Black Construction Firms in Detroit Expected to Benefit from New $10 Million Pilot Program
by Jeffrey McKinney

April 5, 2022

Black Construction Firms in Detroit Expected to Benefit from New $10 Million Pilot Program

Construction in Detroit has reached its highest level in decades in recent years. The trend is projected to continue as work on major projects like hotels, housing, and a colossal skyscraper have either begun or are expected to start in upcoming years.

However, Black contractors in the Motor City are reportedly missing out on the boom. Insufficient financing is the largest reason why. Another snag is no digital presence or resources to gain existing contracts and the inability to competitively advertise, bid, and finish projects successfully.

But, the Rocket Community Fund, Community Reinvestment Fund USA (CRF), Invest Detroit, and Barton Malow Builders are collectively supporting and co-hosting an announced $10 million pilot program to benefit Detroit-based contractors, including largely Black contractors.

Providing Black Contractors Resources To Gain New Business

The Motor City Contractor Fund (MCCF) aims to help contractors obtain new projects ranging from small residential developments to massive commercial undertakings. Access to financing, partnerships, technology, and business advisory services will be among the offerings to contractors. The initial pilot cohort is based on referrals from each MCCF co-hosts and supporters. Organizers report future cohorts will be open to the public.

There will be two cohorts for the pilot this year to help boost the number of contractors in Detroit, especially Black contractors, with 10 participants each. The free cohort sessions are expected to last three to six months, and each participant will also get a $5,000 grant.

The ante is high for Detroit’s Black contractors with the spending power construction activity brings. For instance, insiders report Detroit experienced roughly over $5 billion annually in commercial real estate development alone since 2018 before slowing down in 2020 and 2021, largely due to COVID-19. Real estate development is projected to regain its pre-pandemic pace this year.

The program is part of a $500 million philanthropic investment in Detroit made in March 2021

between the Rocket Community Fund and the Gilbert Family Foundation.

Laura Grannemann, vice president of the Rocket Community Fund, which is investing the first $1 million into the program’s administration and operations, talked about the fund’s significance as development keeps rising rapidly across the city.

“Detroit-based contractors have historically been overlooked, but the Motor City Contractor Fund will increase access to financing for local contractors, empowering them to grow their business and create more jobs for Detroiters.”

Arranging Needed Financing To Help Entrepreneurs 

The initiative is essential as there are only 66 certified contractors in Detroit, including 48 or over 70% that are minority or BIPOC. And there are 1,300 accredited construction contractors in Metro Detroit. Observers report that suggests only 5% of contractors in Metro Detroit are based in the city, meaning much of the construction spending and wealth is leaving Detroit and the Black community.

The in-depth pilot program will offer lending to Black contractors, so they won’t have to worry about depending on traditional lenders where they are often denied financing or face institutional racism. Research shows they often face higher interest rates on loans, deterring their growth and success ability.

CRF will carry $8 million on its balance sheet to ensure the first cohort’s participants have access to critical financing in the program’s first phase.

The program calls for Black contractors to get intense training, including understanding OSHA requirements and performing social media marketing. Organizers say small contractors in Detroit, mainly those run by entrepreneurs of color, have been unable to compete with larger and non-minority rivals due to financing and cash flow. Minority-owned firms purportedly invest less than $30,000 on average after the first year of operation, versus $45,000 for non-minority businesses.

Offering Opportunity To Potentially Work On Larger Projects 

Organizers say another potential game-changer for Black Detroit contractors is they may gain a chance to do work for Barton Malow, one of the largest commercial construction firms based in Metro Detroit. The firm is now the construction manager of Hudson’s Site, an estimated $900 million skyscraper project in downtown Detroit.

BLACK ENTERPRISE was told Barton Malow plans to provide bid opportunities for MCCF participants for current and future projects.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan reflected among his statements on why smaller companies should be among those taking part in the city’s rebuilding.

“Detroit is seeing its largest construction boom in more than a half-century, and that means there should be greater opportunity for our city’s smaller and minority-owned construction contractors.”

“Unfortunately, for reasons that go back generations, they have multiple barriers to that work.”

For more details about the program, visit here and the MCCF here

Meet the 8-Year-Old Photography Sensation Capturing Snaps of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies
by Atiya Jordan

April 5, 2022

Meet the 8-Year-Old Photography Sensation Capturing Snaps of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies

Storee Elle Walton, an 8-year-old photography sensation, turned a hobby into a full-fledged professional venture. From NBA games to weddings, the young girl with the camera is a star.

Walton’s appearance at the March 26 game against the Milwaukee Bucks was her first Grizzly game. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, she stood on the baseline at FedExForum with a Nikon camera around her neck while players took an interest in getting captured by the budding photographer.

 

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A post shared by Storee Elle Walton (@storeeelle)

“When I was at the game, the players made me feel like I was famous,” Walton told the outlet. “It makes me proud to be a little girl with a camera. It’s unbelievable that I can do all this and see these new people.”

Grizzlies shooting guard De’Anthony Melton was one of the lucky players to be photographed by Walton.

“Can I see them?” Melton asked after posing for more shots.

Since the age of 1, Walton inherited her passion from her grandfather, professional photographer Thurman Hobson Jr., whom she affectionately calls “grandman.” Hobson served as her chaperone at the game.

“Some of the stuff she shoots, I look at it, and it totally amazes me she’s able to capture the images that she is at such an early age using professional equipment,” Hobson said, who has been the main photographer of the family for more than 50 years.

 

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A post shared by Storee Elle Walton (@storeeelle)

Walton aspires to be a “noted, famous photographer.” By 4 years old, the third-grader was earning paid gigs for her talents. According to The Commercial Appeal, when she was six years old, Walton has even photographed multiple Southern Heritage Classic football games and celebrities. Her portfolio added at least 10 weddings last year.

Her mother, Tanyel Hobson-Walton, is proud of her daughter.

“She’s taken on what my dad loves so much,” Hobson-Walton said. “It started out as a hobby for her, but now she’s getting a lot of jobs because of her professionalism. She’s a kid first, but when she comes, she comes as a professional.”

She added: “If she commits to a job, she carries it out, and that for me, I can say that I’m most proud about.”

 

 

Three Charged in Death of Mississippi Teen Shot, Raped, and Dumped On Side of The Road
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

April 5, 2022

Three Charged in Death of Mississippi Teen Shot, Raped, and Dumped On Side of The Road

Three adults are in police custody on capital murder charges related to an 18-year-old girl being kidnapped, raped, shot, and left for dead along the side of the road in Mississippi.

On Friday, the Jackson police department held a press briefing confirming that Dewitt Anderson, 34, Cedric Banks, 37, and Kaymia Blackmon, 19 were all in police custody, WLBT reports. Amya Carey was identified as the body at the coroner’s office on March 24.

“They were the last ones that were seen with her, and so that is where our investigation started,” Jackson Police Department Deputy Chief Deric Hearn said.

Carey’s body was riddled with bullets near Clay Street on Feb. 15. A family member says the teen was picking up her friend, Blackmon, who was with her boyfriend, Anderson.

Eventually, Anderson’s brother, Banks, joined the group and they went to several locations during the night. Blackmon, Anderson, and Banks had all reportedly tried to engage in sexual activity with Carey but she turned down their advances.

After turning down the trio, Carey got into a fight with Blackmon and that’s when Anderson picked up a gun and shot the teen. While critically injured, Carey was placed in the backseat of her car where someone raped her.

Carey was shot two more times before her body was dumped out of the car and left on the side of the street.

“She was severely wounded,” Hearn said. “They placed her in a car and as they were driving to Forest Avenue, where they dumped the body, they had sex with her in the car.”

On March 30, Blackmon and Anderson were taken into custody for questioning, where they recounted the night’s events. All three suspects appeared in court on Thursday, March 31 where they had their bond denied, WJTV reports.

It remains unclear if the suspects have obtained legal representation.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 5, 2022

Paula Patton Gets ‘Fried’ By Black Twitter When She Seasons Chicken AFTER Placing It in Oil

Cooking tutorials online have become increasingly popular. But it’s probably safe to say, everybody who takes up recording cooking vids can’t actually cook.

At least that’s the consensus Black Twitter came to when actress Paula Patton found out the hard way that her fried chicken cooking demonstration was going viral for all the wrong reasons!

Last month, the “seasoned” actress took to Instagram to “show” people how to prepare and then cook her mother’s “famous” fried chicken, and it went downhill from there. Patton starts the video by zooming in on a bag of white flour as she informs her audience that it’s “Fried Chicken Day!” She shows the chicken and the ingredients for the coating of the chicken.

 

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The Precious actress then proceeds to wash the chicken parts in cold water for a mere few seconds. Soon after, she places the chicken into a Ziploc bag of — get this — just white flour. When she finishes “coating” the wings, she tells the viewing audience that there are 138 chicken wings in the sorted bags. After putting oil in the frying pan, she placed the chicken wings, sans seasoning, into the pan.

The moment was giving blandness, given that the chicken was seasoned AFTER it was doused in grease.

Patton then proclaims, on camera, that after placing the chicken in the pan, she’ll start to add the seasoning. She proceeds to “dust” the chicken pieces with Lawry’s seasoning, pepper, and paprika.

As most people who have had the pleasure and/or duty to cook, this was NOT a good look, and social media made SURE to let the former Mrs. Robin Thicke know that she indeed was no Food Network star.

Although this was posted on March 5th, it started trending recently as social media users across many platforms commented on how ridiculous her “method” of frying chicken was.

Fix it, Baby Jesus…

Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson Gives Business and Life Lessons at N.C. A&T Speaker Series, Building Black Businesses
by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

April 5, 2022

Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson Gives Business and Life Lessons at N.C. A&T Speaker Series, Building Black Businesses

Business mogul, Earvin “Magic” Johnson spoke to a capacity-filled audience, sharing his personal story of business development and practical knowledge, at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University’s Harrison Auditorium, Mar. 29.

Johnson delivered a keynote presentation for the Chancellor’s Speaker Series, “Building Black Businesses.”

Nearly as soon as he took the stage, Johnson admonished attendees to understand one thing above all else. “If you don’t dream it, you can’t become it,” he said, according to a press release.

“See yourself in that [CEO] position. Here it is 40 years later, and I am that CEO.”

His exclamatory statement referenced his own story of working as a young janitor of a company, but envisioning himself as the CEO.

Throughout the evening, Johnson referenced the power of investing in urban America by way of increased housing and retail opportunities as well as job creation.

“A lot of money leaves our communities because somebody else owns the businesses. We need our own businesses,” he said.

In addition to numerous other ventures, Johnson thrived with Magic Johnson movie theaters and Starbucks franchise stores located in urban areas. Knowing his customer base was key and continues to be key to his success.

“What’s the number one thing our people like to do?” he asked the engaged crowd.

“We like to do things with our families. So, I built [movie] theaters in our communities. It changed the game.”

While building a business is important, Johnson says making sure the customer service and technology are just as important for continued success.

“I’m all about striving for excellence every single day. If you’re about excellence, business will be there. You must be first in class. If your customers understand that about you, they will become your brand ambassadors,” he said.

“I over deliver to my customers and clients and if you over deliver, you’ll get the customer you want.”

In addition to developing and building business acumen and proficiency, Johnson encouraged attendees with one final message to embrace a policy of “us,” not “me.”

“My whole thing is about opening the door for other people to come through,” he said.

“I want to make sure I help create other millionaires who are successful and can run their own businesses.”

This story first appeared on ncat.edu.

Peruvian Comedy Show Faces Social Media Wrath For Wearing Blackface, Parodying Will And Jada Pinkett Smith
by Atiya Jordan

April 5, 2022

Peruvian Comedy Show Faces Social Media Wrath For Wearing Blackface, Parodying Will And Jada Pinkett Smith

The shocking blow that Will Smith delivered to Chris Rock for mocking Jada Pinkett-Smith at the 94th Annual Oscar Awards has prompted parodies worldwide.

A Peruvian comedy show, JB on ATV, faces public wrath for its recent segment of actors imitating the acclaimed Smith couple in blackface. Rock was also included in the sketch.

According to reports, Peruvian comedian Carlitos Vilchez, who portrayed Will, posted photos of him and his costar, Dayanita, playing as Jada on Instagram. Social media doesn’t hold back while highlighting the topic of racism within the Latin community. The images are now-deleted, but Twitter users have since then reposted and circulated them for more people to see.

According to some Twitter users, the comedy show has a history of using blackface to portray characters in skits, like Encanto.

 

Other users, who hail from Latin culture, described personal experiences dealing with racism or colorism in their own families.

The full video of the sketch can be seen below:

Kofi Asante, Leading Black Aerospace Executive, Helps To Reduce Barriers For Humanitarian Aid
by Atiya Jordan

April 5, 2022

Kofi Asante, Leading Black Aerospace Executive, Helps To Reduce Barriers For Humanitarian Aid

Kofi Asante is revolutionizing transport technology as a leading executive at the aerospace startup Elroy Air.

With a background in business, political science, and political theory, Asante was welcomed by Elroy Air’s co-founder and CEO, David Merrill, to help reduce the barriers to helping humanitarian communities. He serves as the company’s vice president of strategy and business development. For more than three years, Asante has been instrumental in Elroy Air flourishing from its seed stage with only 10 team members to expanding its team and receiving $50 million in investments.

“I keep finding myself in situations where I’m the only business person in a sea of engineers, and I know that’s atypical,” Asante said, according to PBS.

“My dad is from Ghana, West Africa, is an engineer, and so he had that skill set. My mom, an African American woman, was a professor in communications, and so that helped because they would always say, ‘It’s really great to know how to build something, but it’s almost more important to be able to communicate it and know the high level of what each audience is going to need.’ That was the catalyst for me to feel like I had some sort of place in this field without having a science background.”

Elroy Air’s mission is to “expand the reach of express shipping, provide humanitarian aid in regions with challenging infrastructure, immediate relief in disaster situations, and enable rapid, autonomous aerial resupply to troops in the field,” as per the company’s website. In doing so, the group of engineers builds autonomous cargo aircraft systems that utilize electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology.

In January, the company introduced the Chaparral, designed for aerial transport of 300-500 lbs of goods over a 300-mile range for commercial, humanitarian, and defense logistics. According to a press release, it is the first-of-its-kind autonomous air cargo system.

“I think about it with the things we probably think about all the time that come to your door with e-commerce and any of the companies you can imagine that do express parcel, the UPS and FedEx of the world,” Asante said.

“They’re all moving toward this idea of being able to get you to go from one week to two days and the same day to the same hour delivery. And our system could be a part of that solution. Humanitarian defense, commercial, healthcare, express parcel, e-commerce, all of those are kind of what our system is going to be built to help out with.”

Following the unveiling of the Chaparral, FedEx Express is teaming up with Elroy Air to test the autonomous air cargo system within the “company’s middle-mile logistics operations, moving shipments between sortation locations,” according to FedEx Newsroom. The test flights are slated to kick off in 2023.

“I think my goal as a Black executive and frankly, one of the only ones in the world at an aerospace company is to just continue to open the door and show people that this is possible and that it’s for them,” Asante said.

 

 

Venture Capital Firms Backed By Will Smith, Invest In Blockchain Network Boba
by Kia Morgan Smith

April 5, 2022

Venture Capital Firms Backed By Will Smith, Invest In Blockchain Network Boba

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal

(Reuters) -Ethereum blockchain scaling platform Boba Network raised $45 million in its series A round, with participation from investors including Will Smith-led Dreamers VC, Paris Hilton and husband Carter Reum’s M13 and cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, the company said on Tuesday.

The funding round gives Boba a valuation of $1.5 billion, with former football quarterback Joe Montana and crypto funds Hypersphere and Infinite Capital also making investments.

Boba allows users to develop decentralized apps on the ethereum blockchain with more features and at lower fees, and also transfer non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across ethereum’s different layers.

The company plans to use the funds to expand Web3 offerings and invest in projects built on its ecosystem, founder Alan Chiu said.

The market capitalization of Boba Network’s crypto token rose over 19% to $272.1 million after the announcement, while its price rose to $1.71 from $1.44, according to CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum’s “gas” fees, or the price of executing transactions, has risen steeply over the past few years as the blockchain became more popular, giving rise to platforms designed to reduce expenses and speed up transactions.

Venture capital firms have plowed money into blockchain technology startups with SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Bain Capital Ventures among those who have launched crypto-focused funds or invested in blockchain tech companies since the start of 2022.

(Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

Black-Owned Apparel Brand Makes History as the First to Have Its Own Authorized Disney Merchandise
by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

April 5, 2022

Black-Owned Apparel Brand Makes History as the First to Have Its Own Authorized Disney Merchandise

CurlCap, founded by entrepreneur Britney Sadé, has made history as the first Black woman-owned hair apparel brand to be licensed to use Disney’s logos and characters on its merchandise. The brand makes unique satin-lined visor caps that are stylishly designed for natural hair.

“This brand sits directly at the intersection of hair and fashion with its innovative spin on a traditional dad hat. The patented design is frequently among the Top 10 hats on Amazon and is proven to be essential with over 5,000 five-star reviews on Etsy and Amazon,” according to a recent Instagram post by the company.

CurlCap features a backless style that allows you to wear different hairstyles comfortably. It also has an adjustable elastic strap that is designed like a scrunchie to fit different head sizes and stays secure.

The brand initially launched a number of colors and has since been loved by consumers. Now, their Disney collection includes Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse-designed hats.

This article first appeared on Blackbusiness.com. 

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 5, 2022

Kanye West Reportedly Drops Out of Coachella As the Festival Starts This Weekend

A day after winning a GRAMMY award, embattled entertainer and producer Kanye West reportedly dropped out of the Coachella lineup later this month.

According to TMZ, sources close to the fashionista rapper have stated that Ye will no longer be performing at Coachella this year. Ye has decided to pull the plug on his show set during the two-weekend-long event in Indio, California. Ye was a headliner at the festival.

Over the weekend, according to Page Six, Ye shared with his former wife, Kim Kardashian, that “he’s going away to get help” following his months-long harassment on Instagram targeting the reality star and her boyfriend, Pete Davidson.

“For the sake of the kids, Kanye has told Kim he’s not making any public appearances or inflammatory social media statements, and he will go away somewhere to get better,” revealed a source close to the Kardashians.

Ye’s erratic behavior online in recent months not only caused the social media platform Instagram to suspend his account for 24 hours, but his scheduled performance for last weekend’s GRAMMYs was pulled.

The Recording Academy decided to remove his performance after Ye used a racial slur when addressing The Daily Show host Trevor Noah after the South African comedian called out his abusive behavior toward Kardashian.

Noah, however, even came to the defense of Ye by stating, “I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye.”

It was rumored that Ye intended on bringing his brother-in-law and fellow rapper Travis Scott on stage during his performance. Scott is embroiled in his own controversy after several lives were lost at his Astroworld festival last year in Texas.

Scott was initially scheduled to headline Coachella in 2020, but the festival was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the postponement, he was then slated to headline next month’s Coachella festival but was then taken off the bill shortly after the Astroworld tragedy.

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