• COVID-19

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

December 19, 2020

Respiratory Therapist, Mother of 5, Dies of COVID-19

---

Maisha Oni Muhammad-Brinkley, a respiratory therapist from Texas affectionately referred to by her patients as “The Breathing Lady”, has sadly died of COVID-19. She had been tirelessly working on the front lines.

“She took care of a lot of homeless people that actually would speak to her when we would be out, close to that area,” her husband Reginald Brinkley told NBC News. “They were like, ‘that’s my friend. That’s ‘The Breathing Lady.’”

For 8 years, Maisha worked at Medical City Dallas. During the pandemic, she worked 12-hour shifts in the emergency room and COVID unit. As a respiratory therapist, she was responsible for assessing patients’ breathing and placing those with severe cases on a ventilator.

Eventually, she was the one who had to be put on a ventilator when she contracted the virus. She tested positive for the coronavirus two days after experiencing symptoms such as dizziness while at work.

Her husband, who also tested positive, managed to recover after battling an over 100-degree fever for 3 weeks. But Maisha was hospitalized, her condition continued to worsen and she was unable to walk or breathe on her own.

“She told me to take care of our babies and she said that she was trying to get well. She said, ‘I promise you, Brink. I’m trying. I’m trying. I want to come home,’” her husband said. “During that time, she wrote letters to our children and to myself and she wanted for me to read it to our children at her memorial service.”

Maisha sadly died on November 18 at the age of 43. She left behind her husband of 24 years and their four children, ages 23, 19, 17, and 14.

Medical City Dallas expressed their condolences on Maisha’s death. It said in a statement, “Maisha’s positive attitude, willingness to serve and caring spirit made a difference in the lives of her patients and colleagues. She will be remembered for her commitment to excellence and as a great mentor who trained many current respiratory therapists within Medical City Healthcare and across North Texas.”

Moreover, her husband hopes respiratory therapists get the recognition they deserve especially “at this time, they’re the most needed.”

“I told her, her sacrifice would never be forgotten, and I would never let her name go unmentioned,” he added.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe has been set up in her honor. It has so far raised over $12,000.

This article was originally published by BlackNews.com.

Meet Allen and Subriana Pierce, an African American entrepreneurial couple whose company, Navigator Sales & Marketing, connects grocery retailers with small business owners that sell their own line of packaged foods, household items, etc. Their company is a food and beverage broker with product representation in over 15,000 stores including Albertsons, Safeway, Ralphs, Food Lion, Whole Foods, Stater Bros, Kroger, and more.

As the founders of a Black-owned company themselves that fully understand the importance of diversity and inclusion, Allen and Subriana are working hard to increase the representation of Black, minority, and women entrepreneurs in the food retail industry.

“We connect retailers with brands from this growing network and lead minority relationship consultations to ensure these brands are well-supported through each retailers’ system. With these tailored solutions, we will see an increase in three key areas: the presence and exposure of under-represented entrepreneurs, the number of qualified CPG entrepreneurs, and the successful integration of minority-owned brands into the marketplace,” says Subriana.

Their company mentors businesses for success, provides access to financing, and connects them to investors, tech and supply chain resources aimed at growing minority and women-owned businesses in the Food & Beverage and Consumer Products industries.

Allen comments, “We are committed to combating systemic racism, and are devoting more of our time, platform, and resources to uplifting the Black, brown and women business owners.”

Interested business owners are encouraged to apply at NavigatorSales.com/become-a-client.

The Foundation

Most of the company’s plans to create opportunities for Black and minority entrepreneurs are being orchestrated through their charitable arm, Navigator Lighthouse Foundation, which provides the pathway to product sales that would otherwise struggle to achieve relative to the major CPG and other consumer brands.

The foundation just recently expanded its client roster with the addition of Nikki Chu, celebrity interior designer and star of Nikki Chu Unboxed on Aspire TV with her new product line: Nudies Essentials, Disposable Eco Chic Undies; Denise Woodard, Founder, Partake Cookies, a Jay-Z backed, Black-owned vegan cookie company; Nahum Jeannot, Founder, Go Oats, unique frozen breakfast treat inspired by Chef Nahum; Go Oats will soon to be featured on Shark Tank and rounding out the roster, the youngest client, Ethan Holmes, only 15-years old when he launched Holmes Applesauce. In addition, regional brands such as Lillie’s of Charleston, Taste Bars and Brooklyn Granola.

Other brands that they have worked with that are owned by minorities and women include ECOS, Purpose Tea, Ramona’s Frozen Burritos, Panacea Life Sciences to name a few. However, the launch of The launch of Navigator Lighthouse, offers much more hands-on training including sales support services. Ultimately, the mission of the Foundation is to educate, train, provide funding opportunities and to provide access to critical resources to prepare business leaders’ growth.

About Navigator Sales & Marketing
Navigator Sales & Marketing is a full-service broker representing a variety of products. Led by the best in the industry, NSM leaders are trusted partners and strategic advisors committed to customers’ and clients’ success. Navigator is rapidly expanding their roster of clients including brands such as PhURE Water, ECOS, North Coast organic apple juice and sauces, Old Trapper beef jerky, H2rOse, Deep River snacks, Ramona’s Frozen Foods, and many others.

Navigator has earned the reputation for excellence by successfully bringing unique brands from concept to being on shelves at a national level. Navigator enjoys product representation in over 15,000 stores, with Delhaize, Albertsons/Safeway, Ralphs, Food Lion, Whole Foods, Stater Bros, Bristol Farms, Savemart, Raley’s, Northgate Gonzalez Markets, Vallarta, Gelsons, Smart & Final, HEB, and Kroger among them. To learn more and/or to become a client, visit NavigatorSales.com, like them on Facebook, and follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter.

This article was originally published by BlackBusiness.com.

• Education

by Dana Givens

December 19, 2020

California Prisoners Raised Over $30,000 For A High School Student In Need

---

A group of inmates from the Soledad State Prison bonded with a high school student from an all-boys prep school in the area through their love of reading after attending the same book club. After the group learned the student was struggling to pay the leftover $1,200 balance for his monthly tuition, the men got together to fundraise and successfully garnered over $30,000.

Syon Green was surprised when he learned members from his reading group with the Correctional Training Facility (CTF) in Salina, California, presented him with a scholarship to help him finish high school education and begin his college pursuits at The Academy of Art University in San Franciso. Green’s family experienced difficulties after two medical emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It brought me to tears,” expressed Frank Green, Syon’s father, in an interview with CNN. “At this particular time, it was truly a blessing. It was unheard of.”

Jason Bryant, one of the incarcerated members who helped fundraiser for Green says many of the inmates related to his story of transition from a rough area into a new environment and the drive to pursue a good education. Bryant says he’s thankful for the program to be able to make a difference in their development by helping students learn from the mistakes of his youth.

“They would bring him into the prison to receive mentorship, to participate in groups with us, to share his goals and visions, and to really have accountability conversations with men in blue — men who had made terrible choices,” Bryant said to CNN. “They put in an incredible amount of not only gratitude and appreciation but also trust in us to help mentor their son. And that was remarkable.”

Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington were working through the weekend to complete a $900 billion coronavirus aid bill for American individuals and businesses struggling from the economic fallout of pandemic lockdowns.

It would be the largest relief package since this spring, when Congress approved more than $4 trillion in aid. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed 311,000 Americans, by far the most in the world, and put millions out of work. Economists say growth will likely remain sluggish until vaccines are widely available in mid-2021.

The Senate is to convene at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) on Saturday. Representative Steny Hoyer, the second-most senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, said on Friday any vote on a package would not come before Sunday afternoon.

Republicans and Democrats say they are close to a deal, but significant differences remain.

Republicans are pushing to rein in Federal Reserve lending programs for midsize businesses and municipal bond issuers that were intended to ease the pandemic’s sting, saying those programs were meant to be temporary. But Democrats say the move is an attempt to tie the hands of President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on Jan. 20.

The parties also disagree over how much to give to arts venues closed by COVID-19 restrictions, and how much emergency aid should go to local governments for supplies like personal protective equipment for schools.

But many issues have been settled. The legislation is expected to include one-off $600 checks for most Americans, enhanced unemployment benefits of $300 per week, help for states distributing coronavirus vaccines and more assistance for small businesses.

The deal does not include liability protections for businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits, a provision pushed by Republicans that has long been a red line for Democrats. Nor does it include the extensive aid to state and local governments that Democrats wanted.

Congressional leaders expect to attach the package to a $1.4 trillion spending bill that would fund U.S. government activity through September 2021. Government funding was due to expire on Friday, but lawmakers approved a two-day stopgap bill to buy more time which President Donald Trump signed into law late on Friday.

Congress now faces a Sunday midnight deadline to approve more funding.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –  (Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by William Mallard)

• COVID-19

by Derek Major

December 18, 2020

GOP Senator Ron Johnson Blocks Bill Providing Second Round Of $1,2000 Stimulus Checks

---

Republican Senator Ron Johnson has blocked an effort to pass a second round of coronavirus stimulus checks, citing concerns about the country’s debt.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who’s name is being floated as a 2024 presidential contender, worked with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in a push to include direct payments to Americans in Congress’ next relief package. The second stimulus checks would be distributed under the same guidelines as the CARES Act.

“What I’m proposing is what every senator has supported already, this year. … What I’m proposing will give working folks in my state and across this country a shot … at getting back up on their feet,” Hawley said on the Senate floor Friday.

To get consent, Hawley needed the cooperation of every senator, but Johnson objected citing the country’s debt and a similar approach to the first CARES Act.

“What I fear we’re going to do with this bipartisan package and what the senator from Missouri is talking about is the same thing, is a shotgun approach,” Johnson said. “We will not have learned the lessons from our very hurried, very rushed earlier relief packages.”

Some find it strange that Johnson brought up his concerns about the debt, considering The Balance, the national debt rose 36% during President Trump’s four years in office. During Trump’s 2016 campaign run, he promised to eliminate the debt within eight years.

Johnson’s objection throws a wrench into negotiations that have been ongoing for the entire week. In order to prevent a government shutdown, lawmakers tied the next relief package to a government spending bill that must be agreed to by Friday.

According to The Hill, Hawley said he will not allow a bill to pass until he knows what’s in the agreement. Hawley also wants assurances that direct relief will be in any package that passes.

Hawley said he and Sanders would return to the floor Friday to try to pass their bill again.

• COVID-19

by Derek Major

December 18, 2020

1 in 5 U.S. Prisoners Has Caught Coronavirus, 1,700 Have Died

---

One in every five people incarcerated in state and federal prisons in the United States has caught the coronavirus — a rate more than four times the general population.

According to data collected by the Associated Press and the Marshall Project, at least 275,000 U.S. inmates have caught the virus, 1,700 have died, and new cases in prisons this week have reached their highest level since testing began. Additionally, some believe the actual number of inmates who’ve contracted the coronavirus may be much higher.

“That number is a vast undercount,” Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex told AP.

Venters stated that he’s conducted more than a dozen court-ordered coronavirus inspections across the country and what he’s seen is astounding and clear neglect of inmates.

“I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care. So they get much sicker than need be,” Venters said.

The coronavirus pandemic’s impact outside of prison walls in America is well known. America leads all countries in coronavirus cases at more than 17 million, deaths at more than 300,000 and new cases in the last two weeks at more than 2.7 million. Roughly 885,000 Americans also filed first-time jobless clams last week and with the government still debating a second stimulus package millions of Americas are fighting through having no job, no money, no food or a combination of the three.

Donte Westmoreland, who was recently released from prison in Kansas, told the AP he was in an open dorm with more than 100 infected men and regularly found infected men on the floor literally too sick to get up.

“People are actually dying in front of me off of this virus, it’s the scariest sight,” Westmoreland said, adding that it took him six weeks to get through the virus.

Prison workers in some states are being infected by the virus at the same rate as inmates. In Nevada, 2,442 inmates and 561 staff members have tested positive for the virus.

• Education

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

December 18, 2020

Ben’s Original (Formerly Uncle Ben’s) Starts Scholarship To Assist Black People in the Food Industry

---

Mars Food’s Ben’s Original (formerly known as Uncle Ben’s) has launched a new scholarship fund that will give people from underserved communities the opportunity to work in the food industry. The scholarship, Seat at the Table Fund, will provide educational and mentorship opportunities to the underserved. This fund will be done in conjunction with The National Urban League and The United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

“The U.S.-based scholarship is our premiere program of many more we plan to establish in countries around the world and is one of the first steps we’re taking to deliver on our brand’s new purpose to create opportunities that offer everyone a seat at the table,” said Fiona Dawson, global president, Mars Food, in a statement. “The support of National Urban League has been invaluable in developing this scholarship, and we’re excited about the possibilities to create more equitable opportunities for people who will positively influence the future of the entire food industry around the world.”

The police killing of George Floyd has caused turmoil in the nation, so you can imagine the effects it has had on his daughter. To help ease the pain of celebrating a birthday without her father, Dominique Armani Jones, also known as Lil Baby, paid for a lavish birthday celebration.

Gianna Floyd expressed her gratitude toward the rapper on her Instagram account.

L.o.l Surprise Birthday Party 🥳 Thank you so much @lilbaby_1 for coming and help me celebrate my 7th Birthday 🥳 🎂🎁🎊

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Gianna Floyd (@_giannapinkfloyd)

According to Billboard, the birthday party was planned by Floyd’s longtime friend, former NBA player and activist Stephen Jackson. Atlanta restaurant owners Ericka and William Platt, as reported by Forbes, also helped with the preparation.

• Lifestyle

by Justin Barton

December 18, 2020

NBA Season Begins With Fans and Their Money Stuck At Home

---

Lucrative TV deals and overwhelming popularity will be critical to the National Basketball Association (NBA) as it navigates a new season with few fans able to attend games – and spend their money inside arenas.

Most clubs aren’t ruling out the possibility of welcoming fans at some point this season – and a handful including the Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz are allowing a limited number from the start – but the loss of ticket sales and in-arena revenue will hurt, as COVID-19 ravages North America.

“You could be looking at losses of over $3 billion across the league based on ticket revenue, concessions, corporate boxes and so on should the pandemic impact the whole of the 2020-21 season as a worst case scenario,” Conrad Wiacek, head of sport analysis at GlobalData, told Reuters.

“NBA teams are guaranteed a loss” with only 72 games compared to a standard 82-game season, said Wiacek, and GlobalData research suggested the league and teams lost more than $694 million from the 258 cancelled games last season, after the pandemic forced a hiatus in March.

With TV rights deals in place, however, including a reported $1.4 billion yearly contract with Disney, the NBA has plenty of cushion and this month agreed to distribute $30 million to teams to boost liquidity, Sports Business Daily reported.

Andrew Zimbalist, a professor at Smith College who has consulted for players, teams and leagues, said the NBA’s tremendous profitability gave it a strong financial standing, even though it’s too soon to say how much COVID-19 will restrict arena and gate revenue.

“There might be an owner or two in the NBA that’s feeling pinched not so much because of the NBA but because of other assets,” Zimbalist said.

“Are all the teams hurting relative to what they’re used to? Yea, of course, as is just about everybody in the United States.”

BILLIONAIRE OWNER

Even the Dallas Mavericks’ gregarious billionaire owner Mark Cuban, who has taken on nationwide fame as a shrewd investor navigating would-be entrepreneurs on “Shark Tank”, conceded this is one deal he cannot get the best of.

“Am I going to lose a lot of money this year? Yes. No question about it. More than $100 million when this is all said and done? Yes,” Cuban said this month https://omny.fm/shows/the-ticket-top-10/hardline-mark-cuban-interview-part-1. “We need to get back into our normal season.”

That said, the challenges of reduced attendance don’t present an “existential crisis” for the NBA, according to Victor Matheson, an expert in sports economics and a professor at College of the Holy Cross.

“The NBA Is going to be able to pass about half of those revenue losses on to the players because the collective bargaining agreement specifically says that the salary cap is set as a function of revenues,” Matheson told Reuters.

While some owners, including Cuban and Joe Tsai of the Brooklyn Nets, have committed to paying arena workers through the end of 2020, Matheson said staffers at empty stadiums are likely hurting the most.

“Those ushers, those concession workers, those parking attendants, the front-office staff that have been cut… they’re out of luck and they’re not sitting on a $7 million salary that gets cut by a little bit,” he said. “Nor are they a multi-billionaire.”

(Reporting by Amy Tennery, editing by Ed Osmond) (Reuters)

• News

by Derek Major

December 18, 2020

Black Texas Family Says Their Cars Were Burned and Someone Painted ‘Trump 20’ Garage Door

---

A Black family in Texas says it was the victim of a hate crime that left two cars burned beyond repair and “Trump 20” spray-painted on its garage door.

Jayla Gipson, 36, told NBC News Wednesday that her son went to use the bathroom shortly after midnight and smelled smoke. When he went outside to see what was happening, he discovered the cars in their driveway aflame.

“It’s definitely a hate crime,” Gipson said to NBC. “‘Trump 2020’ was sprayed on our garage, our ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign was spray painted, and our cars were engulfed in flames.”

Police in Little Elm, Texas, said no one was injured and that an investigation is underway. There are no suspects to the crime and no one has been arrested. The two cars were burned beyond repair and the garage door was also damaged by the burning cars.

Gipson said the family has been well-received since moving to the area in 2017. She attributes the incident to the Black Lives Matter sign the family put on the front lawn in November. A GoFundMe was set up by Gipson’s neighbors and has raised almost $17,000 in nine days. Gipson said she was surprised and elated by the outpouring of support from the community and friends. She added that no one deserves this kind of treatment regardless of their political affiliation.

Incidents of voter intimidation and vandalism have happened across the country this year. In September, a Biden-Harris bus was surrounded by a group of Trump supporters in pickup trucks on a highway. President Trump retweeted a video of the incident saying, “I LOVE TEXAS!”

In the same month, a group of Trump supporters showed up at an early polling station in Fairfax County, VA, chanting “Four more years” and intimidating voters. In October, a poll worker in Tennessee was fired after turning away voters wearing Black Lives Matter clothing.

Days after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the projected winner, Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling held a press conference attacking Trump for his false claims of voter fraud. Sterling said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s wife received “sexualized threats,” while a contractor with Dominion Voting Systems has received death threats and was threatened with a noose.