Being the Only One

An excerpt from INC - 

She Was the Only Black Woman in the Room. So She Decided to Become the Best in the Business. They say it's lonely at the top. But here's what they don't say: Knowing how to go it alone is the secret to getting you there.

BY PHYLLIS NEWHOUSE, FOUNDER AND CEO, XTREME SOLUTIONS, INC

When Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year, I became the only Black female CEO of an NYSE-listed SPAC. When I launched Xtreme Solutions in 2002, I became the only Black woman CEO of a cyber­security company.

Before that, I spent 22 years in the Army, including three stints at the Pentagon, where I was often the only Black woman in the room when crucial decisions were being made.

Being "the only" in any situation can be lonely for some, but it doesn't bother me. Some of this year's Inc. 5000 honorees are "the only" in their fields, and, as they likely know, it's a unique position with distinct advantages. There have been more than 820 SPAC IPOs since 2009, but Athena is the only one with a Black woman as CEO--so everybody knows who I am. I embrace the opportunity to share a perspective others don't have.

https://www.inc.com/magazine/202109/phyllis-newhouse/athena-technology-xtreme-solutions-only-black-woman-greatest.html

Beautiful Braided Creations

An excerpt from the Cut - 

The Beautiful Language of Braids Black hairstylists and creative muses open up about their love for the iconic style.

By Faith Cummings

The Black hair salon is a sanctified space, with each chair getting its believer closer to goddess-level status, from the wash bowl to the hair dryer to the styling chair. These shops are portals to transformation — equal parts magic and the sweat and toil of the artisans who lather, roll, bump, press, and braid day in, day out, with unparalleled results.

These parlors of beauty and style are also spaces of choice, converting even the most ambivalent and unsure into full-blown sirens simply with a decision pulled from the salon walls. There’s no shortage of potential styles to select from blown-up poster collages in full color, fashioned on models who look like you, your mother, and your friends, with a few sightings of our patron saints Beyoncé and Rihanna in all their coiffed Black-girl glory for good measure.

I’ve reveled in these spaces all my life, from pictures that remind me of the braids I had done right before a childhood graduation to earlier this summer when friends’ weddings called for hairstyles that could emanate elegance in the face of New York’s subtropical heat and humidity. Over the past year and a half, these salons have been a lifeline when I sought to protect my hair and make it ready for anything, shifting the energy from styling it to carrying on despite a devastating virus and its resulting chaos. I bonded with braiders who were strangers mere hours before about the state of our world and politics, when we all started getting waist-long braids and all the tricks we have for not letting them fall into unsavory places, and relationships, as I definitely hopped out of the chair and headed straight to a marathon date just months ago.

https://www.thecut.com/2021/09/the-beautiful-language-of-braids.html

Lessons in Living Abroad

An excerpt from Buzzfeed - 

Two Years Ago, I Moved From The US To Europe — Here's How I Did It & My Advice For Those Wanting A Similar Change

Plus, my advice for anyone considering a similar life change.

by Michelle No

                Michelle No / BuzzFeed

Hey all! I'm Michelle and I'm an American currently living in Berlin, Germany. Ever since I moved here two years ago (and wrote all about it), a lot of BuzzFeed readers have reached out to me directly. They've been curious about what inspired such a big move, or how, logistically, I even did it. To help anyone considering a similar change, I wanted to outline exactly how it all went down.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/michelleno/moving-to-berlin-germany

Simply Stunning!

An excerpt from My Modern Met - 

Street Artist Uses Flowering Trees as “Natural Hair” To Complete Portraits of Women and Girls

By Sara Barnes

Portrait inspired by Egypt Sarai

Brazilian street artist Fábio Gomes Trindade combines painting and nature to create singular works that are only complete when viewed together. With the help of tree branches that sit above his vibrant murals, he produces portraits where only part of the head is present—such as the face and a portion of the hair. But when paired with colorful flowering trees and green leaves, the portrait has a full, beautiful coif. It's a clever and charming way to combine elements of the urban environment with the natural one.

Two of Trindade’s latest pieces are inspired by a child model named Egypt Sarai. The young girl is depicted in two ways by the artist; one with an afro comprising pink flowers and the other with her hair separated into two poofs atop her head. In each painting, Trindade captures the sweet, soft features of Sarai through spray paint and enhances her beauty with the trees.

https://mymodernmet.com/fabio-gomes-trindade-street-art/

Kingsley Ben Adir on transforming into Malcolm X and Barack Obama | Brit...

https://youtu.be/N8_oda286ys

All-Black Lineup in Baseball - 50 YEARS AGO!

An excerpt from the Undefeated - 

On this day in 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates fielded the first all-black and Latino lineup

By Bryan Cortes

Pittsburgh Pirates Al Oliver (center) is grabbed
by teammates Willie Stargell (left) and Roberto Clemente (right)
after his three-run-homer which gave the Pirates a 9-5 victory
over the San Francisco Giants and the National League Pennant.
Getty Images

The Pirates made history with a lineup only put together due to injuries 

There were only 11,278 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on Sept. 1, 1971, but history was made anyway. The date marked 24 years after Jackie Robinson officially broke baseball’s color barrier and the Pirates became the first Major League franchise to field an all-black and Latino starting nine.

Although the normal Pittsburgh Pirates starting lineup that year was usually filled with players of color, it had never been entirely made up of men of color until Sept. 1. Normal starters Richie Hebner (third base) and Gene Alley (shortstop) were both nursing injuries, which allowed Dave Cash and Jackie Hernandez to fill in.

“The Pirates were known for their black and Latin players, and of course on that particular team, we were loaded,” former Pirate Al Oliver told MLB.com. “I don’t know how many we had on the 1971 team, but if I had to guess, maybe 11 or 12 black and Latin players. As a rule, we would start five – if Dock pitched, then it would be six.”

https://theundefeated.com/features/on-this-day-in-1971-the-pittsburgh-pirates-fielded-the-first-all-black-lineup/

Foo Fighters "Everlong" w/ 11-Year-Old Nandi Bushell, The Forum, Los An...

https://youtu.be/jsDgrKdczAE

A Refuge From Racism

An excerpt from Vice News - 

Where Black Americans Seek Refuge from Racism

Scores of Black Americans have flocked to Tulum to take a mental break after a year of so much grief.

By Adizah Eagan

All the posts about Tulum on social media this past year really got our attention: Everyone seemed to be living it up in the small Mexican fishing town south of Cancun. Some were flocking there to have a good time, but others were seeking something much deeper: They wanted to escape racism, find like-minded people, take a mental respite after a year of so much grief.

“Tulum popped up on Airbnb. [I’d] never heard of Tulum, didn't know Tulum existed,” said Kendrick Little, a photographer. “So I booked a stay here for a whole month. Then the George Floyd thing happened in the States. I had no desire to leave this tranquility of Mexico to go back voluntarily to madness.”

Another traveler, Faris Gebril, had a similar feeling. “I'm coming to Tulum because America is a cult, and I want to be anywhere else,” he said.

VICE producer Adizah Eagan went to Mexico to experience the vibes of Tulum for herself—and dig into why Black people have been seeking refuge in this beachy bohemian getaway. 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epn95a/where-black-americans-seek-refuge-from-racism

Black Bodies Redefined

An excerpt from the Guardian - 

The big picture: the black body redefined

Pioneering young black photographer Dana Scruggs’s celebration of movement and form

By Tim Adams 

Dana Scrugg

The headline act at this summer’s photography festival in Arles is an exhibition devoted to the young black photographers who are – literally – changing the face (and bodies) of fashion photography. The New Black Vanguard features the work of Tyler Mitchell, the first black photographer to shoot a Vogue cover, and Dana Scruggs, who achieved the same extraordinarily overdue milestone at Rolling Stone, when she photographed the rapper Travis Scott in 2019.

Scruggs, born in Chicago and based in New York, started out photographing vintage clothes and furniture for her own Etsy store a decade ago. In 2016, frustrated by the continuing lack of diversity in advertising and fashion, she crowdfunded the launch of her own magazine, SCRUGGS, to showcase her distinctive ways of expressing light and movement, focusing on the black male body. “There’s a fearfulness of black men in American society and globally,” Scruggs said. “I wanted to change the narrative.”

This picture, shot in Death Valley in 2018 for a swimwear campaign, is characteristic of Scruggs’s work. “I focus on shapes and bodies and skin,” she suggests. “I don’t view the model as a [clothes] hanger.” She invites her subjects – the model here is LA-based Nyadhuor Deng – to loosely improvise and take control of their presentation. “I want people to understand that black people are powerful and have autonomy over our bodies,” Scruggs has said. 

https://amp.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/aug/29/the-big-picture-the-black-body-redefined

Hot Sauce Heaven

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

Twin Lawyers, Howard U Grads Team Up to Revive Grandmother’s Hot Sauce Business

A family-owned hot sauce business is now back up and running after twin sisters worked to revive it.

(Photo: Alice Crowe-Bell and Alicia Crowe)

Identical twin sisters, Alice Crowe-Bell and Alicia Crowe, are Howard University School of Law graduates who have practiced as attorneys for more than 20 years but decided to use their business acumen to help get a family business off the ground.

Emmaline’s All-Natural Hot Sauce is their grandmother’s recipe. They’ve teamed up to keep their family legacy alive. They have relaunched their family business in honor of their late grandmother, Emmaline Humphries Stinson.

The twins’ mother dreamed of selling the hot sauce, so they helped their mother sell it at various farmer markets and food tastings throughout the tri-state area. It did not take long for the sauce to develop a loyal following and by  2007 Emmaline’s Hot Sauce won the Whole Foods Local Hero Award. 

Emmaline passed away last year, and the twins decided to honor their mother’s dream and continue their grandmother’s legacy by relaunching the hot sauce.

Now, the hot sauce has Emmaline’s 1910 wedding photo featured on the front of the bottle.

“The minute we reached out to her customers, within minutes, they were ordering the sauce, some by the case. They were so happy to know that we were moving forward with the sauce. That kind of response, it wasn’t because of me or my sister, it was because of my mother. She was so passionate and made her food with love,” Crowe said.

The sisters said they relaunched Emmaline’s Hot Sauce on Juneteenth and have received praise from customers for doing so.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/twin-lawyers-howard-u-grads-team-up-to-revive-grandmothers-hot-sauce-business/amp/

HBCU's in Florida

An excerpt from the Miami Herald -  

How many HBCUs are in Florida? Here’s where they are and some of their famous alumni

BY JASON DILL

Florida Memorial University President Jaffus Hardrick speaks during a
joint commencement ceremony for students graduating
in the class of 2020 and 2021 at the FMU campus in Miami Gardens, Florida,
on Saturday, May 8, 2021. SAM NAVARRO SPECIAL FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

The Orange Blossom Classic highlights two Historically Black Colleges and Universities with a football game and an event schedule away from the gridiron highlighted by the Battle of the Bands and a concert.

Florida A&M is one of the participants in the game, having to face Jackson State, which is coached by Pro Football Hall of Famer and Florida State alumnus Deion Sanders.

How many HBCU schools are in Florida? Where are they located? What are they known for?

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/article253785913.html

Why Do "We" Have to Crossover?

An excerpt from the LA Times - 

Column: Why do we praise Black performers for ‘crossing over’ to white audiences?

BY LZ GRANDERSONCOLUMNIST 

Janet Jackson, queen of pop?
(Mark Von Holden / Invision via Associated Press)

Saw a debate on Twitter this week that caught my attention: Madonna or Janet Jackson — who is the real queen of pop?

The conversation was started by Lizzo, who in sharing her list of music royalty gave the coveted title to Jackson, which set off Madonna fans. Billboard magazine, the music industry’s longtime chart tracker, gave the title to Madonna some time ago. Jackson is ranked third, behind Mariah Carey.

Before we forget the original, though, let’s be clear that in 1976, Billboard had already named Diana Ross the female entertainer of the century. She became the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of music, too often overlooked whenever people debate the “greatest of all time.”

That sort of amnesia is one of the many reasons I dislike debates of this nature to begin with. 

But this “Madonna vs. Jackson” conversation drifted toward an interesting topic: crossover appeal.

Janet Jackson’s popularity is noteworthy for crossing racial lines, which highlights the fact that Madonna’s success did not.

That’s not to say Madonna doesn’t have Black fans. Of course she does. I’m one of them.

But despite working with iconic R&B producers such as Babyface, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Dallas Austin and Timbaland, Madonna has managed just one Top 10 R&B/hip-hop single, “Like a Virgin,” which peaked at No. 9 back in 1985. The song’s producer, Nile Rodgers, is known for adding some funk to a number of white artists, such as David Bowie (“Let’s Dance”) and Duran Duran (“Notorious”).

Madonna was able to build an iconic career relying heavily on R&B production without the burden of needing to appeal to R&B listeners. She went for as Black a sound as she possibly could without being hindered by the music industry’s racism. Ranking on the R&B charts was unnecessary.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-09-01/janet-jackson-and-other-black-performers-dont-need-a-white-blessing

Leadership Matters

An excerpt from Fortune - 

A tale of two governors: COVID outcomes in Florida and Connecticut show that leadership matters

BY ANJANI JAIN AND JEFFREY SONNENFELD

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (left) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

JOHN MOORE—GETTY IMAGES; MICHAEL REAVES—GETTY IMAGES

Executive power is often circumscribed by complex geopolitical dynamics, volatile financial markets, disruptive new technologies, and tragic natural disasters. But key leaders still can have a profound impact—positive or negative—on millions of constituents. A comparison of Florida’s and Connecticut’s governors in their contrasting approach to the resurgence of the coronavirus reveals the consequential potential of individual leaders. 

This summer, tragic public-health news was exacerbated by historic levels of political grandstanding by several Southern state governors. The rapid spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant was driven by a surge of new cases in Florida, Texas, and Missouri—as these states accounted for an astounding 40% of new U.S. coronavirus cases despite representing only 17% of the nation’s population. Ignoring science and evidence, the governors of these three states have taken a rigid, cynical stance, forbidding vaccine mandates by employers and mandatory indoor mask usage—even in cases where such mandates were intended to protect young schoolchildren ineligible for vaccines. 

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis even threatened to cut off funding and educators’ salaries for schools that required protective masks in compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Nonetheless, 10 school districts defied DeSantis by issuing mask mandates. Similarly, Disney, Carnival Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean joined Norwegian Cruise Line in defiance of DeSantis’s ban on passenger vaccination passports, despite being threatened with fines of $5,000 for each such violation of his decree. 

Florida’s hospital emergency rooms and intensive care units are now reaching capacity, with 90% of ICU beds occupied, the majority of them by COVID patients. More than 90% of these inpatients are unvaccinated; overall only one-third of Floridians between ages 12 and 64 are vaccinated. 

DeSantis’s response to such wide swaths of the unvaccinated Florida population suffering from the highly contagious Delta variant has been to consult with anti-mask advocates who promote the horse parasite drug ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, unproven elixirs, instead of scientifically developed, safe, and highly effective vaccines. 

In contrast, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has been relying on a science-based approach from the outset of the pandemic. He pulled together globally renowned virologists, microbiologists, epidemiologists, and business leaders in March of 2020, just as the pandemic was declared, and kept such advisory panels working to solve problems by relying on science, evidence, and smart management, independent of ideology. Accordingly, he worked with both top Trump administration and later top Biden administration leaders to keep manufacturing flowing without a day’s interruption, ensuring the needed supply of protective material to open schools early. Lamont also catalyzed a new nationwide weekly meeting of the nation’s governors, favoring quiet, effective, bipartisan, cross-sector problem-solving instead of seeking the public limelight. 

https://fortune.com/2021/08/31/covid-florida-connecticut-mask-mandates-vaccination-hospitalization-death-rates/

Chilled Out Golden Retriever Puppy Relaxes On Flamingo Floatie

https://youtu.be/elzCP2gok3E

Changing the Look of Astronauts

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

MEET THE BLACK WOMAN LOOKING TO CHANGE WHAT PEOPLE THINK AN ASTRONAUT LOOKS LIKE

by Jeroslyn Johnson

                 Lisa Alcindor (Image: Lisa Alcindor)

Lisa Alcindor is a Black woman on a mission to get to outer space. The 34-year-old Northern Virginia resident promotes herself as an “Astronaut Candidate” on her LinkedIn and Instagram pages.

“What do astronauts look like?” her Instagram bio reads. With a goal of touring the universe, Alcindor has started a GoFundMe in an effort to get help paying for the astronaut training she will need ahead of being launched to infinity and beyond.

“My goal is to show people that they truly are limitless,” she told Washington Post.

And she wants people to understand that astronauts can look like her: Long braids, long lashes and all.

While people across the world watch billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk take part in the ongoing space race, hopefuls like Alcindor are stuck resorting to more ordinary forms of achieving space flight.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/meet-the-black-woman-looking-to-change-what-people-think-an-astronaut-looks-like/?test=prebid

Tennis Boost @ HBCUs

An excerpt from the NY Times - 

Tennis Programs at Historically Black Colleges Receive a Boost

The U.S.T.A. has initiated a grant program with the ultimate goal of enhancing opportunities for players of color, especially women, to become coaches and grow the game.

By David Waldstein 

David Dinkins, shown in 1989, enjoyed playing with tennis greats
and still hit the court into his late 80s. Credit...Neal Boenzi/The New York Times

Rochelle Houston had an advantage. Her father, Joe Goldthreate, is a legendary tennis coach in Nashville, who taught her not only how to play the game, but how to coach it, too.

Houston is now the head of tennis at Florida A&M, which until recently meant she coached both teams. But the men’s team was cut in 2020 due to a lack of funding, and the women’s team makes do. It certainly does not enjoy the lavish facilities and recruiting budgets of many large Division I programs.

That is typical of many, if not all, of the 38 historically Black colleges and universities that have tennis programs. To help address that, the United States Tennis Association has initiated a grant program to contribute funding to those college programs, with the ultimate goal of enhancing opportunities for players of color, especially women, to become coaches and grow the game.

“There is a desperate need,” Houston said Wednesday from her office in Tallahassee, Fla. “We don’t have a lot of funding. We barely get by. This program will help significantly.”

The grant is named after David Dinkins, the former mayor of New York who was a board member of the U.S.T.A. and longtime tennis player, fan and active supporter. Had it not been for Dinkins’ advocacy and intervention, the U.S. Open might not even be in New York anymore, and might not have its showpiece venue, Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest in tennis.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/sports/tennis/us-open-hbcu-dinkins.html

We Should Follow Her Lead

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

MULTIMILLIONAIRE RACHEL RODGERS SHARES 5 STRATEGIES SHE USED TO BUILD HER EMPIRE

by Ashantai Hathaway

Dale May Photography

Rachel Rodgers is a multimillionaire. She lives on a 53-acre ranch with her husband and family in Greensboro, NC. But she says she got it all from hard work and strategic planning.

“Both of my parents were laid off from their jobs at the same time. I remember our lights getting turned off because my parents couldn’t afford to pay the electricity bill,” Rodgers told Business Insider.

Rodgers graduated from law school, but could not find a good-paying job because of the recession.

“I became an entrepreneur by necessity because there were not many good job offers. So, I clerked for a judge for a year making $41,000,” she said. After that, she focused on building her business.

Rodgers started her business working as a business coach and attorney. Her initial goal was to earn $50,000 a year while working from home. A little over a decade after starting her company, Rodgers is a multi-millionaire. Here are the strategies she used to build her wealth. . .

https://www.blackenterprise.com/multimillionaire-rachel-rodgers-shares-5-strategies-she-used-to-build-her-empire/?test=prebid

He Nailed It!

 

We are all in this video pic.twitter.com/ZebenP2Aid

— Washington Post TikTok Guy 🥉 (@davejorgenson) September 2, 2021

FAMU's Concert Choir + Marching 100 Band to Perform at NFL Kickoff

From wctv.tv - 

FAMU Marching 100 and Concert Choir to perform during NFL Kickoff festivities in Tampa

By Pat Mueller

Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 and Concert Choir
will perform as part of the pregame festivities for the
NFL’s 2021 Kickoff game in Tampa, according to a press release.(FAMU)

Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 and Concert Choir will perform as part of the pregame festivities for the NFL’s 2021 Kickoff game in Tampa, according to a press release.

The game between the Dallas Cowboys and reigning Super Bowl LV Champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers is set for 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 9.

The FAMU Concert Choir will collaborate with Alicia Keys to update her version of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before performing it live at Raymond James Stadium, says NFL Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility Anna Issacson.

“This will mark the first time ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ will be sung live at an NFL stadium and we are looking forward to shining a light on such a versatile and talented choir, while also honoring the legacy of the song,” Issacson says.

https://www.wctv.tv/2021/09/03/famu-marching-100-concert-choir-perform-during-nfl-kickoff-festivities-tampa/

Absolutely Agree!

An excerpt from the Washington Post - 

Opinion: Doctors should be allowed to give priority to vaccinated patients when resources are scarce 

By Ruth Marcus

I’m going to come right out and say it: In situations where hospitals are overwhelmed and resources such as intensive care beds or ventilators are scarce, vaccinated patients should be given priority over those who have refused vaccination without a legitimate medical or religious reason.

This conflicts radically with accepted medical ethics, I recognize. And under ordinary circumstances, I agree with those rules. The lung cancer patient who’s been smoking two packs a day for decades is entitled to the same treatment as the one who never took a puff. The drunk driver who kills a family gets a team doing its utmost to save him — although, not perhaps, a liver transplant if he needs one. Doctors are healers, not judges.

But the coronavirus pandemic, the development of a highly effective vaccine, and the emergence of a core of vaccine resisters along with an infectious new variant have combined to change the ethical calculus. Those who insist on refusing the vaccine for no reason are not in the same moral position of the smoker with lung cancer or the drunk driver. In situations where resources are scarce and hard choices must be made, they are not entitled to the same no-questions-asked, no-holds-barred medical care as others who behaved more responsibly.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/03/doctors-should-be-allowed-give-priority-vaccinated-patients-when-resources-are-scarce/