Mikayla Harris, an African American student from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the winners of the prestigious Astronaut Scholarship Foundation award. She received $15,000 in scholarship awards, among others.

Harris, who is a senior from the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, applied for the Astronaut Scholarship with an aim to represent Black women in STEM.

“There is not enough biomedical research that includes black people, people of color and other minority groups,” Harris said in a press release.

As a member of the university’s Student Research Center, Harris said more opportunities opened for her to learn about research and create research projects on her own. She credits the organization for her recent achievement of the Astronaut Scholarship where she highlighted her research activities.

Harris is one of the 60 students from 44 universities who were chosen to receive the award. Aside from the $15,000 scholarship award, Harris also received her Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence and was inducted into the national Astronaut Scholar Honor Society. She is also set to participate in a full-year professional mentoring program, a professional development program, and several foundation events.

Harris credits her work with MSU’s Student Research Center as being extremely instrumental, in addition to her active membership in Morgan’s RISE-REACHeS program, which she joined at the behest of Cleo Hughes Darden, Ph.D., chair of Morgan’s Biology Department. RISE takes an innovative approach to preparing Morgan graduates to enter Ph.D. programs in the biomedical sciences.

“Going into the Morgan RISE program, my eyes were opened to the various avenues that I could research in science and opportunities to explore my curiosities,” Harris said.

After graduating a year early in 2022, Harris plans to pursue a MD-PhD degree and study more about racial health disparities, especially the differences in female infertility.

“I want to emphasize how grateful I am for Morgan,” Harris said about the HBCU. “Morgan has definitely prepared me for opportunities like this scholarship and upon graduation, I will be prepared for opportunities to pursue what I really am interested in, which is helping my community and underrepresented individuals.”

This story first appeared on Blacknews.com.

• Business

by Black Enterprise Shop

September 24, 2021

Subscribe To This Tool That Makes Entrepreneurs’ Lives Easy

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Small business owners have their work cut out for them. They have to handle a seemingly endless list of deliverables along with juggling multiple priorities of varying degrees of urgency. If you’re running a small business and don’t have a partner to offset some tasks, it can be challenging to keep afloat. Luckily, there are apps that are designed to tackle tasks that are time-consuming, allowing you to focus on scaling your business and delivering excellent service to your customers. 

Take officio.work, for instance. A platform that combines multiple apps in one, it’s your one-stop shop to ultimate productivity and peak efficiency. From invoicing and messaging to task management, note taking, and team collaboration, it enables you to manage your work and business easily in a single place. For a limited time, you can grab a lifetime subscription for a limited-time price of $49.99.

Officio.work meets the needs of the modern entrepreneur. Rated an impressive 4.9 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, it’s purposely built for any business and team, whether they operate in-house or remotely. It has a team management feature that lets you check in on your team anywhere and anytime; a project management tool that allows you to assign tasks to project members, track their status, and even let clients in on the progress; and a collaborative discussion feature, which lets you express your ideas, organize a discussion, and get feedback from anyone in your team.

The platform also offers features and tools for making business transactions seamless. You can create and manage estimates and invoices and send them straight to the client, as well as record expenses so you can track your cash flow better. 

There’s no need to switch around multiple programs when you can do everything with officio.work. A lifetime subscription is valued at $600, but for a limited time, you can get it on sale for only $49.99.

Prices subject to change.

• Lifestyle

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

September 23, 2021

Hollister’s New Back-To-School Collection Aims to Help Close the BIPOC Education Gap

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Hollister Co., a division of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is furthering its long-term partnership with The Academy Group, a non-profit organization devoted to unlocking opportunities for youth from the most resilient communities.

For the fall season, Hollister and The Academy Group have co-created a unique product collection that is dedicated to driving awareness about the education gap in the BIPOC community.

Students from The Academy Group collaborated with BIPOC Hollister associates to discuss themes around this important issue and create empowering messages for their communities such as “EVOLVE TRANSFORM GROW,” and “BUILDING A BETTER WORLD TOGETHER,” which are featured across t-shirts and hoodies. The collection is available now at www.hollisterco.com while supplies last. Hollister will also donate $180,000 directly to The Academy Group to help drive real change in closing the education gap.

“The Academy Group is proud to partner with Hollister to help close the opportunity gap for students from resilient communities,” said Dr. Gregory Jones, Executive Director at The Academy Group. “This partnership is critically important as students return to school after a year that has resulted in loss of learning due to the pandemic.”

Hollister first announced its partnership with The Academy Group in December 2020. Since then, the brand has donated $270,000 as part of its ongoing pledge to partner with the voices, movements, and people who are working to uplift the BIPOC community. This is the second co-created collection between Hollister and The Academy Group following the launch of a Black History Month collection earlier this year.

“We always aim to ensure our teen customers feel confident in the world they live in – which is why we are honored to continue our partnership with The Academy Group, an organization that fosters both individual and large-scale change,” said Kristin Scott, Global Brand President at Abercrombie & Fitch Co.  “We hope this new collection promotes togetherness, provides inspiration for change, and highlights how we can all continue to support the BIPOC communities.”

To learn more about the back-to-school collection and hear from The Academy Group students, tune in to Hollister’s Instagram Live series, Volume ON, on September 24.

• News

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

September 23, 2021

The Body Of Missing Illinois State University College Student Jelani Day Has Been Found

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Jelani Day, the Illinois State University student who went missing Aug. 24 was identified as the body found floating in the Illinois river, according to authorities.

On Sept. 4, the LaSalle County Coroner discovered a body “floating near the south bank of the Illinois River approximately ¼ mile east of the Illinois Rt. 251 Bridge.”

On Thursday, the body was identified as the 25-year-old student who went missing in late August, NBC Chicago, reports.

The cause of death has yet to be determined, pending an investigation and toxicology testing, the coroner’s office said.

“Our hearts are broken,” Day’s family said in a statement. “We ask that you continue to pray for our family during what will be very hard days ahead. Throughout these 30 days, our very first concern was finding Jelani, and now we need to find out #WhatHappenedToJelaniDay. At this moment there are more questions than answers surrounding Jelani’s disappearance and death, and that is where we will focus our energy. As of this moment, we do not know what happened to Jelani and we will not stop until we do.”

On Aug, 25, his family and his college professor reported him missing after he failed to show up for class for several days.

Day’s body was first discovered where his car was found weeks ago in a wooded area. However, officials needed time to run forensic tests to identify the remains because of the condition of the corpse.

“We’ve given them DNA so they can identify the body,” Day’s mother Carmen Bolden Day told NBC Chicago earlier this week. “However what I was told that the crime lab does not have the solution that they need to process the DNA.”

Bolden Day criticized the investigation saying with all the media attention focusing on a missing white woman, Gabby Petito, the disappearance of the Black college student hadn’t garnered the same type of attention.

The mother of the missing Illinois State University student said finding her son had come to a standstill since police uncovered the unidentified body on Sept. 4, which has now been determined to be Jelani.

Police also recovered video of Jelani entering a dispensary in Bloomington a day before he went missing.

• Politics

by Derek Major

September 23, 2021

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Black Anti-Mask Surgeon General Who Believes Vaccines Aren’t Special

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed a Black, Harvard-educated surgeon general who is anti-mask, anti-vaccine, and against COVID-19 mask mandates.

DeSantis introduced Dr. Joseph Ladapo Tuesday, but you may have seen him last year when he and several other doctors held a press conference outside the Supreme Court touting several unproven and debunked theories about COVID-19.

DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw told The Hill the doctor is not against the vaccine or masks, but against vaccine mandates and forced masking.

Ladapo stood beside DeSantis on Wednesday and said the state should be focused on good health practices adding COVID-19 vaccines are not special compared to other health measures.

“Vaccines are up to the person,” Ladapo told reporters, “There’s nothing special about them compared to any other preventive measure.”

During the press conference, Ladapo was asked if the state should promote vaccinations, Ladapo responded saying, “The state should be promoting good health, and vaccination isn’t the only path to that. It’s been treated almost like a religion, and that’s just senseless, right? There are lots of good pathways to health, and vaccinations’ not the only one. So, we support measures for good health.”

The doctor also wrote an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal in which he states mask wearing has a modest effect on stopping the spread of the coronavius pandemic.

“Mandates infringe on personal autonomy, which can lead to political strife and unintended consequences, but they have value in some situations,” Ladapo wrote. “In general, however, wise policymaking respects the intrinsic value of personal autonomy and seeks the least burdensome path to achieve social gains.”

Ladapo’s piece goes on to say the focus of COVID-19 shouldn’t be on preventing the spread of the illness, but on therapies that treat the illness. Treating those who have been infected is also something DeSantis is pushing as he’s focused on providing monoclonal antibody therapy for those suffering from the virus.

DeSantis has also largely kept the state open due to its huge bar, restaurant and travel industries. All three  industries were hit hard by the pandemic and suffered significant losses as Americans stopped traveling and going out.

Several people including a former classmate have blasted Ladapo on Twitter for his anti-mask and anti-vaccine stance as a doctor who has likely seen people die from the virus. The state of Florida has had more than 3.5 million COVID-19 deaths and 51,000 deaths since the pandemic began.

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

September 23, 2021

More Details Emerge In Case Of 21-Year-Old Shawtyeria Waites Whose Remains Were Found In Suspect’s Car Trunk

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More details are being unearthed in the death of a 21-year-old Houston woman whose body was found on Aug. 27.

Recently released court documents detail the last horrific moments of Shawtyeria Waites‘ life and how investigators built a case against 26-year-old Jordan Potts, who is charged in Waites’ murder, KHOU reports.

Early last month, Waites was reported missing after she was last seen in the southwest Houston area on July 25 at about 10 p.m. Her friends had dropped her off at the Villages of Meyerland apartments after meeting a man at the strip club who invited them to the apartment. Waites was wearing a pink dress, pink sandals, and a long black curly wig.

But after Waites vanished without a trace, the family sought help from civil rights activist Quanell X in getting more help from the Houston Police Department in locating Waites. But her remains were found one month after she went missing.

Police believe she was killed in the 8900 block of Chimney Rock Road at about 8:30 p.m. on July 25. They found evidence on Aug. 13 that linked Potts to the case. They say he killed Waites inside the apartment and put her body in the trunk of his vehicle before dumping it, ABC News reports.

New details say a neighbor had called the police after she heard the sound of a woman screaming, “trying to get out of the door.” When police arrived to question Potts, he claimed he was just playing video games and that was the screaming sounds that were heard.

On Aug. 19, authorities were granted a search warrant for Potts’ car and found a shovel, gas can, and blood in the trunk along with evidence that a body had been placed there. Upon searching Potts’ cellphone, the FBI reported the phone traveled west on the Katy Freeway from 3:09 a.m. to 3:38 a.m. on July 26 and stopped in the 38400 block of the Katy Freeway in Brookshire where Waites body was found.

Investigators recovered evidence that matched Waites’ description, including the pink dress that she was last seen wearing. Potts remains in jail on a $1 million bond.

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

September 23, 2021

Black Twitter Calls Out Nicki Minaj For Seemingly Suggesting Husband’s Rape Victim is White

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Black Twitter is debating Nicki Minaj’s past comments on her husband’s rape case following Jennifer Hough’s tell-all interview on The Real.

An emotional and visibly shaken Hough took to The Real on Wednesday to break her silence on her 26-year-old sexual assault case against Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty. Hough sued Minaj and Petty last month, alleging that she was being harassed and intimidated into changing her story.

On The Real, Hough revealed that an associate of Minaj and Petty approached her and offered $20,000 for her to recant her statement. She claims that after she refused the money, her life was threatened.

The shocking revelations have led to a number of reactions on social media with many showing empathy to Hough and defending her against victim-shamers and Minaj’s fans. But an even deeper conversation was raised after an old 2019 clip from Minaj’s Queen Radio resurfaced that seemingly showed Nicki insinuating that Hough was a white woman, Yahoo News reports.

https://twitter.com/britneyxmariah/status/1440695471572283411?s=21

“…something that he was wrongly accused of doing when he was a 15-year-old…all because he didn’t have $7K to get himself bailed out,” Nicki said at the time. “Because when you’re in the hood, you don’t have that kind of money and neither does your family. And when the alleged accuser wrote a letter to the judge asking to take these recanted statements, she was told that she would go to jail for 90 days, allegedly.”

She goes on to add “but white is right.”

Many think the comment was Minaj’s way of insinuating Hough was white and received white privilege in the case. However, there were some that argued that Minaj was implying the justice system is run by white people who have the final say in determining a suspect’s fate.

But critics are convinced that Minaj was up to foul play trying to get her fans to believe her husband is innocent.

“Nicki Minaj really wanted y’all to believe Jennifer Hough was a white woman to pretend her husband’s offense was racially motivated…. there’s no defending this smh,” ONE Twitter user said.

Many are calling Minaj out for getting herself involved in this very messy situation. Some even think Minaj said the controversial things about the vaccine as a form of distraction around what was coming when Hough broke her silence, as noted by The Cut.

It’s a lot to take in, but the Barbz appear to be sticking beside Minaj.

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

September 23, 2021

Illinois Professor Charged With Hate Crime After Spitting on Black Woman And Using Racial Slur

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A professor at The National University of Health Sciences has been suspended pending an investigation into his recent hate crime charges.

Alberto Friedmann was charged with a hate crime after allegedly spitting on a Black woman and hurling racial slurs at her and her 7-year-old daughter, NBC reports. The alleged incident occurred during the afternoon of Sept. 17 outside a suburban grocery store located about 10 miles outside Chicago.

The woman and her daughter were waiting inside their car outside of the Jewel-Osco store while her mother was shopping, court records show. While waiting, the woman heard someone “honking and yelling” behind her and looked and saw a man in a Jaguar.

The woman heard the man, identified as Friedmann, shouting racial slurs at her telling her to “Move your f—— car.” The woman motioned for him to drive around, but Friedmann reportedly got out of his car and approached her car.

As the woman attempted to get out of her car, the man pushed the door closed before spitting in her face. The defendant reportedly told the woman that he spat on her “because he doesn’t like Black people,” court records show, as noted by CBS.

As the woman’s mother exited the store, she reportedly saw the man spit on her daughter and heard him using racial slurs. When approaching him, the man got back inside his car and allegedly started speeding toward the mother. “Nearly striking her with his car,” according to court records.

Prosecutors say the man “came within inches” of striking the woman and ended up hitting the rear driver’s side bumper and the driver’s-side door of the woman’s car.

When police arrived, one officer saw the man’s vehicle crash into the woman’s driver’s-side door. The man also reportedly admitted to the police that he spit on the woman.

Friedmann was arrested and charged with a felony hate crime and felony aggravated assault with a motor vehicle. He appeared in court Sunday and was released on $2,500 bail.

Students at the National University of Health Sciences, where Friedmann teaches neuro-kinesiology, have expressed their concern.

“They sent letters to higher-ups. They are destroyed because they are taught by this person, and their question is what type of person this is,” Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford said.

• Lifestyle

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

September 23, 2021

5-Year-Old Girl Goes Viral After Thinking Her Mother’s Passport Proved She Was An Alien

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A mother regrets allowing her 5-year-old daughter to watch the classic Men In Black movie because now she thinks her mom is an alien.

The 30-year-old mom and poet, Kira J, captured the now-viral moment when she showed little Nala-Joye her passport after they watched MIB.

“My daughter found my passport today & she thought it was paperwork to show I’m an alien 👽😂. Shoulda never let her watch MIB,” Kira captioned the viral tweet.

My daughter found my passport today & she thought it was paperwork to show I’m an alien 👽😂. Shoulda never let her watch MIB pic.twitter.com/blvBAHX2Zn

— Kira J (@IamKiraJ) September 20, 2021

Garnering over 35,000 retweets and 6,000 responses, many Twitter users got a good laugh at the comical moment.

“This how I know I can’t have kids cuz I would have started speaking beep bop and trolling her harder,” one user said.

Someone else suggested the mom slip an alien photo into one of their family pics.

https://twitter.com/MrAnansi/status/1440381622834982918?s=20

“Bruh, i def wouldve ran with it too. Even better, my dad doesnt have a belly button so that wouldve sold it even more,” added someone else.

Kira followed up her viral tweet, sharing adorable moments of her daughter’s standout personality.

“Oh, and if you’re wondering if she’s dramatic because she’s one of those. Yes, yes she is,” Kira captioned one tweet that included a video of little Nala throwing a fit in the backseat of the car.

Oh and if you’re wondering if she’s dramatic because she’s one of those. Yes, yes she is https://t.co/MWP5S82ZW9

— Kira J (@IamKiraJ) September 21, 2021

It looks like Nala needs to start a YouTube channel and put her dramatic reactions on full display. Twitter is clearly here for it.

This year’s New York Fashion Week highlighted the ongoing elevation of Black luxury fashion designers. With runway shows being brought to the inner-cities of NYC, Black culture was and is being embraced in new ways.

Among the elite crew of dominating Black designers include Jessica Rich, the luxury shoe designer behind heels worn by the likes of Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, Normani, Saweetie, Keke Palmer, Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum and more.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by JESSICA RICH (@jessicarichcollection)

As the first Black woman to have her shoes sold in Nordstrom, there were some strong glass ceilings that Rich broke through. She acknowledges that it took celebrity influence to help take her brand to the next level.

“As a Black designer, most media platforms did not take me seriously,” Rich told Black Enterprise.

“Due to the lack of representation within the luxury shoe industry, it took the recognition from celebrities such as, Kylie Jenner, and Cardi B to wear my shoes. After multiple social media posts and praises from my many famous customers, the public finally acknowledged me as legitimate and worth supporting.”

Making her way in luxury fashion alongside the likes of Kerby Jean-Raymond, Telfare Clemmons, Brandon Blackwood, and many others, Rich is in “love” with the new wave of Black luxury fashion.

“I believe it’s time for us to finally get the recognition we deserve,” Rich said. “Black culture is the culture! We are the trendsetters. We’re often copied through our music, style, fashion – basically everything.”

“Black culture is luxury, and that should be recognized. Many known “high fashion designers” have taken our style and used it as a part of their new collection. It’s time we as a community and culture receive our praises.”

Despite being a part of Nordstrom’s diversity and inclusion initiative as well as taking over Giuseppe Zanotti’s former brick and mortar location inside the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, Rich is still finding new ways to scale her business.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by JESSICA RICH (@jessicarichcollection)

Her newest collection is in collaboration with the star-studded actress and singer Serayah and exudes all things Black Girl Magic.

“Jessica Rich collection stood out to me for its chic design and edgy silhouette. But, when I saw who the designer was it made me even more excited,” Serayah told BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“A woman that looks like me represents fashion, culture and class, at the same time, which is everything I desire to be. So I’m very excited for what’s to come in our future collaborations. I for sure hope to pick up a few gems from her along the way.”

As she continues to expand her fashion empire and solidify her mogul status, Rich is staying humble and she’s honored to make her ancestors proud.

“Currently, I’m living my ancestors’ wildest dreams by doing things I’ve never thought of in 1 million years,” she said. “Through perseverance and faith, all things could be achieved.”