New Birth Missionary Baptist church will re-direct Kanye’s hefty donation

New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia is taking a financial contribution it received from Kanye West, and giving it to cash-strapped Morris Brown College to help establish scholarships.

READ MORE: Kanye West brings Sunday Service to Howard University, warns crowd to avoid ‘slave nets’

On Sunday, the Metro Atlanta based church’s venerable new pastor Rev. Jamal Harrison Bryant announced that the Grammy award winning rapper wrote a check to the church when he paid a surprise visit during a pop-up service Sept. 15, as part of his “Sunday Service”.

Originally the generous donation was slated to be redirected to Brown’s general scholarship fund, in honor of Donda West, the rapper’s late mother who worked for some 31 years in higher education, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

What happen @newbirthmbc today was indescribable! morrisbrownatl came through to close out homecoming @SelmaUntold was in the building 69 souls were saved, established college scholarship endowments and the glory… https://t.co/6rrXJKEEqD

— jamalbryant (@jamalhbryant) October 13, 2019

However, later in a periscope live, Pastor Bryant said that the scholarship will be earmarked for English students. Donda West, an English professor, died at the age of 58 from complications after a plastic surgery procedure. She started her career in education in the 1970s teaching at Morris Brown an obituary states.

“I went into prayer, and it dawned in me in prayer that Dr. Donda West, who was the mother of Kanye West, is a former professor at Morris Brown College,” Bryant said during Sunday’s service.

READ MORE: Kanye West brings Sunday Service to Howard University, warns crowd to avoid ‘slave nets’

The amount of the benevolent gift hasn’t been announced just yet.

With a decade of fiscal woes, Morris Brown, an HBCU, is still trying to rise from the ashes and steady itself after losing its accreditation in 2002.

Kevin James recently took the leadership position as interim president on March 1 and says he has plans to seek accreditation for the college from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), a federally recognized accreditation organization, according to Gale Gay, a spokeswoman for the school.

On Sunday, James was on hand and spoke with New Birth’s congregation and announced that the school was able to secure approval from the Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission as a higher learning institution.

“When you lose your accreditation, you close,” James said Sunday during service. “But for some reason, for the past 17 years, Morris Brown College has been able to survive. We will be the first historically black college in history … since 1837 to actually come back and be fully accredited under these circumstances.”

James also called the recent action a “major step” toward accreditation.

READ MORE: Queen Latifah to receive Harvard Black culture award

“I know what Dr. Donda West represented while at Morris Brown, and her mind for African American literature, was to empower, equip and engage students to be something radical that can change community and change society,” Bryant said.

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Nation’s Largest Black Bank Launches Campaign to Close the Racial Wealth Gap

It’s been more than 150 years, but black Americans still remain chained by the legacy of slavery. One of the most glaring effects of America’s original sin is the racial wealth gap. Because of centuries of economic oppression that intentionally barred African Americans from access to capital, white families today hold nearly 10 times the amount of wealth as black families as the median family wealth for white Americans is $171,000 compared to just $17,600 for blacks. Meanwhile, black Americans hold just 3% of the nation’s total wealth, despite being 13% of the population, according to the New York Times #1619 Project. That’s why the work of black banks is so important.

To address the systemic issue, OneUnited Bank launched BankBlack X, a nationwide campaign that aims to close the racial wealth gap. The purpose of the campaign is to galvanize and educate black folks about money and make financial literacy a core value of the black community.

Related: Call the racial wealth gap what it is: a “pustulant cavity of economic apartheid.”

“We have many weapons to affect change, starting with the truth. The reality is that almost everything we have been taught about Black Americans and money has been wrong,” said Teri Williams, president and COO of OneUnited, in a press release. “We have been bamboozled and led astray…for 400 years. We need to share the truth to make financial literacy a core value of our community!”

According to the bank’s website, BankBlack X will use technology and tap new socially conscious leaders to promote a sense of black pride and the achievements of African Americans. “Despite facing discrimination for over 400 years, black Americans have been able to advance equality, for themselves and other communities that face rampant discrimination,” reads the press release.

BankBlack X will offer tools and resources to promote financial literacy, including the free online Financial Education Center, the new BankBlack Card, and new features like BankBlack Early Pay, which enables customers to get paid two days early. The Bank is also partnering with Sirius Radio Urban View to hold a town hall meeting on the New York Times #1619Project on November 5..

OneUnited Bank is the largest black-owned bank in the U.S. and ranks as no. 1 on BLACK ENTERPRISE’s BE 100‘s Bank List, with $656 million in assets. Founded in 1968, the financial institution has been at the forefront of promoting black economic empowerment. Earlier this year, the bank launched “The Queen Card,” a Visa debit card with the image of an iconic black woman, as part of the bank’s Royalty Campaign. In 2017, the bank partnered with The Breakfast Club to raise over $700,000 to support social justice initiatives and activists. Back in 2014, it launched the Unity Visa Card, to help people rebuild their credit through a secured credit card as an alternative to a prepaid debit card.

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Nation’s Largest Black Bank Launches Campaign to Close the Racial Wealth Gap

It’s been more than 150 years, but black Americans still remain chained by the legacy of slavery. One of the most glaring effects of America’s original sin is the racial wealth gap. Because of centuries of economic oppression that intentionally barred African Americans from access to capital, white families today hold nearly 10 times the amount of wealth as black families as the median family wealth for white Americans is $171,000 compared to just $17,600 for blacks. Meanwhile, black Americans hold just 3% of the nation’s total wealth, despite being 13% of the population, according to the New York Times #1619 Project. That’s why the work of black banks is so important.

To address the systemic issue, OneUnited Bank launched BankBlack X, a nationwide campaign that aims to close the racial wealth gap. The purpose of the campaign is to galvanize and educate black folks about money and make financial literacy a core value of the black community.

Related: Call the racial wealth gap what it is: a “pustulant cavity of economic apartheid.”

“We have many weapons to affect change, starting with the truth. The reality is that almost everything we have been taught about Black Americans and money has been wrong,” said Teri Williams, president and COO of OneUnited, in a press release. “We have been bamboozled and led astray…for 400 years. We need to share the truth to make financial literacy a core value of our community!”

According to the bank’s website, BankBlack X will use technology and tap new socially conscious leaders to promote a sense of black pride and the achievements of African Americans. “Despite facing discrimination for over 400 years, black Americans have been able to advance equality, for themselves and other communities that face rampant discrimination,” reads the press release.

BankBlack X will offer tools and resources to promote financial literacy, including the free online Financial Education Center, the new BankBlack Card, and new features like BankBlack Early Pay, which enables customers to get paid two days early. The Bank is also partnering with Sirius Radio Urban View to hold a town hall meeting on the New York Times #1619Project on November 5..

OneUnited Bank is the largest black-owned bank in the U.S. and ranks as no. 1 on BLACK ENTERPRISE’s BE 100‘s Bank List, with $656 million in assets. Founded in 1968, the financial institution has been at the forefront of promoting black economic empowerment. Earlier this year, the bank launched “The Queen Card,” a Visa debit card with the image of an iconic black woman, as part of the bank’s Royalty Campaign. In 2017, the bank partnered with The Breakfast Club to raise over $700,000 to support social justice initiatives and activists. Back in 2014, it launched the Unity Visa Card, to help people rebuild their credit through a secured credit card as an alternative to a prepaid debit card.

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Video of President Executing Media in Mock Church Shooting Shown at Trump Resort

At a gathering hosted by a pro-Trump group—at a resort owned by Donald Trump, featuring some of Trump’s most famous spinoff racists, sponsored by a company the Trump administration paid hundreds of millions to detain migrants—someone apparently thought it would be hilarious to show a video of Donald Trump murdering…

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Florida State Senator files complaint against judge who jailed a Black man for missing jury duty

Florida State Senator Bobby Powell has taken action against a judge who sentenced a 21-year-old Black man to jail time for missing jury duty.

—Outrage after Black man sentenced to 10 days in jail for missing jury duty—

Powell filed a formal complaint with the Judicial Qualifications Commission, against Judge Kasternakes, who is on the hot seat for how he handled Deandre Somerville, a non-violent, first time offender and handed him a 10-day sentence after he overslept on the day he was supposed to report to serve jury duty.

“The thought that a judge would sentence a young man who had no previous history or incident with law enforcement to jail time, I was outraged,” Powell told ABC News.

“I know him, I know this young man for many, many years. When I saw his picture on the front page of the local paper, I was very much not only hurt and disappointed but heartbroken. I’m at a loss for words about how I felt.”

I have known Deandre and his family for many years. He is a terrific young man who has led a respectful, law-abiding life. We should all be respectful of the judicial system. With that said, in my opinion the punishment was too severe and unfair. https://t.co/4yo0gRiBpI

— Rep. Lois Frankel (@RepLoisFrankel) October 10, 2019

Somerville said he has never been arrested, and works for a youth after-school program for the City of West Palm Beach and Recreation Department. In his naiveite he said he overslept and when he woke out, he thought it was too late to report to court. So he went to work for his afternoon shift thinking that it was pointless to try to attend the trial so late.

“We’ve all made mistakes. You would think, ‘OK, if I go to court, the judge sees me in court,’ what’s the worse thing you think could happen? When Deandre went back to court he had on his work uniform, we thought the judge would see he is working and see he is a good young man,” Powell said.

Judge Kastrenakis didn’t let Powell off the hook, and instead sentenced him to 10 days in jail, one year of probation and 150 hours of community service and $223 in court fines.

According to the judge, Somerville “inconvenienced the court” for at least 45 minutes, and that rubbed the judge the wrong way.

—Youth hockey coach says he was criticized by racist parents—

The case prompted nationally outrage which ultimately caused the judge to throw out the ruling and he said Somerville was “totally rehabilitated,” ABC News reports.

Powell is “strongly considering” to later file for the judge’s impeachment with the legislature.

“What I would like to see is Judge Kasternakes removed from the bench,” Powell said.

“He has indicated to me through this decision that he is not qualified to make a fair and impartial decision.”

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