harsh work, Black Americans, study, mental health workplace, stress, racism, mental health awareness month
by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

May 2, 2024

Protect Black Mental Health At All Cost, Especially In The Workplace

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is in July, but it's always a good time to focus on the unique hurdles Black workers face daily.

Originally Published July 31, 2023.

When we talk about mental health, we can’t ignore the places where we spend most of our time—our workplaces. In the spirit of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s focus on the unique hurdles Black workers face every day. These challenges, deep-seated within our society, significantly impact mental health. Today’s fast-paced work culture adds to these struggles.

Just look at the Twitter chat kicked off last month by Tryfe Tejada. He pointed out a simple but powerful truth: making friends at work and hanging out with colleagues outside the office isn’t the same experience for everyone. For Black people, it can often be a very different story. His tweet has been viewed approximately 650,000 times, and the discussions that ensued in response to this tweet highlighted a common theme among Black professionals: the mental toll of enduring racial microaggressions and systemic racism in the workplace.


In many workplaces, Black employees deal with the added stress of feeling alone and facing subtle, sometimes not-so-subtle, racial bias every day. This daily navigation through a web of racism and prejudice takes a heavy toll on their mental health. It’s like walking on eggshells, fearing that any misstep could be used against them, leading to an unhealthy amount of stress and anxiety.

The recent policy shake-ups, like doing away with affirmative action and attacks on diversity efforts, have made things worse. These changes have sent a chilling reminder to Black employees: their experiences and challenges do not matter as much to those holding power.

Here’s the thing: the pandemic and the shift to work-from-home provided some relief for many Black workers. Away from the direct racial tensions and office politics, they found a safer space to be themselves. But with talk of returning to the office, the thought of stepping back into potentially hostile work environments is causing a lot of worry.

Research from Slack Technologies found that only 3% of Black professional workers were accepting of returning to the office full-time, compared to 21% of white professionals.

“We all know the workplace can be stressful for Black people. These stresses not only impact mental health but can lead to chronic illness or exacerbate existing conditions that already plague the Black community like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease,” said Dr. Brandon Gillespie, a therapist and media professional.   

This Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s crucial to shine a light on the racial struggles Black professionals deal with regularly. These aren’t one-off incidents. They’re part of a bigger systemic problem that we need to tackle head-on.   

Dr. Gillespie continued, “Several of my clients have quit their jobs to start their own businesses because of their toxic workplaces. People are now moving away from places that cause them stress and pain.”

To truly impact Black mental health, organizations need to foster an environment that actively combats microaggressions and discrimination, promotes understanding, diversity, and provides support for mental health.

“It’s more than just improving diversity numbers—it’s about breaking down the barriers of systemic racism and creating a culture of respect and equality,” added Timeka Muhammad, EDs, LPC-S, founder of The Courage to Cope Counseling and Wellness in Atlanta.

“Workplace racism and stress cause trauma, depression, and many other mental health concerns,” Muhammad concluded.

As we celebrate Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s a wake-up call for all of us. Companies need to prioritize mental health, take a hard look at these systemic issues, and foster a culture that genuinely supports everyone in their organization. Because when it comes to mental health, every conversation, every action, matters.

RELATED CONTENT: Mental Health Monday: Tips For De-stressing

Written by Dionne Mahaffey, PsyD, LPC, NCC

USPS, holiday shipping
by Jameelah Mullen

May 2, 2024

USPS Host Job Fair To Fill Hundreds Of Open Positions In The San Francisco Bay Area

The USPS has hosted several hiring events in the Bay area this year.

The USPS, which needs to fill 600 vacant positions in the San Francisco Bay Area, hosted a Postal Service Career Fair Wednesday at its Menlo Park Post Office. 

Post Office Operations manager Riza Yumul told CBS News the staff shortage has made it difficult for the USPS employees here to keep up with their jobs’ demands. It needs to fill several positions, including mail handlers, clerks, and custodians. Yumul said it lost some employees during the pandemic but it also competing with the plethora of tech companies in the area.

Safety concerns have been another challenge for hiring managers. Mail carriers are a prime target for criminals because they carry checks, prescription drugs, and other items that criminals can convert into cash. Carriers are robbed for their “arrow keys,” which are universal keys that provide access to several types of mailboxes.

The USPS saw a nationwide increase of 30% in mail carrier robberies last year, The Associated Press reported. According to research conducted by ABC7 San Francisco, approximately 61% of statewide robberies of postal workers last year occurred in the Bay Area. 

“When we hire people that’s the firs thing we do. We make sure that they know about safety and that they have training. We make it a point to be with the new carriers every day for the first two weeks,” Yumul told CBS News.

Last year, the USPS implemented a crime prevention strategy to help enhance the safety of its workers.

“We’re doubling down on our efforts to protect our Postal employees and the security of the mail. We are hardening targets–both physical and digital–to make them less desirable to thieves and working with our law enforcement partners to bring perpetrators to justice,” Postal Inspection Service Chief Gary Barksdal said in a press release. 

Applicants can still apply on the USPS website.

Kenny Smith, TNT, NBA Player, Sports
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 2, 2024

Kenny Smith Makes More Money In 1 Year Than He Earned In Career As An NBA Player

After making $11,972,100 during his 10-year playing career in the NBA, Smith now earns $16 million a year as an analyst

New York native and former NBA player, Kenny “The Jet” Smith is currently a TNT host sharing duties with other ex-NBA players, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. While Shaq ($292,198,327) and Barkley ($37,505,000) made large sums of money during their playing days, Smith only made $11,972,100 while playing in the NBA. Now, as an analyst, Smith makes more in one year than he did his entire playing career.

According to Essentially Sports, “The Jet” currently takes home $16 million a year as a broadcaster on NBA on TNT. The former Houston Rockets player played 10 seasons in the NBA from 1987 until 1997, winning two championships with the Rockets in 1994 and 1995. After being drafted and playing for the Sacramento Kings for three years, he went to play for the Atlanta Hawks before joining the Rockets. After playing in Houston, he played for three more teams: the Detroit Pistons, the Orlando Magic, and the Denver Nuggets, where he ended his career.

In an interview with Houstonia magazine, Smith explained how his path landed him at TNT after leaving the sport.

“Retirement [came about] when I started to get a lot of one-year situations. Like every year uprooting your family, moving to a different place became a little strenuous. TNT used to bring in players every year. After one segment, one of the producers was like, “Hey, if you really want to do this, I think you’re good at it.” I thought it was just a parting gift they said to everyone. Toward the end of my career, I got a call from one of the producers, and he said, ‘I have an opportunity for you.” At that point, I made a career decision, and here I am 20-something years later.'”

Smith was the first of the current and former NBA players to join the TNT staff when he partnered with Ernie Johnson Jr. in 1998 on Inside the NBA. Barkley came aboard in 2000, and Shaq completed the quartet in 2011.

Two years ago, the network signed all four men to a long-term contract, keeping the team together for several more years.

RELATED CONTENT: WNBA Player Candace Parker Announces Retirement

Taylor Rooks, Joy Taylor
by Sharelle B. McNair

May 2, 2024

Taylor Rooks and Joy Taylor Discuss Being Each Other’s ‘Dreammate’ As Black Women In The Sports Industry 

Love seeing Black women in high places....on and off the field!

Sports broadcasters Joy Taylor and Taylor Rooks are touching on being each other’s “Dreammates” and leading Black women in sports during a new campaign with Rocket Mortgage.

Two of football’s favorites partnered with the mortgage company as the official mortgage partner of the 2024 NFL Draft to advocate for those dreaming of homeownership with the “Dreammate” campaign. Rocket Mortgage’s Senior Vice President of Brand Experiences and Strategic Partnerships Casey Hurbis said the campaign aims “to create hope, inspiration, and generational impact,” something the company has been doing for close to 40 years, according to a press release provided to BE. 

The creative campaign stars the powerful duo as Dreammates to celebrate the support system they’ve created while on the journey to breaking industry standards and achieving goals, like becoming a first-time homeowner or getting that phone call naming someone as a member of your favorite NFL team.

“It is so incredibly important to have a dreammate in your life. Because she is so important for me in that role, we just understand each other,” Rooks told Black Enterprise about her friendship with Taylor. 

“We’ve gone through so many of the same things. We are still currently going through the same things. So when you talk about these difficulties in our industry and in our lives in general, to be able to pick up the phone and call Joy and say ‘this is what I’m dealing with, how have you dealt with this? How are you feeling?’”

In the campaign, Rooks said women not being in higher positions of power in sports is not because they can’t but more so they aren’t given the chance, one reason she feels she and Taylor are so important in the sports space. “Which is why people like you and I are so important in the business because we have the visibility that we have as women and as Black women,” Taylor said. 

“You can’t just be good. You have to be really good at your job.”

That’s a great feeling that not all women in sports leadership have. An April 2024 report from McKinsey found women in sports administration are less likely than women in other industries to have sponsors who may assist with guiding them through their careers or advocating for them. It also revealed that women in the sports industry are more likely to feel they have the proper skill set to progress.

The hosts of the “Two Personal” podcast were front and center during all the action at the recent NFL Draft, hosted in Detroit on April 27, where the lives of more than 250 men changed instantly. But before the besties became co-hosts of ESPN’s Speak and reporters for Thursday Night Football and Bleacher Report, Taylor and Rooks worked diligently to overcome obstacles to get where they are and acknowledged not being able to do it alone.

Celebrating her mother–who “has a very unique pushing style–as her first “dreammate,” Taylor defined her ideal dreammate as someone who truly knows you best, like her podcast co-host. “I think when you have a dreammate that really knows you, somebody that really knows you… when you have someone in your life the way my mother was to me and like Taylor is for me now, that cares enough about you not just to push you in a way that’s not expected, that moment always sticks out to me as a memory,” Taylor said.

Rooks shared similar sentiments about the relationship with her father, pinpointing him as one of the main reasons for her love for football and the draft. The sports broadcaster says one of her favorite moments of the draft is seeing the joy on the parents’ faces, realizing all the hard work and sacrifice was for their child to be able to experience the moment of the draft. “My dad, one of his No. 1 goals in his life was to make sure I was never short on confidence,” Rooks said. 

“Every day, he would write me a letter every single morning, ending every single one with ‘you can do whatever you put your mind to.’ So, I always had this incredibly steadfast belief that whenever I thought I could do something, I’d go to do it. That’s what a dreammate is.” 

During the draft, fans who used the hashtag #RocketDreammate assisted the company, headquartered in the home of Motown, in making a $10 contribution to Habitat for Humanity, with a goal of $250,000, to help deserving Americans realize the dream of homeownership become a reality.

Ohio State University, Employment, Black Drug Overdoses
by Daniel Johnson

May 2, 2024

Ohio State University Study Reveals Employment Reduces Drug Overdoses For Black People

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that focusing on keeping Black Americans employed could potentially lower the rate of drug use, which, in turn, would prevent drug related deaths.

An Ohio State University study made a connection between unemployment and an increased drug-related death rate for Black workers, which demonstrates that as jobs were made available for Black workers, opioid drug overdoses among Black people went down, suggesting a correlation between the two. 

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that focusing on keeping Black Americans employed could potentially lower the rate of drug use, which, in turn, would prevent drug-related deaths. 

Sehun Oh, an assistant professor of social work at Ohio State University, told the outlet in a statement, “The basic underlying framework I’m using to approach this issue is seeing the drug epidemic as a disease of despair and examining how local labor market situations might have affected this at-risk population,” said Oh. “Others may be more focused on supply factors, but I believe economic context is critical to understanding the demand side of the story.”

Oh, and a co-author of the study, Miguel Cano, an associate professor of social work at Arizona State University, said in the study that disconnection from the workforce creates a number of problems for the unemployed. “Research shows that disconnection from the workforce creates collective frustration and hopelessness, family disintegration and community violence and crime, increasing drug use as a refuge from psychological distress.”

As the study lays out, “the drug mortality increases among Black Americans were highest in the Midwest and Northeast counties, especially those with a lower median household income. Economic restructuring (that led to fewer livable-wage jobs in the areas) and increasing presence of heroin and synthetic opioids are considered major drivers of drug mortality in these regions.”

According to the study, just one more job per 100 Black workers would result in 0.29 fewer drug overdoses per 100,000 drug overdoses nationwide. This association, the study notes, is more robust in areas where there have been more fentanyl overdoses. The study also argued that its findings are consistent with previous scholarship that establishes a positive relationship between employment and decreased drug mortality. 

In a section discussing the study’s public health implications, the authors recommend “geographically targeted interventions” intended to create more economic prosperity for low-income areas of the Black community. They believe this will reduce the impact of the opioid epidemic on Black people. The study states, “Such efforts may include improving employment opportunities for the Black workforce through job creation and workforce development.” 

Louisiana Congressional Map, Federal Judges, Black District
by Sharelle B. McNair

May 2, 2024

Judges Trash Louisiana Congressional Map With Second-Majority Black District

Here we go again...

A panel of federal judges rejected a freshly drawn congressional map, creating a second majority-Black district in Louisiana. 

In a 2-1 ruling on April 30, judges ruled the new maps constituted an “impermissible racial gerrymander” violating the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause. The updated congressional maps would have kept the 2nd Congressional District as a majority-Black district and labeled the 6th Congressional District, under Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) leadership, as the second. “The Voting Rights Act protects minority voters against dilution resulting from redistricting maps that ‘crack’ or ‘pack’ a large and ‘geographically compact’ minority population,” the ruling stated.

“On the other hand, the Equal Protection Clauses applies strict scrutiny to redistricting that is grounded predominantly on race.”

The majority ruling was handed down by former President Donald Trump-appointed judges David C. Joseph and Robert R. Summerhays. Judge Carl E. Stewart, who former President Bill Clinton appointed, wrote a dissenting opinion, according to NOLA. “The unusual shape of the district reflects an effort to incorporate as much of the dispersed Black population as was necessary to create a majority-Black district,” Summerhays and Joseph wrote in their ruling. 

“In the present case, the record reflects that the State could have achieved its political goals in ways other than by carving up and sorting by race the citizens of Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Alexandria, and Shreveport.”

Stewart saw things differently, writing, “The totality of the record demonstrates that the Louisiana Legislature weighed various political concerns—including protecting particular incumbents—alongside race, with no factor predominating over the other.” 

The ruling comes after 12 “non-African American” Louisiana residents filed a lawsuit alleging the new district divided key communities of interest and amounted to a “racial gerrymander.” 

In January 2024, the Louisiana State Legislature approved the maps, followed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signing them into law days later. The newly drawn map comes after an almost two-year battle over the state’s congressional lines. Former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed a set of maps in 2022 passed by the state Legislature, following an argument that it violated the Voting Rights Act by creating only one majority-Black district in a state with a one-third population of Black residents. 

The state Legislature eventually overrode Bel Edwards’s veto. 

Black State Rep. Kyle Green (D-Marrero) said he is concerned about what happens next to the state’s congressional map. He pressed the issue of it being too late for legislators to file bills for another map to be drawn during the regular session ending on June 3. “The court’s ruling creates the question of what map does the state use for congressional elections and will the Legislature get the opportunity to develop a remedial plan?” Green said.

However, Louisiana’s Attorney General Liz Murrill knows exactly what the next steps will be: the U.S. Supreme Court. “We will, of course, be seeking Supreme Court review. I’ve said all along the Supreme Court needs to clear this up,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“The jurisprudence and litigation involving redistricting has made it impossible to not have federal judges drawing maps. It’s not right and they need to fix it.” 

https://twitter.com/AGLizMurrill/status/1785465609985151247

The National Democratic Redistricting Committee blasted the ruling. It said supporters of the new map would likely apply for an emergency order from the Supreme Court to keep the map during the appeals process. 

U.S. DEA, Marijuana, Drug
by Sharelle B. McNair

May 2, 2024

U.S. DEA Seeks to Ease Restrictions On Marijuana, Reclassify As ‘Less Dangerous Drug’

Think this move is effective or harmful?

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug in a groundbreaking move that could shift drug policies implemented across the country.

Contingent on a review by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis — not recreational use — and acknowledge it as having minimal potential usage of abuse over dangerous drugs like heroin and LSD. “Today, the Attorney General circulated a proposal to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III,” Justice Department Director of Public Affairs Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. 

“Once published by the Federal Register, it will initiate a formal rulemaking process as prescribed by Congress in the Controlled Substances Act.”

After OMB signs off, the DEA — a component of the Department of Justice (DOJ) — will take public comment and move marijuana to Schedule III, ranking it with ketamine and some anabolic steroids, after a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department. Following the public comment period and review by an administrative judge, the agency will eventually publish the final ruling.

Marijuana has remained on Schedule I — defined as a drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse — since 1971. Schedule III substances include Tylenol with codeine, steroids, and testosterone. 

Rescheduling cannabis would mean the drug would be studied and researched to identify core medical benefits and bring potential opportunities for pharmaceutical conglomerates to get involved with the sale and distribution of medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

The move would also eliminate tax burdens for businesses in states where the drug is legal. For the $34 billion cannabis industry, the IRS could eliminate code Section 280E, which prohibits legal cannabis companies from deductions that would be ordinary business expenses.

Critics like former DEA Deputy Administrator Jack Riley described the move as unnecessary, citing concerns about harmful side effects, such as cannabis being a possible “gateway drug,” leading to the use of other drugs. President and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former Obama administration adviser, Kevin Sabet, said the decision is “the result of a politicized process” and argued it “will be devastating for America’s kids,” who he feels will be hit with attractive advertising and promotion. 

“Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug sends the message that marijuana is less addictive and dangerous now than ever before. In reality, today’s highly potent, super-strength marijuana is more addictive and linked with psychosis and other mental illnesses, IQ loss, and other problems,” he said. 

Schedule III drugs are classified as controlled substances with rules and regulations. People who traffic the drug without permission could still face federal criminal prosecution.

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer argues that marijuana should be treated in the same context as alcohol. “While this rescheduling announcement is a historic step forward, I remain strongly committed to continuing to work on legislation like the SAFER Banking Act and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which federally deschedules cannabis by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act,” Schumer said in a statement. 

“Congress must do everything we can to end the federal prohibition on cannabis and address longstanding harms caused by the War on Drugs.”

The move comes years in the making after President Joe Biden worked with the Department of Health and Human Services in October 2022 to review marijuana’s classification. He even touched on it during his State of the Union address in early 2024, referring to marijuana and noting the federal review process. “No one should be jailed for using or possessing marijuana,” Biden said.

Biden and a team of lawmakers from both political parties have pushed for the DEA’s decision since marijuana has become decriminalized and accepted, specifically among younger people. With 2024 being a highly competitive election year, the announcement could help Biden secure the White House with the support of young voters. 

A Gallup 2023 poll found that 70% of adults support marijuana legalization, the highest level recorded by the polling firm and more than double the approximately 30% who supported it in 2000.

economic, Retirement, Savings, retirees, COLA, social security, contribute, IRA, IRS, payments, cost-of-living adjustments, contributions, boomers
by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

May 2, 2024

2025 Social Security COLA Forecast Looks Bleak For Retirees

Some retirees are feeling the financial pinch of rising inflation and decreasing COLA projections.

Retirees are due for a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, but the benefit may decrease, according to preliminary forecasts by economists. Economic instability is also compounding their fears in this economy driven by seemingly greed-driven inflation. 

An estimated decrease to 2.6% from 3.2% (this year’s COLA) is forecasted for 2025, though the COLA will be finalized after the third quarter. Because of continued growing inflation and spending of emergency savings funds– 71% of retirees feel financially unstable. 

“The confidence both workers and retirees have in their ability to finance their retirements dropped significantly in 2023,” said Craig Copeland, EBRI director of Wealth Benefits. “The last time a decline in confidence of this magnitude occurred was in 2008 during the global financial crisis.” 

Also, 58% of retirees were curtailing nonessential spending due to economic uncertainty and rising costs of goods and supplies. 

Motley Fool explained how the COLA is calculated.

“Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are based on the average inflation rate during the third quarter, the three-month period that includes July, August, and September. Curiously, COLAs are calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a subset of the better-known CPI-U.”

It’s important to note that 2023’s COLA was a noteworthy 8.7%.

With retirees feeling the squeeze of rising prices, many are resorting to returning to the workforce–albeit part-time—to earn extra cash. Fifty-seven percent of Black households are fractured financially, and older Blacks are more likely to have to go back to physically demanding jobs than whites and other ethnic and racial populations.

Not only is the COLA causing concern, but an alarming study also revealed that Blacks may not even have access to retirement benefits like their white counterparts. 

A study by the Economic Policy Institute stated, “Only 57% of older workers (ages 55–64) and 53% of prime-age workers (ages 25–54) participate in an employer-based retirement plan, and this share plunges to 25% for workers ages 65 and older. Lack of access is the biggest factor depressing worker participation in retirement plans.”

Black female student in the classroom, Public School, Classroom
by Sharelle B. McNair

May 2, 2024

Report Raises Alarming Safety Issues Black Girls Face In Florida Public Schools 

Protect Black girls...at all costs!

A report from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) illuminates the growing challenges Black girls experience with school safety and school policing. 

“Keep Her Safe: Centering Black Girls in School Safety” examined the experiences faced by a group of Black girls and young women—between ages 14 to 24—in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). The report reveals students studying in the district tend to face harsher treatment from school resource officers and security guards, including sexual harassment from security guards, specifically in the form of inappropriate comments about their appearance. 

Thanks to strict bathroom regulations, Black girls were found to lack privacy and suffered from public humiliation during in-class searches by police officers and even K-9s. With a limited amount of support for students at risk or who have survived sexual harassment and assault, discipline settings, such as detention, mimiced prison-like conditions. 

“Schools are where we spend the majority of our time, so the environment needs to feel safe,” an unidentified 12th grade student at Miami Northwestern Senior High School said. “You need to have some level of comfort being in your school. And, of course, there should be no risk of bodily harm.”

The report highlighted part of the reason Black girls feel unsafe in schools is due to “adultification,” defined as the perception that Black girls are older than they are, deemed less innocent and more promiscuous than their white counterparts. A junior at the same high school remembered a security guard being arrested and currently facing charges for touching the behind of two female students and asking a student for a sexual favor.

Florida school security officers are under the microscope after a number of alleged discriminatory incidents. The issue of skin tone came up as one sophomore at Miami Northwestern Senior High School allegedly witnessed security officers being more “gentle and compassionate” toward lighter-skinned students. 

Black girls are also more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension or expulsion than white girls, with approximately 25% percent of Black girls being involved in school-based incidents being arrested over the usual civil citation.

“I feel like when you’re a Black student, and you go to school, they don’t see you as …‘She’s just a kid,’” a Homestead Senior High School student said. “No, they see you as a grown person who’s responsible for your decision, and of course, you are, but I feel like, as kids, we should be given second chances.”

During the 2020–2021 school year, close to 1,300 security guards were listed as Miami school employees—nearly double the number of full-time school counselors. Miami Northwestern Senior High School had close to 20 security guards in addition to police officers. 

Director of Education Equity at the National Women’s Law Center, Bayliss Fiddiman, said, “Black girls everywhere deserve to feel safe in schools. In discussions about school safety, the experiences of Black girls are overlooked, resulting in ineffective school safety measures that do not take into account the specific barriers, stereotypes, and harms they face based on their race and gender.”

Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., seem to share the same idea. In February 2024, co-chairs of the Caucus on Black Women and Girls—Democrat representatives Robin Kelly (IL), Yvette Clarke (NY), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ)—reintroduced the Protect Black Women and Girls Act, after its initial introduction in 2021. 

Supported by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the bill seeks to create a task force to “examine the conditions and experiences of Black women and girls in education, economic development, healthcare, labor and employment, housing, justice and civil rights.”

Additionally, the legislation wants to “promote community-based methods for mitigating and addressing harm and ensuring accountability, and to study societal effects on Black women and girls and for other purposes.” 

To regulate changes for M-DCPS students and beyond, the report recommends that schools and lawmakers promote “holistic school safety,” a new strategy for schools to address the psychological, emotional, and physical safety needs of all students.

This includes investing in student support services, the expansion of understanding of school safety by formulating conversations with students and taking steps toward guaranteeing girls are marked safe from sexual harassment and assault, including by school-based police officers and security guards.

Mary J. Blige, Retiring, R&B Music, retire, actress, hall of fame
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

May 1, 2024

Mary J. Blige Is Serious About Retiring From Music In ‘Five Or Six Years’

Mary J. Blige is "definitely" retiring from music in "five or six years."

After more than 30 years of a thriving music career, Mary J. Blige says she’s ready to retire in “five or six years.”

The Grammy Award-winning Queen of Hip-Hop Soul is gearing up for her third annual Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and releasing new music. It’s all part of her rollout to retirement.

“Right now, I’m definitely gonna do some more acting and I’m definitely gonna retire in, like, five or six years,” she told Extra.

Fans can rest assured that more new music is on the way before Blige calls it quits. She shares the love she still has for recording. The “Real Love” singer just doesn’t feel the need to make as much new music as she used to because she’s already put in the work.

“Right now, I’m still doing what I’m doing but not as often as I was doing it because I don’t have to now,” she said.

This comes after Blige recently said her next album would be her last.

“This is another album, and it’s probably my last studio album,” she told People in an interview published on April 22.

As for the new music she’s working on, it stays true to Blige’s themes of love in all forms, including the self-love she’s acquired as a single woman.

“Mary is singing about life. Life… love… being stable and understanding you can have things like love. You can have a good life,” she tells Extra.

Blige is embracing “mostly the love I have for myself. The glow is the love for Mary J. Blige. I find my real love. And my real love is me and I found it.”

Blige’s annual Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit is taking place in her hometown of New York City during Mother’s Day weekend May 10 – 12th. She’ll be inducted into the 2024 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this fall.

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