• Education

by Dana Givens

June 24, 2020

How This Podcast is Providing African American Content During A Critical Time In the U.S.

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The new conversations around race relations sparked by the current protests over racial injustice and police brutality have caused a new surge in interest in Black American history and culture. Amazon’s best-seller list for books has been dominating with the topic of race with black-owned bookstores seeing record sales. This also applies to other forms of media including podcasts.

Black History Year by PushBlack, the country’s largest media advocacy organization for Black Americans, recently debuted at No. 1 on Apple Podcast under history and No. 6 in overall streaming podcasts on the platform in addition to amassing over 20,000 in its first 48 hours of launching. The six-episode series covers topics around the Black experience ranging from young Black millionaires to Black gun ownership. The goal was to engage and educate Black Americans about their history to create a more engaged population of Black voters.

“It was important for us to fill the gap in the podcast world with a series that can educate and activate our subscribers to build their personal power and create lasting economic and political change,” said Julian Walker, interim co-CEO of PushBlack in an email interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“People are looking to amplify Black voices and Black-centered products and services now more than ever as a direct result of the racial injustices that are happening in our communities. During these unprecedented times in our country, Black Americans need an outlet to connect us to our history of struggle and resilience. Our content provides this and more.”

Walker hopes to keep creating content to educate subscribers about their history hoping to bring change in our current political landscape. “We are glad people recognize our platform as an outlet they can turn to during times where reputable and trustworthy information is needed,” he continues.”We will continue to amplify Black voices from our podcast and daily communications.”

Making a commitment exceeding $1 billion, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is joining other large banking companies across the country to battle racism.

The Pittsburgh-based parent company of PNC Bank says its pledge will help end systemic racism and support the economic empowerment of African Americans and low- and moderate-income communities. PNC’s commitment includes over $1 billion in community development financing and capital for neighborhood revitalization, consumers, and small businesses. Plus, PNC will give employees up to 40 hours of paid time off annually in support of qualifying social justice and economic empowerment nonprofits via volunteerism.

The company’s actions contain offering over $50 million in additional charitable support to national and local organizations that seek to end racism and promote social justice. That will include expanding financial education and workforce development efforts and help revitalize low-income neighborhoods and bolster affordable housing.

“We are living in one of the most important civil rights movements of our time. Each of us has a role to play in combating racism and discrimination, and PNC is committed to driving real change in areas in which we can make the greatest impact,” stated PNC Chairman, President and CEO William S. Demchak in a news release.

He added, “This is about much more than writing a check. This is about PNC doing what it does well—putting our capital to work in the communities we serve and providing innovation through products and services, with a special focus on helping African Americans buy homes, which we recognize is an important factor in wealth accumulation.”

Demchak acknowledged the role democracy plays in bringing about social justice. PNC earlier this month contributed $200,000 to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in support of the group’s work to secure voting access for all communities, especially African Americans and other voters of color.

In early June, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America announced a $1 billion commitment over four years of extra support to help local communities address economic and racial inequality fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp earlier this month pledged $116 million this year to address persisting social and economic inequities where it operates and enlarge opportunities for people of color.

The COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, pandemic has caused many Americans to lose employment with a record-high number of unemployment claims that have brought the economy to a halt. One of the hardest groups hit has been workers without traditional jobs who are self-employed and cannot claim unemployment like hair salon professionals and independent hairstylists. Now, major beauty brand, ORS Haircare, is stepping up to take care of beauty professionals impacted by the viral outbreak.

Chicago-based haircare company, ORS™ Haircare, has launched  ORS Cares, a multi-tiered support initiative to help Black hairstylists and salon owners around the country who are experiencing economic hardships due to the public health crisis. The initiative includes a $100,000 investment to be distributed into grants.

“For more than two decades now in the business of beauty, ORS™Haircare has honored and respected the unique struggle of Black hairstylists and salon professionals—and they’re in our thoughts especially at this challenging time,” the company said in a press statement.

“But beyond merely the struggle of being independent businesspersons, giving back is also who we are as a company. It’s what we stand for, and in extraordinary times like these the onus is on all of us to invest in each other and lift each other up, and that’s what ORS™Cares is really all about. If we don’t do it, then people get left behind.”

 

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True to its mission, ORS Haircare has stepped forward with a $100,000 starting commitment through ORSCares; a multi-tiered support initiative conceived to benefit hairstylists and salon owners that have suffered. The initiative includes the ORSCares Relief Fund – created to support licensed hairstylists and salon owners with grants. To apply for these relief funds, please click the link in our bio and visit our #ORSCares page! 💚

A post shared by ORS Olive Oil (@orshaircare) on Jun 19, 2020 at 5:52pm PDT

• Entrepreneurship

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 23, 2020

Hot 97’s DJ Young Chow Plans to Prep His Love of Caribbean Meals Vegan-Style

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Being a DJ typically shapes your mindset on the virtues of entrepreneurship as you venture out to make sure you’re working to pay bills and experience doing something you love. For Hot 97’s DJ Young Chow, nee Patrick Chow, having Soca DJ King Chow, as his father, opened his eyes for his love of music. At 9-years-old, Young Chow played at his first party in Miami at the Ramada Hotel. He’s been DJing ever since.

The Baron Tequila Brand Ambassador, who has traveled the world showcasing his musical talents on the turntables, is also a restaurant owner. He has expanded his business empire with the launch of Vegan Plan Meal Prep. Young Chow took his hands off the wheels of steel and stepped out the kitchen briefly in order to talk to BLACK ENTERPRISE about his new venture and what makes him happy.

BE: When did you become vegan and how important is that lifestyle to you in what you do?

Chow: Honestly, I’m not a vegan. I’m a pescatarian at the moment transitioning into becoming a full vegan. I met up with my partners Wes & Ash and I tried their food and it was so amazing, I had to tell the world. I’m definitely going to be full vegan soon because I love the way it makes me feel. 

You’ve recently launched Vegan Plan Meal Prep. Tell us details about the company and your plans going forward.

The plans for our vegan meal plan is quite simple. We give the people three options of 3, 5, and 10 meal packages a week. Our plans with our business spread our vegan meal preps throughout the entire world in every city and every country. 

As an entrepreneur, what other businesses are you involved in and how do you juggle all you do to make sure you’re doing a good job?

As an entrepreneur, it’s definitely overwhelming doing a vegan business and my other business, which is my Caribbean take out restaurant. It’s called Caribbean Kitchen and it’s located at 286 Utica Ave between Eastern Parkway and Union Street in Brooklyn, New York. 

Why do you feel that people of color aren’t as interested in the vegan lifestyle when it’s so important for our health? What do you propose we do, as a community, to engage people to, at least, give the lifestyle a chance?

I feel people of color are so opposed to the vegan lifestyle because all our lives we are so used to eating with a lot of meats and seasoning, especially as a Caribbean person. We love our seasoned food. What makes our vegan plan so unique is that we’re cooking Caribbean food vegan style. The same flavor, just not with the dairy and meat products. 

When it comes to business, what keeps you going and wanting to continue focusing on what you create?

What keeps me motivated and keeps me going is the love I have for what I’m doing. I love music, I love DJing, and I love food cause I’m the greediest person in the world. But seriously, food makes people happy and I love seeing people eat my food and it’s cheering them up. Everything I do is about love and if I don’t love it I can’t do it.

A young, educated, and homegrown Black Kentuckian who secured a seat in the state’s House is now attempting a run at Mitch McConnell’s congressional seat.

Charles Booker, who grew up in Kentucky, told The Grio that the poverty he experienced as a child was one of the main reasons he got into politics.

“My childhood really shaped my view of the world, which is one of the things that really led me to go into politics,” he said. “Seeing how hard [my mother] worked just let me know that we weren’t struggling because we were lazy, because we were morally deficient.”

“It just really lit a fire under me to go into the spaces where the policy and budgetary decisions are made,” added the 35-year-old state lawmaker. “It makes sure that regular people are accounted for. My wife and I have two daughters, and I’m trying to make sure we don’t pass poverty down to them.”

A month ago, Booker was an afterthought in the state’s Democratic Primary race. Booker didn’t have enough funds to pay for advertising in the primary against former Marine pilot Amy McGrath. However, after the police killing of George Floyd, Booker saw a huge influx of money and a few key endorsements, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

Booker also marched in several Black Lives Matter protests in Louisville after Breonna Taylor was killed by police officers. Now, he’s a legitimate candidate for the primary, but Booker is planning to do more than show up.

“My focus is about uprooting racism,” Booker said. “We find ourselves being ignored over and over again like no one ever listened to us, no one ever cared how we feel, no one ever pays attention to our struggles, challenges, or aspirations. We are invisible and that is being displayed once again because these big donors are telling us all we deserve is a pro-Trump Democrat,” Booker added.

If Booker can get past McGrath, he’ll have a chance to create history by ending McConnell’s long run as a politician.

• Lifestyle

by Dana Givens

June 23, 2020

Black Museums Launch New Digital Platform Honoring Juneteenth

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Several institutions are creating new initiatives and platforms to educate mainstream audiences about African American history that is often left out of many classrooms. This week it was announced that six of the leading museums centered around Black American culture are now coming together to create a new platform in honor of Juneteenth in light of the current events.

BLKFREEDOM is a new digital platform that commemorates of one of the country’s oldest holidays, Juneteenth, featuring an original video presentation with Lonnie G. Bunch III, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Johnetta Betsch Cole, the first female African American president of Spelman College, and the Honorable Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library.

The platform was brought together by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (Detroit, MI), Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park (Hill Head Island, SC), Northwest African American Museum (Seattle, WA), Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater (Miami, FL), National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, OH), and the National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, TN).

 

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Juneteenth Celebration in 1900 at Eastwoods Park (Austin, Texas) 📸: Austin History Center. BLKFREEDOM.org will commemorate the 155th Anniversary of Juneteenth just as those pictured above, 120 years ago! Juneteenth dates back to June 19, 1865 when union soldier, Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with the news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This announcement was more than two and half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. BLKFREEDOM.org is a combined effort between Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History @thewrightmuseum (Detroit, MI), Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park (Hilton Head Island, SC), Northwest African American Museum @naamnw (Seattle, WA), Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater @bahltsoflo (Miami, FL), National Underground Railroad Freedom Center @freedomcenter (Cincinnati, OH), and the National Civil Rights Museum @ncrmuseum (Memphis, TN). Through educational content, artistic performances, and shareable discussion prompts, this collaborative program will explore the meaning and relevance of “freedom”, “justice” and “democracy” in Black American life, from a historical and contemporary framework. To learn more and subscribe for updates, visit blkfreedom.org. #BlkFreedom

A post shared by Juneteenth 2020 (@blkfreedomdotorg) on Jun 10, 2020 at 4:33pm PDT

Two entrepreneurs — Lynda M. Dorman, CEO and Carolyn E. Howell, President of Orange Wall Enterprises — have made history as the first Black women to sign a distribution and licensing deal for autonomous screening stations that recognize the initial symptoms of COVID-19. These stations, produced by Promobot, a Robotics and AI Technology company, are being installed in high traffic areas such as office buildings, prisons, schools, college campuses, healthcare facilities, places of worship, transportation stations, movie theaters, museums, or anywhere people gather.

With COVID-19 infections topping more than 2.2 million in the United States, Black and Brown communities continue to be among the hardest-hit populations in the country. The coronavirus pandemic has brought to the forefront the vital need for ongoing temperature monitoring as a first line of defense, in fact, in some states, certain employers are required to conduct routine onsite temperature checks as a permissible screening mechanism.

“We are thrilled to be working with such a respected team of engineers and software developers to expand our company’s capability and assist in reducing the risk of the spread of the virus,” says Lynda. Their company will sell these temperature screening stations under their own brand called Orange ThermoControl™ and Orange ThermoControl Plus™ powered by Promobot

“These stations are game-changers and have the ability to impact a lot of people by bringing this safety solution to the masses,” says Carolyn.

Their devices are free-standing and offer a non-contact thermal temperature reader, camera, 21.5″ display, face recognition module, access control system module, advance notification system, built-in speakers for audio assistance, and customizable software integration. The stations provide a fast, convenient, contact-free process for measuring body temperature and allows communication between user and remote operator with privacy in mind. Telepresence mode is an advanced notification system able to integrate with a company’s CRM access control systems and satisfies ADA standards for accessible design.

Even more, Orange ThermoControl™ and Orange ThermoControl Plus™ powered by Promobot are programmed and assembled in the USA. Installation consists of three quick steps and does not require any prolonged commissioning.

“We see our products as a necessary enhancement to safety protocols to assist with the health and well-being of people everywhere. There is no need to take a chance and risk your staff and employee’s exposure to COVID-19 when we have the solution,” they add.

The pair also are exclusive distributors for innovative rapid antibody test kits that can determine whether or not a person has been exposed to the COVID-19 virus within minutes.

Learn more about their company at OrangeThermoControl.com

This article was originally published by BlackBusiness.com.

• News

by Derek Major

June 23, 2020

High School Principal Tells Texas Teen To Remove Braids Because They’re Too Distracting for Graduation

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An East Texas teen may not be able to attend her graduation after her principal requested she remove her braids because they were too distracting.

According to Essence, Kienjanae Hooper spent eight weeks saving the money she earned from working at a local car wash to get long, flowy, burgundy-tinted braids for her senior photo shoot and graduation ceremony. The hairstyle took 10 hours to complete, but Hooper was ecstatic with the result. That is until Monday, when the principal at Gladewater High School, Cathy Bedair called Hooper’s mom to tell her the hairstyle violated the school dress code.

Bedair told Hooper’s mom her daughter would “have to take [them] down in order to walk and graduate” at the in-person ceremony scheduled for Friday evening.

“I said no ma’am; there is no reason that she should have to hide or take her hair down when she’s worn her hair [in braids] throughout the school year,” Kieana Hooper, who is white, told Essence. “I told her, she’s not doing nothing outlandish, like blue, green, purple or pink [hair]; she just likes to wear highlights and low-lights, with a reddish tint, you know nothing out of the ordinary.”

Hooper told Essence she’s unsure if the request is based on race, but feels she is being targeted.

“She’s saying my hair is a distraction. But from what?” asks the 18-year-old. “Really, the whole thing is really dumb to me, to be honest. Why does it matter about my hair that I can’t walk across the stage? I’m not going to say, ‘oh, she’s racist,’ but people have been calling her racist. Even before this whole hair thing, people were saying that [about her].”

Similar situations have occurred inside and outside the state.

Hooper’s mom told the principal she refuses to make her daughter, who maintains an A-average and volunteers with hospice patients and special-needs children, change her hair for the ceremony. Hooper added that Bedair called her again several hours later and said Hooper could walk if she tucked the braids into her gown. Hopper’s mom rejected the compromise as well.

The Gladewater Independent School District code posted online states  “hair shall be cleaned, trimmed from eyes and well-groomed” and “hair coloring shall resemble a natural color.” The code contains nothing related to braids.

Gladewater Independent School District Superintendent Sedric Clark denies Bedair was targeting Hooper and said the issues was the color of the hair, not the style.

“Principal Bedair was simply attempting to address what she initially considered a violation of the GISD Student Dress Code that could keep Kienjanae from her well-earned opportunity to participate in the graduation ceremony with her classmates,” Clark told Essence.

Clark also confirmed that Hooper will be able to walk after Bedair decided that K.J.’s hair color is “close enough to a natural hair color.”

So far as we’re concerned, the child can walk with her classmates on Friday and we consider the matter resolved,” Clark said.

Attorney Waukeen McCoy, who represents the Hoopers, says neither he nor his client had been formally informed that Hooper would be allowed to walk without covering her hair.

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 23, 2020

8 Minority Corrections Officers File Complaint After Being Barred from Guarding Derek Chauvin

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Eight minority Ramsey County corrections officers have filed racial discrimination charges with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights late last week. The officers are alleging that all officers of color were ordered to a separate floor when ex-police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with killing George Floyd, was placed into that jail, according to the Star Tribune.

Eight minority Ramsey County corrections officers have filed discrimination charges with the state’s Department of Human Rights after they were barred from guarding or having any contact with former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin last month. https://t.co/ILJJ6keycm

— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) June 21, 2020

The complaint is based on allegations that a supervisor told one of the officers that the black corrections officers would be a potential “liability” around Chauvin because of their race.

“I think they deserve to have employment decisions made based on performance and behavior,” Bonnie Smith, the attorney who is representing the eight officers said. “Their main goal is to make sure this never happens again.”

According to WLNS, Jail Superintendent Steve Lydon allegedly told his superiors that he was informed prior to Chauvin arriving and he made a call “to protect and support” minority employees by shielding them from the suspected killer.

“Out of care and concern, and without the comfort of time, I made a decision to limit exposure to employees of color to a murder suspect who could potentially aggravate those feelings,” Lydon said in a statement he had given during an internal investigation and provided by the sheriff’s office to the Star Tribune. He has since been demoted.

This will be the second time the Department of Human Rights will launch a racism probe into a law enforcement agency in recent weeks. The state previously launched a sweeping inquiry into the Minneapolis Police Department after Floyd was killed by Chauvin.

Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter back on May 29 and is being held at the Ramsey County Jail on a $1 million bond.

Currently, two of the fired officers involved in the George Floyd killing, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng, are free after posting bail, while Chauvin and Tou Thao remain in jail pending further legal action.

All four ex-cops are expected to make their next court appearance on June 29.

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 23, 2020

Queens District Attorney Will Not Charge Man Placed in ‘Apparent Chokehold’ Arrest, Officer Immediately Suspended Without Pay

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After an incident where a police officer has been suspended for an apparent chokehold in New York City, the Queens District Attorney’s Office has stated that they will not prosecute a man who was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct over the weekend, according to The New York Daily News.

The police officer, David Afanador, was swiftly suspended without pay after the video was released.

On Sunday afternoon at Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York, Ricky Bellevue, 35, was pinned to the ground by Officer David Afanador and other officers after a tense exchange between the parties. Afanador was seen choking Bellevue as he was laying on the ground on the boardwalk. The incident took place at 8:45 AM near Beach 113th St and Ocean Promenade in Rockaway Beach in the NYPD’s 100th Precinct.

WARNING: Graphic language

“While a full investigation is still underway, there is no question in my mind that this immediate action is necessary,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said. “We are committed to transparency as this process continues.”

Mayor de Blasio made a statement via Twitter regarding the situation.

Today was the fastest I have EVER seen the NYPD act to discipline an officer. Within hours:

Immediate suspension

Body camera footage released

Discipline process initiated

This is how it needs to be. https://t.co/Ma7f6nd7HL

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 22, 2020