‘Even some of our family members, I would feel they thought, ‘You’re too different.’
As the offspring of Hollywood royalty, Willow Smith and her brother Jaden Smith rock to a different beat, which has stirred up controversy and criticism over their self-expression.
By the time she was a teenager, Willow was a rock star thanks to her 2010 hit single “Whip My Hair.” The song went platinum and topped the U.S. charts at number 11. At age 15, Jaden was allowed to move into his own home as part of his journey toward independence.
Their superstar parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, have caught plenty of heat over their parenting style. Willow says the fiercest backlash she and her eccentric sibling have received has come from the Black community, ABC News reports.
“With the African American community, I kind of felt like me and Jaden were shunned a little bit,” she said Tuesday on her mother’s Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk.
The 19-year-old singer admitted to Jada and grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Norris that she felt the Black community refused to “take pride” in her and Jaden because they’re “too weird.”
“Even some of our family members, I would feel they thought, ‘You’re too different,’” she said in the episode.
RTT fam, have you ever heard of mom-shaming? Today at the table, the women are joined by celebrity moms, @JessicaAlba and @AshleyGraham to discuss the topic and how it's affected them as mothers. @DoctorRamani also stops by! Watch the episode now, only on Facebook Watch. pic.twitter.com/CbXkQ6oGP4
Jada shared that she has been mom-shamed over the freedom she and Will allow their children to to have.
“It’s something that we as a community really have to learn how to let go of,” Jada explained. “I know that people felt like: ‘It’s dangerous. You cannot afford to raise your children this way because it’s dangerous. You know what it’s like to be a Black or brown person in this world. You are doing your kids a disservice.'”
Meanwhile, Willow recently penned a personal essay for Vogue in which she unpacks her relationship with social media amid the COVID crisis.
“When you’re forced to be with your thoughts, be by yourself, it can be scary and uncomfortable. I feel that every day. But I also feel the need to ask myself, ‘Why am I so uncomfortable?’ ‘Where are these thoughts coming from?’ ‘Why can’t I just sit by myself and feel at peace and at home?’ It’s been about digging into those questions in a way that we wouldn’t get to do, if it weren’t for the time we’ve had to reflect this year,” she wrote.
Adding, “If we’re given the opportunity to hang out with friends or go to a party, most people would rather do that than take time to sit and hash out those demons and insecure feelings. I feel like a lot of people, including myself, have been given that opportunity during quarantine.”
Have you subscribed totheGrio’s podcast“Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
The presidential candidates strike differences in temperament, views on racial justice, and approaches to the pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden squared off, in a way, Thursday night, their scuttled second debate replaced by dueling televised town halls that showcased striking differences in temperament, views on racial justice and approaches to the pandemic that has reshaped the nation.
Trump was defensive about his administration’s handling of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 215,000 American lives, and evasive when pressed about whether he took a required COVID-19 test before his first debate with Biden. Angry and combative, he refused to denounce the QAnon conspiracy group —and only testily did so on white supremacists.
President Donald Trump speaks during an NBC News Town Hall, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The president also appeared to acknowledge he was in debt and left open the possibility that some of it was owed to a foreign bank. He insisted that he didn’t owe any money to Russia or any “sinister people” and suggested that being $400 million in debt was a “very very small percentage” compared to his overall assets.
Biden, appearing nearly 1,200 miles away, denounced the White House’s handling of the virus, declaring that it was at fault for closing a pandemic response office established by the Obama administration in which he served. Though vague at times, he acknowledged it was a mistake to support a 1994 crime bill that led to increased Black incarceration and suggested he finally will offer clarity on his position on expanding the Supreme Court if Trump’s nominee to the bench is seated before Election Day.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos pose for photographs at the beginning of a town hall format meeting at the National Constitution Center October 15, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The second presidential debate was originally scheduled for this day but was cancelled after President Donald Trump refused to participate in a ‘virtual’ debate after he tested positive for the coronavirus and was hospitalized for three days.(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump, less than two weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19, dodged directly answering whether he took a test the day of the Sept. 29 debate, only saying “possibly I did, possibly I didn’t.” Debate rules required that each candidate, using the honor system, had tested negative prior to the Cleveland event, but Trump spoke in circles when asked when he last tested negative.
It was his positive test two days later that created Thursday’s odd spectacle, which deprived most viewers of a simultaneous look at the candidates just 19 days before Election Day. The moment seemed fitting for a race unlike any other, as yet another campaign ritual changed by the pandemic that has rewritten the norms of society.
The presidential rivals took questions in different cities on different networks: Trump on NBC from Miami, Biden on ABC from Philadelphia. Trump backed out of plans for the presidential faceoff originally scheduled for the evening after debate organizers said it would be held virtually following his COVID-19 diagnosis.
The town halls offered a different format for the two candidates to present themselves to voters, after the pair held a chaotic and combative first debate late last month. The difference in the men’s tone was immediate and striking.
Trump was Trump. He was loud and argumentative, fighting with the host, Savannah Guthrie, complaining about the questioning — and eventually saying for the first time that he would honor the results of a fair election, but only after casting an extraordinary amount doubt on the likeliness of fairness.
President Donald Trump speaks during an NBC News Town Hall with moderator Savannah Guthrie, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“And then they talk ’Will you accept a peaceful transfer,'” Trump said. “And the answer is, ‘Yes, I will.’ But I want it to be an honest election, and so does everybody else.”
He again sought to minimize revelations from a New York Times investigation that he has more than $400 million in debt and suggested that reports are wrong that he paid little or no federal income taxes in most years over the past two decades. He insisted that Americans should not be alarmed by his debt and repeatedly insisted that he is “underleveraged.”
“It’s a tiny percentage of my net worth,” Trump said of his reported debt. But he left open the possibility that some of his debt is owed to a foreign bank by saying. “No, I don’t owe Russia money. I owe a very, very small, it’s called mortgages.”
Biden meanwhile, took a far different, softer, approach with audience questions. The former vice president, who struggled growing up with a stutter, stuttered slightly at the start of the program and at one point squeezed his eyes shut and slowed down his response to clearly enunciate his words. At times his answers droned on.
Dressed in a blue suit and holding a white cloth mask in one hand, the Democratic nominee also brought a small card of notes on stage and referred to it while promising to roll back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. He said doing so would save, as he consulted his notes, “let me see… $92 billion.”
Biden vowed to say before Election Day whether he will support expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court if Democrats win the presidency, the Senate and hold the House after November.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden waits to participate in a Town Hall format meeting with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos at the National Constitution Center October 15, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The second presidential debate was originally scheduled for this day but was cancelled after President Donald Trump refused to participate in a ‘virtual’ debate after he tested positive for the coronavirus and was hospitalized for three days. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
He has for weeks refused to answer the question but went further Thursday night. He said, “I’m still not a fan” of expanding the court, but that his ultimate decision depended on how the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court “is handled” and “how much they rush this.”
Biden also blasted Trump’s foreign policy, declaring that “’America first’ has made ‘America alone’” and “This president embraces all the thugs in the world.” He turned introspective when asked what it would say if he lost.
“It could say that I’m a lousy candidate, that I didn’t do a good job,” Biden said. “But I think, I hope that it doesn’t say that we’re as racially, ethnically and religiously at odds as it appears the president wants us to be.”
Biden said he plans to participate in next week’s debate but that he would ask Trump to take a COVID-19 test before arriving. “It’s just decency” for everyone around him, including non-candidates like camera operators, Biden said.
The two men are still scheduled to occupy the same space for a debate for a second and final time next week in Nashville. But the cancellation of Thursday’s debate still reverberated for both campaigns.
Trump and Biden battled on Sept. 29 in Cleveland in a debate defined both by the president’s constant hectoring of his opponent, which sent his support lower, and by its place on the calendar: just two days before Trump announced he had tested positive for coronavirus.
Trump was hospitalized for three days, and while he later convalesced at the White House the debate commission moved to make their second debate remote — which the president immediately rejected.
The Chicago native was found dead at his home near Atlanta.
ESPNNFL reporter Vaughn McClure died this week at age 48.
His cause of death has not yet been revealed. The company confirmed Thursday that the Chicago native was found dead at his home near Atlanta.
McClure joined ESPN in 2013 and most recently was the Atlanta Falcons reporter as part of NFL Nation. He also contributed to ESPN’s television, radio and digital coverage.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of ESPN’s Vaughn McClure,” Falcons president Rich McKay said in a statement. “He was an earnest, thoughtful reporter who had a passion for his craft and the relationships he held. He will be missed dearly and we are holding his family, friends and associates in our thoughts and prayers,” he added.
“We all loved Vaughn,” said John Pluym, senior deputy editor for digital NFL coverage at ESPN. “He had a heart of gold. He was so helpful to our reporters. In the last few hours, we’ve heard so many stories about how Vaughn had helped them with a story or how he put in a good word for them with a coach or player.”
Pluym added: “Talking to Vaughn on the phone was always a joy. I loved how you could just sense the excitement in his voice for being able to cover the Falcons for ESPN. We will all miss him greatly. And I’ll end this the way Vaughn ended every phone call with a colleague: ‘Appreciate you. Love you.’ We all loved him, too.”
For those who weren’t lucky enough to meet Vaughn McClure or have the privilege to call him a friend, I want to at least share with you how I’ll remember him. Rest in paradise, my brother. Until we meet again… pic.twitter.com/O3BkWMn0A6
Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher and ESPN NFL Nation reporter Turron Davenport were among the fans, athletes and colleagues who posted tributes and condolences on social media.
“Vaughn was an awesome guy. So many times I can remember him reaching out to me to make sure I was all good. Rest in power my guy. You will absolutely be missed,” Davenport tweeted.
Vaughn McClure was my friend. That's how he made me feel. He was warm and kind to me always. He reached out with tips to try and help me professionally, telling me: "You're my guy." I know he did the same for many. Thank you for the many blessings, good sir. Rest in peace.
Really sad to hear the news earlier today that my ESPN NFL Nation teammate and friend Vaughn McClure passed away. Vaughn was an awesome guy. So many times I can remember him reaching out to me to make sure I was all good. Rest in power my guy. You will absolutely be missed.
“People will probably remember how Vaughn was able to connect and develop trusting relationships with many of the athletes he covered, or how diligent he was about deadlines, or the countless times he volunteered to help out a colleague on another sport,” said Patricia Mays, senior director of content strategy and distribution at ESPN. “But what I respected most was how committed he was to continually improving. One of the last emails I received from him was asking for feedback. He wrote: ‘Would love to talk to you after the season about how I can get better at a lot of things. I want to be great at this job.'”
Prior to joining the ESPN family, McClure covered the Bears for the Chicago Tribune. He also worked at the Chicago Sun-Times, Fresno Bee and South Bend Tribune, according to the report. He graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1994.
Have you subscribed totheGrio’s podcast“Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
OPINION: Polls currently show that 24% of Black men approved of Trump as opposed to 6% of Black women. The choices of Black male voters may be decisive in the election outcome.
Donald Trump is courting Black male voters.
He is playing into longstanding Republican efforts to shave off portions of Black Democratic support without changing their platform to attract large numbers of Black voters. The goal is not to win Black votes but to weaken Black support for the Democratic nominee who cannot win without them.
That Black men more consistently show higher support for Republicans than Black women is not new. Black male Republican support increased between former President Barack Obama’s first and second elections. In 2016, Trump attracted 13% of Black male votes. Two times more than Black women.
Polls currently show that 24% of Black men approved of Trump as opposed to 6% of Black women. What is new is that the choices of Black male voters may be decisive in the election outcome. The Trump campaign has invested heavily in Black outreach in battleground states where victories will be narrow and small shifts are enormously impactful.
A man holds a sign as he waits to see Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speak on October 27, 2016 in Springfield, Ohio. Trump spent the day campaigning in Ohio. With less than two weeks to go until election day, Donald Trump continues to campaign in tight battleground states. (Photo by Maddie McGarvey/Getty Images)
The Biden campaign is also running ads that are directly aimed at persuading and mobilizing Black male voters. The “Shop Talk” ads featured Black men in barbershops discussing why they should support the Biden/Harris ticket. It is a clear recognition that they believe Trump’s messages are working.
The Trump campaign is trying to surpass their 2016 results. If successful, the difference will come from Black men. He only needs to gain a few percentage points among Black voters to eke out a victory. Four years ago, Trump won Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin by less than 30,000 votes. He won ten states by less than four percent, which means even an uptick of a few percentage points has the potential to shape the outcome.
Trump support is especially high among younger Black men who believe Democrats take them for granted and are unable to improve race relations. Black men report feeling overlooked by society except when viewed as a threat. A similar gender gap exists among white Republican voters and suggests Republican positions are generally more attractive to men.
Trump exudes a kind of masculine power that rejects rules and norms but manages to thrive anyway. The campaign’s goal seems clear: to tap into nihilism and chauvinism among Black men who feel dejected enough, disgruntled enough, and sexist enough to be attracted to the style and content of Trump’s message.
Donald Trump hold signs reading, ”Women for Trump’ and ‘Blacks for Trump’, during a rally at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport on October 12, 2016 in Lakeland, Florida. Trump continues to campaign against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with less than one month to Election Day. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Republicans have relied on racial dog whistles for decades that fed racial prejudices. In the Trump era, that dog whistle has become a bullhorn. Trump has referred to Black Lives Matter protestors as thugs. He habitually insults Black women reporters and politicians, most recently referring to Kamala Harris as a “monster.”
She joins a growing list that includes Congresswoman Maxine Waters and journalists April Ryan and Yamiche Alcindor. He has referred to African countries as “shithole countries.” Rather than reconsidering these positions that alienate most Blacks, the Trump campaign is courting a subset of Black male voters.
Noticeably during the RNC in August, there was a conspicuous presence of Black men and the virtual absence of Black women. Black men from all walks of life enthusiastically testified to Trump’s generosity toward and concern for Black life. The speakers positioned themselves as independent thinkers who escaped the “mental plantation” of the Democratic Party.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron stands on stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. while addressing the Republican National Convention in August. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
They deployed Biden’s own words that Black people who vote for Trump are not really Black to reinforce the idea that Democrats take them for granted. Speakers touted Trump’s support for HBCUs and his crime reform bill. They noted that Trump represents the party of Lincoln that freed the slaves — as if this iteration of the party hasn’t worked diligently to repel Black voters in exchange for racially conservative white voters.
There is a cynical calculation at play. The Trump campaign understands they may lose among suburban white women and see Black male voters as a way to make up the difference. Stewart Lawrencewrote in The Federalist last October, “Trump’s ability to win even 15 percent Black male support in states like Pennsylvania might provide him the margin he needs, even offsetting some expected losses from suburban women.”
US President Donald Trump (Center-R), Herschel Walker (Center-L), Mariano Rivera (R), and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, walk as they watch young participants during the White House Sports and Fitness Day on the South Lawn on May 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images)
This push to attract Black male support is connected to two important political historical moments that point to how conservative beliefs among Blacks are ripe for exploitation by the right. One from the distant past and one more recent.
In Reconstruction, the 15th Amendment extended voting rights to Black men, but all women remained disenfranchised. Legally, Black men entered voting booths to register their political preferences. In actuality, that vote was viewed as a proxy for the entire community.
Historian, Elsa Barkley Brown, explains that many decisions were made communally. Public meetings were held where men, women and children participated with the understanding that Black men would represent those views on their ballot. Additionally, as Black men were harassed, beaten and killed by white mobs, Black women served as their armed escorts to the polls.
When Reconstruction ended and African American male suffrage greatly diminished, Barkley Brown found that Black men began to exclude Black women from power in the community. The loss of leadership opportunities in the public domain led Black men to support more conservative gender roles in the private domain.
When they could no longer hold office, be party leaders or govern — all spaces where women were barred — men replicated their male-dominated leadership experience within the Black community by attempting to exclude women from any institutional authority.
Today, Black women not only outpace Black men in political participation but they also outpace them in a host of other socioeconomic indicators. Those Black men who see Black women’s success as displacement can easily find a home in the male-dominated space of the Republican Party. This might help explain the attraction not just for Black men but all men who view manhood as a prerequisite for leadership.
A supporter of President Donald Trump holds a Trump campaign banner as he waits for Trump to arrive for Black Voices for Trump rally Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
More than that, it might explain why messaging about being overlooked or taken for granted are the appeals that are leading some Black men to support Trump.
More recently, in 2004, Republicans used opposition to gay marriage to appeal to high levels of African American religiosity. Blacks are more likely to attend church services or pray at least once a week and say they have absolute belief in God.
Using connections made through Bush’s faith-based initiatives office, the Bush campaign tapped into African Americans’ long history of social and religious conservatism that sometimes overlaps with white evangelicals.
Black megachurch pastors spoke out against same-sex marriage, and African American Republican support increased tremendously in states where anti-gay marriage amendments were on the ballot. There is no definitive evidence that this increased support was decisive.
Bishop Eddie Long gives a sermon where he addressed sex scandal allegations at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church September 26, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by John Amis-Pool/Getty Images)
According to David Bositis at the Joint Center, if Bush’s support in Ohio had remained at the same level, Ohio would have ended up in the same legal fight as Florida in 2000 as four years previous.
It is important to note that Black men are second only to Black women in their support for Democrats. Even if Black male Republican support increases in 2020, most of the responsibility for a second Trump victory will be attributable to white voters.
Close victories are never about majorities, but the potential of small groups in important states to shape national results.
The power of this siphoning strategy is surgical. In the wake of grave concerns about voter suppression, fears about mail-in ballots, and the continued impact of the pandemic, close political races are increasingly less predictable.
Across the nation, state leaders are engaged in suppressive efforts to limit voter access. Much of which cannot be regulated because the Voting Rights Act has been so weakened.
So both campaigns have to work diligently to maintain current levels of support and counter similar efforts by their opponents.
Melanye Price is Endowed Professor of Political Science at Prairie View A&M University and regular contributor to the Opinion section of The New York Times. Her most recent book is The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the Political Uses of Race.
‘He’s completely out of touch with the South Carolina of today.’
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham referred to segregation as “the good old days” during Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Graham, who is up for re-election this year, later told reporters that the comment was nothing more than “deep sarcasm,” but he’s still catching heat over it. His Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, who is Black, added his voice to the chorus of critics who were quick to call out the South Carolina lawmaker on social media, New York Times reports.
“The good old days for who, Senator?” Harrison tweeted, along with a video clip of Graham’s comment. “It’s 2020, not 1920. Act like it.”
Guy King, a spokesperson for Harrison’s campaign, said Graham’s comments confirm that he’s “out of touch.”
“Yet again, Lindsey Graham has proven that he’s completely out of touch with the South Carolina of today,” King tells Newsweek. “Even as peaceful protestors demonstrate across our state for equality and justice, Lindsey can’t help but refer fondly to a time of violent oppression and segregation against African Americans. It’s time for new leadership that is reflective of the New South, that is bold, inclusive and diverse. Lindsey Graham has lost his moral compass.”
As part of the Senate’s hearing on Oct. 14 to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court, Graham referred to segregation as the “good old’ days” in an attempt to squash concerns about her questionable record on cases involving race.
“You’re not aware of any effort to go back to the good old days of segregation by a legislative body, is that correct?” Graham asked, to which Barrett agreed.
Social media users wasted no time putting the Senator on blast for his poor choice of words. Barrett is also receiving the side-eye for not getting Graham right together over his language.
Twitter user Laura Martin noted that Barrett is “raising Black kids,” and that “she didn’t even flinch or correct Graham for referring to segregation as the “good ol days,”” she wrote. Adding, “Also, notice she has no problem saying her opinion on Brown. She spent much of yesterday refusing to do the same for cases involving marriage and abortion.”
Lindsey Graham: "There's one group in America I think has had a hard time of it, and that's conservatives of color and women conservatives…This hearing, to me, is an opportunity to not punch through a glass ceiling, but a reinforced concrete barrier, around conservative women" pic.twitter.com/G9nPVoxg3s
After the hearing, Graham made clear that he sarcastically suggested that “some legislative body would want to yearn for the “good ol’ days of segregation,”‘ he told reporters.
“The point that I’m trying to make is there is nobody in America in the legislative arena, wanting to take us back to that dark period in American history,” he continued. “And for my opponent to suggest that says far more about him than me.’
“And in terms of that statement … it blows my mind that any rational person can believe that about me,” Graham added.
Have you subscribed totheGrio’s podcast“Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
‘Tomorrow is not promised and early detection saves lives.’
Kevin Boseman, brother of late actor Chadwick Boseman, shared on his Instagram story that Oct. 14 marks his two year anniversary being cancer free.
Boseman revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and underwent four rounds of chemotherapy. The actor/writer said he initially shared the diagnosis with only a select few people because of “boundaries.”
“I wanted to share because while it’s been a year of profound loss and tragedy for so many of us, this is good news. Something to smile about. Something to shout about,” Boseman said about being in remission.
“I hope you’re smiling and shouting with me,” he added. “Cancer is something most of us have no control over. We can only control our responses to it, which includes being proactive about our healthcare both physically and mental.”
Instagram
Boseman also encouraged his followers to go get checked if something doesn’t feel right.
“Tomorrow is not promised and early detection saves lives,” he said, concluding with: “Health is wealth. True wealth.”
Boseman’s remission celebration comes less than two months after Chadwick died from colon cancer at age 43.
“A lot of people think making it means becoming an A-list movie star,” Kevin told The New York Times early this month. “I didn’t force that. I just knew that if Chad wanted to work in the arts, he would find a way and take care of himself.”
Chadwick was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016 and still went on to play the lead in one of the biggest films in history, Black Panther. He also portrayed James Brown in Get On Up, Jackie Robinson in 42, and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall.
His last film appearance is in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom debuting on Netflix Dec. 18.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is set during an intense recording session 1920’s Chicago as Ma Rainey battles her manager and producer and an ambitious trumpeter, played by Boseman, over control of her music. The film also stars Viola Davis in the title role and is based on the August Wilson play. theGRIO previously reported, early buzz says Boseman gives a stellar performance and could be an Oscar contender for either the lead or supporting actor category.
Have you subscribed totheGrio’s podcast“Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
The businessman allegedly failed to pay taxes on about $200 million in assets.
Billionaire Robert Smith has reached a $140 million settlement with the DOJ as part of a four-year criminal tax investigation.
Smith, who famously pledged to pay off the debt of Morehouse College students last year, must also acknowledge misconduct related to tax crimes and assets held in offshore tax structures.
theGRIO previously reported, Smith allegedly failed to pay taxes on about $200 million in assets that moved through offshore accounts tied to Robert Brockman, a Houston software businessman.
Brockman reportedly gave Smith $1 billion in 2000 to start his equity firm, funds that originated from a charitable trust based in Bermuda.
Smith has reportedly been on the radar of the IRS since 2014, Bloombergreported. That year, the billionaire reportedly approached the federal agency seeking amnesty from prosecution under a program to Americans who did not report offshore assets. The IRS, however, declined Smith’s request. The agency reportedly turns down taxpayers if it already knew they had not reported offshore accounts.
In September 2019, Smith’s Vista Equity Partners was hit with a lawsuit that accused it of self-dealing, according to the New York Post. Kurt Lauk, a former executive at Audi, claimed he got booted from the board at the automotive software firm Solera Holdings when he brought up the concern. The suit accused Vista of using Solera as a “personal piggy bank” to bail out the firm’s failed investments in other companies. The suit also accused Vista of misleading its investors, to which Smith and the firm denied.
Smith cooperated with the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service criminal tax investigation to avoid prosecution. A conviction would have forced him out of his Vista Equity Partners management firm, $65 million fine and a prison sentence.
Robert F. Smith (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights )
As part of the settlement, he must admit that he failed to pay about $30 million in taxes, with penalties and interest accounting for the expected $140 million payout, per Bloomberg.
Smith’s tax woes began after he allegedly failed to file proper reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, the report states
The businessman and entrepreneur is the wealthiest Black person in America, with a reported net worth of $7 billion.
Have you subscribed totheGrio’s podcast“Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
The actor is giving back to teachers in a big way with the help of a major corporation
Mekhi Phifer has portrayed a myriad of memorable roles since he hit our screens in 1995 in Spike Lee’s Clockers. It was the first role that he landed after his first big audition.
Fast forward 25 years later and Phifer has solidified his spot in Hollywood in both film and television and has worked alongside some of the greats. He spoke with theGrio about which role he would play again, which acting veteran gave him advice that he still follows today and why he decided to give back to teachers during the pandemic.
Phifer lives a quiet life out of the spotlight and that is how he prefers it. Even in a social media-obsessed world, he’s managed to dodge the blogs and mostly stay out of the headlines for things other than acting. He says that’s because he moves strategically. Phifer will admit he’s friends with fellow Hollywood heartthrobs Omar Epps and Morris Chestnut and they hang out at each other’s houses from time to time, but there is one place he says you will never spot him.
“You aren’t going to find me out at the club, at the 40/40 or something like that,” said Phifer with a cackle by phone from Los Angeles. He did accept an invitation to a dinner at Quincy Jones’ home, though, and Oscar-winning icon Sidney Poitier was there to offer him advice he still follows.
“He said to me, ‘they won’t pay to see your movies on Saturday if they see you at the club on Friday.’”
Phifer has easily played some fan favorites. So when we asked which one of them he would revive, it was no surprise when he said, “I would definitely bring back Mitch.”
Mitch or “money-making Mitch” as he was affectionately called was the character Phifer played in the classic movie, Paid in Full. The movie was based on the real-life story of ’80s drug dealers in Harlem. The actor says strangers still approach him as Mitch.
Mekhi Phifer, Wood Harris and Cam’ron in ‘Paid in Full’
But despite all of the talent he’s had the privilege to work with, Phifer says the person who had the biggest impact in his life was the one he knows best offscreen.
“My mother was a teacher and to this day people will stop me and say, ‘hey your mother, Ms. Phifer was one of my favorite teachers,’” he said.
The actor grew up with his mother, Rhoda Phifer, in Harlem, New York. He says he was ahead of his friends academically when he was younger because she instilled in him the importance of education and made sure his learning didn’t stop outside of the classroom. Today he passes along those values to his 12-year-old son and is dedicated to giving back to teachers.
The actor is collaborating with Nutri-Grain to help educators who teach K-12th grades by providing them with snacks for their students. According to NEA.org, 94% of teachers spend money out of their own pockets to provide resources for their students, including snacks.
“The company is giving away a million bars,” says Phifer. “That is incredible because teachers are the real superheroes.”
Current K-12 teachers who would like to submit to win a “Got Your Back” bin filled with Nutri-Grain bars, click here.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Florida couple Abena and Alex Horton got more value for their home when an appraiser thought only a white family lived there
A couple in Florida claims they faced discrimination in having their home appraised.
As reported by theGrio, when Abena and Alex Horton attempted to refinance their Jacksonville, Florida home last June, they found out just how racial disparities play out in homeownership. In their case, the discrimination was made obvious because Abena is Black and her husband is white.
The Hortons are being profiled on ABC’s Nightline, hosted by Diane Sawyer to discuss what happened to them when an appraiser came out to value their home so they could ultimately pay off their mortgage early.
Their home is filled with pictures of their family, including their 6-year-old son. A bookshelf with books by Black authors and African American anthologies is prominently displayed.
Horton, who is an attorney, met with their appraiser in the four-bedroom, four-bathroom ranch-style home she shared with her husband, a painter. The Hortons thought the appraised price of their property was “shockingly low,” compared to comparable others in the area. Even the bank was surprised.
“It clicked in my mind almost immediately that I understand what the issue was here,” Abena said.
She added that her reaction was a “a big eye roll.”
“This person is being so petty and hateful, and he’s wasting my time,” she said. “Why did I let myself forget that I live in America as a Black person and that I need to take some extra steps to get a fair result.”
Horton decided to take matters into her own hands and conduct an experiment. She requested a second appraisal but this time, her husband would be the only one at home, and only photos of her husband and his white family members were visible.
It was “crushing” to her spirit and she felt “ashamed of the fact that my son will see that this is something that I did.”
“I’m ashamed to say that I really wanted to refinance and pay off my house sooner and have full equity in my home, and so I was willing to put up with that indignity to do it because I knew it was going to be effective,” she said. “So it was a combination of pragmatism and deep and profound sadness.”
Horton’s instincts proved correct and in the second appraisal, the home’s value increased by 40%, or another $100,000. Abena was relieved by the more favorable appraisal at first but then the tears flowed.
“Because we realize just how much more removing that variable increased the value of our home… To know just how much, me personally, I was devaluing the home just by sitting in it. Just by living my life. Just by paying my mortgage. Just by raising my son there. How much [the first appraiser] felt that that devalued my house, devalued the neighborhood,” she added.
Horton shared what she went through in a viral Facebook post that led others to share similar experiences of discrimination.
Andre Perry, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that research shows that Black neighborhoods are devalued by 23%. He gave an estimate of $156 billion lost in equity.
“That discrimination is leading to a widening of the wealth gap,” he said, “and so one can argue that we’re in worse shape than we were 20, 30, 40 years ago.”
Watch the full story on Nightline tonight at 12 a.m. ET on ABC
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
The McCloskeys, who have been indicted for pointing guns at protesters this summer, are handing out autographed photos of the incident
The Missouri lawyer couple who pointed their guns at protesters outside their home has been indicted, but apparently, they’re not too worried about the consequences. A patron at a Missouri restaurant says Mark and Patricia McCloskey handed her server an autographed photo of the incident captioned with ‘Still Standing.’
As reported bytheGrio, the McCloskeys went viral in June after brandishing guns when supporters of BLM walked through their suburban St. Louis neighborhood to advocate for the resignation of St. Louis mayor Lyda Krewson. Krewson earned the ire of protesters by reading the names and addresses of people who supported defunding police departments in a Facebook Live.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey (Screenshot from viral video)
The McCloskeys are prominent St. Louis lawyers who were recorded brandishing a handgun and a rifle when protesters walked through the gated community in Portland Place where Krewson also lived. The two were not approached by protestors in the video.
Still, the couple says they felt “threatened” and claim that their home would have been burned down had they not made the armed stand. A Missouri prosecutor disagreed, charging the couple with unlawful possession of a weapon, and just a week ago, on new charges of evidence tampering. They have pleaded not guilty on both charges.
Hailed by conservatives and invited to speak at the Republican National Convention, the McCloskeys are seemingly reveling in their newfound fame. A patron at the Original Pancake House in Ladue, Missouri told Missouri’s KMOV 4 News that the server was a surprised as anyone else to get handed the postcard by the couple.
“We were having breakfast and I noticed all this commotion around the table when they had left. The server was like ‘Oh my God, look what they left me,” diner Andrea Spencer told the outlet. “I saw it and thought ‘Oh my God.’ It was just flabbergasting think that you’re capitalizing on these 15 minutes of shame that you have, and to publicize it on a postcard. I thought it was strange.”
Al Watkins, an attorney who represents the couple, says they are often asked for autographs and created the postcards to facilitate those requests.
Spencer posted a photo of the postcard to her Facebook page.
The McCloskeys may find themselves in even more legal trouble. The photographer who snapped the viral pic told KMOV that the McCloskeys do not have permission to disseminate the photo. Ironically, the McCloskeys, who have a lengthy history of suing others, including alleged “trespassers,” once sued the Central West End Association for including a picture of their home in a brochure.
The nine protesters who entered the Portland Place community were initially given trespassing tickets but were not charged in the demonstration in Portland Place, reports Law and Crime. The McCloskeys say that’s unfair given their right to “protect” their property.
Witnesses may be more likely to come forward in the case now that they know they are not being charged, reports KMOV. Those witnesses were referred to just by their initials, given how public the case has become.
“Given the international attention this matter has generated,” a prosecutor said in court documents, “and the violence and vitriol directed towards the Circuit Attorney’s office for the prosecution of this case, the witnesses were understandably reluctant to cooperate.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Lee James Mouat, who allegedly hurled the N-word, faces the possibility of 10 years in prison on a federal hate charge
A Michigan man is facing a federal hate charge after allegedly fracturing a Black teen’s jaw with a lock and declaring that “Black lives don’t matter.”
Lee James Mouat, 42, is alleged to have hit a Black teen with a bike lock which not only fractured his teeth but broke his jaw, Buzzfeedreports. The 18-year-old has only been identified as D.F.
A criminal complaint filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan declared that Mouat was charged on Tuesday with one count of willfully causing bodily injury to the victim because of his race. The incident in question took place on June 6 when Mouat approached the teenager and his friends who are also Black in a parking lot at William C. Sterling State Park in Monroe, per the affidavit.
Sterling State Park in Monroe (Credit: Matt Taylor/Flickr/Creative Commons / Via Flickr: matt_devicious)
Mouat is accused of hurling racial slurs and told the group of Black teenagers that they had no right to use the public beach. The teenagers had just emerged from a swim.
“N**gers don’t belong on this beach,” Mouat yelled, according to the victim, before “walking quickly towards him” and striking him in the face with a “chain bike-lock,” the documents said.
The teen was hospitalized and treated for his injuries that included the loss of several teeth and a broken jaw. Witnesses claimed that Mouat also repeatedly used the N-word.
“These n**gers are playing gang music” and “I’ll bash their heads in if they don’t turn [their music] down,” Mouat said according to the affidavit.
He also made reference to the Black Lives Matter movement. After the death of George Floyd in May, protests swept the country with the demand for police reform and affirming the lives of Black people. Mouat felt differently.
“Black lives don’t matter,” he yelled before striking the teen.
Mouat was initially arrested after the incident and charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, felonious assault, and ethnic intimidation, Monore Newsreported. He is currently still in the custody of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and being held on a $100,000 bond.
Federal prosecutors stated that Mouat faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted on the hate crime charges.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Health experts have noted that large clinical trials are usually paused when side effects occur.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly said Tuesday that it is pausing its clinical trial of an antibody treatment for COVID-19 due a safety concern.
“Safety is of the utmost importance to Lilly. We are aware that, out of an abundance of caution, the ACTIV-3 independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) has recommended a pause in enrollment,” Eli Lilly spokeswoman Molly McCully in a statement, The Hill reports.
Health experts have noted that large clinical trials are usually paused when side effects occur. British drugmaker AstraZeneca recently pumped the brakes on its vaccine trial after a patient fell ill.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson described the pause as “a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials.”
Eli Lilly’s drug is known as a monoclonal antibody – which is a synthetic version of the antibodies produced by a patient who recovered from the potentially fatal coronavirus, per U.S. News and World Report.
President Donald Trump praised a similar drug made by Regeneron, which he was given following his alleged COVID-19 diagnosis.
Eli Lilly’s latest development follows news that Johnson & Johnson paused its vaccine trial “due to an unexplained illness in a study participant,” CNN reports.
“Following our guidelines, the participant’s illness is being reviewed and evaluated by the ENSEMBLE independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) as well as our internal clinical and safety physicians,” the drug and pharmaceutical company said in a statement of the study, which is named ENSEMBLE “Adverse events — illnesses, accidents, etc. — even those that are serious, are an expected part of any clinical study, especially large studies.”
We’re proud to announce Lilly’s participation with @gatesfoundation, as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, in a new global effort to ensure equitable access to #COVID19 therapeutic options for patients in low-and middle-income countries: https://t.co/CRlwDLyCUMpic.twitter.com/v2EMuHXAsD
Eli Lilly has not announced how long the pause might last.
“The trial, evaluating Lilly’s investigational neutralizing antibody as a treatment for COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Lilly is supportive of the decision by the independent DSMB to cautiously ensure the safety of the patients participating in this study,” the company said in the statement.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
‘The self-proclaimed alt-right leader praised Christopher Columbus and mocked the Haitian revolution.
For the latest episode of his Cannon’s Class podcast, Nick Cannon welcomed controversial white nationlaist Richard Spencer for a conversation about Christopher Columbus and national holiday dedicated to the Italian explorer.
While Spencer defended the celebration of Columbus Day, Cannon made clear, “I still don’t understand why there’s a holiday.”
“Because he’s amazing,” answered Spencer. Watch their moment via the Instagram video below.
Spencer made headlines in 2017 when he joined the alt-right protest over the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, theGRIO previously reported. He also led the torchlit march that set off a weekend of violence during the “Unite the Right” rally, which led to the death of Heather Heyer. At the time, he was caught on audio allegedly spewing racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric during a meeting, per Mediaite.
During his conversation this week with Cannon, Spencer praised Christopher Columbus and mocked the Haitian revolution.
When the former Wild ‘n Out host noted that “Christopher Columbus is a bedtime story,” Spencer fired back with, “Well, so is the Haitian revolution. They were killing women and children.”
Cannon defended the Haitians before explaining that “nobody was f*cking with” Christopher Columbus.
“He came and started f*cking with people. People were enjoying themselves and he brought famine, disease and just raped and pillaged everything,” Cannon added. “So why would you guys want to protect statues of losers who were clearly on the wrong side of history?” he asked.
“Because they were great,” said Spencer.
“Great losers!,” Cannon replied.
Cannon took to social media to describe his conversation with Spencer as “intriguing.”
Cannon is now catching heat for giving Spencer a platform.
“Nick Cannon: I’m sorry, I’m not antisemitic I don’t hate Jews, really!” Stop Antisemitism.org tweeted. “Also Nick Cannon: let’s host Neo Nazi Richard Spencer and piss off some more Jews.”
Nick Cannon: I’m sorry, I’m not antisemitic I don’t hate Jews, really!
Also Nick Cannon: let’s host Neo Nazi Richard Spencer and piss off some more Jews https://t.co/dT7KwnDtRI
Cannon and Spencer’s candid discussion comes less than two months after the former America’s Got Talent host was termination by ViacomCBS and his hit variety show Wild ‘n Out was cancelled over alleged anti-Semitic remarks he made on his podcast. Cannon responded by suing the company for $1.5B, the estimated value of his show.
“It is just that simple, Wild ’n Out belongs to Nick!” Cannon’s team said in a statement. “The show was created by Nick Cannon with his idea and original thought. Wild ’n Out has brought billions of dollars in revenue to Viacom since 2015. And Nick deserves and has earned everything it is worth.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Who are you?
-
Ever since I saw the first preview of the movie, Overcomer, I wanted to see
it. I was ready. Pumped. The release month was etched in my mind. When the
time...
7 Networking Tips to Meet Your Career Goals
-
Building your network is vital no matter where you are in your career
journey. For first-time job seekers, networking can help you gain
opportunities in ...
Black Music Festivals in 2024
-
Get Ready for the Hottest Black Music Festivals of 2024 For lovers of
hip-hop, R&B, soul, funk, jazz, and more, 2024 is shaping up to be an
incredible year...
Master the Art of Asking Epic Travel Questions!
-
I’m blessed to have built a career in travel journalism over the last 12
years. Putting myself in the position to field hundreds of questions weekly
acro...
Best Clarifying Shampoo for Natural Hair 2023
-
Many women seek the best clarifying shampoo for natural hair and for good
reason. Using an excellent clarifying shampoo is a must for all girls (and
boys...
Master the Art of Asking Epic Travel Questions!
-
I’m blessed to have built a career in travel journalism over the last 12
years. Putting myself in the position to field hundreds of questions weekly
acro...
RV tire blowout part 4 – final
-
Recap – We had a major tire blowout on I-75 in Florida on our way back to
Georgia. I spent the night at Camping World’s parking lot. Drove back to
Georgia....
What We’re Reading | 2021 Staff Favorites
-
2021 is coming to a close. We laughed, we cried, and we read through the
chaos of living through another year of the pandemic. In honor of another
amazing ...
Everyday Life With Crypto: 5 Unique Gift Ideas
-
This year crypto is more than a buzzword! With over 18465 cryptocurrencies
already making their movements in the market, investors are getting
innovative...
