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Sunday, November 28, 2021

He Revolutionized the Video Game Industry!

An excerpt from Black Information Network -

Jerry Lawson: The Black Engineer Who Revolutionized The Video Game Industry

By Zuri Anderson

Gerald "Jerry" Lawson - Photo: Jerry Lawson Estate

The new generation of video game consoles is here, and we have one man to thank for making it possible: Jerry Lawson.

Gerald "Jerry" Lawson is a self-taught electrical engineer who took the gaming world by storm in the 1970s. Back then, the industry was a fledgling compared to the multi-billion dollar beast it is today.

Born on December 1, 1940, in New York City, the Brooklyn native was inspired by the work of scientist George Washington Carver. Dabbling with electronics, he eventually became one of the few engineers working in Silicon Valley at the time.

Lawson worked for a company called Fairchild Camera and Instrument when he pioneered a historic invention: the Fairchild Channel F. If you're wondering what the "F" means, it stands for fun! "Channel Fun," to be more specific.

What made the 1976 console special was that it was the first video game console to utilize cartridges, paving the way for consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the Playstation, Xbox, and other popular consoles.

Unfortunately, Lawson never got much credit for his work over the years. He passed away in 2011 at age 70.

It wasn't until the recent decade that more people started becoming more acquainted with his influential work -- a legacy his two children are working to continue.

Anderson and Karen Lawson remembered their father as a "gentle giant" who tinkered with many electronics.

https://www.binnews.com/content/2021-09-23-jerry-lawson-the-black-engineer-who-revolutionized-the-video-game-industry/

85 YO Grandpa Goes Viral on TikTok

From abc7 -

https://abc7.com/tiktok-charles-mallet-alzheimers-viral-videos/11039122/

Smokey Robinson & the Temptations

From USA Today -

The Temptations team with Smokey Robinson for the first time in decades with new single

By Brian McCollum

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/09/24/temptations-smokey-robinson-new-single-is-it-gonna-be-yes-or-no/5841367001/

He's Getting His Due

An excerpt from Rolling Stone -

After 50 Years, a Gospel-Soul Legend (Finally) Gets His Due

Five decades after T.L. Barrett released highly regarded but largely unknown funk and soul gems, a new, career-spanning box set helps spread the Chicago pastor’s message to the masses

By DANIEL KREPS

“About five years ago, they told me that Kanye West was sampling — I had never heard the term — my music. And I said, ‘Well, I hope he likes it.’ I thought they meant he was listening to it,” Pastor T.L. Barrett tells Rolling Stone. “But my record company said, ‘No, it’s on his album. They want to use two of your songs.’ And it just took off like a rocket.”

A famed Chicago preacher, civil rights activist, community organizer, power broker and — among a small congregation of music fans — a significant yet largely unknown gospel artist, Barrett pinpoints the exact moment where his name began gusting out of the Windy City: When West sampled his 1976 song “Father I Stretch My Hands” for the 2016 The Life of Pablo standout “Father Stretch My Hands.”

Fifty years after Barrett first recorded his debut LP — and nearly four decades since he created any new music — his devotional catalog has proliferated its listenership in unlikely ways outside of his weekly church service: The end credits of a movie here, the theme song for the NCAA basketball tournament there, a commercial, a sample, an interpolation, a Leon Bridges cover… little by little, music fans have come to discover the talent that Chicagoans have long cherished as their own.

“He’s not an obscure figure in Chicago. He’s got a street named after him now,” says Rob Sevier, whose archival record label Numero Group will release the first in-depth exploration of Barrett’s musical career, I Shall Wear a Crown, on Friday. For over 50 years, Barrett has preached within a two-block radius in Chicago. With the new collection, the pastor aims to spread his musical message to the masses.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/pastor-tl-barrett-numero-group-box-set-1229569/

She's Got the Goods!

An excerpt from Black Enterprise -

NAILAH ELLIS-BROWN RUNS ONE OF THE BIGGEST BLACK-OWNED BEVERAGE COMPANIES IN THE COUNTRY

by Jeroslyn Johnson


	Nailah Ellis-Brown (screenshot)

Nearly 10 years after dropping out of college to launch her beverage company, Nailah Ellis-Brown is making history by running one of the largest Black-owned beverage company.

Years after launching Ellis Island Tea from her parent’s basement and landing the homemade product in Whole Foods locations across the mid-West, Ellis-Brown credits her hometown of Detroit with her company’s success.

“Growing up in Detroit, I knew nothing was going to be handed to me. I expected doors to be closed and knew I would need to work hard and never take ‘no’ for an answer,” she said. “I’ve heard ‘no,’ but I haven’t let that stand in my way. There is always a way forward,” she said previously.

Through partnership deals with major retailers and after winning Centric TV’s reality competition show Queen Boss, Ellis-Brown’s Jamaican-inspired line of naturally sweetened hibiscus tea beverages has caught the attention of Beyoncé, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and even received investment from Kevin Hart.

The recipe behind Ellis Island Tea comes from her great-grandfather, who immigrated to America from Jamaica by way of Ellis Island. The family’s last name and the history of their journey to America add to the special meaning behind the company’s name.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/nailah-ellis-brown-runs-one-of-the-biggest-black-owned-beverage-companies-in-the-country/

Black Home Shopping Channel Creatives Making Moves

An excerpt from Black Enterprise -

MARRIED COUPLE, FOUNDERS OF BLACK HOME SHOPPING CHANNEL TO PRODUCE NEW CHANNEL ON AMAZON, ROKU AND APPLE TV

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

Chris Roberta Holmes Black HSN (Blacknews)

Chris and Roberta Holmes, the founders of The Black Home Shopping Channel streaming on Exposure Network TV, have announced that they are producing a new channel on the network. The Streaming Home Marketplace expands the power of 24/7 stream shopping at affordable rates.

The kickoff for the channel is an international vendor event that provides a platform for entrepreneurs to create infomercials to showcase their products or services worldwide. Content is accessible on Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Android TV, Apple TV along with iOS & Android mobile devices the network’s app is currently reaching over 160 million homes in 128 countries.

During the pandemic, Exposure Network TV managed to gain over 800,000 app downloads. The meteoric growth of Exposure Network TV caught the attention of media executives and over the summer Exposure TV Network President, Tam Lawrence was awarded a $2.5 million dollar content merger with HBO.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/married-couple-founders-of-black-home-shopping-channel-to-produce-new-channel-on-amazon-roku-and-apple-tv/

Champion Racer Boosting Number of Black STEM Teachers

An excerpt from Skysports -

Lewis Hamilton's charity aiming to boost number of black STEM teachers in England

Lewis Hamilton's charity, Mission 44, has partnered with Teach First to help recruit 150 black science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers in England; Hamilton keen to help improve diversity in the profession

By PA Media

Lewis Hamilton hopes to create a framework
the wider education industry can implement

Lewis Hamilton's charity is launching a partnership aimed at increasing the pool of black science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers in England.

Mission 44, launched by the seven-time Formula 1 world champion earlier this year, has partnered with Teach First to work on research, mentoring and marketing campaigns designed to help recruit 150 black STEM teachers to work in disadvantaged communities across the country.

The hope is that the framework the partnership creates can then be adopted by other educational bodies to further improve diversity in the profession.

The project, which is launched on UNESCO's World Teachers Day and during Black History Month, follows findings from The Hamilton Commission that highlighted the lack of black STEM teachers as a barrier to students engaging with these subjects.

Mercedes driver Hamilton is keen to help improve diversity in STEM after noting it had been a "lonely path" as a black individual in the F1 industry.

Speaking about the new partnership, Hamilton said: "We know representation and role models are important across all aspects of society, but especially when it comes to supporting young people's development.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12426388/lewis-hamiltons-charity-aiming-to-boost-number-of-black-stem-teachers-in-england

Keep It Moving Folks!

Long goodbyes.
Warm embraces.
Sweet chit chat.
Lingering gazes.
Multiple I love you's.

These life moments are NOT for the school drop off line.

Let's move it, people.
— The Dad Briefs™ (@SladeWentworth) August 31, 2018

Rain Man 2?

@victoriaprettymuch
##FYP ##foryoupage ##tiktok ##viral ##trending ##follow ##PINKHolidayRemix ##smart ##kids
♬ original sound - Victoria Pretty Much

The Human Library

An excerpt from CNN -

This library lets you borrow people instead of books. It just may help bridge our bitter divisions

By John Blake, CNN

Two women -- one Muslim, one not -- talk at a
Human Library event in London in 2018.

(CNN)On a rainy spring morning in Muncie, Indiana, a White, middle-aged, conservative woman met a transgender woman for a date.

It did not start well. The transgender woman was waiting at a table when the other woman showed up. She stood up and extended her hand. The other woman refused to take it.

"I want you to know I'm a conservative Christian," she said, still standing.

"I'm a liberal Christian," the transgender woman replied. "Let's talk."

Their rendezvous was supposed to last about 30 minutes. But the conversation was so engrossing for both that it lasted an hour. It ended with the conservative woman rising from her seat to give the other woman a hug.

"Thank you," she said. "This has been wonderful."

This improbable meeting came courtesy of the Human Library, a nonprofit learning platform that allows people to borrow people instead of books. But not just any people. Every "human book" from this library represents a group that faces prejudice or stigmas because of their lifestyle, ethnicity, beliefs, or disability. A human book can be an alcoholic, for example, or a Muslim, or a homeless person, or someone who was sexually abused.

The Human Library stages in-person and online events where "difficult questions are expected, appreciated, and answered." Organizers says they're trying to encourage people to "unjudge" a book by its cover.

This setup leads to some of the most unlikely pairings anyone will ever see.

A feminist meets with a Muslim woman in a hijab and asks if she wears it by choice or compulsion.

A climate change activist meets with someone who thinks global warming is a hoax.

A Black antiracist activist meets with a supporter of former President Trump.

Or, in the case of Charlize Jamieson, a transgender woman meets a conservative Christian woman who thinks she is living in sin.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/14/health/human-library-blake-cec/index.html

What's the Most Popular Pie in Your State?

An excerpt from WTAE -

Pumpkin pie no longer America's favorite Thanksgiving pie, study says

By Anne Newman

Pumpkin pie is no longer America's favorite Thanksgiving pie.

Google Trends data reveals that key lime pie is the most popular type of pie in the U.S. with it being the most Googled pie in eight different states.

The study conducted by photographic and printing experts Printique discovered the most favored flavors of pies in each state across America with key lime pie taking the top spot.

Key lime pie has 106,000 average monthly Google searches in the U.S.

The second-most-popular type of pie, being Googled the most in a total of eight states is pumpkin pie.

Lemon meringue pie was the third-most-popular type of pie with seven states Googling it.

The least popular types of pies were salted caramel, gooseberry, blueberry, and peach, all being the most popular in only one state each.

https://www.wtae.com/article/pumpkin-pie-no-longer-americas-favorite-thanksgiving-pie/38353978#

Schools Reap Benefits of Hiring Coach Prime and Eddie George

An excerpt from Yahoo Sports -

Schools reap benefits of hiring Coach Prime, Eddie George

By TERESA M. WALKER

Deon Sanders

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Deion Sanders has been all over national TV, putting Jackson State in the spotlight every time his insurance commercials air.

Hiring Eddie George has had a similar effect at Tennessee State.

Thanks to their high-profile coaches, Jackson State and Tennessee State are reaping benefits from bigger crowds and more interest from top recruits to companies wanting to tap into all the hype, making deals with both universities and players under the new name, image, and likeness rules.

Just as university officials hoped.

“It’s just reestablishing our football brand that was so dominant for many decades and just restoring that,” Tennessee State athletic director Mikki Allen said of George. “He’s been everything that I could ask for in a head coach.”

Allen said Tennessee State’s enrollment already is up, and four-and five-star recruits are looking closely at George and the Tigers. Tennessee State hosted 317 recruits one weekend.

Tennessee State has had corporate interest from companies including The General, Best Buy, and bottling sponsor Coca-Cola. A six-figure gift from trucking company Western Express started a new weight room project for the indoor complex.

The Tigers also have partnered with OpenDorse to help athletes who’ve signed deals with restaurants, vendors, barbershops, and cell phones on handling name, image, and likeness issues. Allen said brands wanting to tap into George’s star power is transferring to his players.

“There’s a lot of brands who want to be connected, obviously, to our head coach,” Allen said. "But then I think a lot of that star power that he has transferred over to our student-athletes in the sport of football.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/schools-reap-benefits-hiring-coach-070523704.html

Alcohol Detection Systems Will Be Mandatory in All New Cars

An excerpt from Your Tango -

Alcohol Detection Systems Will Now Be Mandatory In All New Cars To Prevent Drunk Driving

By Isaac Serna-Diez

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did a study in 2019 that shows 28 people die every day in drunk driving crashes — that's one person every 52 minutes.

Although that’s actually the lowest percentage since 1982 when NHTSA started tracking data, it’s still a lot more than is necessary when these deaths could all be prevented.

Thankfully, new legislation seeks to minimize drunk driving and its effects by mandating systems that will detect blood alcohol levels in all new cars.

Are alcohol detection systems required in cars in the US?

The 2021 U.S. Infrastructure Bill included a law that requires alcohol detection systems in all new cars.

Biden’s new $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill included a mandate that requires all car manufacturers to include alcohol detection systems in the making of all new vehicles after 2026.

https://www.yourtango.com/news/are-alcohol-detection-systems-required-cars-us

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Woodturning - The Coffee Spoons

https://youtu.be/eOU7a1iQC2Y

Two Frat Brothers Make History With Menswear Hat Brand

An excerpt from Black Enterprise -

TWO BLACK FRATERNITY BROTHERS BECOME FIRST BLACK MENSWEAR HAT BRAND IN NORDSTROM

by Jeroslyn Johnson

(Courtesy, WEAR BRIMS)

Meet the two Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. members who made history at Nordstrom with their Black-owned luxury hat collection.

Co-founders Tajh Crutch and Archie Clay III broke into the fashion industry in 2016 with their high-end hat line WEAR BRIMS. Modeled around three basic principles: family, faith, and confidence, the Troy University and Tuskegee University alums came together to break generational curses and secure their family’s future.

“When I reached out to Tajh, I knew he would be the creative genius to help bring this to life. So from there we started the journey and building the #1 hat company in the world but minority-owned was the goal because they aren’t any major big box hat companies that are minority-owned.”

The fashion entrepreneurs first met in the spring of 2011 during a new members cluster for Alpha Phi Alpha. Their bond as fraternity brothers carried over into their ambitions as fashion designers and helped them make history at a major retailer.

In addition to becoming the first Black-owned luxury hat brand to be sold in Nordstrom stores within the United States and online, WEAR BRIMS has also secured a partnership with Neiman Marcus. The genuine support the brand has received from the likes of Lance Gross, Keri Hilson, Eva Marcille, Chris Paul and Cedric the Entertainer helped get visibility in several Nordstrom stores as well as a spot in Beyonce’s Directory of Black-owned Businesses.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/two-black-fraternity-brothers-become-first-black-menswear-hat-brand-in-nordstrom/

First Hispanic Drum Major at an HBCU

https://abc13.com/prairie-view-am-university-hbcu-hispanic-drum-major-makes-history/11247630/

Framing Critical Race Theory

This powerful article frames this debate in terms everyone can understand, and most people will appreciate. It is so worth the read. You'll need to subscribe or signup for a 7-day free trial. - Faye

~~~~~

An excerpt from PUCK NEWS -

My Mother, America: Or Critical Race Theory in 2021

White backlashes against racial progress are as American as genetically-modified apple pie. But critical race theory has unleashed a new torrent of grievances. I can’t solve everyone’s problems, but I think I can suggest a more useful way to frame the debate.

By BARATUNDE THURSTON

Iam not a parent, but I have been a child, and I have friends who are parents, and I know for sure that no parent really knows what they are doing, and that the job is hard. Covid made the job harder, and I have so much empathy for the added stress that parents are facing in this moment. But there’s something disturbing happening with parenting in this country. Many white parents are losing their ever-loving minds over “Critical Race Theory,” something that many of them cannot define.

I’ll share a partial definition from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which I find to be a credible source on the matter. C.R.T. is “an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society,” and critically (see what I did there?), that racism isn’t merely a matter of individual actions and biases but something deliberately embedded in our legal, economic, and social systems. Many of the disparate outcomes we see in health, wealth, and justice are the result of that system’s design, the one that made it hard for Black people to build wealth through homeownership by, for example, systematically denying home loans to us for generations—a fact so egregious that the Fair Housing Act had to be created to correct it, in 1968, and one that remains still unresolved.

C.R.T. is academic jargon. It’s not used in everyday conversations by anyone I know involved in bending the arc of this nation toward liberty and justice for all. It’s certainly not taught in K-12 schools. But it’s become a catch-all phrase that serves as . . .

https://puck.news/my-mother-america-or-critical-race-theory-in-2021/

First Black Woman to Join Space Station Crew

An excerpt from the NY Times -

NASA Astronaut to Be First Black Woman to Join Space Station Crew

Jessica Watkins, who joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2017, is scheduled to fly to the orbital outpost in a SpaceX capsule in April.

By Joey Roulette

Jessica Watkins, left, during a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center
in Houston in 2020 to announce the astronauts assigned
to NASA’s Artemis program.
Credit...Mark Felix/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Two decades after the International Space Station became humanity’s long-lasting home in orbit, Jessica Watkins, a NASA astronaut, is poised to become the first Black woman to join its crew for a long-term mission.

NASA announced on Tuesday that Dr. Watkins, a geologist raised in Lafayette, Colo., would serve as a mission specialist on SpaceX’s next astronaut flight, known as Crew-4, to the space station. She will join two other NASA astronauts and an Italian astronaut for a six-month mission aboard the orbital lab that is scheduled to start in April.

In an interview, Dr. Watkins said she hoped going to the space station would set an example for children of color, and “particularly young girls of color, to be able to see an example of ways that they can participate and succeed.”

She added, “For me, that’s been really important, and so if I can contribute to that in some way, that’s definitely worth it.”

Only seven of the 249 people who have boarded the space station since its creation in 2000 were Black. Victor Glover, a Navy commander and test pilot who joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013, became the first Black crew member in a regular long-duration mission at the station; his mission started last year. The six Black astronauts who had visited the space station before Mr. Glover were part of space shuttle crews that stayed for roughly 12 days.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/science/jessica-watkins-nasa-spacex.html

Nurse Explains What to Expect at End of Life

https://nypost.com/2021/11/17/im-a-hospice-nurse-and-this-is-what-most-people-say-before-they-die/

Deaf Football Team Prove They're Winners

An excerpt from the NY Times -

Underdog No More, a Deaf Football Team Takes California by Storm

The California School for the Deaf, Riverside, is steamrolling its opponents, electrifying a campus that has seen more than a few athletic defeats.

By Thomas Fuller

On Friday night, the Cubs beat the Desert Christian Knights, 84-12.
Credit...Adam Perez for The New York Times

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The athletic program at the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, has suffered its share of humiliations and harassment over the years. There was the time that a visiting team’s volleyball coach mocked the deaf players. And another time a hearing coach for the girls’ basketball team listened as opponents discussed how embarrassing it would be to lose to a deaf team.

It did not help morale that the varsity football team, the Cubs, recently suffered seven straight losing seasons, leaving the school with the sinking feeling that opposing football teams came to the Riverside campus expecting an easy win.

No one is disparaging the Cubs anymore. This season, they are undefeated — the highest-ranked team in their Southern California division. Through 11 games, they have not so much beaten their opponents as flattened them.

On Friday night, the second round of the playoffs, the Cubs trounced the Desert Christian Knights, 84-12, a score that would have been even more lopsided had the Cubs not shown mercy by putting their second-string players in for the entire second half.

Led by the school’s physical education teacher, Keith Adams, a burly and effervescent deaf man whose two deaf sons are also on the team, the Cubs are a fast and hard-hitting squad. Wing-footed wide receivers fly past defenses, averaging 17 yards per catch. The quarterback doubles as the team’s leading rusher, with 22 touchdowns on the season. A system of coded hand signals among tight-knit teammates and coaches confounds opponents with its speed and efficiency.

With Friday’s win, the Cubs are two games away from capturing the division championship for the first time in the school’s 68-year history. But coaches and players say they already feel like winners.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/us/riverside-california-deaf-football-team.html?referringSource=articleShare

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Mom & Daughter Black-Themed Bags

From The Black Detour -

Mom & Daughter Launch Black-Themed Backpacks, Handbags to Show Everyone Black Is Beautiful

By The Black Detour Team

Chrishonda Benson wanted to show her daughter and the world that brown skin is beautiful. Therefore, she decided to create Pretty Dope Society, an extensive collection of products that incorporates the illustrations of Black artists according to Black News. In October 2020, the company set out to breathe life into Black art has since sold thousands of products that hope to fill the representation gap. They offer diaper bags, travel bags, blankets, drinkware, and more.

https://theblackdetour.com/mom-daughter-launch-black-themed-backpacks-handbags-to-show-everyone-black-is-beautiful/

The richest Celebrity From Each State

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A post shared by StatsPanda • Data Graphics (@statspanda)

Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? | Dogfights | History

https://youtu.be/pp3_7Yo2xFw

Friday, November 12, 2021

Mickey Guyton, Brittney Spencer, Madeline Edwards - “Love My Hair” | CMA...

https://youtu.be/EMrsXPgd0Kk

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Chris Paul is Bringing Plant-Based Foods to HBCUs

An excerpt from Upworthy -

NBA star Chris Paul is bringing plant-based foods to Historically Black Colleges and Universities

By Rebekah Sager

Images courtesy Chris Paul/Koia

Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul aka CP3 is not only one of the best players in the NBA, but he's also one of the biggest cheerleaders for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Paul doesn't just support various HBCUs, he's also committed to helping shine a light on the schools and provide students with healthy plant-based options. The 11-time NBA All-Star has been a vegan since 2019, and today, he's an investor in Atlanta's popular Slutty Vegan restaurants and recently partnered with Koia brands, leaders in 100% plant-based nutritional shakes. His plan is to take the shakes into vending machines across the nation at HBCUs and offer students in places often without a lot of healthy food something he believes in.

https://www.upworthy.com/chris-paul-vegan-foods-black-colleges

The Richest Black Athletes in the World

An excerpt from AfroTech -

These Are The 14 Richest Black Athletes In The World, Based On Their Net Worth

Bernadette Giacomazzo

Photo Credit: CJ Rivera / George Pimentel / Bennett Raglin

When you think of the world’s richest Black athletes, you may automatically think of basketball players. But there are Black athletes of all stripes all over the world — and some of them play sports that barely make waves on American shores.

One of the richest Black athletes in the world, for example, is a French soccer player by the name of Paul Pogba. He’s a midfielder for Manchester United, one of the most popular soccer teams in the world, and he previously played for Juventus. But while Pogba is a current athlete, there are some Black athletes who made this list that no longer play the game.

For example, Michael Jordan — the GOAT of the NBA — is better known for his sneakers than his hoop game today, while Shaq is known as the cantankerous commentator on “NBA on TNT.” LeBron James — who is on the road to a billion — has reached a point where he doesn’t have to play basketball anymore, but it’s clear that he still wants to.

And then there are some players whose true underdog stories are nothing short of an inspiration. You won’t believe how Vinnie Johnson flipped a meager NBA salary into the world’s largest supplier of auto parts, or how Junior Bridgeman went from earning a paltry few hundred thousand into tying with the Magic Johnson to become the world’s third-richest Black athlete.

Let’s take a look at the richest Black athletes in the world, based on their net worth.

https://afrotech.com/richest-black-athletes-net-worth?item=1

Sunday, November 7, 2021

"If You Hate Immigrants..." - TREVOR NOAH (watch Son of Patricia on Netf...

https://youtu.be/BOt5SmHf2aE

Ray (2004) - Stepping Into the Part: A Jam Session Between Jamie Foxx & ...

https://youtu.be/ipg34XNvLDY

King Richard - Official Trailer 2

https://youtu.be/tn2W744pxXI

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic - Smokin Out The Window [Official...

https://youtu.be/GG7fLOmlhYg

Dead as a doornail.

https://youtu.be/1JOwfKLdRt8

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Arizona's First Black-Owned Spa

An excerpt from Travel Noire -

The Jenesis House: Arizona's First Black Woman-Owned Resort

Black Owned Business , Phoenix , United States , Prescott , United States

By Ayah A.


	Photo courtesy of The Jenesis House

Jenesis Laforcarde is the creator of The Jenesis House, an adults-only wellness resort specializing in providing a luxury self-care experience. A 13-room destination retreat, The Jenesis House will be heavily inspired by African and Asian influences, in reflection of Laforcarde’s cultural background.

The resort will be located in historic Prescott, AZ, a place where the stars shine bright and water meets the desert, creating a healing oasis. The city is within proximity to Phoenix, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon Railroad. Downtown Prescott is just four minutes away from the resort, and Watson Lake is just a short 13-minute drive away.

Born in Oxford, England and raised in Okinawa, Japan, Laforcarde is currently based in Phoenix, Arizona. With a background in fashion and branding, she has lent her creative expertise to numerous global brands, including CBS radio, xoNecole, Reshoevn8er, and Sax Agency.

Having felt there was a void preventing people from experiencing health and wellness in a place that that exudes tranquility and style, Laforcade set out to fill that void. Set to open in late 2022, The Jenesis House will provide the ultimate in relaxation and self-care in a beautiful, intimate, and innovative setting.

“The last few years have forced many people in this world to reevaluate the options that they have to mitigate the stresses that life imposes upon us all,” said Laforcade. “With that in mind, The Jenesis House is an ideal solution that will help people relieve stress in an enjoyable and safe environment.”

The resort will include 13 cabin studios, each with a deep soaking tub, private meditation garden, and a living moss wall to create a natural air filter. The full-service spa will provide holistic healing services, from caviar rose petal facials to muscle healing massages. In addition, the resort will be home to a Nordic spa and plunge pool. A centuries-old tradition that alternates hot, cold, and relaxation for an out-of-body experience, the Nordic spa will be Prescott’s first.

https://travelnoire.com/the-jenesis-house-arizonas-first-black-woman-owned-resort

He's Paying It Forward Big Time

An excerpt from Essence -

This HBCU Alum Turned a College Fair Into An Organization That Generated $52M in Scholarships-Here's How

CREDIT: SHENAY RIVERS

“With grades like these, you won’t even get into community college.”

When Andres Martin recalls his final days of high school, they aren’t with much fondness. His guidance counselor told him his options were limited leading up to graduation. Fortunately, through the support of his family, he pivoted and looked into schools with programs that aimed to not only provide a traditional curriculum but also offer college success skills for incoming freshmen.

The Connecticut-native didn’t have much insight into Historically Black Colleges and Universities as a teen.

“I remember my mother and my aunt trying to encourage me to keep my head up and be positive,” he said. “This led to me to move in with my aunt in Dallas and attend an HBCU tour to view schools like Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M, & Grambling State. I ended up learning about a lot of strong legacies and impactful leaders who graduated from HBCUs and envisioned myself being on one of these campuses.”

Shortly after the tour, Martin applied and was accepted into Grambling State University, which ultimately changed the now 31-year-old’s life. Also a graduate of Howard University, Martin said he often volunteered on-campus as a way to reach back and expose aspiring college students to the value of the HBCU experience they would have otherwise had no idea about. In fact, despite some preconceived notions, these institutions have been making an impact in the lives of their students that extend beyond the classroom.

UNCF reports a “whopping 25% of African American graduates with STEM degrees come from HBCUs. Eight HBCUs were among the top 20 institutions to award the most science and engineering bachelor’s degrees to black graduates from 2008-2012. An HBCU graduate can expect to earn an additional $927,000 in their lifetime, which is 56% more than they could expect to earn without their HBCU degrees or certificates. From start to finish, an HBCU education is a setup for success.”

Martin wanted to give back to HBCUs and encourage enrollment, so he created HBCU Night in 2019, a non-profit organization that creates awareness for Historically Black Colleges & Universities through large-scale events like college and resource fairs. These programs, Martin says, are critical to addressing access gaps Black students have when applying for college.

Seventy-two percent of Black students take on debt as they seek their degrees, as opposed to 56% of their white peers. And while college enrollment in this group has increased significantly over the years, African American enrollment at the nation’s most elite colleges has remained mostly the same.

Martin has been making significant strides to change that. To date, HBCU Night has facilitated 1,611 scholarship offers amounting to more than $52 million. He recently sat down with Essence to discuss the incredible impact of HBCUs and why his organization is transforming the college fair experience.

https://www.essence.com/news/money-career/hbcu-night-andres-martin/

Did Gruden Have a Problem With Black Players? Is that Why He Reduced Their Numbers?

An excerpt from FiveThirtyEight -

The Raiders Had More Black Players Than Any NFL Team. Then Jon Gruden Took Over The Roster.

By Michael Tesler

The racial makeup of the Raiders changed substantially after Jon Gruden took over.
ETHAN MILLER / GETTY IMAGES

Years before Jon Gruden resigned in disgrace as the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach over a series of racist, misogynistic and homophobic emails, Chip Kelly faced scrutiny over his record on race during his tenure as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Running back LeSean McCoy, who was traded from the Eagles to the Buffalo Bills in 2015, told ESPN The Magazine later that year that Kelly was eager to jettison the team’s “good Black players,” adding, “there’s a reason he got rid of all the Black players — the good ones — like that.” McCoy wasn’t the only one to question the racial motives behind Kelly’s roster moves: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said after McCoy was traded that Kelly’s personnel decisions “leave a few brothers feeling uncomfortable.” Tra Thomas, a former offensive lineman and assistant coach for the Eagles,¹ voiced those same concerns when he asserted that a number of Philadelphia’s players thought there was a “hint of racism” in the locker room under Kelly’s leadership.

The accusations against Kelly — now the coach at UCLA — prompted my own statistical investigation into how race might matter in NFL roster decisions. My analysis of data collected on each player’s racial background from Best Tickets’ Unofficial 2014 NFL Player Census ² found that the 10 teams in 2014 who had Black people in the key leadership roles of head coach and/or general manager had significantly more Black players on their rosters than the 22 other NFL teams. No team did more to drive that year’s statistically significant negative correlation³ between whiter team leadership and having fewer Black players on NFL rosters than Kelly’s Eagles. In fact, the significant differences⁴ between the percentage of Black players on the Eagles (50.9 percent) and the rest of the NFL (68.3 percent) were beyond the statistical threshold that the courts and federal bureaucracy generally recognize as potential discrimination.

Meanwhile, the team most responsible for driving the positive correlation between African American general managers having more Black players on their rosters in 2014 was none other than the Raiders. Under the leadership of the team’s African American general manager, Reggie McKenzie, the Raiders (then playing in Oakland) had a higher share of Black players on their roster (79.2 percent) than any other NFL team in 2014. According to data compiled on the racial composition of each NFL team’s roster by ProFootballLogic,⁵ the Raiders also had the NFL’s highest percentage of Black players (82.3 percent) in 2016 — the year that McKenzie won executive of the year honors after the team’s impressive 12-win showing. It’s probably not a coincidence, either, that the two teams with the next highest shares of Black players, the Giants and Bills, also had African American GMs. Indeed, the five NFL teams with Black GMs in 2016 had rosters that were, on average, 75.4 percent Black, compared with 67.7 percent for the 27 teams that did not — a statistically significant difference⁶ in percent of Black players that we can be confident was not simply due to random variation.

The Raiders’ racial composition was virtually identical in 2017, the year before Gruden began his second stint as the team’s head coach. While there’s no publicly available data on the racial composition of NFL rosters after 2016, my admittedly crude coding ⁷ of the team’s roster once again found that 82.0 percent of the Raiders’ players were Black in 2017. But the number of Black players on the Raiders sharply declined soon after Gruden became the Raiders’ “de facto football czar.” By the end of the 2018 season, McKenzie had been fired, and Gruden assumed even more control over the Raiders’ personnel decisions. That included changing the roster’s racial composition: My analysis of the team’s rosters found that the share of Black players on the Raiders declined from 82.0 percent in 2017 to 69.0 percent in 2019 and 67.1 percent in 2020 and 67.2 percent in 2021.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-raiders-had-more-black-players-than-any-nfl-team-then-jon-gruden-took-over-the-roster/

Slave Codes: Crash Course Black American History #4

https://youtu.be/gu9RIGGXeNo

He Says What We're Thinking

From Bored Panda -

Dude Keeps Protesting Annoying Everyday Things With Funny Signs (30 New Pics)

By Jonas Grinevičius and Greta Jaruševičiūtė

The man, the legend, the incarnation of wit and humor, Dude With Sign cannot be stopped. He’s an overwhelming force of nature on the internet, speaking the truth in a world full of illusions, one silly yet poignant cardboard sign at a time.

The face behind the vastly popular Dude With Sign project is none other than New Yorker Seth Phillips who teamed up together with Jerry Media founder Elliot Tebele to make the project come true. What started out with a simple cardboard sign (“Stop replying-all to company-wide emails”) turned into a massive success, well, not literally overnight, but still within a very impressive few months. Now, two years after launch, Dude With Sign boasts a jaw-dropping 7.7 million followers on Instagram.

dudewithsign

https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-dude-holding-signs-protesting/

She Invented a Comb for "Afro Hair"

An excerpt from AfroTech -

This Engineer Invented A Comb For 'Afro Hair' — Now, She's Working On Getting More Black Women Into Her Field

By Samantha Dorisca

Photo credit: BBC

United Kingdom-based engineer Youmna Mouhamad has created a tool catered specifically for Black women by a Black woman.

Mouhamad’s inception of the Nyfasi Deluxe Detangler bloomed when she worked as a nanny while studying to earn her Ph.D. in physics, BBC reports.

As she watched a young girl’s hair get washed and conditioned, the child’s eyes began to fill with tears due to the experience. This moment would cause Mouhamad to embrace a new academic journey and switch to studying engineering.

“I shifted to engineering because I always had a desire to work on things that I can touch with my hands, and I love the process of taking an idea and actually creating something,” Mouhamad says to BBC.

To bring her vision to life, Mouhamad would attend an enterprise fellowship at the Royal Academy of Engineering. Here, she was able to create a focus group to develop an effective product pooling adolescent girls and women to test the prototype, which provided stellar reviews.

https://afrotech.com/youmna-mouhamad

Phillis Wheatley: Crash Course Black American History #7

https://youtu.be/a3l9Pmza7Gs

Kane Brown, H.E.R. - Blessed & Free (Official Video)

https://youtu.be/dNim8ChJyI0

Retired FBI boss finds new career driving a school bus

https://youtu.be/qKCCPlZU8QU

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Detroit's Comeback Linked to Restoring It's Only HBCU

From Yahoo News -

Detroit's comeback efforts linked to an 85-year-old HBCU making a return of its own

By Marquise Francis

Dr. D’Wayne Edwards in front of what used to be the
Lewis College of Business in Detroit.
(Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design)

The Lewis College of Business in Detroit had been Michigan’s only historically Black college or university (HBCU) for more than seven decades before it was shuttered in 2013 due to financial hardship and a steep decline in enrollment. But eight years after closing, the school is set to make a return — only this time under a slightly new name and an entirely new mission.

Former Air Jordan designer Dr. D’Wayne Edwards is refounding the school as the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design with an all-around focus on design, a nod to the Pensole Design Academy he founded in 2010, the country’s first academy dedicated to footwear design.

“Of the HBCUs that are in existence today, very few of them have a focus on design,” Edwards told Yahoo News. “We hope what we’re doing by reestablishing Lewis College is that it’ll help people look at Detroit as an epicenter for creativity and design.”

The Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design will be the first HBCU to focus solely on design — from footwear to furniture and packaging — and will offer students both two-year and four-year degrees, as well as special certificates, working directly with corporate partners to help students’ transition into careers after graduation.

Edwards said he wants to provide opportunities for the city of Detroit and Black youth. More than three decades ago, he said, he was only the second Black footwear designer in the entire footwear industry. Today there are fewer than 200 globally, and across the design industry as a whole, Black people make up less than 4 percent.

https://news.yahoo.com/detroits-comeback-efforts-linked-to-an-85-year-old-hbcu-making-a-return-of-its-own-211113117.html