article by Michael Cavna via washingtonpost.com
JUST LAST month, Akilah Johnson was “surprised and overwhelmed” when she learned that she was a national finalist in the “Doodle 4 Google” contest for grade-schoolers.
Akilah, a sophomore at Eastern Senior High School in Northeast Washington, has just been named Google’s big winner in the national contest, topping the 53 state and territory champions, whose work had been culled from about 100,000 student entries.
“It is really overwhelming,” Akilah tells The Post’s Comic Riffs, minutes after receiving the news Monday during a ceremony at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. “I was so excited, I started crying,” Akilah says. “I didn’t even look at anybody — I was just looking at the framed copy [of the Doodle] they gave me.”
Akilah is the contest’s first winner from Washington, as D.C. was not eligible to enter the states-only competition in past years. (The Post’s Comic Riffs had joined the chorus of voices urging that the District be included.)
This year’s contest theme was: “What makes me…me.” Akilah drew a box-braided Doodle titled “My Afrocentric Life,” using color pencils, black crayons and Sharpie markers. The Doodle includes symbols of black heritage and signs representing the Black Lives Matter movement. “Although it felt like forever making this picture, it only took me about two weeks,” Akilah told Comic Riffs last month.
article by Shenequa Golding via vibe.com
Malachai Jenkins and Roberto Smith at one point would’ve never saw eye-to-eye. Both LA natives pledged their allegiance to rival gang members, Jenkins a Crip and Smith a member of the Bloods. But after years of gang banging, Jenkins grew tired of the dangerous life.
“All money isn’t good money, Jenkins said. “[Selling drugs] worked for me for a little while until it started to get me into trouble, so I had to find something legit to do.”
Jenkins then enrolled into the famed culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, and from there things began to change. A mutual friend introduced Jenkins to Smith and the two became fast comrades. Upon finishing his courses, Jenkins, who also goes by the name Chef Spanky, began cooking meals and posting the finishing product on Instagram. Soon, people started placing orders and slowly, their catering business Trap Kitchen LA was birthed.
“The gang stuff, the shootings, now that I’m in this kitchen, I don’t go through none of that,” Smith said.
The way it works is Jenkins puts the daily menu on Instagram and people then place their orders. The men make everything from the simple and comforting chicken and waffles to the popular and more decadent $25 Pineapple Friday dish which is made up of King Crab, lobster, jumbo shrimp and salmon over white rice covered in Teriyaki Sriracha sesame seeds and green onions placed inside an actual pineapple. Whatever your stomach desires, the gentlemen of Trap Kitchen LA will serve you.
To see original article, go to: http://www.vibe.com/2016/03/rival-gang-members-trap-kitchen-la/
Malachai Jenkins and Roberto Smith at one point would’ve never saw eye-to-eye. Both LA natives pledged their allegiance to rival gang members, Jenkins a Crip and Smith a member of the Bloods. But after years of gang banging, Jenkins grew tired of the dangerous life.
“All money isn’t good money, Jenkins said. “[Selling drugs] worked for me for a little while until it started to get me into trouble, so I had to find something legit to do.”
Jenkins then enrolled into the famed culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, and from there things began to change. A mutual friend introduced Jenkins to Smith and the two became fast comrades. Upon finishing his courses, Jenkins, who also goes by the name Chef Spanky, began cooking meals and posting the finishing product on Instagram. Soon, people started placing orders and slowly, their catering business Trap Kitchen LA was birthed.
“The gang stuff, the shootings, now that I’m in this kitchen, I don’t go through none of that,” Smith said.
The way it works is Jenkins puts the daily menu on Instagram and people then place their orders. The men make everything from the simple and comforting chicken and waffles to the popular and more decadent $25 Pineapple Friday dish which is made up of King Crab, lobster, jumbo shrimp and salmon over white rice covered in Teriyaki Sriracha sesame seeds and green onions placed inside an actual pineapple. Whatever your stomach desires, the gentlemen of Trap Kitchen LA will serve you.
To see original article, go to: http://www.vibe.com/2016/03/rival-gang-members-trap-kitchen-la/
