Crossfit CEO ‘Retires’ After Backlash to Comments About George Floyd
Greg Glassman, the founder of fitness and lifestyle program CrossFit, announced he was “retiring” after creating a rift in the community with racist comments about the death of George Floyd that cost the company at least one major sponsor.
The backlash started over the weekend, when Glassman responded to a tweet about racism being a public health issue.
After a swift public outcry, athletes, gyms, and brands began distancing themselves, according to Business Insider. Most notably, Reebok cancelled its partnership with the company, saying in a statement that “in light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ.”
But it seems the tweet that started it all was just the tip of the iceberg. On Tuesday, BuzzFeed News reported that hours before the tweet, Glassman said even more disturbing things about Floyd during a private Zoom call with affiliate gym owners.
“We’re not mourning for George Floyd—I don’t think me or any of my staff are,” Glassman said, according to a recording of the meeting sent to the secure BuzzFeed News tipline.
“Can you tell me why I should mourn for him? Other than that it’s the white thing to do—other than that, give me another reason,” he said, according to BuzzFeed, in response to a question about why the company hadn’t released a statement regarding Floyd’s death. “I doubt very much that [the protesters are] mourning for Floyd. I don’t think that there’s a general mourning for Floyd in any community.”
Later that day, Glassman announced in a statement on CrossFit’s website that he was stepping aside for the good of the company:
“I’m stepping down as CEO of CrossFit Inc., and I have decided to retire. On Saturday I created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members,” he said “I cannot let my behavior stand in the way of HQ’s or affiliates’ missions. They are too important to jeopardize.”
CrossFit also posted an apology, saying Glassman’s remarks were “insensitive and hurtful” but stopped short of calling them racist.
“Please accept our deepest apology for contributing to the pain and confusion permeating our community—a community we love and respect for its vibrancy, strength of spirit, and diversity,” the post stated. “We cannot change what has happened, but we ask for forgiveness while we thoroughly examine ourselves.”
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Has Made Juneteenth An Official Corporate Holiday
Corporations and public institutions are being forced to have conversations around race and discrimination toward African Americans after protests have erupted around the country in response to police brutality. These dialogues have also emphasized the importance of learning about black culture and history. This week, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Juneteenth will now become a permanent annual company holiday for all U.S. employees.
In a series of tweets, Dorsey explains it was important to include all emancipation holidays for his employees. “Countries and regions around the world have their own days to celebrate emancipation, and we will do the work to make those dates company holidays everywhere we are present,” he wrote following up by asking others to add their company if its also celebrating Juneteenth to a recognition table in celebration.
Juneteenth is the honorary holiday celebrating when the last of the enslaved Africans in the U.S. were freed. Even though President Abraham Lincoln freed slaves two and a half years prior, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, that slavery actually ended across the country after slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned that they were freed. It is the oldest national celebration of the end of the legal oppressive system of racism, hatred, and commerce that enslaved Africans in bondage for hundreds of years.
Both Twitter and Square are making #Juneteenth (June 19th) a company holiday in the US, forevermore. A day for celebration, education, and connection.https://t.co/xmR3fWMiRs
Other companies have also announced their plans to celebrate the holiday in addition to offering more support to their black employees. Vox Media announced on Twitter that the company will also be making the holiday a part of its company holidays in addition to a new fellowship for black journalists.
Vox Media will observe Juneteenth as a company holiday and is launching a fellowship program focused on HBCUs and members of NABJ, per company memo from Chief Executive Jim Bankoff: pic.twitter.com/1yXzrJv2Vo
Entrepreneur and Investor Monique Idlett-Mosley Shares How She Is Using Her Voice and Her Funds to Create Change
A key element to Monique Idlett-Mosley’s decades-long success as an entrepreneur, investor, and entertainment pioneer is knowing when to pivot.
The Miami-based philanthropist started her career as an advertising executive when she was 22 years old after convincing a VP at USA Today to hire her for a senior-level sales position that required 20 years of experience. At the time, she was a graduating college senior and a single mother. Yet, she became both the youngest and first-ever African American woman senior executive at the publication. During her seven-year stint, she started her own marketing agency from within the USA Today offices before venturing out on her own.
From Sales to CEO
Through her agency, Idlett-Mosley did marketing and public relations for clients that included Kanye West, Verizon, Burrell Communications, and T.I. In 2006, Idlett-Mosley helped mega-producer Tim “Timbaland” Mosley launch Mosley Brands and the Mosley Music Group (MMG) record label before the two married in 2008. As the CEO of both companies, she managed artists like One Republic, Nelly Furtado, and Chris Cornell. Under her leadership, MMG artists were RIAA certified platinum 64 times and RIAA certified gold 22 times. However, after seeing the effects that technology and streaming platforms like iTunes had on the music industry, she decided to go back to school and earn an MBA. In 2012, she enrolled at George Washington University where she met Erica Duignan Minnihan, an angel investor who would later become her business partner.
Monique Idlett-Mosley (file)
From Entertainment to Tech
In 2014, Idlett-Mosley lent her industry expertise to the hit FOX series Empire, serving as a fashion consultant. That same year, she began serving as a National Trustee for The Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Her career path took another major turn in 2017. Together, she and Minnihan launched a $25 million venture capital firm that focuses on women- and minority-led startups. Named after her daughter, Reign Ventures is an early-stage investment firm that invests at the Seed and Series A stage in promising technology and tech-enabled startups. It was one of the early investors in LISNR and SoLo Funds, which were both founded by Rodney Williams — the cover subject of the May 2016 issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE. Reign Ventures also backed start-ups like the wedding website and app Appy Couple and the fashion rental platform Villageluxe.
“Rain ventures is [funded by] my personal money,” Idlett-Mosley told BE. “I took my personal — all of my personal liquid assets — and I said I’m going to give it back to our community the best way I know how.”
Because women and minorities receive less than 1% of total venture capital dollars annually, Reign Ventures also serves as a mentorship network. “We have a couple of portfolio companies that are doing better actually because of COVID,” she said. “So, to me, that lets us know that we are selecting portfolio companies [that are] not just solving problems for today, but that also are looking towards the future and tomorrow,” she added.
From Behind-The-Scenes to Talent
Now, in 2020, Idlett-Mosley finds herself back in the entertainment industry. But rather than working behind the scenes, she’s the talent. In April she and her real-life girlfriends launched Chatter, a talk show that currently airs on FOX Soul. On the show, the women discuss their relationships, careers, and personal experiences from a faith perspective. Idlett-Mosley even opened up in one episode about co-parenting with Timbaland following their 2013 divorce.
“We have never publicly dealt with anything. We took pride in being private and protecting our family structure, and just kind of just being normal people,” she said. However, they wanted to speak publicly about their relationship in order to set an example of what healthy co-parenting looks like. “We needed our culture, our women, our men to know to stop using children. You are affecting them with your trauma. Get over it. Put them first and let’s be healthy because they become adults and they start repeating the same thing.”
In addition to hosting her own show, Idlett-Mosley is channeling her passion for social justice by helping to build Until Freedom, an organization geared towards fighting systemic and racial injustice. The organization was founded by activists Tamika D. Mallory, MysonneLinen, Linda Sarsour, and Angelo Pinto. Idlett-Mosley serves as the board chair and plays a key role in curating committees and raising funds.
“I want everybody to feel accountable through Until Freedom and to support it,” she says. “Now, all of a sudden, it’s not just black and brown people. These police are beating the mess – they are violating Caucasian people right now for just the simple fact that they believe in humanity and they do [believe] that black lives matter, too.”
Hip hop icon Snoop Dogg also joined the board, which Idlett-Mosley says was a natural fit. “He understands his accountability. If we look back at his music, his music always had messaging in it. He had some fun stuff, but he still always had messaging. And as we’ve watched him grow into this man of wisdom [and] of maturity, he has definitely been a voice [and] he has definitely called out the things that were not just.”
She added, “It is time for the culture to get the support back from the icons who have made it in the entertainment industry based on the culture supporting them.”
Trump Will ‘Not Even Consider’ Renaming Military Bases Honoring Confederate Leaders
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would “not even consider” renaming Army bases that honor Confederate leaders and soldiers who fought to protect slavery and uphold white supremacy.
According to CNN, US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday they’re open to holding a “bipartisan conversation” about renaming almost a dozen army bases and installations bearing the names of Confederate military commanders.
However, Trump was quick to shoot the idea down.
“The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations,” Trump tweeted Wednesday.
“These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a… ….history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom.”
Peaceful protests calling for the end of racial inequality and police brutality have dominated the headlines for the last two weeks after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others. The protests have pushed many to reconsider the statues and army bases named after confederate soldiers and figures.
Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced the state will remove the Robert E. Lee Statue from Richmond’s Monument Avenue. Statues of Christopher Columbus in Richmond, Boston, and Minnesota have also been damaged and defaced since the protests began.
“We stand in solidarity with black and brown communities that are tired of being murdered by an out-of-control, militarized, and violent police force,” the Richmond Indigenous Society, said in a statement to The New York Times Wednesday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to the leaders of the Joint Committee on the Library on Wednesday requesting they take action to remove eleven statues of confederate soldiers and officials from the U.S. Capitol.
“As I have said before, the halls of Congress are the very heart of our democracy. The statues in the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation,” Pelosi wrote. “Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals. Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. They must be removed.”
LeBron James Launches Voting Rights Initiative ‘More Than a Vote’
Los Angeles Lakers’ player LeBron James has announced that he and several other professional athletes have launched a charitable organization to protect black Americans’ voting rights according to The New York Times.
“Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us—we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” James said in a phone interview with The New York Times. “How long is up to us. We don’t know. But we feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
The name of the nonprofit organization is More Than a Vote, which is in lockstep with his mantra “more than an athlete.” More Than a Vote will try to encourage black people to not only register and vote for the upcoming November election, but it plans to also expose voter suppression tactics, such as misinformation spread through social media.
James plans on using his social media platforms to try to combat the perils of voter suppression and he will be vocal about drawing attention to any attempts to restrict the enfranchisement of racial minorities.
“Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” James said. “We’re going to give you the background of how to vote and what they’re trying to do, the other side, to stop you from voting.”
Everyone talking about “how do we fix this?” They say “go out and vote?” What about asking if how we vote is also structurally racist? https://t.co/GFtq12eKKt
“I’m inspired by the likes of Muhammad Ali, I’m inspired by the Bill Russells and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, the Oscar Robertsons—those guys who stood when the times were even way worse than they are today,” James said. “Hopefully, someday down the line, people will recognize me not only for the way I approached the game of basketball but the way I approached life as an African American man.”
King James has already enlisted actor and businessman Kevin Hart and fellow basketball players Trae Young, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Jalen Rose, Draymond Green, Udonis Haslem, as well as NFL football player Alvin Kamara. James intends to add more prominent people as well.
NASCAR Bans All Confederate Flags From Races, Venues
For more than 70 years, the Confederate flag flew at NASCAR races and events. Now, with a focus on race relations and inclusion, the sport has announced it has banned the flag at its races and all its venues.
According to Yahoo News, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing made the decision Wednesday. The sport has long been deeply rooted in Southern tradition and has been proud of it, but NASCAR says it wants to be known for more.
“The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors, and our industry,” NASCAR said. “Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special. The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”
Today there is only one African American driver currently on the circuit, Bubba Wallace, who called for the banishment of the Confederate flag earlier this month and said there was “no place” for it in the sport.
Hours after the announcement was made Wednesday, Wallace debuted a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme on Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43 Chevrolet for a race at Martinsville, Virginia.
“It’s been a stressful couple of weeks,” Wallace said on FS1. “This is no doubt the biggest race of my career tonight. I’m excited about tonight. There’s a lot of emotions on the race track.”
The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have brought new attention to police brutality and the treatment of African Americans across the country. Their deaths have sparked a series of protests and have led to several southern states removing Confederate statues.
Some drivers and NASCAR lifers have responded negatively to the news. Truck Series driver Ray Ciccarelli posted Wednesday that he will leave the sport at the end of the season due to the news. Ciccarelli has driven in 32 NASCAR races but does not have a win.
NASCAR’s checkered history with race was on display in April when driver Kyle Larson was fired after he said the N-word during a live-streamed virtual race. The predominantly white field of drivers united last weekend to make a video promoting social change. Ryan Blaney, one of Wallace’s best friends, said after the race at Martinsville on Wednesday that he stood by Wallace.
“I’m really proud of what he’s doing, the effort he’s putting in and wanting to kind of lead the charge,” Blaney told FS1. “I stand behind him. A lot of guys stand behind him. Not only the drivers, but a lot of teams, as well. Crew members. The car he ran tonight was great. I loved that he was able to do that and come up with that idea.”
Joe Biden, Marcia Fudge Discuss Policing, Economy at NAACP Town Hall
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) discussed policing, the economy, and reparations at a virtual town hall Wednesday night, hosted by Ed Gordon and the NAACP.
Biden wasted no time discussing how important the ongoing protests are to make sure African Americans get the equality they’ve been fighting for for more than 400 years.
“We’re in a battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said. “This is a moment where we must make substantive change but we have to do more than just throw money, we have to change the circumstances around situations.”
Biden also admitted he thought the fight for equality was over when Barack Obama was elected president, but quickly learned that was not the case.
“I thought when we elected an African American president that I stood next to, ‘maybe things have changed,'” Biden said. “But I’ve learned that even a bad president’s words carry.”
The conversation soon shifted to police brutality and changing policing across the country. Fudge said that now is the time for change and discussed the Justice in Policing Act.
“This is the time, as the winds of change are blowing we have to make sure that we strike while the iron is hot,” Fudge said. “On Monday the Congressional Black Caucus introduced the Justice in Policing Act, it is a bill that calls for transparency, accountability and to change the very culture of policing in this country.”
The bill, among other things, prohibits all law enforcement agencies from racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling and mandates training on such profiling for all law enforcement. The bill also establishes a National Police Misconduct Registry to prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave an agency from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability.
“I think we are at a point that we need to reevaluate how we police our communities,” Fudge said, “especially as the need for social services goes up. We know that there is a role for police, we just need to evaluate how to allocate resources to be sure they are put to the best use.”
Economy
The group also discussed the economy, which is officially in a recession. Gordon asked Biden what he would need to do to rebuild the economy after the coronavirus pandemic ends. Biden said first he would find every dollar that was taken by a corporation that didn’t qualify for funding but received it anyway.
“I’m going to immediately hire an inspector general to [go] back and track down [every] dollar,” Biden said. “And I’m going to hold people liable who misused the money, stole the money, or shouldn’t have gotten the money in the first place.”
Biden added that his second move would be to work on the infrastructure of the country.
“The second move is to rebuild the economy and the way you do that is infrastructure,” Biden said “You invest in new major initiatives, for example, I have a trillion-dollar proposal for infrastructure. Look at all the schools in America particularly the ones in African American neighborhoods, where you cant drink the water, where the air you breathe is not clean.
“We should be spending $100 billion renovating all those schools; we’ll create good-paying jobs, we’ll put people in position to gain on their income as well.”
Reparations
Gordon also asked Biden about BET founder Bob Johnson’s comments earlier this month saying African Americans should receive $14 trillion in reparations to close the wealth gap and whether Biden would be in favor of reparations.
“I know it has to be done now, let’s not wait, let’s do the studies and decide whether it should be direct cash payment, but in the meantime you know it has to be done,” Biden said. “For example, if in fact the homes of African Americans were valued the same as white Americans there would be $154 billion more equity in African American homes. That’s how most white Americans build equity.
“We have to change the way in which we deal with access to housing, we have to change the way people are able to acquire housing in the first place.”
Black Bookstore Owner Selling Out of Books For First Time In 30 Years
The protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor have sparked a candid and raw conversation about racism and inequality toward African Americans. Reports have shown that not only people becoming vocal about standing up for change, they have also committed themselves to educating themselves. There has been a sharp increase in books sales about racism.
One black-owned bookstore in Boynton Beach, Florida, is seeing those numbers in real time.
Akbar Watson is the owner of Pyramid Books, which specializes in books about African American culture. In an interview with NBC affiliate WPTV, Watson said for the first time in 30 years he’s been selling out on books on race.
“It’s a shock to say the least,” Watson said. “And they weren’t being housed at major bookstores, they were coming from independent authors and independent publishers, they didn’t have that wide spectrum.”
Watson added that he’s been receiving hundreds of orders online for books like The New Jim Crow, to others like Ready for the Revolution since the protest started.
He’s happy to see his clientele expand.
“We have always been viewed as a problem in American society and that reality that we didn’t create is starting to unfold in the face of America as we see it today,” he said. “I know that one book is not going to change the world, but I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
In a WTF Moment, Ben Carson Says NFL Players Should Explain Why They’re Protesting
Earlier this week, Ben Carson, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said NFL players should express the reason they are kneeling and protesting during the national anthem, according to Yahoo Sports. Apparently Carson doesn’t realize that they’v been doing that since the inception of the protest.
“My personal feeling is, if those players were to come out and say, ‘We love our nation, we are patriots, we love our flag, we honor the memory of those who died to give us our freedom, but, we are protesting some of the brutality that has occurred, and that’s why we’re doing this,’ I think it would solve the problem,” Carson said on CNN’s State of the Union. “And I suggest that they do that.”
Carson hasn’t been watching the news over the past couple of years: The players have always said the protests are not about the flag.
“We hate that people are going to see it that we don’t respect the military, the men and women that are braver than us that go and put their life on the line,” NFL defensive back Devin McCourty said in 2017 after President Donald Trump took issue with the players who decided to take a knee. “But we just wanted to send a message of unity and being together and not standing for the disrespect…All of us want to send a message of unity, not just as a team but a fraternity of NFL players.”
Devin McCourty talked about why some of his teammates took a knee during the national anthem. pic.twitter.com/h9LJdSp1QO
Julius Peppers, then an NFL defensive lineman, said in 2017, “I want to get one thing clear: This was not about disrespecting the military, disrespecting the flag, police, first responders, none of that.”
And, of course, Colin Kaepernick said at every juncture over the years what the reason behind the kneeling was and always denying the narrative that the intent was to disrespect the flag or the people who have served in the military.
Snoop Dogg Prepares to Cast a Vote in His First Presidential Election Ever
Calvin Broadus, better known as Snoop Dogg, is making strides in terms of contributing to the electoral process! The rapper/businessman has vowed to vote in this year’s presidential election for the first time, according to Billboard.
His distaste for President Donald Trump has made him eager to place a vote in the upcoming presidential election. “I ain’t never voted a day in my life,” he told Big Boy when he called into Big Boy’s Neighborhood, “but this year I think I’m gonna get out and vote cuz I can’t stand to see this punk in office one more year.”
Snoop had previously served time when he was convicted for felony drug possession in 1990 and pled guilty to felony gun and drug charges in 2007. “For many years, they had me brainwashed thinking that you couldn’t [vote] because you had a criminal record. I didn’t know that,” he told Big Boy. “My record’s been expunged, so now I can vote.”
Snoop also feels he needs to encourage his fans and followers to vote in November and he wants to lead by example.
“We got to make a difference, I can’t talk about it and not be about it,” he said. “I can’t tell you to do it and then not go do it. If I tell you to do something, I done it already.”
Snoop also wanted to bring notice to the still ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the world for all of 2020.
“We’re dealing with the pandemic too, and I don’t think that is fully going away,” Snoop Dogg stated. “People are quick to jump into the streets and not knowing what the full, you know, thing is with that right now. So I just want to let everybody know to be careful and be safe and keep your mask on. Stay hydrated, stay [hygenic].
Snoop goes on to say that although he isn’t out there actively protesting he has been “keeping [himself] busy and staying active.”
“I’ve been up and down. I’m a human, I have good days, bad days, but I’m more locked in so I like to pace so either walk around in circles, watch things on TV, play video games,” he shared.
