With Americans in the middle of inflation following two years of a global pandemic, experts are expecting Black Friday to take a hit this year.

While 2021’s Black Friday saw an increase due to stimulus checks, money saved during the pandemic, and pent-up energy from the lockdown, 2022 might be very different. Consumer confidence is the lowest it’s been in a decade as Americans worry about inflation and another recession, according to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index.

While retail sales are growing in dollars when the numbers are adjusted for inflation, “it looks like spending and retail sales are starting to level,” James Bohnaker, a senior economist at Cushman & Wakefield, told the Commerical Observer.

Bohnaker noted two factors that could level the Black Friday playing field. One is high-income households having enough money to “play around” this holiday season. The other is lower- and middle-income households resorting to credit cards and buy-now-pay-later options to finance their purchases.

“We think this holiday season is going to be OK,” Bohnaker said. “Not the strength we saw last year, but not any significant decline.”

Technology sales are also expected to drop as families purchased large televisions, laptops, and other tech products while in lockdown during the pandemic, The Guardian reports. In the UK, shoppers spent £22.62bn over the two-week Black Friday period, which runs from Nov. 22 until Dec. 5.

However, when accounting for inflation, consumers are actually shopping less than the year before, according to research by GlobalData for Vouchercodes. As prices rise at grocery stores and supermarkets, foot traffic is helping large retailers like Target, Walmart, and Costco perform well.

“Traffic is not up in malls versus 2019,” retail consultant Kate Newlin said.

“Brick-and-mortar shopping, like commuting, is vastly overrated once you develop a workaround. We had two years to figure out how Amazon works, and retailers had two years to figure out how to do what Amazon does but for their brand.”

With the demand down, retailers might produce bigger deals to increase sales. That means consumers should stay on the lookout to get their hands on some well-priced products this holiday season.

Preeminent nonprofit organization ADCOLOR returned for its 16th annual ADCOLOR Conference for the first time in person since 2019.

According to its website, the company’s overall goal is to create a community of diverse professionals to support and celebrate one another. ADCOLOR also thrives on helping individuals and organizations “rise up,” letting their accomplishments and ideas shine and teaching soon-to-be leaders and would-be-mentors how to “reach back” and find others who deserve to be noticed and promoted. ADCOLOR’s annual conference prides itself on being the premier diversity gathering event for professionals at all levels of the spectrum.

The conference was forced to adapt when COVID-19 hit and hosted a virtual experience for the last two events amid the pandemic. However, this year’s conference was held at the JW Marriott in Los Angeles on Nov. 17 through Nov. 20. Amazon, Disney, Google’s YouTube, and Meta were presenting sponsors of the conference hosted by Bing Chen and Mariana Atencio.

The event kicked off with an exciting keynote discussion, “50 Years and Rising: Celebrating Five Decades of Hip-Hop’s Evolution from Subculture to THE Culture,” presented by Cashmere Monks.

According to Global Grind, the panel touched on various relevant topics surrounding hip-hop and its impact on the culture. Panel members also reportedly addressed issues that often go overlooked.

The conference featured many powerful speakers, including GRAMMY-Award-winning recording artist and Mass Appeal partner Nas, alongside Mass Appeal CEO Peter Bittenbender for a panel moderated by the President and Chief Creative Officer of Cashmere, Ryan Ford.

“It’s important for the younger generation to realize that it’s not easy to come out of the neighborhoods they might have come from,” Nas stated, according to the outlet.

“The younger generation needs to know that they are now an important person to this world; you have to survive and cut off old habits. It doesn’t make you soft if you don’t hang in the ‘hood.'”

The hip-hop industry has suffered the loss of prominent artists to violence that many would say often is influenced by rap lyrics. Earlier this month, Migos member TakeOff, whose real name is Kirshnik Khari Ball, was killed on Nov. 1 in Houston following a dice game outside of 810 Billiards & Bowling. Just before in October, Philadelphia rap artist PnB Rock was fatally shot during a robbery at a famous eatery in South Los Angeles.

The outlet reported that the panel discussion about how meaningful conversations with icons who can relate is a promising start to finding solutions.

The panel also reportedly discussed the future and what can be expected from the HipHop50 Platform in 2023.

• Celebrity News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

November 21, 2022

Kandi Burruss ‘Super Upset’ ‘Kandi & The Gang’ Spin-Off Canceled After One Season

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Kandi Burruss’ spin-off, Kandi & The Gang, has been canceled and The Real Housewives of Atlanta star is not happy about it.

Kandi & The Gang premiered on Bravo earlier this year and followed Kandi’s staff and the drama at her Old Lady Gang restaurant in Atlanta. The show gave fans an inside look into how Kandi and her husband Todd Tucker run their ATL-based eateries and how their staff works through issues.

After just one season on the air, Bravo decided to pull the plug on the show. Burruss broke the news while hosting an Amazon Live session last week.

“Definitely, it is not returning,” Burruss told a fan who asked if the show was making a comeback.

“Bravo is not bringing it back. So sad and I am super upset about it.”

OMFG Reality TV captured the moment when Kandi confirmed the show’s cancellation and reposted it on Twitter.

Kandi officially confirms on her Amazon Live that her Bravo show “Kandi & The Gang” will NOT be returning for Season 2. #RHOA #KATG #KandiAndTheGang pic.twitter.com/RV3Nz5dJOV

— OMFGRealityTV (@OMFGRealityTV) November 17, 2022

Fans sounded off and called out Bravo for seemingly not investing in a Black cast of restaurant workers, while continuing to carry on Lisa Vanderpump’s long-running spin-off, Vanderpump Rules.

“So this show had actual diversity [with] fresh personalities & real friends/family in an unrehearsed setting, but instead Bravo wants to keep funneling $$ [money] into the same stale, aging VPR [Vanderpump Rules] cast, and tossing money into unnecessary shows like Girlfriends in Paris & Leva’s Bar show. Smh,” one person wrote.

“Wow, but Vanderpump Rules is still here,” added someone else.

Burruss has been busy filming another show with her Xscape group members and teased all the drama coming on that show and season 15 of RHOA. Between filming the two shows, Burruss says she’s been “battling with everybody,” Deadline reports.

“I have been in so many arguments, since the summer, since we were filming the Xscape show all the way now filming Housewives,” she revealed.

“I feel like I have argued with everybody. Like, almost had some crazy blowouts with some people.”

Burruss continued:

“There’s been some craziness happening. RHOA, of course, if I be feeling like everybody is coming for me constantly lately and this time I am just not taking it lying down,” she explained. “Yes, I have been having to read some people left and right and it’s been going down.”

Black businesses across the U.S. are thriving post-pandemic, but many are still struggling to get access to capital. Here is how the Black Cooperative Investment Fund (BCIF) is helping.

The BCIF is a nonprofit organization providing direct access to capital for Black businesses in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Founded in 2016 and launched in 2017, the BCIF seeks to create social change for the Black community by building assets and wealth.

The BCIF is led by President and Board Chair Robert Lewis who has almost 25 years of professional experience working in philanthropy and the nonprofit, human, and social services sector. Robert has been responsible for grant-making for companies such as the L.A. Care Health Plan and the California Community Foundation (CCF).

“I was working at one of the largest grant-making foundations in the country at the time, based out here in LA, and we were talking about the many ways in which Black-led nonprofits are often marginalized from philanthropy, meaning they can’t get grants the same way that mainstream nonprofits do,” Lewis told BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“So we started having conversations about what a Black-led nonprofit in California would look like and, from those conversations, economic mobility and economic power continued to come up as a theme. From that, the focus on microloans to support black businesses, that essentially rose to the top of something that we wanted to focus on.”

The BCIF provides zero-interest microloans with a 25% forgivable option. The microloans are funded through pooled dollars from individuals and organizations who are passionate about economic empowerment for the Black community.

All repayments are placed back into the fund to sustain the pool of resources for the Black community. An annual fundraising goal of $500,000 will allow the fund to distribute 24 to 36 microloans annually, ranging between $5,000 and $20,000.

The long-term goal of the BCIF is to provide a dedicated, reliable, and perpetual source of capital to create assets and build wealth for, and within, the Black community, while also serving as a catalytic force for building a critical mass movement of change based on economic imperatives.

The BCIF will even help businesses with the application, educate small Black business owners on financial resources, and offer technical advice to help grow their businesses. 

“We have partnerships that we leverage with a couple local CDFIs where we are able to provide our applicants with no-cost business coaching, technical assistance and business advisory services,” Lewis told BLACK ENTERPRISE.

The BCIF has provided microloans to Chino Beauty, Ride On Bike!, Aqua Equity, and Hygiene First. Applicants will submit a preliminary loan application online. If an application meets the basic criteria and there is interest in further exploration, the BCIF will send an invitation to complete a more comprehensive loan application packet.

“In terms of the types of Black businesses, it pretty much covers a wide array of business types,” Lewis said.

“There are a handful of businesses that we don’t fund and I think they’re the ones most folks generally think of as not having the most positive effect on our community [like] liquor stores, gambling institutions, [and] companies that profit in the adult entertainment industry.”

“Outside of that, pretty much any business is eligible,” Lewis continued.

“We typically look at businesses [that] gross more than half a million a year in annual revenues and that’s pretty much been all of our applicants up to date.”

The BCIF’s long-term plans include expanding outside of Southern California, but for now, the nonprofit is focused on creating a dedicated, reliable, and perpetual source of capital to create assets and build wealth for the Black community.

“We want to be what we call a catalytic force for building a consciousness, a mass movement around change based on economic importance. And what I mean by that is, oftentimes in our community when you’ve sought change based on moral or ethical imperatives, I call it pulling on heartstrings to get them to kind of do right by us, and we think change happens more swiftly when there are fiscal imperatives tied to it.”

• Celebrity News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

November 21, 2022

Marsai Martin Responds to Criticism Over Being Too ‘Grown’ in Savage x Fenty Show

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Actress Marsai Martin showed up and showed out in Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty Vol 4. fashion show. But many couldn’t stop talking about Marsai’s sultry appearance.

Marsai turned 18 in August, but many weren’t ready to see the Black-ish star appearing so grown for Rihanna’s fashion show.

Video Of Marsai Martin Outfit At Savage X Fenty Show Causes Stir – Watch pic.twitter.com/dzCaMtaeMY

— Peter Dredd (@PeterDredd) November 11, 2022

Martin stopped by Hot 97 with Kelly Rowland to promote their new Paramount+ film Fantasy Football. During their interview with Ebro in the Morning, Martin was asked about the strong responses to her appearance in the show on Amazon Prime.

“People had a very hard time accepting that you’re grown,” host Laura Stylez told Martin.

The Little star laughed and asked, “Really?”

When asked if she caught wind of all the criticism she’s been receiving, Martin expressed how unbothered she was by the naysayers.

“Mmhmm…I don’t really care to be completely honest,” she quipped.

Stylez noted how fans likely find it hard to see Martin as the maturing young adult she is and not the nine-year-old little girl she was when she made her debut on ABC’s Black-ish.

“I bet, I bet,” Martin said. “I’m just like all of us.”

“We just minding our young, rich, and black business to be honest,” she added.

“Outside opinions don’t really matter to me when I know my path and I know my opportunities and what I’m capable of.” The Black-ish star continued:

“I would never put myself in a position for failure any exposure of any kind [sic],” she said. “I’ve given nothing but grace in any of this and I have amazing parents that are by my side always—protecting me always.” She agreed with Stylez’s point that she was not wearing lingerie or “out there trying to show chi chi’s and stuff.”

Martin understands that people are just having a hard time watching her grow up in front of their eyes. “At this point, people are watching me grow, and that’s gon’ be that,” she said.

“Like how people gon’ feel when I grow and start having kids and get married and stuff. That’s just what happens.”

Michelle Obama put a big smile on the face of Eloise Brown after surprising the Philadelphia constituent with a visit for her 100th birthday.

Obama was in Philadelphia on Saturday to grant Eloise Brown the one wish she shared for her centennial birthday: to meet the first Black First Lady.

“It was my one only gift that I wanted for my birthday,” Brown told CBS News.

Brown has lived in South Philadelphia for over 80 years and is known for her positive impact on the community. Last week, Brown’s family, friends, and local lawmakers threw her a “centennial celebration of love” party where she told the crowd how badly she wanted to meet Obama.

As a gift to Brown, community leaders worked to grant her birthday wish. Philadelphia’s 8th District Senator, Anthony Hardy Williams, took to Facebook to praise Brown and share a video of the moment she finally got to meet the former First Lady.

“Thank you Michelle Obama for making my constituent, Mrs. Eloise Brown birthday wish come true!” he wrote.

“She has been a champion for her community for many years.”

“I had the pleasure of attending her centennial celebration of love last Saturday….we presented her with an official citation but that was no comparison to meeting you!” he added.

Speaking on the moment, Brown was at a loss for words about how she felt meeting the first, and so far only, Black woman to serve as First Lady in the White House.

“I can’t even describe it,” Brown said. “Absolutely wonderful. All I wanted to do was just shake her hand and I did it.”

Obama was in town to promote her new book as part of her six-city tour and once she caught wind of Brown’s wish, she blessed her with tickets to the event. Brown and her 95-year-old sister Johnnie Devlin were in attendance, and happy to share a moment with the best-selling author.

“They were glad to see me and I was overjoyed to see them. I can’t even express it,” she said. “It is the greatest birthday I could ever have.”

Obama also shared the video on her Facebook page while celebrating Brown.

“If I make it to 100, I hope I look as good as you, Eloise,” she captioned the post.

“So great meeting you and your family in Philly.”

A small tweak in priorities can yield significant life changes.

Connecticut pharmacist Ludwig Rosiclair went from owing $230,000 in debt to a zero balance by adjusting his spending habits and using Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball method, a debt-reduction strategy to pay off debt in order of smaller amounts to larger ones. 

According to MarketWatch, the 33-year-old racked up most of his six figures worth of debt while earning his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Connecticut. Along with educational expenses, Rosiclair accumulated a $740 monthly car payment after upgrading his car from a Subaru to an Audi that came with a loan of $47,000. In addition to his car expenses, he was paying $1,000 monthly for rent and spending a lot on leisure outings.

“Blowing through everything I had,” Rosiclair told MarketWatch.

To clear his debt, Rosiclair decided to make necessary adjustments to his spending habits, like selling his Audi for a used 2011 Acura TSX, which cut his car payment by a lot, splitting rent with two roommates, which decreased his rent from $1,000 to $450 and cutting back on extra leisure expenses. 

“I did everything possible to minimize spending and throw everything at my debt,” he said.

Feeling stuck at his job that had demanding hours and caused him stress, Rosiclair could not afford to transition to a different job with less pay because of the debt he owed.

“That was kind of the moment where I said, I’m never going to feel like this again,” he said.

Rosiclair became debt-free in August 2020, paying off the total in less than six years.

“That was honestly the most incredible feeling I have ever felt in my life,” he said. “Like a full high for days.”

Clearing his debt has allowed him to maneuver to his new job as a pharmacist at a medical marijuana dispensary.

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

November 21, 2022

Memorial Held for Football Players Killed in Charlottesville, Virginia

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A community in Charlottesville, VA celebrated and remembered the three football players who were killed last week while they were returning from a school trip.

According to ESPN, the three young men were allegedly killed by Christopher Darnell Jones Jr.

The suspect has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He has also been charged with two counts of malicious wounding and other gun-related charges related to wounding two others.

Family members, friends, and community members remembered Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry during a memorial service for the trio this past Saturday. The families of the three men killed were all seated in the front row as the complete football team from the University of Virginia, where they played, sat behind them.

The service gave everyone who attended the chance to speak about them, share memories, and honor them. University of Virginia president Jim Ryan, also stated that this will “start the healing of our beloved university.”

The MLK Community Choir performed at the memorial, and there was also a performance by Grammy-winning gospel singer CeCe Winans, who sang Goodness of God.

Two other people were wounded by gunfire, with non-life-threatening injuries. Teammate running back Mike Hollins remains hospitalized. A fifth student, Marlee Morgan, is recovering at home with her family.

According to NBC News, Jones was responsible for the shooting that was first reported around 10:30 p.m on Nov. 13. The incident reportedly took place in a parking garage on Culbreth Road, near the school’s drama building.

University of Virginia coach Tony Elliott released a statement after the tragedy took place. “I cannot find the words to express the devastation and heartache that our team is feeling today after the tragic events last night that resulted in the deaths of Lavel, D’Sean and Devin, and the others who were injured.”

“These were incredible young men with huge aspirations and extremely bright futures. Our hearts ache for their families, their classmates and their friends. These precious young men were called away too soon. We are all fortunate to have them be a part of our lives. They touched us, inspired us and worked incredibly hard as representatives of our program, university and community. Rest in peace, young men.”

You need thick skin to work in the sports industry — but wives and kids are off-limits.

Ben Watson, a former NFL tight end, shared a stage on live TV with fellow analysts Chris Doering, Takeo Spikes, and Peter Burns during coverage of a college football game on ESPN‘s SEC Network.

During the conversation for the halftime show, Burns asked Watson if he got the memo regarding everyone wearing dark suits, according to Sports Illustrated.

Watson, who had on a light-colored suit, responded, “As long as I get a text from my wife that says I look good.”

As the crew laughed, Watson held his phone and looked toward the camera as if signaling to his wife. He said, “Send me the text, baby. Send me the text.”

Burns replied to Watson saying, “That’s not the text she sent me,” which spurred more laughter.

A Twitter post showed that neither Watson nor Burns were in the camera shot. But, seconds later, Watson was seen returning to his seat, with a less jovial expression than he had previously. Burns didn’t come back to his seat.

😲 Not sure if this just turned into a random bit, but Benjamin Watson looks legit upset that Peter Burns made a joke about his wife. pic.twitter.com/XxLvhgrnx5

— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) November 19, 2022

Burns later posted a picture of himself and Watson on Twitter. Watson responded to the post by saying his co-host still owes his wife an apology.

“Moving on. But you still owe Mrs Watson a public apology.”

Moving on. But you still owe Mrs Watson a public apology. https://t.co/nNASqU5A6P

— Benjamin Watson (@BenjaminSWatson) November 20, 2022

OutKick reported that it reached out to ESPN and was given a response by Amanda Brooks, ESPN Director, College Football & SEC Network. She wrote, “Entire thing was a performance bit. Benjamin 100% deserves an Emmy nomination.”

Elementary student Nash Johnson, from Lexington, KY, hoped to purchase an Xbox gaming console.

But the 8-year-old knew that would be difficult when he only made $5 a week from completing chores.

“I just wanted to find my friends on Xbox and play Xbox,” Johnson told NBC affiliate station WCNC Charlotte.

Without his mother’s knowledge, Johnson took matters into his own hands and filled out an online application for a dishwasher position at a nearby restaurant, Drake’s, according to the outlet.

“He’s like, ‘I can get me more money if I go get me a job, that’s going to get me more money than doing my chores at home, that $5 a week gets me,” his mother, Belinda Johnson, told WCNC.

So, Nash found the easiest thing he knew how to do – washing dishes.

“That had to be the easiest job I knew. Also, I’m very good at washing the dishes,” Nash told WCNC.

However, there was an age criterion of at least 16 years old, which Nash was well short of meeting.

However, Nash discovered a loophole in the application that he felt would help him accomplish this task.

“It didn’t ask for my actual age, and it didn’t ask me when I was born, so I put I was under 18,” Nash told the outlet.

His mother was quite impressed once she found out what he had done. She told WCNC that financial literacy was always an important topic in their household.

“That kid is not afraid to fail. He’s a go-getter,” Belinda said.

Although Nash’s age was discovered and he was prevented from getting the job, the restaurant still rewarded him by inviting him to an orientation and gifting him an Xbox, which left Nash in shock.

“I wish I had the job and the Xbox,” Nash told WCNC. “I do have the Xbox, but I wish I had the job!”

His mother told the outlet that she is proud of her son’s actions and that her lessons about hard work are resonating with Nash.