The National Action Network along with civil rights and faith leaders across the country have penned a letter to Congress calling for swift passage of state and local aid in the next stimulus bill.
The letter is signed by Rev. Al Sharpton, president and founder of the NAN, and 13 civil rights organizations and religious leaders.
The group sent the letter to Congress noting the government’s reluctance to help African American communities. The group says the lack of funds to these communities will do even more harm to the people in these areas that have been broken by the pandemic.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control, African-Americans constitute 20 percent of all U.S. coronavirus deaths,” the letter states. “Although we are only 12 percent of the U.S. population … The economic harm that communities of color will suffer, if the federal government fails to act, will also be devastating.”
The letter is signed by representatives from the Conference of National Black Churches, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., the Black Women’s Roundtable Human Rights
Public Policy Network, the National Urban League, and others.
The letter urges Congress to inject funds into the public sector, which “has been one of the nation’s most
dependable employers of African-Americans, lifting generations of black families into the middle class.”
Additionally, the group condemned Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for suggesting that states go bankrupt.
“When the Majority Leader of the United States Senate casually says we should let states go bankrupt or that he will not provide support for state and local governments without also providing a liability shield for corporations, that is a slap in the face to the hardworking public sector employees,” the letter states. “From nurses to corrections officers to school custodians – who are putting their lives on the line to keep their neighbors safe.”
The letter also cites a New York Times article from March that states that the coronavirus relief package in March included “a small change to tax policy [that] could hand $170 billion in tax savings to real estate tycoons.”
The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant effect on African Americans. Unemployment among African Americans has more than doubled to 16.7%.
A Pew Research Center survey shows 48% of African Americans say they “cannot pay some bills or can only make partial payments on some of them in April.
Atlanta-based entrepreneur Patricia Thompson Terry is one of the many entrepreneurs who has had to adapt to the new realities brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic. She has been forced to close down her beauty school due to mandatory stay-at-home orders issued by the state.
Instead of keeping her doors closed, the beauty entrepreneur has decided to take her courses online so students can continue their studies in quarantine.
Terry is the founder of Touched by An Angel Beauty School and Salons, which has two locations in Jonesboro and College Park, Georgia. Since the lockdown, the school has introduced a dual online training program where all incoming students can start their introductory classes and current students can finish the second half of the program online.
While hands-on training cannot be offered right now, students can complete online courses in hair theory—and not just in Georgia. The school recently became certified to teach students in Virginia.
Terry is also the founder of a non-profit organization called TBA Helping Hands “A Pathway to Success,” which awarded full scholarships to 30 students for immediate attendance to her beauty school. Her goal is to give men and women the opportunity to attend, learn, and receive their cosmetology license from an accredited beauty school. The scholarships can be used to cover their tuition through graduation.
In honor of International Women’s Day, the foundation issued 15 scholarships along with free bus passes and free daycare for mothers who were displaced and victims of domestic violence.
“Nothing is more important to me than giving back,” Terry told Eurweb. “Yes, my schools are the most affordable in comparison. But, I know there are some people who can’t afford it. I want to give them a chance.”
Atlanta-based entrepreneur Patricia Thompson Terry is one of the many entrepreneurs who has had to adapt to the new realities brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic. She has been forced to close down her beauty school due to mandatory stay-at-home orders issued by the state.
Instead of keeping her doors closed, the beauty entrepreneur has decided to take her courses online so students can continue their studies in quarantine.
Terry is the founder of Touched by An Angel Beauty School and Salons, which has two locations in Jonesboro and College Park, Georgia. Since the lockdown, the school has introduced a dual online training program where all incoming students can start their introductory classes and current students can finish the second half of the program online.
While hands-on training cannot be offered right now, students can complete online courses in hair theory—and not just in Georgia. The school recently became certified to teach students in Virginia.
Terry is also the founder of a non-profit organization called TBA Helping Hands “A Pathway to Success,” which awarded full scholarships to 30 students for immediate attendance to her beauty school. Her goal is to give men and women the opportunity to attend, learn, and receive their cosmetology license from an accredited beauty school. The scholarships can be used to cover their tuition through graduation.
In honor of International Women’s Day, the foundation issued 15 scholarships along with free bus passes and free daycare for mothers who were displaced and victims of domestic violence.
“Nothing is more important to me than giving back,” Terry told Eurweb. “Yes, my schools are the most affordable in comparison. But, I know there are some people who can’t afford it. I want to give them a chance.”
Controversial right-wing commentator Candace Owens is known to draw outrage for her public comments, and her recent statements on the shooting death of unarmed Ahmaud Arbery were certainly on brand.
Owens, who was locked out of Twitter a week ago for encouraging a political revolt in Michigan over its shelter-in-place orders, returned to the social media platform to slam the media and protesters decrying the role of racism in Arbery’s murder.
On Saturday, Owens tweeted, “Ahmaud Arbery was caught on camera breaking into an unfinished property that was owned by Larry English. His mother has confirmed it is him in the video. Please stop with the “just a jogger” bullshit narrative. Avid joggers don’t wear khaki shorts & stop to break into homes.”
Ahmaud Arbery was caught on camera breaking into an unfinished property that was owned by Larry English.
His mother has confirmed it is him in the video.
Please stop with the “just a jogger” bullshit narrative.
Avid joggers don’t wear khaki shorts & stop to break into homes.
While jogging in a predominantly white neighborhood of Brunswick, Georgia, Arbery was fatally shot while jogging on Feb. 23 by Travis McMichael, 34, who along with his father Gregory McMichael, 64, was charged with murder and aggravated assault on May 7.
The McMichaels claim they suspected Arbery of burglary before they chased him down in their pickup truck — along with their guns. While there were several calls placed to 911 over Arbery’s presence in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, none such calls indicate Arbery was committing any crime.
Owens continued her Tweetstorm over the Arbery shooting in a series of posts, including one slamming LeBron James for his comments expressing outrage. “@KingJames— who will never be what Kobe and Jordan were off the court because he lacks intellect,” she tweeted.
Lastly, to @KingJames— who will never be what Kobe and Jordan were off the court because he lacks intellect.
Bro. You have multiples homes, white personal chefs, gardeners and housekeepers. If that’s an example of “literally being hunted” by white people, then sign me up ASAP.
“Bro. You have multiples homes, white personal chefs, gardeners and housekeepers. If that’s an example of “literally being hunted” by white people, then sign me up ASAP.”
She went on to use the Arbery shooting as a springboard to bring up black-on-black crime.
“Black America when 9 year old Tyshawn Lee is lured from a basketball court down an alleyway and shot dead by a black gang member: *crickets* Black America when a repeat burglar is shot dead after breaking into a home: RACISM! INJUSTICE! PROTEST! Our culture is a joke,” Owens tweeted, although, again, there is no evidence that Arbery ever committed any crime aside from the McMichaels claiming he did to police after the shooting.
Black America when 9 year old Tyshawn Lee is lured from a basketball court down an alleyway and shot dead by a black gang member:
*crickets*
Black America when a repeat burglar is shot dead after breaking into a home:
Owens continued to argue that racism was not a factor in Arbery’s shooting, using unverified statistics to apparently suggest Black Americans are more violent than whites.
“FACTS: Blacks kill 2x as man(sic) whites as whites kill black, annually. We commit 85% of all violent crimes, 50% of all murders. Over 90% of blacks killed by homicide are killed by other blacks. BUT LET’S KEEP LYING TO BOTH OURSELVES AND THE PUBLIC & KEEP BLAMING RACISM.
FACTS:
Blacks kill 2x as man whites as whites kill black, annually.
We commit 85% of all violent crimes, 50% of all murders.
Over 90% of blacks killed by homicide are killed by other blacks.
BUT LET’S KEEP LYING TO BOTH OURSELVES AND THE PUBLIC & KEEP BLAMING RACISM.
Owens failed to mention that while most Black homicide victims are by the hands of someone of the same race, the same is true for white homicide victims. In fact, FBI data as recent as 2016 reveals there were slightly more white-on-white homicides in the country than there were black-on-black homicides.
It’s also worth noting none of the statistics used by Owens disprove that Arbery, who was unarmed, wasn’t targeted because of his race in the mostly white neighborhood where some fly Confederate flags in front yards.
“2020 definitions: Black man kills a white person= murder Black man kills a black person= murder White person kills a black man= racist lynching indicative of the third coming of the Ku Klux Klansmen, worthy of back to back media coverage, protests and A-list celebrity voices,” she tweeted.
Owens later clarified that her statements did not mean she believed his death was justified, but rather express her resentment that it had anything to do with Arbery’s and the McMichaels’ race.
Candace Owens. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
“Two things can be true at once: -Ahmaud Arbery did not deserve to die. -Ahmaud Arbery was not a jogger gunned down for the crime of being black,” she tweeted.
Later in the evening, Owens tweeted a Daily Mail article about security footage being reviewed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that purportedly shows a man in the neighborhood who they believe is Arbery. In the video, the man enters the garage of private property under construction. A Georgia prosecutor, however, told the AJC that entry of a construction site is not necessarily a crime.
“The national debate SHOULD have been about the legitimacy of citizen’s arrests in light of a tragic outcome. Instead, we went with BLACKS ARE LITERALLY BEING HUNTED WHEN THEY STEP OUT OF THEIR HOMES FOR NO REASON. Race-baiting ALWAYS leaves us looking emotional & foolish,” Owens said.
After she became a number one trending topic for the outrage over her tweets, Owens said “I see I’m trending so let me clarify: I WILL NOT BE A SLAVE TO THE DEMOCRAT RACE NARRATIVE. NOT TODAY. NOT TOMORROW. NOT EVER. I WILL NOT PRETEND TO LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE BLACKS ARE HUNTED, TO SATISFY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA MASTERS. I DO NOT SEEK APPROVAL, I SEEK FREEDOM.”
Owens’ tweets drew outrage online and also drove conservatives to come to her defense. See some of the reactions below.
Candace Owens has over 2 million followers & is promoting a conspiracy theory that there is a video somewhere proving that Ahmaud Arbery was breaking into homes, that his mother confirmed, & that his death is justified
The GBI literally said, "Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog. He stopped by a property under construction were he engaged in NO illegal activity and only remained for a brief period." https://t.co/uYtsB5vx34
I try not to comment on people like Candace Owens because OBVIOUSLY she’s lost and a troll. It just pissed me off today because her words are so dangerous. The way she is talking about this most recent killing in Georgia is disgusting.
The music industry is known to chew and spit out people who lack the vision and/or staying power needed to ride the ever-changing waves. But, if you have a creative mindset and can adapt to the many trends and flows of the game, you tend to stick around and add to your success. Entrepreneur Chanel Rae Pettaway just happens to fit that mold.
“The Culture Princess” is the co-founder of the Legion Media Group, a full service public relations and branding agency that is based in New York City. Amassing a client base that keeps her busy, she also makes time to co-host a new podcast for the millennial mom, “Our First Time–A Mommy Cast.”
Pettaway spoke to BLACK ENTERPRISE about who she works with, what she does, and how she manages to stay in the game while focusing on her personal goals.
What is the name of your company and how long have you been in business and who are some of the clients you’ve worked with?
The Legion Media Group was formed in July 2009. Current and past clients range in music, media, fashion, and entertainment. My current roster includes Hot 97, Jim Jones, Cam’Ron, Dipset, Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg, Salaam Remi, Joell Ortiz, Chinx (RIP), Embassy Lounge NYC, DJ Juanyto, DJ Drewski, DJ E. Stylez, Fatman Scoop, Iman Nunez, and GiF the Great.
Understanding the inner workings of the music and entertainment industry, how are you able to navigate through this cutthroat game and still be successful?
I believe in staying true to myself. Though it will take me longer to get to the top, when I do, I will bring my morals and values along with me. Though I’m aware of what my peers are doing, I focus on my personal goals and what is ahead of me. My motto is to stay in my lane and mind my business. At the same time, I’m never going to allow someone to bully me. I will always stand my ground.
You were recently a part of a collaboration between Dipset, the NBA, Mitchell and Ness, and Bleacher Report. How did that come about and what was your role in making it happen?
Project Director Justin Dreyfuss of Bleacher Report reached out to myself, Peter Kadin, and Teff Mogus of Empire team (Dipset’s distribution label) and told us about the remix apparel they were doing along with Mitchell and Ness and the NBA. They told us they were possibly interested in a joint collaboration with Dipset but wanted ideas on what the capsule would look like. I expressed to them that we needed more than to just release the product. It’s one thing to do it, but if no one knows about it, what good is it?! I pitched my ideas for the roll out to all parties and it we collectively saw most of them through. Cam’ron and Jim were eager to see it come to fruition.
The design was done by Cade Beaulieu and Cam’ron did the finishing touches regarding the color pattern.
Do you have any advice or suggestions for anyone who wants to take a path similar to yours in this industry?
No matter what you want to do in life, you have to learn your craft before you can master it. Always be kind. My high school coach Carl Hawker would always remind us: Be careful of the toes you step on today as it may be connected to the ass you may have to kiss tomorrow.
What else are you working on that you’d like to discuss?
We are in the process starting a new weather show for Jim Jones with iOne, The Weatha Show. Initially, it would run across all their platforms and their radio stations and branch out from there.
In an industry where accomplishments are often overlooked, are thereany that you’d like to talk about that people may not be aware of?
Most people don’t know that I was on Cardi B‘s early team along with Shaft. I was the first to get her music media placement (her first XXL music mention).
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