by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 3, 2023

Taraji P. Henson Appearing on ‘Abbott Elementary’ in Guest Starring Role

It looks like Cookie may be going back to elementary school!

According to Variety, Empire’s Taraji P. Henson will have a major guest starring role in the ABC hit sitcom Abbott Elementary. The Hustle and Flow actress will play the part of Janine Teagues’s mother (Quinta Brunson plays Janine on the show). Brunson is also the ABC comedy’s creator, writer, and executive producer.

Henson will be playing Vanetta in an episode airing on April 12.

The revelation of Henson guest starring on the program appeared over the weekend on Saturday, April 1, but it wasn’t an April’s Fool joke! Cast members from Abbott Elementary, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, Tyler James Wiliams, and William Stanford Davis attended the Paley Center for Media’s annual PaleyFest in Los Angeles. They appeared on a panel at the event, along with Janelle James and Chris Perfetti, who appeared via Zoom from New York.

Brunson could not attend due to hosting duties for the latest Saturday Night Live.

In the upcoming episode entitled, Mom, Teague is planning a trip for the Memorial Day weekend by herself. But, before that happens, an unannounced appearance by her mother, Vanetta, throws her off when she is there to request help from her daughter.

That episode is slated to air on April 12 at 9 p.m. ET on April 12. It will take place a week before the second season’s season finale.

Brunson hosted the long-running sketch comedy show SNL this past Saturday. The musical guest for the show was Lil Yachty, who made his first appearance on the show.

Tennessee High School Teacher Suspended After Using The N-Word Toward Students
by Sharelle B. McNair

April 3, 2023

Tennessee High School Teacher Suspended After Using The N-Word Toward Students

Another high school teacher is suspended for using racial slurs repeatedly.

ABC 6 reports an online video showing the teacher and a student discussing whether or not it is OK to use the “n-word. The chemistry teacher from South-Doyle High School can be heard using the racial slur while talking with the students. Shortly after, students began pleading with the teacher to stop using the word, which he initially claimed as “derogatory” and “terrible,” but admitted he used it because the student used it toward him.

“I got Black in me; what do you got in you?” the student said. “You over there saying ‘n****,’ you are fully white.” When students told him he should never use the word because it was racist, he responded, “I don’t care. I can say a word in the English language.”

One student claims the exchange started after the teacher singled out the student for being loud in class, then used the word when the student asked why he was being called out. “The whole thing made me feel like our teacher doesn’t care about us,” Malayia Pelcher told Knox News. “Why would you say that to us as a class when we didn’t do anything to you?”

Hero Lawson, another student, recorded the video. Her mother called the incident unacceptable and inappropriate. “These are our children, you know, from the time they’re in kindergarten to the time they graduate high school. We entrust complete strangers to help our children become the best they can be,” she said. “We’re all pieces to a puzzle. You know, we’re all different.”

The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, according to Knox County Schools, saying the behavior is unacceptable. “KCS does not tolerate any instances of racism.” The Tennessee Department of Education says South-Doyle hosts 26% of their students of color out of more than 1,000 students. While the teacher is still suspended, KCS spokeswoman Carly Harrington told Knox News the teacher’s status could change as the investigation proceeds.

by Stacy Jackson

April 3, 2023

Lisa Jones Officiates Her 11th Final Four With Historic NCAA Lineup of All-Women Officials

Lisa Jones, a Black woman basketball referee, is in the game.

Over the weekend, NCAA marked a historic moment with an all-female lineup working the national semifinals and championship game at the women’s Final Four.

Reportedly, the organization celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX this year, and Jones was part of a first-time lineup that has never happened before in the NCAA.

“We celebrate this accomplishment with all of those who paved a way and broken barriers as we play our role in growing this great game,” NCAA Coordinator of Officials Penny Davis said.

Draft Kings Nation reported that 11 officials were selected by the NCAA DI Women’s Basketball Committee, and the weekend marked Jones’ eleventh time officiating the Final Four. The other female officials included Dee Kantner, who officiated her 26th Final Four, and first-time Final Four officials Katie Lukanich, Tiara Cruse, Tiffany Bird, Gina Cross, Maj Forsberg, Michol Murray, Brenda Pantoja, Pualani Spurlock-Welsh, and Angelica Suffren. Sources reported that nine of the 11 women, including seven former Division I players, played college basketball. Together, the women boast 293 seasons of Division I experience.

“I hope that the student-athletes and fans see these women as an inspiration and the opportunity to contribute to the game through officiating,” Davis said.

According to ABC News, Jones recently responded to a controversial technical foul against Caitlin Clark during Sunday’s 2023 Women’s NCAA title game, in which she officiated alongside Spurlock-Welsh and Murray, where the Iowa Hawkeyes lost 102-85 to the LSU Tigers.

“Iowa received a delay of game warning in the third period at the 7:28 mark for batting the ball away after a made basket, causing a delay,” Jones said. “The second offense was when No. 22 from Iowa [Clark] picked up the ball and failed to immediately pass the ball to the nearest official after the whistle was blown … by failing to and it reads, attempting to gain an advantage by interfering with the ball after a goal or by failing to immediately pass the ball to the nearest official after the whistle is blown.”

The 2023 NCAA Women’s Tournament Final Four was held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The national semifinals tipped off on Friday, March 31, while the championship game was held on Sunday, April 2.

D. C. Firefighters Accused Of Stopping At a Chick-fil-A Before A 911 Emergency
by Booker Jones

April 3, 2023

D. C. Firefighters Accused Of Stopping At a Chick-fil-A Before A 911 Emergency

Two Washington D.C. firefighters have been accused of stopping to get food at a Chick-fil-A restaurant instead of doing their job.  

According to NBC’s 4 Washington, on March 24, a woman experienced chest pain at an office in Northeast D.C., and emergency services were contacted.

“Ambulance 3 and Medic 3 respond for ALS (advanced life support) chest pain for a 57-year-old female at Kaiser Permanente,” an emergency dispatcher said, cited by NBC’s 4 Washington. 

The report also says that ALS calls are priority calls. However, two firefighters assigned to Ambulance 3 said that the day was busy, and they were hungry and fatigued and decided to stop for food instead of making Permanente their priority. 

NBC 4 Washington adds that firefighters went to a Chick-fil-A, located at 14th Street and Maryland Avenue NE, about a mile from Permanente. 

“The firefighters said they had already ordered their food on an app when the emergency call came in, so they decided to stop for “literally a few minutes tops,” according to a D.C. Fire and EMS special report obtained by News4,” NBC 4 Washington writes.  

NBC 4 Washington adds, “Ambulance 3 was assigned to the call because it was closer than Medic 3.” According to a special report obtained by NBC 4 Washington, the firefighters who stopped for Chick-fil-A said they arrived at the emergency destination at the same time as Medic 3.  

“Our response monitoring system captured an anomaly in the response of Ambulance 3. This has led to an investigation and both crew members of Ambulance 3 have been placed in [a] no patient contact status,” Fire and EMS said in a statement, cited by NBC 4 Washington. 

The report says the woman suffering from chest pains was transported to a local hospital by D.C. Fire and EMS. 

Body of Missing 2-Year-Old Florida Boy Found In The Jaws of Alligator
by Sharelle B. McNair

April 3, 2023

Body of Missing 2-Year-Old Florida Boy Found In The Jaws of Alligator

The search for a missing two-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida, ended in tragedy.

WSVN 7 Miami reports investigators found the body of Taylen Mosley in the jaws of an alligator, thanks to a team of divers and drone usage. Police spotted an alligator in Dell Homes Park, just a few miles from the child’s home. The young child was reported missing after his mother, Pashun Jeffery, was found dead. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said the child’s father, Thomas Mosley, will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

“We are sorry it has had to end this way, Holloway said. “We didn’t want to find him this way, but at least we can bring some closure to that family now.” Authorities were able to euthanize the alligator to retrieve the boy’s body intact.

Family members claim the last time the victim and her son were seen was around 5:20 p.m. last Wednesday. Neighbors complained of hearing a loud commotion near the couple’s apartment around 8:30 p.m. However, the police were not called. On Thursday, when Jeffery’s mother didn’t hear from her, she called the apartment complex property manager. Later, authorities found Jeffery dead, with over 100 stab wounds, in what Holloway described as “a very violent crime scene.”

According to CNN, it is still unknown how the child got to the park or how he died.

The senior Mosley went to his mother’s house around 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday before checking into a hospital Friday with cuts to his hands and arms, allegedly caused by slippage during the knife attack. He was later booked in the Pinellas County jail. The arrest affidavit reports a bloody fingerprint, allegedly belonging to Mosley, found on a cleaning bottle under a bed in the victim’s apartment and a bloody shoe print.

Mosley refused to speak with authorities and asked for an attorney. However, it wasn’t clear Saturday whether or not he had obtained legal representation yet. “The father is not talking to us.”

Nobody’s Business: Shareef O’Neal Says He Hid The Fact That His Father Was Shaq
by Iman Milner

April 3, 2023

Nobody’s Business: Shareef O’Neal Says He Hid The Fact That His Father Was Shaq

It’s not easy being the child of a legend, though; it has its perks.

For the children of NBA champion and Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal, it was better to keep the identity of their superstar father concealed to shield them from being treated differently. In a recent interview with ESSENCE Magazine, Shareef O’Neal—current power forward for the NBA G League Ignite and second oldest son of the O’Neal family—revealed that he and his siblings’ plan worked for most of his high school career.

“The thing about me that not a lot of people know is nobody knew who my dad was at none of my schools until I was about 15 or 16 years old,” he shared. “All the parent-teacher conferences, it was just my mom who came. It was a set plan. We just kind of hid it so people didn’t treat us differently.”

Shareef and siblings Amirah, Myles, Shaqir, and Me’arah are also children of reality TV pioneer and Basketball Wives star Shaunie Henderson (formerly O’Neal).

“But when basketball season started coming around, people started filming the games. There was a small game, 8 o’clock in the morning, my dad came, and someone happened to film him. They posted it on YouTube, and that was it after that,” he adds. “Everyone knew.”

The O’Neal kids have been privy to things that so few other people in the world get to experience, and it’s made them recognize the privilege that came along with it. “I feel like being the son of an athlete of his caliber made me grow up a lot faster. I got to see things most young kids wouldn’t see. I got to be behind the scenes of the NBA life and that famous lifestyle,” he told ESSENCE. Shareef’s sister, Amirah, added that growing up with Shaq as their father was “fun.” “Growing up with my dad being Shaquille O’Neal was great,” she said. “There were some good things as well as bad things, but due to the fact that I had two amazing parents growing up, paving my own and staying in my own lane has been pretty easy.”

The five O’Neal kids recently came together for a campaign for dairy substitute company Silk, rocking the iconic milk mustaches from the ’90s as a nod to their father. “Working on something so special like the Silk Nextmilk campaign along with my siblings was such a great experience,” said Amirah. “I had such a good time, and I’m so glad that my siblings and I had the chance to get together and pay homage to my dad’s ad.”

We love a feel-good family moment.

Keep That Same Energy: LSU’s Angel Reese Repeats Iowa’s Caitlin Clark’s Taunt, Causes Controversy
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 3, 2023

Keep That Same Energy: LSU’s Angel Reese Repeats Iowa’s Caitlin Clark’s Taunt, Causes Controversy

Over the weekend, the NCAA women’s basketball championship took place with Louisiana State University beating the University of Iowa at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The win sparked controversy online following LSU’s Angel Reese, a Black player, repeating a taunt from Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, a white player, in previous games. While Clark was celebrated for the move, Reese was chastised amid calls of unsportsmanlike conduct on the way to a championship victory.

According to Fox News, as the basketball game was winding down on Sunday, Reese was seen on camera pointing to her ring finger, signifying that’s where the NCAA championship ring will rest on her hand. But that wasn’t what caught the attention of the sports world. Reese incorporated a move popularized by WWE Wrestling icon John Cena which he termed “you can’t see me.” He would wave his fingers in front of his face against his opponent, mocking them with that taunt.

In the previous two NCAA Championship games Clark played, she made the gesture to her opponents on the basketball court. In the last game, she scored 40 points. As the victory was solidified on the court, Reese faced Clark and copied her move to the delight of some who knew she was mimicking her for doing so in her previous games.

After the game was over, Reese, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament for her stellar play, commented on why she made the gesture that, surprisingly, some who praised Clark for doing it found offensive when Reese repeated it.

“Caitlin Clark is a hell of a player for sure, but I don’t take disrespect lightly,” Reese stated on ESPN. “And she disrespected Alexis and South Carolina; they’re still my SEC girls, too. You all are not going to disrespect them, either.

“I wanted to pick her pocket. I had a moment at the end of the game, and I was just in my bag.”

Twitter did not allow the comparison between the two moves to go unnoticed. While Clark was praised and celebrated, Reese was admonished for doing it.

by Booker Jones

April 3, 2023

First It Was MIT, Now Lupe Fiasco Is Headed To Yale University

Chicago native Lupe Fiasco announced that he’d been chosen as a Saybrook Fellow at Yale University. The Society of Spoken Art founder took to his Twitter account to share the good news. 

“Proud to announce I’ve been chosen to be a Saybrook Fellow at my OTHER favorite school in the whole wide world outside of MIT…@Yale 

“Shout to Tom Near for nominating me to a place where against all odds two Chicagoans found a home in the Ivy League,” Super Lu tweeted. 

According to Saybrook’s webpage, the fellowship enables students and fellows to discuss topics in non-formal spaces. 

“The Fellowship is intended also to provide students and Fellows with opportunities for discussion in an atmosphere less formal than the classroom,” the webpage reads. “They represent a considerable potential for informal discussions of your interests, academic or otherwise, but you must seek them out and make your interests known. You will find that they are eager to meet you.”

The Saybrook Fellowship comes after the Westside Windy City-bred rapper taught a class at the prestigious MIT titled Rap Theory & Practice: an Introduction. 

Last year, Lupe spoke with Andscape about his MIT class. 

“[T]he MIT relationship was formally initiated through someone who had a connection to one of the professors at MIT, Dr. Nick Montfort. I mentioned my interest in studying computational poets and trying to look for somebody who worked in that space,” Lupe said to Andscape. 

He continued: “The connection was made, and all of a sudden, I was at MIT. At first, it was, ‘Come for a day.’ Then ‘Come see the school, get a tour.’ Then to, ‘Come speak at a class.’ Then it’s, ‘Oh, yo, come be part of a research group.’ Then it’s, ‘Oh, come be an artist-in-residence.’ Then it’s, ‘Oh, come be MLK Visiting Scholar for a year.’ It was just incrementally building over time, so it’s a result of a five-year engagement.”

UConn Players Observe Ramadan, Now They’re Playing For A National Championship
by Booker Jones

April 3, 2023

UConn Players Observe Ramadan, Now They’re Playing For A National Championship

UConn players Adama Sanogo, Samson Johnson, and Hassan Diarra are playing in the NCAA tournament while observing Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims are fasting—no eating or drinking during daylight hours. 

UConn’s big man, Sanogo, spoke with ESPN about fasting during the NCAA tournament. 

“It’s definitely hard because, like you say, it’s my faith, and this is something I didn’t start doing this year,” Sanogo said to ESPN. “I’ve been doing this since I was in high school. I used to do it during AAU.

He also stated: “It’s something I’ve been doing since I was little,” Sanogo said to ESPN. “I just have to do it.”

UConn easily rolled over the University of Miami and will face San Diego State for the national championship today. 

ESPN reported that Johnson, Diarra, and Sanogo observed fasting during games against Arkansas and Gonzaga. Sanogo admitted to ESPN that the fast tired him during the game against Gonzaga. However, he managed to pour in 10 points while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out six assists. The fast didn’t deter him against Arkansas, either. Sanogo contributed 18 points and eight rebounds, according to ESPN.

“I think I play better when I’m fasting,” Sanogo added. “I feel a little bit lighter eating nothing all day, so I’m able to run a bit faster.”

UConn’s head coach, Dan Hurley, also spoke to ESPN about his players fasting. 

​​“For me as a coach, navigating it was more like panic,” Hurley said to ESPN. “I don’t know much about diet and nutrition and human performance. But we’ve got a great strength coach and athletic trainer that have been able to get up with him early and get some food in him. And then, obviously, the late tip time helps us more,” he continued.

Coach Hurley added: “It was a bigger challenge out west because we were playing so early, and it was like really in the middle of him probably being at his weakest in terms of those things. I think it’s probably the tip time is best-case scenario for us.”

 

Brittney Griner Urges Biden to Bring Home Reporter Gershkovich, Accused of Spying in Russia
by Sidnee Michelle Douyon

April 3, 2023

Brittney Griner Urges Biden to Bring Home Reporter Gershkovich, Accused of Spying in Russia

U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who was freed from a Russian penal colony in a prisoner exchange last year, has urged the Biden administration to keep using “every tool possible” to win the release of a U.S. reporter accused of spying in Russia.

Griner and her wife Cherelle said on Instagram that “our hearts are filled with great concern” for Evan Gershkovich, the journalist arrested by Russia’s FSB security service last week in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

The Kremlin says Gershkovich was using journalism as a cover for spying activity – something his newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, has vehemently denied.

Russia has not made public any evidence to support the charges, under which Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in jail. The White House has described the accusations as “ridiculous” and President Joe Biden has called on Moscow to release him.

The Griners said they were grateful for Biden’s “deep commitment to rescue Americans”. They cited the cases of aid worker Jeff Woodke, freed last month after being kidnapped for more than six years in West Africa, and Paul Rusesabagina, a permanent U.S. resident who returned home last week after being released from prison in Rwanda.

The couple added, “we call on all of our supporters to both celebrate the wins and encourage the administration to continue to use every tool possible to bring Evan and all wrongfully detained Americans home”.

Brittney Griner, a WNBA star and double Olympic gold medallist who played for a Russian team in the off-season, was arrested at a Moscow airport one week before Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

She was found with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony after being convicted on drug smuggling and possession charges, a verdict that Biden called “unacceptable”.

She was freed in December in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who spent 14 years in jail in the United States for arms trafficking, money laundering and conspiring to kill Americans.

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