Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal Takes 50 Students on Howard University Tour

As part of his efforts to give back to the community, Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal took some neighborhood children on a tour of popular HBCU Howard University, according to NBA.com.

The Washington Wizards shooting guard took students from Ron Brown College Preparatory High School (RBHS) to a visit on the campus of Howard University. Beal sponsored the bus and made arrangements for a tour for 50 students.

“Their lives are moving fast, and before you know it, college is here,” Beal told NBA.com. “We just want to get them ready and prepared for the next level.”

This was the fourth time Beal has sponsored a bus for a college tour, yet, the first one he was able to attend. Last November, he provided transportation for students on separate visits to Lincoln University, Morgan State University, and Salisbury University.

He had previously won the 2018-19 NBA Cares Community Assist Award and was awarded $25,000 for his generosity and contributions to the community. A small portion of the award went toward the sponsorship of the tour bus.

Bradley Beal hosts 50 students on Howard University tour (Image: Washington Wizards)

The Washington Wizards tweeted out the announcement, “Today, Bradley Beal continued his partnership with@RBHSMonarchs by attending his first and hosting his fourth college tour of the year. #WizCares |@RealDealBeal23“

The students were able to visit the office of the President of Howard University, Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick. Frederick answered questions from the students for 30 minutes. Beal stated he also got the chance to have a conversation with Frederick.

“Dr. Frederick is unbelievable,” Beal said after the meeting. “Just to see what he’s accomplished and to see what his vision is. To see his passion for the young kids and the youth at his young age is motivational. It inspired me to have a relationship with him moving forward.” 

“I always tell kids that I have four brothers,” Beal said. “The thing that I have against them is that I’m in the NBA, but they all have degrees and I don’t. That’s something that challenges me in a way. I want to get my degree and that’s something I take pride in, especially being a man of color.” 

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Houston man who spent nine years in jail declared innocent by judge

Otis Mallet was released from a Houston, Texas prison on Monday after a judge declared him not guilty of a drug offense for which he has spent the past nine years behind bars.

“What a miscarriage of justice we have all witnessed with your case, Mr. Mallet,” Judge Ramona Franklin said, according to The Houston Chronicle, before ruling that Mallet, 64, was “actually innocent” of a drug delivery charge.

READ MORE: Houston woman faces 30 years for shooting captured on Facebook Live

Jonathan Landers, Mallet’s attorney, along with Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, had filed paperwork a day before the judge’s ruling to get Mallet released. In the paperwork, they cited detailed information on how the case was based on information from police officer Gerald Goines, whom they found had lied, failed to disclose critical information, and perpetrated a “fraud.”

Ogg said the case offered “tremendous” significance in the continuing probe into Goines, a disgraced Houston police officer, and his previous cases.

“Now we know he was lying and using the district attorney’s office as a tool to convict people wrongfully as early as 2008,” Ogg said, according to The Houston Chronicle. “Anybody who was convicted as a result of Gerald Goines’ testimony, or involvement in a case that is significant or relevant, will now be given a presumption when they file their writ that Goines’ testimony or evidence in their case was false.”

Mallet was arrested in 2008 after Goines said that he had purchased drugs from Mallet and his brother, Steven, while undercover. This testimony came under fire after Goines was involved in a separate January 2019 incident where he claimed to be leading a drug raid at a home that ended in a shootout, causing the deaths of homeowners Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Police later found that Goines lied about making a drug buy that resulted in the raid, The Houston Chronicle reported.

That discovery prompted investigations by the Houston Police Department, the FBI and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and also the review of 14,000 cases that Goines and his squad were involved with. Goines is now facing murder charges in Texas and additional federal charges as well.

When prosecutors reexamined Mallett’s case, they found inconsistencies and lies, according to the 20-page joint court filing Ogg and Landers submitted to Franklin. In it, they wrote that Goines’ testimony was the “cornerstone” of the state’s case against Mallet.

Nicole DeBorde, who is representing Goines’, said she looked forward to their day in court and blamed Ogg for taking part in a “media stunt.”

“The DA’s office is using this as way to bolster their position in the other case,” DeBorde told the Chronicle.

READ MORE: LAPD officers accused of wrongfully identifying innocent residents as gang members

Fiesta Missionary Baptist Church Pastor L.J. Comeaux attended the hearing to support Mallet. Mallet serves as a deacon at Fiesta Missionary and his pastor told the Chronicle that since the arrest and his subsequent conviction, he and his family have experienced a “lot of prejudices.” Comeaux further shares that despite it all, Mallet and his family have shown courage in standing up for truth.

“This is a great example of an injustice and how justice can take its course and things can come out right for a good family,” Comeaux told the newspaper. “All the evidence was against him, but it’s a shame that it took the death of somebody else for justice to come to him.”

The post Houston man who spent nine years in jail declared innocent by judge appeared first on TheGrio.

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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The State of the Clapback Is Strong

My fellow Americans,

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Bill Cosby thanks Snoop Dogg for profanity-laced IG video ripping Gayle King

Bill Cosby thanked Snoop Dogg yesterday for ripping Gayle King in an Instagram video because she brought up Kobe Bryant’s rape case during an interview with the fallen NBA star’s good friend, Lisa Leslie.

READ MORE: What the response to Gayle King’s Lisa Leslie interview reveals about “dragging culture”

Cosby, or someone on his behalf, lashed out at King and Oprah Winfrey in an Instagram post and blamed Black women for putting down Black men.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Snoop – when they brought me to my gated community and placed me inside of my penthouse, they didn’t win nor did they silence me. It’s so sad and disappointing that successful Black Women are being used to tarnish the image and legacy of successful Black Men, even in death. Are these people that in need of fame, ratings and/or money? On behalf of myself, Camille and my family, thank you, thank you and thank you. My heartfelt prayers are with Kobe and his family, as well as with Michael Jackson and his family. May their legacies live on forever. #ThankYouSnoopDogg #BetOnBlackLegacy #StopTearingDownBlackMen #EnoughIsEnough #KobeLegacyLivesOn #GiannaLegacyLivesOn #MichaelJacksonLegacyLivesOn #BillCosbyFarFromFinished

A post shared by Bill Cosby (@billcosby) on Feb 6, 2020 at 1:05pm PST

“It’s so sad and disappointing that successful Black women are being used to tarnish the image and legacy of successful Black Men, even in death. Are these people that in need of fame, ratings and/or money? On behalf of myself, Camille and my family, thank you, thank you and thank you,” the Instagram post read. “My heartfelt prayers are with Kobe and his family, as well as with Michael Jackson and his family. May their legacies live on forever.” Cosby ended the post with a bunch of hashtags — #ThankYouSnoopDogg #BetOnBlackLegacy #StopTearingDownBlackMen #EnoughIsEnough #KobeLegacyLivesOn #GiannaLegacyLivesOn #MichaelJacksonLegacyLivesOn #BillCosbyFarFromFinished

Cosby is serving a three to 10-year prison sentence on several counts of aggravated indecent assault.

King interviewed Leslie and asked her a wide range of questions about his career, his post-NBA next chapter, how he mentored other people and a few about Bryant’s rape case. Leslie told her that she has always believed Bryant to be innocent and that if reporters wanted answers to questions about Bryant’s rape case, they should have asked him while he was still living.

After King’s interview, several rappers, including Snoop Dog, Boosie BadAzz and 50 Cent lit into King on social media posts of their own. They accused both King and Oprah Winfrey of using their platforms to blast Black men.

But not everyone applauded Snoop’s move. Marc Lamont Hill found Snoop’s tirade to be misogynistic and unnecessary.

“The word for today is “nuance.” You can have a critique of Gayle King —though folk should actually watch the whole interview— AND hold Snoop accountable for the misogynistic way he engaged her,” tweeted Hill.

The word for today is “nuance.” You can have a critique of Gayle King —though folk should actually watch the whole interview— AND hold Snoop accountable for the misogynistic way he engaged her.

— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) February 6, 2020

“Thank you!” responded #34 Forever. “There was no reason to call her out her name. And I’m not supporting the idea that we can’t hold black men accountable when they do wrong. Even in context, what Gayle did makes no sense but calling her names and threatening her doesn’t help Kobe’s legacy either.”

Thank you! There was no reason to call her out her name. And I’m not supporting the idea that we can’t hold black men accountable when they do wrong. Even in context, what Gayle did makes no sense but calling her names and threatening her doesn’t help Kobe’s legacy either.

— #34 Forever ♌️ (@ariana263932280) February 6, 2020

READ MORE: Gayle King addresses the backlash she’s received from her interview with Lisa Leslie regarding the legacy of Kobe Bryant

King also released a video yesterday blaming CBS for promoting the clip about the rape case and taking it out of context from her entire interview.

The post Bill Cosby thanks Snoop Dogg for profanity-laced IG video ripping Gayle King appeared first on TheGrio.

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Black Movie Fridays: Just Wright Is a Fun Romantic Comedy But It Couldn’t Have Happened in Real Life

I’m one of those people who gets hung up on the little things in movies and television shows. Like, I’ll be sitting in a movie theater minding my business watching some varying level of black cinematic excellence set in 1980-whenever, and an era-specific song will come on to really give you a sense of time, and I’ll…

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