Sports collectibles are popular in the world of investing.

A pair of Jordan 11 “Concords” worn by basketball legend Michael Jordan in 1996 recently sold for $92,135 on Rally, a marketplace for investors to buy and sell equity shares in collectible assets.

According to Insider, the basketball legend wore the sneakers on the court in 1996, and those who invested early in the autographed collectible saw a nice profit after the shoes sold for almost six figures last week, nearly doubling the early shareholders’ money.

“Our mission is turning aspirations into equity,” said Co-Founder Rob Petrozzo. “We wanted to give everybody equal access to this new world of investing.”

Reportedly, the first offer for the Jordan 11 “Concords” came in at $65,000 before another bidder offered $70,000 before the conclusion of that 48-hour process. More bids came in until the one final bid won the asset with an offer of $92,135.

Although the amount is a record holder for Concords, other Jordan memorabilia has sold for a lot more.

As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, Jordan’s “Last Dance” Chicago Bulls jersey became an eight-figure sports collectible after it sold in September 2022 for over $10 million with auction house Sotheby’s, making it the “most ever paid for an item of sports memorabilia.”

A record-breaking day. Michael Jordan's iconic 1998 NBA Finals 'The Last Dance' jersey has sold for $10.1 million, setting records for a basketball jersey, any game-worn sports memorabilia, and most valuable #MichaelJordan item ever sold at auction. pic.twitter.com/7t8G98N5pW

— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) September 15, 2022

“The season itself is his ‘magnum opus’ as an athlete, and a testament to him as a champion and competitor,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles, said in a statement, according to ABC News. “Finals jerseys from Jordan are remarkably scant and the [1998] Finals are arguably the most coveted of them all.”

“In the weeks since we announced the auction, there’s been palpable excitement from not only sports fans, but collectors alike who are eager to own a rarified piece of history,” Wachter said. “[The] record-breaking result, with an astounding 20 bids, solidifies Michael Jordan as the undisputed GOAT, proving his name and incomparable legacy is just as relevant as it was nearly 25 years ago.”

The Regime Beauty Founder Yan Lawrence is a perfect example of someone maximizing her talents by creating a delivery service that benefits all parties involved from her passion for the beauty industry and her skills in data science. 

The Regime Beauty, which will be launching in early 2023, is described on its official Instagram page as a delivery service that personalizes the customers’ shopping experience by “matching” individuals with “products and similar users.” The platform also guarantees that customers will receive their purchased items, including hair and nail products, within an hour after placing their order.  

On Dec. 21, during an interview with Byrdie Magazine, Lawrence opened up about the inspiration behind The Regime Beauty. The New York native told the publication that the idea for the beauty platform stemmed from her journey with her natural hair and figuring out how to use her “math and technology” skills to find the perfect product. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Regime Beauty (@theregimebeauty)

Lawrence said as she described her hair loss after perming her hair, “My hair inevitably started to fall out. At the time, I truly felt like my beauty went along with it. I had my ‘aha!’ moment. I realized I could use my love for math and technology to solve the most asked question in the beauty industry: Is this product going to work?“

The entrepreneur‘s initial idea would ultimately expand to a delivery service in 2020, following conversations with consumers and retailers and realizing the struggles individuals go through trying to find a particular product that is either out of stock or not carried in the beauty supply stores.

Lawrence’s experience as a data scientist and quantitative analyst helped her develop a solution by creating an algorithm that suggests the nearest location where that product can be found or a similar item based on the individual’s interest.

Toward the end of the interview, Lawrence explained that what makes her delivery service different from the more prominent brands like Instacart or Amazon is that this platform focuses on “expanding beauty supply store reach” and not just delivering products.

She said, “We focus on personalizing the experience for users and expanding beauty supply store reach across the United States. Other delivery platforms just deliver products. We utilize data to power both sides of the marketplace—making the customer beauty experience seamless while using data to draw insights into what’s currently working in the market to help beauty stores scale fast.”

The Regime Beauty delivery service will launch soon in New York and further expand in “major cities” throughout the United States.

• Health and Wellness

by Sharelle B. McNair

January 9, 2023

Health Concerns Grow After Las Vegas Teen Collapses, Dies After Flag Football Game

---

A school sporting event ended in tragedy after a teenager collapsed and died playing flag football.

Ashari Hughes was playing in a varsity flag football game last Thursday night at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas. She started complaining of chest pains, and after taking a break, she collapsed.

Registered nurse and mother of Hughes teammate Aphelia Phifer-Hill, rushed to the field to perform CPR. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the RN posted a Facebook post about the incident. “Today was the first time ever, in my 26 years of nursing, that I had to do CPR on a kid,” she wrote.

The 16-year-old was hospitalized and later passed away. In a GoFundMe fundraiser created by Hughes’ parents, she is described as a ‘passionate, loving and determined girl.’ The family remembered their daughter calling ‘football the real love of her life.’ The fundraiser has raised over $50,000.

Hughes’ death comes just days after NFL Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed last week. Reports show that Hamlin has since gotten better, offering thanks to supporters via social media on Saturday. According to KVVU-TV, Hughes suffered from heart-related issues but was still given the green light by doctors to play organized sports. However, her family did have some concerns. Desert Oasis parent Joel Scharer shared his sentiments on the difference in outcomes. “It’s unfortunate that the outcome here was different,” Scharer said. “You just gotta hug your kids, I guess, your loved ones. You never know when something like that could happen to any of us, really.”

Statement from CCSD Superintendent Dr. Jesus F. Jara in regards to the passing of a Desert Oasis High School student: pic.twitter.com/plAJck42Tu

— CCSD (@ClarkCountySch) January 6, 2023

A statement from Clark County School District Superintendent Dr. Jesus F. Jara was released, saying, “loss of this young life deeply saddens us, and our thoughts are with the student’s friends, family, and loved ones.” All sporting events were canceled, and students did tell sources the school provided mental health services.

The sports world has banned together in support of injured NFL player Damar Hamlin.

Following the recent on-field incident with the Buffalo Bills safety during a Monday Night Football game where he suffered cardiac arrest, the athlete’s NFL jersey has reportedly become the highest-demanded jersey on the e-commerce site, Fanatics.

According to a Fanatics spokesperson, Hamlin’s No. 3 jersey has ranked as the most-purchased jersey out of all athletes across all sports teams on the platform since last Monday’s game.

“Fans are showing an incredible outpouring of love and support for Damar Hamlin in buying his jersey,” Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin wrote in a tweet on Jan. 3.

Fans are showing an incredible outpouring of love and support for Damar Hamlin in buying his jersey.  @Fanatics, along with the @NFL and @NFLPA, are donating all proceeds from his jersey sales to the Chasing M’s Foundation. Please get well soon Damar🙏🙏 https://t.co/bhdblEq2vf

— Michael Rubin (@michaelrubin) January 3, 2023

ESPN reported that Rubin is seeking all Fanatics profits to go toward support for Hamlin, while the NFL and NFLPA have committed to contribute their royalties.

“We immediately reached out to the NFL and NFL Players Association and said, ‘Hey, each of us should contribute all of the profits,’” Rubin said.

Reportedly, the collection totaled over $400,000 by last Friday. Fanatics was asked to produce 150 T-shirts that say “Love for Damar” for every home team to distribute to the visiting team for players to wear in support of Hamlin during Sunday’s pregame warmups.

Along with a mass of fans, NFL players from other teams have shown their support by purchasing Hamlin’s jersey.

New York Giants cornerback Sauce Gardner recently requested the jersey.

We got you!!!

— Michael Rubin (@michaelrubin) January 4, 2023

Rubin responded to Gardner’s request for a Hamlin jersey to wear for pregame, promising to get him the item in time for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.,

“I’m going to wear it to the game,” Gardner told ESPN. “I might warm up in it, too.”

As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, the Buffalo Bills organization sent out a tweet confirming that Hamlin has shown remarkable improvement and neurological stability since his field collapse.

9-1-1 actress Angela Bassett recently told Entertainment Tonight about how proud she was that her son apologized for participating in a viral TikTok challenge that left her in an emotional state. And she acknowledged that it was a “teachable lesson” for him.

While attending the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Creative Impact Awards last week, Bassett explained what her son, Slater Vance, did and how he handled the aftermath of his actions.

“We all make mistakes, own up to them, take responsibility, and then hold your head up and move forward,” Bassett expressed to Entertainment Tonight’s Denny Directo.

Right before the New Year started, Bassett and Courtney B. Vance‘s son, Slater Vance, posted a TikTok challenge that called for a child to mislead their parents by saying a celebrity they love and admire had died. Slater told both actors that Bassett’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever co-star, Micheal B. Jordan, had passed away and filmed her reaction to the false tragic news.

The 16-year-old Slater made his mother visibly upset and emotional after he lied that The Wire actor had passed away. As the video filmed her reaction, Bassett is seen making her way toward Slater, clutching her chest while saying “Unh-uh.” Vance’s father, Courtney B. is heard saying, “Stop it. You’re playing.”

Slater then issued an emotional apology video, which has since been taken down.

“I would sincerely like to apologize for taking part in such a harmful trend. I apologize to Michael B. Jordan‘s entire family, his extended family and Michael directly as he is an idol of mine and taking part in a trend like this is completely disrespectful.”

“I don’t wish any bad ramifications of my actions upon his family nor my parents as they deserve none of the backlash. I own this was a mistake and I hope this can be a teaching lesson to anyone else who uses social media as a tool and a source of entertainment to truly understand that your actions can have consequences that extend beyond you.”

“I apologize for any hurt that my actions might have caused Mr. Jordan or my parents or anyone else who could have been involved in this, and I am truly, truly and sincerely sorry” the 16-year stated in the video.

Less than one week after NFL player, Damar Hamlin, suffered a cardiac arrest on live television, NFL players mockingly “revived” a football player on the field during a game.

According to The Buffalo News, in a move that did not sit well with many football fans across the country, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, Alex Highsmith, sacked the opposing quarterback, Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson. It wasn’t the play that upset fans, but the actions that followed.

• Politics

by Sharelle B. McNair

January 9, 2023

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Sets House on Fire with Empowering Alphabet-Based Speech

---

Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) set the House on fire over the weekend with a mic-dropping speech that took the alphabet to another level.

Shortly after Kevin McCarthy finally gained enough votes for House Speaker after the 15th try, the Democratic Minority Leader wanted to peacefully but passionately transfer power before taking his seat.

Taking his time at the dais, Jeffries praised former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who made history as the first female speaker in U.S. history, from 2007 to 2011 and again in 2019, calling her “a no-nonsense negotiator.”

With a 15-minute speech, Jeffries wanted to detail the differences between the battling political parties.

“I want to make clear that we extend and intend to try to find common ground whenever and wherever possible on behalf of the American people,” The Insider reported.

“Not as Democrats, not as Republicans, not as Independents, but as Americans”.

Then, cleverly from A to Z, the Brooklyn native told House colleagues exactly how Democrats would do that. He took viewers back to school with references like “American values over autocracy, benevolence over bigotry”, and “the Constitution over the cult.”

Then he got a little messy, taking the GOP to task with “maturity over Mar-a-Lago” – a slight at Donald Trump – “quality of life issues over QAnon,” and most importantly, “reason over racism.”

Having everyone questioning their vocabulary capabilities, the New York 8th District representative closed with “zealous representation over zero-sum confrontation,” before making a vow on behalf of fellow Democrats to “always do the right thing by the American people,” as reported by CNN.

His speech was met with thunderous applause across the floor.

Jeffries definitely set the tone for McCarthy, who was slated to make his speech after. However, the newly-elected House Speaker’s speech was the exact opposite. The California representative thanked former president Donald J. Trump before addressing Jeffries saying, “There will be times we will agree and many times we will differ.”

“I promise that our debates will be passionate, but never personal,” he added.

South Carolina’s Republican-created congressional map deliberately split up Black neighborhoods in Charleston to diminish their voting power and must be redrawn, a three-judge federal panel ruled on Friday.

The Republican-controlled legislature adopted the map last year after the 2020 U.S. Census as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process that all states complete.

Friday’s decision focused on the state’s 1st congressional district, which has long been anchored in Charleston County.

In 2018, Joe Cunningham became the first Democrat to win the district in nearly four decades in what was widely seen as an upset victory. In 2020, Republican Nancy Mace beat Cunningham by just over 1 percentage point.

In redrawing the district last year, Republicans moved more than 30,000 Black residents in Charleston to the neighboring majority-Black 6th district, the court said, in a “stark racial gerrymander”.

Mace coasted to re-election in November under the new lines, winning by 14 percentage points.

In a statement, the Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives, G. Murrell Smith, said he expects that lawmakers will appeal the decision.

“I maintain that the House drew maps without racial bias and in the best interest of all the people of this state,” he said.

The judges – all three appointed by Democratic presidents – gave the state legislature until the end of March to submit a new map. No elections can take place in the 1st district until it has been redrawn, the panel said.

The lawsuit was brought by the state conference of the NAACP.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Jan Harvey)

In 2022, eleven inmates in the Wisconsin prison system earned a certificate in welding through the Second Chance program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. That makes a total of nearly 100 inmates since the program began.

Hienok Demessie, an African American inmate, is one of the 11 men serving time at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections who became eligible to receive grants that funded their education. Each of the students in this year’s graduating class completed 17 credits in one semester before graduating in December.

“Hopefully this is going to put me on the right track,” Demessie told TMJ4.

Demessie is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted of arson and burglary in 2019. Three years later, he got the opportunity to turn his life around once he’s released.

Since 2017, nearly 100 individuals graduated from the MATC program, which aims to help them get a job upon being released.

“If they don’t have an opportunity to learn something and have a job when they get out, chances are they are just going to repeat and end up back in prison,” said Guy Burazin, one of the instructors in the program.

This story first appeared on Blacknews.com.

• Health and Wellness

by Black Enterprise Shop

January 9, 2023

Achieve Your Best Self With Rootd’s Anxiety and Meditation App

---

Mental health has been pushed to the forefront of the national consciousness over the past two years. As a result, topics centered on it have been more mainstream as everyone from elected officials to leaders in the business arena have made it a priority both legislatively and professionally.

One of the benefits of the nationwide conversation has been the creation and availability of tools aimed at promoting mental health.

For a limited time, you can purchase a lifetime subscription to the Rootd Anxiety & Meditation App for just $45.99. That’s a savings of more than 80% from its MSRP ($299.99).

While Rootd provides many mental health tools to build confidence, track moods, and curb panic attacks, it works well as a meditation apparatus. The app uses body scan tools, which allow for an active form of meditation where minds flow as a cue, opposing to having to sit in silence. App sessions include active guided visualizations and soothing nature sounds to help ease anxiety and stress.

Rootd has been featured by Cosmopolitan, Healthline, Bustle, CNET, and other leading publications. It’s rated 4.8 stars on both the App Store and the Google Play Store.

“Very nice and effective tool to combat anxiety attack. The UI is very easy to navigate and the contents are very educational and easy to understand,” writes verified purchasers Brian Lee Samarca.

Rootd services also include a journaling tool, unlimited use of a panic button and an emergency contact call button, and lessons that help users understand panic attacks and anxiety. The app also offers additional educational information regarding changes one can implement to develop shifts in how one thinks about anxiety and panic attacks.

While many resolutions will be made for the new year, none will be as important as the investment one makes in themselves. Invest in yours today with the help of Rootd and purchase it at this limited-time price.

Prices subject to change.