by Jeroslyn JoVonn

July 14, 2021

Simone Biles’ ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Partner Sasha Farber Helps Choreograph Floor Routine

As a Dancing With The Stars alum, Simone Biles was able to enlist the help of her former dance partner when choreographing her gymnastics floor routine.

In episode 5 of Biles’ new Facebook Watch series “Simone vs Herself,” the Olympic gold medalist revealed the choreography she received from her DWTS pro partner Sasha Farber.

Farber helped Biles “spice it up” when it came to her gymnastics floor routine at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, Insider reports.

Biles and Farber haven’t worked together since coming in fourth place in season 24 of DWTS. But Farber is the perfect candidate to get Biles’s dance routine on point as she prepares to compete against the world.

In the latest episode of Biles’ Facebook Watch series, the decorated champion was seen rehearsing with Farber as she gears up to compete against gymnasts from around the world. The former teammates actually had hopes of choreographing a floor routine together sometime in the future.

“Usually, I have a different choreographer, but this year I feel like we needed to be a little bit different — spice it up,” Biles said. “Even whenever I worked with Sasha on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ we always said, ‘Oh my gosh, if we could do a floor routine, how cool would that be?'”

Now as an established gymnastic champion, Biles has more creative control over her floor routines than she did earlier in her career. She was able to make the executive decision to bring Farber on board as her dance instructor ahead of the Olympics.

“I’m really excited because she’s really moving now,” Farber said of their floor routine “… To be where she is already, I can’t wait to see what it’s like in months to come.”

He went on to tease what spectators can expect from Biles’ upcoming dance routine.

“There’s a very sassy side to Simone that I’m really excited for people to see,” Farber added.

Cardi B Reacts to Critics Chastising Her for Buying 3-Year-Old Daughter $150K Necklace
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 14, 2021

Cardi B Reacts to Critics Chastising Her for Buying 3-Year-Old Daughter $150K Necklace

For Cardi B, it’s apparent that she loves to make her daughter happy. But, after the 28-year-old Up rapper celebrated her daughter’s third birthday, which included purchasing 3-year-old Kulture a sparkling necklace that has been reported to be worth $150,000, people have been losing their minds criticizing Cardi for the extravagant gift.

“Her daddy outdid me but I still got my baby nice 😊 Thank you @eliantte for my baby charm necklace💎🎀💗K”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib)

As can be expected, there were some people who took to social media to blast Cardi B because she chose to purchase a gift she can afford for a child that she evidently takes great care of.

Cardi B responded on her Twitter account to the people who were hating on her gift choice.

She received responses and replies from other Twitter users.

Long Jumper Quanesha Burks Heads to the Olympics; Says She Started at McDonald’s
by Andrea Blackstone

July 14, 2021

Long Jumper Quanesha Burks Heads to the Olympics; Says She Started at McDonald’s

Quanesha Burks worked in fast food but held fast to her Olympic dreams that she refused to let die.

Burks, 17, secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic team as a long jumper after working for a meager $100 every two weeks at McDonald’s, Sports Illustrated reported.

According to the outlet, “her only previous job experience was working at the McDonald’s in Hartselle, Ala., as a 17-year-old.”

She started with little more than a vision and gutsy ambition, while “making $100 every two weeks,” holding tight to her college aspirations. While pulling herself up by the bootstraps, she gave track a try. Some of her fellow classmates used sports to grab “college scholarships,” according to the outlet.

An encouraging friend advised her “to try out” for the track team. The individual purchased track spikes to enable a friend to compete “in the sprints and jumps.” After finishing in third place “at the 2012 USATF National Junior Olympics, she decided to stick with the sport for her college aspirations,” per Sports Illustrated.

Facebook- Quanesha Burks

A series of hard blows included Burks losing he grandfather, who had a fatherly role in her life, missing the 2019 World Championships, and finishing fourth at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2018, while narrowly missing “the podium by 0.04 meters (1.5 inches), and experiencing a bone bruise,” Sports Illustrated reported.

“It felt like all the odds were against me,” Burks said.

Despite the hard knocks that kept coming Burks’ way,  landing a “full-ride scholarship to the University of Alabama,” opened doors for her to shine, per Sports Spectrum’s report. Over time, she routinely embraced positive affirmations and spoke her dreams of being an Olympian into existence.

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Instead of taking fast food orders at McDonald’s, Burks is busy preparing for her Olympic debut on Aug. 1, “with the women’s long jump,” according to Sports Spectrum.

 

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Alabama Grandmother Finally Gets to Try on a Wedding Dress After Almost 70 Years
by Andrea Blackstone

July 14, 2021

Alabama Grandmother Finally Gets to Try on a Wedding Dress After Almost 70 Years

It took a lifetime, but 94-year-old Martha Mae Ophelia Moon Tucker finally got to realize her lifelong dream of wearing a wedding gown.

When Angela Strozier realized that her grandmother’s “lifelong dream” was to try one on, the thoughtful granddaughter “booked an appointment at David’s Bridal” to make her grandmother’s desire a reality.

Tucker is from a different time. Back in her heyday, Blacks were not allowed to come inside bridal shops in the 50s, per AL.com’s report.

Strozier’s grandmother married Lehman Tucker Sr. in 1952, but the love of her life passed away in 1975. The pair shared four children and a host of grandchildren. Although Tucker has no remarriage plans, “trying on two bridal gowns” made her feel like she was tying the knot again,” she said.

“When she walked out of the room and saw herself in the mirror, she said, ‘Oh, look at me,’’’ Strozier told  AL.com.  “One of the other brides that was in there started crying.”

 

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Per a 2020 Forbes article, “department stores celebrated democracy, but they were, in fact, Jim Crow institutions designed to satisfy the needs and desires of middle-class whites, albeit, with an ambiguous color line,” Traci Parker, assistant professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst said.

According to the interview, Parker, the author of the book Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement, told Forbes that African American customers “were provided uneven, unequal service.”

“They were routinely refused service at lunch counters, restaurants, and beauty shops. They were forbidden use of dressing rooms and restrooms, were prohibited from trying on and returning clothes, and could be arbitrarily refused entrance or service at any moment,” Parker reportedly told Forbes.

 

 

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Tucker’s family could not erase an ugly part of history, but they helped the Alabama elder see the beauty of better days.

 

Victoria’s Secret Responds to ‘Unsettling’ Video of In-Store Karen’s Freakout
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

July 14, 2021

Victoria’s Secret Responds to ‘Unsettling’ Video of In-Store Karen’s Freakout

After seeing the video of “Victoria’s Secret Karen” go viral following her complete meltdown over a Black woman she attacked, the major retailer has issued out a statement.

A viral video has spread across the internet showing a white woman going crazy inside of a Victoria’s Secret store in Millburn, New Jersey. The woman can be seen attacking a Black woman before attempting to act victimized, The NY Post reports.

The video starts as the woman physically assaults Ijeoma Ukenta, a fellow shopper who was waiting to be serviced by the cashier. The white woman broke down in a hysterical rage after Ukenta accused the “Karen” of trying to hit her.

The woman cries, yells, and pretends to pass out while demanding Ukenta to stop filming her. At one point, “Karen” even starts chasing Ukenta around the store in an attempt to snatch her phone away.

https://twitter.com/killafran/status/1414659885891997697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1414659885891997697%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2F2021%2F07%2F13%2Fvictorias-secret-karen-freaks-out-over-being-filmed%2F

Ukenta says the woman was the aggressor from the beginning but played like the victim once Ukenta began filming. Since the viral incident, the video clip has received over 70,000 likes on Twitter and over 2,500 comments.

On Tuesday, Victoria’s Secret issued out a response to their store being included in the viral moment, PR Newsweek reports. “Associate and Customer safety is our top priority, and we are committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all,” the retailer captioned a tweet that included a lengthy statement on the viral incident.

“We are dedicated to continuing this critical conversation and demonstrating our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion through our actions and our words,” the statement read.

Ukenta has since filed a complaint against the responding police officers and the mall security for not making her feel protected following the unwarranted attack.

Ukenta said she “doesn’t really have any issues with [Victoria’s Secret staffers]. Now, if they give us problems getting the video, then we’ll talk about that. That’ll be another story.”

NAACP Offers To Pay Bail For Texas Democrats Who Left State To Block Election Bill
by Derek Major

July 14, 2021

NAACP Offers To Pay Bail For Texas Democrats Who Left State To Block Election Bill

The NAACP announced it plans to pay the bail for Texas Democrats who fled to Washington D.C. to block an election restrictions bill Republicans in the state is attempting to pass.

Texas Democratic lawmakers fled the state in protest of a voting restrictions bill state Republicans are attempting to pass. Republicans cannot pass the bill unless the Democratic lawmakers return. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the organization will support anyone working to defend democracy.

“War has been declared on democracy, and we will support anyone who stands up to defend it,” Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said in a statement shared with The Hill. “We are fully invested in good trouble.”

The lawmakers have headed to Washington D.C. to pressure Congress to pass H.R. 1, the For the People Act and have called on Republicans in the state to compromise on a bill overhauling the state’s election procedures. Texas Governor Greg Abbot said the lawmakers would be arrested upon their return.

“They’re quitters,” Abbott told Fox News. “That is not the way Texans do things.”

Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed the Texas lawmakers to Washington D.C. complementing them on their “courage and the commitment and the patriotism.”

“I know what you have done comes with great sacrifice, both personal and political. And you are doing this in support and in defense of some of our nation’s highest ideals,” Harris said.

At least 18 states have enacted voting restrictions with more on the way. Many passed the laws due to Republicans losing the 2020 election and former President Trump’s election lies and failed lawsuits. President Joe Biden recently met with civil rights leaders and organizations including Johnson to calm growing concerns that the Biden Administration isn’t doing enough to protect voting rights.

The Justice Department has said it will challenge the voting restrictions other states have passed and has filed a lawsuit against Georgia’s voting restrictions which are now law, but legal experts call it a long shot.

This is the second attempt Texas Democrats have tried to keep their opposition from passing the voting restrictions bill. In May, House Democrats walked out in protest as a midnight deadline on the deal approached.

Sculptor Offers Artistic Clapback To Confederate Monuments With Chilling Sculpture About Black Life
by Kia Morgan Smith

July 14, 2021

Sculptor Offers Artistic Clapback To Confederate Monuments With Chilling Sculpture About Black Life

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo is using his talent to tackle the enduring stain of racism in this country. His new project, “Blank Slate: Hope For A New America,” is traveling around the country and is a glorious response to every literal and figurative Confederate monument the United States has yet to dismantle.

The installation is a sculpture that combines depictions of various aspects and stages of Black life, NBC News reports. A slave, a lynched Union soldier, a female activist, and a baby are all stacked on top of each other and serve as Akoto-Bamfo’s interpretation of the fight for freedom at various stages of the Black existence in the states. 

In 2020, there was an outcry not just for racial justice but also for an examination of how racism and white supremacy are insidiously woven into the fabric of the American cloth. Monuments to slavers and other known racists were some of the trinkets many recognized needed to be laid waste. 

(BlankSlateMonument.com)

In cities across the country, nearly 100 monuments were removed last year by local and state governments and activist groups, but that only accounted for about 4% of the total number of monuments dedicated to racists and racism in the country. 

This weekend, Charlottesville, Virginia, was the most recent city to dismantle a monument of Gen. Robert E. Lee, a Confederate leader. Four years ago, the statue was a point of contention that led to a protest where violent white supremacists caused the death of a woman. 

After Gen. Lee came down, so did a monument to Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson. 

Akoto-Bamfo’s art has made its way across the country in cities that are significant for their connection to the struggle for civil rights, such as Selma and Birmingham. 

Those who are fortunate enough to experience the installation first-hand can also contribute their ideas on racial justice and equality through an interactive screen that accompanies the work. 

The artist, a Ghanaian immigrant, spent time documenting African history for a decade in Ghana and has a special interest in African American culture.

“Whatever happens to an African American, or however they are portrayed, directly affects me,” he said. He further noted that although he is Ghanain, in the United States, he is Black first. 

One of the subtleties that throw artistic shade to the racist monuments is that while segregationists were placed on manmade pedestals, the figures on the Blank Slate monument are elevated by each other.

“Our strength and pride comes not from the fact that we didn’t have the privilege, and yet we have sufficed,” the artist said.

You can find more information about the “Blank Slate” project can be found on the website. 

(BlankStateMonument.com)

 

U.S. Government Will Evacuate Afghan Translators, Soldiers Who Assisted In Iraqi War
by Derek Major

July 14, 2021

U.S. Government Will Evacuate Afghan Translators, Soldiers Who Assisted In Iraqi War

Reuters – The United States this month will begin evacuating from Afghanistan special immigration visa applicants whose lives are at risk because they worked for the U.S. government as translators and in other roles, the White House said on Wednesday.

The evacuation, dubbed Operation Allies Refuge, is set to start during the last week of July, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a briefing. Fighting between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and the Taliban has surged in recent weeks, with the militants gaining territory and capturing border crossings.

“The reason that we are taking these steps is because these are courageous individuals. We want to make sure we recognize and value the role they’ve played over the last several years,” Psaki said.

President Joe Biden has set a formal end to the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan for Aug. 31. The U.S. general leading the mission, Austin Miller, relinquished command at a ceremony on Monday, a symbolic end to America’s longest war.

Psaki said she could not provide specifics on the numbers of Afghans who will be in the initial evacuation flights “for operational and security reasons.”

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the initial evacuation will include about 2,500 people and that they likely will be housed in U.S. military facilities while their visa applications are processed. A final decision has not been made on the specific bases to be used, the official said.

The Special Immigrant Visa program is available to people who worked with the U.S. government or the American-led military force during the Afghanistan war that began in 2001. A similar program was available for Iraqis who worked with the U.S. government in that country after the 2003 American-led invasion, but no applications were accepted after September 2014.

The news of the new Afghanistan operation was first reported by Reuters.

The Biden administration has been under pressure from lawmakers of both U.S. political parties and advocacy groups to begin evacuating thousands of special immigration visa applicants – and their families – who risk retaliation because they worked for the U.S. government.

That concern has been increased by the Taliban’s rapid territorial gains and deadlocked peace talks.

Psaki said the objective is to get “individuals who are eligible relocated out of the country” in advance of the withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of August.

It is expected that the initial evacuation will be carried out by civilian chartered aircraft and will include Afghans who are waiting for their Special Immigrant Visa applications to be processed, according to sources familiar with the issue.

James Miervaldis, chairman of a group called No One Left Behind that has been pressing for the evacuation of U.S.-affiliated Afghans, called the start of the evacuation operation “a very positive development.”

Miervaldis said the move is still not enough as there are potentially tens of thousands of Afghans who may want to leave the country while they await their visa process.

A State Department unit coordinating the evacuations will be run by veteran ambassador Tracey Jacobson and include representatives from the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, Psaki said.

White House Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Russ Travers will coordinate an interagency policy process related to the evacuations.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Idrees Ali, Trevor Hunnicutt and Jeff Mason Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Will Dunham and Howard Goller)

A Brooklyn Mother’s Gamer Boyfriend Charged With Killing Her Baby For Interrupting His Video Game
by Christian Spencer

July 14, 2021

A Brooklyn Mother’s Gamer Boyfriend Charged With Killing Her Baby For Interrupting His Video Game

Ricardo Price, 23, allegedly killed his girlfriend Eryca Kemp’s daughter last month because the infant interrupted his video games.

Price is now facing upgraded homicide charges for the July 1 death of Royalty Kemp, a 4-month-old baby who was allegedly abused and beat by Price, The New York Daily News reported. He was arrested for attempted murder and assault last month.

According to the infant’s mother, Price would throw the crying baby against the wall of their shared Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, apartment and hit her head with his video game controller.

Kemp told the New York newspaper that she met him on an online dating app last November.

Related stories: NAOMI CAMPBELL WELCOMES HER FIRST BABY, SHARES TENDER PHOTO ON INSTAGRAM 

The fatal incident happened on June 21, but Royalty was not taken to a hospital until the following morning.

Initially taken to Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn before being transferred to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, the doctors diagnosed Royalty with brain injury—a fractured skull and internal bleeding, The Daily News reported.

Royalty died on July 1.

Police were called in one day after they visited Bellevue.

The authorities brought the former couple to their local police precinct, where Price allegedly admitted responsibility.

Price is being held in Rikers Island without bail.

The mother told The Daily News that her ex-boyfriend was not transparent to what exactly happened to her daughter, saying, “he told me was that he didn’t feel he hurt her that badly.”

“From my understanding, they’re still digging into the case,” Kemp said. “I feel like now I’m being punished for something I didn’t do.”

Kemp has two sons from a previous relationship, a 1-year-old who witnessed what happened, and a 6-year-old living with his biological father. The toddler was taken away from Kemp, who is reportedly having trouble telling her eldest son that his baby sister has passed away.

“He took an innocent child’s life for absolutely no reason,” Kemp, 24, said. “The only reason he gave [police] was that she wouldn’t stop crying. … He also asked me for forgiveness. I told him, ‘I don’t know how to do that, honestly.’”

Kemp was running an errand and left her newborn baby with Price for the afternoon. When she returned to the apartment around 11 p.m., she noticed her baby was in bed asleep.

The next morning at 10: 30 a.m., Kemp tried to wake up her daughter only to realize she “looked lifeless,” she recalled.


“I really tried to wake her,” Kemp told The Daily News. “I poured water on her face, running it over her head, you know? Just doing anything you can do to try to wake a person up.”

Kemp told police she hopes her ex-boyfriend’s actions catch up to him.

“I hope he gets sentenced for life or electrocuted,” she said. “When people hear what he did, he’s not going to have a very nice time in [jail].”

In Price’s side of the story, he told the police that the baby was on his lap while he was gaming, admitting that he was aggressively bouncing the baby and applying a pacifier into Royalty’s mouth to stop her from crying.

The death of her daughter is agonizing for Kemp, noting that “I didn’t even get to spend one holiday with her.”

“All the holidays are coming up — Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s, and Labor Day,” she added.

Black Teen Charged With Hate Crime for Defacing A ‘Back The Blue’ Sign, Pissing Off Cops
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

July 14, 2021

Black Teen Charged With Hate Crime for Defacing A ‘Back The Blue’ Sign, Pissing Off Cops

A 19-year-old Black teen in Utah is facing hate crime charges after vandalizing a ‘Back The Blue’ sign in front of a police officer.

Lauren Gibson was headed back to California last week with a group of friends following a camping trip in Panguitch, Utah when they were pulled over for speeding, The Daily Beast reports.

However, by day’s end, Gibson was arrested and charged with a hate crime after stepping on a sign that supported police officers. Gibson claimed that the Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputy who wrote her friend a ticket was acting aggressively during the exchange.

In response, Gibson grabbed a metal “Back The Blue” that she and her friends found on the road and placed it inside their car. In an act of defiance against the officer, Gibson waved the sign at the officer, stepped on it, and threw it in the trash.

“I just wanted to, I don’t know, make her feel better or something or stand up for her,” Gibson said.

But now the college student is facing criminal hate crime charges after the deputy arrested Gibson and charged her with disorderly conduct and criminal mischief with a hate-crime enhancement for allegedly trying to “intimidate law enforcement,” the affidavit read.

According to a Utah state statute, the ‘status as a law enforcement officer’ is credited as a personal attribute where a hate crime allegation can be added to a charge, ABC4 reports.

“I observed one of the friends, later identified to be Lauren Gibson, stomping on a ‘Back the Blue’ sign next to where the traffic stop was conducted, crumble it up in a destructive manner and throw it into a trash can all while smirking in an intimidating manner towards me,” the deputy claimed in the affidavit, St George Utah reports.

Criminal mischief is typically classified as a class B misdemeanor in Utah that can result in up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. But, with Gibson getting a hate crime enhancement, the teen could be charged with a class A misdemeanor that results in up to 364 days in jail and up to $2,500 in fines.

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