BCT Partners, LLC (BCT), a Black-owned social enterprise and data analytics firm based in Newark, N.J. acquired Community Science, Inc., an equity and social justice research firm based in Gaithersburg, Md. to strengthen the company’s ability to provide clients with innovative and measurable DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) solutions that lead to a more just society.

The new entity will remain under BCT, helmed by social entrepreneurs Dr. Randal Pinkett, chairman and CEO, and Lawrence Hibbert, president. BCT reported $13.2 million in revenue in 2019 when the firm debuted on the BLACK ENTERPRISE BE 100s list of top Black-owned companies. Today, the company projects more than double those revenues with upwards of $28 million for 2022.

BCT credits the growth in business to the uptick in DEI efforts amongst corporate America in the wake of George Floyd’s death. “Just about everyone is seeking to put an equity lens on their diversity and inclusion efforts since the social epidemic over the last two years,” explains Lawrence Hibbert, president.  “This acquisition deepens our capacity and broadens our footprint to accelerate equity,” says Hibbert.

Community Science, founded in 1997 by Dr. David Chavis and Dr. Kien Lee, is comprised of renowned scientists, practitioners, thought leaders and social change agents who help foundations, government agencies and nonprofits develop and evaluate effective strategies and methods that result in equitable communities.

“BCT has been a longtime partner with Community Science on many projects and we greatly admire their mission-driven passion, exceptional research and evaluation expertise, and renowned thought leadership. We are thrilled to have them join us and excited to bring our combined talents and expertise together to help customers harness the power of diversity, insights, and innovation to create systemic change that leads to greater equity for all,” said Dr. Randal Pinkett, chairman and CEO.

BCT’s staff has grown from 115 employees to 140 employees with the new acquisition. Community Science will operate separately as a wholly-owned subsidiary of BCT while the two organizations work together to fully integrate their cultures, people, expertise, and operations and provide their collective customers with deep research, extensive evaluation, and actionable insights–combined with state-of-the-art technology and analytics—to help create greater impact and equity at scale.

For more information visit the company’s website at www.bctpartners.com or LinkedIn page at BCT Partners: Overview | LinkedIn.

• Celebrity News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

December 28, 2022

Usher Celebrates Grandmother Who Passed on Christmas Eve

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The loss of life has taken its toll on R&B singer Usher. After a recent death, the entertainer posted a tribute and loving words for his grandmother.

According to the New York Post, Usher’s grandmother, Ernestine Carter, passed away on Christmas Eve. She died at her home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at 87. She died one month after celebrating her birthday on Nov. 24.

The talented performer left an endearing message dedicated to her in an Instagram post.

He states that just several days before her death, they were laughing together, thinking they had more time to spend together. As he tries to stay strong for himself and others, he writes, “Her belief was that GOD always has a plan,” and he is trying to understand that now.

He also wrote that she was always there for him in his time of need. When he was lost and needed the perfect bible verse, she always provided it.

He reminisced on his last conversation with his grandmother, when she said to him, “There’s a time for everything son …there’s a time to laugh, a time to cry…there’s a time to live and a time to die.”

Struggling to accept her death, he celebrates her life and speaks directly to her in the Instagram post.

“I need you right now more than ever Grandma. Just to hear u one more time. Missin u. I celebrate u and your life!!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Usher (@usher)

“I LOVE U MORE

“It’s taken me a few days to come to grips with the fact that my Grandma Tina is no longer with me. I’m praying for clarity and strength for all whom relied on her. Her daily devotion was to help those in need and she did just that. It was her life’s work. She was truly a prayer warrior for me and so many others. I feel a bit lost right now.”

Our prayers go out to Usher and his family.

Usher will restart his Vegas residency on Feb. 24 at the Park MGM.

VEGAS! By popular demand I’ve added new shows to my Vegas Residency this Feb 24, 25 & Mar 1 at Dolby Live at Park MGM! Get your tickets this Fri at 10 AM PT. Fan presale starts this Wed Dec 21 at 10 AM PT. Text (404) 737-1821 and you will receive a text with the presale password. pic.twitter.com/acM5CF1AuR

— Usher Raymond IV (@Usher) December 20, 2022

• Business

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

December 28, 2022

Meet the Black Father and Daughter Duo Supplying Hamburger Buns to Thousands of McDonald’s Restaurants

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Meet Trina Bediako and her father, Tilmon F. Brown, the founders and owners of New Horizon’s Baking, a Black family-owned business based in Norwalk, Ohio that has been a reliable supplier of baked goods to over 5,000 quick-service restaurants including McDonald’s.

Since the late 1960s, Tilmon, who is Chairman of the company, has diligently worked in the baking industry to support his family. In 1995, he was offered to run New Horizons Baking Company before he eventually took sole ownership. Over the years, he has been ensuring the company is producing quality baked goods for the food service industry.

In 2002, Brown asked his daughter, Trina, who was then working in the telecommunications industry, to join the family business. For 16 years, she learned about the business while working under her father before eventually becoming CEO in 2017.

Under Trina’s leadership, the company has seen some innovations to stay relevant with the changing times while maintaining high standards for the products they make. One of their long-time clients is McDonald’s, to whom they continue to supply their baked essentials such as English muffins and hamburger buns.

Moreover, Bediako currently oversees 4 facilities with more than 500 employees, which was twice the number when she started at the company. Although his father has laid the business’ foundation, she said there had to be some developments to emphasize a more positive employee experience which she believes has led to the company’s growing sales revenue.

“I believe to be a strong leader you’ve got to listen first,” Bediako told Entrepreneur. “You need to care enough about what your employees’ needs are and be willing to make the change. We want to be the choice employer and the choice manufacturer.”

Learn more about the company at their official website at NewHorizonsBaking.com

This story first appeared on BlackBusiness.com.

• Lifestyle

by Black Enterprise Shop

December 28, 2022

Tap Into The World Of Color With Nix

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Creatives and those in the art or painting realms know how frustrating it can be to work with colors. For starters, with literally thousands out there, finding or even remembering them can be an exercise in madness.

Thankfully, the Nix Mini Color Sensor V2 does all the cataloging and searching, so you don’t have to. For a limited time, you can purchase it for $59. That’s a savings of 70% from its original MSRP ($99).

This app works to match more than 100,000 colors. So you can be assured Nix will find it if it’s out there. It scans any surface – painted walls, vinyl, leather, plastic, fabric, dyes and more – to search from its database of more than 100,000 colors. It browses color matches from leading paint brands like Benjamin Moore, Dulux, Farrow & Ball and Sherwin Williams.

The sensor is sleek and portable, measuring 1.5″ x 1.5″ x 1″. And with solid-state technology, it’s rugged and durable. In addition, with complete app pair functionality through Bluetooth, you can take advantage of the mileage you’ll receive with the sensor.

Nix Mini Color Sensor V2 is compatible with mobile devices that run iOS 8.0 or later and Android 4.4 or later. The sensor can be attached to surfaces, but you’ll also receive a lanyard to carry around when you want to take it out.

Twenty verified purchasers have rated the Nix Mini Color Sensor V2 5 stars.

“The color sensor works well. I recently had my house painted, and the sensor correctly identified the paint used. The device will prove useful for future projects,” writes verified purchaser Stephen Goscin.

CNET and Mashable have also raved about it, with CNET saying: “Nix comes precalibrated and doesn’t require any work on your end.”

Creatives will find that this device and app work well with others. You can share colors with customers, colleagues and friends via social media and email. You can also save your favorite color palettes to Nix apps for future reference.

Take full advantage of the full color palette today and leave the work to Nix. Purchase it today.

Prices subject to change.

Veteran music executive Benny Pough appeared on Hip Hop & Enterprise to dig into his new memoir On Impact: Life, Leadership and Betting on Yourself, a collection of life highlights sharing truths that guided him through years of going from an intern to CEO.

Pough has held executive roles at major record labels like Motown, Def Jam, and MCA Records, including his tenure as the former executive vice president of Epic Records and the former president of Roc Nation Music. His résumé includes breaking radio hits for superstar artists such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, DJ Khaled, The Roots, Travis Scott, Future, Yo Gotti, 21 Savage, and many more.

Pough’s skyrocketing rise as a top music executive took a drastic pause in 2014 when he was involved in a near-fatal car accident that changed his life forever. After a grueling road to recovery, Pough used that transformative experience to release his first memoir.

With On Impact, Pough aims to inspire others by sharing truths that guided him through years of unparalleled success, going from intern to CEO. “We hit the tree so hard that it severed two feet of my small intestine,” Pough told BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“In that moment, God put a book inside of me, which changed me called “On Impact.”

The book’s title serves as a double meaning for the near-fatal crash Pough survived and the acronym he created for the word “Impact.”

“Impact is an acronym that stands for intuition, mastery, pivot, authenticity, connection, and teamwork,” he said.

The experience drastically changed Pough’s views on mental health and normalized conversations around the topic. With over 30 years in the entertainment industry, Pough has seen it all. But he applauds today’s entertainment figures who haven’t shied away from stressing the importance of self-love and mental health. “There are some big stars who have been public about the challenges that they’ve had, that they deal with to overcome,” Pough said.

“I mean, like you got to applaud Charlamagne, for his work in the spaces is, how much bigger can you get than that with a guy who has millions of listeners and followers and shows, and he’s embraced it and held on to that to let you know, it’s OK.”

Pough touched on the processes to help a newly signed artist transition into stardom and how mental health is more prioritized now than during his start in the industry. Pough also advises anyone looking to break into the music industry and his latest real estate investments through Al J. Britt Enterprises, his real estate management company that has garnered over 100 doors as part of his portfolio.

Press play below to hear more on Pough’s rise as a music executive, his new memoir, and his insight into the music industry’s current state.

• Celebrity News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

December 27, 2022

AGAIN? Actress Whoopi Goldberg Under Fire After Doubling Down on Comments About Holocaust, Race

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Despite being suspended from The View for two weeks for her controversial views on the Holocaust, Whoopi Goldberg doubled down on her claims that the genocide of European Jews during World War II “wasn’t about race.”

Goldberg faced backlash earlier this year after making false claims about the Holocaust. But she hasn’t changed her mind and is instead trying to explain her stance. In an interview published with The Sunday Times of London on Saturday–during the Jewish holiday Hanukkah–Goldberg reiterated her claims about the Holocaust, CBS News reports.

Goldberg, born Caryn Johnson, but goes by the self-given name she said comes from a Jewish relative–spoke on the division she feels there is about whether Judaism is a race or a religion. When the interviewer noted Adolf Hitler and the Nazis viewed Jewish people as a race, hence the Holocaust, Goldberg doubled down on her belief the genocide wasn’t about race.

“That’s the killer, isn’t it The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis. Why believe what they’re saying?” Goldberg said.

The interviewer went on to reference Nazi-era laws that issued over 400 decrees and regulations that only applied to Jewish people, Goldberg insisted the Holocaust “wasn’t originally about race.”

“Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical. They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision,” Goldberg said.

She went on to claim that Jewish people can’t necessarily be identified by physical attributes, as identifying someone by race.

“… you could not tell a Jew on a street. You could find me. You couldn’t find them,” she said. “That was the point I was making. But you would have thought that I’d taken a big old stinky dump on the table, butt naked.”

Goldberg’s latest comments on the Holocaust brought her under fire on social media.

“I survived the Nazis and the Holocaust, so I’ll be damned if I let a comedy has-been, peddling a fake Jewish name get the better of me,” 89-year-old Holocaust survivor Lucy Lipiner wrote.

Whoopi Goldberg continues to use the Holocaust as her punching bag.

We told her that her comments harm us and she simply doesn’t care. I survived the Nazis and the Holocaust, so I’ll be damned if I let a comedy has-been, peddling a fake Jewish name get the better of me. pic.twitter.com/wgAHGsBPPU

— Lucy Lipiner (@LucyLipiner) December 25, 2022

“So, after supposed ‘apology’ earlier in year, Whoopi Goldberg doubles down on her vile remarks that the Holocaust was not about race, and instead ‘white on white’ violence,” wrote someone else. “Someone get this ignorant fool off the air!”

https://twitter.com/Ostrov_A/status/1606878896053526529?s=20&t=Fubc3YqPjNhtkTS6-RxTWQ

• Celebrity News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

December 27, 2022

Tory Lanez Fans Make Emotional Claim, Start Petition to Appeal Rapper’s Guilty Verdict

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The Tory Lanez trial has divided fans of both the Canadian recording artist and Megan Thee Stallion who testified against him before a jury found him guilty of shooting the Texas rapper in the foot.

After the verdict was announced, a petition from dedicated Lanez fans was started to have his appeal heard immediately.

On the day that the verdict was announced, Yasin Toure’ took to the change.org platform to immediately protest the guilty decision. The artist was found guilty of the three felony charges that were filed against him. Carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle; assault with a semiautomatic handgun; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

At sentencing, Lanez faces up to 22 years in prison and can possibly be deported back to his native Canada.

Void of facts, Toure exerted that he feels that the verdict was unfair and that Black men are not protected.

Stating that a “majority middle class group of white women” should not be the deciders of his fate in a justice system that treats Black men as criminals regardless of what the evidence shows.

“Tory Lanez was found Guilty of all charges and it is a true miscarriage of justice! The state did not prove that Lanez undoubtedly committed any crime. Reasonable doubt loomed over a 10 day trial as the prosecution was unable to show us that there were not alternative explanations of the events. A circus of speculation, insufficient evidence, inconsistencies, and drunken memories left us without much moral certainty of any truth. Meanwhile, the jury selection itself may have put him in a terrible position to begin with. If the prosecution believed their victim’s account, why was Tory not charged with attempted murder and kidnapping? Instead gave lesser charges that they were still unable to prove without doubt. He now faces almost 30 years in prison and deportation!!!”

The amount of people who agree with Toure has reached over 38,000 as the signatures are still growing toward the goal of 50,000.

Although the petitioner feels that the verdict is wrong, Toure also stated that the petition is “not to tear down nor chatise Megan Thee Stallion, but it is about asking our justice system to do the right thing.”

Last week, a jury consisting of five men and seven women reached a guilty verdict on all charges after they deliberated for 24 hours. Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, had pleaded not guilty to shooting Megan. 

The sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 27. After the verdict was announced, Lanez was taken into custody.

She lived her life as an activist, and now she rests in peace.

Charlene Mitchell, the first Black woman to attempt U.S. presidency in the White House in 1968, has reportedly died at age 92.

According to The New York Times, Mitchell died on Dec.‎ 14 in a Manhattan nursing home, as per her son, Steven.

An advocate for feminism, civil rights, police violence, and economic equality, Mitchell ran for president in 1968, launching a campaign and running as the nominee for the Communist Party, the political party she joined at the age of 16.

Rest in Peace & Power, Charlene Mitchell (June 8, 1930 – December 14, 2022). Mitchell was an international socialist, feminist, labor & civil rights activist.

In 1968, she became the first Black woman candidate for President of the U.S. as the member of the Communist Party. pic.twitter.com/sRPmkQhbYa

— Black Women Radicals (@blkwomenradical) December 26, 2022

Mitchell became the Communist Party’s youngest member of its national committee when she joined in 1958.

In the 1960s, the activist founded the Che-Lumumba Club, an all-Black chapter in Los Angeles.

Mitchell was 38 when she became the Communist Party’s presidential nominee where she appeared on four state ballots, receiving around 1,000 votes, 415 in Minnesota, 377 in Washington, 260 in California and 23 in Ohio. Minnesota was ordered by a three-judge U.S. District Court to put her on their ballot.

Reportedly, Mitchell also made history as the first third party candidate to ever be placed on a ballot by a federal court, other than the U.S. Supreme Court.

The international socialist continued her advocacy in the 1970s, supporting individuals including Joan Little, the woman accused of murdering the North Carolina prison guard who allegedly sexually assaulted her. Reportedly, Mitchell also backed the Wilmington 10, which involved nine Black men and one woman who were exonerated after being convicted of arson and conspiracy.

Mitchell dissociated from the the Communist Party in the 1980s after she observed the party was centering a majority of its focus on class issues rather than expanding the fight targeting racial issues and injustices.

According to Democracy Now, Mitchell, a freedom fighter, helped lead the battle to free political prisoners that included activist Angela Davis.

Mitchell passed away in New York City.

Former A. Traub and Associates family attorney, Chantelle Porter, was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as a judge in the 18th judicial circuit in DuPage County.

The Daily Herald reports Porter’s appointment makes her the first Black woman to be selected to serve the Illinois circuit. Porter was appointed to fill a vacancy in the court and started in the position on Dec. 12. The newly appointed judge told CBS News she was “honored to be a part of this historic moment” for DuPage County.

Porter, who is also a partner at the Lombard Family Law Firm, has spent her career advocating for families and children with compassion and fairness and will continue to do so as a circuit court judge. Senior Associate Jessica Rymut who has worked with Porter for almost a decade told the The Daily Herald she has no doubt Porter will excel in the role.

“Chantelle has dedicated her career to advocating for fairness and equity, and her appointment is a landmark moment for DuPage County. While we, and her clients, will miss her greatly, we could not be more proud of Chantelle. We have no doubts that she will be an amazing judge,” said Rymut.

During her time as an attorney, Porter, who is also a trained parent coordinator, has represented clients in family law, juvenile law, Department of Children and Family Service (DCFS) abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and more.

Porter said she looks forward to serving as a reflection of DuPage County’s diverse population and hopes to give trust and confidence in those who stand before her recognizing that they will be treated fairly.

The judge has also served on several boards including the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association, and is a former president of the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers. She has also received numerous awards including the Outstanding Service Award and the Pro Bono Service Award from the DuPage County Bar Association.