• Men

by Derek Major

November 29, 2022

Virginia Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin Dies At 61 After Long Battle With Cancer

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Virginia Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin passed away Monday night at the age of 61, following a decade-long fight with colorectal cancer.

According to The Hill, McEachin’s chief of staff Tara Roundtree said in a statement posted on the representative’s Twitter account that the congressman had been experiencing “secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013.”

“We are all devastated at the passing of our boss and friend, Congressman Donald McEachin,” Rountree said. “Valiantly, for years now, we have watched him fight and triumph over the secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013.”

“Tonight, he lost that battle, and the people of Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District lost a hero who always fought for them and put them first.”

Roundtree added that McEachin’s office will continue serving its constituents until a new individual is elected to the district. McEachin, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany on October 10, 1961, was first elected to the House in 2016 and won reelection in 2018, 2020 and this month’s midterm elections, when he received 64% of the vote in his congressional district.

While in Congress, McEachin fought against environmental inequalities in low-income communities and communities of color, sitting on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Natural Resources, and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Additionally, McEachin, an American University and Virginia School of Law alum, was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition.

McEachin received and outpouring of praise for his career in Congress and commitment to his constituents.

“It is with great sadness that I join Virginians tonight in mourning the loss of Congressman Donald McEachin: a tireless champion for Virginia families and a force for economic opportunity and environmental justice,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wrote in a statement Monday night.

“Up until the very end, Don McEachin was a fighter,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote on Twitter. “Even though he battled cancer and faced other trials in recent years, he never lost his focus on social and environmental justice.”

“Tonight, Virginia has lost a great leader and I have lost a great friend.”

Before coming to Congress, McEachin served in both the Virginia State Senate and the House of Delegates.

• Celebrity News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

November 29, 2022

Cardi B Discloses ‘Feeling So Hopeless Trying to Make Offset Happy’ Following Takeoff’s Death

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The death of Migos group member, Takeoff, has Cardi B and her husband Offset rightfully distressed.

According to XXL, Cardi opened up in a recently deleted post on Twitter, acknowledging that Takeoff’s death has had a profound impact on her husband and that she’s been “feeling so hopeless trying to make my husband happy.”

Not only was Offset a group member with the deceased recording artist, but he was also his blood cousin. The three members of Migos grew up under the same roof.

 

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The Bronx-bred Cardi B expressed how it has been for her and her husband after Takeoff was killed at a Houston bowling alley several weeks ago, People reports.

Cardi warned fans and haters alike that she is not playing around with people online because the hurt that they feel is still being processed and she is trying her best to make him happy.

The funeral for the rapper, born Kirshnik Ball, took place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Nov. 11.

According to TMZ, the shooting death of Takeoff happened at the 810 Billiards & Bowling Houston bowling alley. Takeoff was there with his uncle, Quavo, née Quavious Keyate Marshall, celebrating the birthday of Jas Prince on the night of the tragedy.

• Women

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

November 29, 2022

Celebrating Two Years, The RISE And Google Partnership Continues To Advance Upskilling Opportunities For Women Of Color

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RISE, the not-for-profit, equity-focused upskilling arm of The Mom Project, has announced that upon reaching its two-year anniversary of its partnership with Google, more than 5200 scholarships have been awarded as part of the Google x RISE program.

In an effort to uplevel its offerings and expand its reach, RISE partnered with Google to connect underrepresented job seekers with no-cost access to Google Career Certificate program. The program equips job seekers with skills for in-demand jobs in the fields of data analytics, digital marketing and e-commerce, IT support, user experience (UX) design, and project management. The certificates do not require a degree or experience to enroll, and can be completed within 3-6 months of part-time study. An employer consortium of over 150 companies–including Google—considers graduates for open roles, according to a press release.

RISE was founded in 2020 as a direct response to such long-standing workplace biases and imbalances in representation for women, and the increased gendered work crisis emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. Offering several certificate programs, the curriculum—which includes mentorship, tech-enabled community, and networking opportunities in addition to upskilling—empowers moms and women of color to access greater career opportunities in emergent industries.

“Teaming up with Google to connect mothers of color with highly sought after training and certifications to build economic opportunities has been incredibly beneficial to the RISE and The Mom Project mission,” says Chandra Sanders, Vice President of RISE.

“Through this partnership, our graduates have pivoted industries, careers, and re-entered the workforce after long absences and we’ve seen first-hand that upskilling is an invaluable tool for the women who may not have access to these programs.

Together, we have made a real impact with almost 60% of our participants either landing a new job or securing higher compensation less than six months after graduation. We are very proud of the momentum we are seeing, but we have a long way to go in the fight for true equity. Coupling our motivated network of moms with Google’s job-ready skills programs and elite employer network, we look to scale the RISE program in precisely the right way.”

“Google believes the opportunities created by technology should truly be available to everyone,” said Janice Fidalgo, Scholarship Program Lead, Grow with Google.

“We’re proud to support the RISE program to help moms across the country take the Google Career Certificates program.”

“We’re excited that this work is helping women further their careers, increase their economic potential, and improve the quality of life for their families.”

For more information visit MomProject.org.

• Diversity, Equality, Inclusion

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

November 29, 2022

Disney Parks and RICE Bring Diverse Entrepreneurs to Walt Disney World Resort

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Ten-year-old Zoe Oli of Atlanta arrived at Walt Disney World for the first time a few days ago, not on vacation but as CEO of her start-up business, Beautiful Curly Me, aimed at creating dolls who look like her.

Oli and 58 other Black entrepreneurs got a two-day peek behind the Disney curtain as part of their journey with the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs’ (RICE) Supply Chain Accelerator Program sponsored by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. RICE, a non-profit organization based in Atlanta, is a business generator designed to inspire and support Black entrepreneurs.

Throughout the two days of workshops, panel discussions and networking sessions led by Disney, RICE stakeholders learned best practices from various Disney leaders and the Disney Institute about how to grow their businesses, according to a press release. Participants engaged in sessions focused on storytelling, leadership, customer service, and supplier diversity.

“Disney understands the importance of diversity in business and is helping us create and accelerate opportunities for Black business owners – expanding the possibilities during a time when equitable opportunities have never been more important,” said Jay Bailey, President and CEO, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs.

The Supply Chain Accelerator Program delivers an immersive learning experience aimed at preparing and positioning diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses for long-term success. The pilot includes 35 companies owned by Black entrepreneurs, 66% of whom are women-owned and featured companies from industries such as consulting, food and beverage, IT and software, media, transportation and retail.

In Oli’s case, her company, Beautiful Curly Me, started when she was six years old.

“I did not like my hair and I wished it was straight like my classmates. I found a need for black dolls that looked like me,” shared Oli.

“When we went to the stores and couldn’t find any, I decided I wanted to make my own business and do something about it.”

Oli is proud to say that Beautiful Curly Me is a brand on a mission to empower and inspire young Black and Brown girls to love and be confident in who they are, and for every doll purchased, one is given to an underserved girl. About her experience at Walt Disney World, Oli stated, “Walt’s vision has shown me the power of teamwork and one dream,” shared Oli.

“If Walt can do it, I can too.”

M-T Strickland, co-founder and CEO of Metric Mate, also is part of RICE’s Supply Accelerator program. “The magic that you feel at Walt Disney World is energizing, and having a group of 60 entrepreneurs here that share that energy just magnified it,” shared Strickland, co-founder and CEO of Metric Mate.

“Beyond the curriculum and relationships we built, being able to take a little piece of the magic back home is going to be amazing.”

“Without a shadow of a doubt, every conversation I have from now on will have that twinkling of Disney in the back of my mind letting me know that I can achieve and I can do what I believe.”

Disney’s sponsorship of RICE’s program is part of its commitment to invest in communities by sharing knowledge and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses. In fiscal year 2021, Disney set a goal to spend at least $1 billion annually with diverse suppliers by 2024, placing the company among the top in spending with diverse suppliers and impacting the communities by creating jobs and opportunities.

“We recognize that supporting suppliers of all backgrounds, sizes and industries makes a profound impact in the community,” said Ralph Sagaille, Director, Supplier Diversity and Sustainability, The Walt Disney Company. “We believe in the power of possibilities and the collaboration with RICE is part of our commitment to invest in supplier diversity while encouraging entrepreneurs, creators, and innovators to dream.”

The second year of the program will expand to 50 participating businesses and an enhanced curriculum. We look forward to continuing to share more stories about our work with RICE. To learn more about Disney’s Supplier Diversity efforts, visit https://supplierdiversity.disney.com/.

• Women

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

November 29, 2022

Best Selling Author and TED X Speaker Returns With Podcast to Lead, Inspire, and Support Women

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With the launch of Season 4 of Living Room Wisdom with Patrina Wisdom in January 2023, Patrina has carved out a space for women to talk about their dreams and goals.

She not only talks with her guests about healing, mindset, and other topics, but she also gives you the courage to pursue your dreams and manifest the life you’ve always wanted.

In its fourth season, Living Room Wisdom highlights stories of resilience and triumph to lead, inspire, and support you in creating a happy, healthy, and abundant life of your own with some of the most sought-after women in business. Living Room Wisdom features interviews with some of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the world.

You can find the Living Room Wisdom Podcast on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, or go to https://anchor.fm/patrina-wisdom.

Tune into Living Room Wisdom, Where Your Story Is Your Glory!

About 

Patrina Wisdom is the brains behind the Badass Bodacious Life Movement and the Pure Abundance Retreat as well as a successful author and speaker.

She took her personal story and decades of experience as an entrepreneur and business leader after losing her husband of 20 years to suicide in 2009 and learning that she was pregnant with her fourth child on the same day and began the process of creating her Badass Bodacious Life.

Patrina’s podcast series focuses on people who overcame adversity to achieve great success, and she hopes that listening to these interviews will help you do the same.

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

November 29, 2022

Florida ‘Wide Neck’ Man Who Went Viral After His Mugshot Was Released, Arrested For Stalking

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A Florida man who gained internet fame when his previous mug shot went viral has been arrested again.

According to ABC News 4, 35-year-old Charles McDowell, whose last mug shot went viral over four years ago, has been arrested on charges of aggravated stalking and withholding support. He was detained and booked this past Sunday into Escambia County Jail, where he was previously taken when he was arrested in 2018.

McDowell is being held without bond.

The Pensacola, FL man, with his distinct wide neck, gained more than 1 million new followers on social media after police officials released his photograph following his arrest in 2018.

He capitalized on his newfound fame, starting a recording career and releasing several rap songs under the moniker, “Wide Neck.”

McDowell had an arrest warrant placed after he is alleged to have committed the offense of aggravated stalking during the summer in Escambia County. He reportedly appeared at a woman’s home and sent her threatening text messages.

The warrant was filed in August, although he was just arrested this past weekend.

His claim to fame took place on Nov. 13, 2018, when the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office released a statement announcing his arrest.

“Congratulations to Charles Dion McDowell, DOB: 8/12/87 *share

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

November 29, 2022

Baltimore Woman Pleads Guilty to Shooting Husband Who Allegedly Molested Kids In Her Daycare

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A Baltimore woman who owned a daycare has pled guilty to shooting her husband earlier this year after she accused him of being a child molester.

According to CBS Baltimore, Shanteari Weems from Baltimore County pleaded guilty to aggravated assault knowingly while armed, carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business. Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 3.

Weems had been charged with assault with intent to kill, possession of an unregistered firearm, and other offenses, connected to her actions on July 21. After shooting her husband, she held police officers at bay at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in the District.

The other charges filed against Weems included possession of a firearm during a crime or violence and resisting arrest. Those charges are expected to be dismissed when she is sentenced.

Weems, who is a former corrections officer, is the registered owner of the Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center, located in Owings Mills. There are allegations that at least three children who attended the facility were molested.

Her husband, James Weems, is a retired Baltimore police officer. After the shooting, he was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. Although he has been discharged, he is currently in police custody and waiting to go on trial for multiple sexual abuse charges.

WUSA reported that when Shanteari was in custody, she informed police officers that she was married to James for five years and that the two of them lived together in Baltimore. She said that several of the children from her daycare recently informed her that her husband had been molesting them at the facility. Weems told them that she reported her husband to Baltimore authorities.

The year may not have been an ideal one for actress Nia Long, but it seems as if it’s ending on a positive note.

In a recent social media post, the Boyz N The Hood actress displayed what looked like new surroundings and captioned the photo: “Thankful for the gift of new places and spaces.” The post was deleted shortly after it appeared on her Instagram account, but was captured by The Shade Room.

 

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Long may be starting over after her long-time beau, Ime Udoka, was suspended as the head coach of the Boston Celtics earlier this year. The second-year head coach was rumored to have been in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. According to the Daily Mail, the woman was Kathleen Nimmo Lynch, a married mother of three, who had just started with the Celtics as a team service manager.

Although not married, Long and Udoka have been in a relationship since 2010 and share an 11-year-old son, Kez Udoka.

In September, the Boston Celtics released a statement regarding Udoka’s status with the team.

“The Boston Celtics announced today that the team has suspended Head Coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season for violations of team policies. A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date. The suspension takes effect immediately.”

pic.twitter.com/ySo5wGKrfX

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 23, 2022

The Brooklyn Nets, who have been mired in their own controversies after firing their head coach, Steve Nash, were considering bringing in Udoka to run the team.

It was widely reported that the NBA suggested to the Nets that they not hire Udoka.

The 45-year-old coach’s stock was high after his first season as a head coach. He led the team to a 51-31 record and to the NBA Finals, but lost the championship.

• Sisters Inc

by Derek Major

November 29, 2022

Here’s How Oneca Maffei Turned a Love For People and Culture Into Being a Partner in the Parlour Room

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Born and raised in Brooklyn, the vice president of Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group, Oneca Maffei, will tell you being in the hospitality and restaurant industry was not something she planned for.

“I wasn’t the child that knew specifically what I wanted to do,” Maffei told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “You know I didn’t come out of the womb saying I want to be a teacher or a doctor, I had a lot of interests and passions and I really just wanted to live an intentional life that was positively, consistently impacting people, so from a young age I knew I had the ability to connect very quickly and I was good at guiding individuals to channels where I knew they would thrive but I didn’t know that was a job.”

The Brown University alumna began working in the hospitality industry as a hostess and in the retail industry for L’oreal, Bloomingdales, and Barney’s. She also went to culinary school because as Maffei put it, “I didn’t know how to boil water.”

Maffei admitted that she fell in love with providing an experience for people, and has done just that with the Parlour Room, which Maffei is a partner in. She describes it as an eclectic, romantic whiskey emporium in the middle of Manhattan, sporting more than 400 whiskeys behind the bar and several menus.

The restaurant opened last December on 70 West 36th Street, two blocks from Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street. The Parlour Room’s atmosphere is warm and inviting, as the restaurant is draped in velvet, with a chandelier, and a fireplace. Mixing its whiskeys with an extremely thoughtful cocktail program with a bevy of spirits makes the Parlour Room feel even more enchanting.

Maffei’s journey to The Parlour Room started when she was hired by the Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group as its human resources director. Maffei hit the ground running in the position, doing a lot of work outside of her typical tasks. That got Maffei a promotion to vice president and, less than a year into the role, she began thinking of how the group could expand.

When she found out a space opened up next to The Ragtrader, a restaurant owned by the Fox Group in midtown Manhattan, Fox Hospitality President Mark Fox asked Maffei to be a partner in the next restaurant, which eventually became The Parlour Room.

“I was just really passionate and had a real love for people and then I was just really open about where that journey was going to carry me and I’m glad it carried me here,” Maffei said.

“It was extremely exciting to get the offer to be a partner and I was happy because I get to use both the creative and analytical sides of my brain, while also having a firm grip on the people and culture side of the company because I was already vice president.”

Baltimore-based H3irloom Food Group has a hip-hop story to tell and is using its private dinner series to pay homage to the music genre they love the most.

Earlier this month, H3irloom Food Group hosted its second annual “A Story to Tell” private dinner series at East Baltimore’s The Sinclair, Okay Player reports. Named after the infamous track on The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death album, the dinner series aims to tell the story of hip-hop through a six-course meal inspired by the musical art form.

“Lyricists are saying things that people have heard before, but they are presenting it in a flow, the cadence is a certain way,” executive chef David Thomas said.

“They make people stop and listen.”

Thomas, a former winner of Chopped, believes the private dinners possess the same elements found in hip-hop, a new way of looking at something old.

“With these dinners, it’s the same thing,” Thomas said. “We want to give you something that you may have heard of before, but you’ve never seen it presented this way. You’ve never seen it paired this way. You’ve never seen it in the atmosphere that we give you.”

The inaugural dinner paid homage to Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M,” while this year’s event aimed to represent the growth of hip-hop.

“This one is about the game changers in Hip-Hop,” pastry chef Tonya Thomas said.

“That was the whole momentum of how we wanted this one to feel. To see how it evolved into this next generation of Hip-Hop and songs.”

The first dish, titled “Play Your Part,” included a frenched chicken leg with tempura fried lobster on a pimento cheese bed with pickled relish. It was named after André 3000’s opening lyrics on the UGK song “International Players Anthem (I Choose You).” DJ B-Eazy played the track and as the beat dropped to go into Pimp C’s legendary verse, hidden sparklers exploded, as a rush of servers brought out the first plate in Memphis hi-hats.

Other dishes included “Scrape The Plate,” named after Jay-Z’s lyric off his 2001 single “Girls, Girls, Girls.” The dish featured duck fat poached pacific amberjack fish and plantain gnocchi over an oxtail brudo stew. “Mount Up,” named after Warren G’s rallying call for his crew of “regulators,” featured a mixture of rabbit and chicken precisely formed into a french ballotine preparation, with a side of salt-cured and shaved pastrami over a bed of sweet purple cabbage.

“Food and hip-hop are two trains going down the same track,” Chef David thomas said.

“One has really been fueled by not just culture, but others who have embraced it.”

“Food, on the other hand, has been embraced by people for a long time, but there are a lot more people profiting from what African Americans have created than African Americans,” he continued. “We’re just trying to shorten that gap. These dinners are for letting people know we’re more than just carry-out. We have been elevating food from the very beginning, especially, on this continent.”