by Mary Spiller

November 4, 2023

Meet Dr. Joy Spence: First Woman To Become A Master Blender

Dr. Spence Joy spoke to ESSENCE about what it means to be "successful" in this day and age.

Renowned master blender Dr. Joy Spence was welcomed by the James Beard Foundation in New York City during the Appleton Estate Extraordinary Dinner Series on the weekend of Oct. 30. Afterwards, she sat down for an interview with Essence about her experience being the very first woman to earn the title of master blender in the spirits industry — dedicating her four decade long career to uplifting other women in the industry.

A master blender is someone who develops specific blended spirits using a combination of spirits with different characteristics.

The Appleton Estate Dinner, an invite-only cultural hub for fusion food and alcohol, is a partnership between the Appleton Estate and the Women’s Leadership Program with the James Beard Foundation. The program seeks “to champion gender and racial equity by supporting women throughout the lifecycle of their careers.”

Dr. Spence told Essence that she was honored to be a part of something with a mission so similar to hers.

“James Beard Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate, support, and elevate the people behind America’s food culture and champion the standard of good food anchored in talent,” she said.

She continued, “The Women’s Leadership Program really aims to champion gender and racial equality by supporting women through their careers, and Appleton Estate is so excited to have partnered with them on this project because they do amazing work to ensure that there are more women in leadership across the industry in the US. And they share our vision and desire to celebrate people and perspectives, paving the way in the food and beverage industry, which is very, very important to us.”

As a proponent of success and ambition, Dr. Spence shared her wisdom on what it means to make history. She waved off the appeal of winning awards in favor of making the biggest impact that she can.

She said, “For me, success means being an agent of change for women in the spirit industry. Having been the first female master blender in the world, I’ve been able to open the doors and give opportunities to other women to become master blenders in the industry. So, for me, I became an agent of change. And I’m so proud of that and proud of the fact that so many women now have been appointed master blenders.”

She prides herself on supporting women in every avenue of their careers that she can, as by remaining consistent, she can uplift the next generation of trailblazers to make their mark.

In fact, she admitted that some of her most rewarding work that she’s ever been a part of has been working one on one as a mentor for women in STEM who are “passionate about [their] craft despite challenges.”

“That’s just my dream to elevate as many young women as possible who want to pursue a career in STEM,” she explained.

She teaches young women to “Focus on your craft, be passionate about your craft, always act as a sponge for knowledge, always willing to learn and explore new experiences and benchmark against your competition… Combine your chemistry, technology, or whatever it is with your unique artistry and take it to the next level.”

by Daniel Johnson

November 4, 2023

5 Women Allege Kansas City Police Officers Raped Black Women With Impunity

Five Black women filed a federal lawsuit on Nov. 3, 2023 alleging that Kansas City Police Department officers, including retired detective Roger Golubski, engaged in a pattern of harassment and sexual assault against Black women.

Five Black women filed a federal lawsuit on Nov. 3 alleging that Kansas City Police Department officers, including retired detective Roger Golubski, engaged in a pattern of harassment and sexual assault against Black women. According to KCTV, the lawsuit likens the officers’ conduct to a protection racket signed off on by the local government. According to one of the women, Golubski told her, “Report me to who, the police? I am the police” after he had allegedly raped her.

According to the lawsuit, which has been made available on Scribd, “Jim Crow was designed to ensure emancipation was an illusion and white supremacy remained the de facto law of the land. It stripped Black citizens of their civil rights, made it easier to arrest them, and guaranteed it was harder for them to win their freedom in courts. Jim Crow ensured a Black woman’s body was no more entitled to police protection than a Black man’s neck. But Jim Crow was not restricted to the rebellious Confederate states. It also poisoned the Free State, despite its Capitol’s mural of John Brown raging against the injustice of white supremacy. This case evidences the Free State’s infection. For decades, the Unified Government gave its law enforcement, personified by Detective Roger Golubski, permission to terrorize, abuse, and violate its Black citizens.”

Golubski, though a prominent figure in the lawsuit, is far from the only officer named. In all, the lawsuit includes eight officers, composed of three police chiefs and five detectives. Thomas Daley, James Swafford, and Ronald Miller comprise the former police chiefs, while Golubski, Terry Ziegler, Michael Kill, Clayton Bye, and Dennis Ward are the detectives named in the suit.

The lawsuit also attempts to hold the city responsible, referred to in the lawsuit as the Unified Government.

According to the lawsuit: “The Unified Government permitted this unlawful terrorization by the KCKPD. With the full knowledge of supervisors, including the Chiefs of Police, official government authority was used to gain leverage over and coerce submission from vulnerable Black women. These victims were then forced to obey Defendants’ demands, including submitting to sexual assault and fabricating evidence to enable the KCKPD to operate its protection racket and cover for their criminal co-conspirators.”

In 2022, BLACK ENTERPRISE reported that Golubski was at the center of another lawsuit, brought by Lamonte McIntyre, who served 23 years in prison for a double murder in 1994. He sued Kansas City for $93 million in damages, and in the suit, he alleged that a former detective–Golubski–framed him for the crime.

McIntyre alleged that the same Unified Government that the women are attempting to hold accountable for Golubski’s conduct were also responsible in his case. The city eventually settled for a fraction of that amount sought by McIntyre, paying $12.5 million. However, neither the department, the Unified Government, nor Golubski were required to admit any wrongdoing as a condition of the settlement.

In 2022, CNN reported that Golubski had been charged with conspiracy to run a sex trafficking ring with a local drug dealer in the 1990s as well as the rape of a teenage girl and a woman while “acting under the color of law” which means he used his badge to commit those particular sexual assaults. According to CNN, it was not until Team Roc, the social justice minded arm of Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation, used a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post to call for the Justice Department to investigate both Golubski and the Kansas City Police Department that the case received national attention. At the time, Team Roc referred to it as “one of the worst examples of abuse of power in U.S. history.”

by Mary Spiller

November 4, 2023

Conservative Judges Halt Investigation Into Former Law Clerk And Friend Of Clarence Thomas For Racist Texts Saying ‘I Hate Black People’

Crystal Clanton was exposed for sending a text to a friend in 2017 saying that she "[hates] black people."

The Federal Court investigation into racist text messages sent by a conservative activist and law clerk, Crystal Clanton, encountered a disruption when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas went to bat for her.

Clanton, who’s most known for her conservative rhetoric while acting as a leader at Turning Point USA — Charlie Kirk’s conservative youth non-profit organization that mobilizes teens into right wing activists — has been brought into the media limelight after the New Yorker magazine unearthed a racist text message that she sent to a friend when she was 20 years old.

The text messages, which were later confirmed by The Washington Post, read, “I HATE BLACK PEOPLE. Like f*** them all.”

Other concerning messages spitting similar vitriol were listed.

Clanton quickly defended herself against the accusations. She told the New Yorker, “I have no recollection of these messages and they do not reflect what I believe or who I am and the same was true when I was a teenager.”

Following the rise in media attention surrounding the released text messages, a 2022 panel of federal judges ordered an investigation into Clanton’s past.

The order for the investigation was met with push back from those who she made connections with in the conservative legal world. She lived with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia “Ginni,” for a time. Additionally, after she finished law school she obtained clerkships with two different federal judges: Judge Corey Maze and Judge William Pryor.

According to Reuters, Pryor and Maze both argued that the federal panel that ordered the investigation had no legal standing to do so and requested it be dropped immediately.

Most notably, Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas — who’s been sitting on many of the most controversial decisions in the past decade, personally wrote a letter to the 2nd Circuit on Clanton’s behalf. He claimed that Clanton was caught in an act of “defamation” and that it was allegedly completely out of character for Clanton to say something like that.

“I know Crystal Clanton and I know bigotry,” he wrote. “Bigotry is antithetical to her nature.”

The overwhelming support from her colleagues has resulted in the initial misconduct investigation being dropped.

by Daniel Johnson

November 4, 2023

Black Veteran Sues The VA Over Agency’s Denial Of PTSD Benefits To Black Soldiers

Black veteran Conley Monk Jr sued the federal government on behalf of himself and his father in November 2022 over benefits he says the Department of Veterans Affairs denied the pair due to racial biases. According to NBC Connecticut, this year on Nov. 2, Monk appeared in court to argue the merits of his case against the VA while the VA presented their side. Monk, a Vietnam war veteran, is being represented by a team of lawyers from Yale University.

“This is a wonderful day, to know that we have a chance to get some sort of justice,” Monk said briefly to reporters gathered outside the courtroom.

Deja Morehead, one of Monk’s lawyers from Yale, said in a statement, “Mr. Monk and [National Veterans’ Council for Legal Redress] argued that they suffered emotional, dignitary, and psychological harms from being subjected to the VA’s racially discriminatory benefits system.”

Morehead continued, “And we hope that the court ultimately recognizes the legal duty that the VA owes to the Monk family, to generations of Black veterans, to administer benefits in a non-discriminatory manner.”

VA documents released under the Freedom of Information Request Act corroborate Monk’s claims that Black applicants for VA benefits were not approved at a rate comparable to white applicants for VA benefits, say his lawyers. In a March report, NPR obtained documents showing that Black applicants for benefits relating to PTSD were rejected thirteen percent more than non-Black applicants. Additionally, a whistleblower at the VA told NPR that an internal report was created for senior officials at the organization, and then was buried in 2017.

More recently, on Nov. 2, the VA released more documents to NBC News under a Freedom of Information Act request that show that the VA engaged in a pattern of denying benefits that was stratified along racial lines from 2003 to 2023.

Gary Monk, Conley Monk’s brother, a veteran as well as the executive director of the National Veterans Council for Legal Redress, told NBC Connecticut, “I feel there’s a lot of guilt with the country with how they treated their veterans, and so the motion to dismiss doesn’t surprise me because they’re continuing to deny us as usual.”

The denial of Black veterans benefits stretches back to the GI Bills promised during WWII, according to History. The G.I. Bill was designed with benefits that effectively excluded Black soldiers from the rewards they expected for their service to the nation, critics say. Just as redlining emerged from the New Deal, the bill’s language, crafted by the Dixiecrats, was deliberately constructed to deny economic opportunities to Black soldiers, contradicting the promises made to them.

In addition to this, Black soldiers were often designated as dishonorably discharged so that they could not receive their benefits. Those few Black soldiers who were actually able to get their G.I. Bill benefits soon found that the bill was not nearly as advantageous to them as it was to the white soldiers who were able to take full advantage of the benefits offered by the bill, including training in skilled or more advanced labor. Historian Ira Katznelson told History that the denials occurred all over the country, “These impediments were not confined to the South. In New York and the northern New Jersey suburbs, fewer than 100 of the 67,000 mortgages insured by the GI bill supported home purchases by non-whites.”

According to NBC Connecticut, Judge Stephan Underhill, an appointee of Bill Clinton, has indicated that he sees the case as a difficult one to decide. Despite this, the family of both Monks are hopeful that they will receive justice for the denials of their benefits as Conley Monk told NBC Connecticut, “We’ll continue to fight. We have a good team and I pray to God that we win this case.”

entrepreneur, Airbnb, Janay white, Jacksonville

by Mary Spiller

November 4, 2023

Investors Accuse Well-Known Jacksonville Entrepreneur Of Scamming Over $10,000; Lawsuit Alleges Fraud

Janay White reportedly engaged in a variety of extensive "bad business practices" that led to a large scale scam.

Popular Jacksonville, Florida, entrepreneur Janay White has found herself in the hot seat for a slew of fraud allegations due to what investors claim are “bad business practices.”

As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, White was best known as a formerly homeless mother of two children in Jacksonville who worked her way up to owning eight different businesses as well as 50 Airbnbs by attaining financial freedom through her own efforts in order to support her children.

However, the fraud suit paints White as a disappointing business partner. Rayvon Griffin alleges that she was scammed for more than $10,000 due to White’s systemic bad business practices. Griffin said that she, like several other investors, was made to believe she would be guaranteed to receive properties ready for renovation and later sell them, but White never came through on her end of the deal.

She claims in the lawsuit that White is “good at avoiding things and questions, that’s when I realized I had to take a step back.”

Griffin was able to pull out and remain financially stable, and she said she felt bad for the investors who weren’t so lucky and ended up losing everything that they had.

Those investors, along with Griffin, have been listed as suing White for fraud, according to First Coast ABC News.

White has denied all the allegations, claiming that the situation was an example of when deals fall through in business, and adding that not all investments work out.

So far, a Facebook group has identified 9,400 victims of the scam. White said she doesn’t “even know that many people [so] that’s impossible.”

However, the investors’ attorney, Chris Dempsey, says White may have scammed more than $200,000 from various investors.

White has remained unswayed and urges people not to let “a few complaints” diminish the positive things she’s done for her community as she awaits her Dec. 4 court date.

catholic school, racial discrimination, lawsuit

by Mary Spiller

November 4, 2023

Family Suing Catholic Grade School In Kentucky For Racial Harassment And Discrimination

The 8th Grade Black girl was reportedly denied communion by a white English teacher during a school-sponsored Mass.

The family of a former 8th grade student at St. Joseph School in Kentucky is suing the Catholic institution and the Diocese of Covington. The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 30, alleges that the young girl, who is Black, was forced to endure months of racial discrimination and harassment from the establishment.

The victim’s family lawyer, Jamir Davis, filed the suit in federal court and reported that the student was suffering from lasting mental health issues following “malicious abuse,” The Daily Beast reported.

“[The girl] is scarred for the rest of her life because of these incidents,” Davis said.

The lawsuit reported that the abuse began after the girl, who was the only Black student in the class, was called a racial slur by one of her classmates after she refused to give the other her answers on an assignment. The school administration allegedly did nothing when she reported the incident. According to The Daily Beast, the victim’s mother said the school told her they would investigate and discipline the student at fault but never did.

The racial harassment escalated when the young girl’s English teacher repeatedly used a racial slur while teaching a lesson.

The teacher said that while her own parents used the word all the time, she now had to “be careful who you say [n-word] around because you will be ex’ed out of society.”

Classmates of the Black student spoke up during class and even went to the administrator, but again, nothing was done.

The lawsuit was sparked after the same English teacher reportedly denied the girl communion while attending a school-sponsored mass.

The lawsuit names the church, the English teacher, the administration, and the diocese for being responsible for allowing the girl to be bullied due to her race, and the family is seeking statutory and punitive damages.

“This is the story of a brave, Black girl standing her ground against the biggest bully at her school, her teacher,” the lawsuit claimed.

However, a statement released by the Diocese of Covington denounced racism and the discrimination brought up in the lawsuit. The statement read, “The teaching of the Catholic Church is clear: Racism is a moral evil. The Catholic Church and the Diocese of Covington work to oppose and root out racism wherever we encounter this radical evil, especially in our Christian minds and hearts.”

by Stacy Jackson

November 4, 2023

Stephen Curry’s New Signature Shoe, The Curry 11, Unveiled With Cutting-Edge Technology

NBA star Stephen Curry released his fourth signature shoe, Curry 11, under Curry Brand powered by Under Armour on Oct. 13.

The 11th iteration of Curry’s signature shoe is equipped for the first time with dual-density Under Armour Flow technology to help players stay at the top of their game like Curry. Its design has a “bold and disruptive flair,” according to a press release by Under Armour provided to BLACK ENTERPRISE via email.

Curry is a big name in the league and is known for his three-pointers. According to the release, the new iteration supports an athlete’s game through a comfortable fit with “a softer top loaded piece.” Another feature of this design is “a segmented plate that helps athletes maintain stability throughout the midfoot and underfoot with more flexibility at the forefoot,” per the release.

The point guard for San Francisco’s Golden State Warriors said about his Curry 11 shoe, “When designing this shoe, we wanted athletes to have the ultimate experience on and off the court – both when it comes to comfort and to traction – and the Curry 11 does just that. Nodding to the ‘Future of Curry,’ this shoe is designed to set the season’s tone for what is in store for Curry Brand. I know I have a lot left on the court and Curry Brand itself is truly just getting started.”

Under Armour also highlighted a change in the upper insole of the shoe. According to the press release, Curry 11 features Under Armour’s proprietary Warp technology, an upgrade from previous iteration Curry 10.

The NBA star said, “To be on the 11th signature shoe is an honor and something I get really excited about – unveiling what we have been working on, allowing people from all over the world and the next generation to be a part of the story.”

Chrys Violet, Space for Healing, Mental Health

by Mary Spiller

November 4, 2023

Spelman Alum Psychotherapist Starts Culturally Competent Therapy Service, Space For Healing

Chrys Violet started Space for Healing therapy services out of Los Angeles, California.

An experienced Los Angeles psychotherapist has founded a therapy venture titled Space for Healing that offers mental health help and education for those who need it. Spelman alumni Chrys Violet has dedicated herself to giving a real and unfiltered treatment method for depression for the real people who are afflicted by it. She wanted to provide a nurturing, safe, yet dynamic space for healing.

According to PRLog, Violet was inspired to start Space for Healing due to the severe need for more mental health treatment options in healthcare. According to Violet, many people wait far too late to seek out treatment due to a variety of reasons. Also, many people are under the misconception they don’t have the time to engage in therapy, and Violet wanted to emphasize that therapy is not an indulgence, but a way to help improve all areas of our lives to make them better and easier. Violet has decided to offer a safe space with different treatment forms.

Also, she points out that one of the reasons many people don’t consider therapy is because they couldn’t find a therapist who “looked like them,” “understood them” and didn’t have the added burden of having to “explain cultural things,” Violet is hoping to change this.

She said in a press release, “Mental health, left untreated, doesn’t go away, instead it festers like diabetes or cancer.”

Space for Healing highlights the value of a therapeutic environment that fosters openness, honesty, and vulnerability through culturally aware care, inspiring people seeking help to advocate for themselves.

According to Space for Healing, “1 in 5 adults grapple with mental illness and 1 in 20 face severe mental health challenges.”

Violet revealed some of her most useful tips for managing depression as a persistent disorder. She advises her own clients to “Establish a Flexible Routine, Embrace Positive Distractions, Prioritize Basic Needs, Find Comfort in Small Pleasures.” Violet elaborated, “Through mindfulness, we can navigate life’s ups and downs with greater insight, patience, and love, finding peace of mind not in a perfect life but in a balanced one.”

While she does a lot of work in the clinical sector of mental health treatment, Violet also spends time doing advocacy work by collaborating with fellow progressive therapists, leading seminars and panels, and emphasizing the importance of awareness for the disorders we cannot physically see.

The mission of her advocacy work, she said, is “to debunk the myths surrounding mental health, dismantle the barriers to overall wellness, reshape perceptions, and emphasize the positive impact of nonjudgmental, culturally competent care on daily functioning.”

by Mary Spiller

November 4, 2023

African Pastor Encourages Women To Embrace Wigs Because ‘Natural Hair’ Isn’t Going To Attract A Man

An African pastor has gotten social media riled up with her advice to young women trying to find husbands. The video, shared on Twitter/X on Oct. 30, shows the preacher explaining how to help women get noticed by being “packaged” well, and condemning women who wear their natural hair as opposed to spending their money on human hair and wigs, because “natural hair is not a selling market.”

The clip shows the pastor talking to an audience about attracting a man. She begins by telling women to carry themselves with a friendly demeanor, to go out often, and mainly to wear wigs when they do. She posited that natural hair doesn’t attract men.

“The Bible says that will have friends must first show himself friendly. You’re squeezing your face, ‘nobody is calling me,’ but this is how your face is,” she said.

She continued, “Friday night, you’re at home. Monday, you’re at home, Tuesday, you’re at home. Instead of you to be smiling, be shining your teeth anywhere you are. When your friends are hanging out, say, ‘I’m coming.’ When your colleagues are going to one, say, ‘Maybe that’s where my husband will be. Let me dress up and join them.’ Show yourself friendly, and then you will have friends.

“All of you will be carrying natural hair about. Who does natural hair help? OK. Better wear your wig and be doing like this…” The pastor dramatically flipped her wig in the video.

She continued, “And be flipping it. Go and spend that money on hair. Draw your brows, buy lip gloss, and look good. Natural hair is not selling market. When you marry you off your wig because you have entered, there’s nothing they can do about it. But before you enter, don’t be caught unfresh. Never. Package yourself well.”

She quickly fired off a speech about telling women to even go to their friend’s weddings dressed to the nines with “snatched” waists and Aso Ebi Nigerian outfits.

She’s sooo right 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/rROeZywmq6
— 🦄Marvellous✨ (@__hypthshawry) October 30, 2023

The viral video made its rounds on Twitter/X and brought backlash from many women were offended by her remarks about natural hair.

This is the problem with not teaching from the Bible and allowing your own mind to talk.
— Beautiful (@Beautiranye) October 30, 2023

She is sooo wrong, and I feel embarrassed listening to her 😞
— Leila hearts 🇹🇿 (@leila_hearts) October 30, 2023

by Jeffrey McKinney

November 4, 2023

Fifteen Percent Pledge And Shop With Google To Award $250,000 To Black-Owned Businesses

Obtaining capital to flourish remains an ongoing struggle for Black entrepreneurs who wrestle with the issue more often than their nondiverse peers. The Fifteen Percent Pledge aims to help reduce the disparity by partnering with Shop with Google to offer its second Achievement Award worth $250,000 for Black-owned businesses.

The award that includes three cash offerings is back this year. Christina Funke Tegbe, founder of the African beauty brand 54 Thrones, won $200,000 of it last year.

Launched in 2020, the Pledge is a nonprofit organization encouraging retailers to commit at least 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses.

One Black entrepreneur could win $200,000, and two others could each pocket $35,000 and $15,000. Potential winners can apply now and view a video of Pledge Founder Aurora James announcing the prize. Both new and mature businesses are encouraged to apply.

The funding is truly needed. As of late 2022, it was reported that Black startup founders got just $264 million of $33.6 billion in capital allocated, which is less than 1%. On the banking front, 57% of Black business owners were denied a loan during the formation of their business.

For its part, the Pledge is taking new steps to support entrepreneurs of color year-round.

BLACK ENTERPRISE recently connected with the Pledge’s Executive Director LaToya Williams-Belfort via email to discuss upcoming plans on how the nonprofit aims to help Black entrepreneurs.

BE: Has the Pledge organized any recent events to further support Black business owners?

LaToya Williams-Belfort: We partnered with Victoria’s Secret to organize our first-ever Business Matchmaking Event this past August. Our goal was to create a space where Black business owners could gather alongside partners, esteemed suppliers, and community leaders to create Secret professionals, 68 community leaders, and 68 business owners seeking partnerships. Business owners walked away from our event with meaningful connections and knowledge on what they need to grow, scale, and do business with large corporate retailers.

BE: It recently was reported the Pledge and its partners have “created the potential to shift” over $14 billion to Black entrepreneurs and businesses.” We learned that so far, over 625 Black-owned businesses have been supported by 29 companies—including Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Sephora—that have taken the Pledge. Can you share more about that?

Williams-Belfort: Our work over the last three years has resulted in over two dozen multiyear contractual partnerships with billion-dollar corporations. This data point ($14 billion) speaks to the revenue impact that will be transferred to Black businesses based on the publicly available revenue data of the 29 companies that have taken the Pledge.

BE: We understand the Pledge has an ambitious target of generating $1.4 trillion in wealth for Black entrepreneurs by 2030. How many participating retailers does the Pledge have now, and how many does it hope to have?

Williams-Belfort: To date, the Pledge has had 29 companies across three countries commit to multiyear contractual agreements, which can be found here.

We’re also expanding and fostering more connections between businesses and corporations, which is why we created the Business Equity Community (BEC)—an online ecosystem to connect Pledge takers directly with Black entrepreneurs. To date, we have more than 5,000 Black businesses across all industries and product categories in our BEC and are so excited to see how it will continue to grow.

BE: What other specific action is the Pledge taking to try to boost the number of retailers it works with?

Williams-Belfort: We are always finding new and creative ways to work with corporations to propel this collective action movement, our advocacy, and tangibly support Black businesses. Corporations like Yelp, Vogue, and Victoria’s Secret have demonstrated how companies can change their business structures to support Black entrepreneurs and increase the share of Black entrepreneurs represented in their business ecosystems.

As part of our Gifteen Holiday Campaign with Citi in 2022, we opened the Pledge’s first physical location, giving over 100 Black brands access to prime retail space during peak holiday shopping. The campaign created more than $1 million in estimated revenue growth for participating brands, as well as propelled their brands’ marketplace visibility.