Danielle Mullen, the owner of Semicolon Bookstore, a Black-owned book store in Chicago, says that the global Black Lives Matter campaign has resulted in a huge financial boost for her business. She says that her store has gone from selling 3,000 books a week to 50,000 books a week.

As a woman-owned business, Danni says that her store is committed to having a direct impact on raising literacy rates in Chicago and beyond. She is selling books both online and inside her recently-reopened shop located at 515 North Halsted Street. “We were created with one thing in mind — community,” she says.

According to The New York Times, many other book stores across the nation are having the same success. However, sometimes the orders are so overwhelming, that they can’t “manage the deluge of orders”.

Even Danni admits that she struggles to keep up, and they’ve even had to unplug the store’s phone. “We couldn’t answer it and answer email and fulfill orders at the same time,” she said. “We now have almost 60,000 followers on Instagram — and we’re a bookstore! We had probably 3,500 to 5,000 before.”

For more details about Semicolon bookstore, visit SemiColonChi.com or follow the store on Instagram @SemiColonChi

This article was written by BlackBusiness.com.

• Business

by Dana Givens

July 5, 2020

Bank of America Partners With iHeartMedia For National Audio News Service For The Black Community

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This week Bank of America announced its new partnership with iHeartMedia to launch the Black Information Network (BIN), the first 24/7 national and local all news audio service dedicated to informing the Black population and spotlighting issues of importance within the community.

The goal of the new network is to provide a voice for Black people to help foster new conversations with a deeper understanding. form. A study by iHeartMedia showed that 86% of Black listeners believe a platform like this is necessary and are likely to use it as an important news source. CVS Health, GEICO, Lowe’s, McDonald’s USA, Sony, 23andMe, and Verizon are also apart of the new partnership for the platform.

“When we can invest in opportunities that genuinely serve communities, like BIN, we are living up to our values and achieving the highest and best use of our resources,” said Meredith Verdone, chief marketing officer of Bank of America in a press statement.

“Keeping informed about events in our rapidly changing world has never been more important, and BIN’s goal of delivering relevant, local news tailored to the needs of Black communities across the U.S. directly aligns with Bank of America’s goals to strengthen and better serve local communities across the country.”

“We are pleased and proud to support the launch of BIN: Black Information Network by contributing resources that will have the greatest impact—our reach, our multiple platforms, our technology infrastructure and our broad, in-depth relationships with consumers,” said Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia.

“The commitment to service, and the immediate need we saw for a news and information destination for the Black community, accelerated the launch of BIN: Black Information Network to serve this community in an important new way.  We are honored to be joined by some of the most important companies in the world that are also committed to this mission.”

Kevon Chisolm, founder and president of Black Wallstreeter Consultation Services, is teaming up with his 13-year old son, Kamari, to launch an online summer camp that teaches African American teens how to invest. The camp is great for preventing learning loss and offers a fun environment for students to learn financial concepts while simultaneously learning about African American history.

Kevon comments, “In addition to topics like budgeting, banking, and investing in the stock market, our camp goes beyond others by exploring community wealth building through investment clubs.”

The course, Junior WallStreeters: Empowering Youth with Financial Wellness, will teach students life-long financial education skills and discipline through 10 lessons with an emphasis on African American history and culture.

Kevon has witnessed how these same financial lessons have changed how his son understands money and his goal is to help other young people. Kamari, although only 13-years old, understands investing so well that he currently manages his own portfolio of stocks and ETFs.

“Simply put, our goal is to teach financial knowledge to eliminate the wealth gap by showing young people how to properly use money as a tool,” he adds. The online camp will primarily be taught by Isaiah Cromwell, a high school teacher who helped Kevon develop the curriculum.

The camp will be held for two weeks between July 13-24 from 11:30am to 3:30pm with a 1-hour lunch break. Students must be between the ages of 14-18 and have a computer with Internet access. The cost of the two-week camp is just $250. This fee includes course materials such as an electronic student handbook, Junior Wallstreeters Envelope Budgeting System with tracking sheets, and a Stock Tracker Notebook.

A few scholarships are available for low-income students to attend the camp. “We want to give as many students the opportunity to obtain a financial education regardless of their financial situation,” Kevon says. Interested sponsors should contact the company for more information.

Limited spaces are available. Register today online at:
www.theblackwallstreeter.com/shop/campregistration

For additional information, visit their website at TheBlackWallstreeter.com or contact Kevon Chisolm, Esq. at kevon@theblackwallstreeter.com

This article was originally written by BlackNews.com.

Real estate developer Chris Senegal and broker Jay Bradley are teaming up to buy several blocks to renovate and revitalize in Houston. Together with Cocoa Collective Xchange, they are helping bring back Black-owned businesses into the Fifth Ward community through a Buying the Block campaign.

The project was started by buying abandoned properties and turning them into new construction homes. It has, so far, attracted a number of young Black professionals to be homeowners as well. New homes for families who have lived in the Fifth Ward for decades will also be built in some of the redeveloped blocks.

More than that, the main purpose of the Buying the Block campaign is to attract more investors into the community in order to fund long-term rentals for businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops, and office space. The campaign has raised more than $720,000 from over 1,100 investors.

“I have enough to complete the project,” Senegal told Chron. “Additional investor funds will be used to acquire adjacent properties to expand the scope of the project.”

For Senegal, the project has been beneficial to alleviate the damage caused by flipping houses. Bradley, who owns the Equinox Realty Group, shares the same sentiments, believing better opportunities come with having strong ties within the community.

“You create opportunities to have something better in the community,” Bradley said. “At this point, it’s really about helping people who are trying to do good things with the community.”

For more information about Buying the Block campaign, visit BuytheBlock.com

This article was originally written by BlackBusiness.com.

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 3, 2020

Armed Black Men in Louisiana Show Up at Courthouse to Counter Armed White Supporters of a Confederate Monument

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In a scene not usually seen in America, a group of armed Black men came prepared, with guns out, to a protest in Shreveport, Louisiana, to show support and to also protect the Black women who were there for a hearing on the removal of confederate statues prominently displayed according to ESSENCE.

Earlier this week, a group of armed Black men from the Sleep Is For The Rich Gun Club in Shreveport, Louisiana, went to the Caddo Parish courthouse with the purpose and mission of protecting unarmed protestors and specifically Black women.

According to Baton Rouge Proud, The Lighthouse Ensemble had obtained permits to protest the confederate monument at the Caddo Courthouse every Saturday for the month of June. In what was described as a peaceful protest started as four people last Saturday, had grown into a protest and counter-protest that, later that afternoon, had morphed into hundreds of people.

The counter-protesters, a group identified as the Gulf Coast Patriot Militia, many of them bikers and did not have a permit, positioned themselves across the street and were openly armed with handguns and rifles.

By 3:00, police had estimated that the crowd grew to be more than three hundred people, and for the most part, the crowd was under control.

Lawmakers were expected to convene on Tuesday to make a decision on whether the monuments would be removed.

Based on what occurred last weekend, the Sleep Is for the Rich Gun Club showed up with guns in order to prevent the intimidation that happened the last time the group showed up at the courthouse.

As the group was approached by a reporter inquiring as to why they were carrying guns, group leader Nicky Daniels, Jr., responded by saying, “Why not? Those guys came on Sunday and they tried to intimidate some innocent women, ladies, unarmed men.”

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A post shared by Baller Alert (@balleralert) on Jul 1, 2020 at 9:52pm PDT

According to KTBS, District Judge Craig Marcotte deferred a decision on extending a temporary restraining order which temporarily stops Caddo Parish from removing the monuments.

• Politics

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 3, 2020

Former Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain Hospitalized With the COVID After Attending Trump Rally in Tulsa

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Former Republican presidential candidate, Herman Cain has been hospitalized after contracting the deadly coronavirus earlier this week, according to a statement released via his Twitter account.

We are sorry to announce that Herman Cain has tested positive for COVID-19, and is currently receiving treatment in an Atlanta-area hospital.

Please keep him, and all who are battling this virus, in your prayers.

Our full statement appears below. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/lDRW7Rla4e

— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 2, 2020

Cain, who made a presidential run on the Republican ticket back in 2011, is now an ordained associate minister at Antioch Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Cain had recently attended the Trump rally June 19th in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he was pictured without a mask nor social distancing himself.

Here’s just a few of the #BlackVoicesForTrump at tonight’s rally! Having a fantastic time!#TulsaRally2020 #Trumptulsa #TulsaTrumprally #MAGA #Trump2020 #Trump2020Landslide pic.twitter.com/27mUzkg7kL

— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) June 20, 2020

Dan Calabrese, who is the editor of Cain’s website, HermanCain.com stated in a post that “We honestly have no idea where he contracted it. I realize people will speculate about the Tulsa rally, but Herman did a lot of traveling the past week. I don’t think there’s any way to trace this to the one specific contact that caused him to be infected. We’ll never know.”

Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump. PEOPLE ARE FED UP!https://t.co/Oykdz4xThD

— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 1, 2020

Based on a recent update on his Twitter account, he is doing better.

Good morning! @RobertLaurie here with good news. We just received a message from HC. His oxygen levels are improving, he’s had no complications from the meds, & he’s in no pain.

We’re grateful to God and for your prayers. Keep them coming! We’re confident Herman will back soon!

— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 3, 2020

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 3, 2020

Alabama Students Throwing ‘COVID Parties’ as a Contest to See Who Gets Coronavrius

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There have been reports that there are students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama who are attending parties featuring known students who have been recently diagnosed with the coronavirus, staging contests to see who can also catch the virus, a city council member told ABC News earlier this week.

As rumors of these parties started to spread, Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry informed the city council that these students have been organizing “COVID parties” to intentionally infect each other with the coronavirus.

“They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It makes no sense,” McKinstry said. “They’re intentionally doing it.”

Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith also spoke of the parties to the City Council earlier this week as he has also confirmed the behavior of the students. Smith spoke to council members and said that there have been parties held throughout the city and surrounding Tuscaloosa County, “where students, or kids, would come in with known positive.”

“We thought that was kind of a rumor at first,” Smith told the council members. “We did some research. Not only do the doctors’ offices confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information.”

Tuscaloosa, which is the seventh-largest city in Alabama, is also home to The University of Alabama and several other colleges.

“We’re trying to break up any parties that we know of,” McKinstry told ABC News. “It’s nonsense. But I think when you’re dealing with the mind frame of people who are intentionally doing stuff like that and they’re spreading it intentionally, how can you truly fight something that people are constantly trying to promote?”

Arrol Sheehan, the spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said the state’s “Safer at Home Order” states that people who test positive “shall be quarantined to their place of residence for a period of 14 days.”

Sheehan said that the violation of the heath order is a misdemeanor and fines for each violation can be up to $500.

“Suspected violations of the home quarantine order should be reported to law enforcement and the local health department,” she said in a statement to ABC News.

Coleen Otero knows what it’s like to walk through the storm as an entrepreneur and come out on the other side. The founder of CEO Chick, a network of diverse women entrepreneurs, Otero is also a beauty expert and the author of Brand to Bucks: A No-Nonsense Guide to Building a Six Figure Brand.

Otero started her entrepreneurial journey as a hair stylist, getting her license right out of high school and eventually having her own salon.

“And then the market crash hit. I thought, man what am I going to do now that I’m no longer behind the chair in this particular brick and mortar space?”

After the Great Recession, Otero lost almost everything—her salon, her car, her home. “It was sort of like a rebirthing, honestly,” she says. “That journey was one of the toughest things that I ever had to face.”

Otero sees the parallels between the rough time she went through and the challenges so many women entrepreneurs are facing right now as the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and the fight for racial justice.

“We’re seeing so much loss around us. It puts you in a place where things that you relied on are no longer available, people you relied on are no longer available,” she says. But the upside is that it “really allows you to see what defines you—who are you, what you really need. Things I thought I needed, I didn’t.”

And, she says, it forces you to discover what you’re made of: “None of us have ever seen anything like this. It’s going to rock you to your core, and you’re going to realize, either I’ve got some work to do but I’m able, I’m equipped to walk through this season. Or you’re going to find out, man I really don’t have the faith I thought I had. I really ain’t the boss like I thought I was.”

Now she looks back on losing her salon and says, “The day we closed, I tell people that was the best day of my life.”

Otero’s comeback started with the internet. She was able to connect with potential customers in new ways, eventually become a stylist who traveled with clients or worked on projects such as photo shoots or book covers.

“Social media really changed the way we did business,” she says. “It allowed my business to grow further after the salon closed.”

Social media also gave her her tribe. In 2012, she started a Facebook group to foster the kinds of conversations she was interested in having with fellow women entrepreneurs.

“One of my favorite scriptures is ‘My people perish for a lack of knowledge,'” Otero says. “I don’t have all the answers but I’m one that will continue to knock.”

In 2015 that group turned into CEO Chick, which now offers online courses, live events, and group coaching to its community of 1,000 women entrepreneurs.

This month, Otero is expanding that virtual education beyond the network with a Master Class Mondays series that is affordable—$20—and open to the public. Topics will include how to secure funds for your business, how to use technology to scale, and how to become a household brand name, with experts such as Amazon Web Services’ Jillian Blackwell and Sassy Jones Boutique CEO Charis Jones.

Otero chose the format to “bring different industry leaders to share the information that these women need to be successful in business, because you can’t get that on social media alone. You get a lot of hype and not ‘how-to.'”

“We want to make sure that they are running not just brands that are popular online and cute online,” she says. “They need the depth, they need cash flow. They need to understand investing, they need to understand diversifying. They need to understand how to work on their business, not just in it. Running a business, it’s not just Instagram.”

CEO Chick will also have a giveaway every week this month for Black women entrepreneurs, worth $5,000 in products and services, including $500 cash.

Even though the CEO Chick network is diverse, the giveaway is targeting Black women specifically because, as Otero says, “we are still, unfortunately, not bringing in the revenue that we need to. Black women in business lead in being the last to lead. We’ve got to do something about that.”

“The ultimate goal is that we help women stay in business,” through these challenging times, Otero says. “It’s possible. It’s doable. You can take your brand and your business to another level online and see the financial rewards. Don’t give up.”