• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 8, 2020

Tennessee Teenager Killed in Drive-By Shooting Days Before Her Graduation

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A Tennessee teenager, who was days away from graduating from high school, was fatally shot during a late-night excursion to McDonald’s, according to The Grio.

Early last Saturday morning, 18-year-old Mya Taylor, a student at Hillcrest High School in Memphis, and two of her friends were seated in a car in a McDonald’s drive-thru line just after 2:30 a.m.. While ordering food, Taylor and her male friend switched seats. A silver and gray sedan pulled up and fired into their vehicle, striking her and the male passenger.

“Her best friend said they didn’t even know they were shooting at the car; they just heard gunshots and ducked down,” Taylor’s sister, Brianne Sweat, told Memphis’ WREG. “My mom received a phone call from my sister’s phone,” Sweat told Fox13 Memphis. ” Her best friend was screaming. She could hardly understand them. The only thing she could understand was that Mya had gotten shot.”

It’s unlikely that Taylor was the intended target. The male passenger was taken to a local hospital and released.

“They said the guy drove up, was hanging out the window with a black hoodie and a black mask covering his mouth and shot up the front of the car,” Sweat told Fox13. “All the bullets were in the front of the car.”

Hillcrest High Schoo posted a Facebook message confirming Taylor was a student and offering their love and condolences to her family.

“The Hillcrest High School family would like to extend our love and condolences to the family of Mya Taylor. Early this morning, we received word of Mya’s untimely passing and still struggling to come to grips with this sad news. Our staff and students will truly miss Mya’s smiling face and pray that her family finds peace in knowing she was loved by many, including her Viking Family.💚🖤💚

• News

by Derek Major

May 8, 2020

83 House Members Call For Relief To Help The United States Postal Service

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Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), and 81 additional members of Congress are requesting relief for the United States Postal Service.

In a letter sent to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the group is requesting “the strongest possible relief for the United States Postal Service in the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation.”

“We write to request that any future relief package provide strong financial assistance to the United States Postal Service (USPS) while also enacting reforms necessary for its long-term viability …” Reps. Adams and DeFazio wrote. “In the CARES Act, Congress sought to stabilize our nation from the consequences of the novel coronavirus. Now, as we seek to stimulate our nation, we must take decisive steps to secure one of our country’s oldest, most cherished, and most valuable institutions.

In March, the USPS announced it will run out of money by June 1 if it does not receive funds from the government. President Trump has repeatedly called the agency “a joke” saying the agency is in bed with large tech corporations such as Amazon.

Trump suggested the agency raise prices in order to keep functioning.

“The post office, if they raised the price of a package by approximately four times, it would be a whole new ballgame,” the president said during the signing ceremony for the second coronavirus relief package. “But they don’t want to raise it because they don’t want to insult Amazon, and they don’t want to insult other companies, perhaps, that they like. The post office should raise the price of the packages to the companies. Not to the people, to the companies. If they did that, it would be a whole different story.”

The USPS said it needs as much as $75 billion in cash, loans, and grants to continue running past June.

“Congresswoman Adams knows that the United States Postal Service provides an essential, constitutionally mandated service that is impossible to replicate or replace,” North Carolina Association of Letters Carriers Legislative Liaison Tim Rorie said in the letter. “We need the strongest possible relief for USPS and the letter carriers on the front lines of this crisis. Thank you to Rep. Adams and the 82 other members of Congress standing up to say US Mail is essential: not for sale, nor on the chopping block.”

To make matters worse, many USPS employees have been infected with the coronavirus and are demanding hazard pay as a result.

On Thursday, businessman Louis DeJoy, was picked to head the USPS. DeJoy has no experience in the USPS, but according to campaign finance data from the Federal Elections Commission, he has donated $360,000 to the president’s re-election campaign and about $70,000 to the Republican National Committee.

• News

by Derek Major

May 8, 2020

Black Unemployment Rate More Than Doubles to 16.7% In April

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The U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, and the unemployment rate for African American workers has jumped to 16.7%, the highest rate since 2010.

According to the New York Times, the unemployment rate for Hispanic or Latino workers jumped to 18.9%. The rate for the country as a whole has risen from less than 4% in February to 14.7% in April.

In March, analysts were reporting that the coronavirus pandemic would hit African Americans and Latinos harder than any other race. Those predictions have become fact.

Job gains among African Americans and Latinos was considered a bright spot before the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. Even President Trump consistently used the number as an answer to why minorities should support him.

“We were hearing from a minority low- and moderate-income and minority communities that this was the best labor market they’d seen in their lifetime,” Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said during an April 29 news conference. “It is heartbreaking, frankly, to see that all threatened now.”

The report is also a staggering reminder that the recovery from the coronavirus will not be quick or easy.

The numbers could hurt President Trump’s chances at reelection. While Trump continues to praise himself and his administration for its response to the coronavirus, many feel differently. Last Friday, Trump kept the same positive tone.

“Those jobs will all be back and they’ll be back very soon,” Trump told reporters during a press briefing, “and next year we’re going to have a phenomenal year.”

However, more Americans are feeling the pain of limited funds and potentially risking their lives to put food on the table.

“Our economy is on life support now,” Erica Groshen, a former commissioner of the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics told Reuters . “We will be testing the waters in the next few months to see if it can emerge safely from our policy-induced coma.”

According to MarketWatch, the actual numbers could be worse. States are just beginning to report gig workers, freelance writers, and independent contractors. These workers were previously unqualified for unemployment benefits, but an emergency relief law passed last month changed eligibility standards.

A series of surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center back up the job loss number for African Americans and Hispanics. Nearly 61% of Hispanic Americans and 44% of African Americans said in April that they or someone in their household experienced a job or wage loss due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus has affected everyone in ways that makes it look like life as we know it will be altered due to this pandemic. 2020 high school seniors will never get to experience the traditional graduation most of us had the pleasure of having. As an alternative, a principal in North Carolina took it upon himself to visit every graduating senior from his high school at their respective homes, according to ABC News.

Tabari Wallace, the principal at West Craven High School in Vanceboro, North Carolina, along with a group of his teachers, drove to each and every one of the high school’s 220 graduating seniors on April 27 to personally congratulate them as the Class of 2020. He appeared at each student’s home wearing a cap and gown and carried a sign that displayed the graduate’s senior class photo.

There are still plans for the seniors to receive their diplomas in the traditional way later in the year. But, this served as an appreciation and acknowledgment of the tough times they have had to face because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We decided to deliver signs along with a parade … because we believe that they’ve been through enough and that’s the least we can do,” he said this past Monday. “We asked each senior to let that sign serve as a bridge until we can get them across the traditional stage. Our kids elected, through student voice, that they wanted a traditional graduation with all the pomp and circumstance so this particular school is going to make sure that our kids graduate on Aug. 1 or Dec. 19.”

Wallace, the 2018 North Carolina Principal of the Year, has a message for other graduating high school seniors across the country:

“To all other graduates, I tell you right now: We believe in you. We trust in you. We’re proud of you. And, we definitely empathize with what you’re going through. You keep your head up high because you are the testament of the 21st century. Perseverance through the face of danger. And then we all come out on top,” he said.

• Politics

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 8, 2020

Woman Who Accused Dr. Fauci of Sexually Assaulting Her Says She Was Paid by Trump Supporters to Lie

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Last month, The Daily Dot reported that a woman made an accusation of sexual assault against Dr. Anthony Fauci. Now, according to Reason, that same woman has admitted that she was paid by Trump supporters to make the accusation in an attempt to get rid of Dr. Fauci.

The accuser sent an email to Reason apologizing for the false accusation. “I feel very bad about lying to you and others about Dr. Fauci,” Diana Andrade said in the email. “I took it upon myself to call Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman and record them (see attached)… Many thanks and again, I feel very bad about all this. I apologize to you, the other reporters, and Dr. Fauci.”

Previously, Andrade, who was using the last name Rodriguez when she first contacted Reason, alleged that back in 2014, when she was just 20 years old, she’d been sexually assaulted by Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Andrade has come forward saying that Wohl and Burkman paid her to make a false claim of sexual assault against Fauci. She alleges that they had previously convinced her to make other false claims against an unnamed celebrity.

The woman has admitted to knowing the pair before this took place. In an email to Reason, she states, “The reality is that I’ve known Jacob since 2018 and that he charmed me into taking money to do this (see attached picture of us together),” and that Wohl and Burkman “had me do something like this…back in January.”

“And I understand they’re trying to get another girl to do it, too,” she wrote. “They asked me if I knew anyone to do it.”

She then exposes the pair of trying to sully Fauci’s name and reputation.

“Let me tell you something, Diana,” says Burkman. “This guy shut the country down. He put 40 million people out of work. In a situation like that, you have to make up whatever you have to make up to stop that train and that’s the way life works, OK? That’s the way it goes.”

Andrade feels that Burkman and Wohl are not taking COVID-19 seriously. “It’s not just any virus. I mean, it’s a huge deal….I think you guys think it’s something made up, and it’s not.”

“Mother Nature has to clean the barn every so often,” Burkman also said. “How real is it? Who knows? So what if 1% of the population goes? So what if you lose 400,000 people? Two hundred thousand were elderly, the other 200,000 are the bottom of society. You got to clean out the barn. If it’s real, it’s a positive thing, for God’s sake.”

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 8, 2020

Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers Arrested and Charged with Murder and Aggravated Assault

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Retired district attorney Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested yesterday for the February shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. The father and son will face charges of murder and aggravated assault, according to BET.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations released a statement confirming the McMichaels’ arrest. Both men were booked in Glynn County Jail.

“On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was in the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick, GA when both Gregory and Travis McMichael confronted Arbery with two firearms. During the encounter, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery,” the GBI said. 

“On May 5th, 2020, District Attorney Tom Durden formally requested the GBI investigate the death of Ahmaud Arbery. The Kingsland Office initiated an investigation on May 6th, 2020.

“On April 29th, 2020, the Glynn County Police Department (GCPD) requested that the GBI investigate allegations of threats against GCPD and individuals involved in the active investigation.

“On the morning of May 5th, 2020, GCPD requested the GBI investigate the public release of video related to Arbery’s death.”

Gregory & Travis McMichael have been arrested for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. There will be a press conference tomorrow morning at 9 AM in Brunswick, GA (1 Conservation Way). https://t.co/jBhe4eIpeW pic.twitter.com/PEsOdnyXdR

— GA Bureau of Invest (@GBI_GA) May 8, 2020

Before a video that was released capturing Arbery’s killing, the police refused to charge the father and son.

It was previously reported that “the Glynn County Police Department released its report on the deadly incident Tuesday. [Gregory] McMichael thought Arbery looked like the suspect in several recent break-ins. However, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper, believes her son was judged because of the color of his skin.

“George Barnhill, a prosecutor in the case, told the police in a letter that McMichael and his son acted within the state’s citizen’s arrest law and Travis acted out of self-defense.”

The GBI’s investigation of Arbery’s death is still under investigation. Anyone with information related to the case can call 800-597-TIPS (8477).

As the country continues to struggle with the crippling effects of COVID-19, a number of celebrities are stepping up to help essentials workers fighting on the frontlines of the public health crisis. On Thursday, Bel-Air Athletics, the streetwear brand created by Hollywood icon Will Smith, announced a partnership with legendary rapper and producer Jermaine Dupri to launch a capsule collection in honor of essential workers called “Bel-Air Essentials.”

According to a press release, 25% of proceeds from the collection will be donated to Frontline Foods, an organization that supports restaurants that have been impacted by shelter-in-place measures, and that feeds healthcare workers.

“It’s important that I recognize our front-line workers out there that are working to keep us all safe— they are the real heroes,” said Dupri in a statement sent to BLACK ENTERPRISE. “I’m grateful to have a part in celebrating their courage with this Bel-Air Athletics launch. Together, we look forward to supporting Frontline Foods, so we can give back to those in need.”

Each item in the collection features graphics honoring different frontline workers, from doctors and nurses to teachers to postal services workers to restaurant employees to childcare workers. The message “To All On The Front Lines, We Appreciate You” is also printed on each piece.

Products in the collection range from $40 to $75 and include the Essential Workers Tee ($40), Thank You Long-Sleeve Tee ($55), and Bel-Air Essentials Hoodie ($75).

The capsule will be available for purchase for a limited amount of time, starting Thursday evening to  Monday, May 11 on belairathletics.com.

To help spread the word about the collection, Dupri will be spinning a live DJ set on Bel-Air Athletics’ Instagram on Friday, May 8, starting at 7 PM EST.

Just days after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced that he was reopening certain businesses, Dupri urged people to continue to stay home and practice social distancing in the state.

“Y’all know the love I have for this city and what I pour into the city and how much I care about Atlanta,” said the Atlanta resident in a nearly 8-minute message posted on Instagram.

“So this message is really for us in this city,” he continued. “The image that we have in this city, I don’t like. I don’t like the way people think our minds move and the way people are like basically shortchanging us to make us look like we just a bunch of dumb a– n—-s out here running around happy to spend money [on] drugs, strip clubs and you know, just blow s–t.”

• Politics

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 8, 2020

Ohio Lawmaker Refuses to Wear Mask Because He Believes It Dishonors God

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When you have faith in your beliefs, sometimes you can’t make room for anything that may get in the way. This is what an Ohio lawmaker thinks as he declines to wear a mask because it dishonors God, according to NBC News.

“This is the greatest nation on earth founded on Judeo-Christian Principles. One of those principles is that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. That image is seen the most by our face. I will not wear a mask,” Rep. Nino Vitale, a Republican, wrote on Facebook. “That’s the image of God right there, and I want to see it in my brothers and sisters.”

“People want to wear masks, they can. But mandating it, that’s a whole different story for me,” Vitale’s post said. “No one is stopping anybody from wearing a face mask. But quite frankly everyone else’s freedom ends at the tip of my nose. You’re not going to tell me what to do and there’s a lot of people that feel that way.”

“If someone is that scared, that they do not want to go out into the public because 100 percent of the people are not wearing masks, then that person should stay home, not tell everyone else what they should be doing,” said Vitale.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who is also a Republican, had previously said on April 27 that wearing masks was one of the “essential tools” to fight the spread of the coronavirus and ordered that shoppers wear them in stores at all times. “To not wear masks would be negligent and a mistake. We have to protect these employees,” he wrote on Twitter.

But DeWine backed down the next day after receiving backlash over the mandate and decided to reverse the order.

“Though it is not a mandate, it is clearly in the best interest for Ohioans to wear a mask in retail settings. This gives added protection to others,” DeWine said. “When I go out in public and go into a business, I will wear a mask. And, I have recommended to my family members that they wear masks.”

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 8, 2020

Mississippi Welfare Scandal: Audit Shows Luxury Cars Among $94 Million in Questionable Spending

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A 104-page audit of the Mississippi Department of Human Services exposed spending not being used for the purposes the money was earmarked for, according to USA Today.

Money that was meant to assist poor residents was used to purchase luxury cars, sponsor a college baseball tournament, and encouraged nepotism by hiring family members of a top state official, according to a report from State Auditor Shad White.

The audit, which was released earlier this week,  shows how federal welfare grant funds flowed from DHS into two nonprofit groups, which allegedly spent money in inappropriate or questionable ways.

In a written statement, White said the report “shows the most egregious misspending my staff have seen in their careers at the Office of the State Auditor.” He continued, “If there was a way to misspend money, it seems DHS leadership or their grantees thought of it and tried it.”

White said his office will forward the information it found to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the welfare program. He said this could lead to cuts in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) allotments or other sanctions placed on the state.

The audit found these items questionable:

• The two nonprofit groups used welfare money to hire lobbyists, often without paperwork describing the work they were supposed to do.
• One of the groups, Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC), gave contracts to, and hired, family members of former Department of Human Services Director John Davis, sometimes making lump-sum payments. The payments and salaries to his nephew and brother-in-law totaled more than $1 million over the past several years, auditors said.
• Both nonprofit groups gave welfare money to a trio of wrestlers, Ted DiBiase, Ted DiBiase, Jr., and Brett DiBiase—some of it for work never performed, some for “unreasonable” travel costs.
• MCEC paid Victory Sports Foundation with welfare money to run fitness programs, some of which Mississippi legislators and other officials or staffers participated in, free of charge. The trainer who runs Victory said he did not know he received welfare money.
• MCEC bought three cars with welfare money, each worth more than $50,000, for Nancy New, the head of MCEC, and two sons. Salaries, cellphones, and other expenses were paid using welfare money. The vehicles included a 2018 Nissan Armada, a Chevrolet Silverado, and a Ford F-250. In each case, the vehicle was registered to MCEC, but in each case, auditors said the vehicles were for personal use.
• MCEC used welfare money for sports-related purposes, including sponsoring a college baseball tournament and other NCAA events.
• MCEC cut a $3,000 check to a bookkeeper of MCEC, though a handwritten note says “$3,000 cash was given to” Davis, the DHS executive director.
• MCEC moved $6 million to a private school and organization run by New and bought supplies for the school.

• News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

May 7, 2020

Former Green Bay Packer Brett Favre Agrees to Repay $1.1 Million in Federal Welfare Money

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Retired Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Brett Favre is in the middle of a government welfare scandal currently taking place in Mississippi.

According to the Associated Press, a nonprofit group that is caught up in an embezzlement scheme in the state used federal welfare money to pay NFL legend Favre $1.1 million for several speaking engagements, but Favre did not show up for the events, State Auditor Shad White said earlier this week.

White released an audit of spending by the Mississippi Department of Human Services and it showed that the former NFL player had been paid by Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group whose former leader has been indicted in a welfare embezzlement scheme.

The audit released this past Monday said the center paid Favre Enterprises $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018, and he was supposed to make speeches for at least three events. The auditor’s report stated that “upon a cursory review of those dates, auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events.”

Favre, who lives in Mississippi, doesn’t face any criminal charges.

White said his office received $500,000 from Favre on Wednesday, plus a commitment that he will repay the remaining $600,000 in installments over the next few months.

“I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,” White said in a written statement Wednesday. “To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid.”

TANF stands for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday night, Favre released the following statement.

“My agent is often approached by different products or brands for me to appear in one way or another. This request was no different, and I did numerous ads for Family First,” Favre wrote.

“I have never received moneys for obligations I didn’t meet. To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispensed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that, I am refunding the full amount back to the state of Mississippi.

“I have spent my entire career helping children through Favre 4 Hope donating nearly $10 million to underserved and underprivileged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

“It has brought a ton of joy to my life, and I would certainly never do anything to take away from the children I have fought to help! I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.”

White said the money being repaid by Favre will be sent to the Department of Human Services.