King Richard star Aunjanue Ellis wants to honor her late mother at her first-ever Academy Awards ceremony.

Ellis, who was born in San Francisco but raised in Mississippi, earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as Oracene Price, the mother of Venus and Serena Williams, in the award-winning drama. Its her first Oscar nomination.

Ahead of the star-studded Oscars ceremony, Ellis told Good Morning America Monday that she is making a special request to her dress designer.

“Whoever I’m wearing, I’m just insisting that my mother’s name be somewhere on the dress,” Ellis, 53, said. “She left me a couple years ago and I want her with me that night in some sort of way.”

The 94th annual Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 27 and  broadcast live on ABC.

Honoring her mother on Oscars night, coupled with a chance to win the prestigious award, will hold a valuable place in Ellis’ career

“I didn’t see it coming. I knew that a lot of people wanted it for me, my family and my agent, to be honest,” Ellis said about the Oscar nomination while on the red carpet at the AAFCA awards, theGrio reported. “So for that reason, I’m just really happy that it happened.”

For her role in King Richard, Ellis has also received nominations from the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA). She started the season with the National Board of Review prize for supporting actress, according to Variety. More recently, she took home best supporting actress from the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA).

A two-time Emmy nominee for Netflix’s 2019  limited series When They See Us and HBO’s Lovecraft Country, Ellis was the only Black cast member to be nominated from a series among the major categories

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

March 7, 2022

Cardi B Attempts to Have Gag Order Placed On Blogger Tasha K

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After Cardi B won a $4 million defamation lawsuit against YouTube personality Tasha K, the rapper now  wants a gag order placed on the blogger.

On Thursday, the Grammy-winning rapper asked a federal judge to permanently ban Tasha K from posting “harmful and disgusting lies” about her to the internet, Billboard reported. Cardi wants to impose a permanent injunction against Tasha where a court ruling would force the YouTuber to pull all defamatory claims about the rapper from the internet and ban her from reposting them.

“Plaintiff filed this action because defendants refused to stop targeting her with harmful and disgusting lies,” Cardi’s legal team wrote.

“Damages alone are inadequate to address the constant ongoing threat of defendants repeating the defamatory statements [and] defendants have explicitly said that they will continue publishing the defamatory statements unless an injunction is issued.”

The filing comes after Cardi sued Tasha in 2019 for posting YouTube videos accusing the rapper of shocking allegations that she proved were false. Since winning the suit, Cardi says Tasha hasn’t removed all of the videos with the defamatory claims, Rolling Stone reports.

“Not all of the videos and posts containing the defamatory statements have been removed from defendants’ social media accounts,” Cardi’s filing reads.

The new brief accuses Tasha, whose legal name is Latasha Kebe, of posing a “constant ongoing threat” to Cardi even after she testified in January that she would not stop posting defamatory statements unless compelled by the court.

“Unless someone actually forces you to, you are never going to stop repeating these statements about my client?” one of Cardi’s lawyers asked Tasha in court, the new filing states.

“That is correct,” Kebe replied.

“So the only way at this point these videos are ever going to come down is if this court forces you to [remove them]. Is that right?” the lawyer pressed.

“That is correct,” Kebe replied.

“Are you essentially saying that to stop you from calling my client ‘Cold Sore B,’ my client needs to get a gag order?” the lawyer asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Kebe replied.

The filing also cites a tweet Tasha sent out on January 26 saying “No LIES were told on anyone.”

“Plaintiff is only seeking to require defendants to remove any videos and posts that contain the defamatory Statements from their social media accounts and to enjoin defendants from republishing those same statements,” the new filing concludes.

• Sports

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

March 7, 2022

Story of NASCAR’s First Black Driver Wendell Scott Shared As 3D AR NFT Collection

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A series of historic NFTs created by Wendell Scott Ventures will be introduced and sold to commemorate the iconic and groundbreaking life and legacy of Wendell Scott.

On Dec. 1, 1963, Wendell Scott broke NASCAR’s color barrier by becoming the first African American NASCAR driver to win a Grand National race, NASCAR’s highest level.

Until Bubba Wallace‘s win on October 4, 2021 there had never been another black driver to win a NASCAR race. To this day, Wendell Scott is the only black NASCAR team owner. Despite Wendell Scott‘s triumphant victory, he was never awarded a trophy for this win. It wasn’t until Aug. 28, 2021, nearly 60 years after his Jacksonville win that his trophy was posthumously awarded to his family.

Coming off of a successful in-person NFT auction hosted by Authentik Studios at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in which the first-ever NFTs of an African American NASCAR driver was sold, the collaboration with Worldwide XR, CMG Worldwide, and VueXR continues with a broader release on March 6th with the premiere NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway, according to a press release.

100 years after his birth and 58 years after his NASCAR victory, Wendell Scott continues to break barriers as his legacy is now irrevocably entwined with technology that is shaping the future of how users engage with the world around them. NFTs are a fitting mode to share the story of Wendell Scott as NFTs, like Wendell Scott, disrupted society while simultaneously paving the path for change in a broken system. Akin to NFTs impact on technology, cryptocurrency and the future of Web 3.0, Scott’s impact shook NASCAR’s status quo and made the sport more inclusive and accessible. Owners of these NFTs have a chance to be a part of history in the making.

A monumental series of firsts, these historic NFTs were created in partnership by leading digital agency Worldwide XR (WXR), Extended Reality content developers Vue XR and Wendell Scott Ventures (the joint venture between David Steward II‘s Lion Forge Films (Academy Award®-winning Hair Love), parent company Polarity, a leading black-owned entertainment holding company and Scott 34 Racing) and are the first ever NFTs to be released of an African American NASCAR driver.

This will be Nifty’s first time releasing a 3D Augmented Reality (AR) digital car on their platform. The first of it’s kind and an exact 1:1 replica of Wendell Scott‘s first-ever NASCAR winning 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air. Much like the blockchain allows users to operate on a decentralized system, the Extended Reality (XR) version of Scott’s car breaks it away from its physical confines of its display at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and brings it to the masses. This AR asset can also be utilized in Metaverse applications.

Depending on which NFT is purchased, owners will also receive Authentik Studios’ SILO™ Digital Frame that brings your NFTs to life by allowing users to display your collections on a 43″ HD high-fidelity audio display from the comfort of their home. Users can access their entire NFT gallery via the SILO™ App & enjoy their NFTs in unparalleled 4K resolution.

• Lifestyle

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

March 7, 2022

‘Setting The Table’ Podcast Explores How African American Cuisine Set the Foundation for American Food

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Setting the Table is a new podcast from Whetstone Radio Collective hosted by food writer Deb Freeman, and premieres on March 8.

Setting the Table explores the stories and histories of African-American cuisine and footways, and lays out the argument that African-Americans created the foundation of American cuisine, even though it is one of the least explored food genres. 

The podcast illuminates the ways that Black people have shaped how this country eats and drinks and will talk to chefs, scholars, and food writers such as James Beach award-winning chef Mashama Bailey, James Beard award-winning author Adrian Miller, Washington Post food writer Aaron Hutchenson, Top Chef finalists Chris Scott and Adrienne Cheatham.

Some of the topics that will be explored throughout the ten episodes are the Great Migration, the decline of Black farmers, the complicated relationship between Black chefs and soul food, and the hidden legacy of Black distillers and brewers.

“Having an entire podcast that will focus on Black culinary history is an amazing opportunity,” Freeman Told Black Enterprise.

“I’ve been writing about Black food for a few years, and this is a new medium that will enable me to delve into things like how Black women use food as an activism tool or how Black women were making beer in the 1800s. These are the sort of things we need to be talking about in order to have a full picture of the Black culinary landscape.” 

The Whetstone Radio Network was created by Stephen Satterfield, one of the most prominent and respected voices in food media and host of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog. Satterfield has created the first of its kind food podcast network, dedicated to the story of food origins around the world.

The podcast will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other streaming services. To learn more, click here. 

• Lifestyle

by Atiya Jordan

March 7, 2022

New Line of Dr. Seuss-Inspired Books To Highlight Original Stories By Diverse Creators

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Dr. Seuss Enterprises recently announced that a diverse group of writers and illustrators would be contributing to an upcoming new line of books based on sketches by famous authors who have never been published before.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the San Diego-based company, which oversees and owns the intellectual property rights to all Dr. Seuss’ works, and Penguin Random House Children’s Books said the new line would be called Seuss Studios.

Slated to be released next year, the new line of books will include original stories inspired by previously unpublished sketches selected from the Dr. Seuss Archives at the University of California San Diego, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement on the late writer’s birthday.

The already chosen images include three colorful hummingbirds with pointy noses and a four-legged creature with giant ears.

“The original Dr. Seuss sketch that serves as the inspiration for each of the new Seuss Studios books will be included in the book, along with a note from the creators explaining how they were inspired, and their process,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises said, as reported by NBC News.

The announcement highlighted that the new inclusive-driven authors and illustrators would aim to represent fans globally, particularly families of all racial backgrounds.

“We look forward to putting the spotlight on a new generation of talent who we know will bring their unique voices and style to the page, while also drawing inspiration from the creativity and imagination of Dr. Seuss,” Susan Brandt, president and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said in a statement, according to NBC News.

On Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birthday last year, his company announced that it would cease the publication and licensing of six titles from its catalog, BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported. These books were deemed to portray racist and insensitive images: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer.

Contrarily, these new books will cater to children aged 4 to 8 and continue Geisel’s mission to inspire young readers while also supporting writers and artists in their publishing journeys.

• Women

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

March 7, 2022

Free Virtual Summit to Connect Black Women Entrepreneurs With Investors, Allies, and Other Supporters

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The 4th Annual Women Of Color Connecting Summit (WOCCON 2022) is a free virtual event to be held Mar. 8-10, 2022 for Black and brown female founders and entrepreneurs that will connect them with the allies, champions and investors who are committed to supporting them. Hosted by The Institute For Entrepreneurial Leadership (IFEL), the summit is also an opportunity for women of color business owners to expand their circles of influence with others just like them.

Capital constraint remains a defining problem for women of color entrepreneurs, many of which continue to receive a very small fraction of VC funding despite a five-year high. IFEL is attacking this problem from a different angle by engaging its vast network of expertise and relationships to get more women of color on the grow-scale-exit trajectory to building wealth.

“Bringing together Women of Color entrepreneurs and the allies, champions and investors who want to support them is the driving force behind WOCCON 2022,” said IFEL CEO Jill Johnson.

“We are coalescing an amazing group of people. The message to these amazing entrepreneurs and founders is that we are here for you. The message to the allies, investors and policy-makers is that it is your responsibility to act with intentionality to open doors for women of color entrepreneurs.”

WOCCON creates a safe space for open conversation and honest dialogue to help attendees determine how they can provide opportunities for women of color founders and entrepreneurs. The vision for this initiative is to create one billion in new wealth within 10 years through the success of women of color entrepreneurs.

This year’s speakers include Melissa Bradley of 1863 Ventures, Cheryl Contee of the Impact Seat, Lorine Pendleton of Portfolia Rising America Fund, McKeever (Mac) Conwell of RareBreed Ventures, Bailey DeVries of the US Small Business Administration among many others.

A number of change agent partners have joined the WOCCON 2022 movement to bolster efforts in advancing the growth of women of color entrepreneurs including Golden Seeds, Davis Wright Tremaine’s Project W, IFUNDWOMEN, Mogul, Public-Private Strategies, WBEC (Women’s Business National Council) – Metro New York, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Invest for Better, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, National Minority Supplier Development Council and its Emerging Young Entrepreneurs Program.

This article first appeared on Blacknews.com. 

As a new generation of gaming emerges, Xbox continues its efforts to power dreams by announcing the expansion of its sponsorship with the NBA franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers.

In celebration, the Microsoft-owned video game company teamed up with philanthropist and NBA All-Star Dwight Howard to remodel part of the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley into a new state-of-the-art gaming lab called Dreams Space.

The multipurpose lab features new artwork, custom purple and gold Xbox Series S consoles, gaming PCs, and screens. The youth get to experience the joy of gaming while exploring their passions.

“I am partnering with Xbox and the Lakers to produce this game lab just to give these kids a chance to dream and think big,” Howard shared in a statement. “I know how much the Lakers mean to me but also Xbox. I’ve been playing the game for a lot of years now. It’s just kind of opened up my eyes to different games, but also it’s inspired me to want to continue to play this sport that I love and play here in LA. So, I’m very thankful to be partnering with two great companies who’ve been around for a very long time, and they’re kind of the champions in their own field.”

A youth and family-oriented nonprofit organization, the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley offers programs that help promote the educational, vocational, social, and character development of boys and girls between 6 and 17. According to its website, the club aims to “inspire and empower all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens.”

In its history, the SFV Boy & Girls Club has been serving the San Fernando Valley successfully for over 49 years and currently has a membership of over 2,500 youth.

Howard, a long-time supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs across the country, also recently surprised the kids with a private meet-and-greet. He even gifted them a rewarding opportunity to go toe-to-toe, on the court and in their favorite Xbox Game Pass titles, with the 6’10″ center and eight-time All-Star himself.

He continued: “Sports and gaming give kids a chance to dream, and they want to be something in life. And when they’re playing these games and they see these players who grew up in similar situations, they’re like, ‘Man, you know, maybe I could be a LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony or Russell Westbrook.’”

• Women

by Derek Major

March 7, 2022

VP Kamala Harris Continues Calls For Voting Rights Legislation As She Crosses Edmund Pettus Bridge On Anniversary Of Bloody Sunday

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Vice President Kamala Harris continued her calls for Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation before walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday.

The walk across the bridge Sunday marked the 57th anniversary of the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, known as Bloody Sunday. On March 7, 1965, more than 600 marchers were on hand for the walk, but the group made it only six blocks before local and state law enforcement agents violently attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas.

Harris said those who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge that day in 1965, which included the late John Lewis, did so not only to ensure the right to vote but “to ensure all the people of our nation, no matter where they start, have the opportunity to succeed.”

“A record number of people cast their ballots in the 2020 elections. It was a triumph of democracy in many ways. But not everyone saw it that way. Some saw it as a threat,” Harris said, according to CNN, adding “un-American” laws enacted in GOP-led states are making it harder to vote.

Harris said Sunday she and President Joe Biden “have put the full power of the executive branch behind our shared effort” while criticizing Republican lawmakers for blocking the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom To Vote Act.

Several civil rights leaders also met with Harris, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, and Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Donald Remy Sunday.

Biden also reiterated his call to pass comprehensive voting rights legislation during his State of the Union speech last week.

Two days after the marchers retreated in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a second group in a symbolic march to the bridge. Civil rights leaders sought court protection for a third full-scale march from Selma to Montgomery.

Federal District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. granted civil rights protestors protection for the march, and on Sunday, March 21, 1965, more than 3,000 protestors walked 12 miles a day, reaching Montgomery in four days when the group was more than 25,000 strong.

Less than a year later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.

• Lifestyle

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

March 7, 2022

Snoop Dogg Says Jay-Z Threatened to Sever NFL Partnership Over Alleged Restrictions for Super Bowl Halftime Performance

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Several weeks after the Super Bowl crowned the NFL’s champions; it seems as if no one is talking about the actual game or even the teams that participated. With all the hoopla surrounding this year’s halftime performance, it is still on people’s minds, specifically Death Row Records owner Snoop Dogg.

In a recent interview with Tidal’s Elliot Wilson, The Doggfather revealed that Roc Nation owner and successful hip-hop entrepreneur Jay-Z was ready to end his business relationship with the NFL if they objected to certain aspects of the Super Bowl LVI halftime performance that featured Snoop, Dr. Dre, Anderson.Paak, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent.

Rumors came out that the NFL didn’t want Snoop’s gang affiliation to be acknowledged during his performance (He typically “crip-walks” during his shows). The league didn’t want Dr. Dre saying one of his lines from his hit song, Still Dre Day (Lyrics coincidentally written by Jay-Z for the super-producer) when he said, “Still not loving police.” Executives were allegedly against white rapper Eminem kneeling at the end of his performance as an ode to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

In deep admiration for his East Coast rapping friend, Snoop tells Wilson how appreciative he was for Jay-Z going to bat for the performers, threatening to quit if they weren’t able to perform in the manner they wanted to.

• Entertainment

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

March 7, 2022

Black TV Personality Makes History, Acquires 100% of the Rights to His Local TV Show

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Aaron Jordan, Jr., the host of a local TV program called Cafe Conversations with Mr. Know Your Worth, didn’t always own the rights to his show but has now successfully acquired 100% ownership.

Known for its interviews with prolific people with powerful stories of triumph, the show currently broadcasts on Christian Television Network (CTN-WHTN) in Middle Tennessee (the Greater Nashville area and other surrounding counties), and also some parts of Kentucky.

The acquisition, which provides Jordan with all the catalogs and copyrights of the show, is expected to create an avenue for him to develop more shows, concepts, and hosting opportunities.

“My team and I are looking to explore more acquisition and licensing opportunities,” Jordan says.

“I understand the demand for content, and we have a total of 20 shows currently in the catalog that have aired on a regional network for proof of concept. Also, this can lead to other avenues in the TV entertainment space (i.e. another TV show concept, hosting, etc).”

Jordan says that this landmark achievement is a result of long-term efforts right from the inception of the idea of the concept for a TV show, and further attributed his success to a replay of an old interview by Tyler Perry, which motivated him after seeing it.

“This achievement has been in the works since the inception of the idea of the concept for a TV show,” he says.

“When my brand started to venture into television, my first goal was to get acquired by a network for licensing of my content, but it wasn’t until I saw a replay of an old interview by Tyler Perry stressing the fact of the importance of having ownership of our content and brand that I began to think and ask myself: ‘Do I really own my content fully to create leverage?’”

Jordan will leverage this acquisition in achieving his career objectives of not just impacting the lives of many young people positively, empowering men and women on understanding the power they possess in their relationships and enriching them to overcome brokenness, but also impacting the future generations.

“This was a very pivotal milestone achieved. The reason being is because of the leverage that it creates long-term from a generational perspective. The decisions and sacrifices made over time create opportunities in the future for my daughter and future children. So this milestone means so much more to me than the present,” he says.

Aaron Jordan Jr. is a Nashville media personality, author, and relationship coach who was named “Making Headline News Man of The Year” for 2020 and 2021.

This article first appeared on Blacknews.com.