This Black Author Uses Children’s Books To Address Corporate Bullying

by Stacy Jackson

August 24, 2023

This Black Author Uses Children’s Books To Address Corporate Bullying

Corporate mid-level management leader Alvarys Santana is working to end corporate bullying with her children’s books that cover representation, equity, diversity, inclusion (REDI) and disability representation, equity, diversity, inclusion (REDI) and disability of Black, Brown, and Indigenous characters.

Santana founded her indie publishing house and virtual bookstore, ASC Books, to give others a voice and address inequities. “Corporate bullies are real, that’s why I aim to teach children early about differences and how to respect and appreciate them,” Santana said, according to Black News. ASC Books feature Black, Brown, and Indigenous characters.

As a mother of two, Santana has found significance in teaching children early about DEI in the workforce to train them to become more inclusive adults. According to Santana’s website, her passion lies with “creating books that celebrate the diversity of the world we live in.” She has focused on normalizing the representation of minorities in media and literature.

Santana recently released various educational and motivational flashcards promoting inclusion and acceptance.

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A series of books about combatting the harmful effects of artificial intelligence is also in the works for the author. “Artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool, but your brain and your personal ideas are just as powerful, if not more so,” Santana said, according to Black News. “Your brain is unique to you, and it is capable of generating creative and original thoughts that no AI algorithm can ever replicate.”

Santana has expanded her company beyond books, as stated on her website. Through ASC, younger generations with aspirations to self-publish can access ASC workshops and seminars. Youth throughout the community are also invited to participate in free workshops to build writing skills and educational knowledge.

Santana’s books are found on Amazon, Walmart.com, and the ASC website.

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

August 24, 2023

Angel Reese On Joining The WNBA: Players ‘Don’t Make as Much Money as They Should’

There’s a reason Angel Reese is up $1.6 million in NIL valuation. The college basketball star has her sights set on the WNBA but knows the players aren’t making as much as they should.

The LSU star spoke candidly about her career trajectory in a new cover story for Teen Vogue. While Reese is intent on playing for the WNBA in the near future, she also knows she won’t get a hefty payday compared to her male counterparts.

“WNBA players don’t make as much money as they should,” Reese said. “Being able to grow this now, while I’m in college, and doing this now can help me when I go to the WNBA.”

Since rising in popularity following the LSU Lady Tigers winning the 2023 national women’s basketball college championship, Reese has secured a plethora of endorsement deals, including NIL partnerships with Coach, Amazon, Mercedes Benz, and Mielle Organics.

https://twitter.com/Vintageasoul/status/1694358808007708898?s=20

Her $1.6 million valuation has the college junior on the right path financially ahead of the WNBA. But despite inking deals with more than 20 major brands and corporations, the Baltimore native is very intentional about the products and services she puts her name behind,

“Everything I post on my Instagram or TikTok is stuff that I actually like or stuff I like to eat or stuff I like to do or wear,” Reese said.

“All money isn’t good money. I had to realize that early on.”

With newfound celebrity status that has garnered her appearances at the ESPYs, Sports Illustrated‘s swimsuit edition, and Latto and Cardi B’s “Put It On The Floor” music video, Reese now has to opt for online classes to avoid all the fanfare awaiting her on campus.

“I don’t feel like I’m a celebrity, but I think a lot of people look at me as a celebrity now because of the impact I’ve had on not just women’s basketball, but sports in general, and Black women,” she explained.

“Things have changed for me. I didn’t think I was going to be on Shade Room every time I post something,” she adds with a laugh.

by Stacy Jackson

August 24, 2023

‘Love, Lizzo’ Dancers Reportedly Settled Payment Dispute Before Recent Lizzo Lawsuit

A different group of dancers for Lizzo reportedly settled a payment dispute a little while before the singer’s most recent lawsuit.

HBO’s 2022 “Love, Lizzo” documentary” apparently had 14 dancers unaware of their appearances in the project. According to the Los Angeles Times, footage of the dancers candidly opening up about their experiences as Black, plus-sized women dancers during a rehearsal for Lizzo’s 2019 Video Music Awards performance was used without their consent.

The dancers later complained about the footage being used for the documentary. In an email reviewed by The Times, the dancers’ manager, Slay Smiles, detailed how “sensitive and private” the dialogue was for the talent involved. “This was supposed to be a safe space to express and share with the Principal talent [Lizzo], by sharing this unauthorized footage to the public without their approval/permission, has truly exploited these women and violated the emotional safety they had in those moments,” Smiles wrote.

According to Boardwalk Pictures attorney Alan Brunswick, “They all knew the cameras were there,” and the footage “was captured openly” with their consent.

Lizzo’s attorney, Martin Singer, said the production company resolved the matter by distributing an appropriate payment to the dancers for clearance of the rights to use the footage. Singer stated that “Lizzo had nothing to do with it.”

The settlements were signed in February after one dancer hired an attorney to press claims.

“We are only using 30-45 seconds of the performance scene (in the process of cutting down to 30). Although, the dancers are also seen as a group for a minute or two during rehearsals, talking with Lizzo about their hardships in the industry,” the clearance producer wrote. “In addition to the extra exposure, we wanted to take care of you all with our limited budget because your stories are so important to be told, and we would love to have you be part of it.”

Dancer Latasha Bryant reached out to Smiles for help securing compensation after a producer presented her with an offer of $350 plus a 10% agency fee for each dancer to appear in the “Love, Lizzo” documentary. With experience on previous productions where she was paid more, Bryant was curious about why the offer was so low.

After months of communication with Boardwalk over payment amounts, the dancers signed settlement agreements, each receiving between $7,092 and $7,545. The total payout equaled $109,551.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

August 24, 2023

Minnesota Lnyx Fans Thrown Out Of B-Ball Game For Heckling Satou Sabally After Ankle Injury

Loyal fans are usually the folks teams need to encourage them to get going. Whether it’s through cheering them on or going after their opponent by heckling and harassing them, this time, a team’s fans got so out of hand that they were ejected from the game after an opponent suffered a minor injury.

According to Yahoo Sports, in a WNBA contest featuring the Minnesota Lynx against the Dallas Wings, several fans of the Lynx were ejected from the arena after they were seen and heard heckling Wings’ forward Satou Sabally, who had just rolled her ankle on the basketball court.

The incident occurred late in the fourth quarter, with the Lynx winning 91-86 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Sabally landed on Lynx guard Bridget Carleton’s foot and rolled her left ankle in that motion. While sitting on the court, Sabally can be seen yelling back at some fans seated behind the Lynx bench.

Wings’ Coach Latricia Trammell gave a detailed account of what transpired at that point.

“I can handle a lot, and so can our players as you know, but when Satou goes down, and you have someone in the stands that yells out, ‘I’m glad you’re hurt,’ there’s no place for that. [Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve] did apologize for that. Still doesn’t make it right. But, yeah, I mean, this league isn’t about that. And for someone to yell out that when Satou’s on the ground, crying, and someone yells out and says, ‘I’m glad you’re hurt, and then you’re probably faking it,’ there’s a problem.”

I asked Wings coach Latricia Trammell about the end of the game and the Satou injury with the Minnesota crowd.

She had this to say: pic.twitter.com/31SrDHZww9

— isaac (@isaacappelt) August 23, 2023

Sabally did respond to what occurred during the game on her Instagram account after the game.

“Disgusting fan base in Minny. The Schadenfreude to see someone get hurt can’t be a WNBA culture. Terrible words from the sidelines all game long.”

Disgusting fan base in Minny. The Schadenfreude to see someone get hurt can’t be a WNBA culture. Terrible words from the sidelines all game long

— Satou Sabally (@satou_sabally) August 23, 2023

Both teams will be back on the court to go against each other on Thursday, but this time in Dallas.

by Daniel Johnson

August 24, 2023

NBA 2K Adds LeBron Era To MyEras Mode

On Oct. 22, 2K Sports announced the arrival of new features in various game modes for its upcoming iteration of NBA 2K24. In the latest Courtside Report, fans were treated with news of a fifth NBA era, the LeBron Era. Set preceding the 2010 season, the game presents players with the option to take control of the “Heatles” or try and prevent their rise.

Prime LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade created a superteam that year and won two championships together.

According to the Courtside Report: “Thanks to LeBron’s televised decision—which nearly 10 million U.S. viewers anxiously watched—the 2010s kicked off dramatically, as the kid from Akron, Ohio, left his hometown team to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to create the next superteam. Take control of the Miami Heat’s Big Three or dash their title hopes by leading another NBA franchise to glory.”

In addition to this new era, notable players in the periods will age dynamically. This means that players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant will change their appearance over time. Kobe will go from rocking his ’fro in 2000 to the close-cut look in 2010 as the years go by, similar to how NBA 2K23’s court and jersey changes functioned.

The presentation of eras will also change; instead of websites throughout the years, newspapers will recap games in the 1980s and up until the late 1990s, replacing them with era-specific internet box scores. The game also introduces a new MyEras Lite mode, designed to quickly get you into the action with fewer boxes to check and fewer actions to perform. Scouting? Gone. CBA trade restrictions? Non-existent. It’s all about the ability to build your team with less technical aspects of the game getting in the way.

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In the MyNBA Online mode, users have the added capability to define roles for members of their league. If you want someone to be responsible for jersey changes, timers, gameplay sliders, player attributes, player appearances, or vetoing trades and rule changes, you can individually assign those roles.

In MyEras, the game comes set with the newest CBA rules.

That means luxury tax brackets scale with the salary cap, no more than a 10% increase in the hard cap every year, increased value from mid-level exception contracts, an additional two-way contract slot, restricted free agent qualifying offers increased by 10%, the RFA right of refusal period is now 24 hours, rookie scale extensions last five years, teams can sign second-round picks at any point, teams can have as many Supermax contracts as their salary cap will allow and the All-NBA teams are positionless. These improvements are only available on next-gen consoles, but current-gen players can still play My League. NBA 2K24 will be released for all platforms on Sept. 8, 2023.

RELATED CONTENT: NBA Launching Players-Only NBA 2K Tournament

by Derek Major

August 24, 2023

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Surrenders At Fulton County Jail In Election Case

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani surrendered at the Fulton County Jail Wednesday over charges tied to efforts to keep former President Donald Trump in office after losing the 2020 election.

The Hill reports Giuliani agreed to a $150,000 bond agreement. Giuliani and Trump are facing the most charges of the 18 people indicted in the case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. According to prosecutors, Giuliani significantly promoted false claims that President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party stole the election.

Rudy giuliani charges — Screenshot Fulton County charges

After being booked, Giuliani called the indictment a “travesty” and maintained that Willis infringed on the First Amendment rights of people who advocated for Trump.

“If they could do this to me, they could do this to you,” Giuliani said.

All of the defendants in the case are facing state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges, the same charges he was known for levying on the mafia and white-collar criminals during his time as Manhattan’s District Attorney.

Giuliani spent weeks after Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election promoting false election claims and attempting to persuade Georgia Election officials to join a plot to swing the election in Trump’s favor.

Giuliani has been charged with a count of soliciting lawmakers to violate their oaths of office by encouraging them to help send a slate of Trump electors, three counts of making false statements for each of the three committee hearings where he and other Trump allies spread lies about the election results.

As part of his bond agreement, Giuliani cannot communicate the facts of the case with any of his co-defendants or any witnesses except through his legal counsel.

The former mayor is the seventh defendant to surrender at the Fulton County jail. The other defendants have until noon Friday to turn themselves in. Trump, who has a $200,000 bond, is expected to turn himself in Thursday afternoon.

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

August 24, 2023

96-Year-Old Black Woman From Alabama, Selling Newspapers For 50 Years and Counting

Meet Louise Nall, a remarkable 96-year-old Black woman from Montgomery, Alabama who’s been selling The Tuskegee News newspapers for over 56 years and counting.

Nall’s journey selling newspapers began when her son Walter, just 4 years old at the time, wanted to earn some pocket money.“So I told him we were going to the news office to get some papers. We went there and got 100 papers. Sold those papers so fast we had to go back and get some more,” Nall told WSFA.

While Walter eventually got busy with school and band activities, Louise’s passion for selling papers remained unwavering. Now, at the age of 96, she spends two days a week outside the local Piggly Wiggly store, selling papers and chatting with people.

“I’ve never been a sitter. No, not me. Everything life offers, I enjoy it,” Nall said.

Scott Richardson from The Tuskegee News acknowledges Louise’s significance in the community, stating, “She delivers 125-150 papers a week.”

Moreover, selling newspapers also provided an excellent opportunity for Louise to teach her children about money management.

“When you see something you want and can’t afford it now, just get you a job,” said Nall. “Put you a quarter or fifty cents in there every week. You’ll be surprised at how that adds up for you.”

Louise Nall isn’t just about delivering news; she’s a beacon of positivity. Her customers value not only staying informed but also being around her uplifting spirit.

“For about the first 15 years I knew her, it was like, ‘How are you, Ms. Nall? Oh, I’m lovely,’” said Richardson.

That captures her essence — always wearing a smile, offering words of encouragement, and providing newspapers to those in need. Every Wednesday and Thursday, Nall is outside the Piggly Wiggly store from 10:30 in the morning until her newspapers are all sold out.

This first appeared on Blacknews.com

Riaz Capital, Danielle Allen, Racist, fired

by Daniel Johnson

August 24, 2023

Cincinnati Program Expands To Empower Young Black Men In Education

An innovative program aimed at connecting young Black men with preschool classrooms as tutors is undergoing an expansion, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Once a tutor successfully completes the Literacy Lab’s Leading Fellowship, they will be eligible for scholarships to be used in their pursuit of an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, whether or not they choose to teach.

This program, initially tested in Washington, D.C., has now spread to several cities, including Cincinnati, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Richmond, Portsmouth, Atlanta, and Phoenix-Mesa. Literacy Lab’s goals involve increasing kindergarten readiness, creating rigorous opportunities for recent high school graduates, and diversifying the teacher pipeline, according to the website. In Cincinnati, fellows earn $16.50 per hour while working in preschools, while gaining access to literacy tutor training, social worker support, financial guidance, and various professional development opportunities.

On August 18, the Literacy Lab’s program in Cincinnati announced it would be expanding with programs in local colleges. Cincinnati State Technical and Community College as well as Mount St. Joseph University agreed to bring the program to their campuses. Any fellow who completes the program will receive nine credit-hours toward a degree in early education at Cincinnati State. Fellows who get their associate’s degree will also receive $20,000 from Mount St. Joseph University.

“This is more than just a job. I used to be a high school teacher. I saw too many guys that were graduating and that were not ready for college or didn’t know what the next steps were. We’re also really showing them that you can make it in college,” Ivan Douglas, the Literacy Lab Leading Fellowship’s national director, explained to The Enquirer. “A number of times our guys shut down too quickly and think that college is not for them, because maybe they barely graduated from high school.”

Douglas also emphasized the achievements of the Cincinnati program, a focus evident in the selection of Cincinnati as the location for its annual training conference. The conference will offer more than 100 fellows the opportunity to utilize networking opportunities and learn about early childhood development techniques and practices they will be employing during the fellowship over the course of the year.

Aleesha Martin, the fellowship’s lead coaching specialist, told The Enquirer that the conference equips the young Black men who attend it for their futures. He said, “They learn how to get in touch with their feelings. They learn how to work as part of a team. They learn the responsibility of showing up on time, being in the classroom with different people, dealing with different types of personalities, which is really important in the workplace. Also, some of them are parents, so we give them skills that they can use at home with their own children.”

Delali Dzirasa, Black tech, Black tech firm, Fearless

by Jeffrey McKinney

August 24, 2023

Black Tech Firm Secures $17 Million Funding For Expansion, Striving To Achieve $1 Billion Revenue Goal

After starting a tech firm in his mother’s basement with just $6,000, Black entrepreneur Delali Dzirasa now envisions making it a $1 billion company by 2030.

Meet the founder and CEO of Fearless, a digital services and software development firm launched in 2009. Dzirasa has grown the company for 14 years by bootstrapping, a funding option that allows an owner to run a company using personal finance or revenue instead of outside investment. It can be a risky and stressful form of financing that Black owners often turn to after being unable to obtain mainstream funding.

Fast forward, Fearless has steadily grown over the years by providing services to the government, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S.Small Business Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, U.S. Airforce, as well as landing contracts with organizations and companies like the NFL and Deloitte. Fearless is projecting a robust $100 million in revenue this year.

Now, Fearless is expanding into two business units. The tech division, Fearless Digital, will continue the firm’s founding mission to build software. It designs, engineers, and delivers digital solutions to solve problems and drive impact, helping tech to work better for people.

Meanwhile, the Fearless Guides division, dedicated to people and organizational empowerment, aims to cultivate an environment where organizations and their most valuable asset, their people, are provided with everything they require to succeed.

Baltimore-based-Fearless reports it has secured $17 million in financing from Truist Bank and Maryland Small Business Development Authority for working capital, making acquisitions, and expanding internationally. The company is working to raise another $10 million by late this year.

The bottom line is Fearless is evolving beyond technology, declaring the new structure of adding in people and organizational enablement services will make it a larger impact company.

As part of its objective to achieve $1 billion in revenue, the company aims to enhance the lives of 100 million individuals and establish a presence in 10 countries, expanding its geographic reach beyond the United States.

“BIPOC entrepreneurs face many barriers, and one of the biggest is lack of access to capital. Representation matters, so we hope our success in this initial round of financing can serve as inspiration to others,” Dzirasa stated.

In its endeavor to enhance lives, Fearless intends to broaden its offerings beyond technology and assist organizations in nurturing their people, refining their organizational operations, and honing their strategies. While most companies provide services from either the tech, the people, or the organizational side, Fearless is integrating all those tools.

Fearless plans to expand by acquiring companies aligning with its mission and growth trajectory and appointing presidents for each new division. Dzirasa will remain CEO, and John Foster, COO, has been named Chief Impact Officer.

Dzirasa is disrupting the tech industry, where reportedly under 10% of employees are Black, and less than 30% are female. Fearless reports a staff of more than 200 people, with 49% female and 38% BIPOC. It has been named to the Inc 5000 list and cited as one of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurs of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Along with its growth, Fearless says it created an incubator five years ago to help other founders of color build and scale their businesses. It now has 28 portfolio companies.

Reflecting on his firm, Dzirasa remarked, “Fearless has never been a conventional kind of company. We’ve always been fearless in our belief that we could help build a better tomorrow. We can’t be timid as we address problems with our civic services or public health.”

He added, “Today’s problems require us to be fearless. And we plan to continue to be just that. We have established that we’re fearless to build better tech for our government and the people they serve.”

RELATE CONTENT: Former NBA Star Rick Fox Scores $12M In Pre-Seed Funding For Tech Startup

school, training, income, potential, earning, education, wealth

by Daniel Johnson

August 24, 2023

Black Male Achievers Program Name Is Safe Following Speculation

Despite concerns sparked by a new Florida law that restricts funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, an enrichment program at Tallahassee Community College will not undergo a name change.

Bryan Hooper, the program’s adviser, never believed that the program was in danger of having its name changed, even though he admitted the law was “confusing.” “There have been no talks upstream or downstream about the need or suggestion or requirement to change the name,” Hooper told WFSU.

On Aug. 16, WFSU spoke to Tyler Soto, a student at TCC and member of Black Male Achievers. Soto expressed concern that the program might have to change its name because of Florida’s law. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suggested that diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are some form of reverse racism.

“In fact, if you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination, and that has no place in our public institutions,” DeSantis told NBC Miami.

DeSantis signed Senate Bill 266 into law on May 15, but it didn’t take effect until July 1.

Senate Bill 266 establishes government control over higher education, according to an analysis by the Florida ACLU, which strongly opposed the bill. In a press release on the day DeSantis signed the bill, the group wrote: “The law’s vague and overreaching language presents a threat to historically Black sororities and fraternities, and other groups such as veterans’ services and student religious groups.”

Denzel Wiggins, another Black Male Achievers program member, told WFSU his worries about the anticipated name change.

“I don’t think we should have to change our name because obviously it’s for the Black community,” he said. “Trying to erase things that we’ve been through, that we had to deal with to get to where we are now is just trying to water down the things that we’ve done.”