Last year, it was reported that Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, was divorcing his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Scott as the two engaged in a court battle for assets. Scott ended up walking away with a $38 billion settlement from the divorce and now the author and philanthropist has continued her own career, reportedly donating over $1 billion since the split. It was announced this week that Scott donated $160 million to various HBCUs.

Hampton University, Tuskegee University, Howard University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College are among the names that have received some of the largest donations in their history from Scott’s estimated $160 million donation distributed to  several historically black institutions and two HBCU advocacy organizations.

“I would like to thank Ms. Mackenzie Scott for her investment into Howard University and our 153-year mission of serving a diverse community of dynamic scholars who come here for an education and leave here with purpose to serve the world,” said Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA in a press statement. “We plan to immediately put this eight-figure gift to good use to support components of our 5-year strategic plan to help students graduate on time, retain our talented faculty, enhance our campus infrastructure and support academic innovation and entrepreneurship.”

“This pure act of benevolence is clearly a game-changer and it could not have come at a better time,” said Hampton President William R. Harvey according to HBCU Digest. “I speak for the entire Hampton University community when I say we are grateful to Ms. MacKenzie Scott, who has chosen to support us during this unprecedented period of uncertainty.”

Scott says she made the donation in recognition of the institutions contribution to educating marginalized communities. ““Every one of them is tackling complex challenges that will require sustained effort over many years, while simultaneously addressing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she says according to HBCU Digest.

“Every one of them would benefit from more allies looking to share wealth of all types and sizes, including money, volunteer time, supplies, advocacy, publicity, networks and relationships, collaboration, encouragement, and trust.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden unveiled his economic plan for racial justice and equity, which includes a $150 billion investment to help small-businesses owners of color.

Under the plan, which was announced as the fourth pillar of Biden’s “Build Back Better” initiative, his administration would invest $50 billion in startup capital to help entrepreneurs of color start businesses in disadvantaged areas. The other $100 billion will be devoted to low-interest business loans for state, local, tribal, and nonprofit lending for community members.

Another part of the plan would offer 10% of federal investments into a “Small Business Opportunity Fund,” which is designed to leverage private investment for minority-owned enterprises in specific public funds.

“We’re going to strengthen the Federal Reserve’s focus on racial economic equity,” he said. “The Fed should add to that responsibility and aggressively target persistent gaps,” Biden said according to MarketWatch.

The “Build Back Better” plan, which repackages a number of existing proposals, would also offer a one-time student debt $10,000 reduction and raise the minimum wage to $15 hourly.

It also contains a separate section focused on criminal justice reform, which includes Biden’s plan to eliminate cash bail and to guarantee that formerly incarcerated people are provided temporary housing upon release from prison.

“How do we break the cycle? In good times, communities of color still lag. In bad times, they get hit first and the hardest,” Biden said, reports CNBC. “And in recovery, they take the longest to bounce back. This is about justice … it’s also about jobs, good-paying jobs. And financial stability, building wealth for families of color and passing it down to their kids.”

This announcement also comes in response to Trump’s recent actions toward the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests over racial injustice. According to MarketWatch, Biden also criticized Trump for being divisive, arguing that the president is “determined to stoke division and chaos. It’s not good for the country, but Donald Trump doesn’t care. His campaign is failing and he’s looking for a political lifeline.”

“Every instinct Trump has is to add fuel to the fire,” said Biden, according to CNBC. “It’s the last thing we need. We need leadership that will calm the waters and lower the temperature. That’s how to restore peace in the streets.”

Since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that the league erred by banning players from protesting on the field, eyes will be watching to see how the NFL and the players will handle the subject of protesting during the upcoming season. According to Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt, he is “not kneeling for the flag and screw anybody who have a problem with that.”

The football player took his view to Twitter earlier this week to state his thoughts on the act of kneeling for the national anthem at NFL games.

The Pittsburgh Steeler preceded that statement with:

Stop letting the world masculinity blind you that’s my spill for Monday. If you need help talk to me I have over 80 percent of my wealth while helping my mother and created Financial securities for my kids and wife. I will not judge. I’m not secretive I will help.

— stephon tuitt (@DOCnation_7) July 27, 2020

Then he let loose with the statement that quickly went viral.

Also I’m not kneeling for the flag and screw anybody who have a problem with that. My grandmother was a immigrant from the Carribean and age worked her ass off to bring 20 people over the right way. She had no money and educated herself to be a nurse. She living good now.

— stephon tuitt (@DOCnation_7) July 27, 2020

According to Fox News, earlier in the off-season, Tuitt’s teammate Cameron Heyward had stated that the team would protest in unity.

“I think we want to stay united in what we do and what we want to accomplish,” Heyward said during a conference call with reporters last month. “Coach T (Tomlin) always told me that if we win a Super Bowl, that’s not enough for the city of Pittsburgh. We want to leave a lasting change on our community as well.”

Recovering from economic loss is hard for any small business. This week, a Black woman came to her store to find that all of her inventory had been stolen, equating to $70,000 in revenue loss, leaving her and her team in a perilous situation.

Ghanaian-born Charity Dinko is an entrepreneur living in Richmond, Virginia, who has run her successful shea butter business, Northsea, for four years as a way to help women in her home country liberated out of poverty.

“We produce incredible shea butter that we also use in making our body butter, and we sell wholesale and retail to other businesses that make soap as well,” Dinko told NBC12. “The people there are extremely hardworking, especially the women, and there is extreme poverty to the point where most of them don’t even have food to feed their kids daily.”

One day when she came back to check in on her inventory space, she discovered that all of her items had been stolen. “I came back in the evening around 5:45, open this space up, just to realize they were right. Everything was gone,” she explained. “Almost 70 thousand dollars worth of items and sweat and all the work we put in over the past couple of years was wiped away.”

An online fundraiser has been opened where people can donate to help Dinko keep her operations opens and keep her staff as the police can gather more details on the theft.

“To produce 2,000 pounds of shea butter took about 30 days for us… and to go back and tell them that all of their hard work is gone is completely unbelievable,” said Dinko. “They don’t even understand who did it and why.”

• Politics

by Derek Major

July 29, 2020

Rep. Jim Clyburn Introduces Legislation to Rename Voting Rights Bill After John Lewis

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House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn has introduced legislation Monday that pushes to rename the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 after Rep. John Lewis, who passed away July 17.

The bill, H.R. 4, was originally introduced by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) last February in order to restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court changed in 2013. The bill has easily passed in the House but is one of more than 100 bills still stuck in the Senate as Rep. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has refused to even bring them to a vote.

“Congressman Clyburn is offering legislation to rename H.R. 4 The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act tomorrow. The name change is expected to pass by unanimous consent,” Clyburn’s spokeswoman, Hope Derrick, confirmed in a statement according to CNN.

Clyburn has challenged President Trump and McConnell to prove they hold Lewis in the same light as hundreds of other politicians in the country and work to pass the bill.

“I think that Trump and the Senate leadership, Mitch McConnell, by their deeds if they so celebrate the heroism of this man, then let’s go to work and pass that bill because it’s laid out the way the Supreme Court asked us to lay it out,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union.

“And if the President were to sign that, then I think that’s what we would do to honor John. It should be the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020. That’s the way to do it. Words may be powerful, but deeds are lasting,” Clyburn added.

Lewis was a civil rights figure who served in the House for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death. Lewis was also one of the “Big Six” who organized the March on Washington and led several Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

In one of the marches Lewis, Hosea Williams, and Amelia Boynton were attacked by armed Alabama police. On Tuesday, Lewis’ casket was carried across the bridge one last time.

Steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie once said 90% of millionaires made their wealth investing in real estate. Although most busy professionals are not aspiring to be Carnegie, many do want financial freedom, flexibility, and generational wealth. And while the path to riches has broadened over the last 100 years, real estate investing still serves as a great avenue to financial freedom and wealth creation.

However, the fear of managing tenants, rehabs, and negotiations is a drawback for many aspiring real estate investors. Most people are unaware that there are ways to invest in real estate without becoming a landlord, flipper, or wholesaler. In fact, many busy professionals are better served through alternative strategies that allow them to focus on their priorities, instead of day-to-day real estate operations.

Here are three simple strategies to invest in real estate without screening tenants, swinging hammers, or soliciting sellers.

Invest in REITs

REITs are Real Estate Investment Trusts that are publicly traded on the stock exchange. Investors purchase shares of large firms that develop and own properties. REITs are easy to find, have low minimums, and are fairly liquid investments. As a fund, REITs invest in multiple projects so you won’t be able to review specific properties. Instead, you are investing in more of an index-fund across commercial real estate sectors.

REITs are one of the easiest ways to invest in real estate, but they have their disadvantages. For starters, as REITs perform more like an index fund, you won’t get to select specific companies or investments. Also, tax benefits are factored in prior to dividend payouts, which are taxed as ordinary income and could increase your overall tax liability.

Become The Bank

Lending isn’t just for big banks. Individuals can provide private loans to real estate investors and hold the promissory note to generate passive returns. These loans are usually backed by the real property, providing some assurances in case of a default. Private loans are common for short-term holds, such as a fix and flip project.

In addition, you can invest in long-term existing mortgages. According to Daphne Wilson of Note Newbie Investor Education, “mortgage note investing is real estate investing without property management.”  Investors buy notes and borrowers simply make their monthly payments directly to the investor, instead of the bank.

Notes are not limited to real estate mortgages. You can invest in student loans, business loans, personal loans, and more.

Invest with Others

Partnering with other investors can be done through a joint venture or a real estate syndication. Real estate syndication is the process of pooling money together between active and passive investors to buy a commercial property. As an example, instead of 10 people investing $100,000 to buy and manage 10 separate properties, they pool those funds together and use $1,000,000 to buy an apartment complex.

Real estate syndications have two groups, active investors and passive investors. Active investors are called general partners and handle all aspects of buying and managing the property. Passive investors or limited partners invest equity and simply earn a return on their capital. Unlike REITs, investors are able to review specific deal details before investing.

Syndications provide cash flow, appreciation potential, and depreciation that can lower your tax liability. However, these deals are not as liquid as REITs, typically have longer hold periods, and require higher minimums. These deals are shared through private offerings, so to evaluate these opportunities, you need to connect with a real estate syndicator.

Investing Options for Busy Professionals

REITs, lending, and syndications are great strategies for busy professionals, who want to invest in real estate and put their money to work, without picking up a side job. So, if you don’t want to deal with tenants or rehabs, consider one of these three passive investing strategies.

• Leadership

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 29, 2020

Colin Kaepernick And Dr. Anthony Fauci To Receive Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award

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Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights announced the recipients of its annual Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award and among them is former NFL quarterback and social injustice activist Colin Kaepernick and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The annual Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award is given to leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to social change. It recognizes individuals across government, business, advocacy, and entertainment who have utilized their platform for the public good.

“Our country is yearning for leadership, for moral fortitude, for common decency and kindness, and this year’s Ripple of Hope laureates give us great hope for the future,” said Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “Their work for equal justice touches every corner of society, sometimes at great personal cost. We are deeply honored to celebrate these changemakers, who have set forth countless ripples of hope at a time when our world is in such need of inspiration.”

In addition to Dr. Fauci and Kaepernick, other honorees include Dolores Huerta, founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and co-founder of United Farm Workers of America; Dan Schulman, president and chief executive officer of PayPal; and Dan Springer, chief executive officer of DocuSign. 

“In 2017, I was in the audience honoring Mr. Harry Belafonte as he accepted the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award. I am humbled to follow the footsteps of individuals like Mr. B and to be in the company of all the other laureates. Thank you for this prestigious award,” said Colin Kaepernick, co-founder of Know Your Rights Camp, a free campaign for youth advancing the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities.

Past Ripple of Hope laureates includes Barack Obama, Tim Cook, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Robert F. Smith, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Belafonte, John Lewis, Hillary Clinton, Bono, and Joe Biden.