• Business

by Booker Jones

March 4, 2023

JP Morgan Opens Office in Nairobi, Kenya

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JP Morgan, America’s largest bank and a world leader in the financial sector, now has a regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. 

According to Techcabal, the move speaks to Africa’s determination to become part of JP Morgan. JP Morgan now boasts offices in Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa. JP Morgan’s history in Nigeria and Egypt dates back to 1960  and 1979, respectively, while the bank recently debuted in South Africa, Techcabal reports. 

The new JP Morgan will oversee East African businesses from the Nairobi regional office. 

According to a 2018 interview with Jamie Dimon, the bank’s CEO, he said JP Morgan had hired a special team of bankers to help expand the bank’s relationships in Africa, especially in Kenya, and Ghana.  

Dimon also expressed the bank’s interest in expanding its services and targeting large multinationals who are not well-served by local investment banking firms due to a lack of expertise in handling large transactions.

“We’ve added corporate bankers in countries overseas. We stopped because of the crisis and regulatory issues,” Dimon said. “We go there, we serve the country, we serve their universities, power plants.” 

William Ruto, Kenya’s president, praised the new move as a “vote for Kenya’s emerging success in the global marketplace.” Techcabal reported that Ruto also met with JP Morgan’s vice-chairman and global head of public sector group, Daniel Zelikow. The two men discussed the need for development financing to be responsive to climate change. 

JP Morgan, headquartered in New York, has locations in 100 countries around the world. It has a London EMEA headquarter and has expressed a commitment to help drive sustainable economic growth in the region, Techcabal reported. Its presence in East Africa is expected to create job opportunities, help build sustainable local business, and attract more foreign investment to the country, the outlet added. 

• Celebrity News

by Booker Jones

March 4, 2023

Snoop Dogg Partners With Roobet For Online Crypto-Casino

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Snoop Dogg continues to break through ceilings, and kick down doors. The Long Beach, California rapper’s latest venture finds him partnering with Roobet, a crypto casino, and its parent company Raw Entertainment.

“Turns out, I’ve been a kangaroo this entire time,” Snoop Dogg said in a news release. “These guys are doing something different. This partnership just feels natural, and we’re going to blaze a trail for the future of online entertainment. I been sayin’ Roooooo for a long time now–they bring the ultimate player experience, we share the love of doing new things, and we care about our fans–so together we’re gonna change the game and do it better than it’s ever been done.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roobet (@roobet)

Roobet co-founder Matt Duea added: “Since day one, our mission has been to push the boundaries of what a gaming brand can be, and Snoop’s a real visionary. Together, we’re going to truly revolutionize the online entertainment experience. Our community means everything to us, and we’re committed to providing them with the most exciting and immersive online casino experience out there. With Snoop by our side, the future of digital entertainment is looking brighter than ever. Get ready!

Roobet and Bigg Snoop Dogg are finding ways to connect the entertainment and iGaming industries. Also, Robot and Snoop have plans to include the community by including cash prizes, meet-and-greets, and backstage passes.

“You already know what happens when the Dogg is on it,” said Snoop.

Roobet was created in 2019 as a lifestyle brand anchored by technology and web3.  Founded by gamers, Roobet aims to push the boundaries on an online casinos. Roobet  has over 3,300 games from iGaming studios, a fully-featured sports book.

Recently, Snoop added Death Row Records to the social media app TikTok. Death Row’s music catalog will be the first-ever music catalog available on TikTok through Sound On.

by Booker Jones

March 4, 2023

A Witness In Jam Master Jay’s Murder Trial Allegedly Threatened At JMJ’s Funeral

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More than 20 years later Jam Master Jay’s alleged killers still have not had their day in court. 

According to AllHipHop, one of the two men indicted for the 2002 murder of the legendary DJ, Kal Jordan, Jr., allegedly approached a witness at JMJ’s funeral, repeatedly (and threateningly) asking if they knew who shot the DJ.

AllHipHop also reported that the witness, referred to as “Witness 7,” believed Jordan was attempting to intimidate them and determine if they had recognized him during the murder. There are other counts of alleged witness intimidation in the documents as well.

“In a November 23, 2020 jail call, Jordan states that Witness 6 ‘put me at the scene’ and discusses Witness 6 and other possible witnesses implicating Jordan,” the documents state. 

“Witness 6 said [they] only had two options: cooperate and be killed, or not cooperate and lie at trial. In fact, Witness 6 has told the government that after JMJ’s murder, Witness 6 immediately left New York because the people who murdered JMJ were close to JMJ and Witness 6 wanted to ‘escape.’ Witness 6 said that if Witness 6 cooperated, Witness 6 thought [they] would be killed.”

The document also states that a witness identified as “Witness 5”  saw Jordan threaten someone with a gun and said he’d kill them.

“Witness 5 will further testify that Witness 5 observed Jordan threaten an individual with a gun and to kill the individual like he did Mizell—an event that prompted Witness 5 to contact law enforcement and report Jordan’s gun possession and narcotics trafficking,” it reads.

“Following controlled purchases of narcotics from Jordan by law enforcement, a December 15, 2004, search recovered two loaded firearms (not .40 caliber), a loaded 9mm magazine, a bulletproof vest, cocaine, marijuana, and glassine envelopes used for packaging narcotics.”

“Witness 2” reportedly gave information that they would stash guns with Jordan in a van outside of his house before the murder, and that the weapons went missing around the time of the killing.

“The search of December 15, 2004 that recovered firearms and narcotics further corroborates both Witness 2 and Witness 5’s testimony that Jordan possessed firearms and narcotics,” the docs read.

If Jordan is convicted, he could face a minimum of 25 years in prison. 

Jam Master was one-third of hip-hop trio Run DMC, which helped bring hip -hop into the mainstream in the 1980s.

In addition to education, health, wellness and the environment are major concerns because of the many health disparities in Black America. Black America suffers from high disparities in the affliction and treatment of hypertension, diabetes, asthma and stroke. The higher rates have been attributed to a lack of medical education and access to care. As a tribute to Mrs. Shirley Chisholm, Park Walk America has been launched as an information portal that provides key health, fitness, nutritional and background information from leading publications, web sites and industry leaders such as Healthline, Everyday Health and WebMD. This important and valuable portal will be continually fed with the latest available news, events impacting health, fitness, wellness and environmental stewardship. Park Walk America is being built as a national network of forward-thinking American cities seeking solutions to the many health disparities facing America.

Baltimore, Maryland has been chosen as the pilot city in a national network of Park Walk cities. Due to unsteadiness in the economy, Park Walk Baltimore (pdf) will launch on Earth Day 2023. The success of Park Walk Baltimore will be driven by the vested interests of the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Using the American Express marketing model of reaching people where they live, work, play and pray.

The objective is to have companies and organizations partner with us to insure every business and community promote the Park Walk approach to their employees, their customers, their neighbors and their friends. The public sector will benefit by providing action items that can improve the quality of life for its residents and better utilize their facilities and resources. Businesses can better serve their employees and communities by enhancing their social responsibility and developing a new channel of distribution. The nonprofit community can have marketing tools available to support the missions they serve, particularly community development.

The Park Walk America Network platforms are similar to the American Express Card merchant membership. Each business and organizational membership includes turnkey management, a business plan, links to the Park Walk America web site for local or national promotion. Each Park Walk America city will have a unique online shopping platform that will generate cause marketing funding from local and national advertisers. For consistency, the revenue generated from online sales will be allocated to the host city. Local and National Memberships are available for testing. Each Park Walk America site membership will have a funding arrangement to support their local parks.

Our Build It and They Will Come approach is strategic and timely considering the higher awareness people now have following the continuing worldwide concern regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing health disparities facing urban America. Companies choosing to participate by March 1, 2023 can receive special pricing for a dual Educate Black America and Park Walk America Network membership (pdf). For details, contact them at mindsandmoney@usa.net

This news first appeared on blacknews.com

Joe Budden is under fire across social media after the podcast host blasted Michael B. Jordan’s red-carpet encounter with his high school bully.

The Creed III star went viral last week after footage showed his run-in with a female reporter he happened to attend high school with and remembered how she used to call him “corny.” Being a podcaster, Joe Budden discussed the trending topic on The Joe Budden Podcast and took the side of the reporter and radio host, Lore’l.

“Dawg, you doing that to a girl is some corny-ni*** sh*t,” Budden said.

“You being Michael B. Jordan, today, allegedly the sexiest man alive, all of these blockbuster movies, during your highlight week. You’ve probably never been more visible than you are right this second. And that’s what you do to her? Why you talking to our sisters like that on the red carpet when you don’t talk to white bi**hes like that?”

This nigga Joe Budden went in on Michael B. Jordan about the “corny” situation. pic.twitter.com/NHGhhwSYY9

— Christian Harris (@chrxstianh__) March 1, 2023

According to the “Pump It Up” rapper, Jordan confronting Lore’l about her past bullying seemingly proves her point of calling the then-upcoming actor “corny.”

“That was corny of him to speak to that girl like that,” Budden quipped. “Michael B. Jordan, that’s why ni**** call you corny.”

“Hey, Creed. In case you was confused, that corny-a** sh*t you did is why ni**as think you corny. In case you were off a little bit.”

If Budden thought his rant would be well received by the masses, he had another think coming. Once the clip surfaced online, many called out the rapper for his controversial past with women, including several breakups and domestic violence allegations.

“Joe commenting on how someone interacted w/ a woman?” one viewer asked with a sarcastic “SNL” GIF of Keenan Thompson.

“Somebody take his mic,” added someone else.

Another noted how Budden was so pressed to rant about the Black Panther star that he repeatedly cut off one of his female co-hosts who tried to get a word in.

“Ironic JB’s so pressed about MBJ doing that to a woman that he ain’t let Queen speak when she keep tryna chime in,” they wrote.

One fan scolded Budden for making the encounter about race.

“Yes, anybody can be corny but my issue is what Black folks consider corny. A lot of times it’s just a n***a who do his homework & don’t want violence in his neighborhood & that’s enough for him to be considered “corny,” they explained.

“Stop making it about race, he stunned on a hater.”

Joe Budden is no stranger to backlash. It might’ve even been part of his plan to bring attention to his show. All publicity is good publicity in Hollywood.

• News

by Booker Jones

March 3, 2023

Chicago Police Superintendent And U.S. Attorney Resign Hours After Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Reelection Bid Ends

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Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown called it quits just hours after Lori Lightfoot lost her reelection bid for mayor.   

According to The Associated Press, all eight of Lightfoot’s challengers said that they would fire Brown if they won the mayor’s job–including Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson, who remain in the race. 

“I’ve accepted a job opportunity to be the chief operating officer of Loncar Lyon Jenkins, a personal injury law firm with seven offices in Texas,” Brown’s announcement said. “I will be stepping down as Chicago Police Superintendent effective March 16, 2023 so the incoming mayor can begin the process as soon as possible to hire the next Superintendent.”

“It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside the brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department,” the announcement said. “I will continue to pray that all officers return home to their families safe at the end of their shift. May the Good Lord bless the city of Chicago and the men and women who serve and protect this great city.”

John Lausch Jr., who served as head of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago, is also resigning. According to USA Today, Lausch’s last day is March 11. Lausch was appointed by former President Donald Trump and supervised the review of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.  

Lightfoot praised Brown for serving Chicago, and for leading the reduction in violent crime in 2022, standing up a full-time recruitment team that yielded over 950 new hires, expanding resources for officer wellness, and promoting more women to senior ranks.

“I personally want to thank him for his service to our city,” Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot was the first African American woman and the first openly gay person to serve as Chicago’s mayor. She served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, where she worked on a wide-range of federal cases. She was later appointed by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to several positions in city government.

Antonio Brown celebrated his retirement from the NFL in a major way by purchasing an ownership stake in a football team and making his father the vice president of a franchise he used to play for.

Brown threw in the towel as an NFL free agent this week and bounced back by becoming part owner of the National Arena League’s Albany Empire alongside Mike Kwarta, TMZ reports. It’s a big move for Brown, who made his father, “Touchdown” Eddie Brown, VP of the team he played for from 1994 to 2001.

Brown is reportedly excited about his new role and has been a very hands-on franchise owner. The All-Pro receiver spent part of his childhood in Albany when his dad played for the Albany Firebirds.

On Wednesday, he teased the purchase on Twitter with two tweets, one about a “big announcement” and a throwback photo taken with the Firebirds mascot during his childhood.

https://twitter.com/AB84/status/1631067347275456516?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1631067347275456516%7Ctwgr%5E744d4467e6301dca9d4cdd1e1b4eac05b17990d9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcbs6albany.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fantonio-brown-albany-empire-former-nfl-ownership-role-arena-football-league-father-eddie-firebirds-new-york-sports-team

“Albany NY was always a special place for me and my family,” he wrote.

Albany NY was Always A Special Place For me And my FAMILY pic.twitter.com/FzWoQ7KbgB

— AB (@AB84) March 1, 2023

On Thursday, Brown was announced as the team’s new owner during a press conference where he said he was “excited and grateful to be a part of the Albany Empire.”

“I grew up here as a little kid, you know, watching my dad be successful,” he said via CBS 6 Albany.

His father shared in his son’s excitement for the full-circle moment.

“Everything right now is surreal,” Eddie said. “I’m happy to be home.”

WELCOME TO THE TEAM! @AB84 @HCEBrown pic.twitter.com/Aj29hsgkJY

— Albany Empire (@thealbanyempir) March 2, 2023

The NFL alum aims to bring the team a third championship after two years of back-to-back NAL wins.

Brown played 12 seasons in the NFL for various teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had quite the exit last year when he walked off the field shirtless.

Controversy continues to follow him in the wake of his NFL career. But now, with him owning a team, some of that publicity might help increase ticket sales to the Albany Empire games.

Hip-hop legends De La Soul can finally be heard everywhere.

CNN reports that music created by the trio can now be found on music streaming platforms across the board. The group’s first six albums, released between 1989 to 2001, have been released to Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and several other platforms

Why has De La Soul’s music been missing for years? The group has been going through a decades-long regarding copyright constraints with multiple labels, including their first, Tommy Boy Records.

Things got so bad in 2014, according to NPR, that he group put its entire catalog on its website to download for free for a day. Tommy Boy attempted to put the music on iTunes but the terms didn’t have Soul in its best interest. After public backlash, the label pulled back on the deal.

Things turned around in 2021 after Tommy Boy was acquired by Reservoir Media in 2021, opening a window for the legends to tap into the streaming world. Faith Newman, an executive over at Reservoir, said De La Soul was the first group they wanted to reach out to.

“We vowed to bring their music to streaming, and it means the world to our team to make good on that promise and expose a whole new generation of listeners to one of the most important catalogs in hip-hop history,” Newman said.

De La Soul was headlined by Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer, Vincent “Pasemaster Mase” Mason and David Jolicoeur, who died in February. Formed in 1988 in Long Island, New York, the trio has been credited as one of the most influential groups in hip-hop. The group’s debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising lived for 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, led by “Me, Myself and I.”

The group’s career featured six Grammy Awards and that iconic first album was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2010, one of 13 “Rap/Hip-Hop” recordings in the registry.

Basi Affia is setting the tone for Black comic book fans nationwide.

The Des Moines Register reports Affia has launched Sensi’il Studios L.L.C., a motion comic studio in Iowa, where creativity and the love of comic books combine and come to life. Affia says he wants the business to be “a central point for Black and minority comics in Iowa,” and really he wants to tell futuristic stories of people of color. “That’s why I chose sci-fi,” Affia said. “To show like, ‘Hey, minorities and Black people and members of the Pan African diaspora. We have a future.”

According to Little Village Magazine, a motion comic brings a comic book to life using animation, digital effects, voice-over, sound effects, and other storytelling tools. Producing a motion comic is a little different than using still-image stories, but Affia says he welcomes the challenge. “This is just me kind of testing out the waters, learning the system,” Affia said. “I loved it! It was definitely a learning process.”

The studio’s first production is “Lost With All Hands — The Motion Comic,” based on an original comic book written by Affia with the same title. The comic tells the story of The Achilles spaceship with the Kuppa Initiative’s fifth fleet. Things take a turn when monstrous aliens overtake their fleet.

While the characters and those who voice them represent diversity in the genre, the studio stands by the seven pillars of Kwanzaa – Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba, and Imani. Affia seeks to bring “representation to the science fiction and fantasy genres. At Sensi’il Studios, we want to heal from the past and see the future,” Affia said. “We want to see people of color among the stars in all their cultural glory and highlight ethnicities that have yet to see the limelight.”

Standing on these principles has allowed Affia, who also goes by Aniekan White, to adapt African languages into his dialogue. He has also included different African stories in his work, including some stories released earlier this year. Aaru En Duat tells the tale of a young princess who goes on a colonization project to escape from under her father. RetCom: Rogues is a story of a dystopian fight between deadly mercenaries.

The wrong choice of words will tick off social media, and an NBA franchise found that out after two of its players couldn’t answer a simple question without insulting an entire gender.

The Toronto Raptors hit a hard wall after releasing a video in honor of Women’s History Month where three players spoke on why they believe in the statement “girls run the world,” resulting in an apology.

According to TMZ, two Raptors players, Malachi Flynn and Precious Achiuwa, gave responses that offended some people in the brief segment.

“They are the only one that can procreate,” Flynn said in response to the question asked in the clip.

Uh…

“They birth everybody,” Achiuwa answered.

Oh no…

Scottie Barnes was also featured in the video stating his opinion: “All women are great because they are queens,” he said, which was a more pleasing answer to the question. However, the video still accumulated a load of backlash from his teammates’ statements, which were called “tone deaf” and “offensive.”

Here it is.

saved this before the raptors inevitably deleted

a new candidate for the who-the-hell-approved-this-sports-team-account-tweet hall of fame pic.twitter.com/mwI04AW1I3

— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) March 1, 2023

The Raptors wisely took down the video. On Thursday, the team offered an apology for its video spotlighting Women’s History Month.

“We’re an organization that prides itself on doing the right thing when it comes to inclusion and representation, and we made a mistake (Tuesday),” the statement from the team read, according to the Toronto Sun. “Our sincerest apologies to our players, our staff and our fans–we’ll work to do better today and every day after.”

The Raptors will host Women’s Empowerment Night on March 14 at Scotiabank Arena, celebrating and embracing women who have made contributions to sports on and off the court—beyond, one hopes, child birth.

The event is also an effort to empower more women to participate. The Raptors’ Women’s Empowerment Night is part of the team’s series of Culture Nights.