Filmmaker and Queen Sugar creator Ava DuVernay makes history by becoming the first Black woman featured on a Ben & Jerry’s carton packaging.

On Ben & Jerry’s website, the ice cream maker announced the new flavor entitled “Lights, Caramel, Action! directed by Ava DuVernay,” featuring an image of DuVernay on the latest ice cream pint-sized offering.

“In her directorial debut of an ice cream thriller, we present Ava DuVernay’s Lights, Caramel, Action! Guaranteed to be a hit in freezers nationwide, this flavor gives back through Ava’s ARRAY Alliance, advancing social justice through art. Arraynow.com”

The newest flavor is a vanilla ice cream with salted caramel swirls, graham cracker swirls mixed with chocolate chip cookie dough. There are two versions: ice cream and almond milk-based Non-Dairy. You can purchase this latest offering in January 2023. “Directed” by the acclaimed filmmaker herself.

“Ice cream is a simple joy of life. A comfort food that I’ve turned to on many days—making sunny ones brighter and dark ones sweeter,” said DuVernay in a written statement. “Partnering with Ben & Jerry’s, a company that I’ve long admired for their commitment to social justice, has been a thrill ride. I had the opportunity to work with food scientists to create a flavor with all the ingredients that I personally love for a cause close to my heart. Beyond being downright delicious, proceeds from Lights! Caramel! Action! will help ARRAY Alliance further its non-profit mission of inclusion and belonging in the film and TV industries. A worthy and delicious endeavor.”

The proceeds of Lights! Caramel! Action! will benefit the nonprofit DuVernay founded, ARRAY Alliance.

DuVernay’s mission with her nonprofit is to “amplify and elevate the work of artists of color and women directors, create inclusive film sets, provide grants, mentorship, and education for people from underrepresented communities who want to work in the film industry.” She started it in 2011.

The latest offering from Ben & Jerry’s has been added to the lineup of flavors sold by the franchise and is available to pick up in stores across the country as well as its franchised Scoop Shops. The purchase price for a pint is $6.49.

After Herschel Walker lost the election for the Georgia senate seat, Christian Walker, who has been quite quiet recently, blasted his father in a social media post.

Senator Raphael Warnock beat Walker, former president Donald Trump‘s handpicked candidate, Tuesday night after a runoff election. Christian Walker, who has been silent since putting his father, Herschel on blast in October for running a campaign on lies, returned with a vengeance not seen since, well, two months ago.

Shortly after Herschel Walker conceded the race and news organizations called the election in favor of Warnock, Christian Walker took to Twitter to shame the man he shares a last name with and the Republican party as well.

The ultra-conservative Christian went on a rant with a series of posts chastising the people who encouraged his father to run, while also defending his mother who raised him amid the abuse claims he previously acknowledged on Twitter in October. He referred to his father as an abusive man who beat women and threatened people with guns while paying for abortions. According to Christian, these were all things his father did, yet, ran on a platform that was against abortions and pro-life.

Don’t beat women, hold guns to peoples heads, fund abortions then pretend your pro-life, stalk cheerleaders, leave your multiple minor children alone to chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family..

And then maybe you can win a senate seat.

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) December 7, 2022

He then revealed, once again, that Trump asked his father to run but his family tried to discourage Herschel from entering politics. His past behavior would lessen his chances of winning and the family will look foolish in the process.

The Truth: Trump called my dad for months DEMANDING that he run. Everyone with a brain begged him: “PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. This is too dirty, you have an insane past… PLEASE DONT DO THIS.”

We got the middle finger. He ran.

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) December 7, 2022

Christian then asserted that “a boring old Republican” could have won this election but they decided to pit his father against Warnock simply because they share the same skin color.

Republicans, we say we don’t play “identity politics” and then you ran this man mainly because he was the same skin color as his opponent with no background other than football. A boring old Republican could have won.

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) December 7, 2022

He then reminded people that Herschel was, and still is, an absent father as he tried to hide that he had two other children that the public didn’t previously know about until after the campaign was in full swing.

I was called a backstabber after getting angry and blowing up from watching my dad lie for 18 months straight… But he’s not a backstabber for leaving his 2 minor children he kept secret to grow up without a dad as he chases more fame and power?

Pathetic. Raise your kids.

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) December 7, 2022

He ended his emotional tirade by displaying a photograph of his mother, who he acknowledged didn’t want to speak to anyone regarding his father. After he said he witnessed many lies being told about her, he had to blast his father to protect her.

This is my amazing mom who’s had her name and image dragged through the media unwillingly. She refused to talk to any journalist after 18 months of stalking. I blew up after she was lied on multiple times.

Shoutout to every strong mother whose story goes untold. We love you. pic.twitter.com/4pLdFi5Oo1

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) December 7, 2022

Meet John Ford, Brian Wilson, and their uncle, Terry Coleman, the founders of Frameline Media Films, a Black-owned film production and videography company located in the Cleveland, Ohio area.

Not only can they shoot and produce documentary films, but they also offer the best and most affordable wedding photography and videography services in the Midwest.

John and Brian primarily work as the videographers, and Uncle Terry works as the principal photographer. John, who is 34 years old, says that he is very passionate about filmmaking and loves telling stories through film. Brian, who is 27 says the same. He comments, “I’ve always had a love of filming from being a teenager making skits for YouTube to now making beautiful cinematic wedding films and more. I’ve taught myself how to film those movie shots I loved so much and put them in the videos I shoot now.”

Uncle Terry comments, “It’s one thing to view the bride and groom through the lens of my 1st video cam (Canon XA20), but it’s another to see or hear them get excited about seeing themselves in pictures or video. This age-old art of creating media content is exciting and fascinating. No day is ever the same from the people we meet to the projects we complete.”

Although based in the Cleveland, Ohio area, their family-owned business is available for film projects and weddings all over the Midwest, the south, and the entire east coast. They always shoot in 4K with at least two cinematographers, and yes, they use drones.

For more details about their services, visit their official website at FramelineMediaFilms.com or follow them on Instagram @Frameline_Media.

This article first appeared on Blackbusiness.com.

Meet Dennis R. Maple, the chairman and CEO of Goddard Systems, Inc., the company behind The Goddard School, one of the country’s largest early childhood education providers.

Maple first joined Goddard Systems when he was appointed as its President and CEO in 2019. He eventually took on the position of Chairman of the Board in 2021. Now, he leads the company which currently licenses more than 590 franchised schools with more than 75,000 students across the country.

In his 40-year career, Maple has served in executive and general management roles for other leading companies including First Student, Aramark, Coors Brewing Company, Kraft General Foods, PepsiCo, and The Quaker Oats Company, according to his LinkedIn account.

For his accomplishments, he has been elected to the International Franchise Association’s Board of Directors and is also currently on the Descartes Systems Group board of directors, where he serves as a member of the Compensation Committee and as Chairman of the Nominating Committee.

This article first appeared on Blackbusiness.com. 

As the Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez trial approaches opening statements, the Canadian singer has been hit with an additional felony count to go with the other charges against him.

According to Rolling Stone, Lanez faces a third felony charge in the case where Megan accuses him of shooting her in the foot in 2020. Opening statements are expected to take place next week.

On Monday, prosecutors added the new charge of discharging a firearm with gross negligence as jury selection has already started for the trial. The recording artist was initially charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. He entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.

If found guilty of all charges, Lanez faces deportation as a Canadian resident and a maximum sentence of 22 years and eight months.

AllHipHop has reported that the 30-year-old had been placed on house arrest since October but was released earlier this week in preparation for the trial.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford elaborated on the reason for doing so.

“I will terminate the house arrest at this point. The main reason is that during trial, it’s difficult to have a client who’s not accessible. I’m doing this mainly for the trial preparation aspect.”

Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, is accused of pointing a 9mm gun at the feet of Megan and allegedly shouting, “Dance, bitch!” before shooting at her on the morning of July 12, 2020.

The pair, along with Megan’s best friend, Kelsey Harris, and Lanez’s bodyguard, was riding in a Cadillac Escalade on the night of the incident. While in the vehicle, an argument ensued and Megan stepped out of the car in Hollywood Hills, based on testimony at a preliminary hearing last year.

A Los Angeles detective, Ryan Stogner, testified that Megan initially lied and told police officers that she stepped on some glass, fearing what the police would do to Lanez if she said he had shot her, but later changed her story.

“She said that at the time, she was extremely scared and embarrassed, and due to the fact that she was friends with the defendant, she was scared that he was going to get in trouble, and she also expressed some concerns regarding the political climate regarding police and shootings,” Stogner testified. “She was afraid that there had been recent police shootings, and she described her concern about the police possibly shooting the defendant since he had just committed a shooting.”

Stogner confirmed that doctors from Cedars-Sinai Hospital found bullet fragments in both of Megan’s feet.

U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock beat Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election that fortified Democrats’ Senate majority and handed the Republican Party another bitter loss to cap a disappointing midterm election season.

Here are some takeaways from Warnock‘s victory:

TRUMP’S SLATE SUFFERS ANOTHER BLOW

Walker’s loss won’t mute the building criticism in Republican circles that former President Donald Trump cost the party dearly in the midterm elections by backing unelectable candidates.

At the beginning of the cycle, Republicans entertained hopes that they could take control of both chambers of Congress, as they only needed to add gain one seat to break the 50-50 Senate deadlock.

Instead, they watched as Trump-endorsed candidates Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Blake Masters in Arizona and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire went down to defeat. All were ostensibly winnable races.

After Warnock‘s win, Democrats now will have 51 seats in the new Senate. Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives, albeit far narrower than the “red wave” some in the party had hoped for.

“One of the reasons that (Republican) candidates this cycle were bad was because they couldn’t appeal to the suburbs, much as Trump couldn’t appeal to the suburbs,” said Jacob Rubashkin, an analyst with Inside Elections in Washington.

Warnock won the critical suburban counties outside Atlanta on Tuesday.

Walker was one of Trump’s earliest endorsements. The former Georgia college football star’s campaign was plagued from the outset by questions about his personal life, his fitness for office, and whether he actually resides in Texas.

Trump held two rallies for Walker in Georgia, but did not come to the state for the runoff, only phoning in to boost supporters on Monday night. He spent much of Monday instead sending out statements demanding that the 2020 election be overturned due to his phantom claims of election fraud.

Other Republican luminaries such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, widely expected to enter the 2024 presidential race along with Trump, also kept their distance from Walker.

At a gathering of Republican donors in Las Vegas last month, Trump came under fire from several major donors and potential 2024 candidates who argued that he was alienating independent and moderate Republican voters. Walker’s loss is likely to intensify that criticism and further weaken Trump’s standing in the party.

TRUMP’S TERRIBLE MONTH

Even though Trump never traveled to Georgia to campaign for Walker in the final weeks, he made news in other ways that were likely to alienate centrist voters.

He announced his new 2024 presidential campaign a week after the Nov. 8 midterm vote. Almost immediately, the Justice Department declared that it was appointing a special counsel to further probe Trump’s actions regarding his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged removal of classified documents from the White House.

Trump then was caught having dinner at his Florida resort home with an avowed white nationalist, Nick Fuentes, along with hip-hop artist Kanye West, who has of late trafficked in anti-Semitic remarks. Trump denied that he knew who Fuentes was.

More recently, Trump has renewed his calls to have the 2020 election vacated in online remarks in which he appeared to be suggesting that tenets of the U.S. Constitution be subverted.

That forced uncomfortable congressional Republicans to respond to Trump’s statements in the days before the runoff election, pulling the focus from Walker’s candidacy.

CANDIDATES MATTER

In the end, the primary reason Herschel Walker lost was Herschel Walker.

Walker was a troubled candidate from the start. His tumultuous personal life, which included allegations of domestic abuse and encouraging former girlfriends to get abortions, made for easy fodder for Democratic attack ads. Walker denied the abortion allegations.

Clearly overwhelmed by the demands of a Senate campaign, he rarely ventured from friendly areas and mostly cut himself off from the media. In a state that had recently re-elected a Republican governor, Brian Kemp, Walker seemed unable to connect with voters beyond the rural base.

That stayed true even when conservative heavyweights such as Kemp, former U.N ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Ted Cruz rushed to his aid in the closing weeks. A political action committee run by the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, tried to bail him out as well.

At one rally prior to the runoff, Walker publicly mused about whether a werewolf could kill a vampire. That inspired a Warnock attack ad as voters began to go to the polls.

At Warnock‘s victory party on Tuesday, Alma Hill, a Warnock supporter, said she was worried that Walker had been able to force a runoff.

“I don’t know why we are still dealing with a werewolf,” Hill said.

Warnock was announced as the winner soon thereafter.

(Reporting by James Oliphant, additional reporting by Nathan Layne in Atlanta; Editing by Scott Malone and Rosalba O’Brien)

The second wife of legendary singer Marvin Gaye has recently passed away at the age of 66.

According to uDiscoverMusic, Janis Hunter Gaye died on Saturday of an unknown cause at her residence in Rhode Island.

 

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Hunter Gaye was a stylist, manager, and author who was the inspiration and object of affection for several of Marvin Gaye’s songs. She passed away on Saturday, Dec. 3. She left behind several family members, including her siblings, Shawnn Monteiro and Mark Gaillard, her two children, Nona and Frankie, and her grandson Nolan Pentz.

Nona wrote, in part, about her mother’s passing: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my mother, Janis Gaye. She was the most influential woman in my life and many others. I believe once you met my mother Jan, she wasn’t a woman you could ever forget. Every word from her mouth was from her soul.”

Hunter Gaye, who was just a month short of reaching her 67th birthday, was born on Jan. 6, 1956, to Barbara Hunter and Slim Gaillard. She met Marvin Gaye during a recording session of one of his most memorable songs, Let’s Get It On.

Marvin is said to have penned the song Jan for Hunter Gaye, which was included on his 1974 Live! album recorded for Motown Records. She was also the focal point of his hit album, which peaked at No. 1, I Want You, which came out in 1976. She also sang background vocals on the 1977 hit single, Got To Give It Up.

Pentz, Gaye’s grandson, said, “From the first memory of my grandmother, I knew then and now, how much she cared about her family and the warmth she gave to all of us. I will always be grateful for all the memories. She also cared about so many people in the world, and I will do everything I can to put into action the things she wanted and help continue the Gaye legacy.”

Respected civil rights activist and leader Reverend Al Sharpton issued the below statement today, urging Delaware Governor John Carney to fill two upcoming vacancies on the state’s Supreme Court with justices of color.

The retirement announcement last week of Justice James T. Vaughan Jr., and the expected elevation of current Supreme Court Justice Tamika Montgomery to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, threaten to leave Delaware’s Supreme Court without a justice of color on the bench – a shameful distinction for a state with a nonwhite population of more than 30% – including 23% Black and 10% Latino.

Rev. Sharpton stands alongside Citizens for Judicial Fairness in calling on Gov. Carney to ensure fair representation throughout Delaware’s judiciary:

“Delaware prides itself on its trailblazing constitutional legacy, yet the principles of justice and equal opportunity enshrined within that hallowed parchment are suddenly at risk in the First State. Refusal to act at this urgent crossroads will kill diversity on the state’s highest court – and an all-White Supreme Court would be a terrible stain on democracy. Governor Carney must seize this pivotal moment and nominate two justices of color to fill both of these looming Supreme Court vacancies. Should Gov. Carney fail to ensure representation across the state’s judiciary, he will send the awful message that in Delaware, bragging about the Constitution matters far more than the rights and values protected by it.”

Source: Citizens for Judicial Fairness

The story of a Hollywood legend may be heading to the big screen.

American singer, actress, and businesswoman Gladys Knight is teaming up with Cineflix Productions to develop a scripted mini-series about her life.

According to Deadline, the series is suggested to take on different periods of the life of the Empress of Soul, who has recorded hits such as “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.”

 

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If the project reaches completion, Knight will become the latest soul legend to have a series set around her, following Aretha Franklin‘s Genius, that released last year.

According to a media release from Cineflix Productions, Knight will executive produce the series through her Empress of Soul Productions banner alongside William McDowell, Joyce Miller Roy, William Bickley, Carl Buehl, Brian Bird, Camille Tucker for Empress of Soul Productions, J.C. Mills, Sherri Rufh, and Jeff Vanderwal for Cineflix Productions.

“At the age of 78, most people in my industry have retired, but I’m just getting started,” Knight said.

“All my life I’ve been able to sing my stories. I can now use this opportunity to show the meaning behind the words.”

“Our partnership with Cineflix, sharing my life story, will allow me to leave a legacy of hard work and dedication. That alone is greater than any award I could ever receive. It’s important to leave large footprints that go in the right direction. That’s why Empress of Soul Productions was founded,” she added.

Knight has recorded over 38 albums, is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and has acted in film and television, receiving a nomination for a Golden Globe in 1976.

If the project progresses, the series will highlight personal stories of Knight’s personal life, including her three marriages and gambling addiction during the 1980s. Additionally, viewers will learn more of the story of when one of her sons was kidnapped and she had to pay a million dollars to have him returned.

“Gladys is a legend and true icon; her creative ambition and artistry is unmatched. With over five decades across music, film, TV, and humanitarian efforts, her life is a beautiful mosaic that we are honored to tell,” Mills, president and head of content at Cineflix Productions, said.