House Democrats to Unveil Plan to Distribute $1,200 Stimulus Checks in New $3 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Fund
In March, President Donald Trump signed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, into law. As a part of the Act, many Americans were hopeful that the $1,200 stimulus checks would be helpful as the nation adjusts to the economic shifts due to the impact of COVID-19. Unfortunately, there are millions of Americans who have yet to receive relief funds and it has been reported that some who have, already need additional assistance. In response, U.S. House Democrats are reported to unveil a $3 trillion relief fund this Friday.
A recent article by The Hill outlined the plans Democrats have for the second round of coronavirus relief funds. As proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the fund would make provisions for another round of stimulus payments to individuals and essential workers, funding for food assistance, state and local government, and a contingency plan to allow Americans to vote by mail in the November elections.
During an address at the Capitol regarding the fund, Pelosi said, “We must think big for the people now, because if we don’t it will cost more in lives and livelihood later.”
Despite the dire needs of Americans, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) believes that the House should wait out the decision to provide people with additional relief until lawmakers have an adequate amount of time to review the implementation of measures already in place, as reported by The Hill.
Under the proposed Democratic bill, here is what American’s would receive:
Individuals would receive another $1,200.
Up to $6,000 in relief funds per household.
An additional $600 a week in unemployment insurance payments past the July end date to January.
$25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service to help make up for lost revenue due to the pandemic.
$75 billion for coronavirus testing.
Business grants for employers of essential workers to pay more.
In addition to the newly proposed relief fund, The House will be voting on working and voting remotely as they seek to find solutions for Americans.
Meet Harvard Law School’s First Nigerian Professor
Diversity in academia has been an issue for decades across most of the country’s elite universities. While diversity among the student body is rising, academia is still lagging behind. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2017, 76% of postsecondary faculty members at accredited institutions were white whereas only 24% identified as nonwhite. It is critical for minority students to have faculty members that look like that they do and one professor is making history at Harvard University, challenging people on their perceptions of what an Ivy League school professor looks like.
In 2015, Dehlia Umunna made history as Harvard’s first Nigerian law professor and currently serves as the deputy director and clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute (CJI). She received a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Public Administration, and holds a B.A. in communications from California State University, San Bernardino, in addition to a law degree from George Washington University Law Center.
Before she started at the country’s most elite university, Umunna served on the District of Columbia Law Students in Court Clinic board and worked as an Adjunct Professor of Law and Practitioner in Residence at American University and Washington College of Law. In addition to her work in academics, she also spent several years as a public defender and worked as a trial attorney. Umunna served as faculty training attorneys under the District of Columbia Criminal Justice Act.
“I relish this extraordinary opportunity to continue work that I am truly passionate about, and I am grateful for the deep interest and commitment of the school to issues of criminal justice, mass incarceration, indigent defense, and social justice,” Umunna told Harvard Law Today when she first took the role.
Her duties include governing third-year law students as they represent clients in criminal and juvenile proceedings before Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals court.
The National Black Child Development Institute Goes Digital for National Black Child Development Week Amid COVID-19
May 11 – 15 is National Black Child Development Week in the United States. This year, amid COVID-19, The National Black Child Development Institute Inc. (NBCDI) decided to make the most out of the week by going digital and focusing on homeschooling, mental health, and food insecurity. In addition, NBCDI will be raising funds to deliver groceries to those in need.
For the past 50 years, NBCDI has been at the forefront of engaging leaders, policymakers, professionals, and parents around critical and timely issues that directly impact black children and their families. They are a trusted partner in delivering culturally relevant resources that respond to the unique strengths and needs of black children around issues including early childhood education, health, child welfare, literacy, and family engagement.
As more than 55 million students are sheltered-in-place during the pandemic, numerous organizations have responded to the needs of black children who are doubly disadvantaged. Prior to the crisis, countless black children faced a number of insecurities and disparities. In response, The National Black Child Development Institute has gone digital for National Black Child Development week during its 50th Anniversary celebration and will host a variety of Zoom-powered workshops and seminars, and Instagram Live conversations.
“Nothing will stop us from supporting black children,” said Tobeka G. Green, president and CEO of NBCDI in a release. “We have reallocated and customized our resources and support to foster uninterrupted learning and optimal well-being.”
The free one-hour live sessions will provide critical insight, tools, and resources on subjects including homeschooling, the black economy, mental health, and the 2020 census. Each day kicks-off at noon and ends at 4:30 p.m. with a daily ‘Homeschooling Happy Half-Hour’ for children and families to enjoy together.
The featured speakers for the series of events include Marley Dias, teen activist and founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks; David Clunie, executive director, Black Economic Alliance; Angela F. Williams, president and chief executive officer, Easter Seals; Kennith ‘Kenny Clutch, The Dancing Dad’ Thomas, professional choreographer, overcoming adversity influencer and author of When We Change the Mind, We Change the Game; Eunique Jones Gibson, award-winning photographer, activist and author of Because of Them, We Can™; and Jonathan Hines, Pre-K teacher, Barack H. Obama Elementary Magnet School of Technology and first African American male named Teacher of the Year in Georgia.
To sign up for the free workshops and sessions, click here.
AARP Teamed Up With NNPA To Provide Older African Americans With Resources On How To Combat COVID-19
African Americans have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, crisis mostly due to underlying health conditions and existing racial inequities within the healthcare system. This has left older African Americans over the ages of 50 as some of the most vulnerable to the virus with many lacking proper access to technology to keep up with the news cycle and are more likely to have less access to support resources to protect themselves against the pandemic.
Since the start of the pandemic, AARP has been closely monitoring news on the virus and delivering useful information and resources to older Americans, specifically those from marginalized communities. “The data is clear and has been clear for decades: African Americans, Latinos, and other minority groups live sicker and die younger,” says Stephen Thomas, a professor of health policy and management and director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity at the University of Maryland School of Public Health to AARP. “We cannot close our eyes or put up blinders to the disproportionate impact of this disease on racial and ethnic minority communities.”
To combat the outbreak among the community, AARP has collaborated with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) to host a virtual information session and first African American press briefing to provide information and additional resources for African Americans over the age of 50 regarding COVID-19. The topics ranged from ways to prevent transmission to consoling loved ones who have lost someone to the virus.
Speakers at the virtual event included Dr. Ben Chavis, president and CEO of the NNPA, Shani Hosten, AARP Multicultural Leadership AA/B Strategy Lead, Reginald Nance, AARP New York, Associate State Director Multicultural Outreach, Dr. James Hildreth, President of Meharry Medical College, Rita Choula, AARP Public Policy Institute Director of Caregiving, and Cristina Martin Firvida, AARP, VP Financial Security & Consumer Affairs.
3 Cleveland Men Awarded $18 Million After Wrongful Conviction In 1975 Put Them In Prison
Three African American men who spent more than 100 years combined in prison, were awarded $18 million from the city of Cleveland for wrongful murder convictions in 1975.
According to the Moguldom Nation, Rickey Jackson, Wiley Bridgeman and his brother Kwame Ajamu agreed to the settlement after 12 hours of negotiations. Under the settlement, all three men will receive payments through April 2023 and federal lawsuits filed by all three men will be dropped.
According to Friedman and Gilbert, the law firm representing the two brothers, the settlement was the largest in the state’s history awarded over police misconduct.
The three men, now in their 60s, were convicted of murder in 1975 for shooting money-order collector Harold Franks. The men maintained their innocence even while imprisoned and were finally cleared in 2014.
Jackson, who served 39 years before he was released, said the money doesn’t come close to the time he lost in prison. Ajamu, agreed.
“Money cannot buy freedom and money certainly does not make innocence,” Ajamu told reporters after agreeing to the settlement.
Jackson will receive $7.2 million and Bridgeman and Ajamu will split the rest, according to Jackson’s lawyer Elizabeth Wang.
“No amount of money can compensate them for what they went through,” Wang told reporters.
A jury found Jackson, Bridgeman, and Ajamu (then known as Ronnie Bridgeman) guilty of murdering Franks and the trio was also convicted of trying to kill store owner Anna Robinson.
All three men were sentenced to death but the sentences were reduced to life in 1978 when the state enacted a short-lived moratorium on the death penalty. At the time of the conviction, the three were just 17, 20, and 18 years old.
In 2014, almost 40 years later, Edward Vernon, the eyewitness, who was 12 years old at the time, said city detectives pressured him to lie on the witness stand. Vernon said the police threatened to jail his parents and that police manipulated him, according to a Cleveland.com report.
The men were set to begin their trials in July, suing the city of Cleveland and the detectives who investigated the case. The federal lawsuit suits named three Cleveland police detectives and a sergeant and the estates of another sergeant and three other detectives who have since died.
The same scenario occurred in Baltimore last year.
Three Baltimore men were exonerated in November 2019 after a wrongful conviction put them behind bars for 36 years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. The men received $2.9 million in a settlement finalized in March.
Netflix Launches New ‘Made In Africa’ Collection to Mark ‘Africa Month’
Netflix announced earlier this year its plan of creating entertainment based in Africa to work on more original content based on the continent. The streaming platform is now expanding its focus on the continent with the arrival of its latest offering celebrating the diversity of the diaspora.
Toward the beginning of the year, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos, spoke to Variety about taking a team of executives on a multi-country trip across the continent to engage with local creators touting plans of creating originals shot in various African countries.
“I’ve learned so much in the very short time we’ve been here…(and) I’ve just been thrilled to be surrounded by some of the most creative and successful creators in the world here in Nigeria, telling your stories to the world,” he said. “And that’s the thing that’s most exciting about…what we’re doing in Africa, and what we’re doing in Nigeria.”
Earlier this month, Netflix unveiled the new “Made In Africa” collection, which will run throughout the month of May in conjunction with Africa Month. It was originally created by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 focused on continental unity and to encourage nation building among the African diaspora through unity and freedom from oppression.
The new collection will feature over 100 titles based throughout the African continent from Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Sierra Leone, and more. “We’re excited to celebrate African stories and storytellers,” says Ben Amadasun, Netflix’s director of Licensing and Co-productions for Africa to OkayAfrica. “We hope that by making these ‘Made in Africa’ titles easily available we will help ensure they are watched around the world.”
The collection has numerous titles ranging from Netflix originals like South Africa’s Queen Sono staring Pearl Thusi and Senegal’s critically acclaimed Atlantics to previously acquired films like Nigeria’s Chief Daddy to the Malawian-based film The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind in addition to documentaries of real-life stories on the continent.
Armed Protesters Visit North Carolina Subway Restaurant With Weapons in Tow
A group of anti-quarantine protesters entered a Subway sandwich shop in Raleigh, North Carolina, Saturday carrying an array of weapons, ranging from pistols to a rocket launcher.
According to The Root, the gathering was organized by Blue Igloo. According to its Facebook page, the organization’s mission was to take advantage of an “opportunity for First and Second Amendment supporters to get together, meet people with commonalities and get some exercise while we’re all wasting away at home.”
Travis Long, a photojournalist for the Charlotte News & Observer shared photos on Twitter of the group at an Subway sandwich shop. One photo showed a man with a weapon resembling an AT4 rocket launcher strapped to his shoulder as well as guns on his waist.
Long told CBS News, he thought the gathering was an anti-quarantine protest.
“It just speaks to how strange this time is and how fractured, divisive our culture is right now,” Long told CBS News. “Something as simple as ordering a sandwich requires a large amount of firepower to prove a point that you’re trying to make about the Constitution.”
The Blue Igloo group told NBC News, their demonstration wasn’t a protest at all, but a gathering of like-minded people.
“The walk on Saturday wasn’t a protest, it was a gathering to support our God-given freedoms as Americans,” the group told NBC News via email. “We headed out for a walk to get some fresh air, sunshine, and some much-needed exercise.
The group added the gathering was organized as a peaceful one, even though many of the men carried weapons.
“We are a peaceful group, and wish to keep it that way at all costs,” the statement added. “We aren’t looking for a fight. We in fact, want the opposite. We want to put on a smile, shake some hands, and be friendly. An armed society is a polite society.”
The group’s claims may be true considering the gathering took place during the first phase of the state’s reopening plan. However, the group did make some pedestrians uncomfortable.
Video footage of the event showed a man holding a large pipe wrench approaching an African American couple with a baby in a stroller.
During the coronavirus outbreak, shootings of black men have gained national exposure. Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis were arrested last week for shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery who was jogging through a Georgia suburb in March.
Anthony Trifiletti was also arrested and charged last week with the murder of Doug Lewis, a 39-year-old African American man, in a road rage incident.
Black Women Rock at Raising Capital: Sevetri Wilson’s NOLA Startup Raises $8 Million
Despite the obstacles, some black women founders are out here killing it when it comes to raising capital. New Orleans startup Resilia, founded by Sevetri Wilson, announced today that it has raised $8 million in its Series A round of funding.
The round was led by Mucker Capital and Callais Capital Management with participation by Cultivation Capital. It the highest venture capital raise by a female-founded tech company in the state of Louisiana.
Resilia is a software as a service (SaaS) platform with the mission to “harness the power of technology and human connection to bridge gaps between those deploying capital and those on the receiving end.” It provides nonprofits with tools for compliance, management, training, and funding, while also serving those entities that give money to the nonprofits—like governments and corporate or private foundations.
Wilson started her first company, Solid Ground Innovations, with zero capital and grew it to a seven-figure enterprise, then launched Resilia four years ago as a spinoff. Black Enterprise spoke exclusively with Wilson as she prepared to announce her latest achievement about how she’s found success raising capital.
You were already a successful entrepreneur, why did you decide to start a second company?
Most people thought I was crazy because SGI was doing really good. They were like why would you pivot and go to technology. I wasn’t in the venture world and I didn’t come up in San Francisco. So you could imagine going out to raise money, and you’re not a technical founder, and you’re black, and you’re from the South. I had a lot of “ands” with me.
But I’ve always been a big believer that if you can create a vision, and you can put together people to execute against a vision, knowing your weaknesses, then, ultimately, you can find success. I knew that technology was this major disrupter and it was disrupting industry after industry and either I was going to be on the side of doing the disrupting or I was going to be disrupted by it.
And particularly in the space of nonprofits and philanthropy, I saw that the technology was very dated, and generally the work that we were doing, we were doing as consultants. I was like there has to be a better way to do this, to collect information, to share information faster, to synchronize data. That’s what originally made me start thinking about how we could utilize technology to solve some of the issues we were having as consultants and essentially how could I begin to productize our services.
But you didn’t have any background in technology.
I believe that anyone can learn anything—whether you want to or not, that’s up to you. I just threw myself into the world of technology. I was taking courses online, learning the lingo so I could talk to my developers and engineers, I began to follow various different online news, and I hired people that knew what they were doing.
Man, I remember reading so many stories about how difficult it was for women raising capital. But for me, because I started a company before, I felt that I had at least a head start, right? And when I went out to raise capital, it was like, ‘Who are you?’ Even after all of the stories, I was shocked that this was happening to me. When I was raising the seed round, it was just miserable. I didn’t have any more to give.
In my opinion, I feel like investors can try to discourage black founders from raising capital because they don’t want to invest in them: ‘Well maybe your business isn’t, you know, fit for raising capital,’ when you rarely hear that on the other side for other people.
So why even go the fundraising route?
I do subscribe to the fact that every business shouldn’t be backed by venture capital because I actually built a company that did not raise capital. We were able to build the company very lean, but we also weren’t building software. Software is expensive. And when you need to drive a go-to-market strategy and run a sales engine, it’s expensive. When you need to build out engineers, that isn’t cheap.
For us to really be able to compete, if we want to be able to capture percent of the market share, if we want to be thought leaders in this space, and really be the go-to for what we’re doing, we’re going to have to raise capital.
What does this new raise mean for the company?
This round of funding allows the company to begin to really scale. We launched to the public in November 2016 with one specific product. Then we were called Exempt Me Now; we rebranded to Resilia as it began to push into market as well as introduced a suite of new subscription-based products, speaking to more of a fast business model. It allowed us to begin to rapidly grow and focus on reoccurring revenue. Now, this funding allows us to begin to hire, to fill out our executive suite of individuals who can help us grow the company to greater heights. So this is a continuation of what we had essentially planned when we first started and we’re actually being able to realize a lot of the goals and intent behind the company now with this funding.
Was it easier this time around?
When I went to raise my series A, because we were growing at essentially at a 250% year-over-year rate, it became a little bit easier for investors to take my calls, to go into meetings and pitch. But even then the diligence is brutal. I know that some of my white male colleagues weren’t going through months of diligence, having to send off data and information and then you send off more and you send off more. But we were able to get through a pretty rigorous diligence process.
And you were also racing to beat the clock of a looming pandemic.
We closed in mid-March, and so I felt the pressure of COVID-19. I was trying to get wires sent and documents signed, and I literally felt like the walls were closing in on me. It’s definitely by divine nature that we were able to close right ahead of this. I’m thinking about founders who are just about to go out and raise money, you know it’s already hard enough for us black founders, you can imagine how far down the totem pole we’re going to be.
Speaking of coronavirus, it’s having an incredible effect on your industry.
Philanthropy is busier than ever. We’re seeing more funding being dispersed for COVID-19 than we’ve ever seen across any natural disaster. I’m from Louisiana, and I lived through Hurricane Katrina. One thing that actually influenced our own product was what happened next, after Katrina. We saw a move to disperse money really quickly. But when money is dispersed rapidly like that, we all know there’s going to be so many issues. It’s harder to track, if you’re trying to measure the impact of where that money’s going, is it reaching the people it needs to reach, what are we learning from this information and how can we use it to deploy the next round of funding. Our technology was built to help mitigate those risks. And so now that we’re in COVID-19, it’s like, wow we were built for this.
You also want to make sure that black nonprofits know you’re a resource.
The New York Times wrote an article recently about the disparity in philanthropy, and anyone who has worked in philanthropy knows there’s a lot of disparity about who receives funding and what people look like on the other end, who are receiving funds. I personally feel obligated to ensure that information is getting out to our communities, getting out to organizations led by black leaders, particularly when we know COVID-19 is impacting black communities more than anyone. Y’all are not going to leave us behind again!
Mielle Organics ‘More Than a Strand’ Campaign Promotes Healthy Hair Relationships and Mother-Daughter Entrepreneurship
Many black women consider their hair to be their crowns. Beyond length, style, or texture—the way that women are in relationship to their hair can be looked at as a radical act of self-love. There’s also the flip side of that as well. For all of the reasons that black hair gets caught up in hair politics, Mielle Organics is launching the “More Than A Strand” campaign, to promote healthy hair relationships among girls and women globally.
Ahead of the June launch, we caught up with Monique Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mielle Organics about what inspired her to create the campaign. Rodriguez said through the #MoreThanAStrand global beauty campaign, Mielle Organics aims to empower mothers and young girls through education, entrepreneurship, and economic development.
Mielle Organics’ campaign truly extends further than hair itself.
“The #MoreThanAStrand global beauty campaign was inspired by one of the most important bonds in a young girl’s life. The bond between a mother and her daughter. Specifically, when it comes to hair. I remember being a young girl and associating getting my hair done with a negative experience. An experience that’s all too common among women of color. I felt that by improving that experience for so many young girls, I could create life-long memories and lessons that empower our girls to follow their dreams of becoming that confident entrepreneur or businesswoman on a global scale,” said Rodriguez.
This year, the company will expand the Mielle Mavens program to encompass North America, the Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominican Republic), and to South and West Africa.
“By connecting women within these three continents, Mielle Organics will create a global community that provides opportunities for entrepreneurship and economic prosperity in areas where it’s not common to see businesswomen. The #MoreThanAStrand beauty campaign will also encompass the launch of Mielle Organics’ philanthropic arm on a global scale. A percentage of sales from each Mielle Mavens sale will be donated to charities that serve the unmet needs of their community,” Rodriguez added.
Creating Stronger Bonds
As a mother and beauty mogul, Rodriguez is adamant about being a role model for her daughters and teaching them self-acceptance.
“Allowing my daughters to see their mom pursue her dreams and passions has brought us closer together. It has really inspired them to do whatever they set their mind to, be more creative, and be more independent. Most important, our relationship has exposed them to the power of women entrepreneurs,” said Rodriguez.
“Growing up, I didn’t see that example of a businesswoman who looked like me. Women who were able to accomplish their dreams and be heads of multimillion-dollar companies. I grew up thinking that entrepreneurship was something that was for white men. Providing my daughters with the opportunity to see me as the first example of a new normal has definitely brought us closer together.”
Through the global campaign, Rodriguez hopes to inspire other women to be their daughters to grow stronger bonds that will set them up for success.
“With the #MoreThanAStrand global beauty campaign, my hope is that it will move daughters to look at their mothers as role models versus the options they have in the media or on TV right now,” said Rodriguez.
She added, “I believe that by creating a positive experience for the two, mothers will encourage their daughters to pursue their dreams and know that they can have it all. You can be a mom, and a wife if you want to be a wife, and a business owner. I believe that it all starts with putting God at the center.
To learn more about the More Than a Strand campaign and Mielle Organics, click here.
Black Woman Prosecutor Appointed to the Ahmaud Arbery Murder Case
The death of Ahmaud Arbery has taken the nation by storm. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has named Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes as the new lead prosecutor in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, according to ABC News.
Holmes becomes the fourth prosecutor to handle the case of the young black man who was killed while jogging on Feb. 23 in Glynn County, Georgia. She is the first African American to serve as a district attorney in Cobb County.
I have appointed District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes of the Cobb County Judicial Circuit to lead the prosecution of Gregory and Travis McMichael who have been charged with aggravated assault and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
In a press release, Attorney General Chris Carr announced that he formally appointed District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes of the Cobb County Judicial Circuit to lead the prosecution of Gregory and Travis McMichael who have been charged with aggravated assault and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
“I appreciate District Attorney Tom Durden’s involvement in the Ahmaud Arbery case,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “This case has grown in size and magnitude since he accepted the appointment on April 13, 2020, and as an experienced District Attorney, Tom has recognized that another office is better suited from a resource perspective to now handle the case. As a result, he has requested our office to appoint another District Attorney.
“Today, our office formally appointed District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes of the Cobb County Judicial Circuit to lead the prosecution. District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge, and the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”
Retired district attorney investigator Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested last week for the February shooting death of 25-year-old Arbery. The father and son are facing charges of murder and aggravated assault.
