• Celebrity News

by Niko Mann

November 10, 2022

Rapper Snoop Dogg Headed to the Big Screen, Biopic in the Works With ‘Black Panther’ Writer

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A new biopic about award-winning recording artist Snoop Dogg was announced on Wednesday.

The new biopic is being produced by Universal Pictures, the same movie studio that produced the biopic about hip-hop group N.W.A.’s rise to fame in the hit film Straight Outta Compton.

The rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus Jr., said that he waited until he found the perfect partners to tell his story. Menace II Society director Allen Hughes will direct the biopic, and Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole will write the screenplay, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind,” said Broadus.

“It was the perfect marriage. It was holy matrimony, not holy macaroni.”

Broadus also shared the news on Instagram with the caption, “Finally. 👊🏿💫🙏🏿 This will be fun. 🔥 Snoop Dogg Biopic.”

 

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A post shared by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg)

Broadus collaborated with N.W.A.’s Dr. Dre in the 1990s and rose to fame with his hit album “Doggystyle.” The recording artist went on to win numerous awards, including the American Music Award for Favorite Rap or Hip-Hop Artist. The 17-time Grammy-Award nominee has starred in multiple films and won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. Broadus also became the owner of Death Row Records earlier this year.

The 51-year-old is married and has four children. He has a son named Julian Broadus with his ex-girlfriend, Laurie Holmond. The rapper also shares three children with his wife, Shante Broadus. The couple has two boys, Corde Broadus and Cordell Broadus, and a daughter, Cori Broadus.

The chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Donna Langley, said the studio was humbled to tell his story.

“Snoop Dogg’s life and legacy makes him one of the most exciting and influential icons in popular culture,” said Langley.

“We met with Snoop shortly after he acquired Death Row Records and had the opportunity to hear his story in his own words. We are humbled to be able to create the lasting document of this singular artist.”

The biopic will also serve as the first film from Broadus and Death Row Pictures, and the rapper is reportedly “heavily involved” with the film.  

• Celebrity News

by Niko Mann

November 10, 2022

Clothes for Days! Rapper Rick Ross’ Friends Call Him a Hoarder After He Reveals His Shoe-Filled Mansion

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Hip-hop artist Rick Ross denies claims that he is a hoarder after his friends commented on his shoe-filled mansion in a video shared on his Instagram Stories.

Mounds of clothes and shoes are seen in the funny video as the recording artist tries to organize his closets inside his 235-acre estate in Fayetteville, Georgia. Ross asks his friends in the background if he is hoarding, and after they say he is, he disagrees with them.

The 46-year-old rapper denied the hoarding claims and said he was organizing the abundance of items in his wardrobe. He also joked that A&E, the network that airs the reality television show Hoarders, should formally inspect the premises to determine whether or not he was a hoarder. “Listen, man, what y’all do with all y’all clothes, all y’all shoes? I’m trying to organize some of this s—,” said Ross.

“I’m talking about all the closets full, that s— all over. It’s like I’m fighting through shoes.”

“These things are all of value,” he said. “I just have to make more space.” Ross continued, “How many watches is hoarding of watches, of timepieces?”

“How many timepieces would you consider hoarding or you have a problem? Do I have a problem?”

“Can I defend myself? That’s when it’s hoarding: when it’s filling all the way up the steps and it’s blocking functional space,” he said. “Meaning if it was going all the way up both sides of those staircases, that’s when it would be hoarding. Until then I’m just a f— hustler, man.”

• News

by Atiya Jordan

November 10, 2022

Scammer Alert: Florida Man Arrested for Swindling Haitian Community in Phony Investments

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Florida officials arrested a Cape Coral man on Tuesday, Nov. 8, after he allegedly stole hundreds of thousands from at least 20 victims in phony investment scams.

Ludovic Laroche, 54, is facing charges of racketeering, securities/investments prohibited practices, embezzlement, sale of unregistered securities, and violations of the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act, NBC2 News reported.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) began a joint investigation with The Office of Financial Regulation in 2020 after receiving a complaint. Agents confirmed that Laroche targeted the Haitian community by presenting to multiple Haitian Christian church congregations across Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties.

In one scheme, Laroche convinced more than a dozen victims to invest funds in Laroche Real Estate Investments L.L.C. He told potential investors that he bought and flipped houses while also promising 10% annual interest on the investment. However, Laroche never bought houses to flip. According to FDLE, he bought five properties, selling four over eight years. Laroche took more than $672,000 from the victims and only repaid $93,500 to them.

An additional scheme involved telling victims he owned a taxi service, Houdini Taxi Apps L.L.C. He persuaded them to invest in the business, as well as his development of a cell phone ride-share application. The investigation revealed that he owned no taxi vehicles, and the application did not launch publicly.

In another scam, Laroche impelled a neighbor to give him $15,000 to invest in a car company, but he never purchased the stock.

Upon arrest, he was taken to Lee County Jail and remains in custody on a $149,000 bond, according to WGCU News. FDLE officials suspect more victims have been defrauded by Laroche’s deceptive shams.

The investigation is ongoing. If anyone has any information about the case, contact FDLE Fort Myers at (800)407-4880.

• Diversity, Equality, Inclusion

by Jeffrey McKinney

November 10, 2022

How $5M Is Helping Black Students Prepare for and Land Corporate Jobs

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Research shows that only 5% of senior executives at Fortune 500 companies are Black or Latino despite that 30% of Americans belong to those racial groups.

To help change the leadership gap, at least five companies, including General Electric, Biogen, Epic Games, EY, and Nespresso, and others are investing $5 million this year to help educate and prepare students including Black Americans to become future corporate leaders.

The funding is linked to programs offered by Thrive Scholars. The national nonprofit works with corporate sponsors to support scholars’ academic and career success through five pillars: college advising, academic preparation, social-emotional support, financial assistance, and career development.

In 2022, there have been 803 Thrive Scholars, including 307 Black Americans. That means the $5 million raised from corporate sponsors this year helped support those students through high school and college by paying for programs that students are enrolled in.

The effort aims to erase obstacles for Blacks like a lack of diversity, underrepresentation, and inequality. The program helps scholars from low-income communities combat barriers by equipping them with the needed tools and resources to land corporate jobs.

Thrive Scholars reported that its students have a 98% college graduation rate and an average GPA of 3.4. Its program helps place scholars in internships and full-time corporate jobs post-graduation.

Coffee maker, Nespresso, reports that its collaboration with Thrive Scholars shows how businesses can use Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to activate employees and bring about social impact. Thrive Scholars shared that it hopes Nespresso’s efforts will create a model for employee engagement to nudge companies to pursue diverse talent.

Further, Thrive Scholars expects to raise $11 million to support their programs including the 2023 cohort of scholars. The program’s start date occurs during the summer after a student’s junior year of high school. Interested students can apply for next year’s class here.

Ava Archibald, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at Thrive Scholars, said the scholars are mainly students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Students can benefit in several ways from coaching, mentoring, academic enrichment, and professional networking to successfully graduate from college and increase economic mobility.

“We help Scholars explore how to navigate these environments and how to overcome the emotional challenge of being a first-generation college student,” she said.

Jerry Goss, a senior majoring in electrical and electronics engineering at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, shared via email how he benefitted from working with alumni and professionals in the program. Goss’ college is among the nation’s top three engineering programs.

• Entrepreneurship

by Stacy Jackson

November 10, 2022

Minority Couple Bags Deal With Midwest Supercenter for Specialty Indigenous Ethiopian Coffee

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A couple introduces Indiana grocery shoppers to a warm way to start their mornings with a special coffee.

Importin’ Joe’s Ethiopian Coffee, co-founded by Joseph Luten and his wife, Afomia, brought Ethiopian coffee to Mishawaka, Indiana.

According to ABC 57, the coffee was added to Meijer shelves, an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwest, last week and is currently selling in about a dozen other locations.

 

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A post shared by Importin’ Joe’s (@importinjoes)

“It’s currently at the Grape Road location and this will be our first time going into a large retail chain,” said Luten, president of Importin’ Joe’s Ethiopian Coffee. “It’s a great opportunity for us to give representation for minority on local businesses [sic],” said Luten.

Importin’ Joe’s website shares that the coffee is made of specialty beans from the indigenous lands of Ethiopia, the original location of the Arabica coffee species, the most widely consumed type of coffee in the world.

Luten said he plans on making history by taking their coffee to a national level. “Currently in the country there are only two nationally distributed Black-owned coffee companies out of the tens of thousands of coffee roasters and companies,” said Luten.

“Our goal and our focus is to get to national distribution. We believe firmly that there is importance and significance in representation.”

ABC 57 reported that the company has been a part of Project Impact, an initiative in South Bend providing resources to support minority-owned businesses. Luten said he depends on such support to help the company reach its goals, which include scaling up to a new 4,200-square-foot facility.

“We want to be able to open and expand more opportunity to our communities and to engage minority entrepreneurs and expand the opportunity,” said James Summers a volunteer executive director of Project Impact.

“Our entire goal behind Importin’ Joe’s is to change the trajectory of children who are at risk and children who are homeless so our goal is to cultivate a community that can eventually accommodate 15,000 or more from children and women in Ethiopia, while simultaneously equipping our current ecosystem in our community here as well,” said Luten.

Future plans for the company include supporting the local community, giving back to their roots, and working to expand to more than 60 locations across Indiana and Southwest Michigan by the spring.

• Business

by Stacy Jackson

November 10, 2022

Two Brothers Open Philadelphia’s First Black-Owned Brewery

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Great things are in the plans for this brewery as it heads toward a grand opening in a new location.

Two Locals Brewing Co. is making history as Philadelphia’s first Black-owned brewery after signing a lease at uCity Square, a mixed-use development on the Drexel University campus.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, brothers Richard and Mengistu Koilor plan to open the brewery and taproom in the summer of 2023.

“There are not a lot of places in West Philly that can house a brewery,” Mengistu said.

“The places where there might be a building, the area isn’t really ready for a brewery. University City puts us close enough to where we grew up that we can still have an effect on the community, and it’s a higher visibility for our first space.”

As the Koilors await moving into the location, their beers are currently being contract-brewed out of Mainstay Independent Brewing in Northern Liberties. The brothers are working to expand to include 12 taps in addition to selling Pennsylvania wines, ciders, and spirits.

“Anytime you’re in retail, the more points of sale that you can get, the more eyes on you that you can get, the better,” Richard said in regard to expanding.

The brewery’s menu will reportedly feature bar food and a weekly dish that will pay homage to the brothers’ Liberian and Jamaican heritage.

“I see more interest in brewing, whether it’s people wanting to get into brewing or start a craft-beer blog or do events that’s based around craft beer,” Richard said, pointing out the growth of Barrel & Flow Fest, an annual Black beer and arts event in Pittsburgh that had its third meeting in August.

“It’s been good to see.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the brothers are working with Wexford Science & Technology to develop the nearly 6,000-square-foot space, which has not had a tenant since it was completed in 2018. The plans also include a 15-barrel brew house that will be visible from 37th Street.

“I think the design does a really nice job of activating the streetscape,” said Pete Cramer, Wexford vice president.

According to the company’s website, the brothers are on a mission to show the Black community the opportunities available in the brewing industry.

The Koilors reportedly already have an investor and hope to obtain a loan from PIDC Philadelphia.

• News

by Niko Mann

November 10, 2022

Teenager Knocks Himself Out Running Into Plate Glass Window After Robbing Louis Vuitton Store

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A 17-year-old boy knocked himself out after running into a plate glass window after he tried to rob a Louis Vuitton store in Bellevue, Washington, in broad daylight.

According to TMZ, the teenager grabbed $18,000 worth of merchandise before trying to flee through a glass window.

The video of the knock-out released on Monday began with two masked women grabbing several Louis Vuitton handbags from display shelves. One of the thieves nearly knocked over a display shelf before the two ran out of the store with the stolen merchandise. A third thief was seen trying to run from the store with several handbags when he ran into the glass window and knocked himself out.

• News

by Atiya Jordan

November 10, 2022

Only Black-Owned Restaurant on New York’s City Island Receives Racist Hate Mail

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Several minority-owned restaurants on City Island in the Bronx, N.Y., have received racist hate mail and flyers.

As of Monday, Nov. 7, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has not announced any arrests, per CBS News, though a source told the news outlet that the Hate Crimes Unit had identified a suspect.

Darryl Lelie, the owner of Seafood Kingz 2, said he found disturbing racial stereotypes in the form of a cartoon last week in his mailbox, Spectrum NY1 reported. The owner said he would file a formal complaint with local police and organize a rally with elected officials to speak out against hate.

“You get mad about it but that’s only creating more of a fire and desire in me to press on and be successful,” Lelie told the outlet.

Lelie opened his family-oriented seafood restaurant in the Bronx neighborhood in February, making it the first Black-owned restaurant in the area. His 21-year-old son, Dalvin, serves as the head chef, offering a variety of seafood options such as king crab legs, fried lobster tails, fish, shrimp, and more.

The Seafood Kingz owner, who has been in the restaurant industry for two decades, is not surprised by the hate mail. He told NY1 that his older customers would share stories on how City Island “used to be when they were growing up.”

“You couldn’t stay on this island past six o’clock or you would be confronted with racial tension or something,” he continued.

Caliente’s on City Island Avenue, another Black-owned business, was allegedly targeted, and Jewish-owned Archie’s Tap & Table reportedly contacted the NYPD with a complaint.

Little Frida’s Eatery, a family-owned restaurant that serves Mexican cuisine, also received hate mail within less than two months of opening. The owner, Nazareth Perez, said he received a white envelope with a stamp from New Jersey. It contained a flyer and what appeared to be a political cartoon with racist wording at the top.

“It was a little bit disappointing. It’s 2022 and no one should be making fun,” Perez said, per CBS News.

• Technology

by Atiya Jordan

November 10, 2022

This Black Engineering Leader Left His Role at Comcast To Pursue His Music Passion

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Michael Winslow, a Philadelphia-based engineer and former leader of the Comcast BENgineers, has ended his tenure to bridge together his passions for tech and music.

According to Technical.ly, Winslow discovered a lack of Black technologists participating onstage and in panels at tech conferences while working at the telecommunications company Comcast. He linked up with BENgineers, a Black employee resource group for engineers, and committed to creating opportunities to resolve the problem.

Soon after, the international speaker and DevOps thought leader began mentoring and training Black technologists about speaking at conferences. He empowered others through the interactive Technically Speaking Program.

“When I spoke to conference organizers, they would say, ‘Well, we don’t get a lot of Black engineers actually filling out the call for presentations,'” Winslow recalled.

“And I said, ‘I wonder if I could go back to those BENgineers and run some kind of workshop to teach them.’ That was the beginning of what we call Technically Speaking workshop, and that was really the thing that mixed us together. It was a shared problem that we were trying to solve.”

Yesterday was my last day at Comcast. I can’t remember a bad day in my 10 years there. Many fights, challenges, failures, successes, disappointments, frustrations, outages, launches, deploys, reviews, hires, fires, promotions, demotions and lateral moves. But never a bad day. 💙

— Michael Winslow (@michaelswinslow) October 29, 2022

After a decade of work, Winslow has started a new position as director of engineering at Amazon Music, where he is excited to be his authentic self. The move was motivated by a past project where he wrote a digital DJ, a software dubbed DJ Boo. He was reluctant at first to reveal his Dj’ing capabilities at work because he “didn’t feel like that was like a professional thing,” he told Technical.ly.

However, it has become more common for companies to allow employees to marry their passions with job duties.

“For anyone who knows me or has seen me speak about my past as a DJ, you also know that for years I kept my daytime “technology” persona completely separate from my nighttime “DJ” persona ( aka DJ Boo Boo ),” Winslow wrote in his new job announcement via LinkedIn.

“I can only thank the recent movement to “Bring your authentic self to work” as a motivation to start revealing my musical past publicly,” he continued.

• Technology

by Black Enterprise Shop

November 10, 2022

Become Well-Versed In Microsoft Excel with this $29.99 Black Friday Deal

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It’s difficult to quantify the impact Microsoft Excel has had not just in the tech arena but also the professional and academic realms. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a student, chances are you have used Excel in some capacity.

Excel has remained a spreadsheet titan because of the sheer amount of tasks and things it can do. Many software programs have attempted to replicate Excel’s success, but none have succeeded.

Those who enjoy Excel the most are those who are well-familiar with its many formulas and functions. If you fall among those looking to better your experience with Microsoft Excel, then the 2022 Complete Microsoft Excel Expert Bundle is just what you need to unleash the full power of Excel.

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This 12-course bundle ranges from beginner to advanced. The courses include instruction on Excel’s newest version, 2021/365.

Those wholly new to Excel can begin with the Microsoft Excel 2021/365: Beginners Course. One hundred lectures span 11 hours of content. Users will learn how to navigate Excel’s interface along with how to use keyboard shortcuts to increase productivity. Tips and tools on how to use charts to analyze data are also given. This course is rated 4.43 stars.

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