The annual King Holiday Observance is a time that we celebrate, commemorate and honor the life, legacy and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Global citizens will have unique opportunities to learn and unite in celebration of Dr. King’s groundbreaking work and Mrs. Coretta Scott King’s powerful continuation and formal institutionalization of that work through a variety of engaging events hosted by The King Center leading up to The King Holiday on January 16th, 2023.
As we witness nations around the world continue to struggle under the weight of violence, hate and poverty, today’s social, political and economic landscape reveals the urgent necessity of Dr. King’s philosophy and methodology of Nonviolence (Nonviolence365™). The King Center leads the charge to provide education and training in Nonviolence365; while serving as the vital living memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our strategic theme for 2023 is ‘Cultivating a Beloved Community Mindset to Transform Unjust Systems’. This theme defines the 2023 King Holiday Observance events and programming while serving as a compass for all the work we will do this upcoming calendar year and beyond. The pioneering work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrated that Kingian Nonviolence (Nonviolence365™) is the sustainable solution to injustice and violence in our world, ultimately leading to the creation of the Beloved Community, where injustice ceases and love prevails.
The King Center welcomes and invites you to join this movement for a new future as we strive to cultivate a Beloved Community Mindset, and ultimately transform unjust systems.
The 92-year old activist, state legislator, and preacher was honored for his numerous contributions to America’s most important civil rights battles.
Fred Gray, the attorney who fought some of Black America’s most important legal battles, is referred to as the “Chief Counsel” of the Civil Rights era. For his heroics in American history, he received his flowers reccently from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where the group gave him its Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I have received many awards, but none of these awards…means to me as much as this award coming from the Legal Defense Fund here in honor of Thurgood Marshall,” said Gray during an acceptance speech at the organization’s 35th National Equal Justice Awards Dinner on Thursday, May 4, 2023, in New York. Gray was among several honorees at the dinner, including billionaire Robert F. Smith, chair of Vista Equity Partners, philanthropic company the Emerson Collective, and Nike Inc.’s Jordan Brand.
Gray is 92-years old and still practicing law. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden in 2022 for his steadfast work at the forefront of several Civil Rights Movement cases. The most notable is the Supreme Court case in which the NAACP started legal action against the city of Montgomery, Ala. This resulted in the desegregation of the bus system there after the defiance of Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin and others, which resulted in a yearlong bus boycott in 1955 and 1956.
He was also the attorney for men who were unwittingly involved in an experiment conducted in Tuskegee, Ala., by the U.S. government for more than 40 years. In the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, hundreds of people were afflicted with syphilis and went untreated by government doctors who wished to study the effects of the disease. He secured a $10 million settlement for the survivors and their heirs in 1974.
The 60th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott – Dec. 1, 2015 marks 60 years since Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, boldly took her seat in history by refusing to give up her spot in a whites-only section on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus. Her arrest led to a more than a year-long organized boycott African-American residents and against the racist city bus company. The action led to the Supreme Court decision ruling bus segregation illegal in the state.
A contemporary of Marshall, these were two of many cases that he handled in a nearly 70-year career in law in defense of Black people and working in tandem with the Legal Defense Fund. During his speech, he explained why he chose working as an attorney as a way of making a difference.
The power of an influential social media platform has transformed this couple’s business.
Earlier in March, Tabitha Brown and her husband, Chance Brown, posted an episode of their YouTube series, “Fridays with Tab and Chance.” In the video, the two were wearing a sweater set from Brand Avenue — a marriage lifestyle apparel brand.
Co-founded and launched in 2014 by Marc and Ima Carnelus, the two shared that prior to being featured on Brown’s channel their business had been struggling for six months. From March 3 to March 9, the brand only made around $200 for the week.
“We even considered shutting the business down altogether,” Marc openly shared in an Instagram post. “This is our main source of income and it’s been super tough.”
Ima added, “We have been praying in the midst of all that for a breakthrough, for a sign to keep going, a miracle. We’ve had people really rallying around us, supporting us, praying for us, helping us financially because we still got bills to pay. And God answered our prayers.”
A week after their flatline in sales, their business blew up overnight from the Browns’ video posting.
From March 10 to March 16, the entrepreneurs made over $23,000 — and the sales are still going up.
“This is the Tabitha effect,” Marc emphasized.
“I love this so much and it’s just another reason I can’t wait to bring back Very Good Mondays!!! So happy for you guys @brandaveclothing,” Tabitha Brown shared on Instagram. “Keep believing and keep trusting God, he got you!!!!”
Back in 2020, she started the Very Good Mondays series to feature and support small businesses.
The video that sparked Brand Avenue’s sales isn’t the first time Brown has shown love to Brand Avenue.
The philanthropic couple will receive the public service honor at the ceremony on Feb. 25.
Gabrielle Union-Wade and Dwyane Wade will receive the President’s Award at the 54th NAACP Image Awards, the NAACP and BET recently announced.
The honor, recognizing notable achievement and valued public service, will be handed out at the ceremony airing live on Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on BET.
Previous honorees include Muhammad Ali, Colin Powell, Soledad O’Brien, Condoleezza Rice, LeBron James, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
“We’re thrilled to present this award to Gabrielle Union-Wade and Dwyane Wade who together have consistently utilized their platforms to advance social justice and raise awareness to the inequalities existing in our country,” said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP. “We’re proud to recognize the couple’s tireless humanitarian work as they continue to advocate for equality and acceptance for all.”
“Gabrielle Union-Wade and Dwyane Wade are exemplary in their purpose-driven leadership and use of their collective platforms for good,” said Scott Mills, President & CEO, BET. “This year’s recipients of the NAACP President’s Award are not just a timely signifier of the issues that matter most to the community; they are a testament to what is possible when one commits themselves to advancement in those areas. It is a great honor for BET to join the NAACP to amplify these issues and celebrate the leaders doing the work to drive change in our community.”
As a couple, through their Wade Family Foundation, ex-NBA star Dwyane Wade and actress Gabrielle Union-Wade have been at the forefront of providing relief to marginalized communities in need, helping to advance racial justice and LGBTQ equality. The activist couple has been particularly visible on matters of LGBTQ support helping raise money for the nonprofit GLSEN, which is dedicated to ending bullying and discrimination in schools.
On an individual level, Gabrielle Union-Wade has provided support and backed various causes including the Van Ness Recovery House, Leap for Ladies, Out Nebraska, Deborah’s Place, Harvest House, and Baltimore Safe Haven. In addition to financial contributions, Gabrielle is focused on using her platform as a public figure to bring awareness to the work these organizations and others are doing to support underrepresented communities.
Celebrated Organizations Join Forces for New Initiative Supporting Young Black Members of the Music Community in Nashville, TN
LOS ANGELES (February 21, 2023) – The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM) proudly announced today a new partnership to launch, sustain and support “OnRamp,” a guaranteed income program for 20 young, Black members of the music community, including artists and industry professionals, in Nashville, Tennessee. The OnRamp program, focused on improving inclusivity and equity within Music City, aims to empower the next generation of leaders in the early stages of their careers by granting access to professional development opportunities, community mentorship, and other opportunities to increase personal growth, industry exposure, exclusive Academy membership panels and tentpole live events, and visibility with Academy Board members and industry leaders. Additionally, through the program, each participant will receive a $1,000 monthly stipend for one year.
OnRamp applications will be available starting in late Spring with the program starting in June, in celebration of Black Music Month and to commemorate the Black Music Action Coalition’s third anniversary. Interested candidates can visit acmcountry.com/onramp today to sign up for email notifications when applications are rolled out.
“It speaks volumes for the Black Music Action Coalition and the Academy of Country Music to join forces to launch a guaranteed income program in Nashville for emerging Black artists and young professionals. I applaud Damon Whiteside, the ACM Board and the Level Up team for sharing our vision and becoming true partners with BMAC on a direct impact solution that will begin to address long standing racial inequalities that exist in this country,” said Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-founder/co-chair Black Music Action Coalition.
“The Academy has a rich history of fostering diversity and inclusion in the Country Music industry both on stage and behind-the-scenes, and we see this partnership as a particularly impactful way to continue our committed work to making the statement ‘Country Music is for Everyone’ a true reality,” said ACM CEO Damon Whiteside. “We’re excited to work with BMAC on this pivotal and transformative work for our Nashville community by increasing opportunities for young professionals from diverse backgrounds in our industry.”
“When the Academy created the LEVel Up rising leaders program, we asked them to find the most meaningful and impactful ways to welcome people into country music, regardless of who or where they are,” said Board Chair Chuck Aly. “The Academy is proud to support OnRamp and we call on our industry friends and partners to join us in advancing this endeavor and working toward a broader, more successful and more diverse country music business.”
“I’ve seen firsthand over the past year the commitment and passion of the ACM LEVel Up rising leaders cohort, and I commend the Academy and BMAC for coming together on this exciting new program,” said ACM DEI Task Force Chair and ACM Board Member Shannon Sanders. “It’s my pleasure to stand alongside other industry leaders to support this important program, especially during Black History Month. The Academy continues to play a pivotal role in ushering in a new era in Country Music by truly supporting and lifting up those underrepresented in the industry.”
This inaugural program will initially be funded by the Black Music Action Coalition, the Academy of Country Music, and industry partners, and powered by social impact agency BreatheWithMe. The organizations are encouraging corporations and companies operating in Nashville and beyond to make a financial contribution to OnRamp as a means of powering their future equity and inclusion programs. OnRamp is one of many guaranteed income programs BMAC will be announcing throughout the year.
Playing an active role in guiding the OnRamp program and bringing it to life will be the members of the ACM LEVel Up: Lift Every Voice program’s 2022 cohort. ACM LEVel Up is a widely-heralded, Nashville-based professional development and enrichment program for rising leaders in Country Music, funded entirely by the Academy of Country Music at no cost to participants. The two-year curriculum is designed to empower participants to play a pivotal role in expanding the horizons of Country Music into new audiences that transcend demographics and geography. In December 2022, the Academy announced the program’s 2023 cohort, representing an entirely new and unduplicated list of organizations from the 2022 inaugural class.
Last June, Black Music Action Coalition released a report, Three Chords & The ACTUAL Truth, which documented opportunities for improvement in Black representation and participation in the Country Music space. The report called for Music Row, the city of Nashville and its companies, organizations and individuals committed to change and equity to partner with BMAC in a transformational program for Black artists in Nashville. The Academy of Country Music is amongst the first industry leaders to recognize and help facilitate necessary changes within the music community.
The Academy of Country Music has always proudly stood, throughout its almost 60-year history, as a progressive, welcoming organization for all, including an active, community-leading commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion stretching across all facets of the industry. In its mission statement, the Academy’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative affirms a relentless commitment to creating a more inclusive environment for underrepresented groups, encompassing but not limited to, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, LatinX and Women in the Country Music industry, from the boardroom to the stage.
For more information regarding the Black Music Action Coalition, please visit bmacoalition.org. For more information on the Academy of Country Music, please visit acmcountry.com. Further details about the ACM’s LEVel Up: Lift Every Voice program is available at acmcountry.com/levelup.
About Black Music Action Coalition
The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) endeavors to uphold and actualize the mission of Black Lives Matter in the music industry and reach racial justice not just across labels, publishers, agencies, distributors, and DSP’s but throughout society at large. BMAC works together with leaders from various business leaders to hold their companies accountable and implement a system of checks and balances to ensure change takes root. The group fosters and shepherds various educational, mental health, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, policing, social justice, and political causes that directly impact Black communities.
About the Academy of Country Music
Founded in Southern California in 1964 as a regional trade organization, the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC(ACM) has grown in the almost-60 years since into a leading association for the Country Music industry. Now headquartered in Nashville, TN and boasting record-high membership of more than 4,900 nationwide, the Academy serves as a powerhouse advocate for Country fans, artists, and all facets of the business, as well as a supporter of philanthropic work through charitable partner ACM LIFTING LIVES, dedicated to improving lives through the power of music and providing aid in times of need, with a focus on health initiatives. 2023 looks to be another monumental year for the Academy with the ACM Awards, the first major awards show to livestream exclusively, returning to Texas on May 11 and streaming live for a global audience on Prime Video. For more information, log onto ACMcountry.com or ACMLiftingLives.org.
We have been through a lot over the past couple of years. The racial tension in America seemed as if it might be on the brink of real change. Some Black Americans thought the country might experience a true shift and an acknowledgement by government leadership of the horrors wrought by (and a true pathway forward concerning) America’s original sin of slavery.
Others were less optimistic and wondered when the allyship veil would lift as people tired of the rhetoric. I continue to look for sustainable change in America for opportunities extended to all.
As a young person, my parents Rev. Donald and Dolores Register took my two brothers and me to Detroit Michigan, from Oak Park, Illinois, for summer vacations and Thanksgiving breaks to ensure we stayed connected to our family roots.
I did not know it then, but I certainly know it now that my family are advocates, allies and are change makers.
My uncle, Gloster Current, is the most famous. He was deputy executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Director of Branches and Field Administration of the NAACP during the Civil Rights Movement. In his role, he was the last person to see Medgar Evers alive and oversaw the platform speakers at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now famed “I Have a Dream” speech. A speech that really was not a about a dream of Black and white unity, but rather civil and economic equal rights of African Americans.
He and his wife lived in Hollis, New York.
When I reflect now, I see the progress we as Black and Brown people have made in the United States, and I also see a long road ahead. Sometimes when I visit Washington D.C., I do a monument walk. I stop by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Kings’ commanding figure emerges out of a mountain of despair. His arms folded and eyes appear fixed across the tidal basin at our third President, Thomas Jefferson. It is as if he is still hoping to fully emerge from the sins of the father.
My dad was a Presbyterian minister and part of a group of clergies responsible for building suitable housing for the poor. I can’t imagine how hard the work might have been as they had to fight the unfair “redlining” practices of the federal government which refused to give loans to Blacks and subsidized builders for entire subdivisions for whites. We still see the impacts of this practice today.
During one of my summer months, back from college at the University of Arkansas, I was rummaging through my dad’s desk drawer in the basement. I was looking for a pencil.
I found was an article showing how my dad and nine other white clergy went to Mississippi to assist in the right to vote for Blacks.
He was thrown in jail for nine days and fined. His crime, placing a sign on the wrong side of a chain fence when police asked them to put their signs down.
However, the article continued and stated the judge who had put them in jail had died and was replaced by a Black woman. I was floored.
When I confronted my dad about the rest of the story, he stated, “Yes, she came by the church and asked if I wanted my record expunged?”
“What did you say?” I asked.
Dad just shook his head and said, “No. That proves I was part of the struggle.”
Now, that’s a badge of honor in my book.
Though we have overcome in some areas, the disparity which causes depression remains in the job market. Two decades after Kalisha White, a Black woman, won a discrimination suit against Target, studies show not much has changed.
According to a report by WBUR, a nonprofit news organization, “economist from the University of California Berkeley and the University of Chicago found that out of 83,000 job applications sent to 108 Fortune 500 employers — half with traditionally white-sounding names, and the other half with Black-sounding names only applicants with Black names were called back 10 percent fewer times across the board despite having comparable application to their white counterparts.
I tell the youth I coach that hard work is necessary but not to mistake hard work with equitable opportunity.
This is what Dr. King was trying to get us to understand.
Dr. Harry Edwards, sociologist emeritus from the University of California Berkley, shared three elements for sustainable changed at the NFL Diversity and Equity Forum in New York City.
A dependable and developed pipeline of talent.
A pervasive and persistent demand.
The institution being pressed to change, has to want change.
He further explained when you have all three aligned you have a recipe for sustainable change. If not, a quota system is more likely to emerge.
Is the leadership and institution of America ready to change to embrace all her citizens? Are we up for the challenge, as the pervasive demand to cry out for a demand an overlooked pipeline of talent to be heard?
I remain optimistic.
As a combat Army veteran, my oath was to, “protect and defend the United States Constitution against all enemies foreign, and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same.”
When I end termed my service, the amazing thing is that no one “unoathed” me.
I believe American can get there because she too has an oath to uphold, “that all people are created equal and there should be liberty (freedom) and justice (equity) for all.”
Many people seemingly think the topic of public education in America is less important when compared to other pressing issues of today. However, there is one convincing figure who would respectfully disagree and debate why public education should not be dismissed or devalued. Dr. Sandy Womack Jr., currently an Area (Assistant) Superintendent with the Columbus City School District (which happens to be the largest school system in the State of Ohio), has always been a strategic thinker and advocate for underdogs.
Like most natives of disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, Womack gained an uncanny and often underestimated perspective of the learning process despite being exposed to a frequently challenging, yet character-building environment that private and parochial school systems do not offer. It was in the urban community that he learned a form of mental chemistry (a type of “toughness”) that is often cultivated in helping to define what it means for someone to possess a resilient spirit upon reaching adulthood. Those traits – essentially “chemistry” & “character” – are often heightened when adults, as Womack says, remember that “Exposure changes expectations, but it is the experiences we provide our children with that change their lives.”
No one in life has ever given Sandy Womack Jr. anything.
He has earned everything through those same forms of exposure and experiences he references. First, as a talented high school wrestler who was awarded a college scholarship in wrestling and went on to become a two-time NCAA All-American standout, and then in college classrooms as a knowledge-thirsty student and aspiring educator. Once he stepped away from the sport he excelled at, he fell in love with the infinite possibility of what he could accomplish through advanced education.
To broaden the scope of understanding the level of engagement (and privilege) involved in maintaining the economic stability of members of one ethnic group over others, one does not need to look far beyond the research. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) in Washington, D.C., the overall total number of college graduates awarded doctoral level degrees in 2018-2019 (the latest year’s statistics) reveals there were 187,568 doctoral degrees conferred throughout the U.S. in that year alone. Of that number, 100,880 were awarded to Whites; 19,507 were awarded to Asians; 14,087 were awarded to Blacks; and 13,277 were awarded to Hispanics and/or Latinos. And, out of that 187,568 total who received doctoral degrees in the U.S., only 13,020 total were conferred (awarded) such degrees for the category of education that year. Of that 13,020, Whites made up 6,963; Blacks made up 2,524; Hispanics and/or Latinos made up 1,110; and Asians represented 395 of those overall (education) doctoral degree graduates in 2018-2019.
Such statistics reinforce beliefs like those of noted scholar Richard Rothstein who said it best when he expressed that, “social class differences likely affect the academic performance of children.” In addition, Mr. Rothstein makes a valid argument when he quipped that “good teachers, high expectations, standards, accountability, and inspiration are not enough.” (Class and Schools, 2004). For children in today’s urban school settings to succeed, they need a Dr. Sandy Womack Jr. In a career that has spanned thirty-years in education, Sandy Womack Jr. got his start teaching in the Ohio education system with the Alliance City Schools in Stark County. Then, briefly with the University of Akron-Federal TRIO Programs in Summit County. Next came a teaching position in the Cleveland Metropolitan Schools, and a series of promotions led to becoming the Dean of Students and then an Assistant Principal with the Akron Public Schools. At the age of 29, he became the Head Principal with the Canton City Schools before being offered a series of promotions to become the Director of Curriculum and Development, and then the Director of Principal Leadership and Development with the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District in Cuyahoga County before finally becoming a member of what he considers the best professional team yet – his current administrative position helping to lead the Columbus City School District. The man has literally served in practically every capacity (except a Human Resources and/or Superintendent positions) as an education professional…from teacher to counselor to Assistant Principal to Building Principal to Administrator.
To discover why he is so passionate about public education in America and not only a frequently requested speaker at conferences, organizations, and universities across the country, but a trusted figure of children, parents, and/or guardians alike, you would have to know his path and allow him to pique your curiosity. Equipped with an arsenal of amazing traits and an invaluable skill set, Womack is a classic example of what can evolve (potential-wise) from many, if not most, of the disadvantaged children he has interacted with for many years. In addition to being a best friend-life partner to his equally dynamic wife – Dr. Monica Womack (who earned her Ph.D. and is a behind-the-scenes problem-solver in public education herself), Dr. Sandy Womack Jr. earned his Ed.D. and together they share three razor-sharp daughters. Interestingly, Sandy hails from a background where one of his parents (his late father) was a convicted felon who spent time in prison at one point. A constant reminder that no matter how you start out or where you come from, it’s how you use that experience to transform a person’s own life and that of other people that matters. It has been that factor, along with growing up watching his mother sacrifice and juggle to make things happen, which has enabled Sandy Womack Jr. to resonate with and relate to countless children, parents, and/or guardians of diverse backgrounds like few educators or administrators have or do.
When asked what he believes are the three most critical concerns affecting education in urban school settings throughout America, Womack is quick to reveal, “the proverbial lack of proper funding issue, the expectation issue (of the people who work directly with urban school children), and the lack of collective community-wrap-around-support issue.” To many students, parents, and fellow educators across the nation, Dr. Sandy Womack Jr. is not only the epitome of a dynamic teacher-education administrator, but he’s also another “inner-city success story.” Understandably, this overachiever still has his heart set on attaining his biggest goal yet as an educator-administrator, which (according to him) is to “become the #1 influencer of African American children in public schools in the world!”
*Santura Pegram (santura.pegram@yahoo.com) is a freelance writer and socially conscious business professional who has helped to advise small businesses; nonprofit organizations; city, county, and state governmental committees; elected officials; professional athletes; and school systems. He was a one-time protégé-aide to the “Political Matriarch of the State of Florida” – the late Honorable M. Athalie Range.
You’d have to go pretty far and wide to meet someone who doesn’t know the name Cedric the Entertainer.
Born Cedric Antonio Kyles, the multihyphenate comedian, producer, entrepreneur, host and actor has been a recognizable face in entertainment for almost 30 years. Many recall Cedric from his time as a former host of BET’s ComicView and Def Comedy Jam in the 90s. Others will remember him for his co-starring role in the hit sitcom on WB The Steve Harvey Show, next to fellow comedian and friend Steve Harvey.
However, most fans hear his name and immediately think of the sensation that was The Original Kings of Comedy tour and video in 2000 where he performed beside fellow legends Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and the late Bernie Mac.
No matter how you know his name, face or signature laugh, Cedric the Entertainer is always guaranteed to bring a smile to the faces of his audience. He has hosted talk shows, led game shows and even recorded comedic interludes on rap albums: one triple platinum (Jay Z’s The Blueprint), one quadruple platinum (Ye’s Late Registration) and one certified diamond album (Nelly’s Country Grammar). For over 20 years, he has appeared in numerous movies (such as the Barbershop, Madagascar and Ice Age franchises) and television shows, including his current hit The Neighborhood, recently renewed for its fifth season and produced by Cedric’s production company, A Bird and a Bear Ent., which he manages with his longtime partner Eric Roan.
What’s kept him going all these years?
The constant inspiration from fellow artists. “Now, I’m just motivated continually to do great work,” Cedric shared with Black EOE Journal. “We had so many new creators that came on the scene and are doing great things to where I feel like, now, there’s heavy competition all around and great, and you just want to be a part of the conversation.” He’s talking about writers adding culture and depth to the conversation like Ava Duvernay, Lena Waithe and Kenya Barris. He also referenced fellow comedian creators like Kevin Hart. “You just want to keep leveling up,” he said. “That’s why I stay busy and stay at it and stay motivated. I’m actually just excited that the energy is…moving forward and not slowing down…”
And Cedric hasn’t slowed down either.
Building an Empire
From lead comedian at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner to Broadway to host of this past year’s 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, he is always finding ways to bring joy through his work.
Cedric the Entertainer and son Croix accept the award for Favorite Video Game for “Madagascar: Operation Penguin” (Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage)
Along with The Neighborhood, his company also produces two shows on the Bounce TV network that are about relevant issues and stories, particularly in the Black community: Johnson, a show that follows the lives of four Black men in their 30s navigating the trials of everyday life. They are childhood friends and happen to have the same last name… Johnson. The other program is a dramedy called Finding Happy about a Black woman working in the Atlanta radio industry, played by comedian and actor B. Simone, who, with the help of some friends, decides on her 36th birthday to make a decision to change her stagnant life and find her own happiness.
According to Cedric, “I guess as far as what has changed [over the years], I feel like so many creators are gaining more and more control of their brands and their ideas that they want to see and do and that becomes even more motivating… the fact that your creativity doesn’t have to be limited to a group of producers, creators or networks that have no idea what you’re about and what your people want to see. Now there’s just a wide array of opportunities.” He also commented on the emergence of new streaming networks and platforms, both large-scale like Netflix, and smaller ones such as those started by social media influencers and content creators from underrepresented backgrounds.
Cedric Antonio Kyles aka Cedric The Entertainer with the picture of his mother at the ceremony honoring him with a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
“The networks have to up their game because the streamers are so hot,” he shared. “It opens up the playing field for diversity all across the board. When you think about it, across the cultural diaspora that we have in this country, it just gives great opportunity to see shows and people from different cultures which really allows all of us to grow…and, of course, it’s forced the major institutional networks to have to change up because they’re now getting left behind. So now that gives an opportunity for so many other people to create.”
Along with his creativity on the screen and stage, Cedric the Entertainer is also an ardent businessman. He released his own line of hats a few years ago in his signature style called Who Ced?. “I loved hats from very early on in my career. I had a couple of images when I started to do comedy, and one of them was of my grandfather wearing his fedora. I thought it was cool to do when I was on stage, so I started rocking them and eventually I wanted to expand my brand.” The line was intended to be an inexpensive, everyday wear accessory. However, they’ve recently undergone a rebrand and will soon be launching a new line called Egg & Butter, which will feature hats that are more upscale and Italian-made. Visit eggandbutter.com to sign up for the mailing list for news of the official launch date. He also debuted another business in January of this year, a 100 point, three-time gold medal-winning, two-time Best in Class red blend wine he named after his mother. According to Cedric, “I partnered with Smith and Devereux winery in Napa [Valley]. It’s called Zetta.
Cedric the Entertainer (C) with his father (L) and sister (R) attend the ceremony honoring Cedric The Entertainer with a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
My mother’s name was Rosetta. It’s a Napa Valley blend red, beautiful wine. You can go to smithdevereux.com and get a case, get a bottle. It launched on her birthday, January 4.” 10 percent of all profits are donated to the RedRoseReads Foundation to support literacy programs throughout the U.S.
But that’s not all he’s working on. “I’m sure I’ve got a hundred other businesses. I stay busy. I’ve got a very cool thing called Fan Room (fanroomlive.com) that I do which is kind of like an online green room situation where celebrities meet their fans in a virtual environment, and they sit and talk, and they chill with them in the Fan Room. It’s pretty cool. That’s been growing. We started that over the pandemic.”
Always Giving Back
What may surprise many isn’t that Cedric the Entertainer gives back. It’s how many ways and through how many organizations. For example, there’s the Cedric “The Entertainer” Charitable Foundation scholarship that he started in 1996 for high school students in partnership with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).
Arsenio Hall and Cedric the Entertainer attends the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation 9th Annual “Big Fighters, Big Cause” Charity Boxing Night presented by B. Riley FBR, Inc. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation)
“My mother was an educator, a reading specialist,” he said. “She passed a few years ago, but she instilled in my sister and myself this idea of philanthropy, to be able to help give back to help those less fortunate. I started that with an educational program mainly for kids who grew up in single parent households who needed a little help to go to college… partnered with UNCF…partnered with my alma mater Southeast Missouri State University as well as any HBCUs. We’ve been doing that since ‘96, helping kids go to college. We deemed that very important.”
But that’s not all.
Cedric the Entertainer (C) poses with his daughter Lucky Rose Kyles and wife Lorna Wells. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
“From there, when my mom got ill, [my sister and I] really got involved in women’s health issues. We started a women’s health pavilion in St. Louis, Mo. at St. Mary’s Hospital in her name, the Rosetta Boyce Kyles Women’s Pavilion that deals with all kinds of women’s health issues from athletics for young students to cancer to the heart to just getting people rides to the hospital. That initiative has been something we’ve done for about six years. Of course, I’ve worked with the American Diabetes [Association] because my dad deals with diabetes. So, we did the neuropathy campaign, really trying to get especially Black males to go get checked out; something we don’t do in our culture. We always try to man it out and tough it out and don’t realize these are things we can actually fix and prevent if we got a heads up soon enough.”
Long May He Reign
Cedric the Entertainer’s good work is never done, and we’re thankful for that.
His commitment to making a difference in the world through charity and philanthropy is admirable, but one can’t forget his work with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to help mentor a new generation of voices in media and entertainment.
Cedric The Entertainer attends the 8th annual Cedric The Entertainer Golf Classic Lexus VIP pairings party celebration. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
“My work with the Academy is all about improving the minority participation in this industry, especially coming in at the internship level and giving people the opportunity to be here, to be working and be involved with these shows.”
Cedric has been an outspoken supporter of diversity and inclusion in American society as well as a champion of racial and social equity. “It’s very important. You need a group of people that’s truly and completely about advocacy…We do need people who are all about the advocacy; they’ve got to stay and make people accountable, to show that we’re necessary and worthy of all the stuff we’re asking for.”
But what’s next for The Entertainer?
Anything. Maybe even music?
“I’m a person who likes to write songs. I write little songs and jingles quite a bit.
I haven’t really introduced my music, so I guess people will come to find that out soon,” he told Black EOE Journal. “I haven’t really ever [shown that]. I do them for jokes, but I haven’t really shown some of the sincere stuff that I do.” Well, we’re excited to see what the future holds. Hearing about any new projects Cedric has up his sleeves will surely be sweet music to our ears.
Just days after “Obi-Wan Kenobi” debuted on Disney+ May 27, star Moses Ingram has already received countless hateful social media messages.
Ingram plays a Jedi hunter Inquisitor named Reva, who actively tracks down Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan. While Lucasfilm and “Obi-Wan Kenobi” director Deborah Chow anticipated fan hate toward a Black female character, Ingram addressed the onslaught of DMs and comments she has received thus far.
“Long story short, there are hundreds of those. Hundreds,” Ingram said in an Instagram video after screenshotting messages that threatened her and called her racial slurs. “And I also see those of you out there who put on a cape for me and that really does mean the world to me because, you know, there’s nothing anybody can do about this. There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate. And so I question my purposes even being here in front of you saying that this is happening.”
Ingram continued, “I don’t really know. I don’t really know. But I think the thing that bothers me is that like, sort of this feeling that I’ve had inside of myself. This feeling that no one has told me, but like I just got to shut up and take it. I just got to bury it. And I’m not built like that. So I really just wanted to come on, I think, and say thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and the places I’m not going to put myself. And to the rest of y’all, y’all weird.”
Ingram’s Instagram Stories included threats saying her days were “numbered” and slamming her for not being the first Black person in “Star Wars” history.
“You suck, loser. You’re a diversity hire and you won’t be loved or remembered for this acting role,” one message read.
Another said, “How the f**k does an alien know eubonics?”
The “Queen’s Gambit” alum also included a soundbite from “The Read” podcast during which she said: “You know what’s really crazy, you would think sci-fi and fantasy would be the most welcoming, the most accepting genres because they are so often storylines that are ridiculous and made up of like, aliens and weird shit, comic book shit, and n***** having special powers and all that.”
The official “Star Wars” Twitter addressed the backlash to Ingram early Tuesday, posting, “We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.”
The “Star Wars” page continued, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”
Ingram previously acknowledged that Lucasfilm “actually got in front” of the anticipated racism to her casting. “‘This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens,’” Ingram said earlier this month. “Of course, there are always pockets of hate, but I have no problem with the block button.”
John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran formerly received racist fan harassment following their respective roles in the recent Skywalker trilogy, leading to Boyega having a “very honest, a very transparent conversation” with Disney executives to not sideline Black and POC characters in the franchise.
Click here to read the full article on Indie Wire.
Many of us had existential thoughts during lockdown, and assuaged them with new hobbies. We did thousand-piece puzzles. We crocheted and knitted. We learned new songs on our guitars, baked overzealously, and connected with our plantlife. For Viola Davis, knocking around in her $5m mansion in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, it was writing, though the nature of it was less assuagement than staring into the coalface of an existential crisis. Who am I? What is my life supposed to mean? If this isn’t it – the Oscar winning, the formidable trail of accolades, the palatial bathrooms and saltwater pool – then what is?
“I lost my mind during the pandemic,” she tells me from her bedroom, dressed pre-photoshoot in a grey sweatshirt and loose woollen hat. “I just wandered around this house like Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” She laughs about it (she has a deep laugh and a deep, mighty voice inherited from her grandmother), but the memoir resulting from the time spent writing is anything but light. She has a story to tell, a gripping, emotive, at times spine-tingling story, with pathos and pain, triumph and redemption, setting a new benchmark for the celebrity confessional. Finding Me is a page-turner, written with narrative knowhow and stylistic competence.
Over a matter of months – interrupted by the filming of The First Lady, in which she plays Michelle Obama, and The Woman King, a historical drama set in the Kingdom of Dahomey (now southern Benin) in west Africa, both projects from her company JuVee Productions – she grappled on the page with the spectre of her poverty-stricken childhood and her subsequent thorny rise to the top, a place that turned out to be less comfortable than imagined.
“Whenever you’re still, whenever you’re quiet, whenever you put everything down, then everything in your life comes into full focus. It comes at you like a jackhammer,” she says of the big, Covid-induced pause. But it was not only the pandemic that led her to the blank screen. The crisis was already in process. “I think it’s been happening ever since my status started to rise,” she says. “When it first rises, it’s nothing but excitement, nothing but an understanding that this is a culmination of your hard work, your talent. You just feel like God has blessed you – I still feel that.
“And then it moves along: what no one tells you about being ‘on top’ is the minutiae of it, the cost of it, the pressure of it, the responsibility, and finally the disillusionment. You feel like you’ve found something you love to do and you’ve made it, your life’s all sewn up – and then you hit it, and it’s just a level of emptiness, of wondering what your life means, and then you crash and burn. I had to go back to the source and revisit my life, revisit my stories, to sort of catapult me into something so I could find home – find me. I’d been lost in it all.”
In 2016, with her Academy Award win for best supporting actress for her role in Fences, based on an August Wilson play, Viola Davis became the first African American to achieve the triple crown of an Oscar, Tony and Emmy for acting (the Tony was for a Broadway role in Wilson’s King Hedley II; the Emmy for the TV legal thriller How to Get Away With Murder). She is the most nominated Black woman in the history of the Academy Awards (she received nominations for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, another Wilson adaptation, as well as The Help and Doubt) and has been ranked in the top 10 of the New York Times’ list of the greatest actors of the 21st century. Her execution of her roles is both exacting and magnanimous, ever astute, possessing a haunting integrity that makes each character seem profoundly known, tangible and self-possessed.
The consummate humble artist, she deems fame and glory secondary to the work; she is modest about her trophies, and dismissive of efforts by her actor husband of almost 19 years, Julius Tennon, and their adopted daughter, Genesis, to splash them around the house. “If it were up to me all the awards would be in the garage,” she says. “I mean, it’s just not my style – it’s a bit too much. Listen, it’s not that I haven’t looked at the Oscar or whatever and thought: wow, that’s pretty awesome. I’m very grateful, but, you know, you can’t live there. Soon as you get it, you walk off the stage, you’re an Oscar winner, but then it’s like, and now what? And then you gotta go on to the next job, and start all over again with that impostor syndrome.”
Click here to read the full article on The Guardian.
When sworn in this summer, Jackson will be the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s high court.
“This is one of the great moments of American history,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote. “Today we are taking a giant, bold and important step on the well-trodden path to fulfilling our country’s founding promise.
This is a great moment for Judge Jackson but it is an even greater moment for America as we rise to a more perfect union.”
President Biden called the vote a “historic moment” for the nation. “We’ve taken another step toward making our highest court reflect the diversity of America,” Biden posted on Twitter.
All 50 Senate Democrats, including the two independents who caucus with them, voted for Jackson’s confirmation. They were joined by three Republicans: Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Click here to read the complete article posted on NPR.
In April 2021, Keke Palmer landed a deal with Amazon after her Instagram sketch videos went viral, as previously shared by AfroTech. Now, the actress has teamed up with the e-commerce giant for a new partnership that shines the spotlight on other Black women bosses like herself.
According to Essence, Palmer and Amazon partnered to support Black women business owners in honor of Women’s History Month. Within the collaboration, the duo worked to put together a selection of Black-owned brands to highlight, as well as speak to two of the founders for Amazon’s conversation series.
After becoming an entrepreneur and launching her record label, Big Boss Entertainment, in 2018 — her own personal experience has led her to help women who look like her kickstart their ideas, too.
“It’s time to put the spotlight back on Black businesses to remind people that we gotta support each other. Also, to understand that when you are buying Black, you’re sometimes buying into a newer business,” Palmer shared with Essence. “So they need proper support, encouragement, and tools to be able to even get to some of the places as these other corporations. It’s just the only way that we continue to create not only generational wealth for our community. To me, it just makes sense — it’s to counteract all of the systemic injustices. We have to go that much harder to push back businesses to the forefront.”
Keke Palmer’s Curated List Of Black-Owned Brands Below are the brands and people selected by Palmer:
Culture Tags
Obia Naturals
EPIC Everyday
Orijin Bees
Darlyng and Co.
LIVE BY BEING
Crystal Swain-Bates
Kanda Chocolates
Bossy Cosmetics
Words Of Advice For Entrepreneurs From Keke “Keep A Bag” Palmer
“Take it day by day and don’t be so hard on yourself. Understand that it’s a process and that Rome wasn’t built in a day and yes, you are gonna run into issues and things aren’t gonna go. Right. But all of it is a stepping stone. It’s not meant to make you give up. It’s meant to help you.”
(CNN) President Joe Biden has selected Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court, setting in motion a historic confirmation process for the first Black woman to sit on the highest court in the nation.
Biden will deliver remarks on Friday afternoon announcing the selection, the White House said. CNN first reported Biden’s decision.
Jackson, 51, currently sits on DC’s federal appellate court and had been considered the front-runner for the vacancy since Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement.
She received and accepted Biden’s offer in a call Thursday night, a source familiar with the decision told CNN, but was present for DC Circuit Court hearings Friday morning.
Biden met with Jackson for her Supreme Court interview earlier this month, a senior administration official said, in a meeting that the White House managed to keep secret.
For more than a year, the President had familiarized himself with her work, reading many of her opinions and other writings, along with those of other contenders.
But the official said Biden also was impressed by her life story, including her rise from federal public defender to federal appellate judge — and her upbringing as the daughter of two public school teachers and administrators.
