Angel Reese,
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 24, 2025

Angel Reese’s Next Technical Foul Will Force One-Game Suspension

After being called for her seven technical foul this season, her next one will trigger an automatic one-game suspension

Chicago Sky center, Angel Reese, is fast becoming the Draymond Green of the WNBA, as she is close to being suspended for getting too many technical fouls.

According to Fox News, the second-year player will be suspended for one game if she is called for another technical foul, which will be her eighth, and that carries an automatic one-game suspension. She has amassed seven in the first 22 games this season, averaging a tech for every three games played. At the current pace, she may hit that mark within the next couple of games.

In a blowout loss to the Minnesota Lynx, Reese picked up a technical foul after being fouled on a play. The action that warranted the call wasn’t seen on camera, but as she walked to the foul line, it was already assessed. Quite possibly an interaction with a referee.

No one has yet been suspended this season due to excessive technical fouls, but she may become the first. She not only leads the league in rebounds, but also in technical fouls called against her. Washington Mystics player Shakira Austin trails her with five techs.

She gained her first tech while playing against her rival, Caitlin Clark, in the first game of the season. The next one took place when the Sky played against the New York Liberty on May 22, and then the third occurred against the Dallas Wings on May 31. The following techs happened against the Connecticut Sun on June 15, the Los Angeles Sparks on June 29, and the Mystics on July 8.

Although the Sky lost another game, Reese kept her streak of double-doubles going. Scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds made this the tenth straight contest that she had double figures in two categories. She had nine turnovers; if she had recorded one more, she would have had a triple-double.

RELATED CONTENT: Angel Reese Turns ‘Mebounds’ Disrespect Into Trademark, Launches Sneakers

bingo
by Jameelah Mullen

July 24, 2025

New Orleans Org Spent Nearly Half Of State Funds On Bingo Fundraisers, Report Says

A state audit reveals a lack of documentation supporting how state-issued funds were spent.

A New Orleans organization created to provide job training and placement, as well as help prevent evictions, spent nearly half of its state funding on charitable bingo games that generated less money than they cost, according to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.

According to the audit released on July 21, experts stated that the National Association for African American Economic Development (NAAAED) received $400,000 from the state of Louisiana in the previous year. Records showed that it spent nearly half ($199,568) on hosting bingo games, which were intended to generate funds for its mission, an activity prohibited under its cooperative endeavor agreement with the state.

The audit also revealed that the organization awarded $185,000 to businesses and other recipients but failed to document how that money was used. The auditor’s review also found the association spent more than $52,000 to rent the building where it held its bingo games in the Central City neighborhood near the New Orleans Superdome.

NAAAED founder, Myron Lee Sr., admitted that the organization stretched its budget too thin. 

“We tried to catch up with it as best we could,” Lee told Louisiana Illuminator. “ We tried to make it work as best we could, and I think we got kind of overzealous.” 

Lee said he overestimated the community’s interest in attending the bingo games meant to raise money for the organization. 

“We didn’t have the visibility that we would have normally had at another location, which probably could have garnered more people to come.” 

Under its cooperative endeavor agreement with the state, the association is required to distribute approximately $680,000 to meet its goals, which include enrolling at least 125 individuals in training programs, securing job placement, and providing eviction prevention services by June 30, 2024. The organization must also submit a quarterly progress and cost report regularly. As of March 5, the association had not submitted any reports demonstrating that it fulfilled the terms of its agreement.   

The records showed that the NAAAED paid $115,000 to Proficient Media Services, a production company that Lee claimed was to create a film that would “stimulate the local economy” while providing film-related job training, such as camera, lighting, and sound work. Lee told the Louisiana Illuminator that NAAAED and Proficient Media produced “a series of documentaries” where students participated in various production roles. According to the audit report, NAAAED paid $23,000 to an unnamed program director and spent $50,000 on cameras and set design equipment. 

In his written response to the auditor, Lee stated that his organization will hire a certified public accountant to help bring it into compliance with the state’s required rules as well as improve its record-keeping practices.

“Our administrative assistant will be more involved in ensuring timely submission of reports. Consistent with our corrective action plan, we will engage general counsel to advise us of legal contractual matters/obligations with respect to the state contracts. This will ensure that the same mistakes are not made again,” Lee wrote.

RELATED CONTENT: Louisiana’s Public School Ten Commandment Law Struck Down In Appellate Court

Miami Heat,Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers' Head Coach, Chauncey Billups
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

July 24, 2025

Ex-College Hoops Star Secures $500K Funding for AI-Powered Basketball Platform, Ballin AI

Meet Nyla Pollard, former college athlete and founder & CEO of the game-changing AI platform, Ballin AI.

A former college athlete-turned-entrepreneur is celebrating the $500,000 angel round she recently closed for her groundbreaking sports tech company.

On July 23, Nyla Pollard, a William & Mary alum and former standout defender on the women’s basketball team, announced on LinkedIn that she officially closed a $500K angel round for her AI-powered sports platform, Ballin AI. The startup utilizes artificial intelligence to help players and coaches refine their skills and enhance team performance, ultimately transforming how athletes train, play, and get recruited.

“We’re backed by an incredible group of early believers fueling our mission: to make recruiting faster, smarter, and data-driven for both athletes and coaches,” Pollard wrote.

Pollard developed the concept for Ballin AI after graduation, drawing inspiration from her own college recruitment journey, which sparked the idea.

“I remember reflecting on my own recruiting process and thinking, ‘Oh, this could be better,’” she told her alma mater in January. “But I didn’t really start working on it until November of 2022, and we formally incorporated our company in 2023.”

“Really, it came from having that firsthand experience as an athlete,” she added. “My initial idea was to focus on the recruiting process and how to make that better for coaches and players. Then, when we dove into customer discovery and market research, we really landed on the right solution for right now.”

Launched earlier this year, Ballin AI automates game film analysis for coaches and players at every level. Users simply upload their footage, and the platform generates detailed reports tailored to their needs.

Coaches can use it for recruiting, player evaluation, and scouting opponents, while players get insights to sharpen their skills and boost their visibility to recruiters and scouts. Now with a staff of 13, including former William & Mary Tribe players, Bianca Boggs and Dani McTeer, Ballin AI is looking to transform the future of sports recruiting.

“Because we are an AI-powered platform, it allows us to deliver with unprecedented speed,” Pollard said. “When you think about it, we’re adding automation to processes that were formerly manual and laborious.”

Besides breaking barriers as a Black woman in sports tech, Pollard is also making waves as a college athlete turned entrepreneur. Last December, she spoke to current student-athletes at her alma mater, inspiring them with her journey and passion for innovating the sports industry.

“In my experience as a student athlete, we would have post-graduate conversations, and the presented options were always Corporate America, grad school or playing overseas,” she said. “Entrepreneurship was never discussed as a viable career path. I never even considered doing that.”

Pollard continued. “Athletes have such a unique yet untapped perspective in the world of sports innovation. Former athlete founders do exist, but I think there should be more because no one knows the space like we do. Even after we started Ballin, I got the question so many times: ‘Why doesn’t this exist already?'”

RELATED CONTENT: TikTok-Fueled Boycott Exposes Deep Divide Between Black Americans and Africans; It’s Time To Knock It Off

carseat, baby in car
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

July 24, 2025

Baby Boy Dies In Hot Car While Under The Care Of The Department Of Human Resources

Both the biological and foster families of a 3-year-old boy are mourning after he was found dead in a sweltering car outside a child welfare worker’s home.

Police are investigating after a three-year-old boy died after being left inside a hot car while under the care of a private child welfare provider.

Keterrius “KJ”’” Sparks, from Bessemer, Alabama, was found dead inside a hot car parked at a home on the 1500 block of Pine Tree Drive, WBRC reported. Authorities say the 3-year-old was left in the vehicle for about five hours, from roughly 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, July 22.

At the time of the tragedy, Sparks wasn’t with his biological parents or foster family. He had been left in the vehicle while under the care of Covenant Services, a third-party contractor for Alabama’s Department of Human Resources (DHR). Birmingham Fire and Rescue responded to the scene and pronounced the toddler dead.

“A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred,” the Department of Human Resources said in a statement. “The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”

Ke’Torrius Sparks Sr. saw his son for the last time during a scheduled visitation at the Bessemer DHR office on Tuesday morning. The grieving father had no idea it would be the final time he held him.

“I mean, words can’t even express how I feel right now,” Sparks said through tears. “As soon as I leave my son, the first thing he says is, ‘Daddy, I want to go with you.’ He says that every time, and it really hurts.”

Covenant Services, a private child welfare provider, was responsible for taking KJ to daycare after his Tuesday visit, but that never happened. When his foster mom came to pick him up later that day, he was missing.

“A heartbreaking and preventable tragedy. Based upon a preliminary investigation, with the current extreme outside temperatures and the heat index of 108 degrees, the interior temperature of the car where KJ was trapped likely exceeded 150 degrees,” Attorney Courtney French said.

French said police got a 911 call around 6:40 p.m. about a child found unresponsive in a vehicle parked at a worker’s home. Now, both KJ’s biological and foster families are grieving and demanding answers as to how a child in state care could be left in a car for five hours. Birmingham Police are investigating.

“We went to the theme parks; we had a blast. We went to the swimming pool. We just got back Friday,” said Ernest Miller, a cousin from KJ’s foster family. “We were all looking forward to him growing up and being a part of this family, and now he’s just gone.”

“This is a parent’s worst nightmare. Our baby should be alive,” KJ’s biological parents said.

RELATED CONTENT: Special Needs Man Dies After Allegedly Being Left In Hot Car By Caretaker

wu-tang clan, Shaolin, Las Vegas, the saga continues, residency, superbowl weekend, rza,
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 24, 2025

DOJ Reveals Buyer Of Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ Album Paid $2.2M

The album was sold to WTC Endeavors Limited, a Hong Kong-based company, for $2.23 million

The Staten Island collective Wu-Tang Clan recorded an album, which produced one copy, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,“ quickly becoming a collector’s item, and the Department of Justice just revealed that it sold the album to WTC Endeavors Limited, a Hong Kong-based company, for a reported $2.23 million.

According to Bloomberg, the DOJ, after a request by the media outlet, revealed the price that the Wu-Tang Clan album sold for and to whom. The purchase of the album was done after the government arrested pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli and seized his assets, which included “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” Shkreli bought the album in 2015 at an auction for about $2 million.

When the government charged and convicted him of securities fraud, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $75,000, and he also had to forfeit $7.4 million in assets. The Feds seized the album in 2018 to help satisfy the money Shkreli owed. In doing so, the Department of Justice sold the album but never released the price that was paid, until now.

After several years of trying to obtain the paperwork, the U.S. Marshals Service finally gave a copy of the bill of sale and the purchase agreement. The document showed that WTC Endeavors Limited bought “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” for $2,238,482.30, which went to the U.S. Government.

The album is now owned by PleasrDAO, which purchased the project in 2021 from the government for $4 million.

In June 2024, the company sued Shkreli, alleging that he had streamed the music during a “Wu-Tang Official Listening Party” after his release from prison in May 2022. He informed his followers that he had made copies of the album, which were “hidden in safes all around the world.” ArtNet reported that Judge Pamela Chen in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that Shkreli must turn over all copies of the rare album in his possession, and he was also forbidden from streaming or disseminating copies of “Once Upon A Time in Shaolin.”

RELATED CONTENT: Wu-Tang Clan’s Masta Killa Connects With PETA To Encourage Vegan Lifestyle

Candace Owens, HBCU, tour, Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA,
by Kandiss Edwards

July 24, 2025

Candace Owens Responds After French President And First Lady Sue For Defamation

Candace Owens claimed Brigitte Macron is a man—and continues to do so.

On July 23, French President Emmanuel Macron filed a defamation lawsuit against podcaster Candace Owens.

President Macron filed the suit jointly with his wife, Brigitte, in the Delaware Supreme Court, according to the e-filing. The 22-count defamation suit accuses Owens of spreading false rumors about Brigitte’s birth gender. The over 200-page filing asserts Brigitte and Emmanuel have suffered emotional damage as a result of these allegations.

Owens asserted that Brigitte was born a biological male named Jean-Michel Trogneux and that the couple is guilty of incest and identity theft.

The complaint was filed after Macron requested Owens publicly retract her claims. Owens refused and continued to monetize the allegations through the multi-part podcast Becoming Brigitte, YouTube videos, and branded merchandise. The conservative pundit named Brigitte “man of the year” and made T-shirts to that effect. 

Attorney Tom Clare, representing the Macrons, called it “a clear‑cut case of defamation” and said it was a “last resort” after more than a year of failed outreach.

“These claims are demonstrably false, and Owens knew they were false when she published them,” the suit reads.”Yet, she published them anyway. And the reason is apparent: it is not the pursuit of truth, but the pursuit of fame. After being fired from The Daily Wire, Owens used these demonstrably false claims to promote her independent podcast, Candace.”

Owens responded to the claims on her podcast. Her position is that the suit from the foreigners is an attack against her freedom of speech rights. 

She posted on her podcast, “I am fully prepared to take on this battle on behalf of the entire world.” 

The Macrons are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and have requested a jury trial in Delaware. The location of the suit appears to be the state where Owens’ business entities, Candace Owens LLC, and GeorgeTom Inc. are incorporated. 

Previously, in France, Brigitte Macron filed a libel suit against two women who pushed similar conspiracies; a lower court initially ruled in her favor, but the decision was overturned on appeal and escalated to France’s highest court.

RELATED CONTENT: Candace Owens Says Trump Is Letting Israel Dictate U.S. Foreign Policy

Polo Ralph Lauren for Oak Bluff
by Jameelah Mullen

July 24, 2025

Ralph Lauren Partners With HBCUs To Honor Historic Black Community Through Fashion

The collection showcases stylish pieces branded with Morehouse and Spelman logos.

As part of its partnership with Spelman and Morehouse, Polo Ralph Lauren has introduced its Polo for Oak Bluffs collection, a new limited-edition line dedicated to the Oak Bluffs community, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

The community has been a summertime haven for affluent Black families for over 100 years. 

The Spelman- and Morehouse-logoed garb features men’s, women’s, and children’s wear. It includes baseball caps, knits, jackets, sweaters, and accessories that showcase the casual, chic style of Oak Bluffs culture at these renowned HBCUs. Standout items include a maroon-and-white varsity jacket with Morehouse’s mascot, the Maroon Tiger, on the back. For Spelman, there is an ivory and light blue patchwork cardigan with the Spelman Jaguar on the front left pocket.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Polo Ralph Lauren (@poloralphlauren)

“This collection is about more than a charming coastal town; it’s a story of the American dream. Oak Bluffs’ unique history, traditions, and sense of community deeply inspire me and speak to what we are all searching for—a place where you can be free to be yourself, uncontrived, joyful, and truly at home,” Ralph Lauren, executive chairman and chief creative officer of Ralph Lauren Corporation, said in a statement.

The campaign for the collection, directed by Cole Brown and filmed by Nadine Ijewere and Azariah Bjørvig, features archival images and stories from historians, Oak Bluffs residents, community historians, and HBCU alumni.

Additionally, a full-length documentary, A Portrait of the American Dream: Oak Bluffs, will premiere on YouTube on Thursday, July 24.  

Polo for Ralph Lauren first partnered with the prominent HBCUs in 2022 to create the Polo Ralph Lauren Exclusively for Morehouse and Spelman Colleges Collection, aimed at honoring the HBCU campus lifestyle. 

The Polo Ralph Lauren for Oak Bluffs collection is available for purchase now at the Morehouse College Follett campus bookstores, on the Ralph Lauren website, and in select retail stores.

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Joe bidden
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

July 24, 2025

Joe Budden Reveals $1M+ Monthly Podcast Revenue To Push For Creator Equity

'Now everybody's asked for a raise,' Budden joked.

Joe Budden is opening up about his podcast network’s $1 million-plus monthly revenue from ads and listeners to encourage creators to stay independent unless equity is on the table.

Last month, the rapper-turned-podcaster flexed on social media, posting a Patreon traffic screenshot showing how the subscription platform, where fans pay creators directly, can often out-earn big brand deals. Although Budden blurred the numbers on his Patreon screenshot, internet sleuths pieced it together and estimated the monthly haul at over $900,000.

After revealing his network pulls 30 million visits a month, Budden later confirmed to The New York Times that the Joe Budden Network brings in about $1.04 million monthly on Patreon. With roughly 70,000 subscribers paying between $5 and $50 each month, and more if you factor in paid advertisements, CEO Ian Schwartzman says the network is on track to clear over $20 million this year.

“Joe is in a league of his own,” said Jack Conte, chief executive of Patreon. “It is not common for people to make a million dollars a month on Patreon.”

Since 2016, Joe Budden has been all-in on the podcast grind. He’s worked with Spotify, turned down deals that wanted a cut of his ownership, and kept full control of what he built. Now, with The Joe Budden Podcast pulling in a steady $1 million a month from subscribers, he’s hoping his journey inspires other creators to bet on themselves.

While revealing the revenue numbers can be “uncomfortable to put any money situation out there for the public and competitors to see,” Schwartzman said. The goal is to promote equity in the podcast game because “How else will they know they can do it this way?” Schwartzman added.

Even with Budden shelling out over $1 million to pay his 30-person podcast team, his decision to share the show’s earnings online has his crew calling for their own slice.

“Now everybody’s asked for a raise,” Budden joked.

It’s proof of how far Budden’s grind has taken him, from his Complex days on Everyday Struggle, where he joked about being “on allowance,” pulling in just $500 a week. Even while working with Complex and later signing a two-year exclusive deal with Spotify, Budden kept building his podcast independently, turning down partnership offers that demanded ownership, YouTube takedowns, and control over the platform he built from the ground up.

“The bigger the money gets, the more strings that are attached,” Schwartzman said. “We wanted someone to acknowledge how valuable we were by showing that they would be comfortable giving us skin in the game.”

Next, Budden is locking down his podcast HQ for good, dropping around $2 million to buy the Edgewater, New Jersey, waterfront condo where The Joe Budden Podcast is filmed and recorded. He currently rents the space, but after ongoing complaints from neighbors about his crew, he’s locking up the space.

RELATED CONTENT: Social Media Manifests ‘Nasty’ Lawsuit Against Jacksonville Cops Seen Assaulting Black Man Over Headlights 

Howard University, hospital, trauma
by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

July 24, 2025

Howard University Students Face Financial Strife After HBCU Changes Student Payment Platform

The students found themselves owing thousands more than usual due to a new account platform switch.

While many Howard students are planning for their final year at the renowned HBCU, some are now facing an unexpected and expensive bill.

The school has transitioned over to a new payment platform for students called Bison Hub. However, this new software has left some with a considerable amount of money to pay before they can register for classes.

Typically, for HBCUs, any student with a financial hold on their account cannot register for the next semester until the hold is paid. One student told NBC Washington how she woke up with what looked like an entire year’s tuition weighing on her account.

“Right now, it says I owe that $57,540-something, like I owe the whole thing,” explained Howard scholar Alissa Jones. “If you have any type of hold, you cannot register for class, but with these, obsessive amounts of money that they’re saying we owe, it’s almost like, that’s not one semester’s worth of tuition, at all. That money has been there, but where? And why are we just now finding out about it?”

With only a few classes left to take at Howard, Jones has had scholarships to support her journey financially. She told the news outlet that her bills to the institution never totaled more than $15,000 a year, which is vastly different from the over $50K currently shown.

Jones believes around 1,000 students now have unexpected past-due balances with seemingly nowhere to turn. Another co-ed dealing with this issue, Kimora Hughes, said the school’s Office of Financial Aid has not thoroughly communicated the changes to students.

“It’s just been extremely stressful, one, because I feel like the people in our offices are not communicating amongst each other,” explained Hughes.

She and her family opted to take out a loan to cover the new difference. However, school officials told her that they never received it.

“There’s no way Howard never received this, but I have the email of the loan being approved,” she continued.

Some students have also been impacted by outside political changes, such as Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The bill’s new limits on Parent PLUS loans have left some potential and current students looking to their community to help alleviate the newfound cost of attendance.

School policy reportedly states that students must fulfill the balance or enroll in a payment plan. However, the lack of communication with financial aid officers has left many uncertain of where to go next.

The school released a statement, also confirming that some student accounts faced delays over the platform transition. The statement also emphasized that the school awarded over $210 million in aid during the past year.

RELATED CONTENT: ELEVATING YOUR EXCELLENCE: Tarana Burke Led Activism Against Sexual Assault When It Wasn’t Socially Acceptable

Tory Lanez, pardon petition, gov. Gavin newsom
by Kandiss Edwards

July 24, 2025

Tory Lanez Fans Implore Governor To Grant Convicted Rapper Clemency

Tory Lanez fans, including Drake, are sharing a change.org petition asking California Governor Gavin Newsom to pardon the felon.

Fans of rapper Tory Lanez want California Governor Gavin Newsom to pardon him for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.

The Caldwell Institute for Public Safety launched the Change.org petition, which has received over 322,000 signatures. In an open letter to Newsom, founder Gianno Caldwell references Martin Luther King, calling the verdict a “threat to justice.”

Lanez advocates argue that the conviction does not hold up. Claims of “prosecutorial misconduct, missing forensic data, and politically motivated sentencing,” by The Caldwell Institute and Lanez’s attorneys, have spurred the calls for clemency.

At a press conference, an attorney for Lanez, Walter Roberts, reasserted the rapper’s innocence. “[Lanez] never shot anybody. Never even touched the gun,” Roberts said.

The change.org petition has also garnered support from celebrities. Most recently, in an Instagram post, Drake wrote a simple message and shared the petition to his 142 million followers.

“@torylanez come home soon,” the Instagram story read.

Supporters claim Lanez’s life is in danger in prison. Multiple media outlets reported that he suffered a collapsed lung as a result of receiving 14 stab wounds in a prison altercation.

The calls for Lanez’s release even came from Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, who reached out to Newsom directly via X.

“His 10-year sentence was based on flawed evidence, political pressure, and prosecutorial bias. Justice must be blind—not driven by headlines,” Luna captioned her X post. 

https://twitter.com/SaycheeseDGTL/status/1924558016398987676

Conversely, Megan Thee Stallion has publicly disputed claims that Lanez is innocent. “Lanez was convicted by a jury, and the case is closed,” her attorney, Alex Spiro, said. 

If Tory Lanez is denied clemency, the convicted felon will be eligible for parole in 2029.

RELATED CONTENT: Megan Thee Stallion Sounds Off At Tory Lanez’s Fans Amid New Allegations

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