Def Jam Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Digital Timeline And Merchandise To Honor Hip-Hop Legacy
Def Jam was launched in 1984 by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons.
Pioneering hip-hop record company Def Jam is now officially 40 years old. The label launched its birthday celebration with a detailed timeline featured on its website to take a walk down its memory lane.
The digital timeline kicks off with the renowned hip-hop label’s establishment in 1984 by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, traveling all the way from the 1980s to the 2020s. Not long after Def Jam’s founding, T La Rock and Jazzy Jay released their song “It’s Yours,” making it the recording company’s first-ever single.
Taking off from there, the timeline details all the significant moments in the history of Def Jam, including its first album, LL Cool J’s Radio, and the first aired episode of “Def Comedy Jam” in 1992. It also captures the moments of a Def Jam artist winning their first Grammy, with LL Cool J winning Best Rap Solo Performance in 1992 for “Mama Said Knock You Out,” and the release of Montell Jordan’s #1 hit “This Is How We Do It” in 1995.
To accompany the timeline, an interactive map also lists historical places that were also part of Def Jam’s evolution, including Madison Square Garden, the company’s original offices, and the Brooklyn high school that hip-hop legends Jay-Z, DMX, and Busta Rhymes all once attended. The map intends to give hip-hop fanatics a deeper dive into the lives of those who helped build the genre and the cultural movement.
Def Jam has maintained its relevancy and status in the music industry with rappers such as Jay-Z and Pusha T, as well as singers Mariah Carey and Toni Braxton, being part of its expansive artist family. As a game-changing label, Def Jam’s legacy continues to evolve while remaining true to its New York-based roots, with New York City declaring January 2024 “Def Jam Month” to further honor its place in entertainment.
To join the party, visit the Def Jam online shop, offering merch for fans to showcase their pride and love of the music and community the label has elevated over the decades.
Dara T. Mathis Wins The 2024 American Mosaic Journalism Prize
“Not everything turns out the way we think, but there’s beauty in the struggle.”
Writer and journalist Dara T. Mathis has mastered the use of language and ideas, using her commentary to shape conversations around some of the country’s most pressing issues. The award-winning essayist sat down with BLACK ENTERPRISE to discuss this unique ability, what it’s like being a recipient of the 2024 American Mosaic Journalism Prize, and a writer’s responsibility to reflect the present times.
Though her hometown is Tampa, Florida, one could argue that Mathis has forged roots everywhere through literature. “I grew up reading,” she shared. “I had a mother who was very instrumental in getting me to read, and my community was very invested in getting me to read Black books and exposing me to all kinds of literature at an early age.” Apart from her childhood reading, Mathis modeled her storytelling after several scholars such as Toni Morrison, Sheree L. Greer, and Sarah M. Broom. She cites those writers as being influential in her career: “I owe a great debt to Black feminist writers. I take a lot of inspiration from them, both in life and in writing,” she said.
Mathis was recently awarded the American Mosaic Journalism Prize, an accolade that celebrates long-form and narrative reporting. The author shared her reaction to the announcement and how the $100,000 prize has altered her life.
“I think my reaction initially — and to some extent currently — is still shock and complete surprise and amazement. My secondary and most lasting reaction is just sheer gratitude. I’ve heard people describe it as life-changing and, as cliché as that sounds, it definitely changes my material reality, at least for the next 12 months,” she said.
A former insurance specialist, Mathis has come a long way since she started professionally writing, just five years ago.
“I started my career as a freelance writer in a very non-traditional fashion,” she revealed. “I was actually working in insurance, which was admittedly not where I wanted to be but it was where I could find a job at the moment.”
It was at the height of a recession and in the midst of taking care of her newborn that Mathis made the decision to pivot to writing — a particularly daring plunge, as she was a relative novice at the time.
“I had just had a baby — my first child. I realized holding her, rocking her and doing all of the things that entail motherhood, that I was never going to get any more time in my day than I had in that moment. I realized that more time was not going to magically drop into my lap.”
So before any more time could lapse, she dove headfirst into a new beginning. Mathis began to dedicate herself to building a portfolio and gaining experience anywhere she could find it. “I realized that there was no time better than the present to start to carve a pathway into writing, and I didn’t see one in front of me, but I did see a lot of bloggers so I started a blog and I had plenty to say. One thing led to another, and people would reach out to me to ask me to contribute to different outlets.”
The more pieces she wrote, the more exposure she gained. Soon, Mathis was overwhelmed with messages inviting her to write, and eventually the mother of three began to establish herself among her peers.
“If I got commissioned by an editor, I would write a piece for them, or they would invite me to pitch something, and that’s how I learned how to pitch to different outlets. That’s how I learned to write an op-ed and different book reviews.”
We broached a writer’s dual responsibility as both a reflection and critic of the times. Mathis shared how she reconciles this responsibility with her identity as a passionate advocate for Black liberation, referencing her piece “A Blueprint for Black Liberation,” for which she received the American Mosaic Prize.
“One thing I’ve not shared with people is that I was shaking in my boots the entire time,” said Mathis. “I was terrified to mess that piece up because I knew that I would have to answer to my community not just for its factualness but getting the spirit of the movement wrong or getting the spirit of the people involved in the movement wrong. So I feel very strongly about writers being accountable to the communities of which they belong and to the communities they report on. Not just to do things with integrity but to be truthful, to have their writing bear an emotional truth.”
“I think that if we ignore movements past that we miss learning from a really rich tradition. Someone once described movements past as not so much past but existing on a continuum. I think if we neglect both history and the scholarship, the writing, the art, the culture of movements past, then I don’t think we get very far because we’re standing on folks’ shoulders,” Mathis continued.
Since embarking on this path, Mathis has appeared in news publications including TheNew York Times, The Atlantic, The Week, and Blackbird. Though she’s already accomplished so much in less than a decade, the writer has no plans of slowing down anytime soon, especially with so much left to do.
Snoop Dogg’s Younger Brother, Music Executive, Bing Worthington Jr., Dies At 44
Snoop announced the death of his brother on Instagram with a caption reading, 'Bac wit momma.'
Bing Worthington Jr., a music business executive and the younger brother of Snoop Dogg, died at the age of 44 on Feb. 15. As NBC News reports, Snoop announced the death of his brother on Instagram with a caption reading, “Bac wit momma.” According to Sgt. Frank Gonzalez, “The cause of death will be pending the results of the toxicology and autopsy report.”
Worthington worked his way up from being a roadie or a member of Snoop’s entourage to becoming a tour manager, and from there, he eventually became an executive producer at Dogg Records. Worthington told VICE in 2016 that he had a hand in several different ventures, including Snoop Doggs, a foot-long hot dog startup, and the skateboard deck company Snoop Dogg Board Company.
Worthington also described his feelings on his career longevity to the outlet, saying, “I think the word to describe my career is ‘blessed.’ The reason is because I’m still here. I’ve seen all these people’s careers. I’m not saying they made bad decisions, but they lost themselves. And I think I still have myself. That’s really the most important thing, you can’t lose yourself. It’s like when you’re a war vet, and you come home all messed up in your head, but I was in the war, and I ain’t get messed up at all. I’ve still got limbs, and my mind is still there.”
Worthington also discussed his love of Canada and his merger with a Canadian hip-hop label, Urban Heat Legends, which he said was birthed out of a long-standing friendship with the label’s owner, Miguel Lopez. Lopez kept in touch with Worthington over the years since meeting on the set of Xzibit’s “Concentrate” music video in 2007, which was directed by Director X. Lopez told NBC News that following the death of his mother, Beverly Tate, in 2021, Worthington was not the same person he had been before her death. “It’s been a tough time since his mom passed,” Lopez said. “He took it very hard. He was very close to her.”
Lopez also said Worthington had been uncharacteristically uncommunicative during a recent family trip to Jamaica. Though he split time between California and Canada, Worthington and Lopez still maintained communication via weekly phone calls, which Lopez says hadn’t been happening like they had in the past recently. The pair were looking to create a division of Dogg Records focusing on Latino artists, and Lopez told NBC News that he would be missing his friend but plans to carry on the label in Worthington’s honor. “He had a great heart, and the little things he did were huge things for us, like opening the doors to his family,” Lopez said. “He’s going to be missed as a friend above all. This label has to carry on in his honor.” According to Lopez, Worthington is survived by his partner and an adult son.
Texas Woman Shares Her Story Of Being Mistaken As An Intruder And Shot By Police
A 28-year-old Texas resident, Eboni Pouncy, speaks on being mistakenly identified as an intruder and shot five times by the police while at her girlfriend's apartment.
A woman in Texas is finally speaking out after being shot five times by police in Harris County, Texas, with the authorities mistaking her as an intruder inside her friend’s apartment.
Eboni Pouncy spoke toABC13 about the unfortunate Feb. 3 incident that left her with bullet wounds from the police. After responding to a 911 call from a neighbor at the apartment about a suspected break-in, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene where the ordeal occurred.
According to Pouncy, she went over to the apartment with her girlfriend, who is the tenant, who realized she had forgotten her keys to enter her home. After breaking a window to get inside the residence, a neighbor called the police to investigate the matter of an alleged intruder. While body cam footage reveals that the officers did identify themselves, Pouncy maintains that she did not hear the two officers before proceeding to the door, armed for protection due to the cracked window.
“We got into the house. We were watching TV,” the 28-year-old stated in the interview. “There was a knock at the door at that time, and I got up, and I grabbed my gun, and I went to go greet who was ever at the door…Because the window was broken, and I believed I was taking safety precautions at that time of night, and so I was just trying to do the right thing.”
The footage shows the deputies yelling for Pouncy to “drop the gun” before proceeding to shoot toward her inside the apartment, leaving her with bullet wounds in her leg and torso, in addition to other places on her body. While the officers remain on leave as the investigation unfolds, the mother of one has sought the legal representation of civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who shared that the incident has parallels to Breonna Taylor’s killing.
“We all know that every American citizen right now is keenly aware of their Second Amendment rights and their rights to bear arms,” Crump told ABC News. “Why is it a presumption that we don’t have a right to the Second Amendment? This reminds you of the tragic killing of Breonna Taylor, where her boyfriend was a law-abiding gun-registered citizen. And yet, the police busted in their front door, shooting and killing Breonna.”
In addition to the investigation by Texas authorities, the case is also being referred to a grand jury if the police officers are met with any criminal charges.
Parents In Connecticut Demand Action Against Racist Incidents In School, Call For Policy Overhaul
The school board heard the parents' complaints in the community and promised changes would come.
During a school board meeting on Feb. 15, parents of students in the Westport Public School System in Westport, Connecticut, cited multiple incidents of racism they say their children have endured for years. As reported by ABC 7, parents like Dr. Carole Felder and her husband, Richard Anderson, are speaking directly to the district’s board of education. Felder told the board at the meeting, “My seventh grader had a prop gun pointed to the back of her head and said, ‘This is what happens to people your color.’”
At one point, Felder added, “If you asked me today what the most difficult thing I’ve had to do, it’s raising Black children in Westport, Connecticut.”
Felder also shared that a text exchange between her daughter and someone she had at one point considered a friend and that student’s boyfriend that was filled with racial slurs and stereotypes. Anderson joined in, saying, “There are therapists involved and some other things, to the point where they have issues getting up and going to school, wondering what’s going to happen.” Felder said that the problem extended to the community at large, saying, “This is not just a Board of Education problem. It’s a Westport problem.” Felder also called on other parents to get involved and speak up about racism.
The school district says it has a zero-tolerance policy, and the superintendent issued a statement summarizing their process for reviewing incidents like the ones that Anderson and Felder discussed at the meeting. “Following an investigation, we take swift, decisive action, and those responsible are held accountable.” However, the pair is not convinced that the statement is true, given their experiences. At the meeting, at least one board member, Robert Harrington, apologized. Harrington addressed the incidents that Anderson and his wife brought up, saying, “I apologize for the experience the Anderson family has gone through,” Harrington said. “We know you are not alone. We must and can do better. There will be uncomfortable conversations. We need to take it on.”
As the Westport Journal reported, the Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice talked with the pair. At the same time, there was a break in the meeting, and following the meeting’s conclusion, he issued the following statement: “Let me be clear: We do not tolerate racism and other forms of hate in our schools.”
Scarice continued, “When we learn that a student has been targeted based on their identity, we first take steps to ensure that the student is safe and supported. Following an investigation, we take swift, decisive action and those responsible are held accountable.” And added, “I do, however, know this: no student, no person, should ever have to face discrimination or harassment based on their race. We will listen, we will learn, and while there is no cure for the virus of hate, we will continue to ensure that our schools do all we can to fight against it.”
Felder and Anderson want the district to create an anti-bullying and harassment policy to deter students from engaging in those behaviors. Instead of in-school suspensions, the pair would like to see punishment that includes expulsion as a potential consequence.
Felder said before Harrington issued the apology that the district’s current policy is little more than window dressing. “Your policy may look good on paper, but it does not work.”
The board heard the parents’ complaints in the community and promised changes would come. Still, for the children who have already been affected by the racist behavior of other students, that change might already be too late.
New Documentary Explores The Miraculous Journey Of Conjoined Twins From Senegal
The story of conjoined twins from Senegal and their ongoing fight for life is being featured in a new BBC documentary.
This month, BBC is releasing a highly-anticipated documentary regarding the lives of conjoined twins from Senegal who were born in 2016. The miraculous story of Marieme and Ndeye and their parents’ determination to keep them alive is set to be highlighted in the feature.
According to BBC, the “Inseparable Sisters” documentary shares deeper insight into how their father, Ibrahima’s will, led to their current situation of a relatively normal life. Shortly after their birth, Ibrahima swiftly took them to the United Kingdom after doctors in Senegal urged them that the best chance of survival was through surgery. They specifically share one pair of legs and a pelvis. Conjoined twins, in general, are not only extremely rare but, more often than not, die during infancy. However, Ibrahima refused to stop fighting on behalf of his daughters and their ability to live despite the threat of death already present.
“I was preparing myself to lose them very quickly,” he shared in the documentary. “The only thing we could do is be beside them and not allow them to walk alone through this journey. We saw very clearly early on that we were dealing with warriors who hang on to life.”
The family contacted the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, a children’s hospital notable for treating conjoined twins. While anticipating the procedure, doctors found complications that would be too risky to move forward, as tests confirmed that Marieme’s heart would not survive if she underwent the operation. However, without the surgery, both girls had a strong chance of not making it past the year.
After deciding not to continue with the separation, Ibrahima relocated to the United Kingdom so that his daughters could have the full-time care needed, leaving the rest of his family and his career in Senegal. It is a choice he considers as his “parental responsibility.”
“It’s into the unknown, but I didn’t think too much; I just followed my heart,” expressed the dutiful father. It is my parental responsibility to make sure they have somebody who will be here for them; that will be my life purpose.”
Nowadays, the 7-year-olds attend school in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, making friends with their classmates while still receiving necessary care. They continue to connect through their shared body parts, each with their own heart and spinal cord, as they steadily learn to walk and stand independently. Their continued existence remains a miracle for their family and the medical community, as their livelihoods symbolize a parent’s love and determination.
“Inseparable Sisters” premieres on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Feb. 21.
Conviction Upheld For Former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby In Mortgage Fraud Case
Mosby had been found guilty of two counts of perjury in 2023 after a jury decided that she had lied in order to withdraw $90,000 from a retirement account under a provision allotted by the CARES Act, which she used to purchase a home and a condo.
Marilyn Mosby, the former top prosecutor for the City of Baltimore who found herself on trial for and later convicted of mortgage fraud, had her conviction upheld by U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby on Feb. 16. Mosby, as the Baltimore Banner reported, sought to have her case thrown out on the grounds that federal prosecutors had not done enough to establish that Mosby was in the State of Maryland when she allegedly submitted a fraudulent gift letter to her mortgage company.
NEW: Marilyn Mosby leaves court after her motion to acquit was denied. She remains convicted of perjury and mortgage fraud with sentencing in May. She’s surrounded by supporters who chant “hands off Marilyn Mosby.” @wjzpic.twitter.com/M5t58AtxW4
Marilyn Mosby is another black woman prosecuted and convicted for the same actions white men get away with. She took a very small PPP loan for her travel business while receiving her salary as Maryland’s AG. How many white male members of congress did the same? https://t.co/ZCMFP4il1Q
Griggsby believed that the evidence presented by the prosecution was sufficient to establish that Mosby was in Maryland because she refused to throw out the case and demanded that Mosby turn over her U.S. Passport.
Griggsby said, “The court must deny the defendant’s motion as to venue issue,” before adding that a written opinion would be released at a later date. Before this recent motion, Mosby had been found guilty of two counts of perjury in 2023 after a jury decided that she had lied in order to withdraw $90,000 from a retirement account under a provision allotted by the CARES Act, which she used to purchase a home and a condo.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Maggie Grace, one of Mosby’s attorneys, attempted to argue that the government didn’t establish that her client was in Maryland at the time the letter was submitted, saying that a person can reasonably drive from Maryland to either of the surrounding states or principalities, including Washington, D.C.; Delaware; Pennsylvania; Virginia; or West Virginia. Grace also noted that in this case, credit card or debit card electronic records are not reliable enough to place Mosby in Maryland, saying that “It’s their burden to prove that she was in Maryland. Speculation is not enough to form a basis for venue.”
Assistant U.S. District Attorney Aaron Zelinsky, meanwhile, argued that not only was Mosby most likely in Maryland at the time of the time the letter was submitted, but that the defense’s motion to dismiss the case was “breathtaking in its scope” as well as “unsupported by case law.” Zelinsky continued, saying, “The defendant in this case was the Baltimore state’s attorney. She lived in Baltimore City.”
Zelinsky also said that the presence of an “unbroken string of transactions” in Maryland until Mosby went to Florida to close on the house paints a clear picture that Mosby was in Maryland at the time of the submission of the document to the mortgage company.
Though the judge sided with arguments from the prosecution that Mosby should submit her passport and ordered her to do so by Feb. 20, Federal Public Defender James Wyda, another of Mosby’s attorneys, said that Mosby had already had an opportunity to abscond and had not done so. “It’s unfathomable to me that Miss Mosby would abscond and abandon her family and her community.”
Outside the courtroom, supporters of Mosby expressed their solidarity, holding signs that conveyed their belief in her innocence and criticizing the government for using taxpayer funds to investigate what they deemed as baseless charges. Others drew parallels between Mosby and historical figures such as Harriet Tubman and Shirley Chisolm, praising her as a trailblazer. As Mosby entered a black Chevrolet Suburban, “Hands off Marilyn Mosby!” chants echoed through the crowd. Briefly addressing her supporters, Mosby expressed gratitude before departing.
Paramount Faces Backlash After Massive Layoffs Following Record-Breaking Super Bowl LVIII Broadcast
Employees at CBS News, BET, Nickelodeon, and the entire team that worked on Noggin have been fired as a result of Paramount’s cost-cutting.
Following its successful broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, which set records for the most-watched program in America since the Apollo 11 moon landing, Paramount laid off approximately 800 employees in the United States.
Although Paramount was expected to cut costs sometime this year, laying off its employees so soon after such a resounding success surprised the public. However, some publicly blamed Paramount’s direction on CEO Bob Bakish. Ben Daves, a former script/production coordinator for Netflix Animation and a screenwriter for Paramount Animation, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “I started working for Paramount around when Bob started. Every single year, there were massive layoffs. The stock was around $50 when he started. It’s now at $13. He is the problem. Worst CEO I’ve ever seen.”
I started working for Paramount around when Bob started. Every single year there were massive layoffs. The stock was around $50 when he started. It’s now at $13. He is the problem. Worst CEO I’ve ever seen. https://t.co/aQZSwQODO1
As The Guardian reported, despite the success of its original programming like “Yellowstone,” the company planned to pivot its focus toward its biggest global hits and less on American television. In a memo obtained by the outlet, Bakish thanked the workers for their hard work and seemed somewhat empathetic to the situation in which the layoffs had placed them.
“To those with whom we are parting ways, we are incredibly grateful for your hard work and dedication,” Bakish wrote in an internal memo. “Your talents have helped us advance our mission of unleashing the power of content around the world. We are a better company because of you.”
Bakish continued, “While I realize these changes are in no way easy … I am confident this is the right decision for our future. These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead – and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about.”
Though it was not immediately clear which of Paramount Global’s brands would be affected by the cuts, some details have emerged. Employees at CBS News, BET, Nickelodeon, and the entire team that worked on Noggin have been fired due to Paramount’s cost-cutting. In addition to the workers in America who were let go, there will also be more global Paramount employees laid off in the future. In December, CNBC reported that following reports that Paramount might be taken over by another company, the share price jumped by 12%.
At the end of January, when reports emerged that Byron Allen made a $30 billion buyout offer for the company, stock prices surged again but have now settled at $14 a share.
Shari Redstone, who controls the majority of the company’s shares, has reportedly been open to making big deals and was rumored to be entertaining bundling its Paramount + streaming service with Apple TV+. There were also reports that Warner Bros. Discovery was in talks to merge with Paramount Global, which on Paramount’s end appears to be driven by the substantial debt it carries. Paramount+, the company’s streaming platform, is also lagging behind other streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ and, according to WPTV, lost an estimated $1 billion in 2023.
Whether shedding salary will alleviate Paramount’s money-hemorrhaging problem remains to be seen. According to the Harvard Business Review, layoffs are only good for short-term relief, trading that for a long-term drop in employee engagement and a drop in profitability, which is often the logic for enacting the layoffs in the first place. In its conclusion, the HBR states: “For all companies, planning thoughtful workforce change instead of automatically resorting to layoffs is a better way to address the vicissitudes of technological transformation and intensifying competition.”
Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Take Steps Toward Reparations
Reparations efforts in Georgia gain traction despite political challenges.
After officially creating its Reparations Task Force in 2021, Fulton County is finally moving ahead with its plan to study reparations for descendants of people who were either enslaved or lived under Jim Crow. According to WABE, the City of Atlanta established a commission to study reparations in November 2023, and members of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus have planned a “Reparations Day” for Feb. 15 so they can discuss issues related to reparations in Georgia.
There have been several initiatives across the country aimed at taking action on reparations, spurred on in part by the 2020 murder of George Floyd, most recently, California’s first in the country’s state reparations bills. Because there has been virtually no action on reparations at the federal level, the efforts have been increasing at the local and state levels.
Linda Mann, the co-founder of the African American Redress Network, a network that tracks reparations efforts in the United States, told WABE that although the bills intended to address reparations are passing, many of the bills don’t have any money attached to them. “Bills are being passed, or these task forces are being passed,” said Mann. “But a lot of them are being passed without any money, and that’s a huge issue. Because they’re being tasked to do actual research — significant research, actually.”
Fulton’s effort is different; however, their task force’s budget will fund administrative duties, town hall meetings, and hiring researchers for the required studies. According to Morehouse assistant professor and the chair of Fulton’s task force, Karcheik Sims-Alvarado says that informing the public of the history of America is an important part of the process, telling WABE, “A large part of that has to do with education,” said Sims-Alvarado. “Being informed about what it is that we’re doing. And also being informed about the history of slavery and Jim Crow.”
Part of that history involves the history of what happened to Macedonia Park, an all-Black enclave that popped up after racist incidents in Forsyth County. However, white residents in the areas around the area had a problem with this arrangement, resulting in a bill designed to “address the ‘Negro Section.” After the white residents kept complaining, the Board of Commissioners started buying the area out and displacing the Black residents, similar to what happened in Palm Springs, California. WABE reported that the Fulton County Task Force will examine this history further as it completes its inquiry.
According to Marcus Coleman, the Task Force vice chair, the task force has the potential to create more momentum for similar initiatives in other Georgia counties. “Who doesn’t want to be involved in the main problem of race relations as it relates to inequities, disparities,” said Coleman. “The Fulton County reparations task force is going to do nothing but go up from here. [We] really set precedents and set the tone and the blueprint for other counties to follow what we’re doing here.”
However, some are wary of how the political climate in Georgia is different from that in California, as State Rep. Carl Gilliard and State Rep. Roger Bruce intimated that they will need at least some Republican support to make reparations a reality because the Republicans control the levers of power in the Peach State. Bruce said that after speaking to the Republican Speaker of the House, Jon Burns, about the bill, Burns suggested that companies could open more operations facilities in the inner city to give Black residents better job opportunities. Bruce told Capital B News that Burns’s suggestion wasn’t going to be enough on its own, “My response to him was that was a solution, but not the solution,” Bruce said. “The remedy is going to be different for different people, and that’s the purpose of the study commission, to look at all of the impact and then come up with multiple solutions that people should be able to choose from.”
Gilliard said that he believes it may take time to get the state on board with the reparations effort and that at least one Republican Georgia House member has voiced their support for the commission, but he would not say who it was. Gilliard said that the dialogue has to start so they can build a package out that will get by the Republicans. Republicans are generally opposed to cash payments for reparations. “It’s not going to come overnight,” Gilliard said. “It’s something that we’ve got to start the dialogue on and start to be able to craft…I believe all things are possible.”
Mother Charged With Child Neglect After Allegedly Attempting Suicide, Twins Found Dead In Miami
Shirlene Napoleon Alcime has been charged with child neglect after her three-year-old twins were found dead.
Forty-two-year-old Shirlene Napoleon Alcime, who was alleged by the Miami Dade Police Department of jumping off an overpass in Miami in an attempt to commit suicide on Feb. 2, has been charged with child neglect after her three-year-old twins were found dead. According to People Magazine, the police found her children, Milendhet and Milendhere Napoleon-Cadet, in an unresponsive state and arrested her on Feb. 6. Alcime has been charged with two counts of child neglect causing great bodily harm, according to online jail records. No bond was set for Alcime, and a hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 27.
According to WTVJ, an arrest report details that Alcime told investigators that she had been planning to commit suicide and kill her twins “due to her current financial status and multiple debt(s) that she owes.” The outlet reported that she has faced multiple eviction cases since 2021 and owned multiple businesses in Florida. Pending her toxicology results, the police department told reporters from the Miami Herald that she could face additional charges. WTVJ reports that she allegedly thought about jumping off the ramp while holding her children or throwing them off individually, but she left them in the vehicle while she jumped off herself. Despite attempts to save the children, they were declared dead at the Jackson North Medical Center after they were discovered foaming at the mouth. Alcime informed investigators that she did not know what happened to her children.
Milson Cadet, the father of the twins, told the Herald in Haitian Creole that “Justice will have to do its work,” Cadet said. “I just want to definitely know what happened. I just want to know what happened.” Cadet also said that he is dealing with “great suffering” while he mourns the death of his children. Initially, the children were found in the backseat of Alcime’s SUV at approximately 2 a.m. on Feb. 2 in the northbound lane of I-95 while their mother was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
