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NFL Star Plaxico Burress Launches Luxury Accessories Line

By goodblacknews on May 21, 2013
Plaxico Burress (center) at his luxury line launch event on Friday, May 19th. (Image courtesy of www.plaxicoburresscollection.com)
Plaxico Burress (center) at his luxury line launch event on Friday, May 19th. (Image courtesy of http://www.plaxicoburresscollection.com)

NFL star Plaxico Burress is testing new waters during the off-season and has launched a luxury sock line as part of The Plaxico Burress Collection.
A fan of vibrant and comfortable socks, Burress, 35, has spent the last two years designing a collection that reflects his taste in fashion and provides great-fitting socks to those who consider them hard to find.  “I’ve always been crazy about my socks, my socks have always been loud,” Burress told theGrio at his launch event on Friday.
“It’s all about comfort and style, I want to wear a sock that’s comfortable for me because I have a size 12 shoe, I put on a lot of these socks on and the heel box doesn’t even go over my heel,” he admits.  As a result, Burress took it upon himself to craft a line that provides these necessities for men – but he isn’t the only celeb to launch this venture.
Reality TV star Rob Kardashian has also recently entered the market for footwear and released his own line of designer socks, known as Arthur George. However, Burress says his collection “isn’t like anyone else’s, it’s a little different over here” and reassures that “it’s all about comfort and style.”

Desiree Rogers Appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to Choose Chicago Board

By goodblacknews on May 21, 2013
Former White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers pauses prior to a reception in honor of International Women's Day hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the East Room of the White House March 8, 2010 in Washington, DC. The reception honored women from around the world and their achievements. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Former White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers pauses prior to a reception in honor of International Women’s Day hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the East Room of the White House March 8, 2010 in Washington, DC. The reception honored women from around the world and their achievements. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

NBC Chicago – Desiree Rogers is adding another line to her resume.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel tapped the former White House social secretary to chair the board of Choose Chicago.

Rogers is currently the CEO of Ebony and Jet.  Choose Chicago is a marketing organization that works to lure businesses, tourists and conventions to the city.  Rogers takes over for Bruce Rauner, who is expected to run for Illinois governor on the Republican ticket.

Rogers and Emanuel worked together in the Obama White House during his time as chief of staff.  Click here to read more.

article by Marcus Riley via thegrio.com

Waitress CeCe Bruce's Positive Attitude Pays Off with $446 Tip

By goodblacknews on May 17, 2013

Cece BruceCeCe Bruce, a waitress at an Indianapolis eatery, received a $446 tip on a $6 bill for her positive attitude.  Bruce has been waiting tables at Steak and Shake for two years, while attending school part time.
“Serving is our bread and butter,” Bruce told WTHR.  ”So if we’re not nice, then we don’t get tipped good.”  The hardworking waitress said she was having trouble with a table who was giving her a hard time, but she “just kept smiling and going on because that’s what you got to do.”
Shortly after, one of her regular customers, Miss Jo, left her the very generous tip.  This is the biggest tip Bruce has received and says it was just in time to pay the bills.  To see video of Bruce’s story, click here.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com

TECHNOLOGY: You Can Now Send Money Through Gmail, Google Announces

By goodblacknews on May 17, 2013

Send Money Through Gmail

This is huge, potentially.  Along with a flurry of other announcements made on Wednesday at Google I/O, Google’s annual developers’ conference, the company announced that it’s integrating Google Wallet with Gmail, meaning Gmail account holders will soon be able to send money via email.
The amazing thing about this is how easy it is. As you can see in the YouTube video below, all you do is hit a “$” symbol to attach money to an email — just like you would attach any other file.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA8m0JOoNYQ&w=560&h=315]
Google Product Manager Travis Green wrote in a blog post that this feature will be rolled out “over the coming months to all U.S. Gmail users over 18 years old.” You can also get early access if a friend — perhaps who works at Google — already has the feature and sends money to you.
This could pose a threat to e-commerce startups like Venmo, which allows you to send someone payments through an app for iPhones or Android phones. “Holy startup killer,” said Artur Adib, a senior engineer at Twitter.
Jeff Peters, a new media and marketing consultant, wrote in a tweet about the news, “This could be big…if (when) people trust it.”
Tech executive Ray Nolan went even further, declaring, “eCommerce just changed.”
article by Craig Kanalley via huffingtonpost.com

Charmin Bear Charms Autistic Boy

By goodblacknews on May 17, 2013
Grace Clark and sonThis is a story about a boy, a bear and bathroom tissue. When a giant corporation took time out to send a token of affection to a small admirer, it made a family’s day.  First, meet 9-year-old Cash’an Clark, a happy, easygoing kid who also faces some big challenges, his mom Grace Clark said.
Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was 2, Cash’an has problems communicating and socializing. He talks very little, he doesn’t play with other kids and he fixates on certain things, Clark said.

Enter the Charmin bear – the cuddly cartoon logo featured prominently on packages of Charmin toilet paper and in the company’s commercials. While so many aspects of life make Cash’an withdraw into his own world, something about that bear speaks to the little boy. Even his family has a hard time explaining it.

Grace Clark says she saw her son’s fascination for the Charmin bear start when he was 4.

“Autistic children are very particular, very precise in the details that they take in,” Clark, who lives in Manchester, Conn., told TODAY Moms.
“It’s got to be something about that bear that is just staying with him and I honestly don’t know what that precise detail is. I can’t ask him because he can’t verbalize it for me.”
She still remembers the moment when she realized Cash’an was fascinated by the logo. They were at Target one day when he was 4 and he suddenly bolted away from her and ran to the bathroom tissue section.  “This little kid is looking at this big aisle full of toilet paper rolls with a bear, and he started putting all these packages in my cart that I did not want. And then he climbed in the cart and he looked at them,” Clark said.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Named Sports Illustrated's Top-Earning American Athlete in 2013

By goodblacknews on May 16, 2013
Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, poses for photos with his father, Floyd Mayeather Sr. after defeating Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision in a WBC welterweight title fight, Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, poses for photos with his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr. after defeating Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision in a WBC welterweight title fight, Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Floyd Mayweather Jr. tops Sports Illustrated’s list of highest-earning American athletes for the second consecutive year, according to Sports Illustrated.  The welterweight boxer is projected to make a minimum of $90 million this year, but could potentially earn as much as $128 million.  The list, entitled “The Fortunate 50,” combines salary, endorsements, and winnings to determine an athlete’s yearly earnings.  This year four out of the top five athletes on the list are African-American.  
Number two on the list, LeBron James, is set to make roughly $56.5 million in 2013, and NFL quarterback Drew Brees is ranked at number three, with anticipated earnings of $47.8 million.  Rounding out the top five are Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant, taking home an estimated $46.8 million, and professional golfer Tiger Woods, earning about $40.8 million.  
Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose broke into the top 10 this year for the first time.  Despite sitting out the 2012-2013 NBA season, Rose lands at No. 7 on the list. With several major endorsement deals, including Adidas and Powerade, Rose is expected to make $33 million this year.  Click here to view the whole Sport’s Illustrated “Fortunate 50″ list.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com

Wet Seal to Settle Pennsylvania Race Discrimination Suit for $7.5 Million

By goodblacknews on May 14, 2013
Wet Seal

From Clutch Magazine:
Wet Seal has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a class action discrimination case that originated when three African-American store workers from Delaware County filed a complaint last year claiming Wet Seal, Inc. fired them because they didn’t fit the store’s image. Of that total amount, $5.58 million will go to current and former managers who are African-American.
In 2009, Nicole Cogdell, a manager at Wet Seal’s King of Prussia store, pulled together her team to welcome visiting corporate staff. Cogdell said she overheard an executive vice president tell a district manager during the visit that Cogdell “wasn’t the right fit for the store” and that the vice president “wanted someone with blonde hair and blue eyes.”
Cogdell was fired days later and was told by her district manager that she was fired for being African-American.  In one email, an executive wrote: “Store Teams – need diversification African American dominate – huge issue.”  Cogdell issued a statement through the NACCP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.  “Being targeted for termination from a job I loved because of my race was a nightmare,’ Cogdell said in the statement.
Read the rest of this story on Clutch Magazine.

From Harlem to HALLO: Tech Leader Ali Abdullah Takes Childhood Talent to the Next Level

By goodblacknews on May 5, 2013
Tech entrepreneur Ali Abdullah (Image: Abdullah)
We have good news for you. You can have a cool career and make a good living. No need to choose between loving your job and paying your mortgage. The following profile, part of the BlackEnterprise.com Cool Jobs series, offers a peek into the nuts and bolts, perks and salaries behind enjoyable careers.
The It Factor: Founded a not-for-profit. Check. Started a digital sports marketing company, 5th Avenue Sports. Check.  Led successful ad campaigns for Fortune 500 companies including Mountain Dew, GNC and the NBA. Check. Became founding partner of the HALLO voice mobile app. Check. Check. And another check. And all this before the age of 30? Need anyone say more? Ali Abdullah took a love for creating and building things and turned it into lucrative ventures, with revenues in the millions and growing. Among his latest boss moves, Abdullah serves as founding partner and chief marketing officer of Players 2 Fans (P2F), a sports entertainment media platform set to change the social media game when it launches in July.
Early Self-Learning: Abdullah, 27, remembers back to this teenaged years when he knew exactly what his passion and purpose was. “When I was around 13 and my father bought me my first computer, I knew I wanted to be in touch with technology,” he says. “And not just basic learning, like software and basics you learn at school, [but I wanted to go beyond that.] I picked up a book and mastered a few things immediately, and I saw the bigger picture.”
Abdullah says he knew, then, that technology would play a major role in how people communicate with one another and share their experiences. “I knew computers were going to take over in terms of communication, and I was very intrigued and wanted to know how I could get involved.”
Full-Court Advantage: As a youth, Abdullah took classes to learn HTML and other tech skills, even while appeasing another passion for playing basketball. He would later study computer science and marketing at Alfred State College in upstate New York while balling there. “I was the only African American in the program. … My roommate and I would be up all night programming. … I loved playing sports, but really what was my exit strategy? I thought ‘I could focus on what I really love to do [that had longevity], which was sitting at my computer, being creative and working as a collaborator to build software and platforms that could affect millions of people.’ ”

Tia and Tamera Mowry Launch Line of Herbal Tea for New Moms

By goodblacknews on May 5, 2013
Tamera Mowry with son Aden Housley and Tia Mowry with son Cree Mowry-Hardrict host the Milky launch event. (CHARLEY GALLAY/GETTY IMAGES)
Tia and Tamera Mowry have both experienced the joys of motherhood and have teamed up to create an innovative herbal supplement to help new moms boost the quality and quantity of breast milk. The supplement is called Milky and the sisters recently celebrated the launch of their new brand at A Pea in the Pod in L.A. 

Mom-to-be Tamar Braxton was just one of the famous faces who came out to support Milky at the VIP launch event. 
There’s no word yet on when Milky will be available for purchase, but consumers can sign up for exclusive notices via the Milky website. If you’re wondering if the supplements really work, Tamera, mother of 6-month-old Aden Housley, uses them and gives them her stamp of approval. 
“Believe me — it works!” Tamera told People. The twins also dish on Milky and their adventures in motherhood on their blog, Tia and Tamera.
article by Nicole Marie Melton via essence.com

Jay-Z Joins Pitch to Redevelop Nassau Coliseum

By goodblacknews on May 3, 2013

Jay-Z attends the 'The Great Gatsby' world premiere at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on May 1, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
Jay-Z attends the ‘The Great Gatsby’ world premiere at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on May 1, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

NBC New York – Jay-Z is part of a group trying to renovate Nassau Coliseum.  The music mogul attended a meeting Thursday on Long Island, where the media was briefed on four proposals to renovate the arena and surrounding property.  Nassau County officials have been trying to come up with a plan to redevelop the 40-year-old arena for many years.  Its primary tenant, the New York Islanders hockey team, is moving to the new arena in Brooklyn when its lease expires in 2015.  Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is part of a group that built Barclays Arena and is bidding for the Long Island project.

Click here to read more.
article via thegrio.com