• News

by Wendy Medina

February 22, 2022

New Evidence Suggests Foul Play In ‘The Walking Dead’ Actor Moses J. Moseley’s Alleged Suicide

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New evidence has been uncovered in the death of The Walking Dead actor Moses J. Moseley. 

According to Georgia law enforcement, there is a possibility of foul play regarding the actor’s alleged suicide last month, reports OK Magazine. In an active investigation, police are now considering every possibility connected to the death of the 31-year-old actor, after initially treating the scene as a suicide.

As previously reported, Mosely’s family had not heard from him for a whole week, causing sufficient alarm to file a missing person’s report with the police. After no luck with various phone calls to hospitals, the family contacted car tracking company, OnStar, to track his car. Once finding the vehicle in the Hudson Bridge area of Stockbridge, Georgia, his body was discovered in it with a bullet wound in his head and a gun on his lap. 

He reportedly died of a gunshot wound in a potential suicide, however, investigators are now not ruling out murder and accidental misfiring.

“As investigators progressed their investigation and more evidence was processed, reviewed and analyzed, other possibilities have presented themselves including accidental,” explained Captain Randy Lee of the Stockbridge police department.

According to Moseley’s family members, evidence of blood splatter, entry and no exit wounds in his skull, and “loose” grip on the gun is something not seen in suicides. The bullet appeared to have entered below Moseley’s eye and lodged itself inside, in contrast to suicide victims usually pulling the trigger inside their mouth or right to their temple, his family members attest. Additionally, the family noted his loose grip on the weapon, raising speculation that the gun may have been placed there.

Captain Lee reiterated that they are thoroughly investigating all leads.

Moseley appeared on The Walking Dead from 2012 to 2015 as a zombie who followed the character Michonne, played by Danai Gurira. He also appeared on the Watchmen series and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in 2013.

• Business

by Wendy Medina

February 22, 2022

New Black Wall Street Market Is Turning Out To Be Anything But A Haven For Black Vendors

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Located in Stonecrest, Georgia, New Black Wall Street Market opened its doors with high hopes of thriving Black businesses last November. Vendors at the mall are now claiming its owners have been forcing them out due to roof leaks and other complaints, WSBTV reports.

While the mall was aimed at representing the accomplishments of the original Black Wall Street before being burned to the ground by white mobs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, those who have set up shop allege being played by management.

“It is a modern-day slavery,” commented Cakes by Keon vendor Keon Hardeman of his experience at the mall in a recent WSB-TV news clip. 

All fingers seem to point to the director of the New Black Wall Street, Matthew Hampton. 

Legitimate grievances of failing businesses, upcharged retail space, and leaking roofs damaging inventory were only met with unlawful termination, vendors claim. 

“He said, ‘You can take your stuff and go.’ He said, ‘I don’t want any more people that are complaining about the rain,’” detailed another vendor, Cassandra Shields, who reportedly was pushed to leave after continuous complaining that a leaky roof was affecting her business. 

While Hampton has addressed the roof situation as “constantly working to make those repairs,” many sellers who say they have been kicked out tell a different story.

While the grand opening brought out almost 11,000 people, a mere four months later, the New Black Wall Street Market is struggling to keep their merchants uplifted.

“We don’t want a few instances where it just didn’t work out for folks to represent this brand and to represent the direction we’re going in,” said Hampton.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the building for this new marketplace sits over a former super Target of 125,000 sq. ft., with space for nearly 120 vendors, arising from a redevelopment project to honor the Tulsa Massacre victims.

Bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, 37, made history by being awarded the most medals in the Winter Olympic Games. She won her fifth medal, a bronze, in the two-woman bobsleigh competition on Saturday, reports CNN.

“It’s so crazy to hear that stat and to know that I’m part of a legacy that’s bigger than me,” she said to CNN. “Hopefully, it just encourages more and more black athletes to come out to winter sports and not just black athletes, winter sports for everybody.

Elana Meyers Taylor is now the most decorated woman to ever compete in Olympic bobsled.

This run by @eamslider24 guaranteed medals for her team and propelled her to #WinterOlympics history. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/TzTGj3v7GP

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 19, 2022

“We want everybody to come out regardless of the color of your skin. We want winter sports to be for everybody, regardless of race, regardless of socio-economic class,” Taylor added. “I think the more diversity we have, the stronger our sport can be. So hopefully, this is just the start of more and more people coming out and trying winter sports.”

The Beijing Games are the fourth Olympics that Meyers Taylor has attended; she began her bobsledding career in 2007 and competed in Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, and PyeongChang in 2018. She has won three and two bronze medals. But the talented bobsledder has hinted that this might be her last competition in a sled, reports NBC News.  

“All things must come to an end,” Meyers Taylor said. “I’ve had an incredible journey, and if it is the end, if it is my last race, then I’m going to enjoy the heck out of it,” Meyers Taylor said, according to the Associated Press.

Meyers Taylor is one of nine Black women, mostly Americans, to gain a medal in bobsled.

In 2020, she wrote an essay posted on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee website that examined race, racism in sports, and situations that she and her husband, Nic Taylor, also a bobsled athlete, have encountered, according to AP. 

• Fashion & Beauty

by Yolanda Baruch

February 22, 2022

Blaque’s Brandi Williams Releases Bei Polished Vegan Nail Polish

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Most will remember Brandi Williams as a member of the R&B/Pop group Blaque.

In addition to singing and acting, Williams graced the screen in Bring It On and Honey. Now, she is adding entrepreneur and lifestyle expert to her impressive resume.

During the pandemic, Williams could not make trips to the nail salon, so she started treating herself to home manicures and painted her own nails, which she hadn’t done in years. She began reminiscing about her childhood, where she accompanied her mother to the local nail shops. She gravitated towards the various colors of nail polish that evoked visions of glamour and high fashion.

Williams became inspired by her childhood dreams to create her own line of nail polish that exemplified her health-conscious lifestyle.

“Creating a vegan product was a natural choice for me because I have lived a vegan and relatively health-conscious lifestyle for over 20 years,” Williams said.

“Being true to myself means that the nail polish, and any other products I develop, must be healthy as possible,” said Williams about her nail beauty line.

She established her Black-female owned company Bei Polished and assembled a viable team to help bring her ideas to fruition. The name stems from a term of endearment people close to Brandi call her “Bei,” also serves as an acronym for “Beautiful Elegant Icons.” The “Polished” aspect is aspirational for all who use the colorful lacquer, she says, and it represents the shiny refinement, the sparkle that everyone wants.

The development process for the first collection took three months, and Williams drew upon her creative eye when deciding on the colors for each collection. She designed the polish for women who maintain a healthy lifestyle and use products that are vegan, non-toxic, cruelty-free alternatives but also consider themselves fashionable girly girls.

“We formulated the nail polish around my life as an entertainer, which can wreak havoc on a girl’s nail game.  But, no matter what your career, if you are not careful, the health of your nail beds can become malnourished or weak, especially when using artificial nails.”

Williams designed the polish to dry faster, last longer, and boast a richer and lasting shine attributed to the CBD and argan oils.

“During Covid, I began maintaining my natural nails with our formula. I noticed improvements in the appearance of my nail beds and that I had healthier-looking nails.  My nail tech raved about how quickly our nail polish dries and how long it lasts, it looks amazing even after two weeks,” lauds Williams about Bei Polished.

Plant-based nail polishes tend to improve fingernail appearance, fortify the health of customers’ nails, and lessen dryness.

Bei Polished and merchandise is available for purchase online at the website store.beipolished.com. Williams holds popup shops around the U.S. follow her Instagram page and business page.

• Education

by Derek Major

February 21, 2022

Department Of Energy Announces It Will Provide $2.2 To Support HBCUs For Environmental Remediation

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) announced it will provide $2.2 in support of HBCUs and MSIs for environmental remediation and green energy research.

According to a DoE release, the money will be used for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) research to generate low-carbon power. The funding to HBCUs is part of two funding opportunities that total $6.1 million to the DoE’s University Coal Research program.

Combined, the funding opportunities will support up to 20 student engineers and scientists working between 2-3 years on research projects related to technologies critical to advancing and acting on President Joe Biden’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“Climate change is everyone’s problem, which is why climate solutions require viewpoints from a diverse and highly skilled workforce that will keep us competitive in a new net-zero economy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

“The scientific brilliance cultivated at America’s higher education institutions, like HBCUs and other MSIs, is unrivaled. DOE is proud to support the next generation of innovators who will build upon and maximize the impact of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s historic climate investments.”

The funding will help guide early-stage research and development of new decarbonization approaches. One example of this is the utilization of algae to uptake carbon dioxide, which will then be converted into higher value products, including fuels, plastics, or fine chemicals. Additionally, the funding will provide HBCUs and MSIs with assessments of their resources to determine gaps for conducting early-stage research and development activities aligned with decarbonization goals and objectives.

HBCU schools are also involved in several other clean energy initiatives including the HBCU Community Development Action Coalition (CDAC) Clean Energy Initiative.

The initiative has been implemented in Baltimore, Maryland with the help of Morgan State University, which installed solar panels on 33 homes owned by low-income families. Morgan State also connected community homeowners, business owners and campus leaders to promote the many benefits of using clean energy.

• Diversity, Equality, Inclusion

by Derek Major

February 21, 2022

Here Are The Best Companies for Career Advancement For Black Workers

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The employer review site Glassdoor has highlighted the 10 companies making the most effort toward improving the work experience of Black workers.

For the list, Glassdoor examined data from self-identifying Black, full-time, and part-time employees from Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2021.

According to the study, the most important workplace factors for Black workers are diversity and inclusion followed by culture and values. The least important workplace values are work-life balance and senior leadership.

Holding the top spot for career opportunities for Black workers is Delta Air Lines. Reviews of Delta’s diversity and inclusion are overwhelmingly positive, with a diversity rating of 4.4. Reviews of Delta on Glassdoor ‘s site cited the company’s “good people, great culture with diversity and inclusion.”

However, like many other companies, there are complaints of a lack of diversity when it comes to senior leadership positions.

Coming in second is tech giant Microsoft which received a diversity rating higher than Delta at 4.5. Diversity reviews for Microsoft filed before the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement describe the company as having “great perks, challenging work, flexibility, great culture, teamwork, diversity, and inclusion, competitive salary career opportunities.”

According to its 2021 DEI report, 45 percent of Microsoft employees are women, 29.4 percent of U.S. employees are Latino, and 47.2 percent are Black. Microsoft has also pushed for increasing Black and minority corporate diversity in the boardroom.

In third is aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman, which earned a 4.1 diversity score. Reviews on Glassdoor describe Northrop Grumman as a company with “great diversity and a lot of women in leadership positions.”

In its DEI report, 25 percent of Grumman’s employees are women, 36 percent are people of color, and 27 percent of its management population are women and people of color. Sandra Evers–Manly, Grumman’s vice president of global corporate responsibility and a Black woman, said in a statement she is proud of the company’s record on diversity.

“We are committed to building, sustaining and leveraging the diversity each of us brings to Northrop Grumman,” Evers-Manly said. “We are also committed to ensuring we have an inclusive workplace where everyone is valued for his or her ideas, experiences, and contributions. Our efforts have been recognized both at the local and national levels. I am very proud of that.”

Rounding out the top five are Deloitte and FedEx, which scored a 4.1 and 4.0, respectively, when it comes to diversity. Earlier this month, FedEx launched a HBCU student ambassador program to provide career readiness skills and expand the diversity pipeline.

Bank of America, Capital One, Enterprise rental car service, Ernst & Young, and Chick-fil-A make up the rest of the top 10.

• Lifestyle

by Jeffrey McKinney

February 21, 2022

A Growing Number Of Black Americans Moving Away From Faith — Yet They Are Most Likely To Return

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When it comes to faith analysis, Black Americans have long been the most committed among racial groups in such areas as attendance, belief, and actions.

Hence, some observers projected that young Black adults would oppose shifts from faith experienced among white millennials,  per a new report by Christianity Today.

The discovery comes after a report by the Pew Research Center last year showed that despite all the moves in the faith space “over the past several years, African Americans are still more religious than other groups and more likely than the average American to stay in the tradition they were raised in.”

However, according to Christianity Today, so-called Black “nones” are increasing. It reported with 3 in 10 adults across the country asserting no religious affiliation on surveys, the surge of nones has reportedly affected all parts of American society. The bottom line is that the portion of Black Americans who report no religious affiliation has grown faster than Whites, Asians, and Hispanics for over 10 years.

For Black Americans, they were the least likely to be nones at 19.5% in 2008, Christianity Today reported. Yet by 2020, nearly 35% were more likely to report they had no religious affiliation, up nearly 16%.

At the same time,  the data revealed that “Black nones have a better faith background and are more likely to grasp religion moving forward than nones of other racial groups.

The analysis too showed Black Americans who still identify with a religious tradition are staying faithful and go to church more than  other races. According to Christianity Today, nearly 46 % religious Black people in 2020 reported they attend church weekly or over once a week. For White respondents, the number was 36%, 38% for Asians, and 32% for Hispanics. Contrarily, less than 30 percent of Blacks stated they attended church less than once per year. That  was roughly 10 points lower than Whites sampled.

Per Christianity Today, Jude 3 Project, an apologetics ministry among Black Christians led by Lisa Fields, has a series called “Why I Don’t Go.” It’s a discussion for Black Americans who departed from church.

“Classical and traditional apologetics goes a lot to proving the existence of God. When you know the Black context, you realize most Black people believe that a God exists or a higher power exist,” Fields said in a podcast interview last year, Christianity Today reported.

“Black atheism is growing, but it’s still a minority of Black people. So, we have to figure out what black people are navigating, what are the challenges, and meet them there.”

Gain more details on the new findings here.

The God’s honest truth is that Charlamagne Tha God will be back for a second season on Comedy Central.

MTV Entertainment Group announced Comedy Central’s Tha God’s Honest Truth with Charlamagne Tha God has been renewed for a second season.

The weekly series was created and hosted by multimedia mogul and “The Breakfast Club’s” Lenard “Charlamagne” McKelvey.

Tha God’s Honest Truth is executive produced by The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert and Boondocks creator, Aaron McGruder.

The second season is slated to premiere in summer 2022.

While the show is on hiatus until the summer, Charlamagne will be hosting a special series of exclusive, one-on-one interviews as an extension of Tha God’s Honest Truth. The specials will feature notable names in entertainment, politics, comedy, publishing, and more.

“We are building a cultural institution with ‘Tha God’s Honest Truth’ a destination for those who are unafraid to take on social issues with honest conversations meant to challenge, educate, and by the looks of the comments on IMDB infuriate,” said Charlamagne in a written statement.

“It’s not easy getting a season two of a TV show nowadays so I don’t take this blessing for granted at all!! Salute to Rachael Edwards, Aaron McGruder, Stephen Colbert, MTV Entertainment Studios and the whole TGHT team who I could not do this without!! I THANK GOD FOR IT ALL!!”

The debut season featured special guests   Vice President Kamala Harris, Ed Sheeran, Kevin Hart, Meagan Good, Chlöe Bailey, Soulja Boy, and more.

“There is no one on television like Charlamagne,” said Colbert. “I’m excited to see what Truths Tha God gets Honest about in Season 2 of TGHT!”

It was recently announced that Charlamagne and comedian Kevin Hart, under their newly created audio production banner SBH Productions, will bring five new projects to Audible listeners in 2022. According to Audible, the projects support the overall vision of the development deal to give rise to Black creatives and create content that speaks to the culture.