• News

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

August 17, 2025

Boy, You Better Sit Down: Drunk Passenger Hurls Slurs, Hits Flight Attendant Before ‘Linebacker In 17C’ Lifts And Drops Him Back In His Seat

The Breeze Airways flight was diverted after the man managed to break free from restraints twice, police said.

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A Breeze Airways flight from Virginia to Los Angeles was diverted after a drunk passenger caused an offensive disruption, resulting in another passenger coming to the rescue.

The flight was scheduled to take off and arrive at LAX Aug. 13, but had to land in Colorado over the unruly passenger. According to People, the passenger appeared “intoxicated” as he hurled racial slurs and struck a flight attendant.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Denver Field Office later identified the man as David Leroy Carver Jr. of Los Angeles. Carver Jr. also allegedly waved around a skateboard, physically threatening those onboard.

Footage of the incident went viral on TikTok, with one video showing a passenger helping to restrain the man by lifting him up and placing him in his seat. Fellow passengers nicknamed him the “linebacker in 17C.”

@vadogwoodnews

A Breeze Airways flight from Virginia to Los Angeles made an emergency landing in Colorado after an intoxicated passenger, waving a skateboard and shouting racist slurs, broke free from restraints twice. The man was taken into police custody, and fellow passengers spent hours stranded before continuing on to their destination. Follow @vadogwoodnews for more.

♬ original sound – Dogwood

According to additional audio from pilots, the man used his belt to try harming other passengers, while a criminal complaint said the man made sexual comments and racial slurs directly at the Black flight attendant. He also allegedly spat chewing tobacco in another passenger’s face after they asked him to stop.

The Grand Junction Police Department wrote the ordeal on Facebook.

“Officers learned that an intoxicated male passenger became agitated, yelling racist slurs at airline staff while waving a skateboard,” police wrote. “Airline staff placed the man in restraints twice, but he was able to break free both times. At no time did the suspect physically assault anyone, and no injuries were reported.”

The police took Carver Jr. into custody at the direction of the FBI. He was detained at the Mesa County Detention Facility. A flight attendant and a passenger were evaluated for minor injuries, a Breeze Airways representative told NBC Los Angeles.

As for the “linebacker in 17C,” identified in outlets as Ray, he sprang into action when he heard that help was requested. “I saw black almost, and I just grabbed him and sat him down,” he told KABC.

@abcnews A passenger is in custody after a physical altercation with flight attendants and passengers onboard a Breeze Airways flight headed to Los Angeles, the airline said. He was restrained twice, but broke free both times, according to police. #news #airplane ♬ original sound – ABC News

Neither the airline nor police report disclosed what racial slurs Carver allegedly yelled on the aircraft. The incident is under investigation by the FBI, with charges expected soon.

RELATED CONTENT: Spirit Airlines’ Updated Dress Code Policy Landed One Woman Off The Plane, Sister Arrested At MIA

• HBCU

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

August 17, 2025

Kid Farmer In Georgia Receives Full-Ride Scholarship To Study Agriculture At HBCU

Kendall Rae Johnson may be the only 10-year-old in America with a college scholarship already in her hands.

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Kendall Rae Johnson of Georgia may be the only 10-year-old in America with a college scholarship already in her hands.

Johnson already made history as the youngest certified farmer in the country, a feat she accomplished at the age of 6. Now, South Carolina State University, an HBCU, has issued the full-ride scholarship to the elementary schooler for her knack for farming.

“She just wanted to grow,” her mom, Ursula, said to 11Alive. “Once she found her love of growing, that blossomed into what you see today.”

The kid farmer runs her own backyard garden, which hosts everything, from a variety of vegetables while caring for farm animals themselves. Despite Johnson’s young age, she has become a seasoned farmer as she helps her family’s homestead.

Her green thumb appealed to leadership at South Carolina State, which granted the tween a full-ride scholarship usually reserved for athletes. The school’s president, Alexander Conyers, told Johnson’s mom that he felt inspired to give the scholarship to an “ag scholar,” as people like Johnson matter just as much as athletes. The news is especially relevant as new anti-DEI rule jeopardizes Black farmers future and present.

Johnson’s family remains supportive of her agricultural dreams. “It’s living with the ceiling open,” Ursula said. “We have no idea where we’re going, but we’re just following.”

The 10-year-old wants to expand her farm to 100 acres, with longhorn cattle, poultry, and more.

Alongside the exciting, and perhaps record-making news, Johnson continues to inspire other young growers to keep exploring all things agriculture. She also promotes youth farming scholarships as a USDA National Urban Agriculture Youth Ambassador.

“I want to tell them to keep growing. Keep going. Keep being amazing. You do you!” Johnson said.

RELATED CONTENT: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi Celebrates HBCU Homecoming As Howard Tenure Begins, ‘Welcome Home’

• BE Global

by Daniel Johnson

August 17, 2025

Ghanaian Students At The University Of Memphis Can Stay—For Now

Nearly 200 Ghanaian students will be allowed to remain at the University of Memphis after their home country made a $1 million payment toward the debt it owes the school.

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Nearly 200 Ghanaian students will be allowed to remain at the University of Memphis after their home country paid a $1 million toward the debt it owes the school.

According to Fox 13 Memphis, the payment does not cover the full balance, but will allow the 185 students living in on-campus residencies to stay.

“We remain hopeful that the Republic of Ghana will meet its debt obligations to ensure the students will be able to continue their education through the fall semester,” a spokesperson for the university told the outlet.

As Commercial Appeal reported in July, the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, which administers scholarships on behalf of the Republic of Ghana, had not made payment by the due date agreed to by the university and the Republic of Ghana, which put the students on scholarships through the program at risk of losing their places at the University of Memphis.

“The Ghana Scholarship Secretariat has failed to fully meet its financial obligations,” the university said in a statement on July 7. “As a result, these students face academic dismissal, visa complications, and loss of housing and support, through no fault of their own if GSS does not fully meet all financial obligations.”

The GSS owes $3.6 million to the university, and including a previous balance of $400,000, reported by Ghanian outlet Ghana Web, it has now paid down $1.4 million of the debt it owes to the University of Memphis.

The leader of the Ghanaian student cohort, Fredrick Badu-Asamoah, indicated at the time that the students had begun to exhaust their actions and were beginning to become frustrated with their situation.

“We’ve written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ghana Embassy in Washington, the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat, and efforts to reach the presidency proved futile, and we’ve received no decisive intervention,” Badu-Asamoah told the outlet.

Per Ghana Web, a similar predicament had befallen Ghanaian students who were studying abroad in the United Kingdom in May.

According to David Farman, the spokesperson for over 50 students in that country who also rely on the GSS to distribute funding for their education, the students were in limbo at that point, much like students at the University of Memphis were before the GSS made a payment.

“Since last year, October, we received emails from the university concerning the payment of fees. Unfortunately the issue has not been resolved to date,” Farman told Joy News.

He continued, noting that there is a marked discrepancy between what the GSS wants to pay and what the university in England he and others attend will accept.

RELATED CONTENT: Ghana Shuts Down Its D.C. Embassy Over Visa And Passport Scams

• Politics

by Daniel Johnson

August 17, 2025

Rep. Jasmine Crockett Weighs Possible Texas Senate Run, But Focus Remains On Redistricting Fight

'What many don’t know is that we are Texas tough,” she said. 'So what that means is that we are ready to fight back!'

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the North Texas Democratic firebrand, hinted in a recent interview with KHOU-11 that that she would consider a run for U.S. Senate if data support she could be competitive in a statewide Senate race.

“The fact that I represent 1/38th of the state, it is daunting to think that I could be competitive statewide. But if I could, only representing 1/38th of the state and having never run statewide before, it’s something I’d have to take a long, hard look at,” Crockett said.

Despite this ambition, her attention and focus remains squarely focused on the redistricting fight her Democratic colleagues in Texas are engaging in with Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Republicans in the House who are determined to do the bidding of President Donald Trump and help him pick up five additional seats in the House of Representatives.

“I don’t know how many people I’ve come across, whether it’s been in real life or via social media, that have said ‘I didn’t realize Texas was a majority-minority state. I didn’t realize that this is what gerrymandering looked like.’ The fact that there’s at least one state that is already saying, ‘if y’all want to play this game, we will match your energy.’ That is fantastic,” she told the outlet.

According to The Dallas Morning News Crockett has stayed in Texas in order to rally support for the quorum break by holding rallies.

During one such rally at Oak Cliff’s Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, she indicated that the Texas Democrats were not going to roll over.

“What many don’t know is that we are Texas tough,” she told the crowd. “So what that means is that we are ready to fight back!”

After the rally, she spoke to the Dallas Morning News.

“I travel the country all the time, doing my best to make sure that we’re injecting energy all throughout this country. It’s time for me to make sure that I’m doing the hard work on the ground in Texas. Some people may not care when they know that the whole point was the Republicans wanted to kick me out of my district, They may say, ‘No we’re keeping our congresswoman even though you don’t want her to be mine.’”

Though the Texas Democrats are expected to return to their home state on Aug. 18, the action by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to present a “trigger map,” that is, a redistricting map favoring Democrats, that is set to go into effect only if Texas Republicans vote to create a Republican friendly election map, provided some relief for the Democrats from Texas who broke quorum.

On Aug. 16, Congressman Greg Casar, an Austin Democrat, praised the Democrats who left at a rally held at the Texas Capitol building.

“If Trump and Abbott had their way, they would’ve passed these maps weeks ago,” Casar told the crowd. “Trump doesn’t have a plan to win the election, he has a plan to rig the election.”

RELATED CONTENT: Black People Driving Texas Growth. Redistricting Will Stop Representation, PAC Leader Says

• Entertainment

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

August 17, 2025

ESPN Pulls Spike Lee’s Colin Kaepernick Documentary, Citing ‘Creative Differences’

The docuseries was supposed to detail Kaepernick's journey of taking a knee during the national anthem at NFL games.

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The story of football player Colin Kaepernick taking a knee for racial justice will not be seen on ESPN.

While ESPN Films had produced the docuseries of the NFL quarterback turned social justice advocate, the Spike Lee joint will no longer premiere on the sports network due to “creative difference.”

ESPN confirmed the news to Reuters in an Aug. 16 statement.

The docuseries began production in 2022, with the promise of delivering a “full, first-person account” of Kaepernick’s story as well as interviews from fellow NFL players. While the docuseries’ level of completion remains unknown, ESPN did disclose the project was not “reaching finality.”

Kaepernick became a polarizing figure when be began taking a knee during the national anthem at NFL games to protest systemic racism and police brutality in 2016. The docuseries was supposed to detail the now 37-year-old’s decision as well as subsequent backlash and support.

Lee also remained mum on the feature’s unfortunate update as he signed a non-disclosure agreement. A day before the formal announcement of the docuseries’ scrapping, Lee told the news outlet of its shelving while on the red carpet for a fundraising event.

The canceled release comes amid prior reports by Puck of production delays. The center of the drama reportedly happened between Lee and Kaepernick over the series’ direction.

Kaepernick was the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016 but suffered a huge blow in his football career over alleged blackballing stemming from his public political stances. He settled with the NFL in 2019 over the collusion allegations. He has not played for another team since leaving the 49ers.

Although the docuseries no longer has a home on ESPN, additional reports say the network’s chairman would allow the film to be released elsewhere.

RELATED CONTENT: Colin Kaepernick’s Team Addresses “False Narratives”

• Legal

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

August 17, 2025

Atlanta Judge Says Man Is Guilty Before Correcting Himself

Alton Olive was actually found not guilty on all six charges by a jury.

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An Atlanta judge mistakenly announced the wrong verdict, leaving the courtroom in shock as he corrected himself in the viral incident.

Judge Henry Newkirk was presiding over a high-profile trial of Alton Oliver, who was charged in the 2022 fatal shooting of a sheriff’s deputy in Fulton County. The judge initially said Oliver was guilty on all six counts surrounding the shooting, murder and aggravated assault.

Court reporter Meghann Cuniff shared the footage of the ordeal.

A jury in Atlanta today acquitted a man of all charges related to the fatal shooting of a sheriff's deputy, but the judge who read the verdict initially said they found him guilty.

"I apologize for my mispronunciation," Fulton County Superior Judge Melynee Leftridge said. pic.twitter.com/uhR7J96qYS

— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) August 15, 2025

“We, the jury, find the defendant guilty as to all six counts of the indictment,” said Newkirk.

As the Atlanta judge revealed the wrong verdict, the court erupted into confused shouts of “what.” He immediately took back his words, as the jury actually acquitted Oliver of all the charges.

He apologized for what he deemed as a “mispronunciation.” The crowd started to clap, but bailiffs reminded the court attendees to remain silent.

The 26-year-old had testified that he shot James Thomas Jr. in self-defense. According to Fox 5, Oliver revealed that he shot at Thomas Jr. at their third encounter after the officer kept propositioning him for sex.

The jury deliberated for nine hours. Oliver had no prior criminal history before the incident. Oliver’s legal team became emotional after hearing of the acquittal, with the man thanking the women on his bench.

“We asked you to interact with other people that you don’t know and make some pretty tough calls. This case falls in that category—pretty tough call,” Newkirk said.

RELATED CONTENT: Sean Kingston Asks For House Arrest Ahead Of Sentencing

• Culture

by Daniel Johnson

August 17, 2025

New Biography Illuminates Edward P. McCabe, The Visionary Politician Who Dreamed Of An All-Black State In Oklahoma

The biography, by Caleb Gayle, explores the life of Edward P. McCabe, a man nearly erased from history.

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If you’ve never heard of Edward P. McCabe, there’s likely a good reason. Even though he is among the first Black Americans to be elected to political office and one of three Black founders of the town of Langston, Oklahoma, as well the HBCU that bears the town’s name, Langston University, McCabe was also considered something of a pariah, even in his day.

According to Caleb Gayle, the author of a recently released biography about McCabe, Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State, McCabe’s effort to establish a Black state in Oklahoma is a cautionary tale of utilizing colonization to benefit Black people.

“The reason I was so interested in him wasn’t because he was perfect, but because he was deeply flawed. His rationale was deeply flawed and you could see from the start that he was going to fail,” Gayle told Northeastern University in July. “As Black leaders talking to Black people in a predominantly Black state, that’s what he wanted to do, but in so doing, he was exacting the same experiences of colonization on his own people. They were actively trying to colonize Oklahoma, but on behalf of Black people.”

To that end, McCabe petitioned then-president of the United States Benjamin Harrison, a fellow Republican, to allow him to provide a solution to “the Negro problem” by appointing him the governor of the Oklahoma Territory. Harrison turned him down.

McCabe, undeterred, traveled to Oklahoma in 1890, and found an area in a state of flux as it tended to attract poor white immigrants and was the home of indigenous peoples who had been driven off their ancestral lands.

McCabe’s idealistic, yet flawed approach stemmed from his association with the now forgotten “Exodusters” movement, principally concerned with helping newly freed formerly enslaved people living in the South escape the region.

He may have learned the wrong lessons in trying to use capitalism to obtain liberation, and as Gayle notes in his account, the work of colonization cannot simply be turned on other colonized people who have been similarly crushed underneath the heel of the American empire because one feels that the country owes your people a debt.

Actually, the empire owes both Black people and Native Americans a debt, a bill of reparations it can never fully repay.

As Gayle notes in the book, “Salvation was collective, because it was for a coherent group: Black people in the South. It was terrestrial because they planned to find salvation in the real land of Kansas. As Reconstruction collapsed, Black people had to act—and quickly.”

Unfortunately for McCabe and his compatriots, in 1891, Harrison and the GOP allowed white settlers to make a run on the land in Oklahoma, which led to McCabe recognizing that his “hope in the Republican Party was evaporating. His frustration over the misalignment between his desired pace of progress and that of his white Republican colleagues had been simmering in the background.”

In the end, McCabe’s death in poverty and relative obscurity in 1920 dovetails with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, but the explosive destruction of Black Wall Street at the hands of whites in Tulsa (with the assistance of the American government) illustrates the paradox at the root of McCabe’s effort to create a Black state: even if Black people were given latitude to create their own table, white people would just invent a fantasy, a pretext to destroy the house it sits in.

So far, Gayle’s biography has received rave reviews, according to book review aggregation site Book Marks. Per Adam Goudsouzia’s review for The Washington Post, the success of Gayle’s biography lies in the questions it forces the reader to ask themselves.

RELATED CONTENT: Students Request ‘Angel Of Greenwood’ After Tulsa Massacre Book Rejected, Receive Free Copies From Author

• Magazine

by Derek Dingle

August 17, 2025

The 1st BLACK ENTERPRISE Cover Birthed A 55-Year Legacy

Founder and Publisher Earl G. Graves, Sr. launched a publication and gave birth to a media company.

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In August 1970, the visionary Founder and Publisher Earl G. Graves, Sr. launched a publication and gave birth to a media company that to this day has enabled generations of African Americans to achieve “wealth for life” through building thriving businesses, gaining mobility in corporate America, and embracing sound money management and disciplined investing. As a result, it has been a source of inspiration and guidance for African Americans to become full participants in the economic mainstream as captains of industry, executives of immeasurable influence, and multigenerational wealth builders.

Charles Evers, the late mayor of Fayette, Mississippi, served as the magazine’s first cover subject and embodied Black entrepreneurs who emerged from the Civil Rights Movement and demonstrated the qualities required to be successful: Business savvy, political muscle, and boundless determination.

A member of BLACK ENTERPRISE‘s first advisory board, he developed and operated the profitable Medgar Evers Shopping Center, named in honor of his brother, the prominent civil rights leader slain by an assassin’s bullet in 1963.

RELATED CONTENT: Happy Birthday, Mr. G!: Remembering The Legacy Of BLACK ENTERPRISE Founder Earl Graves, Sr.

• Entertainment

by Mary Spiller

August 17, 2025

Doechii And SiR Booking Scam Leaves Promoter $187K Short For Baltimore Juneteenth Concert

An Atlanta event company claims a booking agent pocketed nearly $200,000 by fabricating deals to secure TDE artists Doechii and SiR for Baltimore’s AFRAM Festival.

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An Atlanta event company is suing a booking agent it accuses of faking deals with major artists, taking nearly $200,000 in the process. Blackout Management LLC claims New Jersey talent booker Christopher Young pocketed a $187,500 deposit after promising to secure Doechii and SiR as headliners for Baltimore’s AFRAM Festival — then falsely claimed the artists dropped out.

According to a lawsuit filed Aug. 13, Young, operating through his company Sacrifice Management, told Blackout’s owner, Nicola Blandon, that his ties to Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) gave him direct access to the performers. The complaint says Young proposed booking both artists for the June 2025 festival and confirmed the deal once the money was wired in December 2024.

By March, Young reportedly claimed that Doechii and SiR had “pulled out” due to scheduling issues. But no contracts or official paperwork were ever provided. When Blackout reached out to TDE directly, the company says it learned the entire booking was fabricated.

“TDE’s representative confirmed that defendant Young had been lying for months,” the lawsuit states. “Young never spoke to anyone at TDE about securing Doechii’s performance and had, at most, preliminary conversations about SiR.”

The suit alleges Young refused to return the $187,500 deposit despite repeated settlement attempts. Blackout is suing Young and Sacrifice Management for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and other claims, asking for repayment with interest, attorney’s fees, and punitive damages.

“This put Blackout in a precarious situation,” the lawsuit says. “With the festival fast approaching, Blackout no longer had headliners. And one of the main supporting acts — who had agreed to perform at a discount to be billed under Doechii — now had to be paid a higher fee. Making matters worse, Young had damaged Blackout’s relationship and credibility with TDE.”

AFRAM, Baltimore’s official Juneteenth celebration, draws more than 150,000 attendees per day and is one of the city’s largest cultural events. Blackout says the alleged scheme not only cost them money but also jeopardized the festival’s reputation.

RELATED CONTENT: ‘Anxiety’ Rapper Doechii Launches Her Own Mental Health Resource Hub For Fans To Get Support

• News

by Mary Spiller

August 17, 2025

Black Freedom Fund Launches $200M Endowment To Support Black Communities

Executive Director Marc Philpart says the fund aims to provide $10 million in annual grants as political pressure mounts over race-conscious philanthropy.

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The California Black Freedom Fund, launched in 2020 amid nationwide calls for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd, is taking a bold step to secure its future. The organization has announced plans to build a $200 million endowment, a move that is both unusual in philanthropy and politically charged, as the Trump administration intensifies scrutiny of race-based grantmaking.

Originally part of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the fund became an independent nonprofit on July 1 under a new name — the Black Freedom Fund — signaling its expanded national mission. In just five years, it has raised more than $97 million and directed $45 million in grants to 206 California-based nonprofits serving Black communities.

According to the Associated Press, the organization supports groups working on criminal justice reform, youth programs, civic engagement, and economic development, emphasizing long-term power-building rather than short-term charity.

Executive Director Marc Philpart said the endowment would allow the fund to distribute $10 million annually without diminishing its core assets.

“When a crisis occurs in the Black community, philanthropy parachutes in, there’s a wave of support, and then as soon as the news cameras turn away, the support recedes,” Philpart said. “We need enduring institutions that are led by and committed to the Black community in ways that have a lasting impact.”

The move comes at a time when federal officials are challenging diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The Department of Justice has been directed to investigate race-conscious programs, while a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against race-based college admissions has added uncertainty for foundations and nonprofits.

Dan Morenoff, executive director of the American Civil Rights Project, warned that the administration is “fervently looking for people to make examples of at this point.”

Despite the political pressure, Philpart said donor interest has grown. “People have rallied to us and really doubled down on their commitments to support Black freedom and Black power,” he said. “That is the most telling thing coming out of this moment — that there is a critical mass of leaders throughout the country who care very deeply about the community.”

The California Wellness Foundation is among those maintaining support. President Richard Tate called the fund “needed now more than ever,” adding, “The fact that we are talking about a Black Freedom Fund is an acknowledgment that not everyone has equal standing in the culture. Whatever headwinds that may exist because of this political moment, now is the time for us to continue to be explicit about our intentions of supporting a community.”

Nonprofits led by Black people historically receive smaller endowments — just a quarter the size of those led by white executives, according to a 2022 analysis by the Bridgespan Group. That disparity underscores why the Black Freedom Fund views its endowment as a critical tool to ensure stability and independence. Philpart remains confident the fund can meet its ambitious goal. “We’re drawing people out who want to prove we are greater than divisiveness, we are greater than bigotry, and we are greater than racism,” he said.

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