Police Barge Into Black College Student’s Dorm With Guns Drawn After White Roommates Allegedly File False Report
A 17-year-old Black freshman student in Texas had weapons pointed directly at her by police officers who stormed into her dorm room after her White roommates allegedly filed a false report, according toCBS DFW.
Campus police officers barged into Christin Evans’ room at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, with their guns drawn on September 14. The freshman, who is a cheerleader at the university, recalled the incident at a press conference. The attorneys for Evans claimed that the incident, which is known as “swatting,” was initiated by her three roommates along with seven other girls who were mostly white.
“Swatting” is when people call others and make false claims against someone in an attempt to harass or bring harm to them.
Allegedly, the resident assistant (RA) was told by her White roommates that Evans had scissors and was threatening to harm or hurt them. The RA then called campus police, and Evans said she was awakened around 3 a.m. on September 14 when the police officers rushed into her room with their guns drawn. She was cleared of any wrongdoing. She still attends the university but is not living on campus.
John Fields, chief of police for Stephen F. Austin State University Police Department, issued a statement via Twitter.
A message from John Fields, chief of police for SFA’s University Police Department: pic.twitter.com/yEOG65f2Vc
University officials have stated that police are investigating the false report and said the students responsible will be held accountable.
Stephen F. Austin’s president Dr. Scott Gordon has said that the matter is being investigated and urged the public to withhold judgment until the investigation is complete.
“I have directed staff to be thorough and keep me apprised throughout this investigation. Each perpetrator will be dealt with appropriately. My heart goes out to the young lady who was an innocent victim in this matter. We will do all we can to support her and her family through this heinous ordeal.”
Gospel Singer CeCe Winans Says Her Appearance in Trump Administration’s COVID Ad ‘Was Not Political’
Controversy has surrounded a famed gospel singer due to her participation in an ad campaign commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to Madame Noire.
CeCe Winans is slated to appear alongside celebrities such as Dennis Quaid, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Garth Brooks in a Department of Health and Human Services ad campaign to speak about how the Trump administration has handled the coronavirus pandemic. The planned ads will air before Election Day on November 3.
Fans of Winans were shocked and dismayed and took her appearance in the ad as an endorsement of the divisive president, Donald Trump. In response, Winans took to Twitter to explain her participation, assuring people that it wasn’t political and that she was asked by U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams to help spread the word about the coronavirus.
“I was asked a couple of weeks ago to do an interview with the Surgeon General Jerome Adams about the coronavirus. And this interview stresses how important it is for everyone to wear a mask and it also gives us other instructions on how to get on the other side of this pandemic. It was not political at all.
“We have lost so many lives because of COVID-19. Let’s all do everything we can so we won’t lose anymore.”
@Surgeon_General has been disingenuous and unprincipled in his handling of #COVIDー19. Instead of protecting the American people, he’s been pandering to #Trump and co-signing amd downplaying. And they roped you into their mess. Now I question your credibility. Ugh!!!!
Girl … now you know God is not a God of Confusion … Stop playing with the Church and tell the people if you support Velveeta Voldemort or not … pic.twitter.com/efJ1naFkBG
“It is truly an honor and a blessing to receive this award from the IWMF during such a critical and historic year,” said Alcindor in a press statement. “Gwen Ifill was a journalism icon who exemplified all the virtues of the craft that we need now – fairness, bravery, and truth-telling at all costs. Gwen, her dear friend Athelia Knight, and a number of other women and men in my life have helped me navigate my career and embrace my passion for civil rights journalism on many beats and in all forms. I am forever grateful for their support as I accept this award.”
Alcindor made headlines for asking President Trump and his administration tough questions, which has drawn hostility from the president.
“Through countless attacks, Yamiche remains focused on the pursuit of the truth,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, executive director of the IWMF in a statement.
“She mirrors Gwen Ifill’s tenacity and talent. At such a critical moment for press freedom, it is an honor to celebrate Yamiche and the barriers she has broken for young journalists of color following in her footsteps.”
Kamala Harris Accuses Trump of Ignoring Justice Ginsburg’s Final Wish After Announcing New Nominee
In the wake of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Trump announced within days of her funeral his new nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, to take her place. Now, Democratic vice presidential nominee and California Sen. Kamala Harris has come forward accusing the president of dishonoring the Ginsburg’s wish to wait after the upcoming November election.
In a recent speech at Shaw University in North Carolina, Harris spoke out against the act and promised to fight against it as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“We will not give in,” said Harris. “We will not let the infection that President Trump has injected into the presidency and into Congress, that has paralyzed our politics and pitted Americans against each other, spread to the United States Supreme Court.”
“It looks like this president and his party are not interested in hearing any of the lessons from Justice Ginsburg,” she added. “Already, the president and his party have chosen to ignore Justice Ginsburg’s final wish: to hold off the nomination to replace her until after the next president is chosen. A wish, by the way, shared by the American people.”
Harris tweeted out words from Ginsburg’s granddaughter, Clara Spera, said before her death stating that her grandmother’s “most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her final moments before passing.⁰⁰We must honor that wish and fight for her legacy.
Maxine Waters also tweeted harsh criticism on the move “Justice Ginsburg’s dying wish was that her seat would not be filled until a new president is installed! Senate Democrats, do not back down,” she wrote. You have a tough fight ahead but our future is on the line! No SCOTUS appointment before the election!!!”
Trump’s Campaign Aimed to Deter 3.5 Million Black Americans From Voting in 2016
President Trump’s 2016 campaign has been accused of seeking to deter millions of Black voters in battleground states from voting with negative Hillary Clinton ads on Facebook. The effort was concentrated in 16 states, several of which Trump won because the Black Democratic vote essentially collapsed.
Trump’s 2016 campaign used a “vast cache of data” on almost 200 million American voters, with 3.5 million Black Americans categorized as “deterrence,” or voters that they didn’t want to cast ballots, according to a Channel 4 News report.
According to the investigation, the campaign’s goal was to dissuade Black Americans from voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton, targeting them with “dark adverts” on their Facebook feeds, which heavily attacked Clinton and, in some cases, argued Clinton lacked sympathy with Black Americans. Cambridge Analytica, the election consultant that shut down in 2018 after allegations it used dirty tricks to win elections across the globe and gained unauthorized access to tens of millions of Facebook profiles, is sadi to have assisted in the effort.
Brad Parscale, Trump’s former digital director, who was committed to a mental institution Monday, denied the allegations in a 2018 interview with PBS Frontline.
“I would say I’m nearly 100 percent sure we did not run any campaigns that targeted even African-Americans,” he said.
However, the evidence is stacked against the campaign. In Michigan, which Trump won in 2016 by 10,000 votes, Black voters make up 15% of the state, but represented 33% of the special deterrence category, pointing to the campaign targeting Black voters in the state.
The same goes for Wisconsin, where 5.4% of voters are black, but 17% of the deterrence group. According to Channel 4, the percentage amounted to more than a third of the Black voters in the state.
Trump’s digital campaign also used attack ads against Clinton, including a video clip of controversial remarks made by Clinton in 1996, saying it was necessary “to have an organized effort against gangs”, and their members.
“They are often the kinds of kids that are called super predators – no conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first, we have to bring them to heel,” Clinton added.
Clinton apologized for the remarks in February 2016, but the Trump campaign heavily leaned on the comments leading up to the election.
Facebook, which has begun implementing measures to protect from misinformation campaigns, said it has no record of the ads because they were pulled quickly after the Trump campaign stopped paying for them.
In a statement to Digital Trends, the Trump campaign’s communications director Tim Murtaugh denied the allegations and added Trump has built a relationship of trust with Black Americans.
“President Trump has built a relationship of trust with African American voters because of the First Step Act‘s criminal justice reform, creating Opportunity Zones and his recently announced Platinum Plan to invest $500B in the Black community. Democrats deterred voters in 2016 by nominating Hillary Clinton, who called Black men ‘Super Predators,’ and they did it again this year by nominating Joe Biden, who has advocated for racist policies such as the 1994 Crime Bill and even spoke at the funeral of a Klan member.”
President Trump, who won 8% of the Black vote in 2016, has had a contentious first term with Black voters. During his first term, Black voters have watched Trump praise the Charlottesville protests and call Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players protesting police brutality “disgraceful.” Trump also called the Black Lives Matter mural in New York “a symbol of hate” and praised police officers in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed.
Many movements by Black Americans over the past year, including National Black Voter Day, have aimed to register more Black voters in order to defeat President Trump and push Black Americans to enter politics.
Carolina Small Business Development Fund Filling Much-Needed Capital Gap For Black Businesses Trounced by COVID
An accomplished economic development executive, Kevin Dick uses a life rescue analogy to sum up what his community-lending nonprofit is doing to aid small businesses in North Carolina.
“Businesses are drowning but we’re helping them to survive,” says Dick, CEO and president at the Raleigh-based Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF).
Small- and medium-sized American businesses have been some of the hardest-hit companies clobbered this year by the COVID-19 pandemic. Black-owned businesses have certainly felt the sting, possibly much more than others. Some 41% of those firms had closures due to COVID-19 as of May 2020, data from the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals.
In the Tar Heel State, businesses requiring capital help are fueling banner activity for CSBDF. Dick says the amount of demand the fund has realized for small business assistance is unprecedented, adding it surpasses what the fund saw during the financial crisis.
“Based on our current pace of activity, the amount of assistance transactions undertaken by CSBDF related to COVID-19 will create a record-breaking year for us,” he says. The activity is even more phenomenal because COVID-19 has had a far more reaching impact on small businesses than other catastrophes such as economic downturns, hurricanes, and other natural disasters that have hit North Carolina.
Started in 1990, the CSBDF is a strong ally to small businesses. It is a statewide nonprofit and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) offering small business loans from $5,000 to $250,000 to startups and existing businesses in North Carolina. Its core pillars include small business lending, technical assistance, and policy research. Since 2010, 49% of the agency’s loans totaling roughly $68 million in capital went to Black-owned businesses, including barbershops, salons, restaurants, accounting firms, and law firms.
Dick became president and CEO of the CSBDF in February 2020. He previously held senior positions with the City of Charlotte, Durham Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the Durham Workforce Development Board, the Broward Workforce Development Board, and the City of Dania Beach, Florida, along with private sector marketing and sales experience positions in New Jersey and Delaware.
Initiatives under his watch have been nationally recognized, and have been cited by the National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Walmart Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Civic League.
BLACK ENTERPRISE connected with Dick to chat about the CSBDF and its work.
Jimmy Evans, owner of Headquarters Barbershop, in Raleigh, NC. (Photo credit: Headquarters Barbershop)
BLACK ENTERPRISE: How many loans and grants do CSBDF expect to issue businesses this year? How much of an increase would that be over last year or previous years?
During the first eight months of this year, we’ve done 316 grants worth about $2.3 million, with an average size of $7,500. We’ve done 240 loans for about $6.1 million, with an average size of $26,000. Our loan production rose about 400% from approximately the same period a year ago. The fund did not do any grants last year because grants are a new addition to the agency’s portfolio. The total amount of capital deployed in fiscal year 2019 was roughly $5.4 million, compared with fiscal year 2020 when it was over $10 million, reflecting a 200% increase in total capital deployment. The agency did start not offering grants until after COVID began. Most CDFIs don’t do grant-making, making that financing unique for CBSDF.
Since April 2020, CSBDF has had a focus on COVID-19 assistance. In the wake of the COVID-19 disaster, many organizations started offering grants to small businesses. This has included CSBDF. We have engaged in these activities because our data suggest grant aid is important for small businesses to remain operational. One example is our partnership with the City of Durham, Durham County, and Duke University on small business relief. Through August this program has funded 58 Black-owned businesses.
Overall activity this year related to COVID-19 from April through August have included the Mecklenburg County Loan Program: 183 loans for $4.6 million, which small business beneficiaries report will help them create or save 1,195 full-time jobs. City of Durham and Durham County (Loan and Grant Program): 16 loans for $424,000, which beneficiaries report will help them create or save 103 full-time jobs. City of Durham, Durham County, and Duke University (Grant Program):124 awards for $904,000 in grant aid.
For fiscal year 2021, we expect to issue about 300 to 400 grants for roughly $6.1 million. We don’t have as certain a projection on the number of remaining loans in fiscal year 2021. That’s because we are not certain what COVID-related funding will be available to us from partners. Loans we do provide will likely be a combination of products from COVID-related funding and capital from other partners. We are still in the process of securing funding commitments for dollars that we would deploy during FY21.
Why is funding needed more now than before the pandemic?
Even in the best of times, Black-owned businesses are less likely to have access to affordable capital. During economic contractions–like the current recession–financial institutions tend to tighten credit access to small businesses. Federal Reserve research staff argued that the economic impacts of the pandemic are disproportionately likely to impact Black-owned firms. Due to structural barriers to success often faced by minority small businesses, they tend to be more financially “at-risk” or “distressed” than enterprises owned by White entrepreneurs.
Why do Black businesses need funding? If they don’t get it, how many might be forced to close?
CSBDF’s research has summarized the challenges small businesses are facing due of COVID-19. In general, our data have shown these challenges are even more severe in the African American community. For example, across all racial groups, early data suggest Black-owned firms are among the hardest hit in the pandemic. The number of African Americans operating a business (actively working in it) plummeted from 1.1 million in February to 640,000 in April. At the same time, the overall share of small business ownership by Blacks (even if not working in the business) also dropped several percentage points.
For small- and medium-sized firms owned by African Americans, the biggest challenge to short- and long-term recovery is usually a lack of financial resources. Less than half of small businesses can cashflow their expenses for a month before having to lay off staff or reduce costs. Thus Black-owned small businesses are at high risk for permanent closure after large-scale disasters (including COVID-19) partially because they cannot pay for their expenses while being shut down.
What are the biggest challenges the CSBDF is facing now to provide Black small businesses capital and how is your agency overcoming them?
One of the biggest challenges for CDFIs is adding unrestricted lending capital and getting more capital to provide grants. We have overcome some of the challenges through partnerships we have with municipalities and four-year universities. That in of itself is very unique. We’ve done a lot of lending because of partnerships we have with: Mecklenburg County, City of Durham, Durham County, City of Raleigh, Duke University, Golden Leaf Foundation, North Carolina Rural Center, the State of North Carolina, Piedmont Community College, and HBCU’s such as Shaw University, Elizabeth City State University and Johnson C. Smith University. We also work with a host of not-for-profit organizations and other community colleges throughout the state.
What upcoming programs or workshops will the CSBDF be offering to help small businesses survive and continue to grow post-COVID?
CSBDF is unique compared to other CDFIs. What makes us different is that we use robust research to assess and evaluate our efforts. Our work in spotlighting the importance of small businesses during this time has included research reports, briefs, and blog posts. In addition to financial assistance (loans and grants), CSBDF provides free holistic technical assistance solutions. Another is the City of Charlotte Program, running currently through December 2020. It provides customized technical assistance assessments to COVID-19-impacted firms in Charlotte. Interested businesses in the Charlotte area can take an assessment and work one-on-one with CSBDF to get virtual training in the areas they need the most help with related to COVID-19 recovery. We’re working to expand this programming statewide. CSBDF plans to host a virtual Black Entrepreneurship Week series in 2021
What advice would you offer to other CDFIs now to increase their lending activities to Black-owned small businesses seeking capital to start-up or expand businesses?
Assessing specific needs are important. Remember that it’s one thing to help businesses survive and another to help them thrive. So technical assistance, in tandem with financial assistance, is really critical. And finding partnerships that can help you deliver the technical assistance is really critical. Use virtual means to get these messages out. Be strong with technology, enabling you to deliver these messages to your audience.
Sienna Miller Reveals Chadwick Boseman Reduced His Salary From ‘21 Bridges’ to Increase Hers
Following Chadwick Boseman’s shocking death from colon cancer last month, a number of people have shared positive stories that testify to his upstanding character.
In the upcoming November issue of Empire Magazine, one of his co-stars revealed his generous nature when he decided to take a pay cut to cover her salary.
Sienna Miller, who starred alongside Boseman in last year’s cinematic cop thriller 21 Bridges, revealed that as a producer for the movie, Boseman was instrumental in casting her for the role of detective Frankie Burns. She also mentioned, outside of not wanting to pass up the opportunity to work with him, he also “ended up donating some of his salary” so she would be properly compensated for her work.
“He produced 21 Bridges, and had been really active in trying to get me to do it,” Miller said. “He was a fan of my work, which was thrilling, because it was reciprocated from me to him, tenfold. So he approached me to do it, he offered me this film, and it was at a time when I really didn’t want to work anymore. I’d been working non-stop and I was exhausted, but then I wanted to work with him.
“I didn’t know whether or not to tell this story, and I haven’t yet. But I am going to tell it, because I think it’s a testament to who he was,” Miller said. “This was a pretty big-budget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn’t get to. And because I was hesitant to go back to work and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, ‘I’ll do it if I’m compensated in the right way.’ And Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for. He said that that was what I deserved to be paid.”
She continued, “It was about the most astounding thing that I’ve experienced. That kind of thing just doesn’t happen. He said, ‘You’re getting paid what you deserve, and what you’re worth.’ It’s just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully. In the aftermath of this I’ve told other male actor friends of mine that story and they all go very very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while. But there was no showiness, it was, ‘Of course I’ll get you to that number because that’s what you should be paid.’”
Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016 and battled with it for four years as it progressed to stage IV. He died in his home, with his wife and family by his side.
GOP Sells Notorious A.C.B. Shirts One Day After Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Honored in Capital
Minutes after President Trump nominated attorney Amy Coney Barrettt to the Supreme Court, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) began selling “Notorious A.C.B.” T-shirts.
The phrase is a play on the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg‘s nickname Notorious RBG. Ginsburg earned the nickname later in her career after her dissent in the 2013 landmark Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder. The case was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices; and Section 4(b), which contains the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions are subjected to preclearance based on their histories of discrimination in voting.
Ginsburg said in 2017 that the moniker –a play on rapper Christopher Wallace’s nickname, “The Notorious B.I.G.“– was first used by a New York University Law student, and quickly stuck. The nickname became popular and was put on t-shirts along with an image of Ginsburg in her robes and wearing a crown similar to the one the rapper wore in a photo.
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy called the A.C.B. shirt, “A reminder to do something–anything– tomorrow that will make sure the people who did this aren’t in charge come January.”
Meanwhile, CJ Wallace, Christopher Wallace’s son, told the Today Show last week that his father would have been honored to share the nickname with the Supreme Court Justice.
“Brooklyn, New York, represents no fear, confidence, and speaking your truth, and my dad and Justice Ginsburg lived those words,” CJ said. “I think he would be honored to share the ‘Notorious’ title with her, and it’s up to us to honor their legacies by continuing to fight for equality and justice for all by voting and getting into good trouble.”
Black Teacher and Her Mother Die Of COVID-19 Within Weeks Of Each Other in South Carolina
After losing her daughter to the coronavirus earlier this month, the mother of a South Carolina teacher also contracted COVID-19 and has sadly died, according to CNN.
Shirley Bannister, 57, died from complications of COVID-19 this past Sunday, according to her brother. Shirley’s daughter, Demetria Bannister, a 28-year-old elementary school teacher, died from COVID-19 several days after testing positive.
Demetria was a third-grade teacher at Windsor Elementary School in Columbia while Shirley, also a teacher, was chair of the nursing department at Midlands Technical College in Columbia.
Shirley Bannister had a history of asthma and diabetes, and after she tested positive for the coronavirus, “she actually went to the hospital twice, the second time they decided to keep her,” said Shirley’s brother Dennis Bell. “She had so much to give, so this is like an unexpected gut punch for the whole family.”
Ronald Rhames, president of Midlands Technical College, said that Bannister earned her nursing degree at the college and returned years later to teach. “My heart is broken. Shirley was like an angel on Earth. Her life mission was caring for others,” Rhames said.
Bell also said that Bannister and her daughter “were the best of friends.”
“They’d go to dinner together, they’d go to the movies, go to concerts and things like that, and they planned events together. Demetria, in a sense, was just like her mother,” Bell said.
Bannister grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, and was an active member of St. Mark’s Baptist Church. She is survived by her husband, Dennis Bannister.
South Carolina has had 146,000 cases of COVID-19 and 3,337 deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to The New York Times. The number of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States has topped 200,000. There have been more than 7 million COVID-19 cases, a number likely to increase as the United States braces for winter and flu season.
Mayor Ras J. Baraka Launches ‘Newark 40 Acres and a Mule’ Investment Fund To Support Black Businesses
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped many U.S cities due to the economic fallout caused by the viral outbreak. The city of Newark, New Jersey, is moving to initiate a plan to help the Black and Latinx businesses in the wake of the public health crisis.
This week, Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced the launch of the “NWK FAM” or “Newark 40 Acres and a Mule” fund to reduce socio-economic inequalities stemming from systemic racism by investing in the city’s Black and Latinx business community.
“African American and Latin businesses [tend to] have great proprietary products and services but have [difficulties trying to] access large-scale contracts,” says Bernel Hall, president and CEO of Invest Newark, in an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“When they do get access to larger-scale contracts that allow them to grow, [they then have to face] problems to gain access to the capital necessary for them to [expand],” Hall adds. “What [Mayor Ras Baraka] has done as part of his equitable economic growth strategies is really create a virtual cycle of economic empowerment, which allows these businesses to get access to both government and private sector capital through a number of programs that [can] really facilitate that type of good business-to-business work, but also getting access to the type of capital that they [need].”
The goal is to use the money raised toward established resources for small businesses, affordable housing, and other programs to reduce health and wealth disparities within the city. The fund was established in partnership with Invest Newark and New Jersey Community Capital to raise $100 million in capital to attract investors to the ambitious project.
“We’ve had a long history in investing in Newark,” Wayne Meyer, president of New Jersey Community Capital, tells BLACK ENTERPRISE. “We’ve invested in over $700 million projects in Newark that have created…thousands of housing units and thousands of jobs and billions of square feet of commercial real estate facilities”
“We think that what the mayor is trying to do here is really level the playing field for Black and brown businesses and their ability to not only access support services that they need. You know, there’s a wide body of research out there that suggests [there] are really structural challenges that really undermine the economic viability of black and Brown businesses,” Meyer added.
One of the barriers, according to Meyer is “limited access to capital.” The newly established fund plans to raise capital through both charitable contributions and investments through financial institutions and corporate partners. So far, the fund has raised $2 million in capital and has landed AT&T as one of its first corporate partners.
This coincides with Mayor Baraka’s plans to bring more investment to the city of Newark after announcing is $100 million refinancing plan with investment bonds in August.
“The development of Newark…has not [stopped] during the [COVID-19] pandemic and is still growing,” Mayor Baraka tells BLACK ENTERPRISE. “There is interest particularly because the market is outside of the city of Newark…is really saturated. And it gives…folks the opportunity to come in and do some fresh development, work on some new and innovative [work], and, at the same time, do well and do good. It gives [investors] an opportunity to continue to invest in the city, but also be able to invest in projects that matter, projects that will have a deep impact [on] the economy on Black and brown communities.”
