Corrections Officer Criminal Charged for Negligent Homicide for Ignoring Inmates Suicide
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 28, 2021

Corrections Officer Criminal Charged for Negligent Homicide for Ignoring Inmates Suicide

After she allegedly allowed an inmate to commit suicide in a New York City jail, a corrections officer will be facing criminal charges for her lack of action when he performed the deadly act.

According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the city has announced the indictment of Department of Corrections Captain Rebecca Hillman as she issued orders that prevented other correction officers from saving the life of Ryan Wilson, who was in custody at Manhattan Detention Complex. She is also accused of making false statements in her written account of the incident.

She has been charged in a New York State Supreme Court with criminally negligent homicide and offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree.

“As alleged in the indictment, the death of Ryan Wilson wasn’t just a tragedy — it was a crime,” said District Attorney Vance in a written statement. “Our investigation shows that Captain Hillman ordered her subordinates not to take potentially life-saving measures to help Mr. Wilson, and failed to call for medical assistance expediently. This callous disregard for Mr. Wilson’s safety resulted in an irreversible loss to his family and friends and must be held criminally accountable. I thank the Department of Investigation for its close partnership with our Office and collaboration in this matter.”

According to court documents, on Nov. 22, 2020, Hillman moved Wison to another housing unit after an argument with another inmate. Wilson proceeded to make a noose from his bedsheet and attached it to a light fixture. After calling an officer over, Wilson had climbed on a stool, put the noose around his neck, and threatened to hang himself if Hillman didn’t come and let him out of his cell.

As another corrections officer tried to calm Wilson down, Hillman had gone into the control room. After waiting for approximately 10 minutes, Wilson started to countdown, while placing the noose around his neck and jumped ended up jumping off the bed. After the other officer called for the cell to be opened so he could cut him down, a few moments later, Hillman came to the cell and informed other inmates that Wilson was fine and was “playing.”

After not allowing the cell door to be opened, after 15 minutes, Hillman called for the medical team and within minutes, Wilson was dead.

Hillman falsely stated Wilson had asked to be moved to another unit, and she had the cell door re-opened and had Wilson cut down “immediately” after the cell door was closed.

DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett said, “The City’s policy is clear on what Correction staff must do when an inmate is found in a life-threatening position: Immediate action must be taken to try and save the inmate’s life. The charges resulting from this investigation reveal a stunning disregard for life and Correction Department regulations, made more egregious by the fact that the defendant is a supervisor with the rank of Captain. Despite Captain Hillman’s alleged efforts to cover up the circumstances of inmate Ryan Wilson’s death, the investigation by DOI and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office uncovered the truth and held this defendant accountable.”

NYC Mayoral Candidate Scott Stringer Accused of Sexual Harassment By Unpaid Intern
by Derek Major

April 28, 2021

NYC Mayoral Candidate Scott Stringer Accused of Sexual Harassment By Unpaid Intern

New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer has been accused of sexual harassment by an unpaid intern during his 2001 run for city advocate.

Stringer, who was a state assembly member at the time, allegedly groped Jean Kim, touched her several times without her consent, and made multiple sexual advances, according to Patricia Pastor, an attorney representing Kim. Pastor also accused Stringer of telling Kim not to disclose what happened about the incidents and offering to help her get elected as a Democratic District Leader.

“During this campaign, I traveled back-and-forth to campaign events with him. Scott Stringer repeatedly groped me, put his hands on my thighs and between my legs, and demanded to know why I wouldn’t have sex with him,” Kim said in a press conference Wednesday according to CBS NY.

Stringer denied the allegations in a Twitter post according to MSN.com adding that he supports the right for victims of harassment to come forward.

“I will reserve further comment until this person has had the opportunity to share their story,” he said. “For now, let me say without equivocation: these allegations are untrue and do not reflect my interactions with anyone, including any woman or member of my staff.”

Stringer is running third in polling for NYC mayor behind entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Female mayoral candidates Maya Wiley, Dianne Morales, and Kathryn Garcia all put out statements concerning the accusations.

“Scott Stringer must immediately account for this abuse of a campaign intern, including the unwanted advances and the dangling of jobs,” Wiley wrote on Twitter. “According to reports, Stringer had admitted to sexual contact claiming it was consensual.”


Dianne Morales wrote in a statement on Twitter that she and her whole team stand behind Kim.

“I’m a survivor surrounded by strong femme leadership on my campaign, many of whom are survivors themselves,” Morales wrote. “‘To be honest, I’m still processing the news myself and spent most of the night checking in on them and holding space for our collective grief and pain.”

Kathryn Garcia wrote on Twitter “It takes tremendous courage for anyone to come forward. I support Jean Kim, believe Jean Kim, and commend her bravery for speaking truth to power.”

 

 

Trinidad James Highlights Black-Owned Restaurants in New YouTube Series
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

April 28, 2021

Trinidad James Highlights Black-Owned Restaurants in New YouTube Series

Rapper Trinidad James is continuing his career transition into show hosting with a new YouTube series aimed at highlighting Black-owned restaurants.

James launched the Black-Owned Food Challenge in response to the disparity he noticed happening within the restaurant industry. What started as a personal video series where he would document his experience at different Black-owned eateries, turned into a new show for the “All Gold Everything” hitmaker.

“We have over 20 episodes and broke it into two seasons,” James told Complex. “We wanna make sure that the initiative to support Black-owned businesses never dies.”

The show came after the Trinidad and Tobago native challenged himself to eat at a Black-owned restaurant once a day. Instead of keeping his initiative to himself, he started sharing it on social media with his 650K Instagram followers. He quickly decided to take his initiative to an even bigger platform and monetize it into his own signature series. Now he hopes to open the public’s eyes to all the hidden gems within Black-owned restaurants across the country.

“It’s easy to take a Black-owned business for granted,” James said. “The main point I wanna get across is that you should never feel forced to support a Black-owned business. Do it when you feel is the right time for you. The Black-Owned Food Challenge is to show consumers that it’s always the right time to support a Black-owned business.”

During the first episode, James sat down with the Black fashion designers behind the sunglasses Coco & Breezy while eating at Los Angeles’s own health food restaurant Simply Wholesome. The Black-owned business prides itself in the holistic environment it provides its customers and the local community. In the second episode, James sits down with music producer My Guy Mars at the LA soul food restaurant  Moms Haus.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 28, 2021

LeBron James Rookie Basketball Card Sold For a Record $5.2 Million

The King is the perfect moniker for Los Angeles Lakers’ player, LeBron James. Another record-breaking feat is attached to his name once again as his rookie basketball card sold for an astounding $5.2 million.

According to an Instagram post by PWCC Marketplace, the @kingjames card sets the record for the highest price for a basketball card. Ever.

“At the heart of every collector in 2003, was the hope of pulling the ultra-rare LeBron James Rookie Patch Auto Parallel numbered to 23 copies. With so few ever becoming available and demand increasing by the day, this card is quickly becoming the crown jewel of all sports card investing.

“We’re pleased to have privately brokered the deal for the most valuable basketball card ever sold.”

 

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A post shared by PWCC Marketplace (@pwccmarketplace)

According to ESPN, a 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection RPA (rookie patch autograph) parallel LeBron James card was sold privately for $5.2 million with PWCC Marketplace.

“Exquisite was a revolutionary product when it came out in 2003,” said Jesse Craig, PWCC’s director of business development. “It was the most expensive retail product that had ever been released, at $500 a box, and they were only made from 2003 to 2009; the rarity of those assets carries a lot of weight for collectors and investors today. The majority don’t want to sell. There are a select few that want to capitalize on the rise of the market, but it has to be kind of the perfect storm for someone to release a card of this magnitude.”

Craig also stated that there are more valuable LeBron James basketball cards in circulation.

“There are LeBron cards [still] out there, I would say, worth over $10 million,” Craig said. “And let’s be clear: There are three Mantle PSA 10s that, whenever they transact, will break every record there is. But as a market, there are so many desirable cards that haven’t sold yet publicly. It really helps when sales like these happen. It just instills confidence that there are really high-end buyers out there. And these cards are starting to get recognition as the pieces of fine art that they [are].”

Hawaii Close To Honoring Juneteenth Leaving South Dakotas As The Lone Holdout
by Derek Major

April 28, 2021

Hawaii Close To Honoring Juneteenth Leaving South Dakotas As The Lone Holdout

The state of Hawaii is close to becoming the 49th state to recognize Juneteenth after the state House and Senate passed legislation Wednesday.

If Hawaii Gov. David Ige signs the bill, it will leave South Dakota as the lone state not to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Gov. Ige has not announced whether he will sign the bill and even if he does,  it will not make the day a holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over and enslaved Black Americans were now free. This was two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which became official on Jan. 1, 1863.

The proclamation had little effect on Texas due to the small number of Union troops in the state, but between General Lee’s surrender in April 1965 and Maj. Gen.Granger’s arrival in Texas, Union troops had enough resources to enforce the law and overcome any resistance.

Akiemi Glenn, the founder and executive director of the Popolo Project, told NBC News the state has been slow to recognize the holiday because the state’s Black American population is small. According to the Census Bureau, Hawaii’s population in 2019 was 1.4 million, but less than 30,000 people in the state are Black Americans.

Glenn also pointed out that Black Americans in the state are treated as foreigners despite the presence of Black Americans in Hawaii dating back to the 18th century.

Juneteenth was brought back into the national spotlight last summer amid the Black Lives Matter movement and the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Also, a bevy of companies celebrated the holiday giving employees the day off.

Texas was the first state to recognize the holiday in 1980. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation earlier this month declaring it a holiday.

 

Ketanji Brown Jackson, Potential Biden Nominee for Supreme Court U.S. District Judge Set for Senate Hearing
by Derek Major

April 28, 2021

Ketanji Brown Jackson, Potential Biden Nominee for Supreme Court U.S. District Judge Set for Senate Hearing

Reuters – A federal judge considered a possible future U.S. Supreme Court nominee is set to testify on Wednesday at a Senate confirmation hearing for her selection by President Joe Biden to serve on an influential appeals court.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee after being nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to replace Attorney General Merrick Garland on the bench. That appellate court in the past has served as a springboard to the Supreme Court for some justices.

Biden, a Democrat, pledged during his election campaign to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if he gets a chance to fill a vacancy, which would be a historic first. Jackson is among the most prominent Black women in the federal judiciary and, at age 50, is also relatively young.

Jackson was appointed to her current post by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2013 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a non-roll call voice vote.

With conservatives holding a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, liberal activists has been urging the court’s eldest member, 82-year-old liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, to retire this year while Democrats control the Senate. A Harvard Law School graduate, Jackson early in her career served as one of Breyer’s law clerks at the Supreme Court.

Jackson is expected to face scrutiny by Judiciary Committee Republicans on her judicial record, which includes some high-profile rulings. Jackson, for example, in 2019 decided to let the Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee subpoena former Republican President Donald Trump’s then-White House Counsel Donald McGahn. Her ruling was appealed and the case is ongoing.

Obama considered Jackson to fill a 2016 vacancy on the Supreme Court before picking Garland as his nominee. But Senate Republicans blocked Garland’s confirmation and kept the vacancy open for more than a year, enabling Trump rather than Obama to make the appointment. Trump in 2017 picked conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, the first of his three Supreme Court appointments.

Nominees can win confirmation to lifetime judicial appointments with a simple majority vote in the 100-seat Senate, which is currently split 50-50 between the parties and is controlled by Democrats because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote.

Biden nominated Jackson to replace Garland on the D.C. Circuit. Jackson and another Black female judge, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, are considered frontrunners to be nominated by Biden should Breyer step aside.

Before becoming a judge, Jackson had a varied legal career, working as a lawyer in private practice, a public defender and serving two stints at the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent federal agency that sets sentencing policy for the federal courts.

Another Biden selection appearing at Wednesday’s hearing is Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, a Black woman lawyer nominated to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Also set to appear at the hearing is Zahid Quraishi, who would be the first Muslim to serve as a U.S. district court judge. Quraishi currently serves as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)

Get More Done By Learning to Automate Accounting and Finance In Excel
by Black Enterprise Shop

April 28, 2021

Get More Done By Learning to Automate Accounting and Finance In Excel

There’s barely any business in the modern world that doesn’t use Excel to some extent. The gold standard when it comes to storing and organizing data sets, companies from various industries use its many functions to do things like performing data entry, financial analysis, financial modeling, customer relationship management, and so much more. All you have to do is enter the information you need, activate functions, and Excel will do the rest for you.

Then again, there’s only so much knowledge of formulas can do. If you truly want to make the most out of spreadsheets, automation is the way to go. Excel University: Excel Automation Skills for Accounting & Finance Course Bundle can teach you how to control Excel like never before.

The courses are taught by Microsoft Certified Trainer Jeff Lenning CPA. This bundle will help you master accounting and finance with lessons revolving around Power Query, Power Pivot, Power BI, Macros and VBA. The first demonstrates how to use these features to build processes. Tailor processes to create reports and even chose the most effective charts and tables. You’ll also learn how to recall which tool is designed to get and transform data.

On the other hand, the second set of lectures is all about Macros and VBA. The latter of which is helpful in automating manual tasks. You’ll get to translate your actions into VBA code. This will allow you to complete tasks using Macros and automate generating reports to help save time.

Make the most out of what Excel can do with this 2-part course bundle. Usually $636, you can grab it on sale for only $29.99.

Prices subject to change.

Canton, Ohio, Gets First-Ever African American Fire Chief
by Andrea Blackstone

April 28, 2021

Canton, Ohio, Gets First-Ever African American Fire Chief

April 26, 2021 marked a historical day in Canton, Ohio, as Kwameshallahu Akbar Bennett became the first African American Fire Chief in the nearly 200-year history of the Canton City Fire Department. During the swearing in ceremony, Bennett thanked a host of colleagues and family members.

“Today’s a celebration. It’s a celebration of what’s possible when you work hard, believe, and have people that support you and love you,” Bennett, 50, said.

Elizabeth Bennett, Bennett’s late mother, gave him confidence and encouragement. Akbar said that he could not fail without a mother like her.

“And as she is sitting up in heaven right now, looking down on her baby boy, I just want to say “Momma, we made it. Thank you,” Akbar said, looking upward.

 

credit- City of Canton Ohio

According to Fox News 8, Akbar is a former Army National Guard combat medic. He joined the fire department in 1993. He did not succeed when he took a promotional exam to become captain, but after working hard, Akbar eventually becoming battalion chief, then ascended to division chief in 2015. Akbarsaid said that not a single African American firefighters was present in the department before 1981. At that time, the city reportedly agreed to a consent decree.

As the celebratory aspect of making history comes to an end, Fox News 8 mentioned that Akbar is ready to work on emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that it put a strain on local EMS services across the country. However, Akbar believes his department will be better than ever  due to added technology and training capabilities.

Akbar served as interim fire chief when Chief Thomas Garra retired on March 2 after 29 years of service, according to The Repository. In its report, it was also mentioned that the new Fire Chief moved from Norfolk, Virginia, to Canton at the age of one.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 28, 2021

Tennis Star Naomi Osaka Launches Skincare Line, Kinló

The current U.S. Open tennis champion is continuing her winning ways off the tennis court, launching her own skincare line, Kinló. The beauty line will focus on the needs of Blacks and People Of Color (POC).

Naomi Osaka, 23, announced the product launch through her Instagram account, which has more than 2 million followers.

“I never thought I would ever start my own company, but I’m super excited to announce that I’ll be launching KINLÒ, a new brand of skincare products developed to protect and rejuvenate melanated skin tones. I hope these products can help a lot of people and potentially save lives because I really feel that we aren’t protecting ourselves as much as we could. More coming this Fall @kinloskin ! #STAYGOLDEN #KINLOSKIN“

 

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A post shared by 大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka)

“What drew me towards this project is having memories of being a kid and not knowing how to protect my skin,” she said according to RUSSH. “I only started wearing sunscreen recently. For me, this project is something that requires more than just being a spokesperson. This is a public health need. I used to tell people that I didn’t need to wear sunscreen—but even if you have melanin, you need to take care of your skin, and I am passionate about that.”

The name of the beauty skincare line, Kinlò, derives from Osaka’s Japanese and Haitian heritage. “Kin” translates into meaning “gold” in Japanese and “lò” is another way of saying “gold” in Haitian Creole.

Osaka, currently ranked number two in the world, has made nearly $20 million in her professional career. She’s won four Grand Slam titles.

President Joe Biden Signs Executive Order Requiring Federal Contractors to Pay $15 an Hour
by Derek Major

April 28, 2021

President Joe Biden Signs Executive Order Requiring Federal Contractors to Pay $15 an Hour

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday requiring federal contractors to pay $15 an hour minimum wage, according to the White House.

Under the executive order, all agencies must include a $15 an hour minimum wage in new contract solicitations by Jan. 30, 2022. All agencies have until March 30, 2022, to implement it into new contracts. The order also directs federal agencies to raise the tipped minimum hourly wage to $15 an hour for federal employees.

Biden’s order builds on a similar act by former President Barack Obama who signed an executive order in 2015 to raise the wage to its current level of $10.95 an hour. President Biden is still pushing to raise the national minimum wage to $15 and tried to add it to his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

That effort received stiff pushback from Republicans who say small businesses will not be able to afford to pay their employees that much.

A study conducted by the Congressional Budget Office found raising the federal minimum wage would bring about 1 million people out of poverty over the next four years. However, the study also found the increase would result in the loss of 1.4 million jobs, raise the budget deficit by $54 billion from 2021 through 2023 and raise prices for goods and services.

According to NBC News, a senior Biden administration official predicted: “hundreds of thousands” of workers would benefit but added the number is small compared to increasing the federal or state minimum wages.

“These workers are critical to the functioning of the federal government, from cleaning professionals and maintenance workers … to nursing assistants who care for the nation’s veterans, to cafeteria and other food service workers who ensure military members have healthy and nutritious food to eat, to laborers who build and repair federal infrastructure,” the official said.

On Wednesday, President Biden released his $1.8 trillion families plan that includes paid leave, child care, universal pre-K, and free community college. The plan is the second part of his “Build Back Better” plan following the release of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

 

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