Obama lawyers demand pro-Trump group stop misleading Black voters in South Carolina

Barack Obama’s lawyers will file a cease-and-desist letter to stop a pro-Trump group from releasing an advertisement in South Carolina that slams Joe Biden by taking Obama’s memoir out of context.

“This despicable ad is straight out of the Republican disinformation playbook, and it’s clearly designed to suppress turnout among minority voters in South Carolina by taking President Obama’s voice out of context and twisting his words to mislead viewers,” Katie Hill, Obama’s spokeswoman, said in a statement, according to The Hill. “In the interest of truth in advertising, we are calling on TV stations to take this ad down and stop playing into the hands of bad actors who seek to sow division and confusion among the electorate.”

Although the former president has not endorsed a candidate in the primary, Hill said Obama has “several friends,” including Biden.

The ad misuses portions from Obama’s memoir, Dreams from My Father to try and persuade the state’s Black voters to vote against Biden.

“Joe Biden promised to help our community. It was a lie. Here’s President Obama,” the ad says at the beginning.

The ad then refers to a part of Obama’s book where he wrote about Black people’s mistreatment in America.

“Plantation politics. Black people in the worst jobs. The worst housing. Police brutality rampant. But when the so-called black committeemen came around election time, we’d all line up and vote the straight Democratic ticket. Sell our souls for a Christmas turkey,” Obama says in the book.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Biden’s campaign spokesman called the ad a “despicable torrent of misinformation”

“Donald Trump and his allies are absolutely terrified that Joe Biden will defeat him in November. Trump even got himself impeached by trying to force another country to lie about the vice president,” Andrew Bates said in the statement. “This latest intervention in the Democratic primary is one of the most desperate yet, a despicable torrent of misinformation by the president’s lackeys.”

The same group also released a Spanish-language television ad in Nevada that criticized Obama and Biden’s record on immigration.

Republican groups have used the excerpt before in advertisements, suggesting Democrats take the Black vote for granted. Great America Alliance, another pro-Trump group, used the excerpt in Georgia’s special House election in 2017.

In that race, Obama’s senior advisor, Eric Schultz, called the ad “a shameful, indefensible tactic” that really was aimed at keeping Black voters from voting.

“Deceptively using President Obama’s voice to suggest people sit out of the democratic process is a form of voter suppression and it not only signals weakness, it runs counter to our American values,” Schultz told CNN back then.

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McDonald’s Surprises Teen Entrepreneur with $25,000 on the “Tamron Hall Show”

Last spring, we originally broke the news that Nia Phillips-Harper became an entrepreneur at her Sweet 16 birthday party. Her mother Dedra—an author and professor, gave her the gift of entrepreneurship in the form of a beauty brand: Ni’Abri Beauty, a lip gloss collection and other beauty essentials now available online.

Earlier this week, Phillips and her mother appeared on the Tamron Hall Show to discuss the importance and benefits of engaging children in business and investing in the next generation with Tamron and McDonald’s owner/operators and mother-daughter franchisee duo Marissa Fisher and Marla Thrower.

During the segment, Nia was surprised with $25,000 from McDonald’s as a part of its Black & Positively Golden movement which seeks to uplift communities and shine a light on black excellence through empowerment, education, and entrepreneurship.

The $25,000 donation is part of McDonald’s continued commitment to supporting entrepreneurs and encouraging generational wealth building. The brand is empowering rising businesswomen nationwide through its partnership with the YWCA Women’s Empowerment 360^o program, which provides a free six-week business course to help close the entrepreneurship knowledge gap for women of color.

In true Black Girl Magic fashion, Hall surprised her guest audience with a free product from Ni’Abri Beauty!

Last year, Phillips-Harper shared that through the Ni’Abri brand, she hopes to help young women build their self-confidence and shine from within. “I want to inspire people to embrace positive things about themselves,” she said. “The world is full of negative messages. When someone purchases a lip gloss from my company, it comes with a card that describes the character trait of the product purchased, along with a special inspirational message from me.”

It’s fair to say that she is doing the work.

After appearing on the show, Phillips-Harper’s products flew off the shelves!

 

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A post shared by Ni’Abri Beauty (@niabribeauty) on Feb 26, 2020 at 6:26pm PST

Like always, we are rooting for Nia!

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Netflix’s Strong Black Lead Podcast Is Returning

Netflix has been curating a library of black film classics in its streaming library in addition to producing its own original content. The company announced that it will bring back the Strong Black Lead podcast on March 3 for the second season of Strong Black Legends. The podcast was designed to celebrate individuals whose works have shaped Hollywood and black entertainment culture.

The weekly show focuses on black Hollywood’s accomplishments over the years while spotlighting the powerhouses that are driving the culture. Each episode, host Tracy Clayton, former host of the critically acclaimed Another Round podcast, interviews living legends from iconic black sitcoms and movies revealing the untold stories of their rise in Hollywood along with their career-defining moments. Guests on this season will include Leon Robinson, Kyla Pratt, Bill Bellamy, Blair Underwood, Shar Jackson, Elise Neal, Taye Diggs, Omar Epps, Bumper Robinson, and Debbie Allen.

In addition to the podcast interviews, photographers Justin Fraizer, Noémie Marguerite, and Juan Veloz will capture the 10 legends sitting like kings and queens in an iconic peacock chair at Picrow Studios in Los Angeles

Strong Black Lead launched in Feb. 2018 with the goal of engaging and empowering black viewers with content that highlights their culture. The initiative has evolved into a proud platform for black creatives in Hollywood to be recognized among their peers and community, showcasing their achievements along the way.

In June 2019, the group debuted a historic commercial spot–inspired by the iconic photograph “A Great Day in Harlem”–during the BET Awards featuring more than 47 prolific black creatives starring on Netflix that went viral. The original image was shot by photographer Art Kane for Esquire magazine in the summer of 1958 showcasing the golden era of jazz musicians.

“We want Strong Black Lead to be bigger than just our team—we want it to be something that people are proud of,” said Myles Worthington, a manager of brand and editorial at Netflix. “We want our team and viewers to wear those words on their chest because they believe the message is empowering. Strong Black Lead means so much more than just the lead character—it’s something that you can feel deeply inside of yourself.”

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Jay-Z and Yo Gotti file second lawsuit against Mississippi prisons

Jay-Z and Yo Gotti, acting on behalf of more than 150 inmates, have filed a second lawsuit this week against the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ Parchman prison.

The inmates have long complained about inhumane living conditions at Parchman – from no running water and food contaminated with rat feces, to overflowing raw sewage on their cell floors. Since last month, at least 12 inmates have died at the prison.

READ MORE: Yo Gotti Speaks out Against the Inhumane Treatment in Mississippi Prisons

Lawyers with the rappers gave the Mississippi Department of Corrections 90 days to address the conditions before filing the lawsuit. They attached a video taken by inmates which documents the unsafe living conditions inside Parchman and also included remarks from the relatives of the deceased inmates, according to CNN.

The most recent lawsuit, just like the first one, claims the prison is understaffed, which makes it hard to control violent gang activity. Further, inmates suffer from a lack of medical care.

The lawsuit alleges that the living conditions are worse than an animal shelter.

“…words cannot adequately describe the degree of filth and dilapidation the men at Parchman live in, and lie in, every day,” according to the lawsuit. “Were these conditions in existence at an animal shelter, media would swarm, arrests would be made, and those in charge would be on their way to jail as a result of public outrage over this criminal conduct.”

“The game plan is to get change,” Yo Gotti told CNN. “To make sure the Mississippi prison be held accountable to treat the prisoners like humans and not have them living in inhumane conditions.”

In the earlier class-action lawsuit, the rappers blamed the inmate deaths on a “culmination of years of severe understaffing and neglect.”

Further, it states, “the inmates receive meals that are undercooked and served at unsafe temperatures. Many times, the food is adulterated with rat feces, cockroaches, rocks, bird droppings, and other foreign matter.”

READ MORE: Jay-Z, Roc Nation file federal lawsuit against Mississippi prison officials, allege vile prison conditions

According to CNN, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he plans to shut down Unit 29 at Parchman, where most of the concerns come from. In his state of the state address last month, Reeves said a visit to the jail left him “infuriating.”

“We can do better,” Reeves said.

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California Court grants Skai Jackson a temporary restraining order against Bhad Bhabie

Skai Jackson of Disney Channel fame was granted a temporary restraining order against Danielle “Bhad Bhabie” Bregoli, over death threats the white rapper made against Jackson on social media.

Read More: Bhad Bhabie threatens to kill Skai Jackson, mothers step in

Jackson, 17, yesterday was granted the order in Los Angeles Superior Court that requires Bhad Bhabie, 16, stay at least 100 feet away from the actress, according to a PEOPLE, who obtained a copy of the order. Bregoli is also forbidden to contact Jackson on social media or in any other way.

The court set a March 20 hearing on the matter.

Bhad Bhabie reportedly has had problems with the Jesse actress for a minute, even accusing Jackson of getting friendly with guys that she likes, according to Yahoo. This week, the rapper went on Instagram live to air her issues with Jackson before she outright threatened the teen star.

“I wanna know why every time I’m seen with a dude, b**ches wanna get all up on they page?” Brigoli said on Instagram Live. “The b**ch is a huge fan! You’re a whole fan! She’s moving sneaky bro! Don’t go post about me on your fake page, b**ch. If you got something to say about me, post it on your page. Show me you f**king bold!”

Then the rapper made threats against Jackson’s life.

“I’m finna go to jail behind a Disney thot,” she warned. “B**ch, what are you even doing in these men’s DMs? … Like you just trying to get me mad at this point. I see what you’re doing, and it’s going to get you killed. Like, that’s the thing: I’m gonna f**kin’ kill you. Don’t post your location…because I’m coming.”

After Jackson received the temporary restraining order, Bregoli went on Instagram to rant about “fake hollywood” and said she doesn’t apologize for keeping it real.

“you can try to hate me for responding to bulls- with more bulls- but that’s just who I am and I don’t apologize for none of it,” Bregoli wrote.

“I been in this fake a—hollywood world for 3 ½ years now and I’ve done A LOT when the whole world said I couldn’t, but I refuse to become as fake as hollywood is,” she continued, sharing a photo of her records. “Y’all can play around on your finstas but I’ll always say what’s on my mind as cuz that’s who I am. Go get your restraining order, Imma go get checks.”

Jackson told the court yesterday that she and Bregoli were once friends, but that the rapper had started harassing her and has made her “fearful” and to lose sleep, PEOPLE reported.

Jackson brought along Instagram messages to support her request for a restraining order. In direct messages, Bregoli tells Jackson that she better hide because she’s coming after her. “You funny imma get to you don’t worry,” Bregoli reportedly said in the conversation, according to PEOPLE. “Oh god you better hide I find everyone Yk me I pull up to studios houses all that s—.”

“You really tripping about something I didn’t do… you know people stay starting stuff when it’s not even true right?” Jackson countered. “I’m good over here, and worried about my own self… no one said anything about you. I would love to see the DMs they said I posted. That’s false.”

“Shut your scary a— up,” Bregoli responded. “Imma get to you. Hide that’s all imma tell you HIDE.”

READ MORE: 14-year-old Disney star Skai Jackson shuts down Azealia Banks

Another message from Bregoli to Jackson read: “I’mma beat you like a dude when I see you.”

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