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.”
Career Criminal Sentenced To 30-Plus Years In Prison After Stealing $20K Of Designer Sunglasses
Ernesha Atmore is going to prison for stealing $20,000 worth of designer sunglasses. Here's why.
A career criminal is going to prison for more than 30 years after she was found guilty of stealing $20,000 worth of designer sunglasses from a Tampa, Florida, store.
According to Fox 13 Tampa Bay, Ernesha Atmore, 29, was seen on surveillance video using a soft-sided cooler to steal the shades. Having been in and out of prison due to previous crimes committed, she faced a harsher sentence because of recent stricter laws in Florida.
Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez said a video from several years ago showing one of her alleged thefts may have sealed her fate.
“She committed one of the most brazen thefts I’ve heard of,” Lopez said. “…When the employee said, ‘What are you doing? ‘ She said, ‘I have a taser.’ And, as you know, a taser is a weapon.”
When police caught up with Atmore several days later, they discovered stolen goods in her car.
Atmore’s lack of savvy continued in the courtroom. She rejected a three-year prison sentence offer from prosecutors, which is a move she would come to regret. First, a jury convicted her. And then came the whopping 30-year sentence. Why so long? Well, in Florida, specific retail theft laws have been strengthened in the past several years as some charges have been upgraded from misdemeanors to felonies, allowing prosecutors to add more years to prison sentences.
Before she was sentenced, Atmore faced two additional charges. One incident took place at a Zales jewelry store in Brandon Center Mall, where she was accused of trying to steal a ring valued at $8,749.99.
Due to that incident, six additional months were added to her sentence. After being convicted for those combined crimes, she will now be going away for 30 years and six months. She won’t be released until she’s nearly 60 years old.
ACLU Announces Supreme Court Victory For Workplace Equality
The Supreme Court's ruling on the Muldrow v. City of St. Louis case was applauded by the ACLU for its strides toward workplace equality.
The ACLU announced a major win for workplace equality following a Supreme Court ruling issued on April 17.
The court’s decision on Muldrow v. City of St. Louis stated that Title VII protections of the Civil Rights Act prohibit discrimination in making lateral transfer of employees. The plaintiff, Jatonya Clayborn Muldrow, claimed that the city discriminated against her with an employment transfer and denial of her own request due to her sex.
Muldrow worked as a plainclothes officer in the St. Louis Police Department from 2008 to 2017 until a new Intelligence Division commander requested her replacement by a male officer. Despite Muldrow wishing to stay, the department reassigned her to another role. Although her pay and rank were unaffected, the new assignment lacked the same perks she once had.
Upon challenging the decision, Muldrow faced obstacles at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. They ruled that Muldrow had to prove a “material employment disadvantage” from the transfer and denied the request. The court also ruled that it was not enough that the transfer impacted the “conditions” of her employment.
However, the Supreme Court affirmed that Title VII protects employees like Muldrow from such discriminatory, disadvantageous transfers. In their decision, they stated that employees do not have to prove the disadvantage “satisfies” a certain level of significance.
“Although an employee must show some harm from a forced transfer to prevail in a Title VII suit, she need not show that the injury satisfies a significance test,” detailed the court document. “Title VII’s text nowhere establishes that high bar.”
Deputy Director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, Ming-Qi Chu, praised the court’s decision.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is an enormous win for workers. Courts have too often dismissed cases under the ‘materially’ or ‘significantly’ adverse standard when employees have meritorious discrimination claims. This heightened standard contradicts the statute’s text and undermines Congress’s plan of eliminating discrimination in employment in passing Title VII.”
Furthermore, the organization noted how opponents of DEI may paint this ruling as a “danger” to further their cause. However, Chu emphasized how conservative actors against DEI use “fearmongering” to shut the training and initiatives down.
She wrote, “The fearmongering of DEI opponents has no basis in law and fundamentally misunderstands how most DEI programs work. The purpose of DEI and other remedial workplace programs is to improve the process by which employment decisions are made and close the gap in opportunities among workers. They do not disadvantage any particular worker. This is why they have long been held lawful. These scare tactics are trying to chill employers’ commitment and investment in expanding workplace opportunities. We won’t let them.“
Efforts to eliminate DEI programs continue to spread across companies and higher-ed institutions. However, this ruling only seeks to provide equality in the workplace, affirming that the severity of workers’ claims does not have to reach a certain threshold.
Tiger Woods Debuts ‘Sun Day Red’ Luxury Apparel Brand
"Every detail has been meticulously designed, prioritizing the athlete first at every step, resulting in a collection that exceeds the highest standards."
TigerWoods has debuted a luxury apparel line, SunDayRed, which features golf,training,andlifestyleapparelandaccessories.
The Hall of Fame golfer and TaylorMadeGolf launched the collection May 1. Woods will wear the firstrelease,TheHunt, when he plays in the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, from May 13 to 19.
“I am thrilled with the Sun Day Red apparel and accessories that we have put together,” Woods said in a written statement. “Every detail has been meticulously designed, prioritizing the athlete first at every step, resulting in a collection that exceeds the highest standards. Personally, I have loved wearing the products, and I am ready to see our brand proudly embraced all over the world.”
The Sun Day Red luxury apparel can be purchased online at SunDayRed.com. The Hunt will be followed with special releases that showcase “the full breadth of the first product line to fans.” Key pieces of the collection include the Training Dry Hoodie, a favorite of the golfer, and the inception of the 3D Lightweight Hoodie.
Woods and TaylorMade announced the collection in February before the Genesis Invitational tournament.
“We have been eagerly awaiting this moment since our brand was first announced in February 2024,” said Brad Blankinship, president of Sun Day Red. “The outpouring of support from our fans has exceeded our wildest dreams. We are excited for everyone to experience the exceptional quality of Sun Day Red apparel firsthand.”
The brand is expected to expand globally and plans to includefootwear, women‘sand kids’lines.
Woods has worked with TaylorMade since 2017 when they collaboratedtodevelopthe acclaimedP·7TW iron before he won his fifth Master’s Tournament in2019.
The report shows city employees who identify as Black, Latino, or Asian earn an average of 84 cents for every $1 that white city employees make. For gender-related disparities, for every $1 that white male city workers make, other city employees only make 82 cents on average.
Women of color make up over two-thirds of the overall racial pay gap among government employees. Between the 2018 and 2021 fiscal year, women of color received the smallest increase in their pay gaps with white male workers—up 3.8% or less. “In contrast, white female employees, Black or African American male employees, and male employees who identify as Other race/ethnicity saw the largest reduction of their pay gap over this period,” the report reads.
“Hispanic or Latino male employees came the closest to eliminating the pay gap with white male employees in 2021 ($0.95 on the dollar), followed by white female employees ($0.91 on the dollar) and Asian male employees ($0.90 on the dollar).”
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), NYPD, and FDNY were highlighted as the agencies with the largest racial/ethnic pay gaps. Between ABHLO (Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino and Other Race/Ethnicities) and white employees, DCAS has the largest pay gap, with a difference of $28,065.16. The first responder agencies come in second place with pay differences of $24,539 and $27,766, respectively.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) also ranked as agencies with large racial pay gaps, with DEP’s difference at $16,089.52 and DOT’s difference at $15,716.20.
Mayoral spokesperson Amaris Cockfield released a statement saying the administration working under Mayor Eric Adams would review the Council’s report.
Adams has appointed several women and people of color to top positions, including deputy mayors and commissioners, and has taken steps toward leveling certain disparities among government workers.
“Mayor Adams has taken numerous steps to dramatically close the pay gap women of color still face — including by signing legislation amending Local Law 32 of 2022, requiring employers in New York City to post a salary range with all job postings, and launching Women Forward NYC, our administration’s effort to address gender disparities by connecting women to professional development and higher-paying jobs,” she said.
However, recent updates show that those initiatives still need some work. According to Spectrum News 1, two top officials — Judge Sylvia Hinds-Radix and the Civilian Complaint Review Board interim chair, Arva Rice — were unexpectedlyrelieved of duty in late April 2024.
Hinds-Radix reportedly left due to her concern over the city representing the mayor in a sexual assault lawsuit, and Rice left, in part, over her criticism of the lack of discipline of two police officers involved in the shooting death of Bronx resident Kawaski Trawick.
The news raises questions about Adams’ empowerment of women of color and management style. Once hired for their impressive resumes, the women now seem to be at odds for using their expertise to advise the mayor. “Is he the type of leader that someone can work for or should work for?” Christina Greer, Moynihan Public Fellow Scholar and NY1 commentator, said.
“As we see more and more women leaving, there are questions of whether or not this mayor knows how to delegate, whether he’s focused, whether he’s assembled the people in the right places to help the city thrive.”
T.I. Offers Sage Advice To Overzealous Aspiring Rapper (VIDEO)
"Ain't nobody gonna change your life but you."
In a video shared by The Neighborhood Talk, T.I.gave an up-and-coming rapper some advice after she approached him in the street and showcased her less-than-impressive rap skills.
As the young lady spewed her lyrics, T.I. seemingly looked disinterested. When she finished her bars, she immediately asked him, “How do you feel about this?”
“I don’t,” he said. When she told him she wanted to be part of his record label, Hustle Gang, T.I. took the tone of a concerned parent dealing with a misguided child.
“Listen, man, let me tell you something: Stop running up to n*igg*s thinking they gonna change your life, man. Ain’t nobody gonna change your life but you.” When she asked if he would change her life, he exclaimed, “Hell naw! You are!”
He then told her that she has all the power to change her situation. However, she insisted that Hustle Gang has the power to do that. After she asked how he can help her, he told her, “I’m helping you by telling you don’t look for a n**ga like me to change your life. You got everything you need already. It’s in you.”
He then advised her that if she does what she needs to do, improves herself, and showcases the type of talent that he feels will win, he’ll be looking for her instead.
T.I. then advised her to reach out to her fans. Those are the people she needs to impress, not him. She then asked him to rate her lyrical skills. Instead of directly responding to her inquiry, he tells her that she “needs to do what” she needs to do to get better.
She thanked the rapper for his advice advice and allowed him to go about his day.
As Haiti’s Transitional Council Names PM, Gangs Want Seat At Table
Haiti’s gangs, which have formed a loose confederation, are seeking to have their voices heard—and have threatened violence if they do not receive a seat at the table.
The country has been besieged with violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Möise in 2021. Bélizaire’s appointment was met with surprise, even from members of the transitional council, some of whom didn’t know who Bélizaire was.
Haiti’s gangs, who have formed a loose confederation, are seeking to have their voices heard. They have threatened violence if they do not receive a seat at the table. In separate statements, two gang leaders, Vitel’homme Innocent and Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier, warned of consequences if the gangs are ignored by the council.
Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose former Sports Minister Fritz Belizaire as the country's prime ministerhttps://t.co/OuKalNDWzG
Innocent spoke to CNN in an interview that was released on April 29. During the interview, he described his regrets over entangling Kraze Baryé, the primary gang he leads, in Haitian politics.
“Yes, I have an armed group. I direct them,” Innocent said when CNN asked him about Kraze Baryé’s involvement in kidnappings. “But when you really think about it, would these guys really have any clue who to kidnap and who not to kidnap? Not at all.”
Innocent continued, insinuating that the Haitian power structure remains the same, regardless of who is in charge.
“It’s really the same people sitting with (regional organization) CARICOM to represent the country. If you choose to block them, they’ll call us and say: ‘I have such and such a job…Fix it for us.’ And then you hear so-and-so has been kidnapped. Or so-and-so has been taken hostage.”
Cherizier, meanwhile, issued a warning on social media which declared that the confederation of gangs, Viv Ansanm, loosely translated as “live together,” demanded to be taken seriously.
“Viv Ansanm is ready to talk. It’s either we are all at the table, or the table gets destroyed with all of us,” Cherizier said.
“The task is really monumental,” Robert Fatton, an expert in Haitian politics, told the Associated Press. “How you extricate yourself from that is very complicated. “I don’t expect the presidential council to come up with a solution. Those gangs are simply not going to go away by simply saying, ‘We want you to be nice guys.’
Interim Prime Minister Michel Boisvert echoed those concerns as he told the council after the swearing-in of Bélizaire, “The task ahead is daunting,” Boisvert said. “I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the population expects a lot from you … everything becomes a priority alongside security.”
Those expectations and the distrust of the Haitian populace were immediately made clear by some pedestrians, as the APreported, one man yelled, “Thieves and gangs! That’s all they are!” as he passed by on his motorcycle.
Fatton cautioned that “if things don’t change with the security situation,” he believes that the council’s solutions will inevitably fail. “They have a very short period to get their act together and get results.”
Savannah James To Share ‘More Personal Side’ In New Podcast Series ‘Everybody’s Crazy’
Savannah James and her close friend April McDaniel launch their new podcast, "Everybody's Crazy."
Savannah James is ready to show the world that she’s more than just LeBron James’ wife in her new podcast series “Everybody’s Crazy.”
On Tuesday, April 30, Savannah and her longtime friend, April McDaniel, debuted their new podcast series that shows off their personalities and sheds the layers to their typically “private” lives. The pair go back 15 years to when Savannah met McDaniel while pregnant with her second son, Bryce.
“I was very pregnant and I remember she was like, ‘Girl, what are you doing? Come over here and sit down,’ so she was taking care of me,” Savannah told People.
“The funny part is we’ve never talked about doing a podcast together,” says McDaniel. “Never. We are very private in our own respected natures. Savannah’s always been very private with her life, and so have I.”
McDaniel shares how organically they built their friendship after she met the James family through her Crown & Conquer event planning company. After several moves from Cleveland to Miami to Los Angeles, the duo were able to spend more time together once Savannah settled in the City of Angels.
Now, with her three children getting older and blazing their separate trails, Savannah, 37, is ready to come into her own and offer some inspiration to her daughter Zhuri, 9, who has told her, “‘Mom, I want to be like you.'”
“I started my family pretty young, and I was just in a space of trying to navigate who I was at the time or who I am,” Savannah shared. “And I feel like I’ve grown so much from playing the background, taking care of the kids, supporting my husband.”
The show will follow Savannah and McDaniel as they enter a “new phase of our lives” where the wife and mother will “put myself out there” alongside her friend. Listeners will be able to call in and share their crazy stories and connect with the two co-hosts.
Although Savannah is “scared as hell” about stopping playing “the background” in her husband’s career and letting the world see more of her personality, she welcomes the change.
“As nerve-racking and anxiety-ridden as it is to do something new, I’m really excited,” she said.
LeBron has already shown his support for his wife’s new venture by hopping on her Instagram Live and helping her and McDaniel promote the podcast.
A Black-owned private equity firm, the business plans to use the recently raised funding to continue its investment in luxury vacation rental homes. The firm closed its first fund at $4 million in late 2020.
Co-founder and General Partner Carrington Carter says East Chop’s investment strategy will center on the $75 billion global vacation rental market, which is projected to surpass $130 billion by 2033. The second fund opened in 2021.
“Fund II is about scale and pattern recognition as we invest in undiscovered, overlooked/undervalued, or value-add vacation rental homes and developments across the United States,” he says. “We’re pleased to already put this capital to work in Florida and Texas.”
More specifically, Carter told BLACK ENTERPRISE that his firm invests in 5- to 12-bedroom homes, new construction, turnkey, or value-added properties. These properties are typically located near lakes, beaches, mountains, and entertainment destinations.
He says the firm’s flagship property in Orlando, Florida, near Disney World, will open this October. It will feature 12 bedrooms, 14,000 square feet, an indoor basketball court, a two-lane bowling feature, multiple game rooms, and a 1,200-square-foot resort-style pool. “This is an example of a custom-built and thoughtfully designed property that will create an amazing experience for guests.”
He says his firm’s target return for investors is 15% over the life of the investment, which includes an 8% preferred dividend.
Carter and Co-founder Calvin Butts, Jr. started the firm in 2018. Carrington stated that they named their business after East Chop, a residential area in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard.
Carter and Butts serve as the firm’s general partners, building upon a 10-year track record of investing in the luxury vacation rental home market. He added the firm started by investing in its first property in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and then expanded to Martha’s Vineyard and Hilton Head in South Carolina.
He says the company’s footprint spans seven states, with planned expansion to North Carolina and Texas next year. He says under the general partner’s management, its portfolio generates seven-figure revenue. He says East Chop’s homes host thousands of guests each year.
With assets under management of $30 million, Carter noted that East Chop is focused on making private equity and venture capital accessible to a larger group of Black investors who historically have been excluded from high-return avenues of wealth generation. The second fund comprises 93 investors, including Liberty Financial Services, of whom 90% are Black and 23% are women.
“These investors will benefit from the dividends and price appreciation of the portfolio,” Carter says. “They also will benefit from the ability to use the homes at cost or at a significant discount when the homes are unoccupied in the shoulder and off-peak season.”
Carter shared that the firm also invests in technology, financial services, media, and professional sports and is the largest minority-led investor group in the whiskey brand Uncle Nearest Inc.
“Whether real estate funds, VC funds, tech startups, and other growing businesses, we are providing access to high-quality deal flow for our investors and educating them along the way.”
Walmart Closing Its Health Centers, Citing Lack Of Profitability
In a statement released on April 30, the company cited “the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs” as a reason for shuttering the clinics.
Walmart announced that it would be closing its healthcare clinics across the country after the company said in 2023 that it would be opening up 22 additional locations in 2024 and more locations in 2025. In a statement released on April 30, the company cited “the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs” as a reason for shuttering the clinics and its telehealth provider, MeMD, which it purchased for an undisclosed amount in 2021.
As CNBC reports, Walmart will close the 51 locations it opened across five states: Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois. However, this will not affect the company’s pharmacy and vision centers. Anonymous sources familiar with the operation told the outlet that the clinics expect to close within 45 to 90 days.
Those sources also indicated to CNBC that the rising costs of compensating healthcare workers played a role in Walmart’s decision. The outlet interpreted this as a sign of how difficult it is to disrupt and change the American healthcare system, which has become expensive and complicated and costs the country an average of $4 trillion a year to operate.
Walmart's abrupt exit from healthcare reflects a startling recalibration of the retail health market. This decision suggests that even a giant like Walmart struggles to blend healthcare into its portfolio, despite its size and resources. The closures may amplify disparities in…
Less than a few weeks after opening its first health centers in the Houston area, Walmart announced it is closing all of its health centers nationwide.https://t.co/8W8VdFPKAz
– Walmart Health closing down ops – Walgreens lost $6B operating VillageMD – CVS closing minute clinics – Oak Street losses are piling up – One Medical still unprofitable for Amazon
Walmart will shut down all 51 health centers it opened up.
This decision shouldn't fool anyone. It's not about healthcare not being interesting and profitable to tech and retail companies, but specifically the US market is a tricky and expensive one. https://t.co/mFYzZiIgnu
As The Verge reported, the increased competition in the healthcare space from retailers like Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, and already-established urgent care providers put a dent in plans to make healthcare more affordable.
Walmart’s press release states, “While our mission to help people save money and live better remains, today we are sharing the difficult decision to close Walmart Health and Walmart Health Virtual Care. Through our experience managing Walmart Health Centers and Walmart Health Virtual Care, we determined there is not a sustainable business model for us to continue.”
The press release continued, “This is a difficult decision, and like others, the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs create a lack of profitability that makes the care business unsustainable for us at this time.”
Although there is currently a shortage of primary care doctors nationwide, healthcare analysts say it is difficult to build a clinic network, even for companies like Walmart. The AP cited issues like patient familiarity with doctors and increased spending from clinics to improve health outcomes for patients who may have gone without healthcare for some time.
Walmart’s press release indicated that workers currently staffed at its clinics are eligible to transfer to any Walmart or Sam’s Club location and will continue to be paid for 90 days unless they transfer to another location or leave the company.
After this 90-day period expires, employees who do not transfer or leave the company are eligible to receive severance benefits. The press release also indicated that the provider partners used by the clinics would continue to receive payments for 90 days, after which time eligible providers would receive transition payments.
