https://youtu.be/eOU7a1iQC2Y
Sunday, November 21, 2021
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
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| (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.
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
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| 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
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| 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.
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.
Friday, November 12, 2021
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
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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.
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
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| 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
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.
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| 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.
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
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| 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/
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