Naomi Osaka Becomes Sweetgreen’s Youngest Investor And Ambassador
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

May 7, 2021

Naomi Osaka Becomes Sweetgreen’s Youngest Investor And Ambassador

Tennis champion Naomi Osaka just expanded her investment portfolio with a partnership with health-driven fast-food chain sweetgreen.

The Haitian and Japanese tennis pro became the company’s first national athlete ambassador and their youngest investor to date, sweetgreen announced on its website.

“I’m proud to join forces with sweetgreen to change the way the world thinks of traditional fast-food sponsorships,” Osaka said in a statement. “As an athlete, what I put into my body directly correlates to how I perform and eating delicious, healthy foods fuels my daily routine.”

Her investment in the company comes as more people start to turn to healthier food options when dining on the go.

“Our goal is a big one: to change the way brands and athletes speak to future generations about the importance of what they eat,” said Nathaniel Ru, Sweetgreen co-founder and chief brand officer. “Sweetgreen is honored to partner with Naomi because she stands for what she believes in and uses her platform to educate and inspire the next generation.”

Osaka took a break from competing in the Madrid Open in Europe to hop on Twitter and express her excitement for her newest business venture, Tennis Tonic reports.

“Anyone that knows me knows I’ve been into @sweetgreen for a while (I eat it three times a week when I’m training/at shoots), which is why I’m excited to share that I’m their newest partner and youngest investor,” she tweeted.

As a professional athlete, Osaka is mindful of the food she puts into her body. With her new investment, the tennis star will work with Sweetgreen’s culinary team to customize a bowl that is set to debut nationwide on May 20.

 “I’m excited about the work we’re doing together to create a positive impact,” SAID OSAKA.

The Naomi Osaka Bowl includes warm quinoa, baby spinach, cilantro, tomato, tortilla chips, raw carrots, goat cheese, blackened chicken, lime-cilantro jalapeno vinaigrette, avocado, and sweetgreen hot sauce.

As part of the new venture, 100% of The Naomi Osaka Bowl proceeds will go to The Asian American Foundation in their effort to advance equity in the AAPI community.

Racist White Woman Tried To Stop Black Amazon Worker From Doing His Job
by Christian Spencer

May 7, 2021

Racist White Woman Tried To Stop Black Amazon Worker From Doing His Job

A white woman started an altercation with a Black Amazon delivery driver because she thought he was driving too fast in her neighborhood in Berkeley, California.

On April 18, 35-year-old Julie Walrand picked a fight with a Black Amazon driver, and, for what it was worth, she lost after getting arrested herself, according to People magazine.

Charged with battery, false imprisonment, and hate crimes for using offensive words and making threats based on one’s skin color, Walrand, and her boyfriend were allegedly the ones who called Berkeley Police Department first, the San Francisco Gate reported.

Walrand, her boyfriend, and the victim were both driving. The victim said that Walrand and her boyfriend called him the N-word, and despite him peacefully leaving the scene, they allegedly followed him and called 911.

Kendall McIntosh, the Black victim, said that Walrand jumped into his car and attempted to grab his steering wheel, according to KRON-TV.

Related stories: WHITE WOMAN FIRED FOR BEING RACIST; CALLED NEIGHBOR THE N-WORD, CALLED THE POLICE ON HER

“She instantly just started cursing me out like, first sentence I’m getting cursed at,” McIntosh said. “Very derogatory language, you know I was getting constant F bombs thrown at me. I was getting just racially profiled from the jump.”

Neighbors filmed the altercation.

“What constantly was running through my mind was you know it could be me in handcuffs instead of her so no matter what the situation is, just protect yourself. If you feel like you have to videotape it or anything, definitely do that because I felt like if there wasn’t a video… she probably could’ve gotten away with saying this,” McIntosh said, The Independent reported.

The police arrived and saw what really happened, which allegedly shows Walrand using “force to prevent the package delivery person from leaving and used hateful language disparaging of people of color.”

Walrand is out on bond, but records show that she is not represented by an attorney in her case. She also has not entered a plea agreement.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Elections Restrictions Bill, Gives Fox News Access To Signing
by Derek Major

May 7, 2021

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Elections Restrictions Bill, Gives Fox News Access To Signing

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed one of the country’s most restrictive voting bills into law Thursday.

The bill, SB 90, implements restrictions on drop boxes, voting by mail, ID requirements and bans mailing voters unsolicited ballots. Voters in the state will now have to apply for mail in ballots more frequently. The bill also states voters can only help two non-relatives deliver their ballots per election, putting a halt to large scale mail in ballot drives.

Florida joins Georgia in passing restrictive voting bills based on former President Donald Trump’s false and debunked election claims. The bill is expected to face immediate and substantial legal hurdles.

According to CNN, a group including the League of Women Voters in Florida and the Black Lives Matter fund filed a lawsuit against the bill minutes after DeSantis signed it. A separate suit has been filed by Common Cause, Florida’s NAACP, and a disability rights group.

The bills are a part of a Republican effort to change election rules and laws after the GOP lost states it won in 2016 including Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Gov. DeSantis also only gave Fox News access to him signing the bill. The governor has a friendly relationship with Fox as he is a frequent guest on its shows.

More than 100 voting restriction bills have been introduced in 48 states, bringing more instability and threats to the belief of democracy in the United States. The bills have led to a group of more than 100 large organizations discussing withholding political donations and investments due to the bills.

Additionally hundreds of Black business and financial executives have joined forces, taking out ads in the Washington Post and New York Times.

“The 2021 voter suppression law is just the latest in a long line of voter suppression laws targeting Florida’s Black voters, Latino voters, and voters with disabilities,” the NAACP LDF said in its lawsuit.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 7, 2021

Floyd Mayweather Engages in Scuffle With Jake Paul

Not that the upcoming fight needed any excitement, but we were given some on Thursday pertaining one of the most exciting pugilists of our time.

During a press gathering on Thursday regarding his upcoming bout, undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather was involved in a small scuffle with Jake Paul, the sibling of his next opponent, Logan Paul. As cameras rolled and mobile phones started to record, a heated discussion between Mayweather and Jake Paul took place. As the pair jawed at each other, Jake snatched the baseball cap off of Mayweather’s head, which caused a minor commotion that didn’t elevate to anything that could have injured someone.

Paul continued to taunt Mayweather by posting the short video clip on his Instagram account, where he wrote,

“gotcha hat @floydmayweather“

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jake Paul (@jakepaul)

Paul changed his Twitter account to read, GOTCHA HAT, as he continued to taunt Mayweather on the social media platform.

Although Jake isn’t the one going toe-to-toe with Mayweather, it will still make for an interesting fight with Logan.

Meghan Markle Wins Last Copyright Claim Against U.K. Tabloid
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

May 7, 2021

Meghan Markle Wins Last Copyright Claim Against U.K. Tabloid

The Duchess of Sussex has scored a legal victory against a U.K. tabloid.

A Wednesday court ruling deemed Meghan Markle as the sole author of a “private and confidential” letter she wrote her father that was leaked in the press, People reports.

The remote hearing was held at the High Court in London over an August 2018 letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle. Her lawsuit called out the Associated Newspapers (ANL)—publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online—for publishing the private handwritten letter.

ANL previously claimed that former Kensington Palace communications chief Jason Knauf owned part of the letter’s copyright due to his suspected role in it being drafted. But their defense was shot down after Knauf “emphatically” denied co-writing the letter, with attorneys for Queen Elizabeth saying they “did not consider the Crown to be the copyright owner.”

“Mr. Knauf did not draft, and has never claimed to have drafted, any parts of the electronic draft or the letter,” Markle’s lawyers said. It did confirm that the Duchess shared a draft of the letter with Prince Harry and Knauf “for support, as this was a deeply painful process that they had lived through with her and because Mr. Knauf was responsible for keeping the senior members of the royal household apprised of any public-facing issues,” her lawyers said.

Ian Mill, an attorney for Markle, said the ruling “gives the lie” to the newspaper’s claims that the Duchess considered using the letter “as part of a media strategy”, BBC reported.

The judge’s ruling comes after a two-year legal battle between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex over the “relentless propaganda” attacks they faced. Prince Harry expressed his worries over his wife falling victim to “the same powerful forces” as his late mother, Princess Diana.

Their latest legal victory comes amid the couple’s move to the United States following heightened public scrutiny during their time living with the royal family.

by Christian Spencer

May 7, 2021

Fashion Nova And The Shade Room Donating $100K In Honor Of Ma’Khia Bryant

Fashion Nova is partnering with The Shade Room to promote peace in response to the death of Ma’Khia Bryant.

Fashion Nova Cares is donating $100K to Peace4Kids’ ROCMove Initiative alongside the Shade Room.

ROCMove is an initiative designed to empower women and girls who live in foster homes by telling their stories. Peace4Kids is the name of the podcast using to broadcast their voices.

As CNN reported, the foster care system is failing teens like Bryant who lost her life during an altercation between two adults and an officer who witnessed her wielding a knife.

As BLACK ENTERPRISE reported, Bryant, 16, lived in foster care through Franklin County Children Services, when Columbus Police Officer Nicholas Reardon got out of his car and went to the house where police had been dispatched after someone had called 911 saying they were being physically threatened.

Related stories: MA’KHIA BRYANT BOASTED ABOUT MAKING THE HONOR ROLL DAYS BEFORE HER DEATH

Besides one witness and police bodycam footage, not many details about the tragic incident were given.

Police records show that three 911 calls were made at the foster home Bryant lived in, one of which the caller used Bryant’s sister’s name to make a threat “to kill someone in their foster home if she couldn’t be placed in a different home.”

“The system is broken and we just as a country have not come to terms with that,” says Cheryl Grills, a professor of psychology at Loyola Marymount University who has promoted and investigated child welfare reform. “They have a duty to protect and ensure a child’s well-being and that’s where I see the system failing miserably.”

Fashion Nova Care launched in honor of Women’s History Month, with its first partner being recording artist Megan Thee Stallion giving out $25,000 or more, or a total of $1,000,000, to women-led organizations.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 7, 2021

President Obama Acknowledges Willie Mays on His 90th Birthday as HBO Announces Documentary

One of the greatest baseball players of all-time celebrates his 90th birthday yesterday. It was fitting the first Black President of the United States wished him well –and acknowledged him for paving the way so that he could become the leader of the free world.

President Barack Obama took to Twitter to credit Willie Howard Mays Jr., who was famously nicknamed “The Say Hey Kid” as well as the first Black player on a Major League Baseball team, Jackie Robinson, for giving him the chance to run for office and win the highest political office in the country.

Major League Baseball also released a video clip on its Twitter account that features current and former players such as Cal Ripken, Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Joe Torre, Pete Alonso, Buster Posey, Mookie Betts, Giancarlo Stanton, Salvador Perez, Mike Trout, and Tim Anderson.

According to Deadline, the oldest living Baseball Hall of Famer will be the subject of a documentary for HBO. Brooklyn Boheme co-director and The Hippest Trip in America author Nelson George is directing the upcoming feature.

“Willie Mays is an American icon, a prime example of black excellence and baseball’s greatest player,” said George, who was also one of the first hip-hop reporters. “It’s an honor to be able to chronicle his journey from the Negro Leagues in Alabama, stardom with the Giants in Harlem, and to the game’s apex in San Francisco.”

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Four Former Police Officers Involved in George Floyd’s Death
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 7, 2021

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Four Former Police Officers Involved in George Floyd’s Death

The news is not getting better for the terminated police officers who took part in the death of an unarmed Black Minneapolis man last May.

Weeks after being found guilty for killing George Floyd on a Minneapolis street while kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for about 9 minutes, the former police officer, Derek Chauvin, has now been charged in a federal case. The pending charges accuse him and the other three police officers on the scene that fateful day of violating the civil rights of Floyd.

According to The Associated Press, a federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers who were involved in Floyd’s arrest and death. The men have been accused of willfully violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and telling them that he couldn’t breathe.

The three-count indictment was unsealed and it names Chauvin, and fellow former police officers, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao.

Chauvin has also been charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and unreasonable force by a police officer. Two other former police officers, Thao and Kueng, have also been charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure because they did not intervene or stop Chauvin as he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck. All four former officers have been charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care as well.

According to CBS News, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network provided the following in a written statement:

“For many years we have tried to get the federal government to make it clear that these crimes are not only state crimes but violate civil rights on a federal level when police engage in this kind of behavior. What we couldn’t get them to do in the case of Eric Garner, Michael Brown in Ferguson, and countless others, we are finally seeing them do today and this is a significant development for those of us who have been engaged in the struggle and police reform movement.”

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Will Not Run For Reelection
by Derek Major

May 7, 2021

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Will Not Run For Reelection

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who was elected in 2017, announced Thursday she will not seek reelection.

In a statement, Lance Bottoms wrote she came to her decision after a lot of praying, thinking, and discussions with her husband, Derek.

“As Derek and I have given thoughtful prayer and consideration to the season now before us,
it is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor,” Lance Bottoms wrote.

The Florida A&M graduate added her decision was not based on an inability to fundraise, a belief that she wouldn’t be reelected, or a fear of competition in a reelection bid.

“I have engaged in several elections, facing multiple candidates, and never once have I cowered from the competition,” Bottoms added.

Lance Bottoms endorsed President Joe Biden months before he became the Democratic frontrunner as she stumped for him in Iowa.

During her term in office, Lance Bottoms took a measured and detailed approach to several issues the city faced. Just three months into her term, two Iranian citizens pulled off a ransomware attack that affected the city’s computer system.

Undeterred, Lance Bottoms made significant progress during her time in office, abolishing drug testing for city jobs, passing criminal justice reforms, and ending the city’s contacts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Lance Bottoms also fought with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who filed a lawsuit against her over the coronavirus restrictions she enforced, which were more restrictive than the restrictions Kemp implemented. Lance Bottoms also included a mask mandate.

She was also tasked with calming the city during protests after the death of George Floyd and the shooter who killed eight people including six Asian women at Atlanta-area massage parlors.

The mayor has not indicated what she will do after she leaves office.

“While I am not yet certain of what the future holds, I trust that my next season will continue to be one full of passion and purpose, guided by the belief that within each of us is the power and responsibility to make a positive difference in the lives of others.”

by Christian Spencer

May 7, 2021

White Teacher, Angered by LeBron James’ Opinions, Accused of Throwing Object at Black Student

A teacher in Alabama is on paid administrative leave after she was filmed throwing an object at a student who was discussing the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant in class.

Javon Seals, a high school junior, wanted to have discourse about how LeBron James handled the Ma’Khia Bryant situation on Twitter, theGrio reported.

As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, James tweeted-and-deleted about the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant. The NBA champion later owned up to his poor choice of words.

Seals’ unnamed science teacher became irate about James’ opinion and then threw something at the student’s head after he attempted to explain James’ tweet.

“I tried to explain to her how LeBron was feeling, where LeBron was coming from,” Seals said. “After I tried to tell her that’s when, as you can hear in the video her getting highly upset, yelling at me. As I’m trying to explain my point of view and LeBron’s, that’s when she got mad at me and threw something that was on her desk at me.

”Related stories: LEBRON JAMES ADMITS TO FUELING ‘THE WRONG CONVERSATION ABOUT MA’KHIA BRYANT’

Teachers from neighboring classrooms heard the argument and came into the classroom. They assumed the student was being defiant

“Another administrator came directly towards me and said I was being disrespectful to her and I’m sitting there confused,” Seals told WRBL of Columbus, GA. “I didn’t even say nothing, I never disrespected her… she just threw something at me and y’all are coming at me, saying I’m disrespectful.”

However, someone in the classroom recorded the conversation, confirming the teacher was the one who instigated the outburst. The video was shared on social media.

Lamonica Peters, Seal’s mother, said she was never contacted by the school. She learned about the incident through social media.

“You can hear from the beginning she was so upset, she was just very angry and because he disagreed or didn’t get a chance to really say what he wanted to say and she threw something at him,” Peters said. “I hold her at a higher standard. She is a teacher and if this conversation was too emotional for her, then she should not have held that in a classroom.”

The teacher did apologize to Seals and an issued letter by the Phenix City Schools system will look “very seriously matters regarding the safety and well-being of students and employees.”

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