by Mary Spiller

September 13, 2025

Spike Lee Fronts Timberland’s 50th Anniversary Yellow Boot Global Campaign

Timberland is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its iconic Yellow Boot with a global campaign featuring Spike Lee, Skepta, and Kiko Mizuhara.

Timberland is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its iconic Yellow Boot with a new global campaign, “Advice of an Icon,” fronted by filmmaker Spike Lee alongside rapper Skepta and actress Kiko Mizuhara. The effort highlights creativity, authenticity, and community while honoring the boot’s decades-long influence on fashion and culture.

The campaign, launched on Sept. 11, was unveiled through a series of Instagram posts. For Lee, the project carries a message rooted in discipline. “You have to have a work ethic,” he said in a statement. “You got to put the work in. You can’t cheat that, if you’re cheating, you’re cheating yourself.”

Lee has long been a visible supporter of Timberland, most recently spotted courtside at Madison Square Garden in custom Knicks-themed Yellow Boots during the NBA season.

Skepta, the British rapper who also stars in the Timberland campaign, emphasized perseverance and the power of community. “There was never another option for me apart from success,” he said. “Anyone who’s built something will tell you — you need blind faith, even when the outcome isn’t clear. People need to remember community. Get back to that idea of doing it for the people around you.”

For Mizuhara, the campaign is about staying true to oneself despite setbacks. “I kept going. I kept doing what I liked,” she said. “Sometimes there were challenges, and I failed. It’s because I stayed true to who I am. That’s why I’m here. And I will never apologize for who I am.”

The campaign was directed and photographed by Gabriel Moses, known for his distinctive visual style. Timberland’s Chief Marketing Officer, Maisie Willoughby, described the effort as both a tribute and a cultural statement.

“As we head into FW25, Timberland continues to lean into its legacy while pushing culture forward,” she said. “The Advice of an Icon campaign is a bold tribute to unapologetic self-expression and timeless craft. At its core is the Original Yellow Boot, a global icon that has shaped style, work, and street culture for over 50 years.”

With its mix of legendary figures and contemporary voices, Timberland aims to bridge generations while reinforcing the enduring legacy of its signature boot.

Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King, charlie kirk

by Daniel Johnson

September 13, 2025

Bernice King On Charlie Kirk Comparisons To Her Father: ‘I Get Tired, Y’All’

King believes that political leaders need to do more than selectively quote her father, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, if they want to effect change.

Dr. Bernice King, the youngest daughter of civil and human rights icons Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, has had a busy week responding to the willful misinterpretations of both slain Christian Nationalist Charlie Kirk and her father, and understandably, she recently expressed her frustrations on social media.

One day after Kirk was killed, allegedly by Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old white man from Utah whose family are Mormons and Donald Trump supporters, in response to criticism of political violence in America, King placed the concept of political violence in America in its proper context.

We don’t have to stay where we are.

But lying about what has been and what is won’t help.

Love is calling us up. pic.twitter.com/UMoW6WAySK
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) September 12, 2025

“We need to stop the lie of ‘There’s no place for _____________ violence in this country.’ Because, clearly, there is a place. Historically and presently, this nation has been a place for policy violence, mass violence, genocidal violence, gun violence, economic violence, and other forms of violence,” King wrote.

She continued, “And, so, here we are. A day after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. 24 years after 9/11. A day when people across the globe, including in Sudan, Gaza, Congo, Tigray, Yemen, and Ukraine, suffer the devastation of political violence. A day when the National Guard patrols the streets of D.C. A day when low-income, Black communities in Memphis are besieged by environmental injustice. A day to more urgently begin praying with our actions and with our collective call and work for true peace, which, as my father said, ‘is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.’”

Unfortunately, there would be more misrepresentations of her father’s work that King would have to address.

As The Grio reported, after a photo posted by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), which put Kirk in conversation with her father, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Jesus of Nazareth, spread on social media, Bernice King once again expressed her frustration with flagrant misrepresentations of her father in relation to Kirk.

“There are so many things wrong with this. So many. I get tired, y’all,” King wrote in response to Rep. Luna’s post.

There are so many things wrong with this.

So many.

I get tired, y’all. pic.twitter.com/OOsALrycK3
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) September 13, 2025

The right has been busy trying to turn Kirk into a martyr for the cause of free speech, ignoring the mountain of racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic statements he has made throughout his career as a far-right firebrand.

Despite their attempts to portray him as a scion of free speech, the organization he founded, Turning Point USA, maintains a “professor watch list,” which is itself antithetical to the idea of free speech. Furthermore, some of his acolytes are now keeping a student or employee watch list via the Expose Charlie’s Murderers” website so they can target outspoken critics of Kirk.

As it relates to the inclusion of Jesus of Nazareth in the photo circulated by Rep. Luna, many white evangelicals (and some Black ones) have been actively engaging in the sanitization of Kirk’s legacy, wherein they have attempted to paint him as a man of God, ignoring his history of bigoted statements.

However, as John Fugelsang, the author of “Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds,” plainly laid out in an op-ed for Avid Reader Press, placing Kirk in conversation with the Son of God himself is a continuation of the way that the right has been invested in misrepresenting what Jesus had to say about Christianity.

“The parable of the Good Samaritan is Jesus specifically rejecting the idea of limiting compassion to one’s own group. A despised foreigner is the character who fulfills God’s command to ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ Jesus wraps this up with the command: ‘Go and do likewise.’ This directly refutes any charming argument that Christians should prioritize care for ‘their own.’ Jesus called for his followers to sacrifice themselves at the expense of others,” Fugelsang argued.

Fugelsang’s argument in his op-ed is also related to the position King stated in the preamble to her statement, which is that although she has sympathy for Kirk’s children, political leaders need to do more than selectively quote her father if they actually want to effect change in the United States of America.

“It saddens me that Charlie Kirk’s children will likely one day view the video of their father being shot. No child anywhere should lose a parent in such a hateful, callous way,” King wrote.

She continued, “It will require much more than quoting my father for the United States to evolve from our current conundrum of multi-faceted violence, tragic apathy, and degrading policies.”

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

September 13, 2025

Miami Couple Arrested For Selling Over $500K Of Counterfeit Luxury Items From Home

A Miami couple faces felony charges for selling fake Louis Vuitton out of their home.

A couple is facing felony charges after authorities uncovered a $500,000 counterfeit luxury goods operation inside their home in Miami Gardens.

On Sept. 9, Yuri Velazquez-Garcia, 33, and Mayrelis Marquez Plans, 32, were arrested on felony counterfeiting charges tied to more than $20,000 in goods, CBS News reports. Authorities say over 500 counterfeit items were found at their home, which had been transformed into a mini luxury boutique.

“You were arrested for selling counterfeit goods or services over $1,000,” Miami-Dade County Judge Mindy Glazer said during their Sept. 10 hearing.

The investigation began in July when an investigator found an Instagram post advertising a home as a Louis Vuitton storefront, with handbags, clothing, and shoes displayed for sale. Authorities traced the address to Northwest 185th Street, confirming Velazquez-Garcia owned it.

Surveillance later revealed activity consistent with counterfeit sales, along with social media accounts linking Velazquez-Garcia and Marquez-Plans to the nationwide shipping of fake goods. In August, an undercover agent conducted controlled buys at the home, where Marquez-Plans escorted them into the counterfeit boutique before Velazquez-Garcia offered items for sale, according to reports.

In one instance, the agent purchased a handbag valued at $7,550 and a $1,070 shirt for just $180 cash. During a second visit, the agent bought a bathing suit, belt, cap, and shirt with a combined MSRP of $3,435 for $250 cash. A Louis Vuitton manager later verified that all of the items were counterfeit.

With a search warrant, authorities seized more than 500 counterfeit items from the home, merchandise that would have been worth over $500,000 if authentic.

“If the items were real, they would’ve been over half a million dollars,” a state attorney said.

Velazquez-Garcia and Marquez-Plans were booked on felony counterfeiting charges involving goods valued at $20,000 or more. Each was held on a $5,000 bond, which they later posted.

by Sharelle B. McNair

September 13, 2025

An Evening With ‘Lovely One’ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson In Charlotte: Recap

The crowd erupted when the Justice took the stage to read an excerpt from her best-selling memoir, paying homage to her first and middle names--Ketanji Onyika--meaning “Lovely One.”

On a brisk September night, members of Charlotte, North Carolina’s, elite gathered at the newly revamped Carolina Theatre to hear from the first Black woman to ever sit on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The sold-out crowd could be heard whispering about how much they already loved her 2024 book, “Lovely One: A Memoir,” while others patiently waited in line to purchase it before doors opened. Lovers of politics, who currently fight for our rights, like North Carolina Democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams, took their seats as Secret Service agents could be seen scanning the onlookers. It wasn’t long before Brown-Jackson’s childhood best friend, Sunny Schleifer Binder, took the stage to introduce the historymaker.

The crowd erupted when the Justice took the stage to read an excerpt from her best-selling memoir, paying homage to her first and middle names–Ketanji Onyika–meaning “Lovely One.” For roughly five minutes, she read a section of the book that discussed her journey growing up in Miami and the honor it was to be raised by two HBCU-educated parents. Born in 1970, just five years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law, Brown-Jackson spoke about her early love for theater and debating, admitting that at a young age, she wanted to be the first Supreme Court Justice to perform on Broadway.

The program was put on by the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, in collaboration with The Gambrell Foundation and the Arts + Science Council. The audience became engaged in the conversation, moderated by Gantt himself. Gantt is known for his philanthropic work in addition to being the first African American student of Clemson University in 1963 and Charlotte’s first Black mayor in 1983.

The two historymakers chatted about her journey to becoming the first Black woman justice in the Supreme Court’s 236-year history, succeeding retired Justice Stephen Breyer, for whom she worked as a law clerk. “The vision precedes the passage,” she said as she discussed how she served on every level of federal court. Graduating from Harvard University, Brown Jackson talked about her days as an undergrad, where she met her husband, Patrick, in an era during which she found herself struggling to fit in.

But it was one particular moment she shared with the audience that made some tear up, in addition to thunderous applause. The mother of two reminisced about one day walking on campus, feeling slightly down due to being away from the warm Florida weather, and celebrating her 18th birthday in the cool fall temperatures of Cambridge, Massachusetts. And out of nowhere, a Black woman started walking toward her and whispered “persevere” to her and scurried away. She took that as a sign that she was exactly where she needed to be, remembering words from her aunts of angels always being around her without knowing.

And remembering a famous quote from renowned author Toni Morrison, after fighting to have a Confederate flag removed. “The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work…” the novelist once said.

It’s words such as Morrison’s that helped Brown Jackson realize that not only did she earn her seat on the Supreme Court, but she deserved it. “I have a seat at the table now and I’m ready to work,” she told the audience.

“And I feel that.”

by Kandiss Edwards

September 13, 2025

Tiger Woods-Backed Learning Lab Opens In Philadelphia

The ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Sept. 8.

The Tiger Woods-backed TGR Learning Lab is now open at Cobbs Creek Golf Course in West Philadelphia.

Woods, the legendary golfer, attended the Sept. 8 ribbon cutting.

This facility represents a key part of a $175 million project led by the Cobbs Creek Foundation. The foundation seeks to restore the historic public golf course while opening access to free learning resources.

The 30,000-square-foot Lab is one of only two TGR Learning Labs in the United States. The other is in Anaheim, California.

At Cobbs Creek, middle and high school students can enroll in after-school classes, weekend workshop, and other enrichment opportunities. Areas of education podcasting, forensic science, music production and college and career readiness.

Monday, September 8, 2025 is a day in our history we'll never forget. Watch to see highlights from our TGR Learning Lab Philadelphia ribbon-cutting on the Cobbs Creek Golf and Education Campus. pic.twitter.com/7uFcNEpfaz
— TGR Foundation (@TGRFound) September 9, 2025

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker praised the new facility as a place where “we connect our young people to these opportunities, it ignites growth.”

Woods, who attended Stanford before starting his golf career, has emphasized that the lab is meant to offer stability and inspiration. The Learning Lab will be a safe place where neighborhood kids can explore academic and creative interests without cost or barriers.

Mayor Cherelle Parker thanks Tiger Woods as they celebrate the opening of the Smilow Woodland TGR Learning Lab at Cobbs Creek pic.twitter.com/FXiS8VzpgS
— Ariel (@ArielSimpson16) September 8, 2025

Beyond education, the lab is part of efforts to improve the surrounding landscape at Cobbs Creek, reduce flooding through wetlands restoration, and build a nine-hole golf course designed by Woods’ design firm.

The golf course project will begin in the coming months.

Earlier this year, Amazon MGM Studios secured the film rights to The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played. Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions is expected to partner on the project.

That biopic plans to focus on Woods’s rise in golf, including his professional breakthrough at the 1997 Masters, the historic Tiger Slam, and his ascent from prodigy to global icon.

by Kandiss Edwards

September 13, 2025

Virginia High School Name Change Violates The Constitution Due To ‘Confederate Ties’

But the school doesn't have to change its name. Yet.

On Sep. 9, a federal judge ruled that the Shenandoah County School Board violated the Constitution when it revived a school’s former name, NBC News reports.

Stonewall Jackson High School changed its name in 2020. Once the name of the Confederate general was restored, opponents argued that its use forced students to become living representations of a Confederate legacy, which affected their education.

The decision emerged from a lawsuit brought by the Virginia NAACP along with parents and students who said the board’s May 2024 vote to restore the school’s violated their rights.

U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski agreed.

“When plaintiffs’ bodies, hard work, talents, and achievements are intertwined with the name ‘Stonewall Jackson,’ plaintiffs are enlisted in conferring honor on that name,” Urbanski wrote, “and because that name conveys a message well-understood by viewers in plaintiffs’ community, plaintiffs are enlisted in conferring honor on that message by extension.”

The plaintiffs argued that students who wear the “Generals” mascot or attend the renamed high school are not simply attending a school. They are being forced to promote a message that they support the confederacy; many, of course, do not.

The court agreed, saying that First Amendment protections against compelled speech apply.

Despite the ruling on the compelled speech claim, the court held off on ordering a name change. Urbanski denied a final judgment and deferred enforcing relief until other claims—such as violations of Title VI, equal protection, and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act—are fully examined.

A trial is set to start Dec. 8.

For many families and civil rights advocates involved, the ruling is a step toward ensuring that public symbols align with constitutional values and protections, not just tradition.

lawsuit, Major League Soccer, Exec, Racial Retaliation

by Mitti Hicks

September 12, 2025

First Diversity Officer At New Jersey Hospital Suing Over Alleged Discrimination

Dr. Chris Pernell was the chief integration and health equity officer at University Hospital in Newark, the state’s only public acute-care facility.

The first diversity officer at a New Jersey hospital is suing her former employer over allegations of discrimination.

Dr. Chris Pernell, the former chief Integration and health equity officer at University Hospital in Newark, the state’s only public acute-care facility, claims she was illegally forced to leave in 2022.

According to NJ.com, Pernell, in the lawsuit, said she was subjected to sexist and racial discrimination and harassment. She alleges that she worked in a hostile environment and was the target of a “frivolous scam investigation” after vying for the stop spot at the hospital when it became open.

She also lists the State Ethics Commission as a defendant.

Pernell Says She Was Criticized For Diversity Efforts

Pernell served as chief diversity officer in one of the largest providers of care in the state for uninsured patients. NJ.com said the hospital is a 519-bed facility.

Pernell said she was criticized for her diversity efforts and found herself being scrutinized more than other senior staff. In an interview shortly after her departure, she said hostility toward her began shortly after her arrival while she was working to implement diversity and inclusion initiatives.

“I felt like I had to validate the role I was in,” she said.

In the lawsuit, Pernell said she was often asked to “quell the concerns of the Black workers.” In one incident, she stated that she was asked to participate in the hospital’s response after someone wrote “WLM” (White Lives Matter) in a common work area.

Instead of firing that employee, Pernell said the hospital reassigned him over her objections.

She said things took a turn after she expressed interest in the CEO position that opened up following Shereef Elnahal’s departure to work under the Biden administration.

Pernell claimed that even after over 100 leaders had written an open letter to the governor and hospital board of directors in support of her as CEO, she was told the governor’s office would not support her candidacy, and was “not going to be strong-armed” into offering her the position.

Pernell is currently the director of the Center for Health Equity at the NAACP.

In her lawsuit, Pernell is seeking reinstatement, back pay, benefits, compensatory damages, and legal fees. She also wants the hospital to “take appropriate corrective action to stop and prevent retaliation at the workplace.”

women's wrestling, Delaware State University,

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

September 12, 2025

Delaware State University And NYC Welcome Inaugural Class At HBCU Early College Prep High School

New York City welcomed 125 inaugural students at the city’s first-ever HBCU prep high school.

There aren’t any historically Black colleges and universities in New York City, but the city is still proudly preparing scholars to attend one with the launch of its first-ever HBCU prep high school.

On Sept. 4, HBCU Early College Prep High School (HBCUECP) opened its doors in Jamaica, Queens, welcoming 125 inaugural students to a unique program that enables them to earn college credits and graduate with an associate degree. Made in partnership with New York City Public Schools and Delaware State University, the school is designed to guide students toward attending an HBCU, a first of its kind in New York City, ABC 7 NY reports.

“You are the inaugural class of this historic school that represents years of hard work and transformation of your ancestors, who made sure the paved way was available and accessible to you,” said Melissa Aviles-Ramos, the chancellor of New York City Public Schools. “You are our future, we are turning it over to you to make it better.”

The school builds on Delaware State University’s Early College High School program in Dover, which has been operating since 2013, allowing students to earn up to 64 college credits, equivalent to an associate degree, before graduating. Led by DSU alum Dr. Asya Johnson as founding principal, the school is one of seven new NYC schools. It has attracted strong interest, receiving over 1,000 applications while accepting just 125 students.

“That’s the exciting part — the interest is there,” said Dr. Kareem McLemore, DSU vice president for strategic enrollment management and international affairs. “The tough part is knowing a thousand other students wanted this same opportunity and couldn’t get in this year because of space.”

Many New York City high schools focus on trades, Macklemore notes, but college-prep high schools like those offered by DSU are rare. The institution hopes the new school will provide inner-city students with opportunities to explore HBCU pathways, particularly at DSU, which attracts its largest out-of-state student population from New York City.

“New York has the highest number of out-of-state students who choose Delaware State as their HBCU,” McLemore said. “It was only fitting that we create a pathway for these students right in their own backyard.”

NYC Mayor Eric Adams helped cut the ribbon at the new school and spoke to students about their potential futures at an HBCU.

“We need an HBCU to allow you to become who you want to become,” he said.

North Carolina, Hospital, harvest sons organs

by Kandiss Edwards

September 12, 2025

Young Man Saved From Alleged Organ Harvesting By First-Year Resident

A 22-year-old St. Louis man almost had his organs removed before he was declared brain-dead.

In 2019, Larry Black Jr. was on the operating room table at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital due to a gunshot wound. The injury was sustained in the back of Black’s head. Consequently, he was placed in a medically induced coma. A week later, Black was being prepped for organ retrieval. His chest and abdomen were already being cleaned for organ retrieval when a neurosurgeon intervened.

Though Blacks family gave consent for the organ removal, they say they were still unsure after speaking to hospital staff, CNN reported. Black’s neurosurgeon, a 34-year-old first-year resident, interrupted the process.

“I don’t care if we have consent,” Zohny Zohny said. “I haven’t spoken to the family, and I don’t agree with this. Get him off the table.”

His actions saved the young man’s life. Black says that, though he was nonresponsive on the outside, he could hear his family. They gathered in support of their young loved one to pray and honor his life. Black attempted to get their attention to no avail.

“I heard my mama yelling,” he told KFF Health News. “Everybody was there yelling my name, crying, playing my favorite songs, sending prayers up.”

Black’s family and doctors are now navigating uncertainty about legal, medical, and ethical implications. The case is drawing attention from bioethicists, patient advocates, and legal scholars who say it raises fundamental questions about how brain death is determined, and whether protocols in hospitals give sufficient voice to patients and families before irreversible decisions are made.

Experts have noted that current guidelines rely on specific neurological tests, imaging, and sometimes set waiting periods before organ harvesting can occur. However, growing concern persists that differences in hospital practice or interpretation might lead to errors.

Civil litigation in other states has resulted from similar cases. Courts have occasionally examined whether hospitals followed accepted medical standards, whether patients’ or their families’ objections were adequately heard, and whether consent for organ donation was legally valid under the circumstances.

Black is now a 28-year-old father of multiple children. Luckily, Black’s practitioner followed his training and did not allow the impulsive actions of the hospital staff to prevail.

by Mitti Hicks

September 12, 2025

Education Dept. Ends Grants For Minority Serving Institutions

The Education Department plans to reallocate the more than $350 million in grant money for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) to programs it says aren't unconstitutional.

The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will end $350 million in discretionary funding for colleges that serve large populations of minority serving institutions.

The Trump administration said the grants allocated for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI), mainly HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, are “unconstitutional.”

“To further our commitment to ending discrimination in all forms across federally supported programs, the Department will no longer award Minority-Serving Institution grants that discriminate by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote in a statement. “Diversity is not merely the presence of a skin color. Stereotyping an individual based on immutable characteristics diminishes the full picture of that person’s life and contributions, including their character, resiliency, and merit.”

McMahon said the Education Department plans to work with Congress to reprogram the discretionary funds to institutions that “serve underprepared or under-resourced students without relying on race quotas.”

What Led To The End of Grants at Minority Serving Institutions?

According to Insight Into Academia, the Trump administration’s decision follows a lawsuit by Tennessee and the conservative group Students for Fair Admissions, which challenged the legality of Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) programs.

The Trump administration declined to defend the initiative in court, and Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the program violated the “equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.” Sauer cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to end race-conscious admissions.

Critics argue the administration is overstepping its authority and that ending the grants does more harm than good, especially for students attending under-resourced schools.

“Schools [that] are in the middle of their grant periods are being given less than a month to plan as their grants aren’t being continued,” Amanda Fuchs Miller, former deputy assistant secretary for higher education programs under President Joe Biden, told The Washington Post via email. “And, just earlier this month [the Education Department] ran competitions for many of these programs, wasting time and resources for those who applied.”

The Education Department did not reveal where it plans to reallocate the funds.