Chicago Designer Joe Freshgoods Releases His New Sneaker Collection In Collaboration With New Balance
by Yolanda Baruch

May 1, 2022

Chicago Designer Joe Freshgoods Releases His New Sneaker Collection In Collaboration With New Balance

Chicago-based designer Joe Freshgoods teamed up with New Balance for his “Conversations Among Us” sneaker collection, which he oversaw as creative director and worked with a team of Black creatives, according to Input Magazine.

NBA player Kawhi Leonard also joins the campaign by appearing in a promotional short film titled NOD with Freshgood, and the two men sit across from one another in the waiting room. Both Leonard and Freshgoods communicate non-verbally by paying respects to each other over their New Balance sneaker game, according to Hypebeast. 

Freshgoods is seen donning a pair of cream canvas 550s released in early April 15, and Leonard sports the  KAWHI 2 in a similar hue.

 

 

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The collection is available for purchase at newbalance.com and includes graphic tees, fleece hoodies, crewnecks, and pants.

When consumers purchase a pair, the shoebox will read, “Designed and curated by Joseph Robinson and a team of Black associates at New Balance.” 

The shoes have an aged aesthetic using canvas and suede materials to create the upper, yet the New Balance “N” logo is outlined in black. The insoles have the words printed “Conversations Amongst Us,” and the design is also seen on the cream outsoles, giving the sneaker a throw-back appeal.

Freshgoods came up with the concept for the video and posted in a Tweet, “I’ve always been fascinated with how black men use the “head nod” to communicate with each other without talking. I wanted to touch on that, it’s always been funny to me. hope people understand the video but if you don’t- who cares lol, it’s for my people anyway.”

 

 

Report: Netflix’s Sister Site Tudum Recruits Women of Color Only To Terminate Them As Stock Plunges
by Wendy Medina

May 1, 2022

Report: Netflix’s Sister Site Tudum Recruits Women of Color Only To Terminate Them As Stock Plunges

Making headline after headline for their raise of subscription fee, cracking down of shared passwords, Netflix recently tanked in the stock market, losing $54 billion in Q1 of 2022, the biggest one-day stock drop ever.

And it doesn’t stop there. They’re in the hot seat once again, this time for a team layoff of newly hired writers and editors for their website Tudum, composed of mostly women of color, after being poached from major publications and promised sunshine and rainbows.

Tudum, named for the sound of the Netflix logo, was launched in December 2021 and expected to bring fans “behind the streams,” with articles featuring inside scoops surrounding Netflix original shows and films.

The team of mostly Black, Latino, or Asian women was reportedly enticed by the streaming giant with the chance of working a secure job with good pay in a progressive environment, editorial independence, and exclusive interviews with Netflix talent. Ultimately, they were hired to expand the diversity of the team.

“They went very out of their way to hire high-level journalists of color who have quite a bit of name recognition and a lot of experience and talent,” one anonymous staffer told NPR.

“In some ways, they were just buying clout to lend credibility to their gambit.” Due to a signed non-disclosure agreement when hired, the team member opted to not have their name published.

“We were courted pretty aggressively. They sold us on the most amazing thing that you could want as a culture journalist or entertainment journalist. They just sold something that seemed impossible anywhere else,” they said. “But the biggest selling point was the pay.”

According to reports, 25 writers and editors lost their jobs without warning on Thursday, and simply offered two weeks of severance pay.

“People upended their lives for this,” a former worker said, adding that many were just given promotions last month.

Now, the editorial team is struggling to find employment after their abrupt termination. 

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A spokesperson for Netflix said they don’t plan to shutter the site, but it remains “an important priority for the company,” despite the layoffs.

This news comes on the heels of CNN+’s mass layoffs after shutting down the new streaming service April 30.

Oprah Winfrey’s Documentary, ‘The Color of Care,’ Explores The Racial Inequalities In The Healthcare System
by Yolanda Baruch

May 1, 2022

Oprah Winfrey’s Documentary, ‘The Color of Care,’ Explores The Racial Inequalities In The Healthcare System

During the height of the pandemic in 2020, television icon Oprah Winfrey tenaciously absorbed the stories of people affected by COVID-19. The story of Gary Fowler, who tried to receive care from many hospitals in Detroit but was unsuccessful, went home and wrote that he could not breathe before he died. His death shook the media mogul. Fowler’s story led Winfrey to executive-produce her documentary The Color of Care to take a deep dive into the structural racism embedded within the U.S. healthcare system, Today reports.

In collaboration with the Smithsonian Channel and Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, the film tapped award-winning filmmaker Yance Ford to direct the project. The documentary assembles interviews from families of color who lost family members and friends to the disease and the agonizing measures they took to obtain medical care before they passed, The Los Angeles Times reports. 

The Color of Care will premiere Sunday on Smithsonian Channel; it will also be free to view on the Smithsonian’s Facebook page and YouTube channel until May 31, according to Times. 

Winfrey also spoke about how she encountered the failings of the health industry in 2007 when doctors misdiagnosed her and did not test her blood to find the cause of her heart palpitations. When she visited a Cleveland Clinic, they discovered it was a thyroid issue generating her heart palpitations.  

“So in that moment, being a celebrity worked against me. I remember going back to one doctor who had actually given me an angiogram and I said, it wasn’t a heart problem, it was a thyroid problem,” recalled the former talk show host. “And she said, ‘What was I gonna do? You’re Oprah Winfrey, and I wasn’t going to have you die on me without having done everything I thought I could do.'”

The experience taught Winfrey to always seek out multiple opinions from healthcare providers and to have someone accompany her to the hospital to serve as her advocate.

“I don’t care who you are. I would never go into a hospital by myself. Even as a person of note, with a name, I would never go into a hospital by myself. I would always have somebody go with me who’s advocating for me. That’s a hard, hard road to navigate by yourself, especially if you’re ill.”

The documentary airs  May 1, 2022, at 8:00 PM EST/7:00 PM CST on the Smithsonian Channel.

by Wendy Medina

May 1, 2022

Detroit’s Wayne State University To Award Stevie Wonder an Honorary Doctorate

Stevland Hardaway Morris, otherwise known as the iconic Stevie Wonder, is set to be awarded an honorary doctorate degree during the spring 2022 commencement ceremony at Wayne State University in Detroit on May 7.

Born in Saginaw, Michigan, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend will be honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoris causa, for his musical success and contributions, per a press release by the university. Additionally, Morris is celebrated for his advocacy work in civil rights and the disabled community.

Although the 71-year-old musician has faced visual impairment his entire life, that didn’t deter him from selling over 100 million records worldwide, earning him a spot as one of the best-selling artists in the world. 

Morris has previously been presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Civil Rights Museum and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The school also recognizes his triumph in having Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday declared a national holiday after an 18-year effort, as well as his continued support of Black Lives Matter.

Morris saw success as an 11-year-old child prodigy, renamed Little Stevie Wonder by Berry Gordy, Jr., president of Motown Records, after being discovered by Ronnie White of the Motown band The Miracles. 

In 1962, he released his first album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder. The following year, the child savant released a live album titled Little Stevie Wonder Recorded Live: the 12 Year Old Genius, which solidified his rise to stardom. He soon made the transition of a child musician to one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the late 20th century.

The commencement festivities at Wayne State University are set to begin at 1 p.m. EST on May 7. 

Detroit native, comedian, and actor Tim Meadows is also slated to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the school, for all the accomplishments in his career spanning nearly 40 years. 

SZA Unveils Her New Line of Crocs Dropping May 2nd
by Yolanda Baruch

May 1, 2022

SZA Unveils Her New Line of Crocs Dropping May 2nd

Grammy winner SZA is partnering with Crocs and will drop her shoe collection on Monday, May 2, Footwear News reports. 

The “Supermodel” songstress gifted some of her celebrity friends like Kim Kardashian with a PR package of her new Crocs. The reality star took a shot of them and promoted SZA’s Crocs on her Instagram story, which included a slide and the classic foam clog, according to Footwear News. 

The R&B singer designed a simulated wood-textured print with an abundance of Jibbitz reflective of her quirky style like a weed leaf, the Earth, a recycling sign, a fish, a flower, an inhaler, a mushroom, as well as other trinkets, according to Complex. 

 

SZA said that nature “saved [her] life and continues to do so all the time,” she confessed in an interview. 

Also outfitted on the Crocs are a fish Jibbitz and hooked fish, which harkens to her Ctrl Fishing Company sustainable fashion brand, aiming to save oceans, according to High Snobiety.

SZA also promotes mental health since she is open with her struggles with depression and anxiety; her Crocs come with a “Mental Health Matters” brain ornament.  

Crocs’ new shoe with SZA follows their other high-profile collabs. In the past months, the shoe company also partnered with Awake NY, Bad Bunny, Post Malone, Balenciaga, Takashi Murakami, Salehe Bembury, and more, Complex reports.

This year has been quite eventful for the “Love Galore” artist; she won the Grammy Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy for her feature on Doja Cat‘s “Kiss Me More” and sustained an injury.

“It’s very funny because I fell out a bed right before it was time to leave and get ready for this,” SZA said. “Like the day before, but that’s the way it goes. Everything awesome in my life has always come with something like very random, but it just adds to the energy.”

SZA told Billboard that her next album is on its way, “It’s probably my most unisex project yet, if that makes sense,” she said. “It’s for everyone.”

Chef Nyanyika Banda Debuts ‘The Official Wakanda Cookbook’ To Celebrate ‘Black Panther’
by Yolanda Baruch

May 1, 2022

Chef Nyanyika Banda Debuts ‘The Official Wakanda Cookbook’ To Celebrate ‘Black Panther’

When Marvel dropped their film, Black Panther, in 2018, it was met by an immense celebration from the Black community that unsurprisingly caused the film to bank over a billion dollars in ticket sales. Black Panther became the top grossing superhero film ever, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

The storyline of King T’Challa protecting his fictional kingdom, the technologically advanced society of Wakanda, from outsiders resonated with the comic book fanbase, many of whom tried to submit their passports to visit the exclusive African destination.

While the possibility of traveling to an imaginary Wakanda is not plausible, chef Nyanyika Banda created a cookbook to provide enthusiasts with a culinary trip to the mythical nation, Today reports.

 

 

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 Banda, a Malawian American who earned Culinary Degree from Madison College in 2012, concocted 70 recipes to make up “The Official Wakanda Cookbook” and did so within three months, it is now available since April 12.

“I definitely felt a combination of pressure and pride,” said Banda to The Washington Post. She is also a freelance writer. “The lore of Black Panther and what Wakanda means now socially is so important, not just for Black Americans but to people of African descent around the world.”

Before signing on with Marvel to work on the project, Banda consumed various Black Panther comics and immersed herself in fan-created websites to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and the country of Wakanda rather than solely relying on the film.

 

 

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Jennifer Simms, Banda’s editor at Insight Editions, the publisher of the Wakanda cookbook, didn’t want the recipes to represent a generic Africa, “We wanted to make sure we weren’t trying to represent Africa as having one food culture,” she says.

Both women worked closely with Marvel’s team to produce dishes that upheld the storytelling of the comic book. 

 “We would talk about whether or not they felt like it would be a part of Wakanda,” said Banda. “I wanted there to be integrity within the dish, but also have integrity in terms of storytelling.”

Through her research, Banda’s recipes reflected the folklore of Wakandan culture. For instance, Wakanda boasts a lake, so Banda considered creating fish dishes. According to the Marvel comics, Wakanda is situated in sub-Saharan Africa, where food items like cassava, mangoes, and meat from goats would be plentiful. Also taken from the film where tribal leader M’Baku barks at the CIA agent character and threatens to feed him to his children but quips that he’s a vegetarian, inspired Banda to develop dishes that included eggplants and herbs.

For the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s all-female military warriors, Banda was motivated to invent a smoked mushroom jerky, “I imagined it would be something that would be fueling but that would carry well,” she says, The Washington Post reports.

Banda also designed a savory sweet and spicy oxtail with cassava dumplings, okra fritters, basbousa, a creamy cake, and a tamarind cola to wash down the Wakandan cuisine, according to Today. 

“I think that’s such a beautiful part of (Wakanda) being this fictional place,” she remarked. “Definitely, the impact that ‘Black Panther’ has socially right now for us, and this time and age was always something that I was like taking consideration to when thinking about the recipes.”

New Jersey Woman Involved In A Road Rage Attack Says Driver Is ‘A Danger To Society’
by Yolanda Baruch

May 1, 2022

New Jersey Woman Involved In A Road Rage Attack Says Driver Is ‘A Danger To Society’

A New Jersey woman was on her way to work when her car was involved in a fender bender with another vehicle. When she got out of her car to take pictures of the other car’s license plate, the driver of the silver SUV made the shocking decision to mow her down with his vehicle, Inside Edition reports.

The incident happened two weeks ago when Morgan Scott, 23, was commuting to work at the city’s planning and zoning commission when another vehicle collided with her car, according to Inside Edition.

While she took pictures of the mishap, the driver Vincent Jean, 56, reversed his SUV and went in her direction. Based on video surveillance, the driver allegedly tried to run Scott down. 

 

Scott ran across the lawn of nearby homes and unfortunately tripped, allowing Jean to run her over several times, according to the New York Post. 

“I was able to get out of the way, but I was shocked that that was going on,” Scott recalled to Inside Edition. “I tried to run, cause I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ Let me get my shoes off, because I had heels on at the same time. One of them couldn’t come off all the way, and I fell.”

As a result of Jean’s road rage attack, Scott now suffers from a broken femur; doctors had to place a rod in her leg, the ribs on both sides of her chest cavity are broken, and her neck is shattered in three places. In addition, her knees were split open, her liver is torn, and she has to keep her face covered to heal from road rash scars by avoiding the sun.  

When Les Trent, an Inside Edition reporter, asks her if she holds any anger towards Jean, she answers, “I definitely think he’s a danger to society,” Scott said as she recovers from her injuries at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation.

Vincent Jean charged with attempted murder.
Image Credit: Elizabeth Police Department

 

While Scott is slowly on the mend, she is grateful for the support she received from strangers, and she credits her family and friends for their encouragement during this difficult time.  

“When it comes to my family, my friends — they’re there for me, and I want to be there for them,” Scott tearfully said. 

Jean now faces charges of attempted murder and must appear in court in June.

Scott’s family created a GoFundMe to help pay for her medical expenses. 

Leave Low Power in The Past with this 5-In-1 Charger
by Black Enterprise Shop

May 1, 2022

Leave Low Power in The Past with this 5-In-1 Charger

With so much of our daily lives tied to our technology devices, the fact of not having them is almost laughable. Cell phones, tablets, laptops, and music players are staples for most people, and each is entwined in their daily lives. Cell phones now double as address books and pictures, laptops have made the world smaller through FaceTime and video calling, and the list goes on.

Access to all this technology is great when it works, but all its benefits are rendered useless whenever there’s an outage of power. Ensure power outages are a thing of the past with the 5-in-1 60W Qi-Certified Multi-Device USB & Wireless Charging Dock. For a limited time, it’s available for just $45.99. That’s a savings of 34% from its MSRP ($69).

This charger has five dedicated ports: three smart USB-A ports, one USB-C 20W, and one USB-A 12W port. This fast-charging wireless charger helps put an end to those annoying moments when your devices run out of power. With power delivery and the QC 3.0 USB-C port, it recharges your cell phones – including iPhones – up to 100% faster.

There are built-in safeguards that protect your devices against overcharging, overcurrent, overvoltage protection, temperature control, and foreign object detections. This 5-in-1 charger also comes with a 12-month warranty.

With compatibility with most modern smartphones, it can handle nearly any iteration of Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s offerings. This charger has a max 10W output, while its other ports provide up to 3A of power per port.

The impact cell phones and tablets have had on many people’s daily lives can’t be understated. They’ve become embedded in society, and they’re here to stay. Nothing can throw our lives off schedule more than unwanted power loss, which happens far too often. With this 5-in-1 charger, you’ll easily be able to minimize those moments. Purchase it today.

Prices subject to change.

Shirlene ‘Ms. Juicy’ Pearson of ‘Little Women: Atlanta’ Hospitalized in ICU
by Wendy Medina

April 30, 2022

Shirlene ‘Ms. Juicy’ Pearson of ‘Little Women: Atlanta’ Hospitalized in ICU

Little Women: Atlanta star Shirlene Pearson, 50, otherwise known as Ms. Juicy Baby, was reportedly hospitalized in the ICU but has since been stabilized, according to a statement by her team on her official Instagram account Friday.

“At this time Ms. Juicy is stabilized in the ICU,” the agency representing Pearson wrote in the post. “The family is thankful for all the prayers and are asking for you to respect their privacy at this time. Please continue to keep Ms Juicy in your prayers. We will keep you updated with any changes.”

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There were no further details regarding the condition or circumstances of the hospitalization of the reality TV star. 

Production sources say Pearson has been concentrating on her diet and exercise for the past two years in an effort to maintain good health and were not aware of any serious health issues, according to TMZ. 

Pearson made her acting debut in 2007 in Fred Hampton’s Christmans… Who Needs It and then on the TV series Meet the Browns. She went on to appear on Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, T.Y. Martin’s Lord Why Me and eventually as a recurring personality on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show.

The Little Women: Atlanta star made her first appearance as guest star of the show at its 2016 premiere. After becoming a full-time co-star in the second season, she became a viral internet sensation with catchphrases like “Jesus Take the Wheel,” “I’m the Queen of Atlanta Boo,” and “It’s Ms. Juicy Baby.” Plenty of memes have been created of all her viral moments. Pearson has starred in the Lifetime series through season six, which premiered in January 2021.

The first episode of the latest season began with a special introduction in which the cast commemorated their late cast member, Little Women star Ashley “Minnie” Ross, who tragically died in a car crash on April 26, 2020, reports People. She was 34 years old. 

by Wendy Medina

April 30, 2022

Too Little Too Late: Terry Crews Apologizes for Inconsiderate 2020 BLM Comments During Book Promo Appearance

In his Thursday appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Terry Crews has apologized for his insensitive Black Lives Matter tweets during the highpoint of the racial movement in 2020. 

During the nationwide protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, Crews tweeted some controversial thoughts on the matter, igniting an onslaught of backlash on social media. 

“If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed, and ideology. We must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn’t morph into #blacklivesbetter,” read one of the tweets.

“Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth,” Crews wrote in another. “Like it or not, we are all in this together.”

Upon receiving the first couple thousand replies, he continued, “Any Black person who calls me a coon or and Uncle Tom for promoting EQUALITY is a Black Supremist [sic], because they have determined who’s Black and who is not.”

While talking with Noah, following the plug of his recent book release Tough: My Journey to True Power, Crews owned up to his statements and apologized.

“I’m going to let you know, I really do want to apologize to anybody who was offended by these tweets, and was hurt deeply,” said the actor at the 19:40 mark. “Because as an example, as an African American man, a Black man here in this country, I did not want to give the perception that we’re supposed to gloss this over and forgive the death of George Floyd. The murder of George Floyd. And I want to apologize to everyone right now who was ever offended, because it hurt.”

While discussing his book, he touched on some points regarding his healing journey, attributing his need for validation as a source for his misguided tweets.

“I just wanted peace. And I guess it goes back to my approval. It goes back to my need for approval, it went back to that,” Crews told Noah. “And again, it was a mistake. It was a mistake to tweet that out at that time.”

However, the 53-year-old actor hints at how his tweets may have gone over many users’ heads. “You can’t have a nuanced conversation on Twitter,” he joked.

Crews ends his commentary on the show with, “The need is for us as a people to actually come together… This is our country. We died and fought, and I’m not giving it away. This is our inheritance.”

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