Iconic Civil Rights Leader The Legendary John Lewis (Courtesy Wikipedia Commons) |
"The vote is precious. It's almost sacred, so go out and vote like you never voted before." --- John Robert Lewis
Iconic Civil Rights Leader The Legendary John Lewis (Courtesy Wikipedia Commons) |
Nationwide -- Under the auspices of his production company, Black Pearl Media Works LLC (BPMW), Emmy award-winning independent filmmaker Dante James will direct A City Within A City, an independent feature documentary for Grand Stand Pictures; produced by founders Victor Williams, Jazmyne Fuentes, and Rodney Brown. A City Within A City was inspired by Dr. Todd Robinson's book, A City Within A City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was selected as the 2016 book of the year by Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss.
"Dr. Robinson's scholarship is engaging and complex. It provides a foundation for an incredible film. I'm thrilled to be working with my friend, project academic adviser, Dr. Randal Jelks, the author of African Americans in the Furniture City The struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids,” said James. “Directing this film about my hometown will be challenging. Race relations in Grand Rapids are complex, but within the racial complexity, are great stories of Black men and women struggling for freedom, equality, and justice.
Nationwide -- Martinique Lewis is set to release the #1 Black travel resource, The ABC Travel Greenbook, that will connect travelers with communities and businesses from the African diaspora globally. The book is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and across all major book retail platforms.
With the Black travel movement constantly growing, and Black travelers injecting billions of dollars into the travel industry each year, the information highlighting the destinations and experiences where those travelers can see themselves reflected has been repeatedly overlooked.
After years of research, Martinique Lewis — diversity in travel consultant, creative lead of Nomadness Travel Tribe, and president of the Black Travel Alliance — has compiled this resource for Black travelers to connect with Black communities in every city and country in 6 out of 7 continents. From restaurants to recreation centers, transportation companies to Black history tours, this resource shows you all of the places search engines can’t. The ABC Travel Greenbook amplifies Black-owned businesses previously left out of major travel publications - so that they too are included in press trip itineraries, garner attention for their own television segments, and can be starred as a destination for travelers.
According to statistics compared with overall private industry, the high-tech sector employed a larger share of white workers (68.5% vs 63.5%), Asian Americans (14% vs 5.8%), and men (64% vs 52%), while a smaller share of African Americans (7.4% vs 14.4%), Hispanics (8% vs 13.9%), and women (36% vs 48% )In the tech sector nationwide, whites are represented at a much higher rate in executive-level roles than African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. Furthermore, by gender, men occupy 80% of executive roles compared with 20% for women. That compares with the overall private sector, where 71% of executive positions are held by men and 29% occupied by women.
Ronald Tate, founder and CEO of Koach-IT, comments, "At our company, diversity is about recognizing that our dimension of differences is actually our greatest strength. We strive for parity and to give everyone the opportunity to achieve their own access to opportunities. Learning and enhancing your skills are vital in this technological era. This helps you to prepare yourself for getting the highest paying jobs in the field of your choice while widening your arsenal of tools that enhance your value as a professional in your company."
Nationwide -- Michelle Greene Rhodes, Founder and CEO of Michelle Rhodes Media LLC in Tampa, Florida, has created a place for nurses to personally develop and meet their big goals outside of the traditional roles. The RNterprise™ Academy is an online brand that helps nurses go “onward and upward” in business. The program, developed in 2016- was created to help nurses meet their maximum potential and avoid burnout, a common problem in healthcare.
For those nurses who enjoy business but feel stuck, this could be an excellent option to support healthcare. This can also help alleviate the swinging door in this field where statistics show up to 33% of nurses leave the field withing the first two years of beginning the profession.
With burnout knocking on her doorstep back in 2008, Michelle found herself feeling physical symptoms daily while at work. A nurse of 23 years, Michelle states “I remember finding myself reflecting the good days when I loved what I did daily and was happy to serve day in and day out.”
She served many years as a hospice nurse who witnessed death frequently, found herself experiencing compassion fatigue. In addition to heavy caseloads and 365-day schedules, she saw her personal life suffering.
Once those relationships began to deteriorate, she knew that it was time to get some help. It was through therapy after losing her mother and husband that put her life back on the right track. “It was then I found my sense of purpose and a new way of legacy thinking that made me want to leave my mark in nursing, on behalf of my mother.”
Los Angeles, CA -- It is estimated that 2.3 million people are currently incarcerated in the United States, and approximately 2 - 10% (40,000 - 230,000) are wrongfully convicted. Since a majority of wrongful conviction cases do not have DNA evidence, it can sometimes take years, even decades, to prove the innocence of a wrongfully convicted person. However, such legal personnel cannot afford to work pro bono long-term and most convicted persons seeking exoneration cannot afford legal representation. Per Santa Clara University of Law, some cases can cost more than $2 million and an estimated 5,000 attorney hours or more to win the freedom of a wrongfully convicted person.
Launching in October 2020, the Timothy T. Williams, Jr. Foundation for Wrongful Convictions (TTWFWC) is making history by providing attorneys, experts, and criminal investigators with grant funding that embraces their prevailing industry rates to work as teams on state and federal wrongful conviction cases nationwide. In response to the national crisis of wrongful convictions, TTWFWC sets itself apart by funding the exoneration process from beginning to end. TTWFWC will also provide continuing education and professional development workshops to the next generation of expert witnesses, criminal investigators, and attorneys.
Los Angeles, CA Millennials, the multi-camera comedy series recently greenlit by the popular AMC Networks streaming service, UMC, has officially named its cast. Kyle Massey (That’s So Raven), Keraun Harris (viral social media star @KingKeraun), Philip Bolden (Are We There Yet?), Aaron Grady (Everybody Hates Chris), and Teresa Celeste (Tales, Wild N’ Out) will lead the cast of the new comedy series centered on the lives of four 20- something roommates and their neighbor across the hall as they navigate the chaos of being young, finding success, and finding themselves in the city of angels. Created by Rugg Williams and Oren Williams with Bentley Kyle Evans serving as co-director, Millennials will kick off production this week. The series is currently slated to premiere in early 2021.
Massey will play the role of Omar, a business student with dreams of taking over the corporate world; Harris will play Jaheem, a personal trainer who’s attractive clientele doubles as his pool of dating conquests; Bolden will play Travis, an insecure YouTuber who thrives off of public attention; Grady will play Todd, a college dropout who struggles with his sense of responsibility and remaining gainfully employed; and Celeste will play Mercedes, an aspiring actress from Atlanta who often serves as the only voice of reason for guys. Rounding out the cast are Tanjareen Thomas (Famous in Love), comedian Buddy Lewis (Big Stan, Black Dynamite), Katherine Florence (social media influencer @katieflorence), and actor DeShaude Barner.
Nationwide -- Marishka S. Phillips wears many hats, the actor/ writer/ director/ producer/ coach has maintained a pace that would exhaust the average individual. In recent years, she has focused her attention on developing her directorial skills. Her first film projects, Melinda the Movie, an award-winning short, which she wrote and produced, starring Tony Award-winners LaChanze (Broadway’s The Color Purple, Summer, If/Then), and Lillias White (Fela!, Chicago), made the festival rounds (2017-2018), picking up a number of awards, and is now available on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/ondemand/
Last year, Ms. Phillips directed the Audelco nominated, one-woman stage production of Down to Eartha, written and starring Dierdra McDowell. The play pays homage to the multifaceted entertainer/activist, Eartha Kitt, and was in residency at the Dwyer Cultural Center in Harlem until COVID shut the city down. This project too will be on Vimeo in November 2020 and is currently available for pre-order ( https://vimeo.com/454806441).
Nationwide -- Unity National Bank of Houston, N.A., the only African American owned bank in Texas, has announced that Bank of America has acquired approximately 5% of its common equity. The investment will facilitate benefits to the communities that Unity serves through lending, housing, neighborhood revitalization, and other banking services.
Unity’s Board Chairman Dr. Kase L. Lawal said, “Unity remains committed to the vision of providing banking services to historically underserved businesses and individuals during these trying times. Bank of America’s investment in Unity will strengthen our core community banking philosophy especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The investment is part of Bank of America’s focus on investing $50 million in direct equity investments in Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) as part of a broader $1 billion, four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity.
Los Angeles, CA -- Meet Ronald Eddington and Kevin Williams, the founders of Impact Credit Solutions and Coaching. They are two entrepreneurs who once thought their excellent ACT scores and good GPAs would automatically grant them the finer things in life until life got in their way.
Read their stories to learn how good or bad credit can impact your life! Listen to how becoming homeless, sleeping in vehicles and on air mattresses, and how child support was eating a chunk out of their paychecks. Not to mention the constant denial letters they received from financial institutes turning them down for car loans or credit card access.
Ronald
In 2013, Ronald made a life-changing decision that left him homeless, sleeping in his truck and basically working for free because so much child support was coming out of his paycheck.
Los Angeles, CA In her book, Pushing Through: Finding Light in Every Lesson, new author Nicole Vick gives readers an intimate look into the highs and lows of her life while exploring serious concepts like health, economic equity and structural racism.
The book follows Vick’s life from her childhood days in the neglected community of South Central Los Angeles, through her years at a prestigious university as a teen mother, to her adult life as a health professional working in underserved communities throughout Los Angeles County. In Pushing Through, Vick shares both the heartbreaking pain and the extraordinary triumphs that led her to advocacy and social justice work. As a health educator, she wants readers to be able to see and understand how growing up in poor neighborhoods, attending underfunded schools and having limited access to healthy foods and quality healthcare can impact your life trajectory.
Proud Boy Founder Gavin McInnes Picture Courtesy WPR.org |
Nationwide -- African Americans are often applauded for having exceptional ability to sing, dance, joke and play sports but are seldom recognized for our intellectual prowess. The stereotypical images stem from the fact that we are often portrayed in movies and on television as criminals, drug addicts, violent and sexual deviants which seems to be an acceptable depiction of Black people in Hollywood. However, America has yet to recognize the intelligent side of the African American experience.
In fact, the very mention of a Black intellect creates somewhat of a humdrum effect for many people outside of the Black community which is indicative of the fact that we are not seen as serious thinkers who engage in intellectual discourse.
Nevertheless, as the African American intellectual movement continues to grow and evolve, there is a new book on the theory of consciousness by hip hop activist Sean XLG Mitchell that is increasingly gaining popularity while creating a bit of controversy along the way. The book presents a theory of consciousness and its potential effects on human behavior.
The work further examines and analyzes how the mind influences reality along with the power of suggestion. According to Sean, “The work is grounded in our ancestral beliefs, and will hopefully provide the possibility of creating positive outcomes for African Americans and the Black community in general.”
Led by Angel Rich and Yusuf Henriques, Black Tech Matters aims to expand inclusion in STEM entrepreneurship, education, and employment through tech equity, community activism, and policy.
“We are grateful to have such great cultural partners join our movement such as the National Society of Black Engineers and the National African American Association of Honors Program representing over 25 HBCUs, as well as top corporations that quickly supported our cause such as JP Morgan Chase Advancing Black Pathways, Microsoft, United Healthcare, and others. We are especially thankful to the DC Mayor’s Office for embracing this initiative across the city and MIT for being bold enough to tackle this public health crisis while being sensitive enough to involve the right cultural stakeholders,” said Angel Rich, founder of Black Tech Matters.
Nationwide -- When COVID-19 created an overnight demand for personal protection equipment in the U.S., boutique owner Alexis Williams quickly pivoted her business model from clothing and jewelry to also offering washable African-print masks. And while Williams’ business, Aloha Glamour, enjoyed a viral success by selling the reversible, cotton face masks, she never anticipated how her achievement would impact other Black women on the other side of the world.
Because of Williams’ boon as one of the first wave of online vendors to provide the colorful print masks, seamstresses in Accra, Ghana recently shared how they have been able to purchase new sewing machines and move their business from an outside workspace to an indoor studio.
The vendors recently honored their alliance and successes with Williams by getting an artist to sketch her portrait and hanging it on their office wall.
Nationwide ArtistsUntold, a Black-owned streetwear brand, launched to provide up-and-coming underrepresented artists with the opportunity to promote and monetize their artwork through apparel sales. The apparel brand champions diversity and powerful messages to give budding artists a platform to share their talent. You can learn more about the stories of each artist on the platform as you browse the website. If you decide to make a purchase, you will also be supporting the artists themselves, who receive a direction portion of the profit from each sale. All artists sign off on the apparel themselves before it’s released, and quantity is limited to respect the value of each artists’ work.
Jordan Abdur-Raoof founded ArtistsUntold in February of 2020. While in college, Jordan started IvyUntold, a website devoted to sharing minority stories and experiences on Ivy League campuses. This has since been made into a campus organization, and Jordan started thinking about what he could do to continue to empower those without a voice. It wasn't until he bought a shirt directly from an artist that he came up with this idea. Despite loving the art, he was disappointed in the shirt quality. Through conversations and interviews with multiple artists, he learned that any one single artist would have to incur significant overhead costs to produce high-quality, urban apparel.
Nationwide -- Founders Danyelle & Dionna Gray have finally put their finishing touches on their new and improved Womanish pop-up experience in downtown Chicago. Their exhibit features 16 installations from various different artists. The highly anticipated experience was scheduled to open its doors in Spring 2020 but was postponed due to COVID 19.
However, now, Dionna & Danyelle have successfully launched a safe place for women to feel, be heard, be celebrated, and be seen. They have created a 5 floor, 40,000 sq. ft dreamland of celebration for women. Highlighting important topics to them like black girl magic, and mental health; they've created a first of its kind experience.
According to Forbes, "They see Womanish as more than an exhibition. To them, it is a cultural movement." On Thursday, September 3rd, Womanish opened its doors to the public following specific COVID-19 guidelines to ensure a safe and culturally energetic experience. Located in the heart of downtown Chicago on 114 S. State Street, it is not just another pop-up. Womanish is an exploration of identity and perspectives of women and a movement that creates progressive visual and physical experiences for all to explore, contemplate, and share.
Nationwide -- British actress Kandace Caine is a teacher and established voice-over actress. She is the voice heard in many animated videos, video games, commercials and more. Kandace is also the creator of Kids Learn So Much, a show she launched because she felt children's TV shows were not diverse enough in educational topics.
Her show teaches kids about different cultures, science, math, technology, healthy eating, staying clean, shapes, influential leaders, and many more topics. Kids Learn So Much is produced by Kandace Caine and actress Shola Adewusi from the hit CBS TV show Bob Hearts Abishola, which is produced by Warner Brothers. Kandace is also working on a very exciting project with Warner Brothers at the moment which is to be announced in 2021.
Charleston, SC -- With over 1,500 clients served to date, Alana Henry, founder of The Writique, is the founder of a highly-regarded professional resume writing service that has a well-known reputation for being a top-rated service. As the owner of a pioneering Black-owned and women-led business, Alana is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and Nationally Certified Online Profile Expert.
Alongside her team, she helps job seekers maximize their earning potential and secure the jobs they seek with ATS-friendly, polished, and aesthetically-pleasing resumes, cover letters, or LinkedIn profiles. Perhaps most notable, is their commitment to providing high-quality and affordable writing services to those at all levels of their careers.
Charleston, SC -- Lydia Gibson, creator of Eva Jenae Naturals, is driven by the belief that nature provides all we need to achieve our healthiest skin and hair. Every ingredient she uses has a purpose and delivers results. Her brand is proof that skin and hair care can be simple, yet effective.
After she found out her baby girl had eczema, Lydia began researching the causes of the skin irritation. She quickly realized the products she was using that were labeled “all natural” contained chemicals, perfumes, and other ingredients that further irritated her daughter’s skin.
There was an absence of soothing and moisturizing ingredients that would nourish and protect her delicate skin. “I wanted to trust what I was putting on my daughter’s sensitive skin, and the best way to do that was to create my own recipes,” Lydia says.