• Business

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

April 11, 2022

OneUnited Bank Joins with Lendistry to Offer Small Business Loans Nationwide

---

OneUnited Bank, the nation’s largest Black-owned bank, joins with Lendistry, a Black-led fintech, to provide small business loans to OneUnited Bank customers. The Bank’s continuing mission is to close the racial wealth gap by providing a resource for term loans and non-revolving lines of credit to small businesses nationwide.

As part of its mission, OneUnited Bank introduced its OneTransaction program and podcast to encourage Black Americans to focus on “one transaction” to close the wealth gap for their families. The six options include a profitable business, homeownership, savings and investments, an improved credit score, wills, and insurance. With Lendistry, the bank can support customers who are business owners seeking funds to expand, buy an existing business, or finance working capital, according to a press release.

Lendistry is a Black-led fintech and a leader in providing equal access to capital for small business owners.

Since 2015, minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses have trusted Lendistry to help them grow. Lendistry offers funding for working capital, expansion, tenant/leasehold improvements, debt consolidation, and for buying existing businesses.

“We began our relationship with Lendistry in 2020 with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and continued in 2021 with our OneTransaction Program,” states Teri Williams, OneUnited Bank president.

“We’re proud to expand our relationship in 2022 to offer small business loans to our customers nationwide.”

“Access to capital for the expansion of small businesses is what we do,” said Kerrington Eubanks, SVP of Strategic Partnerships for Lendistry.

“We are happy to be a resource for OneUnited Bank’s small business customers to connect with us directly to explore new economic opportunities.”

Lendistry is a resource for all OneUnited Bank customers for small business loans through OneUnited Bank’s online banking platform and highly rated mobile app. Business owners can access the resource, in its app or in online banking, even if their business does not have a business banking relationship with OneUnited Bank.

Qualifications, terms, and conditions apply which are determined by Lendistry.

• News

by Atiya Jordan

April 11, 2022

California’s Task Force Votes In Favor of Slave Descendants To Receive Reparations

---

After much debate, California’s first-in-the-nation task force settled on a vote that only Black Californians who can prove a direct lineage to enslaved ancestors would be eligible for reparations.

On March 29, the nine-member task force appointed to study and develop reparation proposals voted 5-4 in favor of defining eligibility for reparations based on lineage. According to Cal Matters, eligibility is “determined by an individual being an African American descendant of a chattel enslaved person or the descendant of a free Black person living in the US prior to the end of the 19th century,” the motion read.

The two-year reparations task force was created in 2020, making California the only state to move forward with a study and statewide initiative to address the traumatic and enduring legacy of slavery. In doing so, they intend to educate the public about its findings.

The vote, which helps quantify the amount of reparations owed, also establishes that Black immigrants in California will not be eligible.

Shirley Weber, the California secretary of state who authored the legislation creating the task force, believes that compensating Black immigrants and or even descendants of enslaved people from other countries would leave US descendants with very little money.

Kamilah Moore, the task force chairperson, said that not deciding on the lineage-based approach would “aggrieve the victims of the institution of slavery, which are the direct descendants of the enslaved people in the United States.”

On the other hand, Los Angeles-based civil rights lawyer Lisa Holder argued against a lineage approach. “We must make sure we include present-day and future harms,” Holder said. “The system that folks are advocating for here, where we splice things up, where only one small slice benefits, will not abate the harms of racism.”

Cheryl Grills, a committee member and a clinical psychologist at Loyola Marymount University, also said a lineage-based approach would be “divisive” and “another win for white supremacy.”

Chicago resident Arthur Ward called in to Tuesday’s virtual meeting, saying that he was a descendant of enslaved people and has family in California. He supports reparations based only on lineage.

“When it comes to some sort of justice, some kind of recompense, we are supposed to step to the back of the line and allow Carribeans and Africans to be prioritized,” Ward said, according to NPR. “Taking this long to decide something that should not even be a question in the first place is an insult.”

The task force is expected to release a reparations proposal in June 2023 with recommendations for the Legislature to consider turning it into law.

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

April 11, 2022

Innocent Black Woman Fighting to Have $8K Seized in Raid Returned

---

An entrepreneur in Rochester, New York, has lawyered up in her pursuit of having $8,000 that was seized during a raid returned to her.

No drugs were found and no charges were filed after Rochester police raided Cristal Starling’s West Main Street apartment in October 2020, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. Starling was living with her then-boyfriend, who was suspected of dealing drugs at the time.

However, during the raid, police seized $8,040 of Starling’s money she was saving to turn her food cart business into a food truck. Her boyfriend was arrested for drugs found at another address, but those charges were later dropped.

Since the acquittal, Starling has been fighting to get her money back. But an unwinding web of protocols and policies is attempting to turn Starling into one of the many victims who lose their personal funds to a complicated legal process for forfeitures.

“After trial I tried to get my money back,” Starling said.

“They sent me through this whole process of trying to get it through the courts and I still did not get it.”

Starling has since teamed up with the public interest law firm, Institute for Justice, to file an appeal that would reverse a judge’s decision that federal and local police can keep her money. But Starling is embarking on a legal journey that many typically don’t pursue because of how many odds are stacked against them.

“This is very common where it’s a small amount of money,” Institute attorney Seth Young said. “You don’t hire a lawyer and the maze of forfeiture procedures trips up a person who represents themselves and the person ends up losing their money.”

Starling did have two cars that were seized and returned to her after she was forced to use a rental car to get around. A federal judge upheld a decision that authorities could keep Starling’s money, which is typically divided up among police agencies.

“The government never even tried to show that Cristal had done anything wrong, but it was able to take her money by tying her up in complicated legal procedures,” the Institute says on their website.

Federal prosecutors accuse Starling of missing deadlines to file claims for the return of the seized money, and that her initial claim was made three months after the judge’s default that awarded the money to the government.

However, Starling said she was on vacation when the government said it gave “direct notice.” Documents confirm Starling’s claim.

If Starling’s appeal with IFJ is successful, she would have her bid returned to a federal court in Rochester for reconsideration where she can argue why she should get the money back without the worry of deadlines and complicated legal policies.

When it comes to why Starling is fighting so hard to have her $8,000 returned,

“I wasn’t charged with anything,” she said.

• Lifestyle

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

April 11, 2022

Caribbean Singles Meet Dating App Connects Singles From All Over the Caribbean to Singles Throughout the World

---

Caribbean Singles Meet is committed to being the best dating app designed to connect thousands of single Caribbean women and single Caribbean men with matches from around the world. No matter what your nationality, Caribbean Singles Meet dating app can help you find love.

Towards the end of 2021 Caribbean Singles Meet dating app launched on Google Play Store and Apple Play Store (IOS App Store), according to a press release. It is evident from our research that there is a tremendous need for a dating app designed like ours, to reach more people from within the Caribbean community to people throughout the world.

The owner of this dating app actually met his wife on a dating website. They have been married for almost 10 years and have two beautiful children. He realized how cumbersome it was communicating with her through all the crashes the website had and also the high cost for monthly membership. When they first met, he was living in the U.S. and she was living in the Caribbean, now both live in the U.S.

We designed this app to be safe and secure from scams, bots, and fake profiles. Therefore, our tech team is proactively monitoring the app and website 24/7 to ensure everyone’s data is safe and secure. No worries, we want everyone to have a great experience while on our dating app.

If you are a single woman or single man from the Caribbean looking to meet your match from Abroad, then now is your chance with Caribbean Singles Meet dating app. Never give up hope.

If you are a single woman or a single man living abroad and looking for a Caribbean woman or man, then Caribbean Singles Meet dating app is the perfect platform.

We credit the owner of this app for his many hours, days, and months of research that he did, and providing the developers with ideas and framework for the development of this dating app.

To learn more please visit the desktop version www.caribbeansinglesmeet.com and or download the app from the IOS App Store if you have an iPhone or from Google Play Store if you have an Android phone.

• Lifestyle

by Atiya Jordan

April 11, 2022

‘My Hustle Is Unstoppable’: Media Personality Gia Peppers On Mission To Uplift Black Voices

---

Gia Peppers, the award-winning on-air personality, entertainment journalist, and podcaster, contributes to the Black community in a way that expands Black storytelling and culture.

But it was her hustle game that helped her brand become nationally recognized.

Hailing from Washington D.C., Peppers is a presence throughout the entertainment industry. She has appeared as a contributor on shows such as NBC’s Today Show and Entertainment Tonight and as a co-host of the wildly popular podcast, Black Girl Podcast. 

A woman of many talents, Peppers learned how to leverage the power of hustle to bring her goals of uplifting the voices of the suppressed to fruition.

“My mom instilled in us that the hustle is sold separately; there is no such thing as overnight anything,” Peppers told Forbes.

“I learned early on that if you wanted something, you had to work really, really hard to get it. And I also learned that dreams are attainable.”

In her quest to celebrate Black excellence, Peppers has become the knowledgeable source for things that relate to and affect the culture. She invites a number of distinguished Black celebrities and entrepreneurs on her nationally syndicated Urban One Radio show and podcast, More Than That with Gia Peppers. The audio series, launched in February, was created for Black audiences and produced and distributed exclusively by underrepresented businesses. It aims to address the inequities in the advertising supply chain by providing a platform for advertisers to engage consumers through entertaining and informative content.

According to Forbes, More Than That with Gia Pepper has received so much support that $4 million was invested into Black-owned media. This type of investment speaks to Peppers’ mission to elevate Black America, whose voices would publish more content on issues of importance to Black communities than mainstream media.

Peppers can recall what it was like growing up in Chocolate City, where Black people flourished as doctors, lawyers, and business owners while others struggled with substance abuse.

“But it was always there for me to learn like, ‘OK, excellence is real in our community'” she added. “‘Struggle is real in our community. Joy is real in our community. All the things are real in our community.’ It helped me open up my eyes, too. If I can work for it, if I can earn it, I can have it.’”

Additionally, Peppers recently launched an original interview series, Give You the Game, on her YouTube and IGTV channels. She leads motivating conversations with impactful leaders such as Debbie Allen, Erica Campbell, and Sarah Jakes Roberts.

“My hustle is unstoppable,” Peppers said. “It’s faith-based first. And it is mine—no one can take it from me. No one can ever say that they gave me something that I didn’t earn. Every single thing that I’ve done in my career so far has been because I worked for it. I did it with integrity. I did it within a way that I can look back in five or 10 years and still be proud of what I said or did in that moment.”

• Men

by Derek Major

April 11, 2022

President Biden Announces Plans To Crack Down On Ghost Guns As Gun Violence Skyrockets

---

President Joe Biden announced new measures to crack down on “ghost guns,” which have been used in increasing shootings across the country.

Ghost gun kits can be purchased without a background check, can quickly be assembled into a gun, and have no serial numbers, making them almost impossible to trace. According to a White House release on the new measures, 20,000 “unserialized, privately made firearms” were reported to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) last year, a tenfold increase from 2016.

Among the measures is a rule qualifying ghost gun kits as “firearms” under the Gun Control Act, meaning that commercial manufacturers of such kits must therefore become licensed and include serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receiver, and commercial sellers of these kits must become federally licensed and run background checks before a sale, as they do with other commercially-made firearms.

Through this rule, the Justice Department would require federally licensed dealers to take any unserialized firearm in their inventory and serialize it before selling it to a customer. The rule also applies to any individual that builds an unserialized weapon and then sells it to a pawnbroker or federally licensed dealer.

Ghost guns have been involved in numerous shootings and murders in New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. They have led to the rise in crime in cities across the U.S. Several cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, are proposing legislation banning ghost guns.

In New York, Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD officer, has rolled out a new version of the NYPD’s controversial anti-gun unit disbanded during the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement.

Additionally, the rule ensures firearms with split receivers are subject to regulations requiring serial numbers and background checks when purchased from a licensed dealer, manufacturer, or importer. The law also requires federally licensed gun dealers to keep detailed records until their business closes, at which time the records must be transferred to the ATF.

Also, on Monday, President Biden announced his new nominee to lead the ATF, Steve Dettelbach, who served as a U.S. attorney in Ohio from 2009 to 2016.

Dettelbach is expected to face a tough battle in his Senate confirmation. Biden was forced to withdraw his first nominee, gun control advocate David Chipman due to opposition from both Democrats and Republicans.

The situation has become a recurring theme as presidents on both sides have struggled to have their ATF picks confirmed. Since 2006, the only ATF nominee who made it through the confirmation process was B Todd Jones, who was confirmed in 2013 after a six-month battle.

The first Black man to compete in an NBA game back was honored by his hometown. .

According to the Alexandria (VA) Times, NBA Hall of Famer Earl Lloyd received a state historical marker in Alexandria, Virginia. The city honored Lloyd on his birthday, April 3.

Lloyd died in 2015 at the age of 86.

The statue of the basketball player is located in the Charles Houston Recreation Center, the former site of Parker-Gray High School, where Lloyd attended. Lloyd made his historic NBA debut in 1950.

Earl Lloyd, NBA trailblazer, is receiving a state historical marker outside his childhood home in Alexandria today. https://t.co/WAsrq6GdFZ

— Alexandria Times (@AlexTimesNews) April 2, 2022

“Future generations will be able to see it and learn how a Virginian led the way, busting through the old ugly rules of discrimination and segregation and opening doors for the thousands of talented athletes who came after him,” said Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in a virtual ceremony.

According to the Alexandria Times Lloyd was born in Alexandria in 1928 and played basketball at the city’s all-Black high school, Parker-Gray. He won All-South Atlantic Conference honors three times and All-State Virginia Interscholastic Conference honors two time. He later attended West Virginia State University.

According to NBA.com, Lloyd, who was nicknamed “Moon Fixer” and “Big Cat,” won the 1955 NBA championship with the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers). He averaged 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in the playoffs. He spent his last two seasons with Detroit and retired in 1960 with averages of 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.   

After his playing days, Lloyd spent 10 seasons as a scout and assistant coach, getting promoted by the Pistons in 1971-72 as the first Black “coach only” (Bill Russell and Lenny Wilkens coached before him but as player-coaches). Lloyd was also enshrined in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

• Lifestyle

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

April 11, 2022

Birthday Behavior! Watch Will Packer Dance to The Beat Of His Own Drum On Beach Celebrating His B-Day

---

After packing a punch by making history leading the first all-Black production team in Oscars history, movie and television producer Will Packer, is celebrating that win and his birthday on a beach.

Today marks the Girls Trip producer’s 48^th birthday and he’s got a lot to be thankful for even though his latest win producing the 94^th annual Academy Awards was a bit marred by Will Smith smacking the living daylights out of comedian Chris Rock on live TV.

Still, Packer’s the man of the moment.

BIRTHDAY BEHAVIOR!!! So Grateful and Blessed 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 #AlbumComingSoon 🕺🏽 pic.twitter.com/aSfgx4Njnr

— Will Packer (@willpowerpacker) April 11, 2022

The talented Packer is the founder and CEO of his own film production company, Will Packer Productions, and Will Packer Media, a television, digital, and branded content company. He has produced or executive produced many movies that have earned critical praise throughout the years. Films that may be recognizable include The Photograph, Little, What Men Want, Night School, Breaking In, Girls Trip, Ride Along 2, Straight Outta Compton, No Good Deed, Think Like a Man Too, Ride Along, Think Like a Man, Takers, Obsessed, and Stomp the Yard.

Last October, Academy President David Rubin announced that Emmy®-nominated producer Packer had been tapped to produce the 94th Oscars®. This production was Packer’s first time being involved with the Oscars.

Packer was excited but quickly noted that he would let his work speak volumes.

“I’m someone who always believes, ‘I can show you better than I can tell you.’ I’m proud of ours being the first all-Black team, but I don’t feel the need to talk about it inordinately,” Packer said previously.

“I’d rather show the world what we can do, and then after the fact, we can talk about how great the result was that this particular team produced. There is no doubt our skill sets and perspectives are allowing us to create a show that will be different than that of our predecessors.”

Packer has also been involved in television production as well. His list of television credits includes, That Girl Lay Lay, Blackballed, Ambitions, Bigger, Being Mary Jane, and Uncle Buck. Packer’s remake of Roots earned the producer an Emmy nomination.

The Will Smith hitting hiccup aside, Packer had a hugely successful night overseeing the Oscars ceremony.

And today, he seems to be in his happy place, just letting the sand and water saturate his toes.

Happy birthday big Willie!

Absalon White Jr. a 21-year-old African American comic book writer from Arizona, has launched his very own black led comic book universe “Verendus Comics.”

He first began writing at the age of 14, and six years later, his first comic book “Instant” was released Feb. 14, 2022 on Amazon, the Kindle app, and Comixology, according to a press release.

You can check out the trailer for Instant below!

He may be the author of “Instant,” but 21-year-old Absalon White Jr. is also the titular character of the energetic superhero series. In this fast paced (pun intended) series, Absalon White Jr. is a 19-year-old kid from Chandler, Ariz. who obtains the power of super speed, in a tragic accident. Not wanting the powers that were forced upon him, Absalon White Jr. seeks to find the person responsible for giving him super speed, while also trying to accept what he can’t change…for now.

“The reason I created a superhero universe centering around black superheroes, is simply because there aren’t enough black superheroes in the world. If I were to ask your average Joe who doesn’t know anything about superheroes, to name five white superheroes, he could do that in a heartbeat, but if I were to ask that same person to name five black superheroes, he’d have a hard time naming two, let alone five. And so, I wanted to create a black led comic book universe that other kids and adults that look like me, can have superheroes that look like them, to look up to. With all that being said, I don’t want there to be any confusion, my comics are not only for the black community, my comics are for the world, and for every ethnicity to enjoy and relate to. Whether you’re Black, white, Hispanic, Asian etc. my comics are for all. And I hope that anyone who reads my comics no matter their ethnicity, is able to connect with my superheroes on a personal level and see themselves in my heroes.”

If you would like to stay up to date with everything regarding Absalon White Jr. and his comic book universe, follow him on Instagram. and don’t forget to check out “Instant,” available now on Amazon, the Kindle app, and Comixology!