• Uncategorized

by Yolanda Baruch

March 26, 2022

‘Love & Hip Hop’ Star Apple Watts Hospitalized With Multiple Injuries After Car Crash

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Apple Watts, 36, a cast member of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, suffered severe injuries from a car accident that happened Wednesday morning and is currently being hospitalized, Deadline reports.

Born Jontelle Lafaye Watts, Apple Watts’ sister, spoke to The Shade Room and said that the exotic dancer turned rapper was driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and her black Mercedes collided with a Ford F250 pickup truck on I-15.  

Watts’ car flipped several times and burst into flames. The California highway patrol reported that one of the passengers from the diesel truck pulled Watts out from the burning vehicle, according to TMZ. 

Watts’ sister said that Apple was unresponsive and sustained a fractured skull, a broken spine, and a shattered arm, The Shaderoom reports. 

Watts is currently at a University Medical Center in Las Vegas, fighting for her life, Complex reports. 

 

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Friends and family told The Shaderoom that Watts’ road to recovery would be challenging as it will be difficult for her to regain such functions as walking and feeding herself.

Watts’ started stripping at the age of 21 and landed features in music videos as a video vixen for artists such as Future, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla Sign, YG, and others, according to Madamenoire. 

Watts broke out on the VH1 hit series Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. Her storyline focused on her journey from dancer to music artist.

She spoke about the hurdles that Black strippers face in the exotic dancing industry.

“A lot of black women are pushed to the back burner who are very talented,” she said to VH1 in 2018. “Like Kash Doll — she needs to be up there. Her skills are ridiculous and her attitude is fierce. That’s the way it is in the industry. A lot of black women don’t make it because white women and Mexican women are the trend. Black women are overlooked in the world period. Strip clubs in L.A. cater to white and Mexican girls. It’s hard for black girls to even find places to dance because of our skin tone. I’m not even a dark skinned girl, but my attitude is what they don’t like.”

Watts’ accident is currently under investigation, but drugs or alcohol are not considered to be involved in the collision, Deadline reports.

Will Smith is the man of the hour for his role in the critically acclaimed film King Richard. He has garnered top awards like the Critics Choice Award, African American Film Critics Association Award, NAACP Image Award, SAG Award, the Golden Globe Award. Predictions say he will take home an Oscar for his performance as the father of Venus and Serena Williams.

However, with all the fanfare surrounding his latest film, Smith, 53, revealed at the National Board of Review, a ceremony that celebrates cinema, to The Blast correspondent Ty Cole that The Pursuit of Happyness “was the best movie he’s ever made.”

The film told the story of Chris Gardner, a father of a young son and failed salesman who experienced homelessness and lifted himself to become the head of his own brokerage firm, according to IMDB. 

“I thought Pursuit Of Happiness was the best movie I ever made,” said Smith. “The reaction that King Richard is getting is what I thought Pursuit of Happyness was going to receive. Something happened with this film that is very unique and I never experienced this blanket level of appreciation for a movie,” reports The Blast.

When Smith first heard he was nominated for an Oscar, he was taken aback. 

“It was like, uh oh, wait, let me Google myself and see what happened,” Smith said in a phone interview with New York Times. “But it was just a beautiful, pleasant surprise.” 

Smith has been nominated three times for an Oscar, the first for Ali in 2002 and the second for The Pursuit of Happyness in 2007, according to the New York Times. 

The Bad Boys actor said he felt he would not achieve another performance like The Pursuit of Happyness, “I thought I had reached my artistic pinnacle,” said Smith. “So for the world to respond to this film and in this way energizes me as an artist. I’m just wildly inspired to create and even to to be able to tell stories like this,” a sports drama about how Richard Williams and Oracene Price molded their daughters into tennis champions. 

King Richard gained six Academy nominations, including one for best picture.

If Smith wins on Sunday, it will be his first Academy Award in his 30-year career.

The Academy Awards will air on March 27th on ABC Networks.

• Technology

by Black Enterprise Shop

March 26, 2022

Receive Premium Cybersecurity Training For Only $49

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Cybersecurity threats are increasingly becoming rampant. In fact, only a week before Russia invaded Ukraine, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) raised a “Shields Up” warning, encouraging organizations of all sizes to ramp up their cybersecurity measures and be extra alert on any disruptive cyber activity.

While this doesn’t imply in any way that your small business might be directly affected, the organizations that you rely on to stay functional might. “The reason why there are these bulletins coming out, especially directed at small and medium-sized businesses, is that we have learned the hard way about the fragility of the global supply chain,” Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer said.

There’s no question, cybersecurity protocols must be implemented, and if you can’t hire an entire team to do it for you just yet, you can take matters into your own hands by boosting your cybersecurity skills. The Complete 2022 CompTIA Cyber Security and PenTest Super Bundle can help you on this front.

Packed with over 180 hours of premium training from iCollege, a leading organization on employee training, this bundle helps you beef up your knowledge and skills in building a secure network for not just your business, but for any business. You’ll learn how to analyze an enterprise environment and make recommendations for security solutions, plan and scope penetration tests, implement security-related policies, operations, and incidence response procedures, and execute cryptographic techniques, such as blockchain, cryptocurrency, and mobile device encryption. You can also expect to learn how to penetrate networks, exploit host-based vulnerabilities, test applications, and complete post-exploit tasks.

With courses boasting ratings as high as 5 out of 5 stars, this educational bundle can certainly help you safeguard your business’ networks and protect your business in a massive way. Normally $1770, you can grab the Complete 2022 CompTIA Cyber Security and PenTest Super Bundle for only $49.

Prices subject to change.

• News

by Derek Major

March 25, 2022

‘You Are Worthy’ Sen. Cory Booker Brought to Tears Praising Ketanji Brown Jackson

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New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker got emotional Wednesday as he praised Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson and expressed anger at the questions she received from GOP senators.

With Jackson smiling at him like they’re related, Booker told her she “is an extraordinary testament of what can be accomplished against the odds.”

“I want to tell you when I look at you, this is why I get emotional,” said Booker, the only Black member of the Senate committee and one of only three Black senators. “I’m sorry — you’re a person that is so much more than your race and gender.”

Booker became emotional at times, tearing up and talking breaks as he told Jackson she was worthy of being on the Supreme Court. He also blasted Republican senators including Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who he called out by name for saying Jackson was ”appallingly soft on child pornography offenders.”

“Feel proud about yourself, you brought together left and right in this calling out of people that will sit up here and try to pull out from cases and try to put themselves in a position where they’re the defenders of our children, to a person who has children, to someone who goes out in streets and defends children, this is a new low.”

Booker talked for almost 20 minutes, even going back to the trials of Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery, helped others escape and also helped Union troops during the Civil War.

“Today you are my star, you are my harbinger of hope,” Booker said towards the end of his speech. “And when that final vote happens and when you are sent up to the highest court in the land, I’m gonna rejoice and the United States of America will be better because of you.”

Booker was easily Jackson’s biggest cheerleader during the confirmation hearings. In his opening statement, he described meeting Jackson, how excited he was just to have her sit in his office and how historic it was that she was close to be the first Black woman on the High Court.

• Diversity, Equality, Inclusion

by Derek Major

March 25, 2022

Indiana University’s Lilly Library Is Launching a New Digital Resource Collection Focusing on Black Wealth in the US

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Indiana University’s Lilly Library has launched a new digital resource collection Thursday called Land, Wealth, Liberation: The making and unmaking of Black wealth in the United States.

The digital collection provides an interactive timeline of events that affected the history of Black wealth in the U.S. from 1820 through today. The collection explores how Black Americans have worked to produce and maintain wealth through land ownership as well as an interactive timeline that includes photos, videos and personal testimonies of events.

“I am extremely proud of my colleagues who have dedicated their time and expertise to amplifying the history and experiences of Black and Indigenous people,” the Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries Diane Dallis-Comentale told Indiana Student Daily.

Some of the topics included in the collection include ways companies and laws in the U.S. have tried to limit Black wealth and economic progress, including the history and effects of predatory lending, redlining and lynching.

The collection will also include sections on interactions between Black American groups and Indigenous peoples and guides for teaching about events including the Tulsa Race Massacre, the effect housing inequality had on the North Carolina neighborhood in Durham and the history of Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis, which featured many Black businesses.

Despite hitting new levels of Black wealth recently, Black Americans are still fighting to increase their economic power. Many Black Americans took their financial futures into their own hands during the COVID-19 pandemic starting businesses in fashion, hair care, feminine hygiene, marijuana, IT and even the stock market.

However, Black Americans are still struggling with access to credit, seed funding, start-up costs and emergency funds.

The Lilly Library event also featured a discussion on Black wealth with Valerie Grim, professor of African American and African diaspora studies, and Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, author of the Black Agenda.

New items will continue to be added to the collection, which is available for anyone in the state of Indiana to access will be online, at JSTOR, the academic database and IUScholarWorks, Indiana University’s Institutional Repository.

• Events

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

March 25, 2022

Yolanda Adams, Sherrilyn Ifill, Tamika Mallory and More Honored at Black Enterprise Women of Power Legacy Awards

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BLACK ENTERPRISE returned to Las Vegas on Thursday, March 24 to present its highest honor in recognition of the achievements of Black women at the 16th annual Legacy Awards.

The special event honored the trailblazing women who’ve defied the odds and changed the
world. Following a two-year hiatus, the Legacy Awards came back strong with a lineup of honorees who have an outstanding impact in business, the arts, education, government, and other influential areas.

Among the honorees included legendary gospel singer Yolanda Adams, journalist and founder of Madam Walker Family Archives A’Lelia Bundles, and president and director-counsel of NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill.

Founder and CEO of ActOne Group, Janice Bryant Howroyd, accepted the Barbara Graves award while activist Tamika Mallory and global chief marketing officer of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, Ukonwa Ojo received the first-ever Luminary Awards, which honor women illuminating the path through their career for other women.

The ladies shared words of wisdom and inspiration while gracing the stage to accept their awards.

Mallory, who has dedicated her life to the continued fight for racial equality and justice, ignited the room with reminders that there is strength in numbers.

“We are fighting for all of your and our children and we need your support,” Mallory said.

Ojo encouraged attendees to confidently take their seats at the table because “your presence makes them better.”

“To all those who have ever felt alone in rooms and in cases where no one looks like you and you wonder or sometimes you are made to wonder do I belong here? Yes, you do belong there,” Ojo said.

“They need you. Your presence makes things better. Your presence makes them better.”

Adams spoke passionately when accepting her Legacy Award. Holding back happy tears in moments, the decorated Grammy Award-winner recalled all of the women who have helped inspire her by sharing how she inspires them through her music.

“My life is a collection of the ups and downs and I’m one who has survived as most of you have because we don’t have the luxury of giving up as women,” Adams said.

Ifill, who resigned from her post just a week before accepting her Legacy Award, highlighted just some of the groundbreaking changes the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) has brought about while carrying on the legacy of its founder Thurgood Marshall.

Ifill proudly shared how LDF is in good hands as she passes the baton for the first time in the organization’s history to another woman. While invigorating the room to contact their local Senator and demand the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Ifill prompted attendees to lend a hand in any way possible to the groups working in our favor.

“All of you are in positions to support Black institutions and we will need them now more than ever,” Ifill said.

Howroyd helped cap off the glamorous and empowering event with a strong reminder through her professional mantra, “Never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally.”

• Entrepreneurship

by Atiya Jordan

March 25, 2022

Shaman Candiss Pitts Earns $119K Per Month Following Her Purpose

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Candiss Pitts always knew she had a gift before embarking on the spiritual journey of a lifetime and guiding others to align work, purpose, and passion.

Pitts, who goes by “Makhosi Nejeser,” is the founder of The Royal Shaman, a spiritual advising business that provides coaching services to high income earners and high-level entrepreneurs.

The West Virginia native worked in direct sales after graduating college and achieved a spot in the top 2% of consultants at her company, Pitts revealed on CNBC. Dedicated to her job at the time, Pitts was able to reap the rewards of “free trips, designer handbags, and mansion parties.” But she knew even the rewards and the accomplishments couldn’t stop the feeling that she could be doing more.

“As a 24-year-old mother from a small town in West Virginia, it was more than I ever dreamed of,” she wrote as a contributor on CNBC. “Still, I had this nagging feeling that something was missing. I started asking myself: ‘Who am I? What am I here to do? Am I living my purpose?'”

These questions led her to South Africa, where she would further explore her gift of “knowing and seeing things other people can’t.”

In 2013, Pitts quit her successful sales job to fully commit herself to a five-year spiritual journey. She went on to train to become a shaman in South Africa. A shaman is a “healer” who acts as an intermediary between the physical and non-physical realms.

While on her path to unlock her dreams, Pitts spent more than $100,000 and had to take on jobs in marketing and business strategy to get by during her “rigorous” and “expensive” training.

In September 2018, Pitts returned home with determination and offered individual spiritual advising sessions. Unlike a life coach, Pitts explains that she “helps [her] clients expand and uplift their consciousness on a more spiritual level.”

The pricing of her sessions were initially contingent upon what others were charging. After the first few months, Pitts decided to expand her services by offering her first group program for $97 per month in December 2018.

In a two year span, Pitts’ coaching services racked in $17,000 to $972,000 after pivoting her focus to “elite clientele,” a group in which her influence helped them secure multimillion-dollar business deals.

Unapologetic about her worth and influence, Pitts’ growth revenue closed out 2021 with $972,000. The shaman managed to make an average of $119,000 per month this quarter.

“All of this was possible because I gave myself permission to follow my passion and purpose,” Pitts said.

• Entrepreneurship

by Atiya Jordan

March 25, 2022

Husband and Wife Duo Set To Pitch ‘Young King Hair Care’ on Shark Tank

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Atlanta-based couple Cora and Stefan Miller will be appearing on NBC’s Shark Tank in hopes of continuing the growth of their Young King Hair Care brand.

BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported that Young King Hair Care was the first hair care line that accommodates Black and Brown boys with hair types from 3A to 4C, and received a big boost within its first year. The brand was one of 10 emerging beauty brands selected to participate in Target’s 2020 Takeoff Beauty Accelerator Program. A total of 450 brands were selected. Young King Hair Care landed in 1,200 Target stores and online.

Walmart soon followed suit. These wins allowed the hair care brand to exceed their forecasted revenue and earn 544% year-over-year growth in 2021. In addition, the Millers are proud to have increased shelf space in Walmart and Target.

“The Sharks were very complimentary regarding the business we built,” Cora told AfroTech. “They actually even called my husband a ‘brilliant marketer,’ which as our CMO, whose professional background is all-around marketing, made him feel so proud.”

The business reeled in even more wins last year. Beauty Independent reported the brand raised $1.6 million in a seed round led by SheaMoisture co-founder Richelieu Dennis’s venture capital firm New Voices Fund. This funding places Cora in a small pool of Black women, particularly one out of nearly 100 to do so, as per Afro Tech.

The brand’s exponential growth caught the attention of a Shark Tank casting agent. After numerous interviews and meetings with the production team, the Millers felt prepared to “pitch to the Sharks to share these wins, our plans for scaling, and why we’d be great partners.”

“Having such validation from the Sharks is so meaningful. Not everyone leaves with a positive experience in the Tank like we did,” Cora said. “This assured us that we were built to do this and that our vision of the company is certainly within our reach.”

• Celebrity News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

March 25, 2022

TIME Studios and Roc Nation to Produce Documentary About Megan Thee Stallion

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Megan Jovon Ruth Pete is about to have her story told about how she became the artist we know as Megan Thee Stallion.

TIME Studios and Roc Nation have just announced they are jointly producing a forthcoming, multi-part documentary series about Roc Nation artist, Megan Thee Stallion. The planned documentary of the GRAMMY® Award-winning musician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist will be directed by Nneka Onuorah.

“Megan has quickly blossomed into one of the pre-eminent entertainers in the world and it’s a testament to her perseverance, resilience and professionalism,” Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez said in a written statement. “Her journey is inspirational and we’re proud to have partnered with TIME Studios to highlight her personal and professional trajectory over the years. Our hope is that this documentary will inspire viewers to stay the course and pursue their passions through the ups and downs.”

The documentary will reveal an intimate perspective of Megan’s life and career. From her Texas upbringing, influences, and steps she has taken throughout her life to blossom into the artist that we see today. Pointing out critical milestones in her career, the film project will shed light on the many facets of the Houston native’s multilayered personality.

“We are thrilled to be able to work with Roc Nation to share Megan’s story with the world. Millions of people are familiar with her as an entertainer, but this series will give her a chance to share her truth as never before,” said TIME Studios Co-Head of Documentary Loren Hammonds. “Her story is a powerful one, and the accomplishments that she continues to achieve are remarkable. We feel lucky to have this opportunity to capture her at a crucial moment in her life and career, as she continues to grow exponentially in both her artistry and global impact.”

The documentary will include a mix of rare archival footage and a fresh verité video as it will emphasize Megan’s rise from her freestyling days to accentuate her climb to the cultural powerhouse she has become. It will also showcase and amplify Megan’s journey to success. This film will also touch on how the entrepreneur has overcome various personal hurdles to thrive in her professional career.

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

March 25, 2022

Second Grand Jury Declines to Indict Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson

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Nearly two weeks after a grand jury refused to indict NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson, a second grand jury also declines to indict the newly signed Cleveland Browns player.

According to NFL.com, a grand jury in Brazoria County, Texas, declined to indict Watson on Thursday. The jury contemplated evidence presented to them in a criminal complaint against the Browns quarterback after allegations of sexual misconduct during a massage therapy session.

On Mar. 11, a grand jury in Harris County, Texas determined there was not enough evidence to charge the quarterback after several allegations from multiple women accusing him of sexual misconduct arising from massage therapy sessions. Although he is cleared of the criminal charges, he faces 22 civil lawsuits from several accusers. The NFL is still investigating the matter and will likely suspend him, based on the information acquired.

The Cleveland Browns faced backlash after signing Watson who missed the entirety of the 2021-2022 football season due to allegations of sexual misconduct from multiple women.

It was reported by numerous outlets that several teams met with Watson, and surprisingly, the Browns emerged as the team he chose to resume his career.

Last week, team officials made an official announcement. The Browns gave up three first-round picks, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2024 fourth-round pick, and a 2024 fifth-rounder to obtain the controversial quarterback.

In a written statement, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said, “Our organization did a tremendous amount of background on Deshaun. We understand the concerns and questions that exist but are confident in the extensive work Andrew and his staff have done to feel confident about him joining our organization. It was important for us to meet with Deshaun in person as part of our team’s evaluation process, we had a candid conversation regarding his approach to coming into our organization and community.”