• Lifestyle

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

October 5, 2021

Eazy- E’s Daughter, Ebie, Thinks Her Father Getting A Shout Out At Super Bowl Halftime Show Would Be Monumental

---

The upcoming highly anticipated Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show lineup that will take place on February 13, will include Hip-Hop heavyweights Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.

The relative of a former group member of Dr. Dre’s seminal gangsta group, N.W.A. is hoping that her father gets a shout out and recognition in front of the expected 100 million Super Bowl viewers.

According to TMZ, Ebie, the daughter of late Hip-Hop pioneer, and rapper, Eric “Eazy-E” Wright thinks her father being acknowledged and recognized at the halftime performance during the Super Bowl would be  moving and monumental.

Ebie was 3 years old when her father, the founder of “Ruthless Records” founder and N.W.A. member, passed away 26 years ago. She told TMZ that it will be a touching and monumental tribute to her father’s legacy if he can get a shout out during the halftime performance in California.

The NFL championship game is taking place at SoFi Stadium, which is located in Inglewood, less than 15 miles from the famed city of Compton, which Eazy-E and N.W.A. made famous at the beginning of their careers.

Ebie also feels that if her father were still alive, he would probably be a part of the show. Kendrick Lamar, who also grew up in Compton, has previously acknowledged her father’s influence in his career of choice.

Earlier this summer, WE tv presented an original investigative docuseries titled, “The Mysterious Death of Eazy-E” in August.  The docuseries featured never-before-seen footage and interviews, in four hour-long installments. It explored the impact Eazy-E had on the music industry and his daughter’s quest for answers to the circumstances that surround his death with took place in 1995.

“The Mysterious Death of Eazy-E” follows Eazy-E’s daughter, Ebie, as she takes on a personal journey to examine the unexplained circumstances surrounding the death of her father 26 years ago.

Ebie is also a singer and actress with an upcoming album, #UnhappyHour. She’s currently featured on Blake Yung’s new single ft. Me “Time Will Tell.”

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

October 5, 2021

ESPN Host Sage Steele Pulled Off Air After Questioning Barack Obama’s Ethnicity & Vaccine Mandate

---

Outspoken ESPN host Sage Steele is under fire after seemingly questioning Barack Obama’s ethnic background one week after calling the company’s vaccine mandate “scary”.

Steele went off on Uncut with Jay Cutler on Wednesday when explaining how “fascinating” she finds former President Obama identifying as Black since he was raised by his white mother and grandmother.

While recalling a story when she was criticized for identifying as “biracial,” and was told she had to choose between “Black” or “white,” Cutler noted how Obama identified as Black on the census. But Steele interjected and questioned how Obama could see himself as Black considering as he didn’t grow up knowing his Kenyan father.

“I’m like, ‘Well, congratulations to the president. That’s his thing.’ I think that’s fascinating considering his Black dad was nowhere to be found, but his White mom and grandma raised him, but hey, you do you. I’m going to do me,” Steele said to Cutler.

It was on the 2010 Census where Obama identified himself as Black, The Washington Post reports. But once Steele’s snarky criticism of Obama’ ethnicity reached Black Twitter, they let her have it.

“So on top of thinking former President Obama shouldn’t identify as black because he didn’t have a relationship with his black father, Sage Steele also thinks female journalists who dress a certain way “know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on.” Clown behavior,” Jemele Hill tweeted while highlighting another controversial statement she made during the podcast appearance.

So on top of thinking former President Obama shouldn’t identify as black because he didn’t have a relationship with his black father, Sage Steele also thinks female journalists who dress a certain way “know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on.”

Clown behavior. pic.twitter.com/edgTVopQqg

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 3, 2021

“So does she put “white” on her census form?” asked someone else.

Steele’s comments on Obama come one week after she made media headlines for referring to ESPN’s vaccine mandate as “sick” and “scary,” and said she received the vaccine but “didn’t want to do it,” NY Post reports.

As a result of her stance on the COVID vaccine, she has been pulled off the ESPN airwaves.

“I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize,” Steele said in a statement. “We are in the midst of an extremely challenging time that impacts all of us, and it’s more critical than ever that we communicate constructively and thoughtfully.”

Betty Reid Soskin is now The National Park Service’s oldest active ranger after celebrating her 100th birthday last month.

Born in Detroit, Michigan on September 22, 1921, Soskin works at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. She became a park ranger in 2004 after attending a presentation in 2000 to officially develop the national park, ABC 10 reports.

Soskin has admitted to having a “love, hate relationship” with Rosie the Riveter because she feels the cultural figure only tells a white woman’s story. Prior to becoming a National Park ranger, Soskin served as a civil rights activist, musician, and pioneering businesswoman.

Making it over 100 years in America as a Black woman, Soskin comes with a wealth of knowledge and an astounding resume. Her past work includes opening one of the first Black-owned record stores in California’s Bay Area, penning the song “Your Hand In Mine” about civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, and serving in the United States Air Force in 1942, as noted by her NPS profile.

Soskin says she left the military after she learned that she was only hired because “her superiors believed she was white.”

After being born and briefly raised in Detroit, Soskin’s earliest childhood memories are with her Creole family in New Orleans. Her family was one of many Black families who migrated West after the Great Flood of 1927. Soskin has been in San Francisco ever since.

In celebration of Soskin’s 100 birthday, The National Park honored her with a special virtual and limited edition ink stamps.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rosie the Riveter NPS (@rosietheriveternps)

“Without Betty’s influence, we probably would not have told various previously marginalized stories in as much depth,” Park Superintendent Tom Leatherman told the NY Times. “Betty has an amazing ability to share her own story in a really personal and vulnerable way — not so people know more about her, but so they understand that they too have a story.”

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

October 5, 2021

Nine FDNY Firefighters Suspended Over Racist Messages About George Floyd

---

Nine firefighters within NYC’s FDNY have been suspended without pay for sharing racist messages and memes about George Floyd.

The suspensions range from six days to six months and come following an investigation into reports about the racist messages mocking Floyd’s death. The New York Times reports that their leaves are cited as being the largest punitive actions in the department’s history.

Reports of the racist messages came from several Black firefighters who noticed the white members exchanging cruel and insensitive texts making fun of Floyd’s dying moments and bragging about cops being able to “legally shoot Black children.”

Other messages included the firefighters threatening to use hoses on Black Lives Matter protestors during the social unrest in 2020. The comment came despite there being an order banning the practice from taking place.

“When these memes were reported we investigated iT and the suspension were the result,” FDNY spokesman Jim Long told the NY Post.

Those suspended included firefighters who sent the messages, as well as a few of their supervisors. Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro acknowledged how the department has embraced diversity initiatives in recent years and is working to become more inclusive, Pix 11 reports.

Research shows that the FDNY is primarily white. Currently, 75% of the total 11,000 firefighters are white, 8.2% are Black, 13.4% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian, and 128 women serve as firefighters.

This scandal is the latest in a series of racist claims against the FDNY. In 2018, the department was sued by a Black firefighter who alleged his superiors made him drive delivery vans instead of fight fires.

In 2017, the department faced backlash after hiring the son of a former fire commissioner who had resigned following a racist and anti-Semitic rant on Twitter.

• Technology

by Derek Major

October 5, 2021

Tesla Ordered To Pay $137 Million To Former Black Employee Over Racist Treatment

---

A federal jury ordered Tesla to pay Owen Diaz, a former Black employee who accused the automaker of ignoring racial abuse he faced while working there, $137 million.

Diaz’ lawyer, Lawrence Organ, told the New York Times he was happy to see Tesla held responsible for ignoring racism.

“It’s a great thing when one of the richest corporations in America has to have a reckoning of the abhorrent conditions at its factory for Black people,” Mr. Organ, of the California Civil Rights Law Group.

Diaz himself told reporters Monday he was relieved by the news.

“It took four long years to get to this point,” he said on Monday evening. “It’s like a big weight has been pulled off my shoulders.”

Diaz, who worked as an elevator operator at a California Tesla plant for about a year between 2015 and 2016. According to Diaz, while he worked there a supervisor and other colleagues repeatedly called him racial slurs. Diaz added the Tesla plant was a culture where employees drew swastikas and racist terms in bathroom stalls and left derogatory drawings of black children around the plant.

Despite repeated complaints, Diaz said Tesla did little to address the situation or the behavior of its supervisors.

The jury agreed with Diaz that Tesla created a hostile working environment after deliberating for four hours. $130 million of the judgment was punitive damages for the company and the rest was for emotional distress.

Diaz didn’t like the abuse he was getting, but his breaking point came when his son, Demetric, landed a job at the plant.

This isn’t the first time the auto and clean energy company was sued for racial discrimination.

Another former Black employee, DeWitt Lambert also sued the clean energy car company for claiming racial discrimination in 2017. However, his case was dismissed in private arbitration, something Lambert said he didn’t know he agreed to when he was hired.

• Lifestyle

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

October 5, 2021

Kamala Harris Sells Luxury Washington, DC, Condo for $1.85M

---

Vice President Kamala Harris is has copped $1.85 million after finally selling her condo in Washington D.C.

The first female VP finally found a buyer for her luxury condo in the nation’s capital. After six months on the market and a $145k price cut, Harris sold her two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo on September 27 for $1.85 million, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Located in the upscale Westlight complex, Harris first put the luxury condo on sale in April for $1,995,000 before slashing the price in July. To help get the condo off the market, Harris had the place furnished and style for a desirable buyer, as noted by the NY Post.

Harris gained a slight profit from what she initially paid for the condo after purchasing it for $1.775 million in 2017. She purchased the home with her husband Douglas Emhoff the same year she was sworn in as Senator of California.

The building the condo sits in includes a lavish lobby and heated pool. The condo itself includes a balcony, an open floor plan, and a chef’s kitchen that comes with a custom island, natural gas cooktop, Thermador and Bosch appliances, and a walk-in pantry.

The home includes a dining room, a spa-inspired his and her bathroom with teak shower floors. Amenities in the upscale building include a private club, a fitness center, and a 25-meter heated rooftop pool.

Now as VP, Harris resides in the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.

• Entrepreneurship

by Jeffrey McKinney

October 5, 2021

Black Investment Banks Partner With Some of Wall Street’s Largest Municipal Bond Buyers To Gain Racial Equity Disclosures From Issuers

---

Two of the nation’s largest Black investments banks—Siebert Williams Shank & Co. (SWS) and Loop Capital Markets—are teaming with five of Wall Street’s largest state and local government bonds buyers to ask potential clients questions about racial equity.

Municipal underwriters SWS and Loop Capital are working with BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Lord, Abbott & Co., Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and Vanguard Group Inc. on the nationally groundbreaking partnership in their business.

Siebert Williams Shank was the senior manager of the $328.5 million issuances for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York for its university system serving 220,000 students.

SWS president and CEO Suzanne Shank told BLACK ENTERPRISE by email that investors have long been focused on ESG policies and disclosure in the corporate sector. Now they are turning their attention to the $3.8 trillion municipal bond market. The questions aim to provide investors with critical information about government entities’ efforts to promote equality.

 “As the No. 1 MWBE municipal finance firm for over two decades, it was imperative for Siebert to join this partnership that’s engaged in such an important social initiative,” Shank says.

Warren “Bo” Daniels Jr, head of Public Finance Division, Loop Capital, stated in a news release: “Loop Capital is pleased to be part of such an important and meaningful project. We believe a framework that provides interaction between issuers and investors is a positive development in achieving greater transparency.”

Over time, Shanks says it is expected that information related to these topics will play a larger role in buyers’ investment decisions.

The questionnaire, known as the Municipal Issuer Racial Equity & Inclusion Engagement Framework, seeks answers on how cities focus on racial inequality across America. It is now complete and can be found on the website of JUST Capital, a nonprofit that collaborated on the survey.

The new effort comes as more focus is placed on racial equality and socially conscious issues after the killing of George Floyd and subsequent national Black Lives Matter protests. Investors are placing more emphasis on social awareness with an increase in ESG Bond issuance, precisely Social Bonds.

Shank says the fact that some of the most prominent municipal bond investors are requesting transparency with respect to racial and social policies by municipal issuers demonstrates the significance of these issues for the investor community. Both existing and potential clients will be asked to complete the questionnaire before bond deals are set up.

“Voluntary responses to the framework provide an opportunity for government entities to increase communication with buyers of their bonds and strengthen those relationships,” .she says

SWS and Loop Capital have committed to present the framework to municipal issues when they access the markets. Shank explained as issuer’s bonds are regularly traded in the secondary market, this information may aid buyers in making investment decisions driven by activity geared toward inclusion.

Further, boosting revenues or profits were not the main motives that led to the new initiative.

“We did not partner with the alliance to gain more business,” Shank says. Rather, we wanted to ensure our clients were fully aware that investors are seeking greater transparency with respect to social and equity issues and could determine at some point to make investing decisions based on a municipality’s policies.”

Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud, the multi-platform comedy brand founded by Kevin Hart, and Sundance Institute, has partnered up with NBCUniversal to help three Black women screenwriters bring their visions to life.

As part of their inaugural Women Write Now fellowship program, three Black women in comedy will have their work streamed exclusively through LOL Studios with an early release on Peacock and one lucky fellow will receive a career-changing development deal.

Writers Wilandrea Blair, Danielle Nicolet, and Moni Oyedepo were selected from a pool of over 670 scripts submitted by aspiring writers across the country between July 8th and August 5th. As part of the fellowship, the ladies will have their scripts produced and developed by LOL Studios.

They will also receive guidance and mentorship from Black-Ish writer Yamara Taylor and industry leaders like Leigh Davenport (Writer + Executive Producer Run the World), Tabitha Jackson (Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming), Zainab Johnson (Comedian and Actor, Upload), Thai Randolph (President & COO, Laugh Out Loud), and Folayo Lasaki (Head of Marketing & Communications, Laugh Out Loud).

Each writer will be paired with one of the Women Write Now guest directors—Gabrielle Dennis (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Meagan Good (The Intruder, Think Like a Man), or Bresha Webb (Run the World)—with production kicking off later this month

“When we started this program, it was alway with the intention of creating meaningful opportunity for Black women in comedy and changing the industry narrative around this talented and dynamic group of women who have traditionally been overlooked,” said Laugh Out President & COO and program Founder Thai Randolph.

“What we’ve seen through this program is that there is no ‘pipeline problem.’ Danielle, Moni, and Wilandrea are three incredible writers who represent an unbelievably great pool of talent, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with NBCU to create more opportunity and visibility for these women.”

In partnership with Laugh Out Loud, NBCUniversal will provide a development deal for one Women Write Now fellow that will be co-produced by LOL Studios.

“To say that it was no easy task to narrow the list down to our three fellows would be a gross understatement, but the sheer talent of the writers made the process a joy” said Laugh Out Loud, Head of Production & Development Candice Wilson Cherry. “This program has been a reminder of how much untapped talent exists—talent that is poised for opportunity. With their incredible scripts, Danielle, Moni, and Wilandrea each brought to life impactful, funny stories that jumped off the page. We are thrilled to be rolling into the next stage of the program with this incredibly gifted group of emerging writers and look forward to bringing their visions to life.”

• Women

by Derek Major

October 5, 2021

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Probe Of Facebook After Whistleblower Testifies, 60 Minutes

---

Reuters – U.S. lawmakers pounded Facebook on Tuesday, accusing CEO Mark Zuckerberg of pushing for higher profits while being cavalier about user safety and they demanded regulators investigate whistleblower accusations that the social media company harms children and stokes divisions.

Coming a day after the social media app and its units including Instagram suffered a major outage, whistleblower Frances Haugen testified in a congressional hearing that “for more than five hours Facebook wasn’t used to deepen divides, destabilize democracies and make young girls and women feel bad about their bodies.”

In an era when bipartisanship is rare on Capitol Hill, lawmakers from both parties excoriated the nearly $1 trillion company in a hearing that exemplified the rising anger in Congress with Facebook amid numerous demands for legislative reforms.

As lawmakers criticized Facebook and Zuckerberg, the company’s spokespeople fought back on Twitter, arguing Haugen did not work directly on some of the issues she was being questioned on.

Senate Commerce subcommittee chair Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said Facebook knew that its products were addictive, like cigarettes. “Tech now faces that big tobacco jawdropping moment of truth,” he said.

He called for Zuckerberg to testify before the committee, and for the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission to investigate the company.

“Our children are the ones who are victims. Teens today looking in the mirror feel doubt and insecurity. Mark Zuckerberg ought to be looking at himself in the mirror,” Blumenthal said, adding that Zuckerberg instead was going sailing.

Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook’s civic misinformation team who has turned whistleblower, said Facebook has sought to keep its operations confidential.

“Today, no regulator has a menu of solutions for how to fix Facebook, because Facebook didn’t want them to know enough about what’s causing the problems. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been need for a whistleblower,” she said.

The top Republican on the subcommittee, Marsha Blackburn, said that Facebook turned a blind eye to children below age 13 on its sites. “It is clear that Facebook prioritizes profit over the well-being of children and all users.”

Senator Roger Wicker, another Republican, agreed. “Children of America are hooked on their product. There is cynical knowledge on behalf of these Big Tech companies that this is true,” he said.

Facebook spokesman Kevin McAlister said in an email ahead of the hearing that the company sees protecting its community as more important than maximizing profits and said it was not accurate that leaked internal research demonstrated that Instagram was “toxic” for teenage girls.

Haugen revealed she was the one who provided documents used in a Wall Street Journal investigation and a Senate hearing on Instagram’s harm to teenage girls.

Last week, Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, defended the company and said that it was seeking to release additional internal studies in an effort to be more transparent about its findings.

Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Commerce Committee, said she would write a letter to Facebook to insist that it not delete documents related to Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim minority Rohingya. An aide said she would ask for broader retention of documents.

Haugen said Facebook had also done too little to prevent its site from being used by people planning violence.

Facebook was used by people planning mass killings in Myanmar and the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump who were determined to toss out the 2020 election results.

Senator Edward Markey, speaking to the absent Zuckerberg, said during the hearing: “Your time of invading our privacy, and preying on children is over. Congress will be taking action.”

Throughout the hearing lawmakers lambasted Zuckerberg, who they said was going sailing rather than facing his responsibilities. The CEO this weekend posted a video taken with the company’s new smart glasses of his wife in a boat. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CUlJKmYBjwa

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, Elizabeth Culliford, David Shepardson and Sheila Dang; Editing by Mark Porter and Grant McCool)

• Women

by Derek Major

October 5, 2021

Rep. Ayanna Pressley Wants Private Insurance Plans To Cover The Cost of Wigs For People Struggling With Hair Loss Due To Medical Conditions

---

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) introduced a bill last week that would help people struggling with hair loss due to medical conditions by pushing private insurance plans to cover the cost of wigs.

Pressley, who lost her hair to alopecia, wore wigs for a short time after her diagnosis but eventually decided to sport her bald head. The politician told Vanity Fair, on the same day she introduced her bill, being a bald woman in today’s society is not easy.

“[To] be bald as a woman really does disrupt conventional and societal norms of what is appropriate, what is professional, what is attractive, what is feminine,” Pressley said. “It’s so much more than cosmetic,” she explained about what it’s like being bald and female. “It takes a real toll.”

In the article, Pressley discussed how some patients refuse to be helped due to the fear of hair loss, telling the fashion magazine, “Doctors have told me that patients have refused lifesaving cancer treatments because they were afraid they were going to lose their hair and didn’t know how to deal with it.”

Pressley introduced the bill with Massachusetts Rep. James McGovern, whose 20-year-old daughter has dealt with hair loss due to a rare cancer diagnosis. If the bill passes, it will recategorize wigs as durable medical equipment making them eligible for coverage under the Social Security Act.

Every person living with alopecia, battling cancer, or facing another medical condition that leads to hair loss, should be able to access wigs and other head coverings,” Pressley told Essence last week. “Our bill is responsive and sends a powerful message to these communities: we see you, you belong, and you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Alopecia is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks healthy hair follicles, resulting in hair loss. More than 7 million Americans are living with the disease.