Woman Travels to Mexico for Tummy Tuck, Two of Her Friends Killed By Cartel
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

March 7, 2023

Woman Travels to Mexico for Tummy Tuck, Two of Her Friends Killed By Cartel

Four Americans were kidnapped after making their way across the border to Mexico last week. Mexican and American authorities have confirmed that two have been found dead. The other two kidnapping victims made their return to the United States Tuesday.

According to CBS News, the kidnapped Americans were Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Eric James Williams, and Zindell Brown. The Independent reported that McGee and Williams survived the ordeal.McGee was traveling to Mexico for a cosmetic “tummy tuck” procedure and brought her friends along for support.

“Federal and state corporations, with Consulate personnel #EUA in #Matamoros delivered 2 citizens of that country on an international bridge, located today after they were deprived of their liberty on March 3″

Translated by Google.

Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said one of the two surviving Americans was wounded.

McGee and Williams were escorted by federal and state officials to an international bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border, the attorney general in Tamaulipas confirmed to the media.

Without giving details about what happened to the four victims, State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed the return of McGee and Williams and added that authorities are “in the process of working to repatriate the remains” of the deceased.

Villarreal did not disclose any details about where or how the Americans were found or the nature of the injuries one of the surviving victims suffered. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said one person in connection with the kidnapping is in custody, the Associated Press reported.

The Americans were kidnapped last week after their vehicle was fired on by gunmen in Matamoros, a border city in northern Mexico. The victims had driven down to Mexico from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. López Obrador said Monday that they had crossed the border to purchase medicine. They got caught in the crossfire between two groups of armed individuals.

A video of the actual abduction was posted on Twitter.

Illegal Airbnb Has Amassed Almost $1 Million In Fines
by Booker Jones

March 7, 2023

Illegal Airbnb Has Amassed Almost $1 Million In Fines

A home in New York City has stacked nearly $1 million in fines for its illegal use of Airbnb. 

According to Business Insider, the home in Flushing, Queens, allows people to live in the basement and attic, leading to numerous complaints and violations. 

There have been debates between Airbnb and hosts centered on short-term rental rules in New York City.

According to Business Insider, new laws on short-term rentals will have to be registered with the City of New York, and Airbnb will not be allowed to accept booking fees on properties that are not registered. Host are responsible for submitting a diagram with exit routes, proof that the host is a resident of the building as well as non-host residents in the building. 

“Regular New Yorkers should be able to share their home and not be targeted by the city at a time when many families are trying to keep up with the rising cost of living,” Nathan Rotman, Airbnb’s regional public policy lead, said. “The rules as currently written will prevent the vast majority of New Yorkers from listing their homes, and we urge the administration to work with our host community to support a regulatory framework that helps responsible Hosts and targets illegal hotel operators.”

The city is pushing back, saying that short-term rentals decrease housing stock, and add costs for residents. Business Insider also reported that Mayor Eric Adams filed a lawsuit to shut down an operation that hosts short-term renters. 

“Safe, stable, and affordable housing is fundamental to a prosperous city, so we will not allow bad actors to deplete our housing stock and undermine our hospitality sector,” Adams said in a press release.

The home in Queens has defaulted on more than $984,000 in penalties, and has yet to pay fines, Business Insider reported.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

March 7, 2023

Unapologetic White Texas Tech Basketball Coach Suspended for ‘Slaves Serving their Masters’ Comment to Player

Mark Adams, Texas Tech University‘s white men’s basketball coach was suspended by the school after making a religious yet racially insensitive statement to a player.

The university released a statement pertaining to the issue.

“On Friday, Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt was made aware of an incident regarding a coaching session between Adams and a member of the men’s basketball team. Adams was encouraging the student-athlete to be more receptive to coaching and referenced Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents, and slaves serving their masters. Adams immediately addressed this with the team and apologized.

“Upon learning of the incident, Hocutt addressed this matter with Adams and issued him a written reprimand. Hocutt subsequently made the decision to suspend Adams effective immediately in order to conduct a more thorough inquiry of Adams’ interactions with his players and staff.”

Adams explained to Stadium that the comments were not racist as he was quoting a Bible verse in saying  to one of his players that there is “always a master and a servant.”

“I was quoting the scripture,” Adams told the media outlet. “It was a private conversation about coaching and when you have a job and being coachable.” “I said that in the Bible that Jesus talks about how we all have bosses, and we all are servants. I was quoting the Bible about that.”

The 66-year-old coach addressed the team about his comments—and that was it.

“One of my coaches said it bothered the player,” Adams said. “I explained to them. I didn’t apologize.”

According to ESPN, on Monday, Texas Tech named Corey Williams interim head coach for the upcoming Big 12 tournament.

by Booker Jones

March 7, 2023

Pushed to the Edge? Melle Mel Criticizes Kendrick Lamar, Eminem

Hip-hop forefather Melle Mel stirred some discussion this week after the Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 MC sat with The Art of Dialogue and expressed strong opinions about Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. 

Mel respects Em’s and Kendrick’s talent, but he questions their influence and representation of the street.  

“I don’t know what records he made like that,” he said. “I might know one or two of them, but I don’t think you even hear Kendrick in the club like that.” 

However, Mel did acknowledge that he’s old and Kendrick’s music doesn’t resonate with him, yet he still questioned the Compton-bred being rated the No. 2 greatest rapper of all-time by Billboard. Mel then explained how the Furious Five created hip-hop’s first conscious record. 

“I don’t know what records he made like that,” he said. “I might know one or two of them, but I don’t think you even hear Kendrick in the club like that.” 

As far as Em goes, Mel believes that the Detroit rapper is considered great for reasons that have little to do with talent.  

“Obviously he’s a capable rapper,” he said. “If you was talking about sales, he’s sold more than everybody. If you were talking about rhyme style, OK, he got a rhyme style. But he’s white. He’s white!

“So now if Eminem was another n-gga like all the rest of us, would he be Top 5 on that list when a n-gga that could rhyme just as good as him is 35? That had records and all that? He’s 35. He’s white.”

As Mel’s criticism made rounds on the ‘Net, rappers like 50 Cent, Chuck D, and Fat Joe and Papoose chimed in. 

“I disagree with that because even though Eminem is Caucasian, you cannot front on his skillset, man. You can’t deny that skillset!” Pap said. 

The Terror Squad head honcho added: “No way. As much as I love and worship Melle Mel, I think he’s wrong with this one.”

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

March 7, 2023

DJ Envy Shuts Down Angela Yee’s Claims Of Being Only Woman Working On ‘Breakfast Club’

Angela Yee had to clear up her recent comments she made on The Tamron Hall Show after DJ Envy called “cap” on her claims of being the only woman working at The Breakfast Club.

Yee served as host on The Breakfast Club alongside Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy for 12 years before leaving in December. Last week, described the experience on Hall’s popular daytime talk show.  

“I was the only woman who worked there, too; I mean when it came to producers, camera people—and it wasn’t an easy room for me to be in,” Yee told Hall.

“I feel like I did need more like backup you know because even things that I felt, as a woman…somebody can’t understand your point of view because they’re not coming from where you come from. So that was hard for me too, to be the only woman there.”

After making the comments, DJ Envy shut down Yee’s claims once The Shade Room shared the clip on its Instagram page.

“That’s just not true,” Envy wrote. “There are plenty of women that work behind the scenes on [The Breakfast Club].”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom)

On Monday, Charlamagne and DJ Envy addressed Yee’s comments during their Rumor Report segment where Envy explained why Yee’s claims about being the only woman to work on the morning show were “cap” since she forgot to mention the women producers and staffers who work on the show.

He also touched on his private conversation with Yee where she agreed to clear up her remarks. The radio personality stayed true to her word and on Monday admitted that she meant she was the only woman in the room filming the morning show, TMZ reported. She also said she left the show because she needed a break from talking to men.

Elsewhere, Porsha Williams, who’s serving as a guest co-host on the morning radio show, accused Hall of looking for “hidden mess” when she interviews her celebrity guests.

Williams also recalled her own appearance on Hall’s show where the host made the reality star feel like she wasn’t “supported.”

“I didn’t expect her to agree with everything. But there was a turn where it turned just from her asking questions about the book to her kinda almost attacking me, almost making me feel like I had to justify anything I had going on,” Porsha explained. “It just didn’t feel good.”

Envy agreed and recalled his own visit to the show with his wife, Gia Casey, where he felt like Hall  projected her views on the couple.

Facebook, Google Share Data With Law Enforcement To Prosecute Women Seeking Abortions
by Sharelle B. McNair

March 7, 2023

Facebook, Google Share Data With Law Enforcement To Prosecute Women Seeking Abortions

Abortion tracking has reached a new low thanks to Facebook and Google.

A report from Business Insider finds police have received data collected by online pharmacies, social media posts, and other user data requests to build cases against women seeking abortion services.

Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, nine online pharmacies that sell abortion medication—Abortion Ease, BestAbortionPill.com, PrivacyPillRX, PillsOnlineRX, Secure Abortion Pills AbortionRx, Generic Abortion Pills, Abortion Privacy, and Online Abortion Pill Rx—have shared personal users’ information to Google.

However, experts say this is nothing new.

Jessica Burgess is accused of helping her daughter perform an illegal abortion in their home state of Nebraska. Prosecutors claim the key evidence came from Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Authorities claim Burgess helped her daughter find and take pills that would induce an abortion. Chat logs indicating the pair had discussed their plan to find the medication through the app were given to authorities. Burgess’ daughter could face charges for illegally disposing the fetal remains. The elder Burgess’ trial is set for spring.l

Latice Fisher was charged with second-degree murder after she delivered a stillborn baby in Mississippi in 2018. The charges came thanks to her Google search history, including one for “buy Misopristol Abortion Pill Online” 10 days earlier.

According to Mashable, Meta claims to have received over 200,000 requests for information as of June 2022. Social media companies are often legally required to comply with law enforcement. Meta said it complies about 75% percent of the time. Santa Clara University School of Law professor Eric Goldman said social media platforms are being used as a “pawn” to prosecute women.

Meta says it is just doing its job.

“We comply with government requests for user information only where we have a good-faith belief that the law requires us to do so,” one Meta spokesperson said. “In addition, we assess whether a request is consistent with internationally recognized standards on human rights, including due process, privacy, free expression and the rule of law. We do not provide governments with ‘back doors’ to people’s information.”

Judge in Alex Murdaugh Trial Rose To Prominence After Attending Segregated Schools
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

March 7, 2023

Judge in Alex Murdaugh Trial Rose To Prominence After Attending Segregated Schools

The nation’s attention was captured by the six-week trial of Alex Murdaugh, the prominent and wealthy South Carolina attorney who was convicted Friday of the double murder of his wife and son and sentenced to two life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.

A fascinating sidebar to the splashy trial, and one that tells the South’s troubled history, is the judge who handed down that sentence is a Black man who attended racially segregated schools in the 1950s and 1960s

Judge Clifton Newman is a South Carolina native who was born in 1951 in rural Williamsburg County. He was the first member of his family to have been born in a hospital. His schooling took place in racially segregated schools.

When he did graduate from high school, he did so as the class valedictorian in 1969, a year before his local school district desegregated. While attending high school, he acted in a play as an attorney. The role he played helped him make the decision to pursue a career in law.

“To come from a rural community, a farming community, and to go from that scenario to playing the role of a lawyer was quite inspiring,” Newman told the American Bar Association back in 2017.

Newman earned his undergraduate degree from Cleveland State University and went on to graduate from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He started practicing law in Cleveland before he retuned to South Carolina in 1982 and started a private law practice.

Newman also served as a defense attorney, a civil practitioner, and a prosecutor before he became a circuit court judge back in 2000.

Essence reported that Newman, a member of the Ohio and South Carolina Bar Associations, is on the Executive Board of The I. DeQuincey Newman Institute for Peace and Social Change and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Family Sues Airbnb After Baby Dies From Fentanyl Poisoning Day After Entering Florida Rental Property
by Stacy Jackson

March 7, 2023

Family Sues Airbnb After Baby Dies From Fentanyl Poisoning Day After Entering Florida Rental Property

A family has filed a lawsuit against Airbnb accusing the company of negligence after their 19-month-old daughter allegedly died from fentanyl poisoning in a rental property that reportedly was a Florida “party house.”

According to NBC News, baby Enora Lavenir died on August 7, 2021, a day after the family, traveling from France, checked into the rental in Wellington, Florida.

The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the incident as an accidental acute fentanyl intoxication.

The wrongful death lawsuit claims Enora was exposed to residue from the powerful synthetic opioid inside the property; a neighborhood resident witnessed a large party there two nights before the Lavenirs checked in along with a number of other parties prior to the family’s stay.

The suit accuses Airbnb, the rental property’s owner, the property manager, and a prior guest of negligence in the child’s death, adding that Airbnb failed to ensure the property was safe before the Lavenirs arrived.

A medical examiner report noted that the baby had a “lethal level of fentanyl” in her blood.

“There were no signs of any narcotic medications or any illegal narcotics at the crime scene and her death was listed as accidental,” the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in an incident report, following months of investigation.

Enora’s mother, Lydie Lavenir, booked the Florida home for a vacation for herself, her husband, and five children. During the baby’s nap, the day after check-in, Lavenir went to check on her in a bedroom and found her “unresponsive and foaming at the mouth.”

“Then I heard, ‘Enora is dead! Enora is dead,'” Enora’s father, Boris, told NBC Nightly News.

After performing chest compressions on the child, the family called 911 before Enora was taken to HCA Florida Palms West Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

According to the sheriff’s office, Enora’s case is now closed pending viable leads.

New Report Shows Drivers of Color Are Being Fired by Uber and Lyft at Alarming Rates
by Sharelle B. McNair

March 7, 2023

New Report Shows Drivers of Color Are Being Fired by Uber and Lyft at Alarming Rates

A new report finds rideshare drivers of color are being fired without warning.

NBC News reported two-thirds of Uber and Lyft drivers in California have had their app deactivated. According to a driver’s union called Asian Law Caucus and Rideshare Drivers United, the deactivation affected people of color the most. Thirty percent of drivers said they weren’t given an explanation of why they were fired, and 40% were told the app received customer complaints. Asian Law Caucus attorney Winnie Kao said being fired by an app is ridiculous.

“This reality is that now app-based drivers can be fired, not even by a human being, but just by an app,” Kao said. “That you can wake up one day and try to turn on the app to go to work, and you’re just blocked. Hearing the stories from the drivers about that was really troubling and really disturbing.”

James Jordan, who worked for Uber for over five years in Los Angeles, found his account was permanently deactivated last March. With Uber being his only source of income, the single father of five suddenly had to find a new job.

“I had done more than 27,000 rides,” Jordan told Wired. “Then in one week or 10 days, I got more complaints than I had within those five and a half years.” The LA resident claimed a customer complained that Jordan tried to hit her with his car. Trying to prove his innocence, he offered to send dash cam footage to the company. “But they weren’t interested in that,” he said.

He claimed he filed an appeal, however, Navideh Forghani, a spokesperson for Uber, said they don’t have any on record. Representatives from Lyft said the report is inaccurate.

Over 800 drivers throughout the state filled out the survey. With most responses being from immigrants and people of color, several reported experiencing discrimination, harassment and assault while driving. Half of the drivers said they experienced racism, and 43% claimed they have faced sexual harassment while on the job. The report also found drivers of color were deactivated at a higher rate than white drivers – 70% of drivers of color had either a temporary or permanent deactivation, compared to 57% of white drivers.

 

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

March 7, 2023

Postal Service Celebrates Author Toni Morrison on New Forever Stamp USA

The U.S. Postal Service today celebrated the life and legacy of author Toni Morrison (1931-2019), whose artfully crafted novels explored the diverse voices of African Americans, in a first-day-of-issue ceremony at Princeton University.

“One of the goals of our stamp program is to raise awareness and celebrate the people who represent the very best of our nation,” said Pritha Mehra, USPS chief information officer and executive vice president, who served as the dedicating official. “It’s a privilege to represent the 650,000 men and women of the Postal Service, as we honor Toni Morrison with one more tribute — our new stamp that will be seen by millions and forever remind us of the power of her words and the ideas she brought to the world.”

Joining Mehra for the ceremony were Chris Eisgruber, president of Princeton University; Carla Hayden, 14th Librarian of Congress; Gene Jarrett, faculty dean at Princeton; Ruha Benjamin, professor of African American Studies at Princeton; and photographer Deborah Feingold, whose portrait of Morrison appears on the stamp.

Michael Cadden, university lecturer at Princeton’sLewis Center for the Arts, was master of ceremonies.

“It was a privilege to photograph Ms. Morrison, an amazing author who contributed so much to the world through her works,” said Feingold. “However, it is an absolute honor to know that the same photograph capturing a moment in time is now the subject of a Forever stamp. I am delighted that my photograph was used as a source to design the stamp and to participate in today’s unveiling and celebration.”

A letter of tribute from former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama was read and a video tribute from Oprah Winfrey was played during the ceremony.

The stamp features Feingold’s photograph of Toni Morrison against a bright yellow background. Ethel Kessler, a USPS art director, designed the stamp.

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