• Celebrity News

by Stacy Jackson

October 5, 2022

Sixers Coach Doc Rivers Gives Players Some Black History Pointers During Training Camp

---

Coaches set examples for their players, and this NBA coach is encouraging his players to brush up on their American history.

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers is using his platform to fight against racial injustice. In an effort to advocate for social change, the NBA coach took his players on a road trip to Charleston, South Carolina, during training camp not only to practice and run plays, but to educate the athletes on American history. 

“Teaching American history is under assault right now. And it’s not Black history or teaching about slavery, it’s American history,” Rivers said. “And so I was amazed. The first thing that I was taught the other day was, how many players, and not only players, coaches, came up to me and said, ‘Wow, I never was taught that in my history class.’”

Although the team normally hosts training camp in New Jersey, Rivers schedule for the Sixers to practice at The Citadel, according to the NBA. The professional athletes had the chance to experience the college’s campus full of tanks, jets, and plaques dedicated to prisoners of war. 

In addition to team practices, Rivers and the Sixers reportedly organized educational field trips to the Old Slave Mart Museum, where many of the staff are known to be ancestors of the enslaved people of Charleston. The field trips also included a visit to the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture. The team also had the honor of hearing insightful words from Citadel President Gen. Glenn Walters and Bernard Powers, a retired professor and historian. 

This week transcended basketball. Dr. Bernard Powers led the team through Charleston’s landmarks, including The Old Slave Mart Museum, the soon-to-open International African American Museum (@iaamuseum), & the Avery Research Center. Many thanks to all our hosts and educators. pic.twitter.com/0vmYxxxSsp

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 2, 2022

“My people, my African people coming here, the people that gave up their lives for us to be able to be in this position, it was good to learn about all of that,” said center Joel Embiid, Cameroon-native who recently became a U.S. citizen.

According to NBA, after the team finished up practice at The Citadel, Rivers addressed the shooting of the 14-year-old near a northwest Philadelphia high school athletic field before answering questions for reporters.

“I’ve always been aware of politics, I’ve always been involved. But what got me involved is, we have this separation of race now, of pitting races against each other.”

The NBA Social Justice Coalition board member informed that this generation of NBA players are reportedly more politically aware and involved in societal change than when he played in the 1980s and ’90s. However, he hopes that the players with a larger social media reach would speak on current events. The NBA says there will be no scheduled games this season on Nov. 8, which is Election Day.

Black people have found ways to progress despite the many doors that have been shut.

Filmmaker and scholar, Henry Louis Gates Jr., celebrates history with his new docuseries, “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine,” a four-episode project that examines the African American experience in the United States. The series spotlights the resilience of Black people and how the social, cultural, and religious investments have contributed to a successfully evolving Black culture, despite the odds.

Making Black America: Through the Grapevine premieres TOMORROW Oct 4 at 9/8c on @PBS. Join us and celebrate how dope it is to be Black!

A special thank you to our corporate sponsors @BankofAmerica and Johnson & Johnson (@JNJNews). #MakingBlackAmericaPBS pic.twitter.com/O0jusRAGds

— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) October 3, 2022

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gates discusses that his documentary is a counterintuitive way of making a political statement.

“I’m asking and answering the simple question which every African American understands as soon as I say it in a lecture hall: What did our people do when the curtain of white supremacy came crashing down? Did we sit around and say, “Woe is me?” Did we sit around and cry? Was protesting all we did,” Gates says.

“No! We re-created the worlds from which we were excluded, just like our Jewish brothers and sisters did. Our Black social networks go back to pre-USA, before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”

According to the outlet, Gates designed the project to reach a Black and non-Black audience in hopes of revealing the true history of Black Americans. He explains that the message of the documentary is for people to understand how African Americans created spaces within a world that excluded Blacks. The docuseries covers areas such as the founding of the Prince Hall Masons in 1775, and the beginnings of historically black colleges and universities.

“The timing is perfect because I want to educate Americans about how much agency Black people have exhibited and possessed since slavery time. Our people created a world-class culture — the spirituals, the blues, ragtime, jazz, folklore. We built a first-class civilization,” he says.

The literary critic also wants viewers to witness present day Black society as the episodes venture through the Black Lives Matter movement and Black Twitter.

The documentary, written, hosted, and produced by Gates, alongside Shayla Harris, who produced and directed the series with Stacey L. Holman, premieres on PBS Tuesday, October 4.

Meet the Black woman entrepreneur who went from selling her frozen pudding out of a car in Chicago to securing major distribution at Walgreens.

Genesis Bencivenga Sr. took to TikTok late last month to post a tearful testimony of taking Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding from the southside of Chicago to the shelves of major retail distribution.

“I’m from the southside of Chicago, from the LeClaire Courts,” Bencivenga captioned the video. “I Genesis Bencivenga Sr., has a product in Walgreens.”

The frozen pudding maker added an introductory caption over her video adding more insight into her growth as a business owner.

“Lil girl from the projects on the Southside of Chicago got her Southern-Style Frozen Pudding in Walgreens,” Bencivenga wrote over the video.

@lorenzosfrozenpudding I’m from the southside of Chicago,from the LeClaire Courts. I Genesis Bencivenga Sr., has a product in Walgreens. #Walgreens #truereaction @Walgreens ♬ original sound – LorenzosFrozenPudding

Bencivenga described the long journey to scaling the frozen pudding company. Her father, Lorenzo, launched Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding back in 2011 as a way to bring in a new stream of income for their family, Walgreens Newsroom reports.

The family would hustle to sell the different flavors of the frozen pudding out of their car on the streets of Chicago. The family initially crafted the pudding in their kitchen before moving to a shared kitchen and selling to local Chicago retailers in 2013.

The business was going well but the father-daughter duo didn’t have enough resources to meet the rising demand. In 2015, Bencivenga reignited the brand after her father retired.

“We weren’t selling on the street anymore because we were in about 50 stores between 2015 to 2017,” Bencivenga told Walgreens.

“We were handing out samples and doing demos and it caught fire just like it did before. But we couldn’t keep up with demand again. I knew we had a great product people wanted to buy, but we didn’t have the back-end infrastructure for manufacturing and distribution that we needed, so I had to shut it down again.”

Now, with the support of Top Shelf, Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding had secured distribution at Walgreens.

• Entrepreneurship

by Black Enterprise Shop

October 5, 2022

Take Your Copywriting Efforts To The Next Level with this Copywriting Masterclass

---

Companies and brands disseminate their products or their missions through carefully tailored messages for their target audiences. Over the years, and with the rise of the internet, they’ve turned to professionals to craft and package those messages.

While copywriting has always been a useful skill, it’s erupted in popularity in part because of demand. As digital marketing takes an even larger role in the future, the career outlook for copywriters of the digital variety looks promising.

The 2022 Complete Digital Copywriting Master Class Bundle offers a solid introduction to the field for newcomers and seasoned copywriters alike. For a limited time, you can purchase this bundle for $29.99 as part of Deal Days, our alternative to Prime Day. Save 97.86% off of the MSRP.

Deal Days ends at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 12. Check out these awesome low-priced Deal Days products.

Seven courses spanning 248 lessons are included in this bundle.

The “Copywriting Bootcamp 2022 with Phil Ebiner” course is a great primer for all things copywriting. This 4.6-star rated course teaches the best copywriting practices to be successful. It covers everything from putting together a complete marketing campaign to crafting catchier headlines and copy for website landing pages.

Email marketing has become even more important over the past two years. The “Intro to Email Marketing With MailChimp for Beginners” course offers an in-depth yet beginner-friendly foray into the arena. You’ll learn how to build an email list, set up email automation, and analyze email reports to maximize performance and improve earnings, among other useful tips.

The “Understand How Search Engine Works & Plan Your Copy Before You Start Writing” course helps ensure your copywriting efforts land exactly where you intend. This 4.7-star rated course helps you develop a keyword list that helps Google find the perfect audience. Tips aimed at advanced optimization to boost your search engine results are also among the many topics covered in this 28-lecture course.

Get a head start on the copywriting renaissance by purchasing this information-packed bundle at its Deal Days price.

Prices subject to change.

• Environment

by Stacy Jackson

October 4, 2022

Brown Water, No Electricity, No Help — Black Residents in One Florida Neighborhood Feels Forgotten About After Hurricane Ian

---

Residents say authorities are dragging their feet to aid a historically African American neighborhood in Fort Myers Florida.

Following the disruption of Hurricane Ian, low-income communities in Florida are reportedly still awaiting assistance from authorities and lawmakers.

According to NPR, the storm’s aftermath has caused a shortage of resources for many communities, including loss of electricity, unsanitary water that looks brownish, and putrid aromas from sewage.

In a report by the outlet, Black residents in Fort Myers, Florida, revealed the damage to their homes that resulted from the hurricane.

“They’re saying the islands got destroyed. Well, we’re destroyed, too. We’re really messed up here,” said 24-year-old Lexxus Cherry, a resident in the Dunbar area. The historically African American neighborhood consists of “squat homes” and reportedly faced the crisis on its own.

Cherry’s uncle, Ta’Wan Grant, explained that he observed a pattern of a lack of attention toward low-income communities after they experienced natural disasters. The hurricane ripped away his air conditioning unit, leaving a hole in the side of his house.

“I understand that the city is trying its best to restore everybody’s power,” he said. “But this is a common thing that I’m seeing in cities around America. Whenever a disaster happens, for some reason the city is slow to respond to people in ethnic communities, in low-income communities.”

“We are the ones who need the most help,” Grant said.

Cherry’s mother, who lives nearby in the low-income area, said she’s never seen one police officer ride through to check on the community.

Other residents in surrounding neighborhoods shared that they’ve found places to receive help and resources, including Sheddrick Jacobs and his wife, Sheneka, who live near Dunbar High School. According to Jacobs, the couple was headed to the centralized shelter with power and water at the Hertz Arena in Estero.

“I’m getting what I need, and I think other people are getting what they need too,” he said. “From what I see on Facebook and Instagram and then us coming to here, I think it’s been great.”

The storm affected many areas in and around the city on Sunday, estimating nearly 580,000 people left without electricity and 120 issued boil notices throughout 22 counties, according to PowerOutage.

• Leadership

by Derek Major

October 4, 2022

Kodak Black Gives Back, Pays Rent for 28 Florida Families Facing Eviction

---

Rapper Kodak Black and the Zachariah McQueen Foundation have teamed up to help more than two dozen families facing eviction at the Merry Place Apartments in West Palm Beach, Florida.

WPTV reports Black and the foundation have paid the rent of 28 families living in the complex for the rest of the 2022 calendar year.

“When people get up and go to work daily, they should be able to come home and relax without worrying if they would have a roof over their head the next month. But unfortunately, we live in a society where people can barely get a raise at work, but can be told that their rent has increased by over $1,000 without any real warning. That’s just not right,” Black said in a written statement according to WPTV.

“I am truly blessed, and I have always had the mindset that my purpose is to bless others. So as long as I can, I will continue to bless others and give back to my community.”

Black, who was shot earlier this year, has made numerous donations and other charitable endeavors in his Florida community and received a proclamation from former Broward County Mayor Dave Holness for his philanthropic efforts.

It’s not just people in Florida struggling to pay rent. Americans across the country are facing evictions as rent continues to rise and inflation is outpacing the growth in wages. According to ScheerPost, more than 3 million Americans will face evictions before Thanksgiving.

“We are trying to curb the housing crisis and shed light on it,” Francky Pierre-Paul, the founder of the non-profit A Different Shade of Love, told WPTV.

“And with him having such a huge platform, we’re just trying to show people—even in the light of holidays coming up—you have to think about the people facing eviction every single month.”

In addition to rising inflation, rent across the country is rising, keeping younger people at home longer. Rising rent affects everyone, from Florida residents to those living in Manhattan and even people living in mobile home communities.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg doesn’t appreciate when film reviewers criticize looks.

Goldberg, who stars in and produced the new Emmett Till biopic film, had just wrapped up a celebratory weekend for the film’s launch during the 60th New York Film Festival, Entertainment Weekly reported. But the 66-year-old co-host returned on Monday morning’s episode of The View to set the record straight about a recent write-up about Till that rubbed her the wrong way.

The writer made reference to Goldberg’s “distracting” fat suit— except that Goldberg, who plays Till’s grandmother, Alma Carthan, wasn’t wearing one. The review appears to have been published by The Daily Beast.

“I don’t really care about how you felt about the movie,” Goldberg said on the show. “But you should know that was not a fat suit, that was me. That was me. That was steroids.”

“Remember last year? I assume you don’t watch the show, or you would know that was not a fat suit. It’s OK not be a fan of movie, but you want to leave people’s looks out. Just comment on the acting. And if you have a question, ask somebody. I’m sure you didn’t mean to be demeaning.”

.@WhoopiGoldberg speaks on the importance of her film ‘Till,’ which premiered at New York Film Festival, and she addresses a claim that she wore a fat suit in the film.

“You should know that was not a fat suit,” she says. “Just comment on the acting.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/V7ULf3c8Pi

— The View (@TheView) October 3, 2022

Fellow panelist Sunny Hostin noted that Goldberg was “very ill.” Back in 2019, Goldberg publicly shared her health challenges, including her battle with pneumonia and missing appearances on The View for several weeks, per Deadline. With grace, Goldberg schools the writer on how to approach getting information for writing film reviews.

“We will hope that she just didn’t know, and now she’ll know the next time you go to talk about somebody, you talk about them as an actor,” Goldberg advised, per EW. “If you’re not sure if that’s them in there, don’t make blanket statements, because it makes you not sound like you know what you’re doing.”

An editor’s note indicates that the review “has been updated to reflect that Whoopi Goldberg says she was not wearing a fat suit.”

After all of the teasers and lyric videos, the Beyhive finally have a new visual to watch.

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter dropped a new film in partnership with Tiffany & Co. for the finale song on Renaissance, “Summer Renaissance, Monday morning, October 3, making this the second year going into partnership with the jeweler.

The “SUMMER RENAISSANCE” is here in our new campaign film with @Beyonce. Discover more: https://t.co/XivTUYNm6V #LOSEYOURSELFINLOVE #JeanSchlumberger #TiffanyAndCo pic.twitter.com/lZDd2Ty0BJ

— Tiffany & Co. (@TiffanyAndCo) October 3, 2022

The visual for “Summer Renaissance,” which samples Donna Summer’s 1977 smash “I Feel Love,” is a black-and-white film, directed by Grammy Award winner Mark Romanek (“Scream,” “Got til It’s Gone,” “Hurt”).

In a 30 sec clip, per The Hollywood Reporter, viewers can catch sight of Queen Bey flaunting a variety of signature jewels, surrounded by several of the 90 dancers wearing the Tiffany & Co. designs that include Mesh and Bean pieces from the house’s Elsa Peretti collection. The film embraces a Studio 54 vibe as the worldwide superstar enters a packed club where dancers are spinning, twirling, and moving through the center of the floor rocking full glam.

“Beyoncé is an inspiration to so many because she embodies these qualities,” Alexandre Arnault, executive vp product and communications for Tiffany & Co. states, according to the outlet. “We are honored to continue our partnership for the second year in a row and usher in an exciting new era of love.”

According to THR, the designs for the newly-released film included a round diamond with over 10 carats in a Tiffany setting on a platinum ring, in addition to a glamorous a necklace and earrings crafted by one of the company’s veteran designers, Jean Schlumberger. The house’s Jewelry Design and Innovation Workshop in New York City also crafted a custom 18-karat gold piece inspired by the graduated-link necklace from Tiffany & Co.’s HardWear collection. The piece for the Renaissance film contains links that are three times the size of the original.

The behind-the-scenes crew involved fashion photographer Mason Poole, Beyoncé’s stylist, Marni Senofonte, stylist and Vogue Italia editor-at-large Patti Wilson, and choreographer Fatima Robinson.

The worldwide superstar has previously been in partnership with the jewelry company alongside her husband, Jay-Z Carter for the “About Love” campaign released in August 2021, where they created a film for “Lose Yourself in Love.” Tiffany & Co. also wanted to represent their ongoing partnership with the Carters on its About Love Scholarship Program where together, they pledged $2 million to award to students in arts and other creative fields who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Reportedly, a limited quantity of the large-scale necklace will be available for purchase on Oct. 23.

Grey’s Anatomy actor Jesse Williams and his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, returned to court last week after he requested visitation rights over Drake-Lee’s objections.

The latest ruling gives the stage and TV actor the visitation rights in what has been a lengthy court battle. According to People, the couple, who was married for five years and share two children, have been in and out of court since the actor filed for divorce in 2017.

According to court documents, both parents appeared in court September 30. As he moves to New York City to return to his starring role in the hit Broadway revival of Take Me Out, Williams was awarded the visitation rights he wanted with his son and daughter. Previously, the court granted him custody of his kids for four consecutive days a month while he was working in New York last spring.

His ex did not want the request granted but the judge wasn’t swayed. The court ruled that their two children can do so on specific days in October, November, and December. Drake-Lee wanted the kids to stay in Los Angeles.

In addition to the latest judgment, the court also stated that Williams and Drake-Lee would have to complete 10 sessions of co-parenting counseling.

The order also specifically stated that “each party is restrained from making derogatory remarks about the other party, either directly or indirectly to the minor children, nor allow any third party to do so.” The former couple can not “discuss this case with or in front of the minor children nor allow anyone else to do so” or use their children as “a messenger to deliver messages to the other parent.”

They must also comply with similar orders online as the judge said that neither parent can “post derogatory remarks about the other party that the minor children can see in social media.”

In April, after settling a child custody dispute between the couple,  a judge lowered the amount of Williams’ child support payments, which was $40,000 monthly. The payments were “temporarily modified” to $6,413 due to Williams’ current salary on Take Me Out.

• Education

by Stacy Jackson

October 4, 2022

Staged ‘Slave Auction’ Prank Causes California High School Football Team To Forfeit Season

---

Players on River Valley High School’s football team in Yuma City, California, are reaping the consequences after a video circulated on social media of some members appearing to “auction” off Black teammates.

The act has led the team to forfeit the rest of the season.

KCRA 3 reported that school district officials investigated the video Thursday. It reportedly shows 12 students shouting out dollar amounts while pointing in the direction of what appeared to be three Black students standing against a wall in their underwear.

“The recording clearly demonstrates that this situation was orchestrated and organized, which underscores my concern that students spent time contemplating this terrible act without the slightest regard that this action is hateful and hurtful,” Yuba City Unified School District Superintendent Doreen Osumi said in a statement to the news outlet.

“They may argue that it was a joke, and they intended no harm, but the fact is that this is not only harmful, it is disgraceful.”

According to CNN, Osumi said the students who were involved in the incident, which she describes as an “unfortunate and extremely distressing,” were prohibited from competing on the team for the remainder of the football season. The action was a violation of the student-athlete code of conduct.

The misconduct from the involved players resulted in there being a shortage of eligible players on the varsity roster, causing the team to forfeit the rest of the season.

“Re-enacting a slave sale as a prank tells us that we have a great deal of work to do with our students so they can distinguish between intent and impact,” the superintendent wrote in a statement.

“They may have thought this skit was funny, but it is not; it is unacceptable and requires us to look honestly and deeply at issues of systemic racism,” Osumi noted.

A spokesperson from The California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports, told KCRA it supported the final decision made by the River Valley administrators and the district in response to the students’ acts.

“Discrimination in any form or any acts that are disrespectful or demeaning are unacceptable and are not consistent with the principles of the CIF,” a spokesperson said.

Osumi said that possible disciplinary action may be taken against some of the involved students and the school is working on implementing “education, honest, open discussions, and instruction” surrounding racism.