on June 25, allegedly stemmed from a heated argument between Ross and her 25-year-old husband, Devin. A Polk County briefing revealed the two argued inside their home before Devin walked outside to “calm down.” Ross became enraged after Devin eventually threw a cinder block on her vehicle.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported that as tensions escalated, Ross placed two other children, aged four years and six months, into her Toyota Corolla. When Devin attempted to flee with their toddler, Ross allegedly accelerated directly towards them, causing severe injuries before crashing into a neighbor’s home. Ross later returned to the scene, placing the injured infant inside their unoccupied house and denying Devin’s pleas to seek medical attention for the baby. She then abandoned the boy, leaving him alone inside the house as she left the residence.
During questioning, Ross revealed a history of threatening behavior, admitting that on several accounts, she has acted as if she was going to run her husband over. She told a detective that she would swerve at the last second and claimed she expected Devin to move, as he had in previous instances. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd condemned Ross’s actions: “Aaliyah Ross made a series of incredibly unthinkable choices Monday: running over a man and a baby with a car, leaving the baby alone, and failing to get medical treatment for the obviously injured baby. Someone who does this to a baby will do this to anyone—her uncontrollable rage is a threat to the public.”
While Devin was treated and released for bruising to his body and lungs, the toddler remains hospitalized with multiple serious injuries, including broken bones and a partially collapsed lung. The Florida Department of Children and Families is now involved in determining custody arrangements for all the children.
Ross faces multiple charges, including aggravated child abuse, aggravated battery-domestic, negligent child abuse, battery-domestic, and Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Property Damage.
Texas Woman Finds N-Word On Her Burger King Refund Receipt
The anonymous woman said the Burger King receipt reflected the racial slur as the reason for the refund because she is an "N-word."
A Burger King customer is seeking justice after she believes an employee at an Austin, Texas, location allegedly intentionally put the N-word on her receipt.
The woman, who chooses to remain anonymous, recounted her experience on June 23, when a request to correct an incorrect order spiraled into a confrontation. The customer’s visit to Burger King began innocently enough, with an order for a fiery wrap and small fries. However, according to Fox 7, her attempt to rectify the incorrect order was allegedly met with resistance from a Burger King employee. “They made my order wrong, so I let them know the food was messed up,” she said.
The woman detailed her request for a correction or refund: “‘Do you mind fixing it, or can I get something else?’” Initially denied by the employee, she requested a refund on her order. A second employee eventually provided a “customer copy” of the receipt. The situation took a turn after the woman pulled out of the drive-thru and examined the receipt. “As soon as I came around the corner, I looked down on the receipt,” she recalled. “It said the reason that he basically refunded me was because I was an N-word.”
Determined to address this blatant act of racism, the customer returned to confront the Burger King staff about the racial slur. “I went in there, I confronted them. He said he was a manager but wouldn’t give me his name, corporate number, nothing! And he ran off when I tried to get all the information,” she recounted, describing the employee’s behavior.
Reading the N-word on her receipt has left a lasting impact on the customer. “It was very, very devastating, just to think that we are still going through that in today’s times,” she expressed, adding, “As a Black woman, it was just a lot. I will never go back to Burger King again.” Convinced of the intentional nature of this act, the customer is seeking legal counsel.
She emphasized the need for accountability: “He definitely intentionally put it on there…something definitely needs to happen because no one should feel the way I feel right now.” She believes the racial slur is why he didn’t want to give her the receipt.
Black Mothers Forum Leads Microschool Movement To Combat Systemic Racism in Education
There is a rise in the number of students being homeschooled or attending microschools following the pandemic and the desire for Black families to keep their children safe.
Arizona’s Black Mothers Forum is on a mission to dispel racism in education through its network of microschools.
Since the pandemic, the rise in Black families seeking education alternatives for their children has led to an uptick in homeschooled students across the nation as well as those attending microschools. Whether it is out of fear of safety or the desire to make sure their children get access to the proper support and resources that they need, Black families are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to the education of their loved ones. For one mother, Janelle Wood, her primary interest in microschools stems from the desire to protect Black children from systemic racism.
Often referred to as learning pods, microschools reimagine the one-room schoolhouse, which typically includes fewer than 15 students across several age groups. The curriculum at this type of educational institution is specifically tailored to fit the needs of each class, and microschools typically serve as a “mid-point between traditional schooling and homeschooling.”
“I’m a reverend,” said Wood, the founder of Black Mothers Forum, a network of nine microschools operating in Arizona. For her, it was all about honoring the call to “be a voice for those without a voice.”
Black Mothers Forum was launched by Wood and fellow mothers in 2016. The network of microschools set up in Arizona was created as they looked for ways to express feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration following the killings of young Black men like Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. Additionally, the group aims to combat the school-to-prison pipeline, which starts in classrooms across America.
According to the group, the school-to-prison pipeline affects Black and brown students as well as those with emotional disabilities at disproportionate levels through “zero-tolerance” policies, leaving them either suspended or expelled from school. During the 2015-16 school year, 290,600 students were either arrested or referred to law enforcement agencies. While only 15% of those students were Black, they represented 31% of the referrals and arrests. On the contrary, 49% of the students were white. However, those students only represented 36% of the arrests and referrals. Another 26% were Hispanic or LatinX, and they represented 24% of the run-ins with law enforcement officials.
For Wood, launching the microschool network in Arizona creates a learning environment that may be small in size, but large in the support of the community. Additionally, when Black students need correction, she believes it comes from a genuine place of support that is often absent in public schools.
“The milestones provide a space for them to grow, a space for them to be seen as human, as validated,” said Wood. “Some children need a smaller environment, and microschools seem to be doing the job for a lot of these kids.”
As the number of struggling students rose during the pandemic, so did an interest in finding alternatives to traditional public schooling. John Hopkins University’s Homeschool Hub reports that 5 to 6% of all K-12 students are homeschooled. Not only do homeschools and microschools provide young scholars with different ways to learn, but Wood says it also helps Black students to be seen by people who are not committed to misunderstanding them.
“Let someone who actually understands [the students who are struggling] and looks like them be the ones that work with them and watch the difference in these children,” she said. “Now you don’t lose children, you’re now helping children.”
As Wood and the Black Mothers Forum look to expand to offer support to more underserved youth across the state of Arizona, she is actively seeking the support of public schools to partner with and equip the microschools with the necessary resources needed to thrive.
Debate Over AP African American Studies Course Heats Up, Maryland School Board Rejects Program
A Maryland School Board has officially rejected an amended AP African American Studies course that was scheduled to launch in classrooms during the fall school year.
The attack on Black history continues after a Maryland school board voted against an African American Studies course, citing it as too “divisive.”
An Advanced Placement African American Studies course piloted at three Harford County Public Schools in Maryland is no more after it was rejected in a 5-4 vote during a school board meeting last week. Designed by a national nonprofit, the College Board, the class will still become widely available for students across other districts in the state for the first time.
According to a board member who voted against the AP course, “the topics are heavily politically oriented and perpetuate the message of oppressed versus oppressor.” Moreover, Terri Kocher, who did not favor the class, says that she does think it “should be taught, but not in a way that teaches ‘victimhood.’”
To curate the AP African American Studies course, the College Board leaned into a network of college faculty, high school teachers, and experts who used data from 100 college syllabi and feedback from hundreds of faculty. The course framework, scheduled to be released this fall, gives teachers the power to craft their own lessons tailored to the needs of the students in their classrooms. Additionally, they are allowed to select topics for their own projects.
According to the Harford County Public School System, 67 students have already taken the course, and nearly 100 more have registered for the fall class. Superintendent Sean Bulson says he is “deeply saddened” by the board’s vote and that the AP African American Studies course “would have provided a more authentic portrayal of American history.”
More than 75% of the students in the course were students of color. A U.S. News report discloses that the student body at Harford County Public Schools comprises 59.7% white students, 20.5% Black students, 3.3% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander students, and 8.6% Hispanic or LatinX students.
For Bulson, the AP African American Studies class showcased Harford School System’s “commitment to providing an education that reflects the diversity of our student body and community. When we remain true to that commitment, it is unifying, not divisive.”
Edgewood High School rising senior Teaja Adams also expressed her disdain for the school board calling the course “divisive.”
“To say out loud that this class, my one opportunity to learn about me, that is divisive. How dare you take away my ability to choose,” wrote Adams in a statement.
As the great-granddaughter of Black people who served in the Black Panther Party and the U.S. Army’s first African American female battalion in World War II, Adams was eager to uncover history often left out of the history books of the classrooms she’s matriculated through over the years.
The updated version of the AP African American Studies course “includes African American achievements in music, film, and sports.” Students can discover works by abolitionist Frederick Douglass, NAACP co-founder W.E.B. Du Bois, and poet Maya Angelou. Additional coursework allows them to “analyze constitutional amendments addressing slavery, citizenship, and the right to vote.”
Harford is the most recent school district to be concerned with the AP course, an elective that includes an exam that can be submitted for college credit. An earlier version of the course was also rejected in Florida.
When the controversial Supreme Court decision on affirmative action was released in 2023, it emboldened states like Florida the opportunity to restrict the ways race, gender identity, and sexuality are taught in classrooms. In Florida, there are restrictions around teaching race, gender identity, and sexuality.
During the second year of the AP African American Studies course, it was taught in 700 U.S. schools, with 31 in Maryland. The recent Harford County School Board vote was the third attempt to approve the course after it was tabled in May and early June.
Florida Mother Allegedly Killed By Daughter’s Former Boyfriend
A 16-year-old teenager is facing murder charges after he shot his former girlfriend's mother after a failed relationship
A Florida teenager is facing murder charges after he allegedly shot his former girlfriend’s mother following a failed relationship with the victim’s daughter.
According to NBC Miami, the unidentified 16-year-old was charged with first-degree murder and possessing a firearm by a minor in the killing of 38-year-old Florida mother Eulalia Gonzalez. The alleged incident took place in Homestead, Florida, on June 27 outside of Gonzalez’s home. Homestead police said that the dead woman’s daughter broke up with the 16-year-old two months ago after a nine-month relationship between the two.
An arrest report states that Gonzalez was holding her infant daughter on her porch when the teenager came up to her and shot her in the face. He then left in a rideshare vehicle. The baby was not harmed, as a neighbor found Gonzalez facedown with a gunshot wound to her head and the child under her.
“The moment I saw her laying there, it really hit me hard,” said Gonzalez’s cousin Juanita Osorio. “I didn’t know what to do, I was frozen.”
According to the arrest report, the ex-boyfriend had been threatening the former girlfriend and contacting Gonzalez. After the daughter ended the relationship, he allegedly told her that she couldn’t be with anyone else if she weren’t with him. She identified the 16-year-old to police officers, and they took him into custody on July 1. He then confessed that he shot the mother and it was his intention to harm one of his former girlfriend’s family members to hurt her. He was later taken to Miami-Dade’s juvenile facility.
“Because the moment they broke up, he was obsessed with her, he didn’t want to let go of her,” Osorio said of the 16-year-old. “I guess maybe when he saw that people were taking care of her, he may have gotten jealous.”
A GoFundMe account has been started to raise funds to help the family. She reportedly had four children, the youngest whom was only a month old.
Refurbished Basketball Court Named After Dominique Wilkins Unveiled At Atlanta YMCA
'I’m super-excited to be a part of the Hawks and State Farm’s new Good Neighbor Club and help continue to impact the local youth at the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA.'
The “Human Highlight Film,” Dominique Wilkins was bestowed another honor in April when the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena unveiled a refurbished basketball court named after the NBA legend at the newly renovated Good Neighbor Club at the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA in southwest Atlanta.
“I’m super excited to be a part of the Hawks and State Farm’s new Good Neighbor Club and help continue to impact the local youth at the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA,” said Wilkins in a written statement. “The Young Brothers have continued to serve our local community and understand the importance of uplifting the game of basketball. From the court dedication 15 years ago to now, it’s been amazing to see the legacy grow, and I’m excited to watch this Good Neighbor Club impact even more local youth.”
The Atlanta Hawks, Wilkins’ team for the bulk of his hall of fame NBA career, just released a video featuring Wilkins talking to Ambassador Andrew Young and his brother, Dr. Walter Young, at their eponymous YMCA. The gym has been instrumental as a place for high school kids, a center for voting, and a home for community impact.
Included in the recent renovation of the center are new backboards and hoops, an upgraded scoreboard, new wall pads, a partition replacement, lighting upgrades, and additional basketball equipment.
Guests the unveiling included YMCA of Metro Atlanta CEO Lauren Koontz and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
Wilkins recently announced his involvement in a real estate fund by a company named Roots that creates wealth for investors and renters. He is serving as an investor, spokesperson, and partner. The Atlanta Hawks legend is collaborating with Roots to get the word out that people in Atlanta who rent their properties can invest in the fund by paying their rent on time and taking good care of the property they are renting. This gives people not usually involved in investing the chance to do so.
The sharp move of the administration is one of its latest efforts to build awareness surrounding a federal law from 1986 - Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure sent a letter to doctor and hospital associations on July 2.
In the letter, both officials reminded hospitals they have the legal duty to provide stabilizing treatment — including abortions in some cases. “No pregnant woman or her family should have to even begin to worry that she could be denied the treatment she needs to stabilize her emergency medical condition in the emergency room,” the letter read.
“And yet, we have heard story after story describing the experiences of pregnant women presenting to hospital emergency departments with emergency medical conditions and being turned away because medical providers were uncertain about what treatment they were permitted to provide.”
Hospitals are to give stabilizing treatment to patients regardless of their ability to pay for those services. Hospitals that refuse to provide care or turn patients away could be subjected to federal investigations, fines, or loss of Medicare funding.
The formal warning comes just days after the Supreme Court moved to pass an appeal on Idaho’s strict abortion ban, causing one large hospital system to send some pregnant patients out of state by way of air transport to have treatment. The state ban criminalizes almost all abortions and prohibits doctors from performing an abortion even if the pregnancy is putting the patient’s health in grave danger.
The state of Texas is also under the microscope for its six-week abortion ban. However, enforcement is on hold, given a lower court ruling.
The law singled pregnant people out in 1989 after claims of hospitals refusing to care for uninsured women in labor. Thanks to Congress, EMTALA expanded to include pregnant people with contractions. After the Biden administration released the Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligation in 2021 — stating a doctor’s duty to provide stabilizing treatment “preempts any directly conflicting state law or mandate that might otherwise prohibit or prevent such treatment” — it did not specify on abortions. In July 2022, the law was amended to include stabilization abortion care if it is medically necessary.
Anti-abortion groups like the Texas Alliance for Life have already responded to the letter in defense of Idaho’s law, claiming the Biden administration “falsely suggests that Idaho and other state pro-life laws fail to protect women facing life-threatening emergencies during pregnancy.” “This is untrue,” the group said in a statement.
“All state pro-life laws provide an abortion exception for those rare but tragic circumstances in which a pregnancy poses a threat to a mother’s life, including circumstances when death is not imminent. Those include Texas and Idaho.” According to experts, regulations surrounding emergency room treatment since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2021, allowing states to make their own abortion restriction laws. Since the ruling, 41 states have abortion bans with limited exceptions, including rape and incest. A total of 14 states have total bans.
