Former NFL Player Warrick Dunn Donates 173rd Home to Single Mom That’s Fully Furnished
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave a new house to a single mother and her 18-year-old son. While former player Warrick Dunn of Tampa Bay Buccaneers has long since retired from professional football, he has still found a way to bring smiles to Florida families. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Dunn gifted single mom LaToya Reedy and her 18-year-old son a fully furnished two-bedroom home in St. Petersburg on Tuesday through his non-profit, Warrick Dunn Charities, and a partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
I can be at home now as a homeowner, “LaToya, 39, told the newspaper after first walking home.
Reedy was struggling to pay the bills as a nursing assistant before getting the keys to her new place. She and her brother, AnTrez Reedy, have been sleeping on the bed for two years in the bedroom they shared in the house of their dad.
“I can be at ease,” she said of the particular moment to the Times. “I will carry my house of sweet memories, and I can have my family and friends visiting. I’ve got a home now, and that’s something I’ve always done for my son and myself. “LaToya said,” It was a long, hard journey. “Battle and suffer, but we’ve earned it.”
But this is not the first time Dunn, 44, has supported a single mother in her first house. In reality, LaToya is now Dunn’s foundation’s 173rd recipient of a house.
When his wife, Betty Smothers, was lost her life at age 36 during a burglary, a few days before Dunn was set to turn 18, the former football player was motivated to support other single mothers.
After that, Dunn took care of his other five children, carrying in his mom’s other duties as a single parent.
“You have no other alternative than to grow. It was no doubt just about going to school or playing soccer, “Dunn said to PEOPLE earlier. “My life was about five men,” he said. “She was caring, kind, supportive, thoughtful.” “She was all that I needed in my girlfriend. I feel my mother’s superfemale.
According to the Times, in the homes he’s donated, Dunn always leaves a memento that reminds him of his mother— an apple pie that was her favorite.
“As a treatment, I used this software,” Dunn told the newspaper. “There’s a little bit of my mom and the stuff she needed every time I turn over those keys.”
Black Family Creates Buzz On Social Media Because All The Children Became Doctors Like Their Father
by Ailfrid,
Parenting is never a walk in the park, but the craft seems to be perfected by some men. It’s not always what many parents want to be able to live a life that can encourage your children to work hard to become like you. Kids gorge their own paths in life in most societies–even if they are directed by their family. Yet one Nigerian-American family has accomplished an incredible goal, causing a storm on social media after all the four children in the family have become doctors like their father.
This can be considered one of the best goals of the community –but only achievable through dedication and outstanding skills. Now that all the kids have become physicians, a Nigerian-American family is making a huge buzz in social media and the medical field. It was not an easy task to do, but they were all able to succeed with tremendous dedication and extraordinary skill.
Family objectives certainly! Their uncle, Herbert Oye, who is also a physician, left Nigeria in the 1970s in search of a greener pasture in the United States. He attended medical school and worked hard in West Virginia to eventually open up his own practice of vascular surgery. He then moved to Nigeria, establishing a ho-spital.
Of addition, he was motivated by his four siblings— David, Monique, Michele, and Melissa Oye — and they all wanted to become physicians. We certainly don’t have their own procedures, but that’s their ultimate objective. While, in Beckley, West Virginia, their uncle is still a practicing doctor. His specialty focuses on different treatments, including specialized wound care, endovascular surgery, vascular surgery, and more.
Regina Hall To Executive Produce & Star In Amazon Studios’ Master
by Wilson Morale
Deadline is reporting that Regina Hall will serve as executive producer well as star in Amazon Studios’ Master, an occult drama written and to be directed by Mariama Diallo.
The film follows two African American women at a predominantly white college in Massachusetts – one head of students (aka Master) and one a freshman – who start to experience haunting activities ingrained in the history of the school.
Hall will play Gail Bishop, the queer, black master of the Belleville house at Ancaster, a liberal arts college outside Boston. She must manage her campus as instances of racism cause tensions while students and faculty are haunted by sinister supernatural forces.
Andrea Roa, Brad Becker-Parton and Josh Astrachan will produce through their Animal Kingdom label.
Diallo is the writer and director of the Sundance-winning short film Hair Wolf, a horror-comedy about a staff of a black hair salon who must fend off white women intent on sucking the lifeblood from black culture. Diallo has also directed episodes of HBO’s abstract series Random Acts of Flyness.
This year, Hall was seen on the big screen in the Shaft sequel from New Line, as well as Universal’s Little. Up next, she co-stars in the Tate Taylor film Breaking News In Yuba County with Mila Kunis and Allison Janney. She’ll also return for the second season of Showtime’s Black Monday.
This is the consensus, right? It’s interesting that we sit back and believe that garbage. It’s time to shatter, crush, and dismantle that lie. I’m about to tell you something that may blow your mind and change everything you know about everything.
Black fathers spend as much, and in many cases, MORE time with their children than other racial groups. Yup, right here in America. It’s proven. Gasping for air yet? I did. When I first came across this study, I thought it was a joke. But I also knew it had to have some validity, because major news outlets reported it:
Children under the age 5: Black Fathers prepared and/or ate meals more with their children vs their white and Hispanic counterparts
Children 5-18: Black Fathers took children to and from activities daily more compared to their white and Hispanic counterparts
Children 5-18: Black Fathers also helped their kids with homework more than their white and Hispanic counterparts
Reading an article wasn’t enough and I still struggled in my confusion. I never heard this assertion and I wondered how many others missed it too. My curiosity took over, and I went straight to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) report. And there it was. I was staring at beautiful charts, graphs and data tables proving that black fathers are winning in parenthood across multiple areas. Still shaking your head? That’s fair. It was a hard notion to wrap my head around too. Look at the graph below for more proof.
The Los Angeles Times
According to the report, black fathers show as much, if not more involvement with their children than their white and Latino counterparts across categories:
Mealtime
Bathing/diapering/dressing
Reading
Playing
Talking
Helping with homework
Extracurricular activities
-CDC
Waaaait, what??? Come again? So basically black fathers are winning in all these categories? Well, I’ll be. This is great, because fatherhood involvement has so many positive effects imperative to our children’s well-being. Involvement increases child academic achievement. Decreases childhood delinquency. And decreases childhood substance abuse. But I’m still a bit baffled on why negative narratives about black fathers have circulated through the country and our communities for decades, despite this truth.
What we THOUGHT we knew.
Why is this report so surprising? Because it goes against everything we thought we knew. Allow me to clarify. Personally, I know many great and involved black fathers. My husband, dad, uncles, cousins and friends are testaments to that. But there is a collective ideological narrative buried deep down in my,ahem, our subconscious that overrides what the data proves to be true. The narrative that “black father’s ain’t nothin” rings as clear as our dark/light skin “colorism” complex, and echoes louder than our historical emotions towards breastfeeding.
This vile narrative reeks of the distrust, shame and disappointment we show towards black fathers as it resonates across mainstream America. It drowns out the conversations being had around our own dinner tables. It even overhauls Father’s Day. You know, all the reminders about how Father’s Day should really be for the mothers that struggled in their absence. The general consensus buried deep in the bowels of America is that black fathers are gone. Ghost. Aloof. Disinterested. Basically they have no desire to step up and pull their parental weight. These myths are contagious, destabilizing, and toxic. And what do we do? Sit back, accept, and add fuel to the fire of this public castration.
Why everyone got it wrong.
Many of our negative assumptions have long, complicated roots entangled in oppression. Perhaps it’s because so many of our black men are dead, absent or behind bars due to structural barriers, inequality, and institutional racism. In fact, 1.5 million black men are deemed “missing in America” because of early death and imprisonment. Yep, their black faces STAY plastered right there on the sides of 1.5M milk cartons. But let’s be clear. When they go “missing,” it’s generally not because they place a lesser value on parenting. Instead, it’s due to the aforementioned factors that strip this vulnerable population of parental engagement.
It also rings true that over the centuries, many black families have adopted a non-traditional household makeup that is confusing and unfamiliar to mainstream white America. Black household structures emerged out of collective adaptation to marginalization and oppression. For example, marriage is a disincentive for many black women on welfare because a growing household reduces their government assistance.
Long story short, for too many, marriage leads to more financial struggles as opposed to the elevated socioeconomic status of their white women counterparts. The New York Times journalist, Charles Blow, speaks of this when addressing the black household: the CDC reports that 72% of black children are born to unwed mothers. Black men and women are more likely to live together without getting married.
Myths about “shacking up.”
Now for the kicker. The data shows cohabitation does not equal absenteeism. Now turn to your neighbor and repeat that. We mistakenly equivocate “shacking up” with bad parenthood. But research shows otherwise. Furthermore, 67% of black fathers that do live apart from their children see them at least once a month, compared to 59% and 32% of white and Latino dads, respectively. In other words, black fathers, both in and out of the household, are more involved with their children than other racial groups.
America is offended by what it doesn’t understand.
Unfamiliarity and lack of understanding begets frustration and negative assumptions towards black men. You know what they say about assumptions, and this is why America is confused as all get out about the black household. If America uses marriage and traditional white family structures as a metric to extrapolate and gauge black father involvement, it will come up short every time. It doesn’t fit, it doesn’t work. America can’t force-fit black fathers into it’s box of how things should be. Otherwise, it will forever wallow in a perpetual state of misconception about how black families really parent and operate. We are different. Our family structures are different. Different doesn’t mean worse. Perhaps our way isn’t so bad? Hmmm.
Hijack the narrative and tell the truth.
Where do we go from here? I can make a few suggestions. If we don’t like the conversation, we have to change it. It’s clear we have to tell the truth about how well black father’s are parenting. But how? We need to acknowledge black fathers more. Celebrate them. Lift them up. Empower them. Now we know the truth and we can’t keep riding uninformed on this runaway train. We have the collective responsibility to dismantle, crush, and revamp the conversation until it resonates in our subconscious thinking. It’s up to us to grab the narrative and steer it back on track. When we sing this song from memory, it will emerge and embed itself in America’s lyrical psyche as well. Imagine America finding it “cool” to be like black dads!
Steps on how to change the conversation.
Believe it. Read, research and inquire. After all, this is the first step because we can’t preach what we don’t believe.
Flood timelines. Share positive images, posts, and stories about black father until it’s ingrained in America’s psyche.
Change the conversation in your community and around your dinner table. It starts with the little things.
Celebrate, promote, and encourage fathers every day of the year. It’s motivational for everyone.
Stop the shameful public-bashing. It perpetuates the negative narrative.
Give them their Father’s Day back. Yep, hand it back over. We know moms are great and sometimes take on more than we can bare. But shine the hell out of black father’s on that day while everyone is listening. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you again in June.
We can’t wait on America to tell our truths. We gotta do the legwork ourselves.
Trailer To BET’s Christmas Belles Starring Raven Goodwin & Dominique Perry
The film will premiere on November 23rd on BET & BET HER.
BET has provided Blackfilm.com with the trailer to its upcoming holiday film, Christmas Belles, starring Raven Goodwin, Dominique Perry, Janet Hubert, John Amos, Mark Taylor & Omar Gooding.
Directed by Terri J. Vaughn from a script written by Chad Quinn, the film will premiere on November 23rd at 8pm EST/PST on BET & BET HER.
Despite being successful in their careers, two 30-something BFFs never stop hearing that they both need a man before it’s too late. When a handsome pastor arrives just in time to kick off the Christmas season, both ladies try to make a move – but as their hilarious attempts to one up each other keep growing, it will be their family to remind them what the holiday season is truly about.
The producers are David Garber, Paul Bales, David Rimawi, and David Michael Latt.
Jada Pinkett Smith On Using ‘Red Table Talk’ To Heal Generational Wounds
By Taryn Finley,
Jada Pinkett Smith’s power can be felt through the screen. When she sits down with her daughter Willow Smith and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones each week for Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch, they take multigenerational deep dives into issues around family, relationships, health, sexuality and beyond.
On last week’s episode, the family spoke with Demi Moore and her daughters Rumer and Tallulah Willis about public struggles with addiction that caused a significant rift in their family. While they were on the topic of vulnerability in front of their children, Pinkett Smith admitted that it took her a while before she felt comfortable enough to cry in front of Willow. In a rare and powerful moment, she apologized to Willow for withholding her feelings.
“The way that we grew up, the way my mother grew up, you feel like you have to be strong and the first thing you want to do is teach your girls how to be strong,” she said. “There was a time when [Willow’s] tears were so offensive to me, so offensive. I was like, take that over there, we can’t afford that here. Not realizing, bitch, you can afford that here. You’re not in Baltimore anymore, okay? You absolutely can afford it here.”
Though a simple act, it isn’t often that people get to witness parents asking their children for forgiveness in times where they may have failed, especially on a national platform. Moments like this are what make Red Table Talk feel so warm, almost like sage for viewers with similar experiences. That is what makes this show quietly revolutionary.
Pinkett Smith sat down with HuffPost to talk about breaking generational curses, raising eclectic Black kids and finding the courage to be vulnerable as a Black woman.
Your show has been so revolutionary for so many reasons but I’m wondering, first off, what gives you the courage to join the red table every episode with your mother, with your daughter and be so vulnerable?
I think it’s time that we as Black women know that we’re allowed our vulnerability; we’re allowed our pain. We’re allowed our healing — and definitely doing it in a generational manner is even more important to me. And then from that core, spreading it out to all women and then to all people, men included, because my focus in my life right now is healing. I’m at the beginning stages and I just wanted to create a place of safety where people could come and experience real conversations about real things and in an in-depth way.
Healing takes breaking generational curses, which is something that you all have been doing, I’m pretty sure, since before the show. And one thing that intersects with a mission of the show and the episode with Demi Moore and her family is breaking those generational curses, so I’m wondering in sitting down and speaking with her and her family what you may have learned about your own healing process?
Man, I had a deep healing moment with Willow at the table because of sitting there and experiencing watching Demi and Tallulah and Rumer working through their process and me recognizing, ‘Oh wait a minute, hold up, I owe you an apology for some of my behavior.’ And that is the power of the table. It’s just peeling back the layers so that you get revealed to yourself, it’s self-actualizing. And every day, I’m trying to grow as a person, grow as a mother, as a woman and first for myself, and then for others. And so being at the table is like a purification process. It’s just about peeling back those layers to get to those depths that get us to the information that we need in order to proceed with healing. So that we can hurt less, hurt ourselves less and hurt people that we love less. To me, that’s what it’s all about. I’m tired of hurting and I’m tired of hurting people. So for me, the red table is a process to decrease the hurt.
But that’s scary, not only looking at yourself and kind of revealing that healing part of you to those around you but you’re doing it —
And it is scary. But a whole lot of shit’s scary. And I’ve been to [scarier] places than sitting at a table and talking about my shit. That’s real talk. I survived that. I survived them dark alleys. I damn sure can survive sitting at a table talking about my shit.
And that’s so powerful for so many people because, unfortunately, a lot of people feel like they can’t. There are a lot of topics that y’all touch on that are very much taboo in a lot of households. People often don’t feel the freedom to talk about mental health, to talk about sexuality, to talk about addiction and all of these things. What is your message, specifically to Black people who are watching your show?
Here’s my message to us, specifically. It’s like, we have survived so much. We have survived so many horrors. Every day, we gotta watch Black men, Black women that … they may not be our son, they may not be our daughters, our mothers, our aunts, our uncles, our brothers and sisters specifically but they look like us. They die in the streets every day. We have horrors that we’re dealing with every day and I don’t care who you are and I don’t care what economic status you have, you can’t get away from it. So why not tread in those waters that are terrifying but are going to get you to a glory on the other end. We are treading terrifying waters every day. That is just part of the Black experience, right?
So I feel as though we have to have more trust in ourselves, and we have to have more faith to let go of those old ideas and those old ways of existing that really hold us back as a community for deeper healing. And it does take courage but we’re already a courageous people. It’s just putting that courage in another area.
As a people, I look at us and go, ‘There’s nothing that we can’t survive.’ Specifically, we could survive some self-actualizing and some healing. We survive burying our sons and daughters when it’s way too soon. All the losses. We survived living in this country with the history we have. We’re surviving these times that we’re in. Come on, we know how to survive. That’s not the issue, it’s just being able to want something different for yourself. Believing that you deserve happiness, believing that we deserve victory in a real way.
Through Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith (center) and her family have been able to explore taboo topics that resonate with viewers. From left to right, she’s pictured here with her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, her son Jaden Smith, her husband’s son Trey Smith, her husband Will Smith, and her daughter Willow Smith.
Oooh, I just got chills. One thing, we kinda saw it with your family before, but “Red Table Talk” has really given a lens on how you raise healthy Black children, healthy children period. In this process of being on Red Table Talk and sharing this space, what have you learned not only from Willow but also about yourself in the process of being a healthy parent?
I’ve got eclectic Black children, OK. And I come from Baltimore and the last thing I thought was that I was gonna have eclectic Black children. And so I had to let go of all those defense mechanisms and all those rules that I learned on the streets of Baltimore that I survived by. I had to look at my children and see what they needed and not live in fear. But that’s a luxury and I’m clear about that. Because there are a lot of Black mothers and fathers who don’t have that luxury and they’re still in those streets of Baltimore trying to figure out how to keep their children safe. That the last thing you’re worried about is whether your son should wear black fingernail polish and dye his hair pink.
And so all the processes are very different in what our children need. It depends on what the needs are [and the reality is] that some of us are still steeped in an ignorant existence that it’s just about survival. And through art, when I look at my kids and I look at what they’re doing and how they reach kids in all different kinds of communities, you know, and how you just hope that through their expression and through their being, maybe it will spark. I know if I was still Baltimore in the streets, I would look to a young girl like Willow and just totally get on her vibe even though her reality wasn’t mine because I would want some of that power as a woman, what she’s finding as a young woman.
So, we also have to trust that there are blessings in this world for our children that if we just have a certain amount of allowance, there are gems out here for our kids even in the harshness of it. Because I know, for me, art and artists are the ones that kept me from going too far in those streets beyond and of course the higher power really was the one, ’cause I definitely put myself in some decisions and places that I can say to myself today I shouldn’t be here. But I will say my mother giving me the allowance to be gave me the freedom to find those sparks in the world I could hold onto, to give me the hopes and the dreams of doing what I am today. But there surely wasn’t any Jada Pinkett Smiths at the time I was coming up but there were those sparks out there that gave me hope for the possibility of a Jada Pinkett Smith.
So I would tell parents to leave room for that hope for your children. Even in the necessity of those parents who are in the depths of it that have to protect them, just leave that little opening for the sparks of those dreams that really kids will hold onto and that will be the thing. ’Cause if you just keep nurturing that, ’cause that’s one thing I give my mother. Through the good and the bad, through her addiction, she still nurtured my spark. How ’bout that. She nurtured my spark. So just keep nurturing that spark, if you see it in your child, don’t put it out. That’s the one thing we can do for our kids, nurture that spark.
I know a lot of Red Table Talk fans may come up to you and sing your glory, but is there anything in particular that stands out that you’re like, ‘Wow, we’re really touching people’s lives in a significant way?’
It’s beautiful. I get people who come up to me all the time from all walks of life, just telling me different experiences they’ve had watching different episodes and what it’s done for them and most of the time it’s just validation. I’ve had a lot of husbands come up to me and talk about the show that Will and I did about relationships. They’re like, ‘My wife has been telling me the same thing for years and I just wasn’t listening.’ But it took for a man to come on and him in particular to say, ‘Oh, this is where I was misstepping.’ And then they go, ‘OK, now let me look at this.’ So it just brings me joy that people are getting glimpses of their … whether it’s glimpses of validation or seeing light at the end of whatever tunnel they’re in. It’s just a little glimmer of light.
We all still have that spark.
Yea, exactly. That’s it. That spark. It’s just nurturing that spark. That’s it.
Urban radio legend Doug Banks’ untimely death shocked the nation. While his battle with diabetes wasn’t private, the illness claiming his life was still somewhat surprising. Estimates are that roughly 30 million people are living with diabetes in this country, and as many as one in four don’t know it. Untreated diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability in this country and it is affecting our community at alarming rates.
In fact, as a community we are twice as likely to develop diabetes, suffer from complications, and die from the disease. This year alone we’ve lost too many legends to the complications of diabetes—gospel icon Pastor Daryl Coley, hip-hop pioneer Phife of A Tribe Called Quest and now famed radio jock Doug Banks. Despite the fact that we all know someone affected by diabetes, many still don’t understand the devastation that this disease can cause.
Diabetes occurs when there is excess sugar in the blood either from a lack of insulin production, or the body’s inability to use the insulin properly. The results can be deadly. This disease is particularly dangerous because it can affect multiple areas of the body and damage vital organs when left untreated. At particular risk are the brain, heart and kidneys.
People with diabetes are at an increased risk for stroke. In simple terms, a stroke occurs when an area of brain tissue loses blood supply. This is due to the high blood sugar causing elevated cholesterol and damage to the blood vessels in the brain. A similar process can occur in the heart leading to an increased risk of heart attack and heart disease.
Diabetes can also lead to kidney failure. When functioning normally, the kidneys are responsible for removing harmful toxins and waste from our bloodstream through the urine. Over time, elevated sugar in the bloodstream can lead to chronic kidney disease. If left untreated, this can lead to kidney failure requiring lifelong dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. An easy way to check for early signs of diabetes related kidney disease is a urine test to measure protein in the urine.
Diabetics are also at risk for life-threatening infection. When the blood sugar is high, wound healing is slow and the immune system is impaired. As a result, infections in those with diabetes can be severe. Ranging from skin infections to pneumonia, infections can have devastating consequences including limb amputations, and the life threatening complication of infection known as sepsis.
In addition to diabetes having the potential to cause life-threatening injury, it can also cause lifelong disability. It remains one of the leading causes of blindness in this country. This is caused by the damage that high blood sugar over time can cause to the blood vessels in the eye. Similarly, it can cause erectile dysfunction, nerve damage leading to chronic pain, gastrointestinal dysfunction, hearing difficulty and dementia.
The key to preventing the complications of diabetes is controlling the blood sugar. This begins with knowing your numbers. For most, maintaining fasting and pre-meal blood sugars between 80 and 120 mg/dl and an A1c of less than 6.5 is a great target. However, diabetics should always establish a safe target with their physician. Near-normal blood sugars obtained through proper diet, exercise and/or medication for diabetes can prevent and even reverse some complications in many instances.
Not only can good blood sugar prevent complications, but it can also reverse diabetes in many cases. Whether you are newly diagnosed or have lived with diabetes for more than 15 years, it is never too late to achieve and maintain healthy living. Achieving a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise is also essential for the estimated one in three adults who may be living with pre-diabetes (the precursor to developing diabetes) and are looking to prevent it.
For more information on the signs and symptoms of diabetes and how you can prevent it, visit the American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org.
‘It’s a Classic, Leave it Alone’: Vivica A. Fox Isn’t Feelin’ Issa Rae’s Upcoming Set It Off Remake
By Tonja Renée Stidhum,
Vivica A. Fox has a strong opinion and she just—wait for it—set it off.
In an exclusive interview with ET, Fox expressed her feelings about the in-development Set It Off remake (which has actually been referred to as a “reimagining”), which will be produced by Issa Rae. Rae is also reportedly set to star in the new heist film. The original film, which was released in 1996, starred Fox, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Kimberly Elise.
Once news broke of the remake, some fans of the original were skeptical, claiming it was wholly unnecessary to remake what is considered to be a classic in the black community.
When asked about Set It Off having such an impact to inspire a remake, Fox was visibly disapproving of the idea. After making a face that said it all, Fox, who is promoting her upcoming film Christmas Matchmakers, put it plainly.
“It’s a classic, leave it alone,” she said. “There’s absolutely no reason to try to redo it. It’s been done, and we did it so well, that people are absolutely going to compare it to that and I think that’s her taking on a tremendous chore because that film has become a cult classic and some things are just better left [alone].”
“Like, create your own franchise,” she added. “If you want to do a new film of girls robbing banks, create your own thing. You can make it up to date. We did that film in 1996. We are in 2019, going into 2020. So, create your own thing because people are absolutely going to compare it to it, and she’ll probably, if it’s not good, they’re going to slay her for it.”
There is a point to be made in creating a new heist franchise. There are like 50-11 heist movies that came out within the past decade and most of them have been white (with maybe a sprinkle of color for flavor), so why can’t we have more than two all-black-female led heist films—and a film that doesn’t have to be named Set It Off 2.0?!
My idea for a compromise would be Fox making a (ghost) cameo in the new film and brokering the deal in the same vein of the “Godfather” scene featured on the original Set It Off.
“Shop Black Week” Campaign to Boost Support For Black-Owned Businesses Will Be From November 22-29
As consumers across the U.S. gear up for holiday deals on sales merchandise, this Black Friday, a coalition urges buyers to make it a Shop Black Week. More than 100 groups have designated November 22 to 29 as Shop Black Week, a time of supporting Black-owned businesses by purchasing products, goods, or services from Black entrepreneurs.
This nationwide campaign, spread through social media has amassed well over a half million participants based on counts of subscribers and followers, according to organizers.
The Shop Black Week campaign is a nationwide campaign that simply asks every American to support Black-owned businesses in November. Participating entities include organizations, Online-social groups and publications that have made the commitment to help spread the word with their social media accounts. With the support of these entities and as new supporters join in, it is projected that this nationwide campaign could be the most successful economic movement of all time and be able to profoundly help thousands of Black-owned businesses in the process. The last big movement for Black people was the Million Man March, but organizers feel that the time has come for another big movement.
Participating organizations and representatives and members from an additional 30+ organizations and Facebook groups will be sharing the information during the initial roll-out. Collectively, they represent over 750K followers and members who will be asked to spread the word as well. Everyone will include #shopblackweek and #SBW2019 to help it go viral.
Shop Black Week organizers REQUEST registration on their website because they need as much participation as possible from strong organizations, FaceBook groups, LinkedIn Groups and other social groups who are willing to share this information with their followers and members. Those who wish to participate should register on their website as a show of solidarity in this movement and to be documented in this historical moment.
For businesses, organizations and individual supporters who want to participate or want more information, they should visit www.shopblackweek.org.
Apple’s $40 Million HBCU Scholarship Program is Now Accepting Applications For 2019-2020
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) in partnership with Apple is proud to present the Apple HBCU Scholars Program. Applications are open to outstanding students attending HBCUs with a minimum 3.0 GPA, and are currently working towards a degree in an undergraduate, Masters, or Ph.D. program.
Selected Scholars will participate in a 12-week internship during the summer, and will receive a need-based scholarship award that will be applied to the academic year immediately following their internship period.
Each scholar will have an Apple mentor throughout their experience, receive an opportunity to develop key skills, enhance their resumes, and help launch their careers through the hands-on experience gained at one of the top tech companies in the world.
This highly competitive program has opportunities for students in a variety of disciplines. The selection process aims to assess critical soft skills that enable success in their program, coupled with technical ability. They are looking for individuals that have analytical abilities, the ability to articulate ideas, the ability to learn new concepts, excellent verbal and written communication skills, and more.
Applicants must be highly motivated, persuasive and candid, focused on results, team players, and must possess sound judgment and critical thinking skills.
