Teyana Taylor is Front and Center For Jordan Brand’s First-Ever Women’s Capsule Line

Teyana Taylor leads the way for Jordan Brand’s first new women’s collection. 

“Our passionate female audience is asking us for more, and this capsule collection celebrates a higher standard, a competitive spirit and fearless mindset for anyone who has the confidence to fly higher and break boundaries,” says Andrea Perez, GM of Jordan Women’s, in a press release. “Jordan Women’s grew triple digits last fiscal year and there is strong excitement from our consumers and key accounts for us to keep reaching new audiences through our Women’s footwear and apparel.”

“The capsule collection is a beautiful blend of streetwear utility with fashion influence and is underpinned by the authenticity of the brand’s heritage,” says Michelle Walter, design director for Jordan Women’s Apparel. “For example, traditional elements from MJ’s original flight suit are brought to life within the Bomber Jacket’s silhouette and featured Wings lines.”

Teyana Taylor (Nike.com)

The new Flight Suit, along with other pieces in the capsule, takes inspiration from the Wings lines of Michael Jordan’s mid-80s flight sneakers. The Utility Pant and Bomber Jacket follow the same style and pattern, the dimensions of both balancing an overt oversizing with feminine touches, such as a high waist or a faux-fur hood.

‘The garment’s features relay a function-first approach to a common wardrobe staple, the jumpsuit, while the piece’s proportions create a streetwear edge. It signals the intent of Jordan Brand’s new women’s collection: consider a fundamental Jordan idea, flight, to deliver a selection of new everyday items specifically for women. Archetypical clothing is thus transformed through defiant attitude; the Jordan rules applied to women’s design,” reads the press release

Teyana Taylor (Nike.com)

All clothing in the inclusive capsule is designed to serve a range of body types, and most are also available in Asian fit and plus sizing. 

The Jordan Women’s Flight Utility Apparel capsule will be available on Feb. 1 at various retail stores and released online Feb. 14 at Jordan.com, SNKRS and select retail stores around the world.

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Critics Choice Awards 2020: When They See Us Named Best Limited Series, Ava DuVernay Thanks Netflix Who ‘Let a Black Woman Do Her Thing’

So, in an effort to completely overwhelm me during an already overwhelming awards season (yes, this is about me!), the Critics Choice Awards decided to hold their ceremony the night before the Oscar nominations.

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BREAKING NEWS: Sen. Cory Booker announces end to presidential campaign with no clear path to victory

It was announced on Monday morning that Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker will no longer be vying for the top spot in the country and has decided to drop out as a candidate in the Democratic presidential race.

“It was a difficult decision to make, but I got in this race to win, and I’ve always said I wouldn’t continue if there was no longer a path to victory,” said Booker in a statement to supporters.

This not only tightens the race amongst the 12 remaining Democratic candidates, but it also makes former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick the only Black candidate still standing.

READ MORE: Cory Booker responds to Mike Bloomberg’s “well-spoken” comments, assures there is “no beef” between friends

Booker, who called his staff from his Newark campaign headquarters, actually emailed the statement which was obtained by NBC News. In it, he explained why he decided to run for President in the first place and how he came to the difficult decision to suspend his campaign.

“Nearly one year ago, I got in the race for president because I believed to my core that the answer to the common pain Americans are feeling right now, the answer to Donald Trump’s hatred and division, is to reignite our spirit of common purpose to take on our biggest challenges and build a more just and fair country for everyone,” said Booker.

“I’ve always believed that. I still believe that. I’m proud I never compromised my faith in these principles during this campaign to score political points or tear down others.”

“And maybe I’m stubborn, but I’ll never abandon my faith in what we can accomplish when we join together,” he continued. “I will carry this fight forward — I just won’t be doing it as a candidate for president this year. Friend, it’s with a full heart that I share this news — I’ve made the decision to suspend my campaign for president.”

 Booker went on to talk about the fact that the campaign needed more money in order to build to a place where they could win. Not qualifying for the next Dem debate scheduled on Tuesday and Booker’s need to be in Washington D.C. more and on the forefront of Trump’s impeachment were also cited as reasons for suspending the campaign.

READ MORE: Cory Booker: Impeachment trial could be ‘big blow’ to my campaign

Booker now joins Sen. Kamala Harris and former Housing Secretary Julián Castro as candidates of color who have terminated their campaigns in part because of the funding needed to sustain the long course. Booker has explained since last September that his campaign needed a hefty $2 million in financial support to remain a force that could defeat Trump. Now, he’ll try to beat the President in another way as Senator since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Sunday that there may be even more articles of impeachment coming down the pike.

No word on who Booker will endorse now that he is out of the race.

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Joe Biden picks up Colin Allred as 10th Black Congressional Caucus endorser

By BILL BARROW Associated Press
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Monday picked up his 10th endorsement from a Congressional Black Caucus member, with Texas Rep. Colin Allred’s decision underscoring the former vice president’s advantage with a crucial party constituency less than a month before 2020 voting begins.

Allred also gives Biden support from another House freshman who flipped a Republican district in the 2018 midterms, and he’s the latest Texas Democrat to back Biden after initially siding with Texan Julián Castro, who ended his presidential bid Jan. 2 and has since endorsed one of Biden’s more progressive rivals, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
“This is a really dangerous time for the country,” Allred told The Associated Press, pointing to a recent flareup with Iran. “We have to nominate someone in the Democratic Party who can unite the country and heal the divisions that are going on.”

Allred, a former Obama administration lawyer and NFL linebacker, sidestepped Castro’s endorsement of Warren, but said Biden best represents the Democratic mainstream, and he warned that going too far left could doom the party in November. He pointed to midterm victories like his own, when he won 52% of the vote to defeat Republican Pete Sessions and become the first Democrat and first African American to represent his suburban Dallas district.

“We’ve always done our best when we’ve nominated candidates who’ve attracted independents and disaffected Republicans,” he said. “That’s what President Obama did. That’s what Bill Clinton did. When we’ve pursued the route of ideological purity it’s tended not to work, particularly at the national level.”

That argument highlights perhaps the starkest divide in Democrats’ 2020 nominating fight.
To Biden’s left, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ top House freshman endorsement comes from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New Yorker who has become a face of the progressive movement after defeating Democrats’ No. 3 House leader in a 2018 primary.
Warren touts House freshmen including Boston’s Ayanna Pressley and Katie Porter of California. Pressley, like Ocasio-Cortez, rode a progressive uprising to oust an entrenched Democrat in a primary. Porter defeated a suburban Republican, just as Allred did, but she’s made her mark in Washington as an outspoken advocate for the working class, following in Warren’s footsteps with withering examinations of bank executives during hearings on Capitol Hill.

All those Democrats argue that defeating President Donald Trump requires a nominee who can capitalize on progressives’ energy.

Allred suggested Democrats’ left flank takes too narrow a view of internal party policy fights, missing how most Americans judge issues. “This is not just theoretical policy discussion,” he said. “People are driven by values and people who appeal to those values. That’s what we’re trying to do, is make Americans understand that we’re on their side.”

Biden had trailed California Sen. Kamala Harris in CBC endorsements, and he’s still working to win over some of those members who supported Harris, the lone black female candidate before she suspended her campaign in December. But none of the remaining candidates is anywhere close to Biden in Black Caucus support; Biden also holds a commanding lead nationally among black voters, a group that will play a significant role in the nominating fight once the calendar moves beyond overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire.
___
Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, “Ground Game.”

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OSCARS 2020: 5 SHADIEST snubs of the Academy Awards

The nominations for the 92nd annual Academy Awards were announced on Monday and it looks like #OscarsSoWhite is making a major comeback.

On the whole, Black actors were shut out of the race when it comes to the big awards, and Black films got very little love from the Academy.

#OscarsSoWhite: The complete list of Academy Award nominees

With the exception of Cynthia Erivo who earned a Best Actress nod for her role in Harriet, the film was shut out of the Best Picture race. “Stand Up” is nominated for Best Original Song but that seems like a bit of a consolation prize to us.

Yes, Matthew A. Cherry was nominated for Best Animated Short for his adorable offering, Hair Love and the Obamas-produced Netflix doc American Factory scored a nom for Best Documentary but that doesn’t come close to making up for this year’s baffling snubs.

 

Lupita Nyong’o

Actress Lupita Nyong’o in the film, “Us” will have her character featured in a new maze at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort theme parks.

The fact that this mind-blowing talent wasn’t included on the list of Best Actress nominees for her roles in Us is simply astounding. Not only did she manage to pull off two extremely demanding characters in the same film, she often battled herself in the same scene. Oddly enough, the Academy Award applauded her performance as a slave in 12 Years a Slave, but when she carries an entire film on her own? No love.

Jordan Peele

TheGrio

The Oscar-winner absolutely deserved a nod for directing his horrifying masterpiece, Us. Ponder what it took to pull off the extraordinary fete of helming a project centered on four actors playing two versions of themselves in a majority of the scenes. Think about what it took to guide these talents through the painstaking work of exercising the subtleties required to achieve the end result. Who else this year was more innovative in their film-making that Jordan Peele? We’ll wait. Don’t even get us started on the snubs the film received in the editing and effects categories, where it undoubtedly should have been recognized as well.

 

Just Mercy  

The most important film of the year was left out of the running entirely, despite incredible performances from Jamie Foxx, Michael B. Jordan, Rob Morgan, and Tim Blake Nelson. We can’t help but wonder if the timely, thought-provoking, and contentious subject matter was too much for the Academy to acknowledge? Perhaps a larger conversation on the permeating and despicable bias against people of color in the criminal justice system was just too heavy to take on?

 

Dolemite Is My Name

Netflix

While some folks presumed Eddie Murphy might score a Best Actor nod for his triumphant return to the screen in the Netflix film, none of the actors from the star-studded flick got any attention. Even more surprising, however, is the snub Ruth E. Carter received despite her delectable costume design for the star-studded flick that brought the look of the 1970s to life.

 

Queen & Slim

Queen & Slim (Warner Brothers)

While we’re not surprised that this flick didn’t garner any accolades from first-time feature film director, Melina Matsoukas or writer, Lena Waithe, we are a little miffed it didn’t make the cut for Best Cinematography.

REVIEW: The true genius of ‘Queen & Slim’ is in the journey, not the destination (SPOILERS)

The controversial film certainly wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s hard to deny the sheer beauty of the project. Even on mute, it would be a sight to see and it would have been nice for the Academy to take notice. If the voters didn’t actually mute the movie, they also should have noticed the delectable soundtrack and considered nominating it there as well.

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