• News

by Derek Major

May 11, 2020

North Carolina Deputy Charged For Leading Armed White Group To Black Teen’s Home

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A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy has been fired and charged after leading an armed mob to an African American teenager’s home.

According to The Grio, Jordan Kita, a detention officer in the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, was the leader of an armed group of about 16 men with guns on Sunday, May 3, that confronted Dameon Shepard at his home. Kita organized the mob to locate a missing girl.

Pender County District Attorney Ben David announced Kita was fired Friday and charged with forcible trespassing, misdemeanor breaking or entering, and willful failure to discharge duties.

David added that Kita is accused of going to Shepard’s home “while armed and in uniform in a county where he was not duly sworn in and in furtherance of personal—not law enforcement—purposes.”

The Shepard’s are preparing to file a civil suit due to the incident.

“We obviously cannot have armed groups of citizens patrolling the streets of Pender County or New Hanover County terrorizing innocent families,” said Shepard’s attorney, James W. Lea.

The missing girl, 15-year-old Lekayda Kempisty, has since been found safe. Not only did Shepard not know the girl, but it turned out the mob went to the wrong house. The group was looking for someone named Josiah when they knocked on Shepard’s door.

Shepard was playing video games late Sunday night when the mob showed up at his home, answered the door and was met by Kita and his mob. When Shepard tried to close the door, Kita, armed with an assault rifle, put his foot in the doorway.

Shepard told the mob that the man they were looking for previously lived next door. The commotion woke up Shepard’s mother, Monica Shepard, who told the group to leave.

“What if he was the person they were looking for or what if I was not home? What would’ve happened,” Monica Shepard told local TV station WECT. “I don’t want to have that conversation. I don’t want him to be a statistic. It’s scary.”

The police arrived at Shepard’s home Sunday, but none of the men were arrested.

There has been a litany of racially motivated incidents in recent weeks in the U.S. Two men were charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery last week after the story gained national attention.

Anthony Trifiletti, a Minnesota resident was charged with murder after killing Doug Lewis, a 39-year-old African American man. Trifiletti shot Lewis four times following a minor car accident.

• COVID-19

by Moguldom

May 11, 2020

Georgia Verifies Thousands of New COVID-19 Cases With Black Body Bags Skyrocketing

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Georgia started the process of reopening its economy on April 24, something Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was firmly against. The mayor warned of more covid-19 deaths if the state opened back up too soon. It seems she was right.

On the same day that Gov. Brian Kemp lifted Georgia’s stay-at-home order for most residents, Georgia confirmed that its covid-19 death toll increased by 1,165 within 24 hours, according to figures posted by the Georgia Department of Health, Savannah Now reported.

Georgia’s total number of cases has increased to nearly 30,000, according to Worldometer.

Black people are experiencing the highest number of covid-19 illnesses in the state, especially in Atlanta. Eighty percent of coronavirus patients hospitalized in seven Atlanta hospitals surveyed in March were Black patients, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study. African Americans in Georgia are hospitalized for covid-19 at substantially higher rates than their white counterparts, according to the CDC.

Atlanta is the second largest majority African-American metro area in the U.S. The Black population was 61.4 percent in 2000 and 54 percent in 2010 as African Americans in the city moved to the suburbs.

New infections continue to climb by the hundreds daily in metro Atlanta, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. As of (May2), there are at least 2,850 cases of the virus in Fulton County, 2,051 in DeKalb, 1,829 in Gwinnett, 1,664 in Cobb, 1,379 in Hall, 720 in Clayton, 492 in Henry, 477 in Cherokee, 371 in Carroll, 324 in Douglas, 318 in Bartow, 304 in Forsyth, 198 in Newton, 191 in Rockdale and 189 in Paulding.

African Americans make up more than 36 percent of overall confirmed coronavirus cases in Georgia, according to the state’s health department — slightly higher than their 32 percent share of the state population, CBS News reported.

Kemp allowed hair and nail salons, bowling alleys, gyms, and massage-therapy centers to reopen first. Restaurants and movie theaters were allowed to reopen on April 27, the Daily Mail reported.

Businesses allowed to reopen were informed they could only reopen with “minimum basic operations” and that they should use safety measures including checking staff for temperatures and respiratory illnesses, as well as increasing sanitation efforts, wearing masks and gloves, and continuing to practice social distancing in work stations, Business Insider reported.

Kemp said he is still urging residents to stay home whenever possible, and businesses must continue to operate under strict social distancing guidelines until May 13.

Math is now teaching Georgia what’s up. 1000 new cases of Coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

— We can have a society that honors life🌲🍄🌻 (@TimOnTheTractor) May 1, 2020

This article was written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.

TLS Talent Agency is announcing the start of a new division, TLS Sports, and will focus on helping historically black colleges and university (HBCU) athletes become professionals.

According to Black Business, TLS Sports will run independently from the talent agency under the direction of managing director Charles Stinson. The division will focus on HBCU athletes who are looking to fulfill their dreams of playing professional sports. TLS’ Services will include representing professional athletes with negotiating contracts and endorsement deals.

The 2020 NFL draft last month saw only one player from an HBCU school drafted; Lachavious Simmons who attended Tennessee State University. Simmonds was picked in the seventh round by the Chicago Bears and 227th overall.

One reason for the lack of HBCU players drafted was the HBCU combine, a yearly event for college football players from HBCUs to workout and meet with NFL coaches and scouts was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, 51 athletes from HBCU schools participated in the 2020 NFL combine, a weeklong event featuring more than 500 prospects hoping to be drafted. The Undefeated also reported that 32 HBCU athletes made opening day rosters in the 2016 NFL season.

Philadelphia 76ers forward/center Kyle O’Quinn is one of the few NBA players that attended an HBCU. O’Quinn averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds during his senior year in 2011-2012. Norfolk State made the NCAA Tournament that season as a No. 15 seed and upset the No. 2 Missouri Tigers.

“We are excited about the launch of TLS Sports and looking forward to helping those who attend historically black colleges or universities that aspire to make it to the next level but are overlooked. Our goal is to approach the business in a different way because the athletes can relate to us in a different way,” says Cicero Leak, CEO of TLS. “The launch of TLS Sports will also help those who attend HBCUs provide them an opportunity to get into the business as well, helping further the next generation.”

Last week, NBA veteran George Lynch, Tracey Pennywell, and a litany of celebrities and comedians hosted Tech 4 COVID, a two-day virtual telethon to benefit HBCUs and students of color at various colleges and universities.

• News

by Dana Givens

May 11, 2020

Pennsylvania County Declares Racism a Public Health Crisis

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The massive spread of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, pandemic, has revealed economic and racial inequities that the United States has been dealing with for decades; from the disproportionate rate of black people contracting the virus to the economic hardships many of the country’s poorest have been left to face alone.

It is because of these developments that one city in the state of Pennsylvania is leading the charge by declaring another public health crisis that arose as a result of the coronavirus—racism.

According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Allegheny County has passed a motion of 12-3 to label racism a public health crisis this week. The document was initially drafted following a 2019 report that revealed that Pittsburgh has the worst quality of life for its black residents than in any other city of its size within the country.

In Pittsburgh, the rate of infant mortality among black children is 94% higher than the other cities in the study. Research found that black men within the city also face higher rates of cancer diagnoses and cardiovascular disease.

“This is not just a black issue; this is a humanity issue as we heard in the many statements that came before [the meeting],” said Councilwoman Olivia Bennett who is also the lead sponsor of the bill. However, some are not on board with the new motion such as Republican Sam DeMarco.

“I do have a problem with the language. It seems that they’re calling out whites as a collective and claiming that whites are responsible for this … racial classification scheme and things like that,” he explained. “And I’m sorry, that language, I just can’t support it. To the folks on the right, we believe that white privilege is something that’s just something created by the left to try to create division.”

African American-owned banks are helping small businesses owned by minorities receive a share of funds from the Paycheck Protection Program.

According to We Buy Black, an online market for black-owned products, OneUnited Bank announced the launch of its Small Business Administration’s PPP. The program is offering PPP loans to new and existing customers across the country through its online and mobile banking platform.

After many African American and female business owners complained of being left out of the first round of funds allocated to the PPP, $30 billion in stimulus funds has been allocated to Minority Depository Institutions and Community Development Financial Institutions.

“Most of our customers who filed PPP applications with other institutions during the first round were not funded,” said Teri Williams, president and COO of OneUnited Bank, the largest African American-owned bank in the country. “We’re proud that OneUnited can step up to provide black businesses with better access to stimulus funding.

However, OneUnited is not the only black-owned bank working to make sure black business owners get their share. Industrial Bank in Washington, Citizen’s Trust Bank in Atlanta, Unity National Bank in Houston, all ranked on the BE 100s Banks list, and others, are all active in securing funds for African American businesses.

For African American business owners, this is also a way to ensure that the bank they’re using is dedicated to ensuring they receive PPP funds.

According to the Brookings Institute, a decade of business ownership gains by African American-owned businesses since the 2008 recession is now in jeopardy due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result of the pandemic, African American minority and women-owned businesses are suffering even more than white-owned businesses, which typically receive better loans through bigger banks.

The first round of PPP funding was a Wild West of first come, first serve, and included many large hotel chains and restaurant franchises receiving funds. Many of them, including Shake Shack and Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse were shamed into returning the money.

Trounced by the colossal blow of the coronavirus, optimism among American small business owners has plummeted to its lowest mark in three years.

A new survey by CNBC and SurveyMonkey revealed that small business confidence has dipped to a record low since the survey began recording the Small Business Index in the second quarter of 2017. The index fell from 61 out of a possible 100 in the first quarter to 48 this quarter.

Just 18% of smaller business owners—less than one in five—report current business conditions are “good,” down from 56% in the first quarter of 2020. At the same time, 43% of small business owners contend that conditions are “bad,” a figure that before had never been above 11%.

On a quarterly basis, CNBC and SurveyMonkey poll more than 2,000 small business owners to help measure the vitality of the U.S. economy along with trying to gain a view from Main Street on jobs, taxes, and other topics.

The latest analysis from the Q2 2020 CNBC/SurveyMonkey survey uncovered key findings:

• Some 72% of all small business owners say the coronavirus outbreak is likely to have permanent effects on the way they operate. Thirty-six percent of those owners report they have cut their own pay, while about one quarter have either laid off or furloughed employees. Some 52% of businesses that laid off or furloughed employees expect to hire all of them back once things return to “normal.” Around 37% plan to hire “some” employees back, while 9% say the jobs are lost forever. The crisis has also bought good prospects, with 7% of small business owners reporting they have pivoted their firms to offer products or services to help fight the pandemic.
• Fifty-two percent of small business owners approve how President Trump is handling his job, down 12 points from 64% in the first quarter.
• Over three quarters of small business owners with five or more employees say they’ve applied for “Payroll Protection” loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Some 20% of the firms received funds, while those with 50 or more employees are more likely than their smaller peers to already have obtained funding.

The SBA program, the Paycheck Protection Program, was launched in April in two phases. The federal government’s roughly $660 billion loan program was intended for businesses with fewer than 500 workers. Firms can use the forgivable loans to help cover payroll and operating costs.

The CNBC/SurveyMonkey data, announced on May 4, consisted of some stunning revelations.

“The totality of the quarter-to-quarter change is unlike anything we’ve ever seen, with every marker of confidence plummeting at once,” Jon Cohen, chief research officer at SurveyMonkey, said in a news release. “Small business owners overwhelmingly see the pandemic as having permanent effects on the way they operate; the buoyant expectations from Q1 have been entirely upended.”

The CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey was conducted via SurveyMonkey’s online platform from April 21-27, 2020, among a national sample of 2,220 self-identified small business owners ages 18 and up.

Quibi, a recently launched subscription-based streaming platform, has released its trailer for the docuseries Blackballed.

Blackballed is a powerful series that examines the cultural context of race in America through the lens of NBA owner Donald Sterling’s expulsion from the league. The series highlights the five days during the 2014 NBA playoffs, when Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, and the Los Angeles Clippers protested the team’s owner Sterling.

Sterling was recorded by his then-girlfriend V. Stiviano saying he didn’t want her bringing black people to Clippers games, including former Lakers guard Magic Johnson. At the time, the Clippers were a team with mostly African American players.

“This powerful story, which portrays a defining moment in the history of the NBA, shines a spotlight on a cultural divide that has affected our country for decades,” Will Packer, executive producer of the series, said in a statement. “We are very excited that Blackballed will be available to audiences on Quibi, one of the most innovative entertainment content platforms in the industry.”

After hearing the recording themselves, players and coaches led an unprecedented movement to hold the league accountable including threatening to boycott the rest of the season.

The docuseries features interviews from Los Angeles Clippers players Paul, Jordan, and JJ Redick, as well as Clippers head coach Rivers, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, sportswriter Jemele Hill, and others.

League commissioner Silver was on the job for less than three months before being forced into the spotlight. Sliver, knowing that a less than stellar punishment could ruin the league, slapped Sterling with a lifetime ban from the NBA and forced him to sell the team.

Steve Ballmer, a former Microsoft executive and CEO, bought the team from Sterling for $2 billion.

Packer, an African American producer whose movies include Ride Along 2, No Good Deed, and Think Like a Man Too, produced the series. Blackballed was picked up by Quibi last November.

Quibi is a short-form mobile video platform headquartered in Los Angeles and launched in April.

by Derek Major

May 10, 2020

Black Civil Rights and Faith Leaders Pen Letter to Congress Calling for Immediate State and Local Aid

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The National Action Network along with civil rights and faith leaders across the country have penned a letter to Congress calling for swift passage of state and local aid in the next stimulus bill.

The letter is signed by Rev. Al Sharpton, president and founder of the NAN, and 13 civil rights organizations and religious leaders.

The group sent the letter to Congress noting the government’s reluctance to help African American communities. The group says the lack of funds to these communities will do even more harm to the people in these areas that have been broken by the pandemic.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control, African-Americans constitute 20 percent of all U.S. coronavirus deaths,” the letter states. “Although we are only 12 percent of the U.S. population … The economic harm that communities of color will suffer, if the federal government fails to act, will also be devastating.”

The letter is signed by representatives from the Conference of National Black Churches, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., the Black Women’s Roundtable Human Rights
Public Policy Network, the National Urban League, and others.

The letter urges Congress to inject funds into the public sector, which “has been one of the nation’s most
dependable employers of African-Americans, lifting generations of black families into the middle class.”

Additionally, the group condemned Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for suggesting that states go bankrupt.

“When the Majority Leader of the United States Senate casually says we should let states go bankrupt or that he will not provide support for state and local governments without also providing a liability shield for corporations, that is a slap in the face to the hardworking public sector employees,” the letter states. “From nurses to corrections officers to school custodians – who are putting their lives on the line to keep their neighbors safe.”

The letter also cites a New York Times article from March that states that the coronavirus relief package in March included “a small change to tax policy [that] could hand $170 billion in tax savings to real estate tycoons.”

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant effect on African Americans. Unemployment among African Americans has more than doubled to 16.7%.

A Pew Research Center survey shows 48% of African Americans say they “cannot pay some bills or can only make partial payments on some of them in April.

Atlanta-based entrepreneur Patricia Thompson Terry is one of the many entrepreneurs who has had to adapt to the new realities brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic. She has been forced to close down her beauty school due to mandatory stay-at-home orders issued by the state.

Instead of keeping her doors closed, the beauty entrepreneur has decided to take her courses online so students can continue their studies in quarantine.

Terry is the founder of Touched by An Angel Beauty School and Salons, which has two locations in Jonesboro and College Park, Georgia. Since the lockdown, the school has introduced a dual online training program where all incoming students can start their introductory classes and current students can finish the second half of the program online. 

While hands-on training cannot be offered right now, students can complete online courses in hair theory—and not just in Georgia. The school recently became certified to teach students in Virginia.

Terry is also the founder of a non-profit organization called TBA Helping Hands “A Pathway to Success,” which awarded full scholarships to 30 students for immediate attendance to her beauty school. Her goal is to give men and women the opportunity to attend, learn, and receive their cosmetology license from an accredited beauty school. The scholarships can be used to cover their tuition through graduation.

In honor of International Women’s Day, the foundation issued 15 scholarships along with free bus passes and free daycare for mothers who were displaced and victims of domestic violence.

“Nothing is more important to me than giving back,” Terry told Eurweb. “Yes, my schools are the most affordable in comparison. But, I know there are some people who can’t afford it. I want to give them a chance.”

The music industry is known to chew and spit out people who lack the vision and/or staying power needed to ride the ever-changing waves. But, if you have a creative mindset and can adapt to the many trends and flows of the game, you tend to stick around and add to your success. Entrepreneur Chanel Rae Pettaway just happens to fit that mold.

“The Culture Princess” is the co-founder of the Legion Media Group, a full service public relations and branding agency that is based in New York City. Amassing a client base that keeps her busy, she also makes time to co-host a new podcast for the millennial mom, “Our First Time–A Mommy Cast.”

Pettaway spoke to BLACK ENTERPRISE about who she works with, what she does, and how she manages to stay in the game while focusing on her personal goals.

What is the name of your company and how long have you been in business and who are some of the clients you’ve worked with?

The Legion Media Group was formed in July 2009. Current and past clients range in music, media, fashion, and entertainment. My current roster includes Hot 97, Jim Jones, Cam’Ron, Dipset, Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg, Salaam Remi, Joell Ortiz, Chinx (RIP), Embassy Lounge NYC, DJ Juanyto, DJ Drewski, DJ E. Stylez, Fatman Scoop, Iman Nunez, and GiF the Great.

Understanding the inner workings of the music and entertainment industry, how are you able to navigate through this cutthroat game and still be successful?

I believe in staying true to myself. Though it will take me longer to get to the top, when I do, I will bring my morals and values along with me. Though I’m aware of what my peers are doing, I focus on my personal goals and what is ahead of me. My motto is to stay in my lane and mind my business. At the same time, I’m never going to allow someone to bully me. I will always stand my ground.

You were recently a part of a collaboration between Dipset, the NBA, Mitchell and Ness, and Bleacher Report. How did that come about and what was your role in making it happen?

Project Director Justin Dreyfuss of Bleacher Report reached out to myself, Peter Kadin, and Teff Mogus of Empire team (Dipset’s distribution label) and told us about the remix apparel they were doing along with Mitchell and Ness and the NBA. They told us they were possibly interested in a joint collaboration with Dipset but wanted ideas on what the capsule would look like. I expressed to them that we needed more than to just release the product. It’s one thing to do it, but if no one knows about it, what good is it?! I pitched my ideas for the roll out to all parties and it we collectively saw most of them through. Cam’ron and Jim were eager to see it come to fruition.

The design was done by Cade Beaulieu and Cam’ron did the finishing touches regarding the color pattern.

Do you have any advice or suggestions for anyone who wants to take a path similar to yours in this industry?

No matter what you want to do in life, you have to learn your craft before you can master it. Always be kind. My high school coach Carl Hawker would always remind us: Be careful of the toes you step on today as it may be connected to the ass you may have to kiss tomorrow.

What else are you working on that you’d like to discuss?

We are in the process starting a new weather show for Jim Jones with iOne, The Weatha Show. Initially, it would run across all their platforms and their radio stations and branch out from there.

In an industry where accomplishments are often overlooked, are there any that you’d like to talk about that people may not be aware of?

Most people don’t know that I was on Cardi B‘s early team along with Shaft. I was the first to get her music media placement (her first XXL music mention).