• Business

by Daniel Johnson

February 10, 2025

Ron DeSantis’ Budget Cuts Threatens Black Businesses In Florida

DeSantis’ budget will cancel a Black business loan program.

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As Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis spars with his own party over his state’s budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, some of his proposals for how to accomplish that will leave Black business owners in Florida out in the cold.

According to The Miami Herald, DeSantis’ $115.6 billion budget is merely a recommendation, Florida’s Republican legislative body will create the actual budget in March when they call for the state’s two-month legislative session.

DeSantis and his fellow Republicans have been at odds over his spending, which as recently as the week of Jan. 31, included a $350 million proposal earmarked for sending migrants to other countries.

Lawmakers, who balked at this proposal, instead passed a bill stripping DeSantis of most of his ability to enforce immigration in the State of Florida.

This arrangement has led DeSantis to look intently at paring down the state’s spending, but notably, not in his own office, which is projected to grow by approximately $11 million.

In service of this ideal, according to Florida Politics, DeSantis’ budget, which he has titled “Focus on Fiscal Responsibility,” will cancel the $2.2 million Black Business Loan Program, a program that Black business owners rely on to help them access capital which they are often denied by conventional lending institutions.

In addition to this, DeSantis’ budget also maintains the elimination of the Broadband, Equity Access, and Development Grant Program, a program that helps to ensure equal access to the internet in areas that typically have a deficiency in that area.

DeSantis’ budget also calls for a $100 million decrease for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which, like the previous program, is tied to socioeconomic status, and seeks to help low income individuals who struggle with their electric bills.

According to House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, DeSantis’ proposed budget is not designed to help Florida residents deal with the rising costs of living, but to drive headlines.

“The Governor’s budget proposal focuses on grabbing headlines and trying to keep him relevant in the national spotlight while leaving Florida’s families behind,” the Democratic Representative said in a statement to The Miami Herald.

According to WPBF 25, Florida, and in particular, Miami has a thriving Black business community. In 2023, a LendingTree survey placed the city as America’s 14th best city for Black businesses.

This is in part due to the work of the South Florida Black Chamber of Commerce, whose work spotlighting agencies who will work with Black-owned businesses looks to be crucial, with the elimination of Florida’s state funding.

As Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief analyst, told CBS News, “Black applicants who apply for credit are about twice as likely to be denied credit or be approved for less credit. The more that organizations like the Black Chamber of Commerce can do, the better, because the need is certainly there.”

RELATED CONTENT: Judge Permanently Blocks Workplace Training Portion Of Florida’s Racist Stop WOKE Act

• Health and Wellness

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

February 9, 2025

Colorado’s Black Health Resource Directory Makes Culturally Appropriate Health Care A Reality

The Black Health Resource Directory boasts a guide filled with culturally aware providers in Colorado.

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Colorado’s health care community is doing its part to better aid Black residents. The latest Colorado Black Health Resource Directory connects Black patients with culturally aware and specialized medical providers.

The directory came into fruition through a collaboration between the Colorado Black Health Collaborative and Connect for Health Colorado. Within the 108-page guide, Black people seeking health care support can find information about doctors and specialists throughout the state.

No matters one’s predicament or age, they can source medical providers that are aware of their identities and how it can impact their needs. The comprehensive directory is now in its fifth edition, also proving its necessity across the years.

“It’s all encompassing,” expressed Dr. Terri Richardson, co-founder of CBHR, to CBS News. “We go cradle to grave, that’s what we say.”

The idea sparked in 2010 after Black residents in the state requested medical providers that considered systemic factors in their approach to treatment and consult. For Richardson, that launched an initiative to amplify these providers that offered a “holistic” way of treating patients.

“People said, ‘You know what we could use? A holistic view of health.’ A guide,” explained Richardson. “We wanted to cover the Black diaspora not just African Americans. Folks from all over.”

The directory is free for all ,while expanding into the vast fields of medicine. From chiropractors to maternal health and dance instruction, the resource allows Black residents to feel seen while gaining the treatment they specifically need.

Colorado also hosts a relatively small Black population, accounting for only 4.18% of its total residents. Despite this, the need for Black Coloradoans to find providers that understand their plight remains at an all-time high.

“Sometimes, we feel like we get lost here in Colorado being only a small percentage of the population, yet our health disparities are at the top or the bottom as we always say,” Richardson said. “It’s very important to have someone with that lived experience. You don’t have to explain to me what it means to be Black in America. I already know.”

However, the directory’s continuation remains a feat, especially amid the Trump Administration’s crackdown on DEI programs. Although these concerns are still prevalent, the directory’s founders are committed to getting this medical information to the Black community.

RELATED CONTENT: RFK Jr.’s Absurd And Racist Comments Resurface Amid Confirmation Hearing

• Sports

by Daniel Johnson

February 9, 2025

Jalen Hurts And The Eagles Downplay Trump, Mahomes And Company Have Different Response

Hurts said of Trump, 'He's welcome to do what he wants.'

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When asked about how the appearance of Donald Trump plays a part in how they approach Super Bowl 59, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles had markedly different answers to that question. The Chiefs did themselves no favors, while the Eagles may have gained themselves more fans with their response.

According to Time Magazine, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said that it would be “cool” to play in front of Trump, remarking that “It’s always cool to be able to play in front of a sitting president, someone that is at the top position in our country.”

Mahomes’ most dependable weapon, tight end Travis Kelce, echoed the sentiments of his quarterback, saying that he considers it a “great honor” to play in front of a sitting president.

Kelce continued, “I think you know, no matter who the president is, I know I’m excited because it’s the biggest game of my life, you know, and having the president there — it’s the best country in the world — and that’s pretty cool.”

The Eagles players, led by their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, struck a different tone. After a reporter asked if Trump’s appearance added any additional pressure to the game, he wryly, but respectfully answered “No ma’am.”

He also said of Trump, “He’s welcome to do what he wants.”

Hurts’ offensive tackle, Jordan Mailata, tasked with protecting Hurts from the Chiefs pass rush on the football field, took that role further during his availability on Feb. 4.

“That’s cool but Donald is not on that field. That’s cool but again that’s blocking out the noise.” Mailata said. “What am I going to do thinking about Donald Trump? How is that going to make me win the game?”

According to The Athletic, ahead of the game, less attention has gone to the rematch between Mahomes and Hurts, which was a spectacular and historical matchup between two of the NFL’s premier young Black quarterbacks.

Super Bowl 57 marked the first time two Black quarterbacks have squared off in the sport’s biggest game on the game’s biggest stage.

When asked about the difference in the two Super Bowl contests, Hurts acknowledged that, “It’s not mentioned as much now. It’s history again.”

Hurts continued, “You embrace the opportunity. Embrace that stage, knowing that torch you carry. I literally just got a text from someone that is a Black quarterback aspiring professionally, talking about us leading the way and paving the way for the young Black kings coming up, and that means a lot because I know someone — everybody — is always watching.”

“You want to showcase what we can do on the football field: throwing, running — whatever it takes to win football games,” Mahomes told The Athletic. “And you’ve seen that kind of already, given the push forward in the NFL, where I think almost half the starting quarterbacks are Black. And so, one big thing is, it showcases that if you give guys chances as coaches, quarterback, whatever it is — and in any profession, that we’re gonna go out there and execute at a very high level.”

RELATED CONTENT: Jalen Hurts Can Do Many Things But Can’t Help Reporter Be More Handsome

• News

by Daniel Johnson

February 9, 2025

Black Residents In Ohio Send White Supremacists Packing

After residents confronted the white supremacists, they quickly backed up, jumped into a U-Haul truck and left.

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A group of approximately a dozen white supremacists and Neo-Nazis were driven off on Feb. 7 by groups of Black residents after the former tried to encroach on a historically Black community with a history of fighting racism.

According to CNN, the white supremacists wore all-black clothing and red face masks and waved large swastika-emblazoned flags on a highway overpass between Lincoln Heights and Evendale, Ohio. Another sign in the possession of the Nazis read “America for the White Man.”

After residents confronted the white supremacists, they quickly backed up, jumped into a U-Haul truck, and left. Notably, at the scene of the confrontation, police officers ushered the Neo-Nazis into the U-Haul track and motioned for them to leave.

According to the police, “The protest, while very offensive, was not unlawful. The protest was short lived in duration. The protestors left the area on their own. No further action was taken by the Evendale Police Department,” the police department said.

Local residents like Kachara Tolbert, however, were critical of the reaction of the police, and some residents indicated that the Nazis used anti-Black slurs, including the n-word.

“We are underestimating the dangers of the police not even attempting to identify them. Who are they trying to protect? Because it isn’t us,” Talbert, one of the residents who confronted the white supremacists, told CNN. “It could be another Hitler behind those masks. It could be a school shooter behind those masks.”

Talbert continued, “The sign they posted said ‘America for the White Man’ and it makes me ask, what makes this group, that literally originated in another country, think they are more entitled to America than me and my folks? This country was made of Black blood, sweat and tears, so why do these colonizers feel so comfortable?”

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval also released a statement condemning the incident, saying that it was “shocking and disgusting to see swastikas displayed in Evendale today.”

Talbert also called out the milquetoast reaction from law enforcement, saying that because their reaction was so weak, it could embolden another group of would-be terrorists to return.

“Their statements talk about how hate has no place here, but no justice was served. These are terrorists we’re talking about,” Talbert said. “Seeing the flag being represented here and seeing the police stand there in what looked like unity, not disgust, made us feel like they’re saying what the Nazis stand for is OK.”

Talbert also recounted what drove her and other community members to act and to set fire to the flags brandished by the white supremacists.

“Anger and rage just came over me. I literally got there in about 15 minutes,” Talbert told CNN. “The Nazis were disrespecting my family, my lineage, my heritage. I took it very much personally. I needed to be there to take that flag down, and I needed to push those people out of our community.”

She continued, “I’ve watched Black men all my life in this community being frisked and detained without probable cause. But I didn’t see any rubber bullets that day. I didn’t see anybody getting shot, like during Black Lives Matter protests. I didn’t see gas. The calmness of the police overall, the way they were standing in front of them, it made us very upset.”

Talbert concluded, “When you have years and years of oppression and you have Nazi supporters in office, as police officers, judges, that is what’s making these people feel confident to do something like that. America needs to stand up and stop this madness, because it’s only going to get worse and it’s going to get dangerous.”

RELATED CONTENT: Black Community Leaders Issue Counterprotest Of ‘Unity and Love’ After Scary Neo-Nazi March In Ohio

• Sports

by Daniel Johnson

February 9, 2025

Morgan Price Becomes First HBCU Gymnast To Record Perfect Score

Price put on an all-around performance reminiscent of Simone Biles as she dominated the field, posting a 39.500 overall score which was better than the next best gymnast by nearly a point

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Junior Fisk University gymnast Morgan Price made history during her competition on Feb. 8 at Temple University when she recorded a perfect score, becoming the first gymnast from an HBCU to record such a score in competition.

According to Forbes, Price’s score came on the third rotation for the Fisk University Gymnastics squad, where she executed a clean full-twisting double-back dismount, which her teammates cheered as she flawlessly executed her routine on the uneven bars.

As she received her official score of 10.0, a perfect score in gymnastics, her teammates excitedly swarmed her, knowing the significance of her score.

Not only did Price’s perfect score exceed her previous career high of 9.90, but she put on an all-around performance reminiscent of the GOAT, Simone Biles, as she dominated the field, posting a 39.500 overall score which was better than the next best gymnast by nearly a point, which in the gymnastics world is a wide margin.

Price has been a revelation for the young Fisk University Gymnastics program, who founded the nation’s first HBCU gymnastics program in 2022, Price’s freshman season.

That season, Price established herself as a gymnast to watch, recording her previous career high on the uneven bars in her debut season and becoming the first HBCU gymnast to win an all-around title in a meet at the University of Georgia. She also became a USAG All-American that season.

In her sophomore season, she continued her ascent, eventually becoming the first National Champion to hail from an HBCU gymnastics program. Following her historic win, she discussed the feat on Good Morning America.

“I’m very honored to be on such an amazing team, being part of the first-ever HBCU gymnastics team and being the first HBCU gymnast to win [an] all-around national title. It really means everything to me,” Price told the program.

Initially, Price, a highly touted gymnastics recruit coming out of high school, committed to the University of Arkansas alongside her sister, Frankie, but once she heard that Fisk University was starting a gymnastics program, she decommitted and went to Fisk.

According to Price’s Fisk University bio, she does not regret her decision.

“I chose Fisk because it is the first HBCU with a gymnastics team; growing up in gymnastics, I rarely had teammates who looked like me,” Price said. “I wanted to be a part of history & inspire younger girls who want to attend a HBCU as well. I will forever cherish being a part of this team.”

RELATED CONTENT: Fisk University Gymnast Morgan Price Named First-Ever National Champion From An HBCU

• News

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

February 9, 2025

Bodycam Footage Reveals Atlanta Police Doing Little To Rescue 3 At-Risk Children

The footage showed the officers not taking further action to ensure the kids' wellbeing.

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The Atlanta Police Department has disciplined three officers after bodycam footage revealed their lackluster effort to find three children allegedly kidnapped by their father.

The APD found the officers did little to rescue the children while at their father’s home for a welfare check. According to Fox 5, the footage showed the officers rationalized their actions. They stated that they could not do much to ensure the children’s safety inside the residence.

One officer told a woman who requested the welfare check that they could not venture into the home.

“Without a report on file, we can’t even go knock on that door like that,” said one officer in the bodycam footage. “Even if, say, we knock on the door and the kids are in there, there’s nothing at all we can do.”

However, their resolve to do nothing resulted in deadly consequences. Five months later, one of the children, four-year-old Treasure McWeay, died of starvation. Her father, Rodney McWeay, was charged for her killing.

Six months before her death, the Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services removed Treasure and her siblings. The agency placed them with their mother, who fled to Maryland over alleged domestic abuse. However, their father allegedly kidnapped the children and took them back to the decrepit duplex unit where stayed.

Due to their hesitant response, a sergeant and four officers involved received relatively light punishments for their inaction. They obtained either written reprimands or oral admonishments for their lack of further investigation in multiple instances.

Arrest affidavits also revealed the children lived in squalid conditions. Locked in individual rooms, the children had surveillance cameras aimed. McWeay withheld access to food, water, and bathrooms.

Despite calls from the DFCS, the APD scarcely work with the agency to ensure the children’s wellbeing. The behavior also violated protocol set by the department, an issue also taken up by Atlanta City Council members.

“I’m very disappointed in the reaction that obviously didn’t go far enough to save those children,” explained councilman Michael Julian Bond. “It is disappointing to watch those bodycam videos to see the kind of laissez-faire response to these particular calls.”

In response to the issue and Treasure’s passing, the APD had launched an overhaul on its handling of DCFS calls. Despite declining to comment on the officer’s punishments, they provided an update on this new policy.

“On February 5, 2024, calls for service requested by DFCS were upgraded to a Priority 2 call,” the statement said. “In 2024, officers responded to 147 DFCS-related calls for service, with an average response time of 35 minutes and 9 seconds from the time the call was received to officers’ arrival on the scene.”

However, city officials like Bond remain critical of the police’s approach to child safety concerns.

Bond added “Going forward, there really needs to be the message sent to all responding officers that when you’re dealing with the children here in the city, you’ve really got to push the limit. You’ve got to push the envelope to make sure that we are using every means available to make sure that these children are safe.”

RELATED CONTENT: Ex-Atlanta Police Officer Accused Of Killing Lyft Driver, Claims Was Being Kidnapped

• Sports

by Daniel Johnson

February 9, 2025

‘Lift Every Voice And Sing’: Black National Anthem To Be Performed At Super Bowl In Front Of Trump

At this year's game, R&B singer and New Orleans native Ledisi will be performing the anthem.

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In 2020, the National Football League began instituting the performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” commonly referred to as the Black National Anthem, before its football contests. That tradition will continue before the Feb. 9 kickoff of Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.

Although much has been made of the appearance of President Donald Trump at this year’s Super Bowl, according to The Oklahoman, the league has made no plans to alter its newest tradition or its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to suit the whims of the Trump administration.

At this year’s game, R&B singer and New Orleans native Ledisi will perform the anthem, which originated as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900.

Later, his brother, John Rosamund Johnson, set it to music. It was first performed publicly in February to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

Later, the song was officially adopted by the NAACP. Because it invokes God and promises liberty, it became a rallying cry for the organization during the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s.

According to Newsweek, Trump’s appearance at the game marks the first appearance at the game by a sitting president, and of course, the song’s presence at last year’s Super Bowl upset MAGA Republicans and other right-wing figures.

According to NBC News, some have already voiced their protests of the song on social media. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said in a post that the NFL’s choice to perform the Black National Anthem is divisive.

“America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM. Why is the NFL trying to divide us by playing multiple!? Do football, not wokeness,” Boebert complained in her post in 2023.

However, Gerald Early, a pop culture essayist who teaches in the African and African American studies department of St. Louis’ Washington University, indicated to the outlet that the song is an affirmation of Black Americans’ perseverance and inspiration.

“The performance of the song should be framed to the public not as a protest song but as a song of Black affirmation, perseverance and inspiration,” Early said. “It is unfortunate that the song’s performance has become a culture war issue. Feelings might be running a bit more strongly on this issue since Donald Trump won the election decisively and he has always been opposed to this sort of thing.”

The culture war Early references is pushed by figures like Trump and Boebert, who often attempt to position sports as a sanctuary from political issues while leaning into sports’ political aspect.

To that end, sports are inherently political, as Dr. Harry Edwards, the creator of the sports sociology field and the architect of the 1968 Olympics protest carried out by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, often points out.

“Colin Kaepernick took a stand. And it was made crystal clear that there is a huge price to pay,” Edwards told CBS News.

In 2017, amid Kaepernick’s protests against police brutality, which Edwards provided some counsel to the quarterback on, Trump infamously referred to Kaepernick without saying his name, using inflammatory and derogatory language.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b*tch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!” Trump said during a 2017 speech in Alabama.

Trump has yet to address the song being performed at the Super Bowl.

RELATED CONTENT: Critics Speak Out Against Tasha Cobbs Leonard’s Black National Anthem Performance

• Legal

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

February 9, 2025

R. Kelly Sued By Six Victims Claiming He Owes Them Over $10M Awarded In 2022 Judgment

The victims claim that they have yet to receive the bulk of their $10.3 million awarded in a 2022 judgment.

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R. Kelly is still facing legal trouble from behind bars. Six of his alleged victims have sued the disgraced singer, claiming he owes over $10 million awarded in a 2022 judgment.

According to People, the victims filed the lawsuit on Jan. 31. In the filing, they assert that Kelly has yet to pay their full $10.3 million judgment. The plaintiffs, Lizette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen, Kelly Rodgers, Faith Rodgers, Roderick Gartell, and Gem Pratts, were supposed to receive over $5.1 million in combined compensatory damages and over $4.5 million in punitive damages, including interest.

They claim that the vast majority of this payment, over $9.9 million, has yet to be paid. In the filing, they named Kelly’s record label, Universal Music, and its sublabel and revenue-sharing platform, IndyBuild. Kelly’s former manager, Donnell Russell, was also listed.

The victims claim that the label, despite its contract with Kelly ending in 2019, “remains contractually obligated to collect revenues and remit music publishing royalties” to the incarcerated singer. Two of the victims, Van Allen and Martinez recalled their abuse and sexual assault by the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer in the striking docu-series, “Surviving R. Kelly.” The women recalled meeting Kelly as teenagers, as the singer proceeded to have sex with them despite knowing their ages.

However, Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Boujean, has spoken out against the lofty payout. Boujean called the judgment “outrageous,” emphasizing how the awarding occurred without her 58-year-old client knowing.

“This outrageous default judgment was entered contrary to court rules, legal precedent, and basic principles of fairness,” expressed the lawyer.” A New York court conducted a hearing in Mr. Kelly’s absence and without his knowledge while he was incarcerated in Chicago, awarding a staggering $10,000,000 to plaintiffs for conduct committed by someone else.”

Boujean then alleged that Kelly’s race played a role in his money being stripped so freely from him.

She added, “A pattern has emerged from courts across the country deciding that Mr. Kelly is not entitled to the same Due Process rights as everyone else. It’s getting old. No court would have been that cavalier with the money of a white man. Our appeal is pending on this issue.”

The singer remains in federal prison in North Carolina. He continues to serve his two sentences concurrently for charges of sex trafficking, child pornography, and racketeering, among others.

RELATED CONTENT: R. Kelly Sued by Former Business Manager

• News

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

February 9, 2025

Sam Nujoma, Namibia’s First President And Leader Of Independence Movement, Has Died

Nujoma was the leader of Namibia's fight for independence from apartheid South Africa.

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Sam Nujoma, the activist who led Namibia to independence and became its first president, has died at age 95.

Namibia’s current president, Nangolo Mbumba, announced Nujoma’s death on Feb. 9. Mbumba stated that Nujoma died the night before following his hospitalization in the nation’s capital city of Windhoek.

According to NPR, the freedom fighter was deemed the “father of the nation” for his efforts in Namibia’s fight to separate from apartheid South Africa. Upon gaining independence in 1990, Namibia elected Nujoma as its first president, a position he held for 15 years. The freedom fighter is now remembered for his esteemed place in the country’s history.

He served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005.

“The foundations of the Republic of Namibia have been shaken,” shared Mbumba. “Over the past three weeks, the Founding President of the Republic of Namibia and Founding Father of the Namibian Nation was hospitalized for medical treatment and medical observation due to ill health… Unfortunately, this time, the most gallant son of our land could not recover from his illness.”

Among many other African leaders who pioneered the break from colonial rule, Nujoma has remained a revered figure for helping Namibia become a democracy. Known for his white beard, Nujoma spent decades trying to gain independence for his home country. Prior to his presidential appointment, Nujoma spent almost 30 years in exile for leading the independence movement in the country.

While in exile, Nujoma aided in the establishment of the South West African People’s Organization, becoming its president in 1960. Deemed SWAPO, the political party launched a guerilla campaign while under his leadership to combat South Africa’s continued control over the country. SWAPO has since remained in power in Namibia.

While Nujoma championed national healing and reconciliation within its countrymen, the man many branded a Marxist also gained support from North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China for his liberation movement. Despite this and his fierce push against the West, Nujoma also built relations with Western democratic powers. He became the first African leader to stay at the White House, hosted by former President Bill Clinton. Clinton described him as the “George Washington” of Namibia and a “genuine hero” for global democracy.

Nujoma’s legacy, while esteemed, has faced its criticisms as well. He called AIDS a “man-made biological weapon” while also calling homosexuality a “foreign and corrupt ideology.” Despite his controversial views, he still shaped Namibia’s democratic structure through its constitution and relations with other countries.

RELATED CONTENT: Humanitarian Influencer Dora Moono Nyambe, Who Built A School In Zambia, Dies At 32