• Lifestyle

by Tai Saint-Louis

October 3, 2021

The Coast Guard’s First Two Black Women Pilots Discuss How They Impacted Each Other’s Careers

---

Of the U.S. Coast Guard‘s 800 pilots currently in service, only six are Black women; the first, Cmdr. Jeanine McIntosh-Menze, only broke that ceiling in 2005.

When she met now Lt. Cmdr. LaShandra Holmes, who would go on to become the Coast Guard’s second Black woman pilot, Menze didn’t realize that what she was doing for her new protégé what exactly what she had been looking for as she embarked on her career. A native of Jamaica, Menze tells NPR that her childhood dream of becoming a pilot seemed unattainable when she first thought of enrolling in flight school.

As she prepared to sign up for her first less at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, she quickly realized that she was an outlier. “I panicked,” Menze recalls. “I don’t see anyone that looks like me, and I felt like I didn’t belong.”

In a conversation as part of StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative, Holmes shared how meeting Menze had the exact opposite result.

“You were so welcoming, I just was hanging on your every word,” she said. “And I thought, ‘She looks like me! She’s got lips like me! And she’s flying the biggest aircraft we’ve got in the Coast Guard!’ You changed my mind about what’s possible.”

As Menze describes the way she honored Holmes in 2010 when she received her wings – a symbolic part of the graduation ceremony, she makes it clear that the way in which she embraced the younger pilot was an intentional effort to set a precedent.

“I wanted to make some sort of gesture to say that we’re all gonna be there for each other — all the other black and brown girls that were gonna be coming up behind us,” Menze recounts. “And immediately I thought the best way to do that was … you are going to have my wings.”

In a recent interview with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, Menze shared some of the challenges she faced in her first five years as an “only,” and her continued hopes to welcome more Black women into her space.

One of Black America’s favorite white crooners singing Black music – Robin Thicke – has come under fire after Emily Ratajkowski accused him of grabbing her bare breasts while making the video of Thicke’s 2013 hit single “Blurred Lines.”

According to the Daily Beast, Ratajkowski, the singer’s love interest in the video, revealed the incident in her upcoming book “My Body,” due out next month. 

“Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and foreignness of a stranger’s hands cupping my bare breasts from behind. I instinctively moved away, looking back at Robin Thicke,” she wrote.

The former model also claimed that Thicke appeared to be drunk on the “Blurred Lines” set. She described feeling “the heat of humiliation” and “naked for the first time that day.”

For most of the video, Ratajkowski was partially naked.

“I didn’t react—not really, not like I should have,” she wrote.

The story gets worse. 

Although this is the first time the “Blurred Lines” director said anything publicly about the alleged sexual assault, Diane Martel backed up Ratajkowski’s story saying, “I remember the moment that he grabbed her breasts, one in each hand. He was standing behind her as they were both in profile. I screamed in my very aggressive Brooklyn voice, ‘What the f–k are you doing? That’s it! The shoot is over!’”

Ironically, Martel defended the video and the song’s lyrics after Thicke was lambasted for his creep-worthy lyrics and for being misogynistic.

“I wanted to deal with the misogynist, funny lyrics in a way where the girls were going to overpower the men. Look at Emily Ratajkowski’s performance; it’s very, very funny and subtly ridiculing,” she explained. “That’s what is fresh to me. It also forces the men to feel playful and not at all like predators.”

“I directed the girls to look into the camera, this is very intentional, and they do it most of the time; they are in the power position. I don’t think the video is sexist. The lyrics are ridiculous. The guys are silly as fuck. That said, I respect women who are watching out for negative images in pop culture and who find the nudity offensive, but I find [the video] meta and playful.”

Even in 2013, Thicke put himself on the creep radar after saying, “People say, “Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?” I’m like, ‘Of course it is.’ What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I’ve never gotten to do that before. I’ve always respected women.” So we just wanted to turn it over on its head and make people go, “Women and their bodies are beautiful. Men are always gonna want to follow them around.”

Yikes.

In another 2013 interview with Salon, Thicke chalked his slimeball antics up to watching his deceased father, Alan Thicke of Growing Pains fame, be a P-I-M-P. (Thank you, 50.)  

“My dad was single my whole pubescent period. He had Ms. Alabama, Ms. Dominican Republic — every week. I was like, Dang, Pops. He had an indoor Jacuzzi, and he frequented it. The first time I saw a naked woman was when I went to take a shower one morning before school.”

His ex-wife Paula Patton divorced him in 2014, citing infidelity, drug abuse and physical abuse. The two were together for 21 years and married for nine years.

Thicke has not responded to the allegations. 

• News

by Charlene Rhinehart

October 3, 2021

Brave Army Vet Tackles Alligator Outside His Florida Home to Protect His Family

---

When Army Vet Eugene Geno Bozzi spotted an alligator outside his home, he immediately went into protector mode to keep his family safe.

“It was spur-of-the-moment thinking,” Bozzi told New York Post as he recalled the experience.

Eugene Bozzi, also known as “The Bull Black Alligator Dundee”, is a U.S. military veteran from Philadelphia. He lives in Mount Dora, a city located in Lake County, Florida. According to WESH-TV, the veteran has been a resident of Florida for only a year. But his bravery immediately caused him to earn the title of “neighborhood hero.”

Moments before the terrifying alligator encounter occurred, Bozzi was in the garage with his nephew, the New York Post reported. As they were talking, he heard an unfamiliar sound outside. His daughter, who was riding her bike, told him, ‘Hey, this big alligator just hissed at me!’ ”

Bozzi is now a viral sensation, receiving comments from hundreds of impressed social media users.

“This is the most Florida thing I’ve seen in months,” captioned a Florida resident above a Twitter repost of the video. Another surprised person responded to the comment saying, “The fact he did this in socks and slides puts him in an upper-tier level of Florida Men.”

“This Florida Man has won the internet for the Month of September,” another Florida man wrote on Twitter. The video now boasts over 6.2 million views.

Roy Bonilla captured the video footage that shows Bozzi’s heroic act. He describes Bozzi’s actions as “very brave.”

“He just took action at the right time, before something bad could [have] happened,” Bonilla told Storyful.

• Lifestyle

by Tai Saint-Louis

October 3, 2021

Kevin Hart Extortion Case Dismissed Amid ‘Amicable Discussions’

---

The case against a former friend accused of attempting to extort Kevin Hart has been dismissed. The alleged extortion plot involved video footage which allegedly showed the married comedian in a compromising position with a woman in Las Vegas.

According to NBC Philadelphia, in May 2018, Jonathan Todd Jackson originally faced one count of attempted extortion and one count of extortion by letter. Prosecutors then amended the charges, adding two counts of identity theft and one count of attempted concealing, selling or withholding of stolen property exceeding $950 in value; and dropping the attempted extortion case.

In a 2019 hearing, a judge dismissed three of the charges, and Jackson was left facing one count of identity theft. The second count was re-added following a petition from the prosecutors.

The case stemmed from an Instagram comment under one of Hart’s post, where someone wrote “Give me $5 million or I’m releasing the video.” Jackson’s attorney Jacob Glucksman maintains authorities made a mistake when the social media comment and subsequent emails sent to Hart were attributed to his client.

On September 29, the remaining two charges were dismissed when prosecutors revealed they did not have enough to proceed with case.

“I’m really glad to see the end result of the case being dismissed,” Glucksman said. “It took a really long time for my client to get justice. He never committed any criminal offense against Kevin Hart or anyone else. There was never any demand made for any money. There was never any extortion attempt.”

The attorney, who describes Jackson and Hart as “very close friends,” added that the two men have been “engaged in amicable discussions,” and that the Fatherhood star has no opposition to the case being dismissed.

Glucksman says the next step is to ask for the courts to officially find Jackson not guilty, and to have his arrest records sealed.

• Career

by Charlene Rhinehart

October 3, 2021

Black Man Earning $1 Million Per Year to Operate Homeless Shelter Accused of Fraud

---

Jack A. Brown III earns more than $1 million a year to operate a homeless shelter in New York City, according to The New York Times. 

Brown is the President and CEO of CORE Services Group & CORE Companies. Founded in 2005, CORE Services Group is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit. The organization provides community services to more than 3,000 residents every day. CORE partners with the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS). The organization has also built relationships with the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD), and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to provide critical services and programs.

New York City Provides Millions to Homeless Shelter

The New York Times reported that the city has provided generous amounts of funding to a nonprofit managed by Brown. New York City’s homelessness crisis has caused the city to be more intentional about its investments. The city has allocated more dollars to organizations that cater to underserved residents.

Over the last four years, the homeless shelter operated by Brown has generated over $352 million in city funding. The funds were designed to help people get back on their feet. Unfortunately, residents say they have not been the beneficiaries of those funds.

“A lot of money is going into this place,” Annabelle Alexander, an 83-year-old woman who lived at CORE’s Beach House shelter, told The New York Times. “But it’s not going to us.”

Residents have expressed concerns about the poor living conditions in Brown’s shelter. They’ve had to occupy rooms that were filled with rodents and mold. They have also had to deal with disturbance from routine fights in the hallway. 

Some people are accusing Brown of pocketing city funds and contracts for his personal gain. The New York Times found that at least $32 million in non-profit contracts have been used to accelerate the goals of for-profit entities that are associated with Brown. Sources say that he has provided family members with six-figure salaries. He’s also provided employees with luxury perks such as gym memberships and cars.

Concerns have been expressed and audits have not lived up to expectations. However, New York City continues to provide millions in funding to CORE.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision not to block Texas’ controversial new abortion ban and what the Women’s March Network calls ”the most dire threat to abortion access in our lifetime,” thousands of people gathered across the country for the 2021 Women’s March.

While the main gathering took place in Washington, D.C. – as it first did in 2017 as a form of protest to President Trump’s inauguration –  CBS News reports 600 ‘sister marches’ were held in cities including Philadelphia, Austin and Atlanta.

In Los Angeles, the march brought out several celebrity supporters, including Debbie Allen who took the stage with her granddaughter on her hip to address the crowd. In her speech, posted to YouTube by an attendee, she explained that she wanted the toddler to “know that the world is gonna stand up for her.”

“This is my granddaughter Shiloh,” Allen said. “And I wanted to bring her today because, what is the world that I’m raising her in? What is going to happen with Shiloh when she becomes of age and needs to make a choice? She should be able to make a choice. I’m standing tall with every woman in this country and around the world: it is time for us to proclaim our equality, our justice, our freedom. And our voice is speaking very clearly. We got some house cleaning to do.”

Also in attendance at the LA Women’s March was Raven-Symoné who, in a statement to Hollywood Life, compared the fight for reproductive justice to the fight for LGBTQ rights.

“I think it’s really important to participate in a march like this,” she said, “because, in numbers, we can change things. And, you know, gay marriage wasn’t acceptable until everyone came together, and made noise, and made a stink about it and things changed, And now, I can get married. So, I believe that this form of activism can work and that’s why I’m here,”

• Lifestyle

by Tai Saint-Louis

October 3, 2021

Stevie Wonder’s Son Kailand Morris Has Taken The Fashion World By Storm

---

Though Stevie Wonder‘s son Kailand Morris originally seemed destined to continue his father’s musical legacy, he has followed his designer mom Kai Millard into the fashion world instead.

Morris, who turned 20 in early September, has emerged as a favorite of both high-end designers and some of the most coveted titles in fashion press. The shots the young model shares via his Instagram page showcases his work with brands like Balmain, Dior, Lacoste and Dolce & Banana – with whom he made his runway debut in 2018.

He also shares quite a few editorial profiles and covers celebrating his achievements as a rising figure in the fashion world. Just last year, he covered L’Officiel Hommes Italia, W Korea and The Glass Magazine, with each cover accompanied by a profile on the young talent. He even recently shared cover model responsibilities with his brother Mandla Morris and both of his parents, who divorced in 2012.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kailand O. Morris (@kailandmorris)

Morris has also started making strides towards a promising career as a fashion designer himself, taking the proper steps to establish himself. According to WWD, he interned with Dior’s artistic Director in Kim Jones in 2019, which not only gave him insight into the business side of fashion, but also led to a run as the face of Dior’s Modern Tailoring collection.

He has also established his own like, House of KOM, which last summer released a fundraising T-shirt benefitting Black Lives Matter. “A huge passion of mine ever since I was a kid was to be able to provide and give back to communities, families, people…all around the world,” he told WWD last year. “Now being able to do so through a work field that I am also very passionate about, which is fashion design, is a true dream come true.”

As he preps his first capsule collection, Morris tells The Glass that the line will always serve at least one greater purpose. “One of the backbones of House of KOM is that everything we create fabric-wise, from a bag to a shirt, is all 100 per cent sustainable, re-usable, recycled fabrics,” he explains. “People think if you are using a recycled fabric, it is not going to have the same quality and not feel like high-end luxury, but you would really be surprised!”

• Career

by Black Enterprise Shop

October 3, 2021

Turn Your Creative Ideas Into Life With This Digital Animation Program

---

Digital art is a growing industry that has seen a significant uptick over the years as personal computers have become fully capable of having the powerful software needed for creators.

Gone are the days of Hollywood Studios such as Pixar’s monopoly on the animation business, as a number of companies have rolled out their own versions of software digit art platforms to the mass market.

Moho has been one of the most active companies in the digital art space, and for just $29.99, you can purchase Moho Animation Software to unpack, unleash and display your digital ideas. Its limited-time price is 50% off its MSRP of $59.99.

On sale now for $29.99 you can get an additional 40% off using coupon code VIP40 as a part of our VIP Sale. That drops your final price down to $17.99.

Friendly for beginners and professionals alike, this product packs everything you need to create 2D movies, cartoons, stop motion or cut-out animations. Create and produce desktop shorts in the mold of Disney Animation Studios, Nickelodeon Animation Studios or Cartoon Network Studios.

Check out this video.

Moho’s bone-rigging features allow for fast animation, it allows users to add a skeleton to images through a simple point and click, and its sequencer and timeline allow for project organization.

Its character wizard function allows users to design their own characters’ walk cycles, and the image vectorizer brings your creations to life as it converts them to ready-to-animate vector drawings activated by the simple click of a button.

“Moho has been a crucial creative tool for our key Cartoon Saloon productions. The Breadwinner, GOLDEN GLOBE, and ACADEMY AWARD® Nominated animated feature film, heavily relied on Moho to seamlessly sit alongside hand-drawn animation. It’s such a versatile tool and it has been the software choice of many of our key artists over the years,” writes Nora Twomey, director of The Breadwinner.

All that’s needed to run this software is a Windows or Macintosh computer outfitted with Windows® 7, 8.1 or 10 or Macintosh® OS X 10.9, 10.10 or 10.11 (or higher). Updates are included.

Whether you’re someone who already possesses an understanding of digital animation or if you’re curious about beginning a digital art journey, Moho’s product will suit either need. Take advantage of this limited-time deal today.

Prices subject to change.

Pride and Prejudice stars Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Brad James were married in a beautiful wedding ceremony last week. 

Pulliam posted stunning images – shot by Janet Howard – of her nuptials on her Instagram account. 

“Last week, my life forever changed… I married my best friend at our home surrounded by family & it was magical!!! It wasn’t the large destination wedding we were originally planning. Instead, it was intimate, whimsical, full of love, laughter and joy… Absolutely perfect,” she wrote. “Maybe, one day, I will share the events that inspired our change of plans. However, for now, I can say God makes no mistakes & the joy is in the journey.”

She continued gushing about her wedding.

“Covid has definitely taught us to live in the moment and that the present is the greatest “present” that exists. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us!! Most of all, thank you to @mrbradjames, my amazing husband, my person, my soulmate. Thank you for renewing my vulnerability & faith in unconditionally love.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Keshia Knight Pulliam (@keshiaknightpulliam)

Pulliam and James met while on the set of their hit show in 2019. The two got engaged last December. The actress has a three-year-old daughter with ex-husband Ed Hartwell. The two divorced last October.

The Cosby Show alum also shared a photo of her engagement. 

“I said Yes!! ❤️💍 I LOVE YOU @mrbradjames !!!! This is my favorite photo from our magical engagement dinner. My desire is a lifetime and beyond filled with love & family. My heart is so filled with joy!! So excited to continue to choose each other & our family every day”.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Keshia Knight Pulliam (@keshiaknightpulliam)

We wish the happy couple all the best!

• News

by Keka Araújo

October 2, 2021

Jackson Memorial Hospital Nurse Sierra Samuels Fired After Posting Mocking Photo of Newborn With Birth Defect

---

A now-terminated Miami nurse posted photos of a newborn baby with congenital disabilities on Instagram. 

According to Fox News Miami, Sierra Samuels took to the social media platform to make fun of the infant, writing, “My night was going great then boom. Your intestines posed to be inside, not outside, baby!”

To add insult to injury, the jacka** nurse hashtagged the photo #gastroschisis. The CDC defined gastroschisis as “a birth defect of the abdominal (belly) wall. The baby’s intestines are found outside of the baby’s body, exiting through a hole beside the belly button. The hole can be small or large, and sometimes other organs, such as the stomach and liver, can also be found outside of the baby’s body.”

The website goes on to explain the gravity of the condition.

“Gastroschisis occurs early during pregnancy when the muscles that make up the baby’s abdominal wall do not form correctly. A hole occurs which allows the intestines and other organs to extend outside of the body, usually to the right side of the belly button. Because the intestines are not covered in a protective sac and are exposed to the amniotic fluid, the intestines can become irritated, causing them to shorten, twist, or swell.”

Samuels not only violated Jackson Memorial Hospital’s privacy policy– she violated HIPAA mandates. The privacy rule “establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically.  The Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization.”

Jackson Memorial launched an investigation regarding the egregious abuse of the newborn and fired Samuels on September 30. 

A representative for the health care system released a statement regarding Samuels’ behavior.  

“Employees who violate these privacy rules, despite being educated, are subject to disciplinary action including suspension or termination. As soon as we learned of this potential breach, we immediately placed this employee under administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”

According to CBS Miami, Samuels started working for the hospital in 2016. The news outlet also reported that the nurse posted photos from the job regularly on Instagram to her 600 followers.