Mike Tyson is Training Again and Wants to Box for Charity
Ex-heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is reportedly considering making a return to the ring, according to The Score.
Tyson spoke to rapper and entrepreneur T.I. on Instagram Live and revealed that he is back in the gym and wants to involve himself in some charitable exhibition bouts.
“I’ve been hitting the mitts for the last week,” Tyson says in the Instagram Live clip. “That’s been tough, my body is really jacked up and really sore from hitting the mitts. I’ve been working out, I’ve been trying to get in the ring. I think I’m going to box some exhibitions and get in shape. I want to go to the gym and get in shape to be able to box three or four-round exhibitions for some charities and stuff. Some charity exhibitions, make some money, help some homeless and drug-affected (expletive)s like me.”
Tyson gave details on his workout routine.
“I do about two hours on cardio, I do the bike and I do the treadmill for an hour. Then I do some light weights – 300, 250 reps,” he said. “Then I start my day with the boxing thing. Then I go in there and hit the mitts for like 30 minutes, 25 minutes. Gotta get in better condition.”
But, another retired ex-heavyweight boxing champion, George Foreman is against Tyson attempting a comeback. On Twitter, Foreman responded to a question posed by boxing promoter, Joe Abel, “what do you think about Mike Tyson training to fight in charity shows? I think if he gets back into shape he could probably do some damage in that division what do you think champ?”
His response:
Tyson has done enough great things for Boxinb, No more is needed, he is in the Hall of fame. And was a mighty puncher. https://t.co/mhiOJQ7NrT
New York City’s First Lady Chirlane McCray To Lead Coronavirus Racial Task Force
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed his wife, Chirlane McCray, to lead the city’s coronavirus racial task force.
However, according to The Grio, New York politicians on both sides are calling the appointment the opening salvo for McCray to run for Brooklyn Borough President.
Councilman Robert Holden, a Queens Democrat, said the appointment “is political. I wish de Blasio would stop doing this … Let her win the Brooklyn borough presidency on her own merits.
“Her track record on ThriveNYC hasn’t been so good,” Holden added.
ThriveNYC, the city’s $850 million initiative to address a variety of mental health issues, including depression and addiction, was created in 2015. However, it seems no one knows if the initiative has worked.
Politico spoke to more than 16 elected officials, advocates, representatives of community organizations, researchers, and consultants. None of them could say definitively if the program has been a success.
Additionally, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson knocked the initiative last month when it was discovered that less than 13% of its funding was spent on city residents last year—saying the figure should be above 50%.
“The goal of Thrive is a really good goal because we have not done enough for people who are mentally ill in New York City,” Johnson said in March. “[But] it is a program that needs better metrics, that needs better tracking, that needs better reporting, that needs to spend more money on people with serious mental illness.”
One of the bigger goals of McCray’s initiative was to help new mothers by screening them for maternal depression. If diagnosed, the program would refer them to counseling.
However, the program fell significantly short of its goals.
More than 78,000 children are born in New York every year, but only 28,560 new mothers were screened between September 2016 and October 2018, according to Thrive’s data.
As a result, the program reached just 570 women who had been diagnosed with postpartum depression—a sliver of the 12,000 to 15,000 McCray said are affected each year.
Staten Island’s Republican Councilman Joe Borelli referenced the numbers when he said “Chirlane doesn’t have an impressive track record running task forces or agencies … This is too serious an issue to use it as profile raiser.”
McCray’s position will not be paid and according to a City Hall spokesperson McCray will not have any actual power.
“The entity itself does not have decision making power,” Jane Meyer, a spokeswoman for the de Blasio administration told NBC New York. “This group will be an ear to the ground and will be able to raise issues quickly or suggest ways to better connect with and serve communities that are most impacted.”
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to Offer Homeschooling Microgrants from COVID-19 Relief Funds
Last week, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos banned DACA students from receiving coronavirus aid. Now, it is being reported that she will use money from the nation’s COVID-19 relief fund to allocate microgrants for homeschooling to states and families.
Chalkbeat recently outlined DeVos’ plans to use $180 million from the first relief package to fund grants that states will able to apply to for K-12 and higher education.
DeVos is known as an advocate for alternative education and for leaving public schools to fend for themselves. As a part of the microgrants, DeVos seeks to promote virtual learning. The funds that could be used to support public schools will be given to state agencies who opt-in to home school students.
In a statement released by DeVos on Monday regarding her decision, she said, “The current disruption to the normal model is reaffirming something I have said for years: we must rethink education to better match the realities of the 21st century. This is the time for local education leaders to unleash their creativity and ingenuity.”
Here is an overview of how state agencies can apply for grants as outlined by Chalkbeat:
State education agencies can apply for federal money by proposing one of three things.
The first is “microgrants”—what some would call “vouchers”—meant to give families more options for remote learning. Those grants could be used to pay for tutoring, summer programs, tuition to a private or public school online program, counseling, test prep, or textbooks, among other things. The state must allow private organizations to provide those services.
The second option is for states to create a statewide virtual school or another program allowing students to access classes that their regular school doesn’t offer. States can either expand an existing program or create one from scratch.
The final option is nebulously defined: For a state to create “models for providing remote education not yet imagined, to ensure that every child is learning and preparing for successful careers and lives.”
Many are not in favor of DeVos’ plans. Nevertheless, the Education Department expects to award $5 million to $20 million to winning states.
Black Barbers and Barbershop Owners Weigh Health Over Profits
Black-owned barbershops and barbers across the country are struggling with weighing safety over profits as the coronavirus outbreak drags on.
For African Americans, barbershops are more than a place to get a haircut. Barbershops can be the center of a community. It’s where debates on sports, politics, and life take place. It can be a community center where kids can hang out after school and feel safe.
According to CNN, now barbershop owners are wondering how much longer they can stay closed and keep their businesses open.
“There’s probably all kinds of barbershops talking about what’s going on with our government right now,” Mike Knuckles, 45, a barber at Select Cutz in Grand Prairie, Texas, told CNN Business. “If you lose a barbershop that’s been in the community 30 years and has a tradition and respect in the community, that’s huge.”
Damon Dorsey, 59, president of the American Barber Association, a barber advocacy group, said since the outbreak hit the U.S., barbershop owners are concerned about the coronavirus, but also want to “get back to making money,” Dorsey told CNN Business. “All are struggling with the uncertainty of the moment.”
Some barbershops in Georgia have reopened after Gov. Brian Kemp permitted nonessential businesses to reopen last Friday. But Craig Logan, 54, co-owner of Dre and Craig’s VIP Cuts, in McDonough, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, decided to keep his store closed.
“I agree with the general sentiment even though, like everybody else, I wanted to get back to work,” Logan told CNN Business.
For barbers who do not own a shop, some are instead making house calls to keep the bills paid. Dennis Mitchell, the owner of Denny Moe’s Superstar Barbershop in Harlem, knows the practice could mean putting his life at risk, but when the alternative is starving, barbers don’t have a choice.
“These barbers, they’re risking their lives, but they’re doing fine,’ Mitchell said. “You going to die from infection or you going to die from starvation?”
Another issue for barbershop owners is the lack of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds the industry has received.
Ivy Hopson, 49, CEO and founder of the Menz Barber Lounge in Milwaukee, said he also applied for a PPP loan, but neither he nor his tax preparer has heard back.
Dorsey told CNN that black barbers are less likely to have established relationships with banks and as a result face more difficulty securing loans through the PPP.
“If you’re a barber and you’re not a large enough priority for a major bank or financial institution, you’re going to be at a disadvantage getting your application in,” Dorsey said. “We’re going to see a certain level of disadvantage for black-owned business because of the nature of systemic racism that exists in the financing industry.”
Black business owners have complained about the lack of PPP funding they’ve received. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass) has called for the Justice Department to collect and release racial data concerning the PPP.
Former Tennis Pro and COVID-19 Survivor Katrina Adams is Donating Plasma to Help Others
Katrina Adams spent as much of the last five years on airplanes or in VIP boxes at the world’s most storied tennis stadiums as she did in her New York apartment. So, sheltering at home has been a major adjustment, one that was required not only by her state’s governor but by her own brush with COVID-19.
A few days after returning from a string of business trips, Adams began feeling body aches, which steadily worsened, reaching a level of discomfort she had never experienced before. Given her past career as a professional athlete, that’s saying a lot. Even self-medicating with Tylenol, per medical advice, the pain, at its peak, was agonizing. “My toughest workouts times ten didn’t compare,” she said. “I felt helpless, and that was scary.”
Luckily, Adams never had the debilitating respiratory symptoms that typify the virus at its worst and was able to endure her illness alone, at home, with self-care. Now, on the other side of it, the executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program has been among the first to donate her plasma in the hope of helping others who are in the toughest throes of the virus.
An independent, highly competitive, intrepid type who was the first African American president of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), even though her experience with the virus was fairly mild, she found it deeply sobering. She recently sat down with BLACK ENTERPRISE to discuss it, and to encourage others to advocate for antibodies testing if you think you’ve had the virus–the proper plasma donation could save lives.
BE: What was the hardest part of the whole process of getting the virus and recovering from it?
Adams: I was fine emotionally because I never once felt that I was in danger. However, physically, the body aches were like something I had never felt before. The physical recovery was somewhat weird because, although I only had the body aches for two days, I felt lethargic and tired all the time for about a week or two afterwards.
How did you initiate the process of donating your plasma?
A friend sent a text letting me know about the process. There was a link that I went to and signed up to be a candidate. There were multiple questions, asking when I thought I had contracted [the virus], when I was tested, did I test positive, and when were my last symptoms. After that, I received a phone call telling me to come and be tested to see if I had the antibodies. Following that, I was contacted again to tell me that I had the antibodies and asking if I would schedule an appointment to make the plasma donation.
Were you concerned about going to the hospital to donate, given the risks of exposure?
I wasn’t concerned about going in, because I knew I had already had the virus and felt strongly that I couldn’t get it again. Upon entering the hospital, which was empty, you were given a mask if you didn’t already have one. They asked you to remove your gloves and dispose of them there and you had to sanitize your hands. The area that I was directed to was only for those who had “recovered” and therefore, we weren’t exposed to current patients. What did being tested for the antibodies involve? Was it painful? How long did it take?
There was an initial COVID-19 test that required the nose swab again to make sure that I tested negative. Then your blood is drawn to be tested for the anitobidies, and that didn’t take very long. Questions were asked and answered prior to the test and then I was released. It took about thirty minutes.
How do you feel about the whole experience of having had the virus and now donating to help others?
I was lucky to have minor symptoms that weren’t long-lasting, so the experience was kind, compared to countless others. Being able to help others gives me great joy in knowing that I have perhaps saved lives and, hopefully, I can donate again. Do you have a sense of certainty about your own immunity?
I have been negative for over a month and have been physically active in taking long walks, so I feel good about being clear and all I can do as read and listen to the experts regarding immunity.
Oprah Winfrey to Present the Class of 2020 Commencement Address Via Facebook and Instagram
Due to the global spread of the COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, pandemic, graduation ceremonies from grade school through college have been canceled, leaving the class of 2020 with no celebrations to honor their achievements. After a request from a student went viral, media mogul Oprah Winfrey has come forward to help this year’s graduates with a special treat through social media.
According to Deadline, Winfrey will be the featured commencement speaker for #Graduation 2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020, a multi-hour streaming event set for May 15 on both platforms for graduating students to celebrate with each other virtually for seniors whose commencement ceremonies have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Facebook and Instagram will be honoring the class of 2020 with a virtual graduation event. It also will feature words of wisdom from Awkwafina, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X, Simone Biles, and more.
Miley Cyrus is scheduled for a special performance of her hit song, “The Climb.” The video will be broadcast on Facebook Watch with individual segments to be posted on Instagram, as well as contributors’ social media accounts.
The tech company’s announcement comes after other companies have shared adapted graduation plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Her Campus, a female-focused company that owns Spoon University, College Fashionista, and InfluenceHer Collective has also shared that it is organizing another virtual event calledI’m Still Graduating, an online graduation ceremony, taking place May 15 at 12 p.m. ET. Eva Longoria, Radhika Jones, Margaret Cho, Brooke Baldwin, Liam Payne, Jesse McCartney, Andrew Yang, and Tamron Hall are set to speak at the ceremony, which will feature speeches, toasts, and performances.
Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Fallon, John Legend, and a dozen others have also recorded commencement speeches for seniors. Their orations will be available May 15 as part of the iHeart podcast special Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020.
Facebook’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Shares How the Tech Giant is Empowering Black Communities Amid COVID-19
The global COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy, brought the entire nation to a standstill, and put 26 million Americans out of work in a matter of weeks. In the midst of social distancing and the struggle to navigate the unprecedented crisis, Facebook is one of several corporate giants stepping up to help hold the country together.
On Wednesday, Facebook announced a $1 million donation to the BET COVID-19 Relief Fund, an initiative between BET Networks and United Way that distributes grants to local organizations serving African Americans in each of the region’s most heavily affected areas: New Orleans, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles.
“What we do as a business is deeply connected to the people who we support. And when you see people suffering, and you know you can [do something], you do,” Maxine Williams, global chief diversity officer at Facebook, told BLACK ENTERPRISE. After the coronavirus evolved into a global pandemic, she says Facebook shifted its focus to help people stay connected and deliver much-needed support to businesses and individuals in need. “Once this crisis hit, this became our number one priority.”
Within Facebook’s overall U.S. small business grant investment, the company earmarked 50% of grants to minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses due to the disproportionate impact COVID-19 will have on these companies, their employees, and the communities that they serve. As a result, Facebook will give approximately $20 million in grants to an estimated 5,000 eligible minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses in the U.S.
Facebook also partnered with BET News to air the primetime news special BET News and Facebook Present: COVID-19: Black America’s Fight last week, which addressed the disparate effects of COVID-19 on the African American community. The hour-long special also provided a wealth of information on how viewers can protect themselves and their families against contracting and spreading the novel virus.
“That partnership is a really important partnership to us because we want people to have the right information to be able to do the best that they can do in this situation,” Williams said. “It was really important to get practical, useful information from sources that they trust from people who look like them. We had all of these experts–whether they were health or economic experts–who were people of color.”
Using Data for Good
Recent reports reveal that COVID-19 is infecting and killing African Americans at disproportionately high rates due to existing racial disparities in resources, health and wellness, and access to medical care. As a result, Facebook is leveraging its data mine as a weapon in the battle against coronavirus. One way is through its Data for Good initiative, a collection of tools that aggregate data for disaster response, health, connectivity, energy access, and economic growth. Facebook also launched the COVID-19 information center and surveys for those who are sick. “Using the data for good is critically important,” said Williams.
In addition, Williams says Facebook shares data with partner universities and researchers who aggregate it to build “heat maps” that give health officials insight into potential coronavirus hotbeds and infection clusters. “If we can get the hospitals to prepare for incoming [surges] ahead of time, that can save lives.”
Helping Their Own
Another way that Facebook is empowering black and brown people is by providing support for their own employees of color in light of the pandemic. For one, Williams says Facebook was cognizant that not all of its employees had the same level of comfort in order to work efficiently work from home, whether that’s access to high-speed internet, adequate workspace, or dealing with home responsibilities. That is why the company offered its employees a stipend to help them transition into working remotely.
“D&I is built into everything we’re doing,” said Williams. “We’re very cognizant of the fact that our black and brown people will probably have–certainly in America–the most grief, the most funerals, the most support that they have to give both for themselves and for others. And that is something that we took very seriously as we thought about how we operate in this new space.”
Williams added that Facebook temporarily suspended its performance reports and offered employees extended leave options. Plus, Facebook leaders routinely check in with managers to make sure that they’re supporting the people who report to them. “We’re trying our best right now to recognize the personal toll COVID-19 is taking on everybody,” she said. “We’re giving everybody the opportunity to thrive. That’s what inclusion is–it is opportunity with dignity.”
Watch Maxine Williams’ interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE below.
30-Year-Old Brooklyn School Teacher Dies After Battle With COVID-19
The deadly toll of coronavirus patients dying is continuing to cause heartbreak.
Rana Zoe Mungin, a 30-year-old middle school social studies teacher from Brooklyn, died Monday after contracting COVID-19, according to ABC News. She was turned away twice for COVID-19 testing before eventually being admitted and diagnosed with coronavirus.
Mungin’s sister, Mia Mungin, a registered New York City nurse, had been updating her sister’s dilemma across social media for more than a month, and notified everyone that her sister “fought a long fight but her body was too weak.”
It is with heavy heart that I have to inform you all that my sister Rana Zoe Maybe has passed away today at 12:25pm due to COVID-19 complication. She fought a long fight but her body was to weak. 😞😪
Mia had just written on Facebook, “Racism and health disparities still continues … [and] the zip code in which we live still predetermines the type of care we receive.”
The coronavirus has shone a brighter light on the nationwide problem of racial disparities. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that black people are being severely impacted by COVID-19 nationwide, accounting for 30% of coronavirus cases in the U.S. while only comprising approximately 13% of the population.
“She died not only because of COVID-19 but because we live in a world that is racist and anti-black,” Rana Zoe Mungin’s good friend of more than a decade, Nohemi Maciel, told ABC News. “We know that black people are dying at disproportionate rates. This cannot be left out of the conversation.”
Maciel added, “I’m heartbroken and don’t know how to live in a world without Zoe. But I’m also angry. I’m angry that her students lost a wonderful and committed teacher, because representation matters.”
Sneed, a Grammy-nominated singer, producer, and label executive died early Monday at a hospital in Jacksonville, FL due to coronavirus complication. He had a catalog of more than a half-dozen albums and 10 singles that hit the gospel charts during a 20-year career. He was just 52 years old.
Upon hearing about the news of Sneed’s death, music distribution company GoDigiPath released a statement that read, “With great regret, we at GoDigiPath, LLC are literally stunned, deeply and extremely saddened as we have lost a beloved colleague and dear friend.
“Words truly cannot express our sorrow regarding an innocent life taken WAY TOO SOON due to Covid19! Please pray for Emily (Sneed), the kids, and the extended family/loved ones of our tragically departed brother, Troy Sneed… He is missed, beyond words as our hearts are broken well beyond all understanding!”
Sneed sang with the Georgia Mass Choir and appeared with the group in the 1996 film, The Preacher’s Wife, which starred Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. Sneed had also earned a Grammy nomination for his work on the Youth for Christ’s 1999 album, Higher.
Seven of Sneed’s albums hit Billboard‘s Top Gospel Albums chart, including A State of Worship, In His Presence, In Due Season, My Heart Says Yes, All Is Well, AwesomeGod, and Taking It Back.
He also had 10 of his singles appear on the Hot Gospel Songs chart, half of which were in the top 10 including “Hallelujah,” “Work It Out,” “My Heart Says Yes,” “Lay It Down” and “Kept by His Grace.”
The singer gained praise from fellow Gospel artists on social media.
Coronavirus Lingers In Air of Crowded Spaces: Study
Researchers have discovered the coronavirus appears to linger in the air in crowded spaces or rooms that lack ventilation.
According to Bloomberg, researchers found pieces of the virus’s genetic material floating in the air of hospital toilets, an indoor space housing large crowds, and rooms where medical staff changed out of protective gear in Wuhan, China.
The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Research, did not attempt to establish whether the airborne particles would cause infection.
How the coronavirus spreads has been a topic for debate since the virus was discovered.
The World Health Organization said the risk is limited to certain circumstances, saying an analysis of more than 75,000 coronavirus cases in Wuhan showed no airborne transmissions.
The researchers also set up so-called aerosol traps in and around two hospitals in Wuhan. Scientists found few aerosols in patient wards, supermarkets, and residential buildings.
However, researchers found significantly more aerosols in toilets and two areas that had large crowds passing through. Higher concentrations of the coronavirus appeared in the rooms where medical staff removed protective equipment.
This could suggest particles contaminating their gear became airborne again while medical staff removed masks, gloves, and gowns.
The findings highlight the importance of ventilation, limiting crowds, and careful sanitation efforts, the researchers stated.
On Monday, Vanity Fair reported President Trump cut funding for a project studying how coronaviruses spread from bats to people. Newsweek reports that government agencies are updating reports with findings that the virus may have been accidentally released by an infectious disease lab in China.
The coronavirus has infected more than 1 million Americans and killed almost 59,000 people. Although there is no end in sight, many states are planning to reopen their economies under mounting economic pressure.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has allowed hair and nail salons, barbershops, massage businesses, bowling alleys, and gyms to reopen. Trump said in a press conference said during a briefing last week the idea “is one I disagree with.”
The coronavirus has put more than 20 million Americans out of work and has also stalled the stock market and various industries.
