Judge Denies White Woman’s Bid to Toss Out Hate Crime Case
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

June 7, 2021

Judge Denies White Woman’s Bid to Toss Out Hate Crime Case

A white Rhode Island woman accused of accosting a Black man and his family and telling them to go back where they came from failed in her attempt to get her hate crime case tossed out.

District Court Judge James Caruolo declined Christine Longo’s attempt to dismiss a hate-crime case against her on Thursday after hearing lengthy arguments from prosecutors and her defense lawyer, The Providence Journal reported.

Longo is accused of attacking Adote Akpabie and his family on the property of the Coast Guard House restaurant in Narragansett and hurling racial epithets at them. The Akpabi family visited the restaurant for lunch after enjoying a day at the beach.

Court documents and witness testimony claim Longo approached the family and called them “[expletive] Black people” and told them to “go back where you came from.” She even pointed her finger in the face of Akpabie’s 14-year-old daughter. It was Akpabie and his 17-year-old daughter who testified what happened to them that day.

“This incident made us feel unsafe, unwelcomed, and very threatened,” one of Akpabie’s daughters wrote in a witness statement. “We felt as if we were being treated as inferior human beings.”

It was a photo she captured of Longo’s license plate as she drove away from the restaurant following the slurs that helped police track her down, Atlanta Black Star reported.

“Miss Longo made unprovoked racially abusive and offensive statements directed at a Black family, specifically, the Akpabis, who were enjoying a day at the beach,” Carulo said.

Caruolo ruled Akpabie’s testimony of what happened to him and his family as credible and said Longo’s actions that day met the standards of a hate crime.

“Her use of the word ‘Black’,” he said, “in this court’s opinion, was synonymous with” the N-word.

Judge Caruolo said Longo’s demeanor and actions during the July 2020 encounter could be constituted as “fighting words” and met a legal threshold established by the U.S. Supreme Court. He ruled her actions were not protected speech under the First Amendment, NBC affiliate WJAR 10 reported

“It is this court’s opinion that they are fighting words, likely to provoke a violent reaction from the ordinary, average, or reasonable person,” Carulo said during the court hearing.

by Andrea Blackstone

June 7, 2021

Detroit’s Oldest Black-Owned Skating Rink Adds an Outdoor Rink Experience for Skaters

One of the oldest Black skating rinks in the country — RollerCade — is located in Detroit. RollerCade will operate in partnership with the outdoor roller rink, Rollout Detroit. VisitDetroit.com reported that Rollout Detroit is included in the city’s hub for outdoor recreation with Monroe Street Midway. It opened on May 28, 2021, and runs until the fall. The site also said that Bedrock, the largest real estate company in Detroit, leads project efforts to transform the future site of its Monroe Blocks development. RollerCade is a meaningful addition. The business’ history is deeply rooted in Detroit.

“RollerCade opened on Jan. 9, 1955, in the midst of the Civil Rights era, managing to keep the lights on during decades of population loss and disinvestment in Detroit. The rink is one of the oldest continually open, black-owned rinks in the country,” DetourDetroit said.

 

Photo credit- Twitter

VisitDetroit.com also reported that roller skate sessions would be blocked off in two- or three-hour time slots and will cost $10 per session. Roller skates will be available to rent. Walk-ins are welcome, but sessions can also be booked ahead of time. The website also mentioned capacity limitations, social distancing and mask guidelines would align with the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services’ recommendations.

“Rollout Detroit will change what it means to roller skate in the City of Detroit,” Kyle Black said in a CBS Detroit article. “This truly unique and creative roller rink will thrill skaters of every skill level.”

Instagram photo credit- ccs_detroit

The Michigan Chronicle reported that Black’s grandmother was the one who had the idea of opening Roller Cade in 1955 after her children were restricted to attending a skating rink during certain times in River Rouge during the 1950s because of the color of their skin. He remarked that he recalled skating before he knew how to walk. The skating enthusiast added that Detroit’s skate culture is like a “whole underground world.”

“Detroit has a very rich skating history, [which] as far as I know, goes back to ‘50s, ‘60s,” the man explained, adding that it had become more popular in ‘70s and ‘80s and is “really starting to build back up.”

Black added that it was necessary to reduce capacity at the roller rink due to the pandemic, but Roller Cade still sells out weekly. He told The Michigan Chronicle that skating is therapeutic. The small business owner also remarked that with the arrival of spring and things opening back up, passionate skaters in Detroit would enjoy it indoors and outdoors.

Ally Bank Recently Eliminated Overdraft Fees for Customers
by Andrea Blackstone

June 7, 2021

Ally Bank Recently Eliminated Overdraft Fees for Customers

One bank decided to say farewell to overdraft fees. A press release stated that Ally Bank—which is the largest digital bank in the U.S. and a division of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY)—ended the centuries-old industry practice.

“This is a significant advancement for consumers as we live out our mission and live up to our name—being a true ally. Overdraft fees are a pain point for many consumers but are particularly onerous for some. It is time to end them,” Ally Financial’s CEO, Jeffrey Brown said in a press release.

Photo credit- Twitter- @WSJ

Additionally, the announcement revealed that 95% of the consumers who paid $12.4 billion in overdraft fees in 2020 were “financially vulnerable” and disproportionately Black and Latinx, according to the 2021 FinHealth Spend Report.

Nasdaq said that overdraft fees are not a major source of revenues for Ally Bank, but this is not the case for others.

“Further, late last month, the CEOs of big banks—JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo—faced tough questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren with regard to overdraft fees. According to the senator, the four banks collectively earned approximately $4 billion in overdraft fees in 2020, with JPMorgan having the largest share of roughly $1.5 billion,” Nasdaq also reported.

 

Nasdaq also stated that when Warren asked bank CEOs if they would voluntarily refund the fees to their customers, they declined. Nasdaq added that for several small and mid-sized banks such as Regions Financial and Huntington Bancshares Inc., overdraft fees remain a major source of fee revenues.

The Wall Street Journal explained why Ally Bank decided to make the fee change. An article mentioned that Diane Morais, who is Ally Bank’s president of consumer and commercial banking, began temporarily suspending overdraft charges in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal reported that Morais said that last summer’s protests for racial justice also drove her decision to end the fees.

 

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 7, 2021

Ice Cube Partners With Triller Prior to Fourth Season of Big 3 Basketball League

The Big3 basketball league has gotten bigger with the latest deal that officials have signed with the same company that had recently signed to partner with the Verzuz battle series.

Triller, the globally popular AI-powered social media experience, has recently announced that its latest partnership is with O’Shea Jackson, better known as NWA founding member and Hollywood executive Ice Cube’s basketball league, Big3.

“BIG3 is back and bigger than ever for its fourth season. The Triller platform has massive reach, especially with our younger audiences, and BIG3 is the perfect combination of sports and entertainment for that demographic. It made perfect sense to bring Triller on as an exclusive partner for this year, and we can’t wait to give fans something they’ve never seen before,” said BIG3 co-founders Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz in a written statement.

The social media platform has become an exclusive broadcast partner of the BIG3, the official creator of the new global sport, FIREBALL3. With this news, Triller has also announced it will join CBS Sports as the official media partner for BIG3’s upcoming fourth season. Triller Live will air 30 hours of exclusive live games for free, starting with the BIG3 SuperDraft on June 14. It will then start airing the fourth season, scheduled to tip-off on July 10 in Las Vegas.

The addition of BIG3 advances the platform’s sports programming in the streaming space, following the highly successful launch of Triller Fight Club earlier this year. The deal will also include the BIG3’s first All-Star game with musical acts following the end of the BIG3 season to be aired across all Triller platforms.

“There’s nothing as fun and fast in sports as BIG3 basketball, and once you watch one game, you’ll be hooked,” said Triller co-owner Ryan Kavanaugh. “We are excited to partner with Ice Cube and the BIG3 organization to bring this exciting and growing sport to Triller audiences around the world.”

For more information on the BIG3 league and season, please visit the website. Triller LIVE can be accessed here.

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

June 7, 2021

University of Idaho Promotes Its First Black Male to Full Professor

At just 36 years old, Dr. Sydney Freeman Jr. has made history, becoming the first Black man promoted to a full professor at the University of Idaho.

Typically it takes faculty members about 10 to 12 years to become a full professor at the university. But  Freeman achieved the title in just five years and seven months, Because of Them We Can reported. After graduating from Auburn University in 2011 with a degree in higher education administration, Freeman worked as the director in the Teaching and Learning Center at Tuskegee University for three years.

He entered the University of Idaho as an associate professor on the tenure track and took to Twitter in March to share the big news on his historical promotion.

“Humbled to share that I will be the 1st African American (American Descendant of Slaves) man to be promoted to rank of Full Professor at the University of Idaho, the state’s flagship research university,” he wrote with an accompanying photo of himself wearing a “Full Professor” t-shirt.

“I earned this rank in 5 years and 7 months on tenure track.”

Now the HBCU alum hopes his promotion sparks a wave of schools bringing on more educators of color.

“If we want to see Idaho grow and be more inclusive, we have to bring that inclusion in, and so it’s important for us to not only have conversations about it but actually invest in diversifying faculty and staff but also retaining them,” Freeman told CBS 2 Idaho News.

Dr. Freeman succeeds Dr. Wudneh Admassu, an Ethiopian native who was the first person of African descent to become a full professor at the University of Idaho. Professor Shaakirrah Sanders is still the first and only Black woman to become a full professor at the University of Idaho, Idaho News reported.

However, there is still a long way to go for more inclusivity. African Americans make up only 5 percent of all the full-time faculty members at colleges and universities in the United States.

Adrienne Hibbert Helps Connect Black Folks to Black Doctors in Florida
by Andrea Blackstone

June 7, 2021

Adrienne Hibbert Helps Connect Black Folks to Black Doctors in Florida

Some African Americans feel more comfortable when their medical needs are addressed by others who share their culture and racial background. Adrienne Hibbert’s website, Black Doctors of South Florida, has become a resource for people who want to find a Black physician. Hibbert’s idea to create the website arose after she gave birth to her son 15 years ago.

“Her obstetrician was white, and the suburban hospital outside Miami didn’t feel welcoming to Hibbert as a Black woman pregnant with her first child,” Kaiser Health News reported.

Hibbert said she wanted someone who understood her background.

“Black patients have had their complaints and symptoms dismissed and their pain undertreated, and they are referred less frequently for specialty care. Older Black Americans can still remember when some areas of the country had segregated hospitals and clinics, not to mention profoundly unethical medical failures and abuses, such as the 40-year-long Tuskegee syphilis study,” KHN reported.

Hibbert said that the most sought-after specialist is a Black OB-GYN.

In 2020, CNN said Black newborn babies in the United States are more likely to survive childbirth if they are cared for by Black doctors. According to the article, a study found that they are three times more likely than white Babies to die when looked after by white doctors.

Black Doctors of South Florida’s website offers information beyond African American obstetricians; it connects Black patients to Black doctors of various disciplines.’

African Americans who are younger than elders who recall the Tuskegee syphilis study may also distrust medical professionals such as doctors who do not look like them. The National Library of Medicine further explained that in one of many surveys conducted by researchers, African Americans feared they would be used as guinea pigs for medical research.

“This survey also found that Blacks were more likely than Whites not to trust that their doctors would fully explain the significance of their participation in clinical research or other studies,” the abstract said.

by Andrea Blackstone

June 7, 2021

Miles Simon Of Howard University Makes School History At The U.S. 2021 Olympic Trials

ABC 7 News reported that Howard University (HU) swimmer, Miles Simon, will make school history at the U.S. 2021 Olympic Trials. He is competing in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. Preliminaries are today. Miles will be only the second swimmer in the Bison’s history to compete in the Olympic trials. Miles’ current coach Director of Swimming & Diving, Nicholas Askew, was the first. The athlete is a sophomore who could not believe that he clocked a 23.11 in the 50-meter freestyle and qualified for the trials located in Omaha, Nebraska.

Miles won 11 races in his first season and broke school records in the 100 IM and 100 backstrokes, according to ABC 7 News.

Howard University Bison’s athletics page stated that the Atlanta native is scheduled to race on June 7 at 8      p.m. in the men’s 50-meter freestyle event. Miles is competing for a spot in the upcoming Summer Games in Tokyo. Swimming World reported that Miles’ case is not typical of most swimmers. Unlike other swimmers from other universities, HU’s athletes do not enroll during fall and spring semesters– putting them at a disadvantage. The junior opened up about his training.

“In Atlanta, I did not have the lane space or a club to go to,” he said. “I went to stay with my former coach, and despite the challenge of not knowing when I (would) swim that week, I gave my all…It was mentally challenging this year. I learned more about myself than ever. At times I had to be my coach, cheerleader, and athlete. Taking on so many positions while trying to improve was difficult. However, I am glad I did because it made me stronger and it prepared me for the future.”

Miles hopes to continue swimming beyond college and inspire other African-American swimmers. And it helps that his mentor and coach look like him.

“It’s different when your coach looks like you and can empathize with you,” he explained to the publication. “I understand that each swimmer chooses their schools on their own merits, but Howard University has provided me the encouragement and representation that other clubs and schools lack.

There is still a swimming gap when it comes to African-American participation in the sport. However, some African-Americans have a history of swimming for leisure. Medium listed six historically Black beaches to visit. In 2012, HuffPost debunked the stereotype that African-Americans do not like to swim while citing reasons that having access to the water is tied to a history of exclusion, especially during the Jim Crow era.

 

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 7, 2021

Did Donald Trump Actually Have His Pants on Backward?

Twitter remains undefeated! The social media app was ablaze after an appearance by former President Donald Trump at a recent North Carolina rally. There was so much buzz around whether Trump had his pants on backward that fact-finding website Snopes had to make a declaration determining what they found after watching the 90-minute video themselves!

Snopes actually wrote an article titled, “No, Trump Did Not Wear His Pants Backwards at Rally.”

“Tabloid news publications like TMZ and Metro showed zoomed-in videos of the billionaire’s crotch area, and some social media users took to Twitter to mock Trump, suggesting that the 74-year-old had unintentionally put his pants on backward at the North Carolina GOP convention.”

Twitter, of course, had a ball based on responses posted on the popular social media platform.

Although Snopes confirmed that Trump didn’t have his trousers on backward, it is completely plausible that the daft former leader of this nation could do something that foolish.

Amtrak Restores Daily Long Distance Service To East, Gulf Coasts Due To Funding From Congress
by Derek Major

June 7, 2021

Amtrak Restores Daily Long Distance Service To East, Gulf Coasts Due To Funding From Congress

Reuters – U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak said it restored daily service on Monday for long-distance routes that serve the East Coast and the Gulf Coast after receiving new emergency funding from Congress.

Amtrak, which received about $2 billion from Congress in the year before the coronavirus pandemic, has been awarded $3.7 billion in emergency funding since March 2020. The routes include New York to New Orleans, Savannah and Miami.

The $1.7 billion awarded in March required Amtrak to restore daily service to 12 long-distance routes reduced in October to three times per week due to the pandemic and for the railroad to recall more than 1,200 furloughed employees. Other West Coast routes have already been restored.

On Friday, Amtrak said it had restored traditional dining services starting in late June on some long-distance routes.

Amtrak says ridership is rising and says that ridership exceeded 50% of pre-pandemic levels around the Memorial Day holiday.

In its last budget year that ended Sept. 30, Amtrak said operating revenue fell 32% to $2.3 billion over 2019 levels.

In April, Amtrak asked Congress for $5.4 billion in the budget year starting Oct. 1.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called for $80 billion in new spending on high-speed rail projects.

Amtrak asked for $3.88 billion for “base needs” and to address the impact of COVID-19 and $1.55 billion in additional U.S. funding needed to address Northeast Corridor infrastructure projects and begin advancing new corridor routes across the country.

The Biden administration’s April 9 budget called for $2.7 billion for Amtrak, a 35% jump over pre-COVID levels.

Amtrak wants to expand across the United States and, by 2035, add up to 39 new corridor routes and up to 166 cities. It hopes to serve 20 million additional people annually.

Mass transit systems also suffered as Americans took billions of fewer trips last year, but ridership is increasing. Congress in March awarded mass transit systems another $30.5 billion in emergency assistance after giving them $39 billion previously.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Marguerita Choy)

Cuba Gooding Jr. Loses Lawsuit Against Grope Accuser
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

June 7, 2021

Cuba Gooding Jr. Loses Lawsuit Against Grope Accuser

Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has to pay up after he was accused of pinching the buttocks of an New York City bartender.

Natasha Ashworth won a default judgment against the Boyz n the Hood star on Wednesday after he ignored her lawsuit for over a year, Page Six reports. Ashworth filed the lawsuit in October 2019 over claims he groped her while she was serving him at Tao Downtown Nightclub in 2018.

The bartender said Gooding, 51, repeatedly tried to grab her backside without her consent. After filing the lawsuit, the Jerry McGuire actor failed to respond, forcing Ashworth to request a default judgment against him in January. Gooding’s criminal defense attorney Mark Heller blasted the claims as “baseless and the judgment is worthless.”

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Alexander Tisch granted Ashworth’s request for a default judgment against Gooding on the claims of assault and battery but denied her default judgment request on the claim of infliction of emotional distress citing redundancy.

Ashworth is one of many women who have accused Gooding of sexual assault and misconduct. In August, he was slapped with a lawsuit by a woman who claimed he raped her twice inside of a New York hotel room in 2013, according to the BBC.

Prosecutors have said that at least 30 women have come forward with groping allegations against the Radio star, via CNN. Gooding was arrested and charged with three counts of forcible touching and three counts of sex abuse to the third degree in relation to three separate incidents involving three different women in New York.

The actor pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and continues to deny any wrongdoing. During his pre-trial hearing in New York last summer, Gooding wore a Black Lives Matter facemask in the courtroom and made sure to pose for the cameras while spreading the message.

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