Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Community”

Young Entrepreneur Aireal Taylor Turns Class Project into Successful Kids Transportation Company, KidzCab

By goodblacknews on September 2, 2015

(Aireal Taylor via blackenterprise.com)
(Aireal Taylor via blackenterprise.com)

Every day millions of parents struggle with transporting their children to and from school, extracurricular activities, and events. Whether it’s because they don’t have the time or could use a helping hand, managing a child’s daily schedule, as well as their own, can feel like a stressful part-time job. Enter KidzCab, a transportation service for children ages 4-16, providing a sigh of relief for many parents in the Michigan area.
“The idea for my company stemmed from a marketing assignment I had in school, where I had to come up with a product or service and write a paper on it. Once I started researching it, I thought maybe I could really create this,” said Aireal Taylor, the founder of KidzCab.
Fresh off the heels of resigning from her steady job in administration and accounting, Taylor is solely focused on running KidzCab full-time. She has 3 KidzCab vehicles. She’s booked for the mornings and afternoons for the entire school year, and she expects to average about 6 trips per day, per vehicle.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the ambitious leader to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey.
BlackEnterprise.com: What makes your business different than other child transportation-related businesses?
Taylor: We use a fleet technology system that tracks our vehicles in real-time and provides destination alerts to parents. We also provide booster seats for children; one less thing parents have to worry about.
Describe the long-term vision or goals that you have for your business?
I’d like to see Kidz Cab’s outside of almost every school in Michigan. I’d also like to begin offering franchise options in other states.

CEO Charles King Lands Apple Heiress Laurene Jobs as Leading Investor in Multicultural Media Company MACRO

By goodblacknews on September 2, 2015
Macro CEO Charles King
MACRO Founder and CEO Charles King

According to Variety.com, former William Morris Endeavor (WME) agency partner Charles King has lined up Apple heiress Laurene Powell Jobs as the leading investor in MACRO, the media company King recently founded to produce content for the African-American, Latino and multicultural markets.

King announced Wednesday that Jobs’ Emerson Collective would head the first round of investment in his company, with contributions also coming from a host of other technology and innovation firms and individuals, including Michael Kassan’s Medialink, and MNM Creative, a multi-national media and entertainment company. The announcement did not describe the size of the individual investments in the initial funding round, but put the total infusion in the eight-figure range.

King left the talent agency and announced the formation of his new company at the beginning of the year, with a focus on building ownership of creative properties conceived and made by minority artists. One of the most prominent minority agents in Hollywood, King was the long-time representative of multi-hyphenate Tyler Perry. MACRO has signaled that it will be announcing projects with filmmakers Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”) and Craig Brewer (“Hustle & Flow”).

MACRO Charles King

Other investors in MACRO include Raymond McGuire, the global head of corporate and investment banking at Citigroup, tech entrepreneur Justin Yoshimura and Michael Kane, managing director of the Los Angeles-based private equity firm Caltius Capital.
Jobs is the widow of Apple computer founder Steve Jobs. Her net worth has been pegged by Forbes at more than $18 billion. Her Emerson Collective had previously provided seed money to small startups focused on education and health care.
“Charles is uniquely poised to lead what’s sure to become the kind of media company that will launch careers and brands, but more importantly, add rich value to our entertainment culture,” Jobs said in a statement. “Charles has an extraordinary set of creative instincts — he’s demonstrated a remarkable ability to amplify talent, trends and content to multi-cultural audiences throughout his career.”
King said that his company would serve a market that “has been vastly underserved for too long.” He called the newly-announced investors “boundary-pushing, innovative thinkers and leaders in their respective fields of technology, finance and media.”
original article by James Rainey; additions by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Rapper Nelly Sends Two Kids to College Every Year for the Last 10 Years: ‘Only Way to Elevate Black Community is Education’

By goodblacknews on September 1, 2015

Photo: Joe Raedle/GettyIn the wake of the Mike Brown shooting and Ferguson protests last year, many in the Black community called for Black celebrities to speak out against the injustices shown to their own people. Some Black celebrities rose to the occasion, using social media and TV news outlets like CNN to say their piece.
Others, like Nelly, preferred to move in relative silence and let their actions do the talking. Following the events in Ferguson, the St. Louis rapper came under fire for not visiting the city right away. He eventually visited Ferguson to speak with protesters and created a scholarship fund in Michael Brown’s name.
The scholarship was not merely a sentimental act to honor the slain college student but a part of a strategic plan to help bring change to the Ferguson community in the only effective way he believes he can.
“I try to do it through education because that’s the only way we’re going to get it. The only way we’re going to get this is to elevate,” Nelly explained in an interview with Hello Beautiful just after the Ferguson anniversary on August 9, 2015. “We have to get the kids to go out of these communities. Graduate. Get the knowledge. Come back to the community, and then they can run it because they understand the people and understand the severity of the situation.”
The Mike Brown scholarship isn’t the only act of altruism Nelly has taken in the area of education. He has sent two students to college on scholarships every year for the past 10 years. To critics who have rebuked him for his lack of vocal support for the events at Ferguson, the “Hot in Herre” rapper asserts that sometimes it’s better to do things quietly.

"Fresh Dressed": 10 Reasons You Should Watch This Stylish Hip-Hop Fashion Doc

By goodblacknews on August 29, 2015
freshdoc
Scene from Fresh Dressed. (SUNDANCE.ORG)
After flipping through the September fall fashion issues of my favorite magazines with black “It Girls” such as Beyoncé, Kerry Washington, Serena and Misty Copeland on their covers, I’m unusually interested in clothes. All that paging through magazines got me wondering: Where are all the black-owned fashion brands? Yes, of course well-known black brands still exist. Tracy Reese and Byron Lars are two of my favorites.
Digging into the rabbit hole of black designers led me to Fresh Dressed, a fascinating documentary from 2014 directed by Sacha Jenkins about the foundations of urban fashion that features some of the biggest names in fashion (Dapper Dan, Andre Leon Talley) and hip-hop (Kanye West, Nas). And it conveniently airs on Vimeo on Demand. One late-night click on my PayPal account and I was immersed in the world of pre-gentrified New York and hip-hop’s early years, which started the urban fashion apparel market. Sweet!  Check out the trailer below:
Ready to take a walk down memory lane or learn the secret to how the brands so many of us wore in the ‘90s became hot (then not)? Check out Fresh Dressed. Here are 10 reasons the doc is worthwhile:
1. Unique fashion inspirations.
Customized leather jackets underneath denim vests—a fashion staple that was worn by street gang members who wanted to identify their affiliation—were inspired by 1969’s Easy Rider, a film about two bikers.
2. Jamel Shabazz photographs.
Brooklyn-born Shabazz spent the ‘80s taking iconic pictures of black street style and capturing the culture. His driving force? “[Black style] is interpreted around the world as just being fly,” Shabazz says in the documentary. “What I see is pride and dignity. I wanted the world to see [us] as something unlike they had seen before. That despite people’s condition, they were able to maintain a great deal of integrity and it is shown in the way people dress and the pride they take in having clean sneakers on.”
3. Random hip-hop fun facts. 
Before Play of the rap duo Kid ‘n Play was a rapper, he was a graffiti artist who used denim jackets as his canvas. “People would pay me to paint their names on their jeans,” says Christopher “Play” Reid.
4. Dapper Dan was more popular than Louis Vuitton (among black people).
The (in)famous Harlem designer and boutique owner was best known for merging hip-hop fashion sensibilities with the logos of European fashion houses, such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci. Think tricking out the upholstery of Big Daddy Kane’s car with a red and black Gucci monogram print or maybe a red leather Gucci sweatsuit for Bobby Brown. “I blacken-ized [luxury] fashion” Dan boasts in Fresh Dressed. “I made it so it would look good on us.”
Nas, a producer of the documentary, takes the boasting a step further:
“Dapper Dan was Tom Ford before Tom Ford,” says the rapper. “He had the foresight to do what they [luxury brands] started doing five years, 10 years after him.”
5. The genesis of fat laces in sneakers.
Before wide laces were sold ready-made in stores, sneaker aficionados had to create their own by taking the laces out of the shoe, stretching them, starching them and then ironing them.
6. Mayor’s closet. 
I’m not so into sneakers, but even I gasped looking at the walk-in closet of sneaker aficionado Mayor, who boasts of going 7.5 years without wearing the same pair of shoes twice. (That’s 2,737 pairs). He keeps his collection, which includes a significant number of Jordans, in a row of plastic containers that are as tall he is and estimates his collection is worth more than half a million dollars.
7. Rediscovering the Lo-Lifes. 
This was a well-known “gang” in Brooklyn, N.Y., that didn’t identify itself by colors but by fashion logos, one in particular: Polo. Its criminal activity was mainly shoplifting Ralph Lauren clothing from department stores, and status in the group was determined by who wore the most exclusive wares best. For some, such as Lo-Life leader Thirstin Howl the 3rd (yes, like the millionaire from Gilligan’s Island), fashion is really that serious.
8. Learning how Tommy Hilfiger became so popular among black people. 
Instead of offering endorsement deals to famous rappers, Hilfiger offered free clothes to the MCs—and in the neighborhoods where they came from. “Tommy Hilfiger would show up in the ‘hood and open up a trunk with clothes,” recalls Ralph McDaniels, who hosted the popular hip-hop TV show Video Music Box. “It was the drug dealer giving you a free hit. It was smart. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
9. That time GAP unwittingly spent $30 million on a FUBU commercial.
LL Cool J signed on to do a GAP commercial, but didn’t really believe the brand respected hip-hop culture, according to FUBU executive Daymond John. The rapper insisted on wearing a FUBU baseball cap in the commercial and even dropped a line that included FUBUs tagline, “For Us By Us.” “It basically became a FUBU commercial,” adds John. FUBU eventually became a $350 million business.
10. Learning that Tupac didn’t charge black people. 
At the height of his fame, Tupac took a meeting with Karl Kani in which Kani pitched him to star in an upcoming ad campaign. “I ain’t gonna charge you; you black,” Pac told Kani. “I don’t charge my people for nothing.” Two weeks later, they did a photoshoot … free. Kani credits Pac with introducing him to a global market.
article by Demetria Lucas D’oyley  via theroot.com

New Orleans Celebrates its Recovery 10 years After Hurricane Katrina

By goodblacknews on August 29, 2015

People dance during a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The traditional ceremony was conducted at the historically African-American university, which was heavily damaged by flooding from Hurricane Katrina, as a symbolic burial of the Hurricane for it's 10th anniversary. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
People dance during a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The traditional ceremony was conducted at the historically African-American university, which was heavily damaged by flooding from Hurricane Katrina, as a symbolic burial of the Hurricane for it’s 10th anniversary. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — With prayers, church bells and brass bands, residents across Mississippi and Louisiana will pay homage Saturday to those who died in Hurricane Katrina, thank those who came to rebuild and celebrate how far the region has come from that devastating day.
Ten years ago — on Aug. 29, 2005 — Katrina made landfall in what turned into one of the deadliest storms in American history. The hurricane‘s force and flooding ultimately caused more than 1,800 deaths and roughly $151 billion in damages across the region.
In New Orleans, wide scale failures of the levee system protecting the city left 80 percent of New Orleans under water.
In Mississippi, churches will ring their bells to remember when the storm made landfall. In Biloxi, clergy and community leaders were to gather at MGM Park for a memorial to Katrina’s victims. In the evening, the park will host a concert celebrating the recovery.
Katrina’s force caused a massive storm surge that scoured the Mississippi coast, pushed boats far inland and wiped houses off the map, leaving only concrete front steps to nowhere.
The city has framed the 10th anniversary as a showcase to demonstrate to the world how far New Orleans has come back. In the last week, the city has held lectures, given tours of the levee improvements and released a resiliency plan.

People hug following a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University on August 28, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The traditional ceremony was conducted at the historically African-American university, which was heavily damaged by flooding from Hurricane Katrina, as a symbolic burial of Hurricane Katrina. The 10th anniversary of the storm is August 29. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
People hug following a jazz funeral ceremony at Dillard University on August 28, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Many parts of this iconic city have rebounded phenomenally but many residents — particularly in the city’s black community — still struggle. Glitzy casinos and condominium towers have been rebuilt, but overgrown lots and empty slabs speak to the slow recovery in some areas.
In New Orleans officials will lay wreaths at the hurricane memorial and at the levee that ruptured in the Lower 9th Ward.
The neighborhood was one of the bastions of black homeownership in America when water burst through floodwalls, pushing houses off foundations and trapping residents on rooftops. The neighborhood still has some of the lowest rates of people who’ve returned after the storm, but it will be having a daylong celebration to mark the progress made.
Former President Bill Clinton will headline a free concert-prayer service-celebration Saturday evening at the city’s Smoothie King Center.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

Street Sandra Bland Stopped On Renamed in Her Honor

By goodblacknews on August 28, 2015
Sandra Bland (photo via blackamericaweb.com)
Prairie View City Council members in Texas are hoping a road renamed after activist Sandra Bland will serve as a constant reminder of the injustices they say she suffered in Waller County, USA Today reports.
City officials are also hopeful that the road, which leads to Bland’s alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, will also encourage law enforcement to make better choices and always follow best practices when making stops on University Drive, which will become Sandra Bland Parkway for three to five years before the council votes on the matter again.
“I am overwhelmed, and I am just truly thankful to the city of Prairie View,” Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland’s mother, said in a press conference here after the decision to rename the road.
“This is the first step, the very first step,” Reed-Veal said. “There’s still so much more that needs to be done.”
Bland, 28, was stopped on the same road July 10 for allegedly failing to signal a lane change. When Texas state Trooper Brian Encinia felt his power threatened by Bland’s wit and matter-of-fact tone, he arrested her on a charge of assaulting a public servant.
She was found hanging in her jail cell three days after her arrest, a death that has been ruled a suicide but is also being treated like a murder investigation. According to CNN, the Texas Rangers and the FBI are investigating Sandra’s death.
“It is very much too early to make any kind of determination that this was a suicide or a murder because the investigations are not complete,” Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis told reporters. “This is being treated like a murder investigation.”
Mathis said the case would go to a grand jury.
“There are too many questions that still need to be resolved. Ms. Bland’s family does make valid points that she did have a lot of things going on in her life that were good,” Mathis said.
Earlier this month, family members filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against arresting officer Encinia and two guards at the Waller County Jail where Bland died, along with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the county. The New York Times reports that the lawsuit states Encinia made up a reason to arrest Sandra and that jailers failed to react when she refused meals and “had bouts of uncontrollable crying.”
Bland’s family maintains that she never should have been stopped and arrested and they want the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate.
article via blackamericaweb.com

Natalie E. Hudson Named Associate Justice to Minnesota Supreme Court

By goodblacknews on August 26, 2015

Judge Natalie Hudson (photo via insight news.com)
Judge Natalie Hudson (photo via insight news.com)

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton announced his appointment of the Honorable Natalie Hudson as associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.  Hudson will replace Associate Justice Alan Page, who will be retiring at the end of August.
“Judge Natalie Hudson has served our state admirably as a member of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and as assistant attorney general,” said Dayton. “During her distinguished 13-year tenure on the Court of Appeals, Judge Hudson has authored more than 1,100 written opinions, demonstrating clearly her unique aptitude for ruling on some of the most challenging legal issues facing our state today.”
Dayton said Hudson was the perfect person to replace Page on the bench.  “Judge Hudson will be an outstanding new member of the Minnesota Supreme Court. I have great confidence that she will bring a valuable perspective to the court, and continue the high standards of excellence, hard work, and fair-mindedness that Justice Page has embodied these last two decades,” said Dayton.
Hudson is the second African-American woman named to the Minnesota Supreme Court, following Wilhelmina Wright, whom Dayton appointed in 2012.
Dayton is also preparing to name Wright’s successor, because President Obama has nominated her to serve on the U.S. District Court for Minnesota. Wright will leave the Minnesota Supreme Court once she’s confirmed by the Senate.
2015 08 18 supreme court appointment“I am honored and humbled that the Governor has selected me to serve as the next Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court,” said Hudson. “I am excited about the opportunity, and it is indeed a privilege to continue to serve the people of Minnesota in this capacity.”
Hudson has served as an at-large judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals since her appointment by Gov. Jesse Ventura in 2002. Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, Hudson served as an assistant attorney general for Minnesota in the Criminal Appeals and Health Licensing divisions.
Hudson earned her B.A. from Arizona State University and her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she also served as the editor-in-chief for the school’s newspaper.
After completing law school, Hudson was an attorney for Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc. and Robins, Zelle, Larson & Kaplan. She then spent three years as the assistant dean of Student Affairs at Hamline University School of Law, and was later appointed as the city attorney for St. Paul.
article via insightnews.com; additions from mprnews.org

Nas To Fund Tech Scholarships for African-Americans and Latinos at General Assembly in NYC

By goodblacknews on August 26, 2015
nas instagram
Nasir Jones aka Nas (photo via allhiphop.com)

Nas is partnering up with General Assembly to sponsor scholarships for African-American and Latino students, according to reports.

General Assembly, a vocational school for engineering and programming in New York City, is opening the “Opportunity Fund” to help bring diversity into technology.  Microsoft, Google and Hirepurpose will also provide monies for the project. Each company will sponsor different populations. While Nas will give scholarships to African-Americans and Latinos, Microsoft and Hirepurpose will provide funding for veterans and Google will give scholarships to women.“This is the start of what hopefully will be a contribution to what will be a more diverse and accessible community worldwide,” General Assembly CEO Jake Schwartz told the Observer.

This is not the first time Nas has had his name attached to an educational opportunity – in 2013 Harvard University created the Nasir Jones Fellowship in his honor.  It’s wonderful that he is continuing to foster higher education, this time in his hometown.

original article by Tanay Hudson via allhiphop.com; additions by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Maurice Osborne Rescues Woman Being Attacked on Subway Platform in Brooklyn

By goodblacknews on August 26, 2015

Photo published for Man Apprehends Sex Assault Suspect On No. 3 Train Platform In Brooklyn
Subway Hero Maurice Osbourne (photo via thefeelsnews.wordpress.com)

A subway hero recently rescued a woman being sexually assaulted and collared the suspect.  “As soon as she said that he was trying to rape her, I just reacted,” Maurice Osborne told CBS2’s Matt Kozar on Friday.
Despite getting six stitches above his left eye and a swollen right hand that looked more like a water balloon, Osborne said he’d do it all again.  Asked if anyone else was going to help the woman, Osborne said, “Nope. I wish someone else did. I wish the conductor stayed. The conductor didn’t even stay. The train left.”
While riding the No. 3 train Wednesday morning at the Bergen Street station in Park Slope, Osborne said he heard screams from a woman, who investigators said was being sexually assaulted by 40-year-old Alvaro Dennica.
Dennica had been allegedly fondling himself in the last subway car before chasing the victim onto the platform and jumping on top of her, Kozar reported.  Osborne, a fit 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, leaped into action and grabbed Dennica by the collar, as he demonstrated on Kozar during the interview.
“He said he did didn’t do anything,” Osborne said, when asked what the alleged assailant’s reaction was.
Osborne said he continued grabbing the man by his shirt, pulling him all the way up the subway station’s steps and across Flatbush Avenue to the 78th Precinct, where he turned him in to police.
The 28-year-old victim was following close behind and told investigators what had happened, Kozar reported.  The 37-year-old Osborne, who’s living in a shelter in the Bed Stuy section of Brooklyn while studying to become a medical assistant, told Kozar “I like helping people. It makes me feel useful.”
He said he hopes New Yorkers will follow his lead and help one another the next time help is needed.  Dennica was charged with assault and attempted sexual abuse and was being held in lieu of $150,000 bond.
Video of the story at: CBS Local
article via thefeelsnews.wordpress.com

Napa Valley Wine Train CEO Anthony Giaccio Apologizes to Women Escorted Away For #LaughingWhileBlack

By goodblacknews on August 26, 2015

Women from Book Club who were escorted off Napa Valley Wine Train for laughing (Photo via media.nbcbayarea.com)
Women from Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club who were escorted off Napa Valley Wine Train (Photo via media.nbcbayarea.com)

Remember that group of women whose story went viral a few days ago because they were kicked off of a Napa Valley Train wine tour for laughing? They’re now getting the apology they deserve from the train’s CEO, Anthony “Tony” Giaccio.
The full statement Giaccio wrote to the members of the Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club reads as follows:

The Napa Valley Wine Train was 100 percent wrong in its handling of this issue. We accept full responsibility for our failures and for the chain of events that led to this regrettable treatment of our guests.
Clearly, we knew in advance when we booked your party that you would be loud, fun-loving and boisterous—because you told us during the booking process that you wanted a place where your Club could enjoy each other’s company. Somehow that vital information never made it to the appropriate channels and we failed to seat your group where you could enjoy yourself properly and alert our train’s staff that they should expect a particularly vibrant group.
We were insensitive when we asked you to depart our train by marching you down the aisle past all the other passengers. While that was the safest route for disembarking, it showed a lack of sensitivity on our part that I did not fully conceive of until you explained the humiliation of the experience and how it impacted you and your fellow Book Club members.
We also erred by placing an inaccurate post on our Facebook site that was not reflective of what actually occurred. In the haste to respond to criticism and news inquires, we made a bad situation worse by rushing to answer questions on social media. We quickly removed the inaccurate post, but the harm was done by our erroneous post.
In summary, we were acutely insensitive to you and the members of the Book Club. Please accept my apologies for our many mistakes and failures. We pride ourselves on our hospitality and our desire to please our guests on the Napa Valley Wine Train. In this instance, we failed in every measure of the meaning of good service, respect and hospitality.
I appreciate your recommendation that our staff, which I believe to be among the best, could use additional cultural diversity and sensitivity training. I pledge to make sure that occurs and I plan to participate myself.
As I offered in my conversation with you today, please accept my personal apologies for your experience and the experience of the Book Club members. I would like to invite you and other members to return plus 39 other guests (you can fill an entire car of 50) as my personal guests in a reserved car where you can enjoy yourselves as loudly as you desire.
I want to conclude again by offering my apologies for your terrible experience.

The story caught attention online when Lisa Johnson, a book club member that was one of the women escorted off of the train on Saturday, shared videos and social media posts documenting the incident. Johnson and her friends in the club were highly embarrassed by the incident. Not only were they escorted off by being forced to walk through six train cars, but they were also greeted by police once they got onto the platform.
Despite this apology, Lisa Johnson told MSNBC‘s Thomas Roberts that she will not patronize the Napa Valley Wine Train again.

“No, we don’t accept the apology… In the course of my conversation with Anthony, he was apologizing. And during the course of that apology he said to me, ‘You know it’s really troubling for us that we’re being painted in the media to be something that we are not. And I had to take that in a moment because I said, ‘That’s exactly what you did to us.’ was paint a picture of us in the media of something that we are not…I will never forget my first and last experience on the Napa Wine Train.”

You can watch Johnson’s full interview in the video by clicking here.
original article by Monique John via hellobeautiful.com; additions by Lori Lakin Hutcherson