Snoop Dogg Launches INDOGGO Gin–Juice Not Included
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

September 3, 2020

Snoop Dogg Launches INDOGGO Gin–Juice Not Included

Multi-faceted entertainer and hip-hop legend Calvin Broadus, better known as Snoop Dogg, has launched his own spirit, INDOGGO Gin. 

The soon-to-be 48-year-old legendary rapper/cannabis enthusiast popularized the gin and juice moniker back in 1994 when he released the single and video for the appropriately named, “Gin & Juice” off his Doggystyle album.

“I can’t wait for the world to taste my remix on gin! When I wrote ‘Gin & Juice’ back in ’94 it was about good feelings and real experiences, it just naturally became a global anthem,” Snoop Dogg said in a written statement. “When creating INDOGGO, I wanted to give those feelings new life with an approachable juicy gin that’s smooth like the D.O. Double G.”

INDOGGO mixes seven premium botanicals infused with all-natural strawberry flavor. The creation is a collaboration with Snoop’s friend and spirits veteran, Keenan Towns of Trusted Spirits and Prestige Beverage Group.

Snoop Dogg Indoggo
(Image: Trusted Spirits)

Towns, cofounder of Trusted Spirits, stated, “We’re so excited to partner with Snoop and Prestige Beverage Group to make Snoop’s and our dream a reality. INDOGGO stands out from any other gin in the world because Snoop, the “Gin Connoisseur,” took two years to develop the juicy and refreshing taste profile. His dedication to the brand makes him the perfect partner.”

“From Risata Wines to Kinky Beverages, Prestige Beverage Group has a long and storied history of launching and building industry-leading brands,” said Scott Schilling, general manager and CMO of Prestige. “We couldn’t be more excited to team up with Snoop and Trusted Spirits to launch INDOGGO and turn the stodgy world of gin on its head.”

INDOGGO is slated to launch later this month in Snoop’s home state of California and then make its mark across the U.S. through early 2021. The beverage will be available in 750 mL and 50 mL bottles with suggested retail prices of $29.99 and $1.99.

The gin can be pre-ordered at ReserveBar.com.

by Derek Major

September 3, 2020

Kamala Harris, Mike Pence To Face-off In October Debate

The date and time for the vice presidential debate is set. Kamala Harris and Mike Pence will face-off on Oct. 7 at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

While vice presidential debates rarely change the course of an election, they do showcase the strengths and weaknesses of each ticket before an election. Harris, a former prosecutor, showed her courtroom abilities during the Democratic primary debates. One of Harris’ shining moments during the primary debates was when she attacked her new teammate Joe Biden.

The former Attorney General attacked Biden over his 1970s-era opposition to the federal government’s role in using school busing to integrate schools while highlighting her personal story as a young child who benefited from early busing in Berkeley, California. Biden, unprepared for the attack did not respond well.

Harris also attacked Biden over the 1994 Crime Bill saying it contributed to mass incarceration, funded the three-strikes law, and the building of more prisons in the U.S.

Pence has previous experience having debated Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine in the October 2016 vice presidential debate. Pence delivered a steady performance, ignoring Kaine’s attacks on Donald Trump and instead attacking Hillary Clinton over vulnerabilities like her private email server and record as secretary of state.

While Pence and Harris will only debate once, President Trump and Biden are scheduled for three debates. The schedule was set last year by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization.

However, it’s unclear whether the Trump campaign has officially agreed to appear at the commission’s three scheduled debates. The Trump campaign wants a fourth debate to take place closer to the election. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who works for the campaign, sent a letter to the commission requesting a fourth debate.

The commission said it will only schedule a fourth debate if both candidates agree,  but the Biden camp has said it will only participate in the three debates scheduled.

by Dana Givens

September 3, 2020

Fabiana Pierre-Louis Becomes New Jersey Supreme Court’s First Black Woman Justice

This week, the New Jersey Supreme Court made history by swearing in Fabiana Pierre-Louis as the newest Supreme Court justice. She is the first Black woman to be chosen for the role and was nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy back in June. The state Senate confirmed the decision last week. “I’m incredibly proud that the Senate has unanimously confirmed Fabiana Pierre-Louis as the next Associate Justice to serve on New Jersey‘s Supreme Court,” Murphy said in a statement to  ABC7 News after the Senate confirmation.

“Fabiana is an exceptionally talented attorney, and will now have the historic distinction of becoming the first Black woman to be seated on our state’s highest court. I am honored to have put her name forward, and to see someone with a different set of life experiences and perspectives on our Supreme Court, a judicial body where New Jerseyans from all walks of life turn for justice. I also thank Senate President Sweeney and Chairman Scutari for their support and conducting a thorough, fair, and open confirmation process.”

The appointment of Pierre-Louis makes her the youngest person ever to serve on the state’s Supreme Court. As the daughter of immigrant parents from Haiti, she hopes her new title will inspire others from marginalized backgrounds. “The thought of actually sitting on the court one day was not something that came across my mind as a law clerk,” Pierre-Louis said to ABC7 News.

“I think my end game as a law student was to become an attorney and hopefully make an impact on the legal profession, in some way.”

Innocent Black Man Jogging Wrongfully Arrested by San Antonio Police
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

September 3, 2020

Innocent Black Man Jogging Wrongfully Arrested by San Antonio Police

A Black man who was out jogging in San Antonio early last week was wrongfully arrested by police officers, who said he “fit the description” of a man they were looking for although the person who called the police had told them he was not the man, according to Texas Public Radio.

On Aug. 25, Mathias Ometu had been stopped by police officers as he was told he “fit the description” of a suspect who was accused of committing family violence, even though the victim’s description differed from Ometu’s.

According to the San Antonio Police Department, Ometu was not the man they had been searching for. The victim came to the scene of the arrest and advised the police officers that this was not the individual that assaulted her. Yet, Ometu was still wrongfully arrested and taken to jail. He was then charged with two felony counts of assault on a police officer.

At a press conference Wednesday morning, after being held in prison for two days and having charges dropped, Ometu described how the incident went down.

“The officer actually sped off, leading me to think that I was clear to continue my run,” he said. “However, the officer made a U-turn at the intersection and approached me, and immediately began asking for my name.”

“Not wanting to be bothered, as I am in the middle of a run and feeling targeted, I refused to give the officer any personal information as I have not committed a crime and relayed this to the officer.

“The officer attempted to intimidate me, relaying that I have to provide this information to him. I do not know much about the laws and regulations of this state, but I did know that I do not have to provide my name if I am not arrested for a crime.”

The police officer claimed that he fit the description of a suspect and asked again for his name.

“When I refused to provide it, I was placed in handcuffs aggressively to the point that I’m still feeling that pain in my wrists. The officers advised me that I was being detained for a crime that I knew nothing about,” he said. “I allowed the officers to handcuff me with no resistance.” 

The San Antonio Police Department released a statement regarding the incident.

“We’re aware of several videos of this incident that have been posted online. Based on the preliminary information the individual arrested was contacted after officers were called to investigate a family violence incident. The suspect fled before police arrived, but the victim provided officers with the suspect’s information and officers also obtained information that the suspect was also wanted for a felony robbery warrant. The individual contacted was in close proximity to the call and he matched the physical and clothing description provided by the victim. That was the only reason he was stopped and questioned as the officers legitimately believed he was the wanted suspect. This incident will be reviewed administratively to ensure all policies were followed.”

They also released the body cam footage.

 

by Derek Major

September 3, 2020

N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy Makes Race-Based 911 Calls A Crime

Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday making race-based 911 calls with the goal of intimidating someone based on race, gender, or religion a crime.

The measure will create a category for false police reports and incrimination in the state’s laws against bias intimidation.

“Using the threat of a 911 call or police report as an intimidation tactic against people of color is an unacceptable, abhorrent form of discrimination,” Murphy said in a statement according to CNN. “Individuals who choose to weaponize this form of intimidation should held be accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Someone found guilty of knowingly placing race-based 911 calls in the state for the basis of intimidation will be subject to three to five years in prison, a fine of up to $15,000, or both.

False reports have long been a crime in the state, but the law Murphy signed gives out harsher penalties when making 911 calls to intimidate someone. A similar law was passed earlier this year in Washington state. Oregon recently passed a law making people who make race-based 911 calls vulnerable to civil suits.

A similar law was also passed in New York City in June after a White woman called the police on a Black man who asked her to put her dog on a leash. The woman was charged with a false report, but could’ve gone through worse if not for the man refusing to press charges.

Race-based 911 calls by white women were a common theme this summer, even going viral as ‘Karen’ incidents. According to BeenVerified, a background check company that compiled data from 150 incidents from January 2018 to July 2020 where white women called police on people of color for reasons that fell short of actual crimes, California totaled 27 incidents and New York 16. Georgia and North Carolina both accounted for eight while Florida and Ohio had six. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland, and Texas registered five or less.

In June, a white couple was fired from their jobs after harassing a Filipino man and calling the cops on him for writing Black Lives Matter in chalk outside a home in San Francisco. To the couple’s surprise, the home was owned by the man they called the cops on.


Days later, another white woman resigned as the CEO of a cannabis products company after she called the cops on an 8-year-old girl selling water near AT&T Park. In July, a white woman that worked at a Hampton Inn in North Carolina was fired for calling the cops on a Black family that was using the hotel swimming pool. It turned out the family was staying at the hotel.

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

September 3, 2020

Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins Threatens to Shoot Black Lives Matter Protesters: ‘You Won’t Walk Away’

A Republican congressman posted a Facebook message threatening to shoot Black Lives Matter protesters as he wrote that anyone arriving in Louisiana “aggressively natured and armed” would have a “one-way ticket” and that he’d personally “drop 10 of you,” according to the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, a Lafayette Republican, threatened to shoot a rumored group of openly armed protesters and drew immediate criticism from U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, saying his “dumb and reckless Facebook post requires serious condemnation.”

“If this shows up, we’ll consider the armed presence a real threat. We being, We, the people of Louisiana, one way ticket fellas. Have your affairs in order. Me? I wouldn’t even spill my beer. I’d drop any 10 of you where you stand. Because some of We, like me … We are SWAT. Nothing personal. We just eliminate the threat. If you show up like this, if we recognize threat,” Higgins wrote.

“You won’t walk away. That’s not a challenge, fellas, its a promise. We don’t want to see your worthless ass nor do we want to make your mothers cry. You’re the ones threatening. If you show yourselves, aggressively natured and armed in my presence, in my neighborhood, where I work, anywhere close enough to put my family or my fellow citizens in danger. That is where your journey will end. fast. How fast? 1,450 FPS fast.”

Facebook eventually removed the post.

A Twitter user captured a screenshot of the post.

To which Higgins responded that Facebook deleted his post and not him.

According to The Acadian Advocate, “The Black Lives Matter protest outside Lafayette City Hall was a peaceful affair and featured a barbecue, a jab at Guillory after a demonstrator was arrested over the weekend after setting up a grill on the street outside Guillory’s house to cook hot dogs and hamburgers in a stunt aimed at luring the parish leader outside to talk.”

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

September 3, 2020

Kimora Lee Simmons and Her Daughters Launch Baby Phat Beauty

Kimora Lee Simmons and her two daughters, Ming and Aoki, are collaborating with HatchBeauty Brands to create a Baby Phat Beauty makeup line, according to The Daily News.

“I think it’s very important that right now—in this time of Black Lives Matter, that could be Brown lives matter…to be a young woman, certainly for Ming and Aoki, and for myself, to be a woman, a woman of color—to have your own brand,” Simmons tells Women’s Wear Daily.

Simmons surprised the fashion world by relaunching and revamping the streetwear brand and dropped a surprise on BabyPhat.com late last year in December.

At that time she stated, “When I created Baby Phat 20 years ago, it was because women—especially women of color—had no voice at all in the streetwear category,” Simmons tells Yahoo. “It’s in our DNA that this brand is created for women, by women—which was rare then and still is today once you really look closely at who truly owns and controls many womenswear brands on the market.”

The makeup line is launching a three-piece kit featuring a lip gloss, body lotion, and scented, shimmery body spray, which is retailing for $45 each. Three different versions of the products, reflecting the personalities of each woman, are also for sale.

“Divine is mine, obviously,” Simmons said. “Opulence is Ming, and Ethereal is Aoki, because she’s a free spirit. We are excited to dive into the beauty space with a unique multigenerational perspective.”

A portion of proceeds from sales of Baby Phat Beauty will be donated to Fair Fight, an organization working to promote fair elections, educate on election reform, and fight voter suppression.

by Dana Givens

September 3, 2020

Mike Bloomberg Donates $100 Million To HBCU Medical Schools To Create More Black Doctors

According to a study conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges, only 5% of practicing physicians are Black. With growing racial disparities in the medical field, it is important to provide space to create more Black doctors that know how to treat Black patients who are often neglected.  

This week, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced he will be making a $100 million donation through Bloomberg Philanthropies to be distributed to scholarships for current students enrolled in medical programs at four HBCU medical schools impacted by the COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, pandemic. The institutions include Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University University of Medicine and Science.

The $32.8 million gift to Howard’s College of Medicine is the largest sum its been given in its history.

“Healthcare disparities exist for a myriad of reasons related to systemic infrastructural issues, not the least of which is the dearth of Black doctors. Black doctors with cultural competency are a major part of the solution, but their path is often hampered by a compromised financial situation,” said Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, president of Howard University in a press statement.

“This gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies is the first stone dropped into a calm lake of opportunity and promise. The ripple effects that it will have on the lives of our students and our programs will carry on for generations.”

The donation is the first investment from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, created to increase generational wealth among Black families. “COVID-19 has been especially devastating for the Black community, and the scarcity of Black doctors practicing in Black communities is one reason for it,” Bloomberg said in a press statement.


“More Black doctors will mean more Black lives saved and fewer health problems that limit economic opportunity. But right now, the burden of student debt and lack of financial aid means that the shortage of Black doctors could get even worse. During my campaign for president, I proposed a set of bold policies—which we called the Greenwood Initiative—to increase generational wealth among Black families and shrink the racial wealth gap. The commitment Bloomberg Philanthropies is making today is just the first step we will take to bring that work to life.”

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

September 3, 2020

Whoopi Goldberg Pleads to Disney to Build a Wakanda Theme Park in Honor of Chadwick Boseman

With everyone still in mourning over the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, talk show host Whoopi Goldberg feels the best way to honor the late actor would be to create a new Disney attraction, according to  CNN.

With all the outpouring of love toward Boseman, there is a petition on Change.org to replace a Confederate statue with a statue of the Black Panther star in his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina.

Goldberg is the latest in a line of people who want to acknowledge the actor. She went on Twitter to suggest to Disney that a Wakanda-themed park would suit to honor him and the character he played in the Disney movie.

The sentiment was met with resounding enthusiasm from other Twitter users.

by Dana Givens

September 3, 2020

Oakland Entrepreneurs Launch $1 Billion Investment Fund For Black Businesses Impacted by COVID

The deaths of several unarmed Black civilians at the hands of law enforcement officials have spurred protests around the country in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Because of this, numerous businesses have been pushed to the brink of extinction or been forced to close.

Two entrepreneurs, Elisse Douglass and Trevor Parham, decided to help local businesses during the pandemic. Their Oakland Black Business Fund was established in June to aid Black-owned businesses in the Bay Area. In addition to the relief efforts, the duo has created a $1 billion investment fund to help Black entrepreneurs nationwide survive the economic fallout from the pandemic.

The fund started after Douglass decided to create a community-oriented crowdfunding site for businesses affected by the Black Lives Matter protests.

“That took off and we brought in $100,000 in less than a week and a half,” Parham said in an interview with Crunchbase.

“We felt that with the influx of capital and coverage, we had more money than we initially set out to deploy,” he added. “We immediately realized that there was more we could do. We knew the overall approach could be a bigger impact with much bigger dollars.”

Parham said he hopes the fund will fill the void between Black entrepreneurs and mainstream funds who often shut them out.

“There is a disconnect between mainstream capital markets and the value of Black businesses, especially if they are not doing a tech product that falls within the mainstream of other tech products,” he explained. “What I have seen is that there are two factors: bias and racism, and that is valid, but another part is interest and intention. Investors might not truly know how to find them or plug-in in a way that is financially sound or feel like they are steering too much.

“We are aware of the conversation around Black Lives Matter and racial injustice and we are doing something that takes a business approach to addressing some of the larger societal concerns people have,” he said. “Economics is not the only answer, but by investing in Black businesses, we are creating a response to overcome a lot of the challenges.”

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