• News

by Keka Araújo

May 15, 2021

Cobb County Mother Leilani Billingsley Killed At Job By Longtime Boyfriend

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A family in Georgia is grieving following the tragic circumstances under which its loved one died. Leilani Billingsley, a devoted mother and daughter, was killed by her boyfriend, Paul Sullivan, 38, in an apparent murder-suicide in Cobb County, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).

Cobb County police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk told the news outlet Sullivan shot and killed the 27-year-old woman in the parking lot at the Riverside EpiCenter where she was employed, shortly after 11 a.m., before turning the gun on himself. 

Police also speculated that the man assaulted Billingsley before he murdered her. Officers found their bodies on the scene. 

“Based on eyewitnesses and video information obtained by detectives at the scene, it was determined that Mr. Sullivan had physically assaulted Ms. Billingsley before shooting her,” Delk told AJC. “He then turned the handgun on himself and shot himself.”

The investigation is ongoing. 

Billingsley’s mother, Alyson-Renee Johnson, told AJC that she never expected that Sullivan would harm her daughter.

“I knew they bickered a lot, but that was it,” she explained.

Johnson confirmed that Sullivan and Billingsley had been a couple for four years. The pair lived with her in Austell, Georgia, a city about 20 miles west of Atlanta, and Billingsley’s 6-year-old daughter Queen-Archee.

Johnson alleged that she found about her daughter’s abuse too late from the woman’s friends. 

Christopher Boyd, the general manager at Riverside EpiCentere, expressed his condolences to the family, according to AJC.

“Our hearts go out to the family of our beloved team member, especially the young child,” he said. “Many of our staff are grieving, and our attention now turns to loving and caring for those who remain.”

Johnson has created a GoFund Me to raise money to help pay for funeral arrangements for Billingsley. The fundraiser has raised almost $7,000 of its $15,000 goal. 

The grieving mother had a critical warning for those whose family members may be in domestic violence situations. 

“I’m asking all that if you or your daughter is in a bad situation– please help them. I feel like I failed my baby. My life is upside down right now.”

Billingsley’s funeral is set for May 20 in West Cobb Funeral Home. 

• Lifestyle

by Keka Araújo

May 15, 2021

A California Woman May Have Washed A $26 Million Winning Lottery Ticket Down The Drain- Literally

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An unidentified California woman may have washed a multi-million dollar lottery ticket down the drain– literally.

According to the Whittier Daily News, a woman purchased the $26 million winning SuperLotto Plus ticket in November at an Arco AM/PM in Norwalk, California. The publication reported that Thursday was the deadline to redeem the winnings. The deadline came and went, but nobody stepped forward with the ticket to claim the hefty prize. 

Arco AM/PM employee Esperanza Hernandez told the Whittier Daily News that a woman who allegedly won claimed she put the ticket in her pocket and washed the pants. KTLA reported that the store manager had surveillance footage of the woman buying the ticket, and a copy of the video footage was turned in to California lottery officials.

According to the Whittier Daily News, a California Lottery spokeswoman said that the surveillance footage isn’t enough to prove who the rightful winner was. The woman was one of at least six possible people who had submitted missing lottery ticket claims in order to collect the $26 million. 

“To claim a prize without a ticket, individuals need “compelling substantial proof (they) were in possession of the ticket,” the spokeswoman, Cathy Johnston, stated.

Johnston made it clear that anyone stepping forward to claim the massive cash prize would have to show and prove with evidence like a photo of the front and back of the winning ticket to collect the dough.

“Every claim of this size, if it is not turned in, will be investigated,” Johnston said.

If the winner doesn’t claim the prize, $19.7 million in cash will go back to the state’s educational fund. 

It, clearly, pays to check all pockets when doing the laundry.

Everything Legendary founders went from a $300,000 Shark Tank deal to nationwide presence in Target. Starting on May 15, 2021, the Black-owned and operated plant-based meat producer will be sold at 310 Target locations in 13 states.

 

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“Every time we get a shipment in, they sell out within just a couple of days, just because people love the burgers, so so much,” says Brie Boswell, a Manager of Everlasting Life Vegan Restaurant, in a statement. “As soon as our doors open at ten o’clock in the morning, people are coming in asking for the Legendary Burger. It is guaranteed the best vegan burger on this Earth.”

From Shark Tank to Target

• California
• Minnesota
• Illinois
• Wisconsin
• Indiana
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Virginia
• Maryland
• New Jersey
• New York
• Connecticut
• Pennsylvania

“If you keep going, and NEVER give up, eventually you’ll hit your target,” Everything Legendary posted on Instagram. 

Rapper-turned-actor Ludacris is expecting his second child with his wife, Eudoxie Bridges. The “My Chick Bad” emcee shared the exciting news while celebrating Eudoxie’s 35th birthday on Friday. 

In a photo shared on Instagram, Ludacris, born Christopher Bridges, wrote to his pregnant wife, “How is it YOUR Birthday & Your Giving Me The Greatest Gift? Joyeux Anniversaire, Mrs. Bridges.”

 

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The stunning photo of Eudoxie showed the glowing mom in designer digs that highlighted her pregnant belly. 

The Gabon native also posted photos to her Instagram commemorating her birthday and pregnancy writing, “Blessed year indeed. #35.”

 

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A post shared by Eudoxie (Eh-dox-ee) Bridges (@eudoxie)

Ludacris married Eudoxie in 2015 after being together for several years, according to E! News. The wedding was an intimate ceremony consisting of family and friends. 

The lovebirds met in 2008. In 2018, the West African beauty suffered a miscarriage and spoke candidly about the heartbreaking experience.   

“Lord, I thank you for the gift of life.  This year didn’t necessarily start off right for us. I had a miscarriage and needed to have surgery. It was very easy to complain and self-pity, but I refused to let the enemy win. I stayed faithful and prayed up,”  she wrote. “I spent hours focusing on the many ways the Lord has blessed me. How could I complain when God has blessed me with the opportunity to already experience motherhood? I’m sharing this with you all to remind you to live in gratitude. When the enemy tries to knock you down, get even closer to your faith.”

Eudoxie continued, “My faith has been tested many times throughout my life but I’m only getting stronger. Life will not always go as planned and keeping a positive and grateful attitude will only bring more and bigger blessings.”

“Thank you, God for your favor over my life. Thank you for my beautiful family and friends who have been so supportive. Thank you for another year!”

 

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A post shared by Eudoxie (Eh-dox-ee) Bridges (@eudoxie)

They also have a 5-year-old daughter, Cadence Gaëlle Bridges. 

In January last year,  the Fast and Furious actor became a Gabonese citizen along with his mother and his two other children.

Kelisha Williams was in the foster care system since she was 16 years old but now she’s heading to Harvard University, WCPO reports.

“When I applied to Harvard, I applied to Harvard as a joke,” Williams told WCPO. “I didn’t think I was going to get in…To any of the foster kids that are watching, everyone always says it’s going to get better. I never used to believe that when I was going through it and stuff like that. Eventually, it does.”

From Foster Care to Harvard

Williams believed that obtaining a college education would allow her to break the cycle.

Ever since she’s been in the foster care system, she’s had to hop around to various locations for support. The teen has moved five times in less than 24 months. But she’s been grateful for her Specialized Alternatives for Families & Youth (SAFY) foster mom. Maria Finkenstead has provided additional encouragement and support throughout the admissions process and was even more excited when she found out about Williams’ impressive ACT score. 

Williams reported a 32 ACT score, giving her access to the top institutions in the world. ACT scores range from 1-36 with the average score around 21 for the class of 2017, according to the Princeton Review.

Determined to have a chance at a better life, Williams submitted applications to over 20 colleges. At the top of her list was the University of Southern California. It’s one of the world’s leading private research institutions located in Los Angeles. 

She also applied to all the Ivy League schools, including Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard.

During her Harvard Admissions interview, Williams had a chance to speak to Michelle Obama and actor Lin Manuel Miranda. She asked the former First Lady how she kept going in the face of obstacles.

Williams’ shared Obama’s words of wisdom with WCPO. “You just have to keep going. No one’s ever fully always on your side.”

When Williams logged into her account to view her admission status to Harvard, she knew that her resilience had paid off. The Ohio teen received a full-ride scholarship to attend the Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Preparing to Become President at Harvard University

Williams plans to study political science and psychology at Harvard this fall. She wants to inspire other foster children to keep pushing through the obstacles and pursuing their vision of success.

“Nobody was going to hand me a ticket out of here,” says Williams. “I had to take it for myself.”

Williams knew that she had to take ownership of her education and goals at an early age. When she was younger, she told her teachers that she wanted to be the president. Now, she has the opportunity to join the list of Presidents like Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and George W. Bush who all have earned degrees from Harvard.

Former seamstress Vivian Cunningham has just accomplished a lifelong goal of becoming a college graduate at 78. The Birmingham native graduated from Samford University on May 8.

Cunningham proves that it’s never too late to turn your dreams into a reality.

“If you have a dream and you are passionate about that dream, pursue it,” Cunningham told ABC News.  “Don’t let anyone tell you that it can’t be done.”

From Seamstress and Single Mom to College Classes

Cunningham was born in the 1940s. She was only a toddler when World War II ended in 1945, growing up during the civil rights era. This period marked the evolution of integration and access for Black people. As more educational opportunities and doors began to open, Cunningham took steps towards acquiring her “American Dream”.

As a child, Cunningham envisioned herself as a seamstress. She picked up sewing skills from her grandmother and great-grandmother. She also studied it as a trade while in school and was the go-to seamstress for family and friends. But she transitioned her career path in order to have enough funds to provide for her family.

As a single mom of two in the 1960s, Cunningham worked at the Alabama Power Company. It’s one of the largest state utilities. Cunningham spent many years at the company, working as a custodian and in the mailroom. When the company offered her tuition reimbursement for college, she took them up on the offer.

Cunningham enrolled in classes sporadically while raising her family. It wasn’t until she retired that she was able to fully commit and earn her degree.

“It was tough for her, but us being young, we didn’t really know,” Cunningham’s son Donald shared with Samford University.  “She was taking care of her family, working at night at the power company, and couldn’t find babysitters to keep us. I had to grow up and be a man before time, take care of my sister.” Donald now works as a Facility Control Operator at Alabama Power Company.

Becoming a College Graduate at 78 After Six Years

With her family’s encouragement and support, Cunningham made it to the college graduation finish line. She retired in 1992, earned her associate’s degree from Virginia College, and continued on her educational track.

On May 8th, Cunningham was among 533 graduates in the Class of 2021 at Samford University, according to the institution. She earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies after six years of night and virtual classes.

“If I could have done cartwheels across the stage, I would have,” Cunningham told TODAY.” “My friends have called and told me that it has motivated them. “And some of the young ones in my family, too. They said if I can do it, they can do it.”

Cunningham isn’t finished yet. Although she’s a grandmother and great-grandmother, she’s considering a Master’s Degree. But first, she’s looking forward to resting.

CurlMix founders and high school sweethearts, Tim and Kim Lewis, turned down a $400,000 Shark Tank offer in 2019.

Last month, the couple launched an equity crowdfunding campaign for their haircare brand and raised over $1 million within four hours. In less than seven weeks, CurlMix has raised over $4.2 million.

Over 7,000 investors have contributed to the Wefunder campaign since it was launched on April 6th. According to the Wefunder campaign, the couple always knew they wanted to build a life and business. Now, they have a chance to create wealth in their community thanks to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS) Act.

“When I met Tim, neither of our families had much money but we didn’t care, we figured we could build together,” Kim posted on Instagram. “We wanted to be the change and still do. Investing allows us to build wealth for ourselves and our community.”

 

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From High School Sweethearts to Shark Tank

Kim and Tim Lewis were raised on the south side of Chicago. They attended Morgan Park High School and have been together since they were 16.

“When I met Tim in second-period gym class, I did not think we would build a multi-million dollar company that employs our community and serves women of color,” Kim shared on LinkedIn.

After graduating college in 2013, Kim Lewis landed a job making nearly six figures. But her vision couldn’t be confined to a cubicle. She quit her job with no savings or job lined up, relying solely on her creativity to determine the next steps. That’s when she decided to sign CurlMix co-founder Tim Lewis up for the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He appeared on the 12th season of the show and walked away with $100,000. This money helped the couple fund their first venture.

In 2015, CurlMix was born. The brand started as a do-it-yourself subscription box and transitioned into a hair care line for curly hair. After earning their first $1 million in sales in 2018, the couple appeared on ABC’s show Shark Tank. Investor Robert Herjavec offered the couple $400,000 in exchange for 20% of the company but the numbers didn’t match their expectations.

“Having the conversation about what we were willing to accept the night before pitching was like deciding whether or not to have children. We knew that CurlMix would be huge one day and we treated each percent like a million dollars. It was a hard conversation. It involved numbers, emotions, and a lot of research,” says Lewis.

Couple Turns to Equity CrowdFunding After Rejecting Shark Tank Offer

Listener Brands, the parent company of CurlMix and 4C ONLY, is giving consumers a chance to unlock generational wealth through their equity crowdfunding campaign. Although there is no guaranteed return on investment, this opportunity allows consumers to get in early and benefit from the company’s potential growth.

Typically, investors would have to be considered accredited in order to make certain investments. But the rules around investing in small companies changed in 2012. Obama signed the JOBS Act, making it easier for companies to raise capital from their community.

“Many of us spend years supporting companies with our hard-earned dollars, but we see nothing for it when the brand eventually sells, transferring the wealth outside of our community,” says Listener Brands CEO and Co-Founder, Kim Lewis in a statement. “Our goal is to create opportunities for our community to increase their wealth. Our vision is to change the narrative of what ownership looks like. We aim to become the first Black-owned publicly-traded beauty conglomerate.”

As colleges across the country face pressure to atone for their ties to slavery, students from Rhode Island’s Brown University recently voted for the school to identify the descendants of slaves that worked on the campus and pay them reparations.

Results from the referendum show 88.61% of Brown University students supported identifying the descendants with 84.53% in favor of paying “reparations plans from other institutions of higher education like Georgetown University.”

Jason Carroll, a 22-year-old Maryland native whose ancestors were slaves in the Carolinas, served as student council president during the spring referendum at Brown University. He touched on the “trauma and pain” felt while posing for a portrait outside of the school’s University Hall building, which was constructed in part using slave labor.

“There’s been a shift in America,” Carroll told the Associated Press. “We’re at a different place. Just a few years ago, it was controversial to say ‘Black Lives Matter.’”

The school released a historical report in 2006 where it acknowledged its slavery past and followed it up with a slavery memorial in 2014. An “Anti-Black Racism” task force was put together to provide the school with recommendations on the next steps toward racial equity but a representative for the school didn’t say if reparations were on the agenda.

“There’s real trauma and pain here,” Carroll said. “This shouldn’t just be an academic question. There are real families that have been burdened and harmed by this — and probably still are.”

Other schools facing pressure to produce forms of reparations include the University of Georgia where community activists have urged the school to contribute to an urban renewal project aimed at restoring a Black community that was destroyed in the 1960s to make way for college dorms.

Georgetown University has offered priority admission to descendants of slaves who used to labor at the school. Harvard University has plans of producing a list of recommendations following criticism over the schools’ ties to slavery and racism, Boston Globe reports.

“It’s time for them to stand up and honor our ancestors,” said Cauline Yates, a descendant of one of Thomas Jefferson’s slaves.

Gayle King helped announce ViacomCBS’ new multimillion-dollar scholarship to help HBCU students obtain media careers post-graduation and increase the representation of Black journalists nationwide.

On Thursday, the CBS This Morning host sat down with Willow Bay, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, to unveil the ViacomCBS HBCU Diversity in Journalism Scholarship. The scholarship comes by way of a $1 million endowment that recipients will use to cover annual tuition for HBCU graduates to enroll in one of USC Annenberg’s journalism master’s programs.

“This new scholarship demonstrates ViacomCBS and USC Annenberg’s commitment to elevating Black excellence in journalism as well as a tremendous investment in supporting the diverse representation we all seek in the industry,” King said.

The initiative is based on the News Leaders Association’s latest Newsroom Diversity Survey that found Black journalists only represent 7.12% of newsrooms nationwide, a less than 2% increase since a similar 1999 survey. With HBCU’s accounting for almost 20% of all African American college graduates, ViacomCBS sought to help remove possible tuition cost barriers that may prevent HBCU scholars from pursuing graduate studies in journalism.

“HBCU graduates are critical to advancing our country’s future, including the next generation of journalists,” Bay SAID, CBS reports. “We are proud to join ViacomCBS in accelerating Black journalists’ paths to success here at USC Annenberg so they can bring their invaluable expertise and perspectives to our nation’s media organizations and truly propel representation forward.”

The ViacomCBS HBCU Diversity in Journalism Scholarship hopes to strengthen the diversity and inclusiveness of American newsrooms and help broaden the conversation at news stations across the country.

“CBS is deeply committed to having our talented newsroom teams reflect our audience and the world we cover,” said George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS. “We proudly join with USC Annenberg to support HBCU graduates as they become tomorrow’s journalism leaders.”

The scholarship applications for USC’s 2021-22 academic year are currently being accepted. More information on eligibility requirements can be found HERE.

• Uncategorized

by Christian Spencer

May 14, 2021

Defense Lawyers in Ahmaud Arbery Case Want To Reframe The Narrative; Says Killing Was a ‘Good Deed’

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The defense lawyers representing Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their friend and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan in the murder trial of Ahmaud Arbery, are spinning the narrative to make the defendants look like the good guys.

On Feb. 23, 2020, the McMichael duo and company filmed themselves making a citizen’s arrest and wound up shooting and killing a young Black man for a crime he did not commit.

Their lawyers are trying to make them look like heroes after a phone call was leaked saying they committed a “good deed,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

In addition to the spin narrative, the lawyers issued a demand for the court to analyze Arbery’s criminal past.

Related stories: AHMAUD ARBERY MURDER TRIAL DATE IS SET FOR THE FALL

“You’ve heard the saying that no good deed goes unpunished?” Greg McMichael said in a phone call to his brother,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“Yeah, that’s the shining example right there,” McMichael’s brother agreed.

The defense is working to negate comments like those, suggestive by nature, that frame the narrative that Arbery’s unnecessary death was a good thing, which Defense Attorney Franklin Hogue has to reinterpret McMichael’s language.

“The state believes he is saying the good deed was killing Ahmaud Arbery, but that is not what he meant,” Hogue said in court Thursday, NewsOne reported. The “He meant the good deed was patrolling his neighborhood and the punishment is him now being in jail charged with his death.”

Defense Attorney Jason Sheffield, who is representing Travis, demanded that Arbery’s criminal record can be used to show a pattern of him defying the law, thus showing the McMichaels shot him in self-defense.

“What we have learned is that Mr. Arbery had a pattern of conduct and behavior, had a pattern of other acts that included theft crimes or attempted burglary crimes,” Sheffield said.

The lawyer also wants to distance their clients’ association with racism, even though it was reported that investigators heard Travis calling Arbery a “f–king ni–er” after shooting the jogger three times with a shotgun.

A judge reviewing the testimony of the bond hearing said Bryan also used the N-word and other racial slurs, NewsOne reported.