Antoinette R. Leatherberry
COMPANY
Former Principal, Deloitte
BOARD
Zoetis Inc.
Antoinette R. Leatherberry
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton
August 24, 2024
50 Cent Dropped His Boxing Promoter Dream After Just One Fight, Claims Oscar De La Hoya
When one of 50's boxers got knocked out in 2015, "that was the end of 50’s promotional career,” De La Hoya said.
Successful recording artist and television executive Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson once tried to enter the boxing business as a promoter. According to former boxer and current promoter Oscar De La Hoya, the Queens rapper decided to bow out before getting knocked out.
On a recent episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay, Sharpe asked De Le Hoya about 50’s foray into the boxing profession. He questioned whether 50 and his former friend, undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather, tried to be in business together.
De La Hoya responded by telling Sharpe that the two of them did business together, but after the first fight they collaborated on, 50 threw in the towel on his career as a boxing promoter.
“We did business together, actually. Canelo (Alvarez ) fought (James) Kirkland. 50 Cent had just signed Kirkland to a promotional contract. We had a fight together. Canelo knocked him out, and that was the end of 50’s promotional career,” De La Hoya said with a laugh about the 2015 fight.
The boxing promoter claimed that 50 tried to sign Mayweather, who was previously signed to De La Hoya’s promotion company, Golden Boy.
“He was trying to do something with Floyd, and then Floyd just got bigger than 50 or something,” said Oscar. “Egos got in the way, and you know how that goes. The only business deal I’ve ever made with 50, Canelo knocked them out, and that was the end.”
That boxing loss may have given 50 the mindset to become more involved in television work. The “Get Rich or Die Trying” power player, who is worth $40 million, has recently opened a production studio, G-Unit Film & Television Studio in Shreveport, Louisiana, after the success of his “Power” Universal consisting of several shows that revolved around the Starz series, “Power.”
Due to the studio’s opening, the city declared April 18 Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson Day, and he was given a key to the city.
RELATED CONTENT: 50 Cent: ‘I’m Not In A Hurry To Reach Billionaire Status’
Sandra A.J. Lawrence
Sandra A.J. Lawrence
COMPANY
EVP & Chief Administrative Officer; EVP & CFO, The Children’s Mercy Hospital
BOARD
Evergy Inc.
Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourey M.D.
Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourey M.D.
COMPANY
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Population Health and Health Equity Professor Emerita; Former President & CEO of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
BOARDS
Merck & Co. Inc., Intel Corp., GE & Healthcare Technologies Inc.
Wright L. Lassiter III
Wright L. Lassiter III
COMPANYCEO, CommonSpirit Health
BOARDS
Fortive Corp. & Quest Diagnostics Inc.
Gregory E. Knight
Gregory E. Knight
COMPANY
Former EVP, Customer Transformation and Business Services of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
BOARD
Pentair Plc
Alicia Knapp
Alicia Knapp
COMPANY
President & CEO, BHE Renewables, LLC, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
BOARD
The Kraft Heinz Co.
by Sharelle B. McNair
August 23, 2024
Black Woman Alleges She Overheard Staffing Agency Workers Refer To Her As ‘White Trash’
This is just wrong.....
Ashley Chapman, a Black woman from Chicago, filed a discrimination complaint against a staffing agency after allegedly overhearing employees call her “white trash” on a voicemail, WGN TV reports.
Chapman searched for employment after moving to the Windy City from North Dakota. After enlisting the help of a staffing agency in the suburban neighborhood of Elgin, she received a voicemail; however, the caller failed to hang up properly and allegedly made some derogatory remarks, thinking Chapman was white. “Let’s see what Ashley Newman looks like,” one speaker was allegedly overheard saying.
“I don’t think she’s Black … I think she’s white … Yeah, I think she’s white trash.”
Chapman claims she also allegedly heard the caller say, “Your baby daddy’s married, and you’ve had unprotected sex.”
During a press conference, Chapman admitted that regardless of what she thought she may have heard, she still called the agency back. “I don’t have a lot of family to help me. I need a job. I need money for my kids,” the single mom of two said, according to Atlanta Black Star.
“People make mistakes, but they just took it too far.”
Chapman then reached out for legal representation and found David Fish, who called the message “repulsive.” The team filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), a prerequisite for any upcoming lawsuit, and hopes the company is investigated. “It was a repulsive message, and in cases like this, you don’t find out why decisions were made. Usually, people aren’t stupid enough to leave a voicemail like this,” Fish said.
“What we’ve alleged in our charge of discrimination is that there’s marital status discrimination, that there’s gender discrimination, and that there’s race discrimination.”
The state agency is responsible for enforcing the state’s Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, military status, age (40 and over), order of protection status, marital status, sexual orientation, unfavorable military discharge, and physical and mental disability.
The department’s responsibility is to review requests for charges of alleged unlawful discrimination concerning employment, housing, financial credit, and public accommodations. The next step prompts an investigation into the case and then filing a civil complaint if evidence of discrimination is found.
by Jeroslyn JoVonn
August 23, 2024
Actress Malinda Williams Amplifies STEM Initiatives For HBCU Women
Actress Malinda Williams wants to bring her coding bootcamp to an HBCU near you.
Actress Malinda Williams is opening up about her natural passion for supporting STEM programs for women at historically Black colleges and universities.
Since launching her Arise And Shine Foundation in 2023, the “Soul Food” star has helped lead young women at HBCUs toward careers in technology through a coding boot camp. The program is modeled on Williams’ personal experience, going from a working actress to a tech professional who learned how to build websites out of necessity.
“As a successful actor, people didn’t wanna hear my story of adversity. They don’t wanna know I know how to code or build websites,” she told Afro Tech.
“They just wanted to know when my next movie would be. ‘Yeah. That’s nice, but when’s your next TV show?’”
“So, I really did, and still do, have to push through that imposter syndrome of what I think people expect from me versus what I know I’m capable of. And that’s partly what we incorporate into this HBCU coding boot camp; it’s those hard skills of learning to code but also the soft skills of pushing through adversity and showing up in the world 100% authentic.”
According to Williams, she has always been “an engineer at heart.” But a “spiritual” trip to a bookstore inspired her to tap into her natural skillset in tech.
“I set out on a continuation of my spirit spiritual journey, but I also went to the bookstore, and that’s where I find a lot of my spiritual material, and a book called ‘HTML For Dummies’ fell off the shelves,” she recalled.
“I had tinkered around a little bit with technology. I am an engineer at heart. My dad is an engineer, and my mom is a creative. So I think I have an equal amount of both of them within me.”
After reading the book, “The Wood” star taught herself how to code at a time when the technology wasn’t as advanced as it is now. The challenges she faced helped inspire her future coding programs for young women.
“I taught myself about four different programming languages at the time, which was about 15 years ago. So there were no modular programs that allowed us to just kind of stack, drag, and drop,” Williams explained.
“You had to know the code. You had to know how to build using these coding languages, and I learned that.”
After teaching herself to code, Williams started building websites for her friends for free and used YouTube to reach the audiences she wished to connect with on a new level. She saw the shift that was coming to the content space and wanted to help motivate other Black women to get ahead of the tech trends.
“I amassed a pretty decent following on YouTube, just making hair videos… When you make that shift, when you make that change, when you take that leap, everything starts falling into place,” she shared.
Williams eventually launched Arise And Shine Foundation Inc. with her sisters, Leslie Williams-Dunn and Lisa D. Williams-Sorensen, to connect and educate underserved and underrepresented women and girls. The foundation’s coding boot camp kicked off May 31 at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. It taught students how to build their own applications, coding activations, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) training, and Apple programming language.
“It went above and beyond our expectations,” Williams said of the program, which received devices and learning support from Apple as an official partner. “The young ladies came and blew our minds.”
“We had things in place for them to celebrate them, to make sure they felt valued, to let them know they matter, and to let them know that this is an exchange,” she continued.
“We’re offering you resources, but you are also a resource to us… That really built trust in a very short period during that kick-off weekend, which was subsequently followed by a four-week virtual coding camp where all the students learned to build apps. Some knew nothing about technology or coding before they got there.”
After a successful pilot program, Williams will continue the coding boot camp in 2025 and plans to bring the initiative to more HBCUs throughout the country.
“Our goal is to impact every single HBCU,” she shared. “Next year, we will be doing a different school. And ultimately, I want to do a tour. I want to be at an HBCU near you… I want us to hit the ground in all these different regions and be present and available for women who want to be empowered.”
RELATED CONTENT: Charlotte Teen Lands ‘STEM Enhancement In Earth Science’ Internship With NASA
by Jeroslyn JoVonn
August 23, 2024
4 Security Officers Arrested At Fulton County Jail In Contraband Sting Involving Cell Phones, Sex, And Chicken Pot Pies
Four security officers at Fulton County Jail lost their jobs for allegedly smuggling in cell phones and chicken pot pies.
Four security officers at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta have lost their jobs following their arrest for an alleged contraband operation.
According to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the four security guards worked under contract at the jail and would smuggle cell phones and other contraband into the facility, WSB-TV reports. One terminated officer, Breasha Tate, 26, admitted to smuggling six cell phones into the jail using a cutout inside a book and having sex with one inmate three separate times.
Tate also brought other contraband into the jail and received $1,682 in Cash App payments from the inmate for the unauthorized items. Fellow terminated officer Regina Harris, 26, is facing three warrants for her arrest after providing a contraband cell phone to an inmate.
LaQuna Ballard, 34, was also fired after she was caught sending an inmate sexually explicit photos and videos and conspiring to smuggle cigarettes and cell phones into the jail. The fourth terminated officer, Anizya Silas, 24, is accused of conspiring to smuggle a phone charger and giving an unauthorized chicken pot pie to an inmate.
“We can’t screen for integrity,” Natalie Ammons, director of communications for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, said.
The four women were all given bond, but only one posted it as of Aug. 21. As the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office continues its investigation, more arrests are expected.
“These women unfortunately chose to be on the wrong side of the law by fraternizing with residents they were entrusted with watching over,” Sheriff Pat Labat said.
“They will now have to face the consequences for the crimes they are accused of committing. Our employees and contractors alike are held to a high standard of integrity.”
The four officers each face charges of conspiracy and providing prohibited items to an inmate. The chief executive officer for Strategic Security Corp., which employed the women, said the company is cooperating with law enforcement in the ongoing investigation.
“As the CEO of Strategic Security Corp., I am both shocked and saddened by the actions of these individuals,” Joseph Sordi said in the statement. “Our company has long been committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct. Our employees undergo the most stringent hiring requirements in the industry, including comprehensive criminal history checks, credit checks, MMPI evaluations, drug screenings, character references, and thorough reviews of professional work history and educational background.”