Lytx Appoints Wayne Hewett to its Board of Directors
Lytx® Inc. today announced the appointment of Wayne Hewett to its board of directors.
Hewett currently serves as a board member of United Parcel Service Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., and The Home Depot Inc., and is chairman of Cambrex Corp, according to a press release. He is an experienced global chief executive officer and board director skilled in: board governance, operations management, international business, emerging markets, operational excellence, supply chain, sourcing, team building, strategy, merger integration, leadership and Six Sigma. Hewett has a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Stanford University.
“This couldn’t be a more dynamic time to join Lytx’s board,” Hewett said.
“Apart from achieving record growth in 2021, Lytx is on a path to set the pace of innovation for the global transportation market with industry-leading advancements in 2022 that will help organizations achieve greater safety and efficiency on our roadways.”
“We’re excited to have Wayne help Lytx continue its leadership in emerging markets and in driving innovative technologies that help businesses grow,” Lytx CEO and Chairman Brandon Nixon said.
“His track record of excellence in guiding executives, along with his wide-ranging experience, will provide Lytx with indispensable knowledge and counsel.”
India Arie Pulls Music From Spotify Over Joe Rogan’s Racially Insensitive Remarks About Black People
While Neil Young pulled his music off Spotify’s music platform over Joe Rogan’s controversial comments on the coronavirus pandemic, soul singer India Arie is pulling her music because of Rogan’s “problematic” language around race.
On Tuesday, Arie took to Instagram to explain why she is joining Young and boycotting Rogan, but over his recent comments about how “weird” he thinks it is to call someone Black or white based on their skin tone.
“Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walkthrough,” Arie wrote in her post. “I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons OTHER than his Covid interviews.”
“FOR ME ITS ALSO HIS language around race,” Arie continued.
She also correlated the debate around what Spotify pays music artists and the $100 million they’re paying Rogan for hosting his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” on its platform.
“Paying musicians a Fraction of a penny? and him $100M?” Arie quipped. “This shows the type of company they are and the type of company they keep. I’m tired.”
Arie’s statement comes one week after musician Neil Young penned an open letter announcing the removal of his music from Spotify due to Rogan continued sharing of vaccine misinformation. With Rogan’s podcast being Spotify’s most popular podcast of 2021, the platform has been sticking beside him.
Days after Young’s announcement, musicians Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren announced they’re also pulling their music from the platform for the same reason, CNNreports. In response to the backlash, Spotify announced a content advisory icon would be added to podcast episodes where Rogan discusses Covid-19.
But when it comes to Rogan’s past and recent comments around race, they’re often overlooked. Rogan recently sat down with psychologist and climate change skeptic Jordan Peterson where their conversation turned into their take on how Black people identify themselves.
“Unless you’re talking to someone who is like 100% African, from the darkest place, where they’re not wearing any clothes all day, and they’ve developed all that melanin to protect themselves from the sun, you know, even the term ‘Black’ is weird,” Rogan said on the podcast.
On social media, video collages have been shared highlighting Rogan’s past occurrences of dropping the n-word with the hard “er” at the end, jokingly referring to Black people as “Planet of the Apes,” and claiming the most “powerful” combination of genes is when you have “the body of the Black man and the mind of the white man.”
India Arie is the first Black artist to make a bold public stance against Joe Rogan. She’s receiving mixed reviews in her comments section but so far she isn’t changing her tune.
Four Men Charged In Connection Of Overdose Death Of Actor Michael K. Williams
Four men believed to be part of a drug distribution ring have been arrested and charged in the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams.
All four men were arrested Tuesday, including one defendant who was arrested in Puerto Rico according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
According to the release, late last year New York City’s medical examiner ruled Williams, 54, died of acute drug intoxication related to a heroin overdose after he was found dead in his penthouse apartment.
The four men charged are Hector Robles, Luis Cruz, Carlos Macci, and Irvin Cartagena, who was arrested in Puerto Rico.
“Since at least in or about August 2020, a drug trafficking organization (the “DTO”) has been operating in the vicinity of 224 South 3rd Street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York,”{ the re4lease states. “The DTO sells heroin laced with fentanyl and a fentanyl analog on the street in front of, and from an apartment inside of, the apartment building located at 224 South 3rd Street, among other places. On or about September 5, 2021, members of the DTO sold Michael K. Williams heroin, which was laced with fentanyl and a fentanyl analog, with Cartagena executing the hand-to-hand transaction, as shown in the below screenshots from surveillance video.”
Commissioner Sewell added NYPD detectives involved, “lived this case, never relenting in their investigation until they could bring a measure of justice to Michael K. Williams and his family.”
Williams received fame from his role in The Wire as Omar Little, a homosexual gangster who robs drug dealers but leaves everyday citizens alone. Williams has starred in other movies including Brooklyn’s Finest and Triple 9. Williams also hosted a show on Vice called Black Market where he talked to and met with people involved in illicit markets including guns, drugs, credit cards, and even fraud of government programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program.
VMI’s First Black Superintendent Blasts Those Criticizing School’s Move To Improve Racial Diversity Equity Reform
Gen. Cedric T. Wins, the first Black superintendent at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) blasted a White alumnus who questioned the school’s push for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
According to the Washington Post, Carmen D. Villani Jr., a member of VMI’s Class of 1976, urged fellow graduates to question the state legislature and “look very seriously” at an extra $6.1 million in funding for the school, which received $21.6 million in state funding for this academic school year. Villani also warned Critical Race Theory (CRT) has “entered into the VMI realm.”
The additional funds were requested by Wins to pay for a host of reforms after a state investigation uncovered a culture of racism and sexism at VMI. If the funds are approved, they will go toward an expanded Title IX and diversity offices, three admissions counselors, and an ongoing effortto rebrand and re-contextualize the college’s numerous Confederate tributes. The funds will also be used to support other initiatives including student health, barracks safety and security.
“Mr. Villani,” Wins wrote on a public VMI Facebook group for parents, cadets, and alumni that boasts more than 3,700 members. “You advised the listeners to urge the members of the General Assembly to ‘look very seriously’ at VMI’s funding request, a request you have no understanding about. VMI’s funding request will pale in comparison to that of the other public colleges in the state. You have no understanding of [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] or what it means, or how much of the funding for DEI is represented in our request.”
Wins, who graduated from VMI in 1985, added Villani’s claim of CRT being taught at VMI was “categorically false.”
VMI has a long history of racism and sexism. Black students weren’t admitted until 1968 and women weren’t admitted until 1997. Today just 6 percent of its 1,650 cadets are Black; Women make up 14 percent of the student body.
Villani, wrote a new post on Facebook several days later saying he spoke to Wins in the aftermath of his original post and they were “able to find some common ground.”
In his 14 months as superintendent, Wins attempts to make changes in diversity at VMI has seen resistance from several groups, including wealthy alumni who have formed a political action committee (PAC), The Spirit of VMI, who endorsed Republican Glenn Youngkin for governor.
Since the PAC was formed, it has criticized and mocked many of the VMI’s reforms, including the removal of a statue of Stonewall Jackson.
Black Students Lead Protests, Start Book Clubs To Support Overturning Banned Works By Black Authors
In the wake of a nationwide battle against critical race theory, some Black students are leading protests against book bans and forming book clubs to provide access to a diverse range of stories.
Christina and Renee Ellis, students at Central York High School, a predominantly white school in Pennsylvania, are among some of the students who are part of the Panther Anti-Racist Union, a student-led racial and social justice advocacy group.
The two sisters have fought alongside their peers in an effort to challenge a ban issued by an all-white school board. The group organized a protest with dozens of students, parents, and educators to challenge the ban targeting works by Black authors, including a book about Rosa Parks; Hidden Figures, a story about Black female mathematicians who helped win the space race; and the documentary film I Am Not Your Negro, which explores the personal observations of the author and cultural critic James Baldwin.
“We didn’t want history to repeat itself, with hiding history, hiding the experiences of people of color in this country,” Renee told NBC News. “We also wanted to make sure that the younger kids underneath got a full education, especially with the murder of George Floyd and the murder of Breonna Taylor and so many other social justice issues in America.”
Protesters stood outside the school, and held signs with slogans like “BLM” and “Education is not indoctrination.” Another ambitious effort was led by Edha Gupta, one of the organizers, who wrote letters to the editor of the city’s newspaper.
The Round Rock Black Students Book Club
Jaiden Johnson, one of the leaders of the Round Rock Black Students Book Club. (Image Courtesy of NBC News)
Jaiden Johnson, a seventh-grader at Meridian World School in Round Rock, TX, is one of two Black middle school students who brought the Round Rock Black Students Book Club to the community. As a virtual student-led community group, the book club functions as a safe space for students of color to read literature that fosters inclusivity and diversity.
“I wanted a chance for all the Black kids in my community to get together and know each other better and read about Black characters that inspire us and not just about Black people and slavery,” he said.
Despite the book bans, the book club is reading books by banned Black authors books anyway, including Jason Reynolds‘ 2017 novel, Miles Morales, a story about a Black Spider-Man, and Brandy Colbert’s 2019 novel, The Only Black Girls in Town, about two Black girls who discover a hidden collection of journals.
“It makes me feel good when I read about characters and they have the same skin color as me and they’re not just, like, background characters, like in most books,” he said.
Kharia Pitts is one of the leaders of the Round Rock Black Students Book Club. (Image courtesy of NBC News)
Kharia Pitts, a sixth-grader, is another leader of the book club. She shared with NBC News that she didn’t have a lot of books starring Black people.
“I was thinking of other kids who don’t think that there are books about Black people, and I want to change that, because that’s almost what I thought,” Pitts said.
She continued, “If kids of all other races learn about the truth and what happened to all types of people, then we won’t have to go back and repeat it,” she said. “That way, we’re not stuck in an endless cycle.”
Jessica Watkins to Become First Black Woman To Have Extended Stay in Outer Space
Astronaut Jessica Watkins will make history in April when she will become the first Black woman to spend six months on the International Space Station (ISS).
Watkins has been training for the mission, where she will live and work for an extended stay, NPR reported. Watkins will be taken to ISS by way of a SpaceX capsule sent out as part of NASA’s multi-billion dollar Artemis program aimed at returning humans to the moon in 2025.
“We are building on the foundation that was laid by the Black women astronauts who have come before me,” Watkins said. “I’m definitely honored to be a small part of that legacy, but ultimately be an equal member of the crew.”
Of the 250 astronauts who have boarded the ISS, only 10 have been Black, and very few of them Black women. Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to travel to space in 1992, paving the way for other Black female NASA astronauts like Stephanie Wilson and Joan Higginbotham.
During Watkins’ six-month mission, the Stanford University alumnus will research things such as the effects of long-duration spaceflight for humans as well as observe and photograph geological changes on Earth. The mission comes five years after Watkins was selected to join NASA’s astronaut program in 2017.
She got through an extensive training period that included wearing a puffy white suit in an underwater ISS mockup pool in preparation for her spacewalk. Watkins has also been trained on how to fix anything that isn’t working properly.
“We are all coming together to accomplish this really hard thing that none of us would be able to do on our own,” Watkins said. “I think that is just such a beautiful picture of what we can all do if we come together and put all of our resources and skill sets together.”
Black Entrepreneurs Who Turned $2K into $2M Launch Masterclass on How to Start a Hair Business
Ashley Williams and Khat Brim, the two founders who successfully built a multi-million dollar brand called Hair Are Us, have now launched a virtual masterclass to help aspiring entrepreneurs get started in the industry. Their masterclass is called “Hair Game 101: How to Start Your Own Virgin Hair Business,” and it will be held online via Zoom on Thursday, February 10, 2022, at 9pm EST/ 6pm PST.
The two veteran entrepreneurs will use their 10+ years in both retail and e-commerce to teach everything that up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the hair industry need to know before getting started.
Topics will include:
1. Start-Up Budget
2. Communicating w/ Vendors
3. Sampling Hair
4. Branding & Marketing: Photoshoots, Ambassadors, etc.
5. Retail vs. E-Commerce: Merchant Services
6. Policies: Refunds/ Returns / Shipping
7. Customer Retention: Keep them Coming Back!
8. Building Your Team
9. Dropshipping vs Direct Shipping
10. Ways to Launch Your Business!
Ashley and Khat made headlines about ten years ago when they launched their company, Hair Are Us, with an initial investment of $1,000 each and yielded $2 million in revenue in less than two years. Since then, they have remained leaders in the virgin hair industry and are more than qualified to teach a course about it.
“We’ve had many ups and downs, but we have learned so much from starting, maintaining, and growing a business,” they comment. “We went from selling bundles out of the trunks of our cars in parking lots to having three retail stores and a thriving e-commerce business.”
HBCU North Carolina Central University Gets $500K Gift From Widow Honoring Her Late Husband
Hellena Tidwell is honoring the memory of her late husband Isaiah Tidwell by donating half a million dollars to their HBCU alma mater.
After Isaiah died from cancer in August 2019, his widow and two sons took a big step to honor his legacy at NCCU’s Isaiah Tidwell Accounting Program.
On Thursday, Hellena and her two sons, William DeVane Tidwell and Damion Lamar Tidwell, donated $500,000 toward North Carolina Central University’s accounting program, named after her late husband, a trustee at the school, Q City Metroreports.
“Our family honors his memory with this gift which we hope will strengthen the School of Business as it strives to become a stellar program that provides opportunities for students seeking careers in business,” Hellena said in a statement.
The Tidwell’s donation is “the largest single contribution to date toward naming opportunities for the university’s new School of Business building,” NCCU said in a statement.
It was at NCCU when Isaiah and Hellena first met and exchanged their vows inside her dormitory in 1968, as noted by AJC. He graduated from the school in 1967 with a degree in commerce.
Isaiah received his MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. He served as vice president and director of wealth management of Wachovia Bank for Georgia after rising up the ranks during his 32 years with the company.
During his time with the bank, Isaiah helped NCCU get funding to advance the HBCU. In 1993, Tidwell spearheaded a $500,000 donation from Wachovia to establish a chair at the school.
As an NCCU Board of Trustees member, Tidwell created a separate endowment named after his parents that sent dozens of students to college.
Leaving behind a lasting legacy at the HBCU where they met, Hellena remembers her late husband as a lifelong friend.
“He was not just my husband, but my best friend, partner and cheerleader,” Hellena Tidwell said after his passing. “He brought out the best in me.”
Daughter Of Ex-Broward Florida Mayor Sentenced To Prison For Stealing $300,000 In COVID Fraud
Damara Holness, the daughter of former Broward Mayor Dale Holness, has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for COVID relief fraud.
On Monday, Damara, 28, was sentenced to 20 months in jail, five years of supervised release, restitution of $300,000, and a $100 special assessment, CBS Miami reported. Her sentencing came after she pleaded guilty in November to lying on a coronavirus relief loan application and receiving the same amount she now owes in restitution.
Damara claimed to have experienced financial hardship for her consulting business on the Payment Protection Program applications, where she claimed to employ 18 people. But upon further investigation, it was determined that Damara didn’t employ anyone.
“The defendant saw this as an opportunity to unjustly enrich herself by defrauding the program designed to help those struggling businesses,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Kaplan wrote in court records.
Now, Damara has 90 days to surrender to authorities and begin her 20-month prison sentence.
“I want to say I apologize to those I affected. I want to apologize to the community,” she said outside of court on Monday.
“This is a mistake that I made, not out of greed, but out of desperation as a pregnant woman trying to make a way for herself,” she said, “and I just want to move forward with my life and continue doing the work that I was doing before.”
Damara Holness’ lawyer, Sue-Ann Robinson, claims the fraud “was more an act of desperation than greed,” News 4 Jax reported. Robinson said Damara used some of the money toward “housing arrangements” and taxes.
Dale Holness attended his daughter’s sentencing and acknowledged his daughter’s “mistake” in committing the fraud, WSVN reported.
“She’s apologized to the community. She’s made a mistake. We’re humans; we make mistakes,” he said. “She accepts responsibility. Certainly, she will pay a price, and we’re just going to be here to help her rebuild her life.”
