• Education

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

December 28, 2022

New Jersey Bus Driver Hailed With Civics Award for Teaching Kids to Read

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A school bus driver in a New Jersey township is being hailed for the reading tutorials he provides kids in between his bus routes.

Herman Cruse, 55, was honored with a civics award earlier this month in the Cape May County town after launching “Mr. Herman’s Kids” reading tutor program, NJ.com reports. Cruse has worked as a school bus driver for the last nine years and would use the four-hour gap between routes to run errands.

That was until Alexandria Bakely, a kindergarten teacher at Middle Township Elementary School #1, told Cruse about one of her students struggling with learning to read. That’s when Cruse came up with the bright idea to begin tutoring and reading to Bakely’s students.

Last February, it developed into “Mr. Herman’s Kids” tutoring program for kindergarten through second-grade students; the rest is history.

“It exploded into several students and four to five classrooms,” Cruse said.

“It’s become a friendly tussle with the students. They’re all like, ‘I want to read with Mr. Herman! I want to read with Mr. Herman!’ It’s like I’m a little rag doll,” he added.

Cruse describes his tutoring program as a “labor of love.” Once the program started back up in October, it caught the attention of township officials who awarded the bus driver with a Middle Matters Award, an award created to celebrate residents’ endeavors toward building a better community.

“Mr. Herman exemplifies the community spirit that makes Middle Township such a special place to live and work,” Middle Township Mayor Tim Donohue said.

“The simple act of giving his time to read with and listen to students makes a huge difference in the lives of these children. We commend Mr. Herman for spreading compassion and we are proud to present him with a Middle Matters Award.”

Last spring, Middle Township Elementary School #1 principal Christian Paskalides recognized Cruse as a figure the kids could look up to.

“It justifies the work that I’m doing is for the betterment of the children of Middle Township because, after all, the children of Middle Township matter,” Cruse said. “The award is appropriately named and I’m extremely humbled and thankful.”

Yung Joc is sporting a bald heading into the New Year after he was forced to chop his hair off after betting Tory Lanez would beat his trial.

Lanez was found guilty last Friday in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case. But Joc had his money on Lanez walking away a free man.

While on his Morning Takeover radio show on Tuesday, his co-host Shyneka shaved Joc’s head to show he is a man of his word. A video clip shared on social media shows Joc receiving his “last meal” before his co-host grabs the clippers and gets to work.

“This [is] for Meg Thee Stallion. This [is] for Meg and Roc Nation,” Shyneka says.

 

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A post shared by Streetz Morning Takeover (@streetzmorningtakeover)

Joc took some time to explain shaving his head after he previously vowed to do so if Lanez was found guilty.

“I’ma just say this, okay? I made a bet with Shyneka and Shawty Shawty on my morning show that if Tory is found guilty, I’ll shave my head,” Joc said.

“I’ll shave my whole head bald. I told Shyneka if Tory [is] innocent, she gotta come to work with the braids that be under the weave. Can’t get ’em fresh, I need the weave patted down braids, the Beyoncé pat my weave braids. She gotta come to work like that.”

Joc dished on the “unfortunate situation” involving Megan and Lanez and how the shooting case was “bad for our culture.”

“I can’t wait to see how this video turns out,” Joc said. “Either way, this is a very unfortunate situation. Just through the eyes of watching it, I don’t ever want anyone to feel like I’m making fun of their situation, ’cause it’s very unfortunate and it’s very bad for our culture, but I pray that this plays out fair.”

Last Friday, Lanez was found guilty of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He pleaded not guilty and faces up to 22 years in prison and deportation to his native country, Canada.

Super Bowl Champion and Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed has agreed to become Bethune-Cookman University’s head football coach.

ESPN reports Reed, who was inducted into the NFL Hall Of Fame in 2019, agreed to a deal Tuesday and is the latest former NFL player to coach an HBCU football program.

Bethune-Cookman is an HBCU school located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and plays in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The school has yet to release specific details on its agreement with Reed.

The Wildcats went 2-9 in each of the last two seasons, which led to the firing of former Head Coach Terry Sims. Reed, 44, has spent the past three years at his alma mater, the University of Miami, as a senior football adviser under Head Coach Mario Cristobal. Reed also served as a defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills in 2016.

“We are excited to hear that Ed has been named the head football coach at Bethune-Cookman,” Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich said, according to ESPN. “Ed is one of the best to ever wear a Miami Hurricanes uniform and he has served as a great mentor to our student-athletes the past three years. He will do a tremendous job leading the Wildcats program and the entire Miami family wishes him all the best.”

Other former NFL stars who have put on a headset as a head coach for an HBCU school include former Jackson State University head coach Deion Sanders, who recently left to coach at the University of Colorado. Additionally, former running back Eddie George has been the head coach at Tennessee State University since 2021.

Reed sports an illustrious football résumé. He was a star safety at the University of Miami, winning a  national championship in 2001 as part of what many consider the greatest college football team in history. The safety was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft and played 11 years with the team making nine Pro Bowls, winning the 2004 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and winning Super Bowl XLVII with the Ravens in 2012. He also played with the Houston Texans and the New York Jets.

• Career

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

December 28, 2022

Black Creators Denied Perks Compared to White Counterparts Call Out Racism in ‘Gifting’ Space

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Black content creators on social media are calling out the disparity between the gifts and perks they receive as compared to their white counterparts.

Antoni Bumba is a lifestyle creator with nearly 1 million followers on TikTok, NBC News reports. After deciding to share an apartment with a fellow content creator in New York City, the roomies decided to reach out to PR companies to receive free items they could generate new content around.

After they both sent emails to the same company asking for “PR packages,” Bumba’s roommate, who is white with fewer followers received a package of free goods while she was told the company was at capacity for “gifting.”

“As far as it goes for those free ops, you gotta know people, and you gotta know [white] people,” Bumba said.

Bumba has become one of the many Black content creators who are raising attention around the disparities in influencer marketing. There are a growing number of TikTok videos calling out the inequity in gifting influencers of color.

Black content creators are saying they’re working twice as hard as their white counterparts to create content around desirable products. Since they’re not getting them for free, creators are having to buy the products themselves, which only adds to the  constantly growing wealth gap between Black and white communities.

TikToker Victoria Paris posted a video explaining how some people in PR companies are white and have implicit bias where they don’t realize they’re gravitating toward gifting the creators who look like them rather than someone more diverse.

@victoriaparis

♬ original sound – Victoria Paris

Paris says the PR companies “don’t understand that, like, when you give to people who look just like you, you’re leaving out a lot of people who don’t look like you or you’re creating…a disadvantage.”

Darius Hall responded to Paris’ video and detailed how he accumulated debt trying to keep up with influencer marketing products he didn’t receive for free.

“People don’t realize that getting PR is a very essential tool, especially within this industry,” Hall said. “Some of the products that people want me to review or want me to talk about, it’s a little expensive, and sometimes I ain’t got the coins for that.”

Bumba and others continue to use TikTok to advocate for more equality in the gifting space.

“I want to see, like, these creators that I’ve been watching—these Black creators, these queer creators, these Hispanic creators, these Asian creators—get more opportunities,” she said. “And I want to see that in 2023.”

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

December 28, 2022

‘Price Went Up’: Lizzo Gets Emotional After ‘Man With the Golden Flute’ Sends Christmas Video

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Lizzo cried tears of joy after she received some season’s greetings from flute legend James Galway.

The Grammy Award-winning singer and skilled flute player took to Twitter on Christmas to share a beautiful video she received from fellow flutist Galway, who is renowned in the art form and known as “The Man with the Golden Flute.”

In the video, Galway sat in front of a lit-up Christmas tree and played “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” on his flute. He then looked at the camera and sent a special message to Lizzo.

“Merry Christmas, Lizzo, from your number one fan!” he said.

Lizzo shared the video on Twitter to express how overjoyed she was by the special video message.

“This is the greatest gift @sirjamesgalway wished *me* a merry Christmas!!” she wrote. “Price went up”

https://twitter.com/lizzo/status/1607168590243065857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1607168590243065857%7Ctwgr%5E47f2d558c5b64b1a15eb23a4aeadec974998233b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.comicsands.com%2Flizzo-james-galway-merry-christmas-2659015518.html

In a follow up video, Lizzo shared her emotional reaction to the video.

“Is that f*****g James Galway?” she asked.

My reaction: https://t.co/J8BlIml37O pic.twitter.com/FdmYfajUxv

— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) December 26, 2022

Fans of the “Juice” singer joined her in celebrating the iconic moment. Lizzo continues to rise up the ranks of pop superstardom with her hit records and dedicated fan club.

Earlier this month, Lizzo brought 17 activists with her on stage at the People’s Choice Awards to accept the People’s Champion Award, one of two honors she received that night and one her mother Shari Johnson-Jefferson, presented to her, People reports.

“To be an icon isn’t about how long you’ve had your platform. Being an icon is what you do with that platform,” Lizzo said.

“Ever since the beginning of my career I’ve used my platform to amplify marginalized voices. Tonight, I’m sharing this honor.”

The activists Lizzo brought on stage with her include Mari Copeny, Shirley Raines, Yasmine Aker, Emiliana Guereca, Esther Young Lim, Felicia “Fe” Montes, Jayla Rose Sullivan, Kara Roselle Smith, Maggie Mireles Thomas, Amelia Bonow, Odilia Romero, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Sahar Pirzada, Chandi Moore, Crystal Echo Hawk, Reshma Saujani, and Tamika Palmer.

Harsh December weather has caused many unexpected tragedies this holiday season.

Anndel Taylor, 22, has reportedly died after getting stuck in a blizzard that ripped through Buffalo, New York, over the holiday weekend.

ABC affiliate WSOC-TV reported that Taylor became a victim of the snowstorm while traveling home from work in Buffalo, where she expected to sleep out the storm in her car and walk home after.

“I don’t know if any of us really knew how serious it was; we didn’t see the news, we didn’t really know what was going on in Buffalo,” said Taylor’s sister, Shawnequa Brown.

According to the family, Taylor updated the family group chat that her vehicle was stuck in snow that was continuously piling up. She shared a video of her car windows covered in thick white ice.

“She was telling my sister that she was scared,” Brown said.

Taylor waited for first responders after calling 911, but the professionals could not reach her. She was found dead in her car, where family members predicted she was stuck for 18 hours.

“I feel like everybody that tried to get to her got stuck. Fire department, police, everybody got stuck,” said Tomeshia Brown, Taylor’s sister. “Why didn’t they have chains on their tires? This is a state that is known for snow.”

Wanda Brown Steele, the mother of the 22-year-old, believes her daughter suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.

“The car was running, and the snow was still coming, so it blocked the pipes, the exhaust pipe,” she said. “Then, after the car cut off, that’s when she iced up.”

According to People, Taylor is included in the estimates of over 20 victims that died due to the northeast storm, and around 50 people were reported dead nationwide.

BREAKING: At least 25 dead in Buffalo blizzard. More: https://t.co/t4Nj4cqu6n

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) December 26, 2022

Reportedly, Taylor’s death occurred soon before her 23rd birthday.

“A lot of crying, (she) still got presents under the tree,” Brown said.

A GoFundMe has been started on behalf of the family to cover services for Taylor.

Will Smith dished out an assist to Boston Celtics basketball player Marcus Smart when he proposed to his now-fiancé, Maisa Hallum.

Smart proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas with the help of the Emancipation actor. The Boston Celtics player posted a photo of himself and his fiancé in matching pajamas, declaring that he has left the single life. Hallum showed off the ring in the photo.

Oh I forgot the rest… Time for me to leave the single life.

She said YES!!! (Whew) pic.twitter.com/bV7uPG5x1V

— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) December 26, 2022

“This is Will Smith. I’m in Antarctica.”

The couple viewed the clip on a large screen at a home. Other people also viewed the video along with the couple. Smith continued, “We’re just coming back from the South Pole, but I just wanted to take a minute. I wanted to wish you a very, very, very Merry Christmas. Now I know that you may not have gotten the stuff that you wanted. I promise you, you are not going to end this Christmas empty handed.”

When Smith completed his last sentence, Smart positioned himself behind Hallum on bended knee with the engagement ring in front of him. She seemed confused by what Smith had said and turned around to see Smart presenting the ring to her. Seemingly in awe, Hallum covered her face and looked down at the ring. After several seconds, Smart blurted out, “Come on, yes?” Hallum accepted the proposal, and the Celtics player turned to the camera and the other people in the room and shouted, “She said yes!”

 

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A post shared by Marcus Smart (@youngamechanger)

That same day, during the Boston Celtics’ annual Christmas showing, Smart won again when the Celtics handed the Milwaukee Bucks a 118-139 defeat.

• News

by Derek Major

December 28, 2022

Jackson Mayor Calls Mississippi Legislature ‘Racist’ for Ignoring City’s Unresolved $2B Water Issue

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Residents of Jackson, Mississippi, say they’re “tired of apologies” from state officials regarding the constant water stoppages and boil water notices.

NBC News reports Jackson residents do not have access to running water after sub-freezing temperatures hit the area leading to frozen and busted pipes. Residents were told to go to one of four locations across the city to pick up water Tuesday afternoon.

“I have spoken to residents who are tired of apologies,” Jackson Mayor Antar Lumumba told reporters Tuesday, saying there’s no telling when this stoppage will end.

“There is no way to prevent what is happening to our water treatment facility. We do not control Mother Nature,” Lumumba added. “We are dealing with an old and crumbling system that continues to offer challenge after challenge.”

The city issued a boil-water notice on Christmas Day and asked residents to turn off faucets and check businesses for water leaks and broken pipes. The mayor thanked crews searching the city for water main breaks and busted pipes while city, state, and federal officials continue to look for solutions to the city’s severely outdated water infrastructure.

Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Armon told reporters that some fire stations in the city do not have running water, but each unit has 500 gallons on hand to fight fires if they occur.

The city has been dealing with issues with its water infrastructure for years. In September, severe rain and flooding shut down a water treatment plant in Jackson, hurting Black businesses in the area.

Jackson’s water infrastructure issues result from systemic racism as the city experienced white flight, with white residents leaving for suburban areas. The city’s population fell 25% between 1980 and 2020, according to MSNBC. Today, Jackson is 83% Black and has a budget of $400 million, but it will need more than $2 billion to fix its water and sewage problems.

Earlier this year, Lumumba called the Mississippi Legislature “paternalistic” and “racist” for ignoring its majority Black capital city’s infrastructure needs.

In October, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves requesting information on how the state plans to use $429 million from the American Rescue Plan to improve the state’s water infrastructure. Additionally, Congress has begun an investigation into the state’s water crisis.

The Marley family is mourning the loss of a family member. The grandson of reggae legend Bob Marley, Joseph ‘Jo’ Mersa Marley, has passed away.

According to Rolling Stone, the son of Stephen Marley, Jo Mersa, was a 31-year-old reggae recording artist.

A journalist based in Jamaica, Abka Fitz-Henley, sent a message on his Twitter account announcing the death of Jo Mersa.

• News

by Stacy Jackson

December 28, 2022

Artificial Christmas Tree Fire Leaves California Woman Dead on Christmas Eve at Fiance’s Home

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Please don’t ignore it. If your smoke alarm is chirping, the battery may need to be replaced.

Destiny Abdrazack, 22, reportedly died after an artificial Christmas tree sparked, causing a fire during a holiday gathering at her fiancé’s home in Sacramento County around 2 a.m. Sunday.

According to KCRA, investigators reported the fire started due to an electrical shortage, and the home lacked functioning smoke detectors.

Couple Richard and Brandy Byers, neighbors in the North Highland community, peaked out of their windows after a loud sound alerted them.

Brandy said she heard family members calling out for Abdrazack.

“They were screaming, ‘Destiny! There’s someone inside! There’s someone inside!’ There’s nothing any of us could do,” Brandy said.

Ernest Isom, the father of Abdrazack’s fiancé, revealed that the family fell asleep before turning off the Christmas lights.

“Unfortunately, they wanted to keep the lights on until the last minute and we all happen to fall asleep and we had an instant, seconds to get out,” Isom said.

“It was fast, and that’s how quick it went. I’m talking minutes,” he added.

Isom said the family lost everything in the house fire, including two dogs and his future daughter-in-law, who reportedly alerted everyone the fire was happening.

“Unfortunately, she was the one who yelled fire, and that’s the sad part. She saved our lives,” Isom said.

People reported that a GoFundMe was created for the family to pay for the funeral costs for Abdrazack.

The page’s description states, “Destiny is one of the most beautiful souls that crossed our paths. She is no longer earth side, but she will always be with us. Any donation at this time helps. All donations and funds will go to Destiny’s parents and her siblings for hospital and funeral costs.”

The Sacramento Metro Fire Department urges homeowners to check the batteries in their smoke detectors and ensure they are working.