Last month, the owner of the Las Vegas Raiders went on record to say he’d welcome former Super Bowl quarterback Colin Kaepernick with “open arms” if his head coach and general manager were on board. According to ESPN, the NFL team owner kept his word, and Kaepernick worked out for the team Wednesday.
NBC Sports reported that Mark Davis, owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, said Kaepernick is deserving of every chance to become a quarterback in the league once again. Davis spoke in an interview as part of Race in America: A Candid Conversation in April.
“I believe in Colin Kaepernick,” Davis said.
“He deserves every chance in the world to become a quarterback in the National Football League. I still stand by it. If our coaches and general manager want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on this team, I would welcome him with open arms.”
On Wednesday, Kaepernick worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders. It was his first time interacting with an NFL team since May 2017, when he flew to Seattle to meet with the Seahawks to discuss playing with them. The Seahawks did not sign Kaepernick, and he has been out of the league ever since.
Although he completed a workout for the Las Vegas Raiders, Kaepernick would likely be a backup quarterback if he is invited to join the team. Derek Carr is already the starting quarterback for the Raiders. The team has two other quarterbacks on the roster: Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens.
Kaepernick, whose football skills were never in question, came close to winning the Super Bowl in 2013 when he led the San Francisco 49ers to the title game. The team lost a close game, 34-31, to the Baltimore Ravens.
Kaepernick, who was the starting quarterback in Super Bowl XLVII for the San Francisco 49ers in 2013, sparked the controversial #TakeAKnee movement after taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice in America. Eric Reid, Kaepernick’s teammate, also kneeled in solidarity to help bring awareness to racial injustice and police brutality against Blacks.
‘Legs and Hips and BODY BODY!’ Funniest Reactions to Kandi Burruss’ Latest TikTok Trend
Kandi Burruss has become a viral sensation by accident after social media caught wind of a song she wrote for one of her old stage plays.
It’s been nearly a decade since Kandi penned the song “Legs, Hips, Body” for her 2014 stage play “A Mother’s Love”, as noted by CheatSheet. The song features Kandi’s Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star Porsha Williams, Danity Kane singer D Woods, and comedian/TV personality Funky Dineva.
The song was performed as part of the play that was supposed to go on tour, but it was ultimately canceled. But leave it up to social media to unearth footage from the performance and turn it into a viral trend years later.
The rest became history. The catchy tune quickly gained steam on social media and served as the perfect background music for so many memes and video clips.
“I was giving #LegsHipsAndBody at the #loversandfriendsfestival!” she captioned the post.
Kandi’s songwriting skills have garnered her Grammy awards and Billboard plaques for songs like TLC’s “No Scrubs”, NSYNC’s “Space Cowboys, and a number of Destiny’s Child songs including their first #1 hit “Bills, Bills, Bills” and the popular track “Bug A Boo”.
“I use a lot of my past relationships as inspiration,” Burruss told Glamour about working with Destiny’s Child. “The relationship I had been in prior to [writing the song], I took inspiration from it…though I didn’t tell them that.”
Former NYC Shelter Executive Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Rampant Bribery
Victor Rivera, former CEO of the Bronx Parent Housing Network, one of the largest homeless shelter operators in New York City, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, The New York Times reported.
Manhattan federal Judge Sidney Stein handed down a sentence of 27 months for Rivera Monday for receiving $1.2 million in kickbacks from contractors that were hired by the non-profit that he created.
Rivera will serve his time in federal prison for schemes he initiated from 2013 to 2020.
“You hurt a substantial not-for-profit organization,” Stein said in a federal courtroom. “You made people cynical about government anti-poverty programs. You sent a signal that it was OK to stuff your own pockets with money.”
Rivera founded the Bronx Parent Housing Network in 2000, the Times reported, and “he developed the organization into a major player in the city’s social services industry by leaning heavily on his personal story of redemption. He said he had once been homeless, incarcerated and addicted to crack cocaine before turning his life around and starting the nonprofit organization to help the less fortunate.”
The Bronx Parent Housing Network has received more than $274 million in city funding to run homeless shelters since 2017, according to the Times.
But, the newspaper reported, Rivera wanted more. He took a cut of payments to a construction company for performing shelter renovations. He navigated millions of dollars in contracts to a security firm, which then paid him with kickbacks and hired his ex-wife for a high-paying job. Rivera was accused of getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a real estate firm linked to a former business partner.
“I was entrusted with a lot of money and a lot of responsibility, and I failed,” Rivera said to Judge Stein at his sentencing hearing. “I am totally embarrassed and ashamed for the heartbreak and shame I caused my family.”
Rivera received the length of his sentence for being found guilty of one count of honest services fraud. The former chief executive officer must surrender to authorities June 30. Rivera also agreed to forfeit $1.2 million and repay his shelter organization more than $902,000.
Since The New York Times started investigating Rivera, five women have filed lawsuits against him accusing him of sexual harassment.
Suspected Bronx Gang Members Arrested After Boasting About Crimes Committed Against Rivals in Rap Videos
Less than three weeks ago, Atlanta hip-hop artists Young Thug and Gunna were arrested on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges related to alleged street crimes, including murder and drug charges. Now, suspected members of the “drill rap” scene in the Bronx have been arrested and charged similarly.
According to ABC 7 NY, almost 35 alleged members of the RPT, or River Park Towers, organization have been charged with multiple indictments earlier this week in New York City. The charges against the organization include conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, attempted assault, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell revealed a 65-count indictment related to several shootings in and around the River Park Towers complex located in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx.
PIX11 has reported that Clark has stated that some of the defendants are members of New York City’s “drill rap” scene. She alleges they have “posted videos boasting of shootings they committed. The defendants are allegedly members of “the RPT organization,” a suspected gang in the Bronx. The gang operates in and around the River Park Towers housing development in Morris Heights.
An investigation into the organization states that the defendants charged had “agreed to engage in acts of violence,” including murder and assault. They would then “brag about their acts of violence and their easy access to firearms.”
Another indictment charges seven of the defendants with attempted murder and other charges for an incident that transpired on Aug. 17, 2020. The defendants allegedly fired about 11 rounds into a building vestibule and almost hit the head of one of the targets.
A third indictment is for an incident on Rikers Island on Apr. 25, 2021. RPT members and their allies allegedly committed a gang assault on a member of the Crips gang.
There is also a charge of an animal cruelty misdemeanor after they live-streamed killing a pigeon that flew into the area. They compared the bird to a Crip who strayed into their neighborhood.
“If we get 100 views, we’ll kill it,” one defendant said on the live stream. After reaching that number, they beat the pigeon to death with a cane on Facebook Live.
“These defendants allegedly engaged in gun violence, committing six shootings, one which injured a rival gang member,” Clark said.
“They allegedly fired wildly on the streets without regard for the lives of anyone else. They allegedly possessed a gun used in shootings that they posed with on social media and rapped about the violence. I thank the NYPD for their partnership in this investigation. We are doing all we can to battle the gun scourge, but more must be done to deviate young people from a life of gangs and senseless violence. I am calling on rappers from the Bronx to stop using music to encourage shootings and use it to better the community. I am asking to have a summit with aspiring rappers and the rap stars who come from the Bronx, record companies, radio stations, and social media so we can find solutions to prevent further violence.”
A Dynamic Trio of Black Friends Created A Card Game To Combat Cancel Culture
LikeU, a new Black-owned and created card game, was formed by three friends who envision a world without cancel culture and with more love.
Friends Kiara Imani, Brian Taylor, and Michael Nelder Henderson came together to introduce an experience that strives to combat cancel culture, one deck at a time. Motivated by storytelling, the trio intended for players to connect through powerful connections by getting to know each other and discovering what they have in common.
(Target)
“Typically, when we don’t understand someone, our default is to distance, shame, blame or fix them. . . . LikeU cards serve as a tool to aid in what we believe is the most impactful form of activism – storytelling. We created this game to help people become students of other people’s stories, to remind others that the most powerful words besides ‘I love you,’ are ‘me too,’” the creators explain, according to a press release sent to BLACK ENTERPRISE.
Now available in Target nationwide, LikeU features 120 curated, light-hearted and thought-provoking questions split into two groups. Based on Target’s product description, “the yellow questions explore what makes us fascinating and the blue questions uncover what makes us human.” The game has no rules, just suggested ways to play. According to the LikeU cards website, the offerings include a travel pack and an expanded pack.
The creators behind LikeU are a diverse group of professionals, who first met at church. They each bring their individual strengths to the table.
Imani is a multi-hyphenate creative, writer, speaker, radio show host, and attorney. Nearly three years before releasing LikeU, she quit her 9 to 5 job to pursue a variety of creative projects. Her decision was motivated by Beyonce reposting her viral dance video to the singer’s cover of the Earth, Wind, & Fire classic “Before I Let Go.”
“I realized then that I didn’t have to hide my other gifts and talents or choose between intellect and creativity,” she said. “Like Beyonce, I could do it all. She’s a creative, a businesswoman, and an entrepreneur who never subscribed to the idea that she had to follow a traditional career path.”
Taylor is a Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning songwriter, leveraging his background in business and entertainment to aid people in finding confidence in their own voices and stories.
Henderson, a poet, author, and TEDx speaker, has brought his creative talents to universities, businesses, and prisons.
In addition to Target’s partnership, LikeU is anticipating an expansion for the opportunity to bring the game to the classroom. The co-founders are already in creation mode for a child-like version of the game.
Get your LikeU cards now online at LikeUcards.com and at Target.
U.S. Cities Are Changing How Traffic Stops Are Conducted As Black Drivers Are Disproportionately Affected
Cities across the U.S. are changing how their police conduct traffic stops to prevent unnecessary escalations and the racial profiling of Black Americans.
CBS News reported in 2020, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor and city officials banned traffic stops for minor infractions to avoid unnecessary escalations, racial profiling, and using a minor violation to search a car. Schor told CBS News the move could save the lives of both civilians and officers.
“Our police officers are still pulling people over,” Schor said. “But they’re doing it for public safety reasons.”
If Lansing’s plan was implemented statewide, Patrick Lyoya, who was killed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, may still be alive after he was stopped over a mismatched license plate last month.
Chief Ellery Sosebee of the Lansing Police Department added the risk of not pulling someone over is worth the reward of avoiding a potentially life-threatening situation.
“If I pull over a traffic stop for a busted taillight and there’s not a gun in there, and it escalates into something that puts the officer’s life in jeopardy or the citizen’s life in jeopardy, it’s just not worth it,” Sosebee told CBS.
A New York Timesinvestigation found that police have killed more than 400 unarmed drivers and passengers since 2017, a rate of more than once per week.
Black motorists are overrepresented among those deaths. Daunte Wright was shot and killed after being pulled over for expired license plates. Philando Castile was shot and killed by a Minnesota officer who thought he pulled out a gun during a traffic stop.
In addition to Michigan, Oregon and Washington State have also introduced bills limiting traffic stops. However, not everyone is on the side of limiting traffic stops. Two years after Virginia passed a law limiting traffic stops, the state is now trying to reverse those changes. Chicago police officer Ella French was also shot and killed during a traffic stop last summer.
Chesapeake, Virginia, Police chief KelvinWright, who is Black, said for him, the issue isn’t the stops but the escalation of the situation by both police and citizens.
“Things escalate out of control in domestics, in shoplifting — gosh, just about any type of call we respond to, which tells me that it is a people problem,” he said.
All Things Black: This Former Journalist Created A Search Engine To Support Black Experiences
Former journalist Ngozi Ahanotusaw a need to self-fund and build a search engine that amplifies the Black experience while also making it easier to access.
Ahanotu launched hiihat in March 202 with the help of a Black software developer company, which she tediously found after sorting through 30 pages on Google. Hiihat is the platform where you can search all things Black.
In one click, users can browse products, services, places, news outlets, and media platforms “without having to add the terms’ Black-owned’, ‘African-American’ or whatever else major search engines need to get to the point,” according to the platform’s website.
“It’s a hassle to find all things Black, all-in-one place,” Ahanotu wrote on her LinkedIn. “I founded hiihat.com to make the search for all things Black more useful, social, and equal. Our community and allies need a trusted, straightforward way to support Black life and experience. Our website is the easiest way to do it.”
To date, hiihat has amassed nearly 500,000 links built into the search engine, including a special feature. A Places tab has been incorporated for users to locate brick-and-mortar locations and businesses.
Through a Click Coins program, Black-owned businesses can have a “stake in what the community is searching for and being able to put their business at the forefront,” Ahanotu said, as per Afro Tech. The program is also making efforts for HBCU students to succeed in the professional world and connect with Black-owned businesses.
The platform’s immense growth needs consistent funding. For Ahanotu, self-funding her business is well worth it, especially for the Black community.
“One of the main reasons I’m OK with having gone this far to do this and spend all this money, because it’s self-funded from me freelancing and, and writing, is I have found that having something Black-owned or a whole line of Black-owned products in your life is really freeing,” Ahanotu said.
She continued, “I want people, especially if they’re Black, to have the same experience I had because we don’t always get to have those satisfying experiences on a regular basis. That’s what hiihat could do because it is a bridge to make all those areas of your life led by Black-owned businesses while circulating the dollar a lot faster.”
Husband Of Uvalde Teacher Killed, Dies of Heart Attack After Grieving
This is so tragic.
As if the tragedy in Uvalde wasn’t traumatic enough, after a shooter stormed fourth-graders at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 kids and two teachers including Irma Garcia, now TMZ is reporting that her husband has died too.
According to the outlet, Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma one of the two teachers killed in the mass shooting on Tuesday, has died of a heart attack due to grief. The two were married for 24 years.
John Martinez, Garcia’s nephew, posted this message,
“EXTREMELY heartbreaking and come with deep sorrow to say that my Tia Irma’s husband Joe Garcia has passed away due to grief, I truly am at a loss for words for how we are all feeling, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY, God have mercy on us, this isn’t easy.”
From Reuters:
– For Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, teaching fourth graders at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, was one of the joys of their lives, a vocation dedicated to educating children and keeping them out of harm’s way.
Relatives briefed by police said Garcia and Mireles died on Tuesday trying to protect their students after a gunman burst into their classroom, barricaded the doors and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle.
Nineteenth children, aged 9 and 10, and the gunman himself were killed, and multiple others were wounded.
Garcia, a married mother of four who taught at Robb Elementary for 23 years, was a “sweet, kind, loving” teacher who considered her students to be family, her relatives aid.
“She passed away with children in her arms trying to protect them,” her nephew John Martinez wrote on Twitter. “Those weren’t just her students they were her kids as well.”
The daughter of the other teacher, Eva Mireles, penned a tribute to her mother on Wednesday, which was to have been nearly the last day of the school year.
“I don’t know how to do this life without you, but I will take care of dad. I will take care of our dogs and I will forever say your name so you are always remembered, Eva Mireles, 4th-grade teacher at Robb Elementary who selflessly jumped in front of her students to save their lives,” Adalynn Ruiz wrote on Facebook.
Garcia, 46, was named “teacher of the year” at the school to which she dedicated her entire career. In 2019, she was one of 19 San Antonio-area educators named as finalists for Trinity University’s prize for excellence in teaching. At the time she taught third grade, specializing in social studies and ELAR, or English Language Arts and Reading.
“I am so excited to begin this new school year already!” Garcia wrote in note on the school district’s website before this academic year began.
The longtime educator offered students a glimpse into her personal life and her passions, saying she loved barbecuing with her husband of 24 years, Joe. She was the proud mother of four: her eldest son was at military boot camp and her second son at Texas State University. She had two younger daughters as well.
A Facebook photo showed her husband and son holding a heart-shaped sign that reads “Proud Bobcat family,” a nod to the football team at Texas State.
Eva Mireles was trained in bilingual and special education. She loved outdoors activity like running and hiking and cherished her husband, daughter and “three furry friends,” according to a short biography pasted on the school’s website.
Her husband, Ruben Ruiz, is a police officer on the school district’s police force, the agency investigating the massacre.
Her aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, grieved for her niece in a Facebook post, asking for prayers for her family and the entire town of Uvalde. The community, about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio, has about 16,000 residents, nearly 80% of them Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data.
“I’m furious that these shootings continue. These children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all. This is my hometown, a small community of less than 20,000. I never imagined this would happen to especially loved ones,” Martinez Delgado said in a statement.
“All we can do is pray hard for our country, state, schools, and especially the families of all,” the statement said.
There were two days left in the school year when Tuesday’s massacre unfolded. The school district canceled classes for the remainder of the school year and has established grief counseling for the survivors.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York, Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, Calif.; Editing by Frank McGurty and Cynthia Osterman)
Cannon kissed his newest baby mama, who looked stunning in an orange bikini top and matching skirt with a sexy thigh-high slit. The Wild N Out creator matched Tiesi in an orange bucket hat and multi-colored short set.
The 41-year-old treated Tiesi to the Caribbean getaway for hr 30th birthday, Page Six reports. The “babymoon” comes after Cannon announced he was expecting his eighth child with the model back in January.
The rumor mill started spinning after photos from their gender reveal surfaced online. Cannon is already father to 10-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey, 5-year-old Golden “Sagon,” and 1-year-old Powerful Queen with Brittany Bell, and 9-month-old twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir with Abby De La Rosa.
The Masked Singer host also welcomed son Zen Cannon with Alyssa Scott but the baby sadly passed away on Dec. 5 after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
Despite being no stranger to welcoming children, Cannon still gets nervous every time he welcomes a new baby.
“You get nervous every time,” Cannon told People. “Every single time… because it’s a miracle, it’s God working.”
He continues, “You just stay in prayer, you stay in agreement with your partner to just make sure everything is a blessing and operates in the proper way. So just stay prayed up.”
While Cannon recently admitted to having a vasectomy consultation, the father of eight takes pride in every little Cannon he’s created.
“I’m so excited about all my kids,” he said. “Constantly, from every aspect of it. From them getting citizen of the month awards in the first grade to the birth of the new ones.”
“Every day I just wake up excited as a father.”
In addition to splurging on a Bahamas vacation with Tiesi, Cannon also gifted his baby mama Abby with an upgrade on her Range Rover.
Will Smith Still In Hiding, Opts Out of Attending Hollywood Event with Bel-Air Cast
Out of sight, out of mind?
That could be the mindset of mega-star Will Smith who opted out of attending a Bel-Air event last night, TMZreports.
But since we’re not mind-readers, we don’t know why Smith didn’t link up with for the FYC event in Hollywood Tuesday, designed to create Emmy buzz according to the outlet. But we do know that he was a no-show for the hit show’s For Your Consideration event, an event that made sense for him to attend and to help promote the Bel-Air project.
Maybe Smith didn’t want to piss off the powers that be at the Emmys and risk his show not getting the shine that it deserves.
The Men In Black star is probably thinking deeply about his life and what’s ahead. Recently, he sat down with Dave Letterman for his Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction – taped before the whole Oscars slap.
Smith, however, touched on the intro to his memoir where he admits to having “always thought of myself as a coward” after he witnessed his father “beat up” his mother as a child and didn’t step in to defend her.
Smith’s way of coping with the “trauma” from the experience was to make people laugh and smile.
“When I showed up, I wanted people to feel good and be happy,” he explained. “Because I found that when my household was that way, I felt safe.”
Elsewhere during the interview, Smith shared his thoughts on protecting his family from the outside world.
“Protection and safety is an illusion. You have to learn to live with the reality that any moment, anything can be gone in one second,” he said.
