White North Carolina Official Fired for Refusing to Use Black Woman’s Doctoral Title
A white commission member in North Carolina has been ousted after he defiantly refused to reference a Black woman’s doctoral title.
Greensboro Zoning Commission member Tony Collins had his position revoked by the City Council this week after he had an intense exchange with Carrie Rosario, a doctor and associate professor at UNC-Greensboro, Charlotte Observer reports.
The incident occurred around the end of a four-hour Zoning Commission meeting where Rosario expressed concern about a development project that was taking place near her home. During their televised meeting, Collins was seen combating Rosario over her request to be referred to as “Dr. Rosario” and not the “Ms. Rosario” title he proceeded to call her.
“It’s Dr. Rosario, thank you, sir,” she replied. “If Mrs. Rosario has something,” Collins continued. “Dr. Rosario,” she declared. “Well, you know, I’m sorry,” he said in response. “Your name says on here ‘Carrie Rosario.’ Hey Carrie.”
But Rosario stood her ground on being referred to by her correct title. “It’s Dr. Rosario,” she said again. “I wouldn’t call you Tony, so please, sir, call me as I would like to be called.” However, Collins told the college professor that “It doesn’t really matter.”
“It matters to me. And out of respect, I would like you to call me by the name that I’m asking you to call me by,” Rosario replied. “Your screen says Carrie Rosario,” he said. “I’m verbalizing my name is Dr. Carrie Rosario,” she said. “And it really speaks very negatively of you as a commissioner to be disrespectful.”
A clip of the heated exchange was played during Tuesday’s City Council meeting where City Councilwoman Sharon Hightower said Collins was using his “white privilege” by being stubborn toward Rosario’s request.
“It was a very disrespectful exchange between an important commissioner and a public citizen,” Hightower said. “That should never happen.” She further called out how Collin’s behavior would not be tolerated. “As a Black female, I am not going to see another Black female treated in this manner,” she added.
Collins has reportedly reached out to Rosario since the meeting to apologize. But the Greensboro City Council members still came together to vote him out of the Zoning Commission.
Meet The Black Media Exec Changing The Face of Lifestyle TV Content
Melissa Ingram aspired to be a high-profile music and entertainment attorney from an early age. Back then, the University of California, Berkeley School of Law grad had no idea that she would one day become a high-powered cable TV executive who would change the face of television.
“I was one of those kids that always sort of knew exactly what they wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go to Spelman College. I knew I wanted to take up English and then go to law school, and then practice entertainment law,” the Los Angeles native told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “I never in a million years thought that that would morph into me actually being more on the business side and doing a lot of strategic planning and vision for a cable television network.”
Climbing the Ladder
Ingram launched her career in 2004 as an associate lawyer in the labor and employment group at one of the largest law firms in the southeast, Alston & Bird, LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2006, she began working as an associate lawyer with The Carter Law Firm, PC in downtown Atlanta, where she represented independent artists, songwriters, and labels. She also began consulting with what was known as the Gospel Music Channel before it merged into UPtv. She joined the network full-time in 2009 as Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs. She stayed at UPtv when it partnered with NBA legend and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson to launch AspireTV, a network that celebrates Black culture and urban lifestyle, in 2012. Ingram served as the Senior Director of Business Affairs Development and Senior Legal Counsel of Business & Legal Affairs at the cable channel before being promoted to VP, General Manager in 2015. She continued to climb the ladder at Aspire even after it was acquired by UP Entertainment in 2019 and Johnson divested ownership. Today, Ingram is one of the top executives at the media company.
As the Senior Vice President of Multicultural Networks and Strategy at UP Entertainment, Ingram is responsible for driving the growth and success of AspireTV, Cine Romántico, and other multicultural brands from UP Entertainment across all distribution platforms. Her focus is on driving multicultural audience growth as well as championing workplace diversity. Although this is not how she originally pictured her career, she says it was all part of God’s vision.
“I’m a very spiritual person so I believe God’s plans for us, when we submit to His will, is always bigger than what you can imagine.”
Ingram says her current role gives her the opportunity to tap into her creative side while shaping the company’s brand.
“It makes me happy on a day-to-day to be able to say I have a hand in the way in which AspireTV looks, the way in which we connect, the way in which we think about our brand promise, and how we reach the Black audience,” Ingram tells BE. “The great thing is I’m able to be authentic in my leadership and bring all of my experiences as a Black woman, and as an HBCU graduate, and as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and as a member of The Links.” She added, “it’s a very powerful thing when you can show up as yourself.”
Her position allows her to do more than oversee the day-to-day operations, brand, programming, marketing, and long-term strategy of the national cable television network. She sees it as an opportunity to serve and empower women of color (the network’s core audience) by creating content that allows Black and brown women to see themselves celebrating, sharing, and reflecting the beauty of their culture and lifestyle.
Creating Content With Purpose
According to a study conducted by UP Entertainment, over 12 million Black Americans over the age of 18 watch lifestyle content on a monthly basis. However, they don’t feel represented on mainstream networks like HGTV and The Food Network.
“They’re tuning in, but yet they don’t see themselves there,” says Ingram, who resides in Atlanta with her husband and children. “What we found is that while Black people are watching this content, they may like it, but they would love it if they actually saw their life being reflected in it [and] they saw their culture being infused.”
To fill this void, Aspire launched Butter + Brown, a comical culinary series executive produced by Chef G. Garvin and Issa Rae, and Unboxed with Nikki Chu, an original series where the celebrity interior designer makes over spaces for the likes of singer Tank and his wife Zena Foster, Tisha Campbell, Nicole and Boris Kodjoe, and Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete.
Earlier this year, Aspire partnered with Comcast Xfinity to expand in 12 additional markets. The network also launched a new season of the HBCU Gameday series Fastbreak and Just Angela, an original series that gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look into the life of entrepreneur, philanthropist, and reality star Angela Simmons. Under her leadership, Ingram says Aspire will continue to explore lifestyle content around Black travel, fashion, and culinary arts to meet the needs of viewers who want more Black lifestyle-focused programming.
“I strongly believe there aren’t enough platforms dedicated to Black content. The more the merrier,” says the media exec. “When you think about HGTV, that’s where we’re going. That’s what we’re going after. We’re trying to make sure our audience sees themselves in that sort of traditional lifestyle content.”
Orlando, Florida Police Officers Force 2 Black Cyclists to Crawl While Being Wrongfully Detained
Down in Orlando, Florida, two Black men were made to crawl on their stomachs on the ground by police officers who told them that they fit the description of armed men they were looking for.
According to TMZ, two Black men had been wrongfully accused of robbing a man and were also forced to crawl on the ground.
Cops Detain Black Bicyclists at Gunpoint for Matching Suspect Description https://t.co/Pb6OozJ7EB
On Thursday, The Orlando Police Department confirmed that the two Black men accused were detained because they allegedly fit the description of armed robbers on bikes. The men were forced off of their bikes and made to crawl on the ground toward the police officers when they were initially detained.
A representative from the Orlando Police Department stated that the police officers had been investigating an armed robbery in that particular area when a victim, who was on vacation, claimed that two men attacked him and had taken his wallet, digital camera, and Apple Watch. The victim also claimed that the suspects, who he described as 2 Black/darker complexioned males on bicycles, possessed a gun. Officials reportedly stated that the police officers said after the two men were detained for 9 minutes, they were later released after the victim acknowledged that the two men were not the attackers. A Tik Tok clip of the incident was posted:
According to Newsweek, the TikTok video clip that showed the two Black cyclists being pulled over by police officers at gunpoint had reached more than 3.5 million viewers.
One of the men, who goes by the username @riskie_e, had asked the police officers to clarify what is going on, and one of the police officers says to him, “You are being detained as a part of an investigation, you match the description of two suspects.”
House Passed Bill to Make D.C. the 51st State, It’s About Time
The House of Representatives approved a bill to make the District of Columbia the 51st state. H.R. 51 passed by a vote of 216-208. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was among supporters of H.R. 51.
“Today’s victory was historic, both for D.C. residents and for the cause of D.C. statehood,” Holmes Norton said in a press release. “For only the second time in history, the House passed the D.C. statehood bill. With Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, and with 54% of Americans supporting the bill, we have never been in a better position to achieve D.C. statehood.”
Credit- Twitter @EleanorNorton
In a CBS News interview, Norton said that people who live in the capital have been treated differently and unequally from everyone else living in the country. The Hill reported that the bill was introduced by Holmes Norton. The District would be renamed as Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, in honor of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Additionally, a federal government-controlled area would be created.
“H.R.51 notes that some parts of D.C. would remain federal property if it becomes a state, including national monuments and federal buildings. Those will remain in the federal District of Columbia. Outside of that, residential and commercial areas will be listed under the Douglass Commonwealth,” The Hill also said.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan grassroots organization dedicated to building a stronger democracy and holding power accountable. It urged U.S. House Members to support D.C. Statehood Bill (H.R. 51). A letter signed by Common Cause’s president, Karen Hobert Flynn, mentioned that over 700,000 D.C. residents pay more in total federal income tax than residents of 22 other states, but they have no say how those tax dollar are spent.
“We must strive for a democracy in which everyone can participate and have full representation,” Hobert Flynn also said.
LeBron James Deletes Tweet to Columbus Cop Who Killed Black Teenager, Still Stands By His Words
Frustration eats up inside us whenever we are fed up with situations that are viewed as avoidable, specifically when the end results are a tragedy. The latest police killing of a Black person has led to the public frustration of one of the best basketball players to participate in the sport.
Los Angeles Lakers central player, LeBron James, had a moment when he tweeted a photograph of the latest police officer to shoot and kill a Black teenager in Columbus, Ohio, and wrote: “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY.” Presumably speaking about being the next police officer charged and convicted in killing a Black person, in reference to Derek Chauvin being found guilty of killing George Floyd.
James, who is known for being vocal when it comes to racial injustice and the effects of police brutality against people of color, faced backlash due to the Tweet and has since deleted it. But, instead of just deleting it without explanation, he responded to why he posted the original message and how he feels about another Black person losing their life to a police officer.
ANGER does any of us any good and that includes myself! Gathering all the facts and educating does though! My anger still is here for what happened that lil girl. My sympathy for her family and may justice prevail! 🙏🏾✊🏾🤎👑
I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY
Rapper Jadakiss Held Food Giveaway in Yonkers Hometown in Honor of DMX
One of the members of the infamous Ruff Ryders family has given back to his Yonkers community in honor of one of his comrades. Jadakiss (Born Jason Terrance Phillips) of the famed trio of emcees from Yonkers, New York, hip-hop group, The Lox, honored Earl Simmons, also known to the world as DMX by sponsoring a food giveaway.
According to Revolt, this past Thursday, Jadakiss posted to his Instagram account a “Food Giveaway in Honor of DMX” letting his followers know that this was taking place in the hometown of his and DMX’s.
In the video clip, Jadakiss states, “Yo, right now, I’m in Palisade Towers, man. Come down here we giving out free food in honor of X we just dropped off wild boxes at School Street. Now, we in Palisade Towers.”
“Come through, get you a box of vegetables, fruits, produce all type of shit. I’m right here in the middle.”
The giveaway had taken place at the Palisades Towers, where he ended up giving out fresh boxes of produce to the residents of the neighborhood.
The always-hyped deceased rapper will be honored this weekend with a memorial that will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 24. According to TMZ, the memorial will only be open to close friends and family. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Barclays Center can only accommodate 10% capacity. The memorial will be live-streamed to give the public a chance to honor DMX with family and friends.
DMX died on Friday, April 9. He was 50 years old.
The iconic rapper was admitted to the hospital on April 2nd after a drug overdose. He suffered a heart attack and was taken off life support while at White Plains Hospital. DMX was surrounded by family during his final days.
O.J. Simpson Defends Cop Who Killed Ma’Khia Bryant While Criticizing LeBron James
NBA champion LeBron James has been under fire after he told the officer who killed Ma’Khia Bryant that he was next. Now disgraced former pro athlete O.J. Simpson is calling James out for speaking so soon on the recent police shooting.
Simpson took to Twitter to address James and tell the Los Angeles Lakers player to “wait for the facts,” while defending officer Nicholas Reardon’s actions.
“What I saw when I saw the full thing, the police guy had no choice,” he responded, Simpson said to the camera, BET reports. “We wish he could have pulled a taser, we wish he could have done it in another way, but in that instance, if he hadn’t done what he did, it appears to me that another young American would have had her life taken. I can’t fault what he did. I wish it were different, but I can’t fault it.”
James has been on the receiving end of criticism after he sent out a controversial tweet in response to Bryant’s tragic death. “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY,” the NBA Finals MVP said in a since-deleted tweet. He has been called out by Republican politicians like Sen. Tim Cotton and former President Donald Trump who claimed his “racist rants” were “divisive, nasty, insulting and demeaning,” The Hill reports.
While addressing James’ anger-filled response to the 15-year-old dying from a fatal police shooting, O.J. Simpson told James to take more time learning the facts before responding so quickly to such sensitive topics.
“You can’t fight every battle,” SimPson said. “You’ve got to pick your battles. It’s a war that must be fought, but sometimes you need to take your time and be a little more patient before you comment on some of these bad incidents that are happening with some police departments. LeBron should have waited.”
James returned to Twitter to explain why he deleted the controversial tweet and acknowledged his mistake, ESPN reports. “ANGER does any of us any good and that includes myself,” he said “Gathering all the facts and educating does though! My anger still is here for what happened to that lil girl. My sympathy for her family and may justice prevail!”
House Rep. Mondaire Jones: Republican Arguments are ‘Racist Trash’ For Denying D.C. Statehood
Mondaire Jones did not hold back on his criticism of Senate Republicans who opposed a vote against making Washington, D.C. a state—in his eyes, they are racist trash.
Democrats have passed a House bill to make Washington, D.C. the nation’s 51st state, but Republicans are not impressed, making excuses why the nation’s most popular capital should not be its own state, theGrio reported.
Jones, an openly gay progressive and a rising star among House Democrats, aired out the excuses he heard, calling them racist.
WATCH: Congressman @MondaireJones just spoke truth to power on the House floor about why some lawmakers oppose #DCStatehood.
Republicans forced him to withdraw his words, but the truth remains: Race is a critical factor in the long-term denial of rights for DC residents. Enough. pic.twitter.com/bTJX3VyBSp
— The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) April 22, 2021
“I have had enough of my colleagues’ racist insinuation that somehow the people of D.C. are incapable or even unworthy of our democracy,” Jones said. “One Senate Republican said that D.C. wouldn’t be a ‘well-rounded working-class state.’ I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word white.”
“One of my House Republican colleagues said that D.C. shouldn’t be a state because the District doesn’t have a landfill,” Jones said. “My goodness, with all the racist trash my colleagues have brought to this debate I can see why they’re worried about having a place to put it.”
For Democrats, making D.C. a state is about giving power to the 700,000 Washingtonians who live in the district the same respect as a state, including ending “taxation without representation” policies. In D.C., other than a non-voting member of Congress in longtime Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, there is no representation in Congress especially when it comes to presidential elections.
The D.C. area is also referred to as “Chocolate City” because it is one of the few American “cities” that has a predominantly Black population. If the Senate passes the bill, there will be an additional House Representative and there will be 102 senators.
“The truth is there is no good faith argument for disenfranchising more than 700,000 people, most of whom are people of color. These desperate objections are about fear,” he said, “Fear that in D.C. their white supremacist politics will no longer play, fear that soon enough white supremacist politics won’t work anywhere in America. Fear that if they don’t rid our democracy, they will not win. Today Democrats are standing up for a multi-racial democracy to democratize all 51 states in this country.”
Republicans see the bill as a disadvantage to them. Washington, D.C. tends to vote for Democrats.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Selects First Black Man to be ‘Overseer’ of World’s Largest Confederate Monument, Umm OK.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has put Rev. Abraham Mosely in charge of Stone Mountain Park, the largest Confederate monument in the United States.
Rev. Mosely, a community advocate and pastor from Athens was sworn in as the new chairman of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association’s Board of Directors. He is the first Black man to hold the position in the state authority’s 60-year history.
Rev. Mosely takes the position at a time where many Confederate monuments in the South are being torn down by protestors or taken down and moved to museums by city and state lawmakers.
Mosely told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he will take a measured approach and will do all he can to “move the ball forward.”
“Certainly, there are mounting problems that have been brought before us. But we’ve got to handle them one at a time,” Mosley told the AJC. “We’ve got to be patient. I don’t want to be the man who prayed, ‘Lord, give me patience, but give it to me right now.’”
The park celebrates the Confederacy. In addition to the giant carvings of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson, the park is home to streets and buildings that pay tribute to the group.
Mosely told WSB-TV in Atlanta he expects the position to be a challenging process.
Many have called for the monument to be sandblasted and destroyed, however, the DeKalb County NAACP said in 2018 that it did not advocate for sandblasting the mine because it would cost too much. Instead, the organization asked for the park to cease all references to Stone Mountain Park as a memorial to the Confederacy; modify the historic square, so that it does not refer to a plantation; remove all antebellum references and symbols at the park and change the names of all the streets named for Confederates.
U.S. Poverty Reached New High During The COVID-19 Pandemic
It’s been over a year since the coronavirus pandemic began and while things appear to be slowly getting back to normal, for many the economic pain and worries are still alive and well.
Poverty among Black Americans actually fell from 23% at the beginning of last year to 21%. However that’s still more than double the rate for White Americans (8.9%).
Researchers say these numbers point to just how significant the CARES Act and additional stimulus were at keeping millions of Americans out of poverty. They also pointed put what could happen if those programs expire before many Americans get back on their feet.
“It’s astonishing that we’re seeing a high now. It does underscore how vulnerable so many people are that we still have not recovered enough that once the government aid starts tapering down… you can’t just cut off this aid overnight before the jobs come back,” Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at the Century Foundation told NBC News. “You’d hope by now things would have recovered.”
The poverty rate actually fell at the beginning of the pandemic due to the $1,200 stimulus check that was mailed or deposited into bank accounts. Expanded unemployment benefits, including the $600 federal benefit, also helped those struggling.
The pandemic also put many people into poverty.
Those with the ability to telecommute kept their jobs, even if they had to deal with reduced hours or temporary furloughs. However, millions in the travel, bar and restaurant, airline, service, and other industries went from paying their bills to unemployed and struggling almost overnight.
The researchers added that although the economy and the job market may look like they’re getting better, things are still far from where the country was before the pandemic. The group noted that although the unemployment rate has fallen since the beginning of the pandemic, weekly jobless claims are still being filed at a rate five times higher than before COVID-19 became a part of our daily lives.
Another infusion of funds by the government may be needed as the job market still hasn’t completely recovered. Other government programs will; be needed as well. Americans collectively owe about $70 billion in back rent due to the pandemic and homeowners who have a mortgage will also need help.
