Month: May 2019

LENA WAITHE HAS BEEN INTENTIONAL ABOUT CREATING JOBS AND OTHER NUMEROUS OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE SHE’S COLLABORATED WITH. IT’S AN EXAMPLE WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM

There are two ways you can deal with success, and that’s to make your way to the top alone or use your success to create opportunities for others. One person who is not riding her wave alone is the multitalented Lena Waithe. 

Even in the early stages of her stardom, Waithe has been intentional about creating jobs for those she’s collaborated with. Even with her first-look deal with Showtime she’s maximized this opportunity to work with content creators to develop an ecosystem that is not only telling Black stories but hiring Black talent.

Ahead, here are just a few ways Waithe is passing the torch and paying it forward

Her Former Bosses Taught Her How To Pass The Torch

Lena Waithe has learned from the best in Hollywood. She’s interned and worked for Gina Prince-Bythewood, Mara Brock Akil and Ava Duvernay before her big break and watch how these women, told the stories of Black women, hired other Black women and created opportunities for Black women. Her former bosses laid out a blueprint of how to create an ecosystem that opens doors for others to win. Waithe told Entertainment Tonight, “helping to ensure that more voices are heard, that more people have opportunities, and helping ensure their voices are not diluted and that they are coming through the right filters.”

She Brought Her Web Series Actors To The Big & Small Screen

Like so many of us, Waithe created and released her content on the internet capturing a following and an audience who loved her web pilot presentation Twenties, web series Hello Cupid, and the viral video Shit Black Girls Say featuring rising stars. When Waithe found the opportunity to take her writing and producing abilities to the big and small screens she brought many of the actors she’d previously worked with along with her. Ashley Blaine Featherson, Courtney Sauls, Nia Jeveria, Marque Richardson and Brandon Bell are just a few of actors that we have seen in Waithe’s web productions become staple actors in Dear White Peopleand Step Sisters. 

She Partners With Other Creatives To Jump-Start Projects

Waithe is not creating magic on her own. Working alongside her long-time collaborator Justin Simien helped each other breakout to become household names. However, her collaboration with Aziz Ansari’s Master None which lead to her Emmy win and a first-look deal with Showtime that allowed her to open doors to launch projects with other people. One of her first projects is with cultural commentator and content creator, Kid Fury for his upcoming comedy series.

Employing Those Who Can Tell Our Story

With Waithe’s The Chi, she was intentionally about telling the stories of Black life in Chicago by hiring actors and people behind the scenes too from the area. A former Chicago police officer is a writer for the Showtime series, and two of the show’s directors are from the Southside including Salli Richardson-Whitfield. She and her showrunner also reached out to Chicago universities to hire staff for the production team. 

Created a Network Of Black Women Writers

Feeling like a unicorn in the writing scene in Hollywood, Waithe along with Nkechi Okoro Carroll and Erika L. Johnson assembled a group of black women writers for a networking meeting which is now called Black Women Who Brunch. The group which has 80 members gather for food and good times, but also a chance to network and find opportunities for each other.”It’s not just a community we’re building, but a resource. We really are able to recommend eight or nine black women for certain jobs,” Waithe told The Hollywood Reporter.

She’s Turned Writers Into Showrunners

Black women have a harder time working their way up to senior level opportunities in the writer’s room. According to a Color of Change report, Black showrunners represent only 5.1 percent TV showrunners. For season two of The Chi, Waithe turned one of her writer sisters, Ayanna Floyd Davis into the showrunner for the Showtime series.

Original article was published here.

Alicia Keys sits before us as a grown woman. And she says it feels damn good. Keys wants every one of us to have this feeling because, according to her, it’s the century of the woman. 

Just one look at her receipts and it’s clear that the twenty-first century has been hers: Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, solidified her as a Grammy Award–winning artist in 2001, sending her home with five wins, including Best New Artist. Keys was only warming up. From there she went on to rack up another ten Grammys and a spot in Billboard’s history books as the number one R&B/hip-hop artist in the aughts. 

Her creativity hasn’t been limited to songwriting and performing. Between acting, producing and being a judge on The Voice, she’s been a tireless advocate for people with HIV/AIDS through her nonprofit, Keep a Child Alive, and an avid supporter of the arts through her work with The Gordon Parks Foundation. Now, at 38, there’s new music on the way, as well as an autobiography on Oprah Winfrey’s publishing imprint, An Oprah Book. The memoir is aptly titled More Myself: A Journey because Keys has become a woman whose evolution knows no bounds.

For some time she’s spoken to our hearts through song and given us a sound track to the moments in our lives. Who hasn’t blushed at the thought of a teenage love affair? When was the last time you felt on fire?

In 2014 Keys became relatable and inspiring in a new way, blending a family with grace. She and her husband, Swizz Beatz, wed in 2010 and have two beautiful sons: 8-year-old Egypt Kasseem, and 4-year-old Genesis. Beatz also has 12-year-old son, Kasseem Dean, Jr., with ex-wife Mashonda Tifrere. (Dean also has two children from previous relationships.) 

Although Keys kept her personal life private for years, initially Tifrere was not so quiet about the hurdles they faced while merging families. After six years of everyone untangling raw emotions in group therapy and mediation, coparenting has taken a turn for the better. Keys even wrote the foreword for Tifrere’s book, Blend: The Secret to Co-Parenting and Creating a Balanced Family, published last year, and in a Good Morning America interview, the two women referred to each other as “life partners.” 

Keys is clearly past the drama, which is evident in the way she shines as a wife and mom. Settling into the seat of womanhood will do that. It’s about knowing your path and your purpose, Keys says. It’s knowing when to say, “This is no longer for me,” and claiming the power to search for what is. 

This is the Alicia we meet, hair still damp after her cover shoot in New York City’s West Village. Gone are the Lanvin gowns and CheyenneKimora beaded head wraps. Yes, she’s barefaced—why should she put on anything that would dim this grown-woman glow? Sitting down for her Yes, Girl! podcast interview with hosts Cori Murray and Charli Penn, Keys is unfiltered about her journey, the way Swizz loves her and the joy she’s constantly discovering.

Original article and full interview here.

Over the past few weeks, 50 Cent has taken to social media to call out people for not repaying loans he had given them. On Tuesday, Fif’s Power co-star Omari Hardwick recounted borrowing a $20,000 loan from the rapper and repaying it with interest.

During an interview on The Angie Martinez Show, Hardwick revealed, “He loaned me one summer, like, 20 Gs. He said, ‘I can’t have my number one f’d up.’”

The actor stressed the importance of paying back loans with interest. “When we are loaned money, you can’t give back the same amount of money that was loan to you. Because that person’s money could have been making money.”

Because Hardwick repaid his loan with interest, the Powerexecutive producer gave him another loan a year later. “The next summer, he gave me more money; I haven’t re-uped yet. Didn’t have my new contract yet. 50 cent said, ‘I can’t have my investment f’d up.’ He looks at life like that. He was developing a friendship and a brotherhood with me, and I was also his investment, so he gave me another $20,000! Now, I paid that back with more interest.”

As video footage of Hardwick’s interview circulated on social media, the rapper thanked him on Instagram. Reposting a clip from the interview, 50 wrote, “This guy @omarihardwickofficial is the truth He’s a man of his word. you other n****s best be coming up with my money by Monday.”

50 Cent has recently used social media as a tool to get back money he’d loaned actor Jackie Long and Power co-executive producer Randall Emmett. 

He’s currently embroiled in a civil suit against Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood cast member Teairra Mari. The reality star was ordered to pay the rapper $35,000 after she lost a revenge porn suit against him.

Original article was published here.

Ava DuVernay is fully in her season. With her series retelling the tale of the Central Park Five, entitled When They See Us, currently tugging on heartstrings on Netflix, the director still has more heat in the canon. Enter the Oprah Winfrey Network star, Queen Sugar, which is preparing to enter its fourth season.

In the trailer for the show’s anticipated summer return, we see that Nova Bordelon (Rutina Wesley), the headstrong journalist and community activist will stir up some raw emotions within her family when she releases an extremely transparent book. The memoir makes public a host of long-held family secrets about her parents, siblings Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) and Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe), and their extensions that Nova feels—against their approval, of course—is essential for community healing.

Season Four officially premieres on June 12 at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.

Watch the full Queen Sugar trailer.

Original article was published here.

Tupac Shakur’s estate has entered an agreement with famed director Allen Hughes to produce a thorough documentary on the former’s life, Deadline reports. Hughes inked a deal with the slain rapper’s holders that’ll feature content of poetry and never-before-heard recordings. Per the news site, it’s being described as “the first definitive, comprehensive project on Shakur with the full cooperation of the estate.”

Hughes and Tupac’s working relationship goes back to the ’90s. Alongside his brother Albert Hughes, they directed Tupac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby” music video. From there, they prepared to have the actor star in their debut film, Menace II Society, as Sharif (played by Vonte Sweet). However, Allen Hughes and Tupac engaged in a dispute which resulted in the former sustaining injuries from the latter’s entourage. As a result, Tupac served 15 days in jail and later declined to be part of the film. Reports state Tupac wanted the role to be more substantial.

In a 2013 interview with MTV News, Hughes stated Tupac’s impact during that time would’ve eclipsed the film. “If ‘Pac had been in the movie he would’ve outshined everyone,” Hughes said. “It would’ve thrown the whole axis of the movie off if Tupac was in it, because he was bigger than the movie.”

Original article was published here.

Morehouse College seniors got a surprise when billionaire investor Robert F. Smith announced during his commencement speech that he would pay off the student loan debt for the historically black college’s graduating class.

Robert F. Smith is the founder of the private equity firm Vista Equity Partners and one of the nation’s most prominent African-American philanthropists.

Smith, who already announced a $1.5 million gift to the school, told nearly 400 Morehouse grads that he’s wiping out their student debt. The additional pledge to pay off the graduating class’ student loan debt is estimated to be $40 million

“On behalf of the eight generations of my family that have been in this country, we’re gonna put a little fuel in your bus. This is my class, 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans,” Smith said to a cheering crowd.

A new report details the negative consequences suffered by black women and girls when people perceive them as older than their white peers.

Researchers at Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality reported their findings Wednesday after speaking to groups of black girls and women across the country about whether their real-life experiences reflected what the same researchers found in 2017: the “adultification” of black girls. The women and girls said they did.

That prior study, which drew headlines two years ago, found that U.S. adults believe black girls seem older than white girls of the same age, that black girls need less nurturing, support and comfort, and that young black girls know more about sex than white girls do.

“Almost all the black girls and women we talked to said they’d experienced adultification bias as children,” report co-author Jamilia Blake said in a statement. “And they overwhelmingly agreed that it led teachers and other adults to treat them more harshly and hold them to higher standards than white girls.”

The researchers spoke to nine focus groups with a total of about 50 black girls and women of varied ages and in diverse regions of the country, over a year from 2017 to 2018.

“To society, we’re not innocent. And white girls are always innocent,” one participant in the focus group aged 17-23 told researchers.

“Even when you see just in general the word ‘attitude’ being applied … it’s usually not applied to white girls,” another participant in the 20- to 29-year-old group said. “It’s applied to Black girls.”

The 2017 report grew out of findings from a 2014 study by Phillip Goff that found black boys were more likely to be viewed as older and to be suspected of crimes starting at age 10.

Choosing to focus specifically on black girls, the 2017 study found that adults saw black girls ages 5-19 as in need of less protection and support than white girls the same age, and that black girls were more independent and knew more about adult topics, including about sex.

The women in the focus groups recounted experiences that reflected how “adultification bias” appeared to be connected to their receiving more punitive treatment.

One participant, for instance, described an encounter with a police officer who didn’t believe she was 15. He handcuffed and fingerprinted her, insisting she was too old not to carry identification.

Other women spoke about being treated as having an “attitude” or as being threatening in school.

“Most times when you try to like defend yourself, they see how you’re talking back. And then, they’ll be like, ‘There’s consequences,’” one participant in the 17- to 23-year-old age group told Georgetown’s researchers. “And they’ll be like ‘Oh, so they get a detention; get a suspension.’ They always feel like you’re talking back, but you’re really not. You’re just trying to defend, like get your side across.”

Research has shown that black girls in school are over 5 times more likely to be suspended than white girls, per a 2017 report from the National Women’s Law Center using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights from 2013-2014.

Researchers hypothesized that part of what played into the adultification of black girls were stereotypes people held about black women as the “sapphire” or “angry black woman,” or as the “jezebel” or the hypersexualized black woman ― and then would apply those to young black girls. Black women the researchers spoke to said this aligned with their experiences.

“A Black girl, if she’s right, and she wants to argue about something, she’s always labelled as, like, angry,” one participant in the 17- to 23-year-old focus group said. “I would see people like debating with teachers and they would always automatically get into trouble. Because like she has ‘attitude.’”

“In … sixth grade, … the school nurse, like, ask[ed] my aunt if I was sexually active …. And I was, like, at the time, like, what? … I didn’t know anyone that had sex,” one participant aged 20-29 said. “And it was so crazy to me. And then just thinking, like, she would never think to ask my [white] friend that.”

The study authors are asking black women and girls to share more stories on their website in an effort to build more awareness and spark change.

Original article was published here.

Jasmin ” Watch Jazzy” Brown (Courtesy of Bounce Network)Jasmin “Watch Jazzy” Brown is a social media sensation known for her “in-car” rants and original characters, such as Toya Turnup. Her funny with no filter antics about dating, sex and life, have built an audience of over one million followers, called her “besties.” Brown inspires her female-dominated audience with her hilarious, yet truthful delivery. Rocking multiple roles in front of and behind the scenes, she has put in work for a while, as an actress, stand-up comedian, writer and producer. She is currently the host of Kevin Hart’s “Laugh Out Loud” on Bounce Network. “Laugh Out Loud” features hilarious stand-up, a motley crew of celebrity guest stars, sketches, comedic re-enactments and more.

The West Palm Beach, Florida, native, who recently celebrated the dawn of what she calls her “filthy 30s,” carries a solid work ethic from her Jamaican father and Trinidadian mother. Blessed with the perfect balance of witty and pretty, she notes, “Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle,” as her “top three” comedic role models. Her ascension in the comedy ranks is an inevitable shift in the atmosphere.

“I met Kevin, and the first thing he said to me [was] he thanked me for being a part of it [‘Laugh Out Loud’],” she recalled. “Then he said, ‘You have a lot of people in this industry that respect you, and that’s a good thing.’ That blew my mind because I’m thinking like, Who are these people? But, it was just a reminder to just keep doing what I’m doing.”

Using her environment as her muse, Brown has been honing her skills since early childhood.  “I believe that if you’re creative, you’re creative from birth. I remember I was young, about 6, and I would be just outside, just watching people. I’ve always been a voyeur,” she said. “So, I would see girls and just like how they would move and how they would talk and how their body language [would be], and I would just watch them. Even from that young, Toya [Turnup] was subconsciously being created.”

Focused on mastering her lane, Brown is humble, yet proud about what sets her apart. “When people work with me, they always work with me again, because I know how to work and I’m professional, and I’m respectful,” she said. “I treat people good and with respect. Coming from social media, people think, ‘Oh, I’m a star because I got a million views.’ They don’t believe in the moving parts of the ship.”

Up next, Brown plans to expand on her popular voice overs. “I’m doing a comedy album with just skits, with just my voices,” she revealed. “I’m trying to get people back in the spirit of skits. I’m going to do every voice I know how to do.”

Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EST, on Bounce. A marathon of nine episodes will air during the Fourth of July holiday. Follow Brown @WatchJazzy.

Original article was published here.

PK Kersey still remembers his first suit.

“I needed one for an interview but couldn’t afford it,” the founder of That Suits You, a Brooklyn-based non-profit that collects, then redistributes gently worn professional clothing recalls. “My pastor went out of his way to purchase one for me and that made a tremendous difference. I got the job and a new perspective on life.”

In the County of Kings, income inequality, gentrification, and sheer growth have made it a tale of two cities. But Kersey believes the disparities faced by a growing number of Brooklynites should only be looked at as an obstacle, not a roadblock. With his 501c3 he helps address some of those hurdles by providing transitioning Black men with training and attire to get to the next level. 

This weekend, the author of Suited For Success collaborated with Monet’s Closet and the New York chapter of One Hundred Black Men for a special task — outfitting Brooklyn students for their high school prom. It’s the culminating activity for an initiative that kicked off in March with a tie drive, spearheaded by OHBM member Jarred Denzel Keller.

The Director of Fashion for a major NYC-based communication and marketing firm understands dressing well. But beyond that, he recognizes what it can do for a person’s morale.

“It was really important to me that this drive not only be successful but also lead to a transformative experience for the young men,” Keller shares with ESSENCE of the initial event. “I believe that every Black boy should be able to go to prom in a look that makes him feel amazing and helps him exude confidence. It means everything to be able to give that to someone.”

The partnership between OHBM and Kersey had an original goal of acquiring more ties for the clients of That Suits You. More importantly, though, the men wanted to raise awareness of the needs within the community. To date, That Suits You has assisted 8000 individuals and is currently on a push for 10000 before the year ends. “There are some people who need assistance in achieving some goals that they have in life and sometimes it can be just as simple as donating a suit, a tie or even a financial donation,” Kersey explains.

Synergy among the organizations was natural, given that much of what Michael Garner seeks to do as the current president of One Hundred Black Men is help offer a support system for men of all ages who are in a state of transition. That could mean youth going from high school to college, college graduates entering the workforce, or men who have been formerly incarcerated re-entering the workforce. As Garner points out, the 56-year-old organization is comprised of successful men from different industries who are able to give back and offer guidance.

This weekend serves as evidence that the work they do is in fact, reaching the community, but still, Garner tells ESSENCE he would like the organization to do a lot more. 

“We would like to focus more on offering Black men better career and business opportunities through our networking channels,” says Garner, who has spent much of his career in the minority business community. “Also guiding our young college graduates and integrating them into careers and business opportunities through paid college internships.”

Even so, what the men accomplished this weekend was a reminder of what happens when the community comes together to address a specific need. For the young high school students who were supplied suits and ties, the experience, as Keller hoped, was a transformative one. And for the men who made it happen — the sense of joy that comes from giving that feeling of pride to someone else is a gift on its own.

As Garner insists, “A Black man in a suit, shirt and tie is a powerful statement and sends the message that I have arrived.”

Original article was published here.

SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS AND ANY OTHER BLACK WOMAN WHO MAY ENTER THE RACE DESERVES TO BE THOUGHT OF AS MORE THAN JUST A VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.

When asked for comment on recent chatter that she would make the ideal vice presidential candidate, Senator Kamala Harris offered a humorous but nonetheless pointed reminder that she is presenting herself to the nation as lead singer, not the doo wop pop chick in the background. 

“I think that if people want to speculate about running mates, I encourage that ‘cause I think that Joe Biden would be a great running mate — as vice president, he’s proven that he knows how to do the job,” she explained to Daily Mail political reporter Emily Goodin, who asked Harris if she’s sick of talk of her being the perfect VP for Joe Biden. “And there’s certainly a lot of other candidates that for me might make a very viable and interesting vice president.”

There are arguably only four Black women that could conceivably run for president in 2020 and win. 

They include Michelle Obama, who for quite some time now has told folks begging her to enter politics as a candidate to leave her alone and go find themselves some business. Although some may roll their eyes at me and Gayle King for the suggestion, I genuinely believe Oprah could win a presidential election. We live in a society obsessed with celebrity, and as Doreen St. Felix noted last year a measured, thoughtful examination of #Oprah2020, her particular level of celebrity has long fueled a dream of a Harpo administration. And while Donald Trump the scammer never embodied the sensible CEO who could run the government more efficiently than those lifelong bureaucrats in Washington as foretold in GOP folklore, such mythology continues to permeate the minds of our media and the electorate it so often poorly covers, so it remains a narrative Oprah could exploit. However, like our former First Lady, Oprah does not want to be bothered with the misery that comes with political life in general much less the vitriol that awaits the first Black female president. 

That leaves us with two women, the actual factual politicians Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams. 

Harris launched her campaign in January with a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first woman and Black person to seek the nomination for president in a major political party in 1972. There may be spirited debate among some Black folks as to whether or not Harris’ prosecutorial background prevents them from supporting her candidacy, but that conversation is still rooted in a serious consideration of her candidacy. 

And as Beto O’Rourke tries to relaunch his campaign after squandering all of that pretty white boy privilege, Stacey Abrams continues to look better in the light (no matter the shade of it all). 

Both are accomplished women who enjoy national name recognition with the potential to piece together a diverse coalition of voters yet somehow when it comes to too early talk of a vice presidential pick, only their names have come up.

It started in March when it appeared that Joe Biden’s advisers were leaking word that the former vice president would want to launch his campaign with Abrams as his designated VP. Only other white men championed such nonsense. One Abrams adviser rightfully described the move to Buzzfeed News as “exploitative” and reeking of “entitlement.” 

Abrams herself said on The View, “I think you don’t run for second place…if I’m going to enter a primary, then I’m going to enter a primary.”

I understand a lot of white journalists are buying into their self-authored fable that only another old white dude can defeat the old white dude with apricot overtones presently in the White House in the next election, but please stop assuming the rest of us buy into such a crock. Biden is  not the only viable contender. Moreover, the other white men running aren’t exactly sure-fire bets either. 

For all his national attention, Pete Buttigieg is out here asking his white audience to help him locate Black people due to political reality. Meanwhile, my fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke is apologizing for his existence while live streaming his haircuts. As for Bernie Sanders, unless aunties move his democratic socialist way en masse, when it comes to 2020, it’ll be the second verse same as the first (2016).

Why are none of them being talked about as a potential vice presidential candidate for Kamala Harris or Stacey Abrams? Same question for Elizabeth Warren, Kristen Gillibrand, or the one that allegedly throws binders at staff members (I’m not letting it go, that’s labor abuse)?

What most grates me is that it’s not even necessarily a good strategy. 

Yes, Kamala Harris is Black, and of course, the Democrats need a spectacular showing from Black voters to win the presidency, but the author of the crime bill who is still defending his choice coupled with the prosecutor who continues to have to answer for parts of her record may not exactly motivate the masses. It’s not just elders the Democrats need, but the Blacks who grew up with Jodeci and now either have a child named Jodeci or have seen that name at least six times by now in a high school program. 

Stacey Abrams just had a fight with Jim Crow last fall. Just this week Joe Biden has been talking as if he can take Jim Crow’s party out to brunch and magically restore bipartisanship. Different strokes, I suppose, but I’d rather delusion not lead us when we have realism speaking elegantly before us. 

Regardless of the actual outcome of the 2020 election, though, every candidate deserves the same level of respect — which makes it all the more irritating that only Black women are being touted for the number two position. It’s May 2019. A lot can happen. A lot will happen. The old white guy doesn’t have to be the inevitable, and even if he proves to be the case, the possible out to have more space to will its way without interference. 

Certainly not for no damn Joe Biden.

Original article was published here.