March 2019 Issue

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Publisher's Message

M

arch is “National Women’s History Month.” The national theme for 2019, is “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace & Nonviolence.”

Typically, the first woman most think of is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, niece or grandmother. Women have been making contributions to their families and communities since the beginning of time, and continue to be trailblazers and gatekeepers in many respects.

But like all things that amount to anything worthwhile and sustainable, it requires work and commitment.

Earl “Skip” Cooper, II Women have and continue to leave their mark in Pubisher/Editor-In-Chief business, education (including and especially with homeschooling), technology, medicine, healthcare, politics, law enforcement, the justice system, entertainment, and every walk of life in our modern society.

But most of all, women are our mothers, and for that reason alone, we should honor them.

Around the nation, women are continuing to make outstanding contributions to our society and to break new ground on the path to crashing all glass ceilings.

There are more elected African American women serving in the United States Congress than ever before. More women ran for public office in 2018 than ever before. Several African American women ran for office because of injustices experienced in their personal lives and in their communities.

Senator Kamala Harris National Women's History Month

Rep. Maxine Waters

commemoration moves us to not only recognize our current movers and shakers but to pay homage to our historic African American women movers and shakers. Women have taken leadership roles from the wars against colonizers in Africa, surviving the Middle Passage and Slavery in the USA, holding families together and protecting our men during Jim Crow periods, walking with the caravans to populate the Ole' West, rebuilding families during the Great Migrations and Renaissance periods, getting our sons and daughters into and out of colleges successfully, building churches, schools and hospitals, making sure that regardless of the environment in our communities we would have as much

Black Business News Group P.O. Box 43159 Los Angeles, CA 90043 USA 1-323-291-7819 Fax: 1-323-298-5064

www.blackbusinessnews.net PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Earl “Skip” Cooper, II

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Sarah Harris Dean L. Jones Phyllis Dixon

ENTREPRENEUR EDITOR Kim Anthony

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Linda Ware

PRODUCTION MANAGER Narishima Osei

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Bene Uche Linda Ware Ralph D. Sutton Timothy Lester, Jr. Veronica Hendrix Giavanna Foster P. Yvette Thomas Aman Williams LaSandra Stratton

GRAPHIC DESIGN Sarah Harris Tia RobinsonGRAPHIC DESIGN Sarah Harris Tia Robinson

STORY EDITORS Wanda Flagg Jennifer Marie Hamilton

PHOTOGRAPHY Ian Foxx Sabir Narishima Osei

CONTENT ADMINISTRATOR La Sandra Stratton

LAYOUT/TYPESETTING Lion Communications Copyright © 2019

by Black Business News All Rights Reserved.

The posting of stories, commentaries, reports, documents and links (embedded or otherwise) on this site does not in any way, shape or form, implied or otherwise, necessarily express or suggest endorsement or support of any of such posted material or parts therein. 

see Publisher's Message on page 61 3  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

About

ABOUT THE BLACK BUSINESS NEWS GROUP… The mission of The Black Business News (BBN) is to inspire and inform public and private sector industry representatives on the importance of smart small business growth. As a versatile source of socioeconomic development activity news, the publications of the Black Business News Group (a division of the Black Business Association) impart current local, national and international industry and social trends and news affecting small businesses across the United States of America (USA), providing guides to greater access to financial capital, management efficiencies, business education, mentorship opportunities and social media networks. The goals of the Black Business News Group include:

2019 Black Business Association Events

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promoting USA-based black-owned business enterprises to a world wide audience.

Salute to Black Women

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offering business growth enhancing information on education, exhibitioning, international trading, technology, industry trends, and more.

March 30th

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exploring major public and private sector contracting methods to educate black-owned and operated enterprises.

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providing an affirmative influence for emerging entrepreneurs by sharing innovative design and creative cultural content that exposes them to the history of black enterprises and urges them to participate in the USA’s future.

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advocating and promoting on behalf of g black-owned businesses by promoting the need for expanding an economicc d foundation that supports an unfettered h and self-sustained urban society with USA job creation and economic op-portunity, where blacks work, live and operate viable business enterprises.

View back issues at: https://issuu.com/ blackbusinessnews Click on FOLLOW to receive notice of all new issues.

Salute to Black Music June 18th

Veterans Procurement & Business Conference November 7th Black Business News Group Publications Black Business News Black Business News International Black Business News Travel Africa

Contents

Black Business News…March 2019 3

Publisher's Message

Government 6 8 11

14 16 17 20 21

Presidential Proclamation on Women’s History Month, 2019 Lt. Ronaqua Russell Makes History in the Sky NASA Renames Building After Katherine Johnson, Hidden Figures Space 23 Star Women’s Global b l Development D l t and d Prosperity Initiative Arkansas State Senator Stephanie Flowers ‘Stands Her Ground’ Democratic Senators Urge FTC to Act on Facebook 'Friendly Fraud' Practices Poster Associating 9/11 with Rep. Ilhan Omar in W. Va. Capitol Causes Uproar, Injuries House Passes Resolution Condemning Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslim Discrimination

Entertainment 22

BBN Show Biz Buzz

Young Entrepreneurs 28 32 36

She Designed Wakanda — And Might Win An Oscar For It Evita Robinson is Disrupting the Travel Industry This Michigan Girl is on Fire!

Business 27 30 37 44 48

Black-Owned Winery in Napa Valley Lands Partnership with Delta Air Lines Harold & Belles' 50th Anniversary Black News Channel Launch Here are 5 Tools to Better Determine What Customers Want In The Future Of Work, Humans Will Still

50 53 55 66 73

Be Wanted (Needed) Madam C. J. Walker: A Way Out of No Way My Five Tips for Air Travel African American Businesses Grew 400% What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From America's Potential Breakup With Car Buying How to Use GIFs in Your Marketing to Boost Engagement

Community/Public Interest 78 78 80 81

400th Commemoration Year of Enslavement 1619-2019 The Documentary Highlighting the Real Green Book British Royals Launch Social Media Protocols After Trolling of Meghan Markle and Kate How to Stay Cool Under Pressure, According to Barack Obama

Obituary/Memorials 84 86

Remembering and Raising Dr. Julia Hare: Her Honored Life and Unforgettable Love Ethiopia Minister: Clear Similarity Between Two Crashes

International 89 90 91 92 96

Closing the Mobile Phone Gender Gap in Low Income Countries is a $700 Billion Opportunity At $20 the Orange Sanza Will Get More Africans Online Wakanda One Village Project Americans Will Need an ETIAS Visa to Travel to Europe Beginning in 2021 Dangote Becomes 64th Richest Person

Columns 56 88

102 157 162 164

Take A Look!

African Stock Exchanges Shopping Gallery Books to Consider...

Resource Vault BBA 2019 Master Planner

32

5  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government - 400 Hundred Year Commemoration



Presidential Proclamation on Women’s History Month, 2019

D

uring Women’s History Month, we celebrate the countless women whose courage and resolve have contributed to the character and success of our Nation and the entire world. The equal opportunity of women in every facet of daily life is an essential feature of a free and prosperous society. This month, we honor women who have fought for equality and against the status quo, and who have broken the bonds of discrimination, partiality, and injustice for the benefit of all. These women created a legacy that continues to inspire generations of women to live with confidence, to have a positive impact on their communities, and to improve our Nation every single day.

Throughout our history, women have dedicated their lives to achieving equal rights for all Americans. They envisioned a society where women could pursue a formal education, start a business, serve in the military, or run for elected office. The example of each of these women motivates successive generations to aspire to greatness and to stand tall in the face of adversity. We remember all the American women, past and present, who have inspired and empowered today’s women to advocate for their beliefs and pursue their dreams without hesitation.

Catherine Brewer, who in 1840 became the first woman to earn a bachelor’s degree, and Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, who graduated from medical school to become America’s first recognized female physician, are in the pantheon of great American women. Both pursued their passion to learn and to achieve advanced degrees in an unprecedented way. Their achievement marked the beginning of our society’s move toward equality among men and women in education. They would be proud to know that, today, female students constitute the majority of undergraduates in our colleges and universities.

Women also have a rich history of civilian and military leadership, service, and sacrifice. The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), for example, were remarkable pioneers in military aviation. Founded by Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran in 1942, WASP grew to a fleet of 1,102 women pilots who flew every type of World War II military aircraft for non-combat missions domestically. These women were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their service, and they paved the way for women pilots like Captain Rosemary Mariner, the Navy’s first female fighter pilot and first woman to command a naval aviation squadron. Over the course of her 24 years of honorable service, Captain Mariner broke many barriers for women in the military. When she passed away on January 24, 2019, the Navy conducted an all-female flyover in her honor, a first in the history of the Armed Forces and a fitting honor for a woman of her stature.

Leaders of our Nation also stand on the shoulders of women like Jeannette Rankin, who became the first woman to hold Federal office in 1916. She predicted: “I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won’t be the last.” This year, a century after the Congress passed the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote, more women are serving in the Congress than at any time in our history.

My Administration continues to empower women by creating unprecedented opportunities for them. When women are fully empowered to reach their economic potential, they invest back into their families and communities, which helps their countries thrive. That is why I signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum to launch the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP), which is the first-ever whole-ofgovernment approach to advancing global women’s economic empowerment. The W-GDP Initiative aims to benefit 50 million women across the developing world by 2025. It will help women prosper in the workforce by

6  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

improving their access to quality education and skills training, funding and supporting women’s entrepreneurship and access to capital, and working to address legal, regulatory, and cultural barriers that hinder women from fully and freely participating in the economy.

This month, we express our gratitude for all American women who continue to strengthen our families, communities, and workforce. Our future is brighter because of their contributions.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2019 as Women’s History Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month and to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2019, with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.

DONALD J. TRUMP www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-womens-history-month-2019/

African Amerian Women WWII catherine-e-kohl.weebly.com

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan

Willa Brown pioneersofflight.si.edu

Women In Congress 2019

feminema.wordpress.com

7  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government - Historic Award

Lt. Ronaqua Russell Makes History in the Sky

By Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelley

A

viation history was made recently when Lt. Ronaqua Russell, a native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, became the first AfricanAmerican female aviator in the Coast Guard to receive the Air Medal. The first of two ceremonies to honor her achievement took place at Tuskegee’s Moton Field Thursday, Feb. 21. This is the same location where, 77 years ago, the first AfricanAmerican aviators in the U.S. Armed Services broke down racial barriers to earn their wings, and later go on

aircraft commander, piloted the plane through the outer bands of Harvey, hitting tropical storm force winds, and zero visibility conditions. Navigating landings on partially flooded runways, they delivered critical supplies and personnel in support of the ongoing rescue and port recovery efforts.

“Leaving Corpus there was not a single aircraft in the sky,” said Russell. “And on our approach into the Houston area there were only a few helicopters. It was eerily quiet.”

Russell continued flying supply and damage assessments for the next several days, and then served at the Incident Command Post for the Corpus Christi area helping from the ground as well.

Shortly after a week and a half into the response she couldn’t help but take notice of news reports of a storm brewing in the Atlantic. The eyewall of another hurricane was taking shape and looking to be much stronger and bigger than Harvey. A few days later, her home in the Virgin Islands would take a huge hit from the Category 5 Irma with winds topping off at 225 miles per hour.

Unable to evacuate, her family took shelter in their homes. Throughout the storm Russell tried to call her mom with little success, until one point a call finally started to ring. Then it picked up, for just a brief second she heard her mom’s voice …

Lt. Ronaqua Russell, alongside an undated photo of her then the call dropped. great-uncle, Tuskegee Airman Henry E. Rohlsen. U.S. Coast “This was a really tough moment, because I Guard graphic. wasn’t sure if that was a cry for help, or excitement, or what,” said Russell. “I just knew I needed to do to fly heroic and critical combat missions in World War everything I could to get to them.”

II. One of these Tuskegee Airmen was 1st Lt. Henry After more than 36 hours of desperate attempts, E. Rohlsen, Russell’s great-uncle and the namesake Russell was finally able to reconnect with her family for the international airport in St. Croix. and verify that while there was some damage around The Air Medal is awarded to an individual who the home, they were okay. That moment of relief was distinguishes themselves by heroic or meritorious interrupted by another storm that started to build in the achievement while participating in aerial flight. Russell Atlantic, Hurricane Maria. received this honor in recognition for her actions Russell took to the sky again, assisting with in response to Hurricane Harvey, one of the most evacuations and large supply movements and doing destructive storms in U.S. history. all she could to help. Between performing these Having a knack for “being the first”, her Coast Guard missions she simultaneously arranged for her mother HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft was the very first in the and grandmother to get to Puerto Rico by boat, and fly sky following behind the Category 4 storm’s destructive commercially to Texas. Here they would live with her track. Russell along with Cmdr. Steve Pittman, the for several months while homes were repaired and the 8  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

see pilots like Lt. Ronaqua Russell, or like her uncle Henry E. Rohlsen, who carry that hope on the wings of the aircraft they fly, proving that the possibilities are endless.

Russell is currently stationed at Air Station Miami as an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft commander. She is a 2012 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and a 2006 graduate of Ivanna Eudora Kean High School in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to a 2017 Hurricane Season

y

Coast Guard Lt. Ronaqua Russell stands with her family and Coast Guard Vice Adm. (Ret) Manson Brown after Air Medal ceremony at Air Station Miami, Opa Locka, Fla., Feb. 27, 2019. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

islands recovered. Her grandmother accompanied her when she transferred to her new duty station in Miami.

“She keeps me on my toes,” said Russell, about her grandmother Annette Chinnery. “I’m really a miniature version of her.”

Because her family could not attend the ceremony in Tuskegee they came to a separate one in Miami, Florida on Wednesday.

“It is an honor to be here, to see her get this recognition,” said Aquannette Chinnery, Russell’s mother. “I’m just very thankful that our family could come from near and far to be here, it’s a historic moment.”

While Russell attributes much of her drive and recent success to her family, there is another group affectionately called “The Fab 5,” that has played a huge influence too. This is the group of the five AfricanAmerican women pilots in the Coast Guard. They were also all present at the ceremony at Tuskegee.

“We have all been the first at something,” said Russell. “And they have all mentored me and helped me get to where I am today.”

For centuries people have looked up and wondered about the possibilities, especially in difficult times.

Whether it’s the blue vastness in daytime or the night’s star-covered dome, there is something about the sky that holds our gaze. People search this sky for hope and they can find it just off the horizon where you will

The “Fab 5” standing on historic Tuskegee’s Moton Field after attending Lt. Ronaqua Rusell’s Air Medal Ceremony, Feb. 21, 2019. Pictured from left to right are Coast Guard HC-130 fixed wing pilot Lt. Cmdr. Jeanine Menze, MH-65 helicopter pilot Lt. Cmdr. LaShanda Holmes, HC-144 fixed wing pilot Lt. Angel Hughes, MH-60 helicopter pilot Lt. Chanel Lee, HC-144 fixed wing pilot Lt. Ronaqua Russell. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

Summary published by FEMA, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria are estimated to have caused more than $265 billion in damage to the United States. The Coast Guard’s search and rescue efforts in Hurricane Harvey alone resulted in more than 11,000 lives saved.  www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/lt-ronaquarussell-makes-history-in-the-sky

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Government - Women's Rights

Women Granted Only Three-quarters of Men's Legal Rights — World Bank “If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well,” Kristalina Georgieva, the bank's interim president, said in a statement.

W

hile reforms in many countries are a step in the right direction, “2.7 billion women are still legally barred from having the same choice of jobs as men”.

bernardcenter.org

The study included an index measuring gender disparities that was derived from data collected over a decade from 187 countries and using eight indicators to evaluate the balance of rights afforded to men and women.

The report showed progress over the past 10 years, with the index rising to 75 from 70, out of a possible 100, as 131 countries have agreed to enact 274 reforms, adopting laws or regulations allowing greater inclusion of women.

Among the improvements, 35 countries have proposed laws against sexual harassment in the workplace, granting protections to an additional two billion women, while 22 nations have

in the measured areas”, the World Bank said.

A decade ago, no economy had achieved a perfect score.

On the other hand, too many women still face discriminatory laws or regulations at every stage of their professional lives — 56 nations made no improvement over the last decade.

South Asia saw the greatest progress, although it still achieved a relatively low score of 58.36. It was followed by southeast Asia and the Pacific, at 70.73 and 64.80, respectively.

Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the second-highest scores among emerging and d e v e l o p i n g economies at 79.09.

Conversely, the Middle East and North Africa posted the lowest score for gender equality at 47.37. The World Bank, nevertheless, abolished restrictions that kept pointed to encouraging changes, women out of certain industrial such as the introduction of laws sectors. against domestic violence, A few nations — Belgium, in particular in Algeria and Denmark, France, Latvia, Lebanon.  and Sweden — scored a 100, www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/ “meaning they give women women-granted-only-three-quarters-ofand men equal legal rights men-s-legal-rights-world-bank_158339

10  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government - Recognition

NASA Renames Building After Katherine Johnson, Hidden Figures Space Star

By Bonnie Burton Katherine Johnson

N

ASA's Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, has a new name. It's now the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility, in honor of the "hidden figure" portrayed by actress Taraji P. Henson in the movie Hidden Figures.

The 2016 film celebrated influential women of color who helped to pioneer space travel at NASA during the '60s.

Katherine Johnson was a brilliant mathematician who worked as a "computer" -- not a machine as we know computers today, but a person who computes.

One of her greatest contributions to space exploration included making essential calculations that helped synch Project Apollo's Lunar Lander with the moonorbiting Command and Service Module.

She also worked on the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Satellite.

NASA IV&V assures the safety and success of software on NASA's highest-profile missions.

"It's an honor the NASA IV&V

pulseheadlines.com

Program's primary facility now carries Katherine Johnson's name," NASA IV&V Program Director Gregory Blaney said in a statement. "It's a way for us to recognize Katherine's career and contributions not just during Black History Month, but every day, every year."

After working at NASA and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics for over three decades, Johnson retired in 1986.

In 2015, when Katherine Johnson was 97, President Obama awarded her America's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  www.cnet.com/news/ nasa-building-renamed-after-hiddenfigures-katherine-johnson/?utm_ medium=techboard.tue.20190226.

Katherine Johnson receives Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama myajc.com pro&utm_source=email&utm_ content=&utm_campaign=campaignImage credit: darhosta.wordpress.com

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Government - Investment

Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative www.whitehouse.gov/wgdp

W-GDP Pillars 1. Women Prospering in the Workforce 2. Women Succeeding as Entrepreneurs 3. Women Enabled in the Economy

Overview When women are economically empowered, they re-invest in their families and communities, producing a multiplier effect that spurs economic growth and contributes to global peace and stability. The Trump Administration is launching the first-ever wholeof-government approach to advance global women’s economic empowerment, W-GDP. W-GDP seeks to reach 50 million women in the developing world by 2025 through U.S. government activities, private-public partnerships, and a new, innovative fund at USAID (www.usaid.gov/whatwe-do/gender-equality-and-womensempowerment/womens-economic-equalityand-empowerment).

1 Women Prospering in the Workforce - Workforce Development, Vocational Education, and Skills Training The Goal: Increase women’s global labor force participation and advancement in the workplace by providing women with quality education, training, and support, so they can secure and thrive in wellpaying jobs in their local economies.

A

healthy global economy is critical to America’s economic and national security, and depends

upon the economic contributions of both women and men. Around the world, women’s labor force participation rates are unequal to men’s, decent work opportunities are far too limited, and significant gender pay gaps in the labor market remain. Growing evidence reveals that women’s low participation in the formal labor markets of developing countries impedes economic growth and poverty reduction.

Many women face multiple barriers when trying to enter, remain, or advance in the workforce. The problem starts early, as societal norms and expectations often keep girls and women from pursuing education and skills training. Globally, women are more likely than men to shoulder the time burden of unpaid activities, such as cleaning the home, caring for children and elders, and collecting clean water. These practices often prevent them from obtaining education, training, and skills needed to enter into higher-wage, high-growth occupations, such as science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM”) where men are disproportionately employed. For instance, women make up nearly half of the agricultural labor force in many African countries, but without equal access to adequate training and certifications, women are often working in the lowest-paid roles and tending low-value crops. With a more level playing field, female farmers could increase their yields, feeding their families and more people around the globe.

Women also face less access to digital services, which can be a platform for training, employment, and financial services, facilitating women’s economic empowerment.

More than 1.7 billion women in low and middle-income countries still do not own a mobile phone, and they are 26% less likely to use mobile internet than men. These factors reinforce women’s economic inequality.

Women’s economic empowerment and equality exist in the workforce when women receive the same market-relevant education and vocational opportunities as men and boys, and, once in the workforce, have the ability to organize work for enhanced productivity and compete on equal terms for job openings, advancement, and retention with equal pay for work.

2 Women Succeeding as Entrepreneurs - Access to Capital, Markets, Networks, and Mentorship The Goal: Increase the access of women entrepreneurs and business owners to financing, market opportunities, and training to establish and grow their businesses.

W

omen entrepreneurs are a growing market force, serving as a critical source of innovation and job creation and fueling economic growth. However, women-owned businesses do not have equal access to the capital needed to stabilize or expand. There is a roughly $300 billion credit gap for

14  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

women-owned small and mediumsized enterprises (“SMEs”) globally.

In many countries, immature or underdeveloped financial systems do not adequately serve the “missing middle,” such as womenowned SMEs that have financial needs beyond micro-finance and whose assets do not qualify them for larger commercial loans. Solving this problem requires not only longterm, systemic reforms, but also short-term financial mechanisms that can address immediate needs.

Few financial intermediaries are able to address these short-term needs without some form of external assistance.

Women entrepreneurs in the developing world also lack access to markets, market information, digital and personal services, networks, mentorship, and other resources that enable them to overcome the obstacles of starting and growing firms as well as connecting with buyers. As with finance, some of these barriers are systemic, and others are more individualized. Systemic barriers require institutional reforms.

Individualized solutions require development of public and private sector partnerships that can provide the training or assistance needed, including, in some cases, to help organize and formalize individual women entrepreneurs into cooperatives to achieve economies of scale.

Women’s economic empowerment and equality exist when women entrepreneurs enjoy equal access to the same affordable financing mechanisms that men do, including both credit and equity, as well as equal access to markets, market information, digital technology, and services.

3 Women Enabled in the Economy - Remove Restrictive Legal, Regulatory, and Cultural Barriers

The Goal: Promote an enabling environment that increases women’s economic empowerment by reducing barriers and enhancing protections in policies, laws, regulations and practices (public and private) to facilitate women’s participation in the economy.

T

he environment for economic activity in any country often includes numerous barriers that disadvantage women as they pursue employment, business, and investment opportunities.

Broadly defined, the enabling environment for women in the economy encompasses the legal and regulatory framework, policies and practices (public and private sector), and social norms that support women to operate in the formal economy, or improve basic conditions for women working in the informal economy. Conversely, each of these factors, if not addressed, can stunt women’s economic empowerment.

Women are frequently discouraged and often effectively barred from economic engagement by disproportionate burdens of unpaid care, gender-based violence, underinvestment in their education, need for spousal approval for employment, and legal barriers to participation in certain professions.

Some of the economic barriers women face arise from foundational limitations, such as laws that limit women’s rights to inherit, own property, or enter contracts in their own name. Reducing those barriers while ensuring women have the legal and policy protections they need requires deliberate efforts by government, private sector, and civil society.

The benefits of women in the economy are substantial. Countries with greater balance of men and women in the workplace and workforce have greater growth, innovation, and stability. The same

goes for firms: those with a stronger ratio of women in leadership, management, and the workforce outperform those with fewer women. While only five percent of the CEOs in Africa are women, the positive impact of female leadership is clear: businesses in Africa with the most women on their boards have an operating profit over 20% higher than industry averages.

Improvements in the enabling environment increase economic opportunities for all women in that economy, which in turn benefits their families, communities, firms, and nations as a whole through broad-based economic growth and development.

Women’s economic empowerment is also integral to our collective security. The larger the opportunity gap between men and women, the more likely a country is to be involved in violent conflict.

Conversely, nations in which women have equal opportunities are more likely to thrive and solve challenges peacefully.

Women’s economic empowerment and equality exists when the enabling environment reduces the barriers women face to participating in the economy, whether those are legal, regulatory, or cultural.

S

ocieties that empower women to participate fully in civic and economic life are more prosperous and peaceful.

W-GDP Partners: • • • • • • • • • •

U.S. Department of State U.S. Department of Treasury U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Agency for International Development Overseas Private Investment Corporation Millennium Challenge Corporation Peace Corps U.S. African Development Foundation Inter-American Foundation 

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Government - Standing Up For Change

Arkansas State Senator Stephanie Flowers ‘Stands Her Ground’

By Mary Papenfuss

arktimes.com

A

rkansas State Senator Stephanie Flowers didn't hold back when debating a "stand your ground" bill and her unfiltered, profanity-laced pleas quickly went viral.

Flowers, a Democrat, railed against the proposition in an emotional plea that laid out how similar self-defense laws across the U.S. had affected people o color and at one point, walked out of a committee hearing. Her comments spread like wildfire on social media on Friday, with many liberals and gun-control advocates applauding her courage and dubbing her a hero.

"This is crazy! You don't have to worry about your children!" Flowers said during a hearing this week.

"I worry about my son and I worry about other little black boys and girls and people coming into my neighborhood, into my city, saying they have open carry rights."

arkansasonline.com

Stand your ground laws and others similar to have allowed people to defend themselves if they feel threatened, without being forced to retreat. The laws which have been controversial for years and used as a defense in a number of high-profile homicides, make it legal for a person to remain where they are as long as they have a legal right to be there, and use any level of force, including deadly force, if they believe they face a threat of serious harm or death.

The only black legislator on the state Judiciary Committee, Flowers raised her voice during the debate in a plea to ask the other lawmakers examining the proposition to extend the debate, according to theArkansas DemocratGazette (www.arkansasonline.com/ news/2019/mar/07/panel-rejects-bill-

onduty-to-retreat-2).

"I am the only person here of color, OK. And I am a mother, too," she said. "I care as much for my son as y'all care for y'alls, but my son doesn't walk th same path as yours does."

At one point, Republican State Senator Alan Clark, who chairs the committee, tried to halt Flowers' emotional speech, telling her in a low voice, "Senator, you need to stop."

"No, I don't. What the hell are you going to do? Shoot me?" she said. He tried again, saying "Senator..." but Flowers interjected, "Senator, sh-t. Go to hell."

Flowers then continued to rant against conservative-led bills that cater to the National Rifle Association. "I'm talking about my son's life. And I'm talkin about the

16  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government - Space Force

Democratic Senators Urge FTC to Act on Facebook 'Friendly Fraud' Practices

T

wo Democratic U.S. Senators called for the Federal Trade Commission to act on a complaint filed by consumer groups against Facebook Inc recently that alleged the company scammed children into spending money on its platform.

A coalition of consumer groups asked the FTC to investigate whether Facebook had engaged in deceptive practices, claiming the

life of other black kids," she added.

"Do what the hell you wanna do, go ahead. But you can't silence me," Flowers said. "You are not going to silence me."

Flowers said black people, like all people of different cultures, have a different way of expressing themselves that often feel threatening to some and this law could open the door to an increase in slayings.

Flowers cited the case of Trayvon Martin, a black unarmed teenager who was shot and killed in Florida

company lured children into making extensive in-game purchases without parental consent.

The social media company settled a class-action lawsuit on the issue in 2016, but further details came to light last month after a request by the Center for Investigative Reporting here resulted in the unsealing of the court documents.

The documents disclosed that Facebook employees referred to the practice as “friendly fraud” and called children who racked up thousands of dollars in charges “whales,” a term commonly used in casinos to describe high-spending gamblers.

“We urge the FTC to review in detail the complaint that was filed today on this issue. It shouldn’t take another settlement for Facebook

in 2012 by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman used Florida's "stand your ground" law as a defense and was found not guilty. The case helped start what would become the Black Lives Matter movement.

'Stand your ground' laws have been enacted in more than half of states across the U.S. A 2017 study (https://jamanetwork.com/ journals/jamainternalmedicine/articleabstract/2648742) examining the

effects of the law in Florida found a surge in homicide after it went into

to meet its ethical obligation to protect kids and families on its platform,” Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.

They said Facebook dodged their questions on the issue, posed to Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg in a letter last month after the documents were unsealed.  https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/democratic-senators-urge-ftc-toact-on-/f-bab1879e02%2Freuters. com?utm_medium=techboard. fri.20190222&utm_source=email&utm_ content=&utm_campaign=campaign

effect in 2005. For years, experts have said (www.theguardian.com/usnews/2014/oct/17/stand-your-groundwhite-black-gun-law-harm-fear) the

laws disproportionately affect people of color.

After Flowers' emotional plea, the committee voted down the measure 4 to 3 on Thursday, the DemocratGazette reported. www.usatoday.com/story/news/ politics/2019/03/08/arkansassen-stephanie-flowers-standyour-ground-speech-goesviral/3108568002

17  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

PORT OF LOS ANGELES NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR ITS COMMUNITY INVESTMENT GRANTS PROGRAM Up to $1 Million in Grants to be Awarded; Application Workshops Scheduled for April 2 & 3

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he Port of Los Angeles will be awarding up to $1 million in non-taxpayer funded community grants to support events and initiatives benefiting Los Angeles Harbor communities and the LA Waterfront. The Port’s Community Investment Grants Program applications and information are now available at: www. portoflosangeles.org/community/grants.

Intersted local organizations can learn more about the grants program and application guidelines at workshops to be held Tuesday, April 2, at Banning’s Landing Community Center in Wilmington, and Wednesday, April 3, at the Port of Los Angeles headquarters in San Pedro. Applications are due by 4 p.m. on Monday, May 6.

Grants are awarded based on criteria outlined by the Port, which specifies that initiatives or events help promote maritime and Port-related workforce development and education; sustainable practices aimed at preservation and conservation of natural resources in the Port environment; or the LA Waterfront, its history and culture.

Funding, which comes from Port-generated revenues, is available in three categories: small ($5,000 and under), medium (between $5,001 - $99,999) and large ($100,000 or more). Since fiscal year 2013-14, the Community Investment Grants Program has provided $5 million in funding for 176 local initiatives. To be considered, an applicant must be a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

All grant applications will be reviewed by a committee comprised of a representative from Los Angeles City Council District 15, a San Pedro community representative, a Wilmington community representative, and three internal Port staff members. The committee is expected to announce final grant awards in mid-June.

The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovatively strategic and sustainable operations that benefit Southern California’s economy and quality of life. North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $272 billion in trade during 2016. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs in the five-county Southern California region. 

Contacts: Phillip Sanfield, Director of Media Relations, 1-310-732-3568, psanfield@portla.org Rachel Campbell. Media Relations Manager, 1-310-732-3498, rcampbell@portla.org Bobby Hines Bobby.Hines@trade.gov

19  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government - Free Speech Challenge

Poster Associating 9/11 with Rep. Ilhan Omar in W. Va. Capitol Causes Uproar, Injuries

By Peter Wade

D

uring a Republican celebratory event at the West Virginia capitol on Friday, March 1st, hostilities rose after a poster was displayed that pictured Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) along with an image of the fiery World Trade Center on 9/11.

The poster was displayed in the capitol’s rotunda during a Republican event called “WV GOP Day,” and read, “‘Never forget’ – you said…” over the Trade Center and “I am the proof you have forgotten” over a photo of Omar.

Arguments over the display, according to the Washington Post,

led to a physical confrontation that left one staff member injured and led another to resign.

The freshman congresswoman later tweeted about the image writing, “No wonder why I am on the ‘Hitlist’ of a domestic terrorist and ‘Assassinate Ilhan Omar’ is written on my local gas stations. Look no further, the GOP’s anti-Muslim display likening me to a terrorist rocks in state capitols and no one is condemning them!”.

A Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, Mike Pushkin, told the Washington Post, that he objected to the poster when he was made aware of it, “I said, ‘What does she have to do with 9/11?’ ‘It was Islamophobic.

I thought it was racist and it was wrong.’”

During the ensuing argument the body’s sergeant at arms was accused of using an Islamophobic slur and resigned. And a doorkeeper

sustained an injury, according to the Post.

According to West Virginia Public Radio, Republican Delegate Dianna Graves said, “While I may not agree with everything [the displays in the capitol’s rotunda] that is out there, I do agree that freedom of speech is something that we have to protect, even if we don’t agree with it.”

But then, on Saturday morning, after the news had gone national, West Virginia Republican Party Chairwoman Melody Potter released a statement distancing the party from the display.

“The West Virginia Republican Party does not approve, condone, or support hate speech,” the statement read. “One of the exhibitors at our West Virginia Republican Party Day at the Capitol displayed a sign that we did not approve, were not aware of before the day started, and we do not support. Upon learning about the sign, we immediately asked this exhibitor to remove the sign.

“Our Party supports freedom of speech, but we do not endorse speech that advances intolerant and hateful views. We have shown that when West Virginians are united, when we respect each other, embrace our differences and focus on moving our state forward what we can accomplish.”  https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politicsnews/ilhan-omar-9-11-poster-802437/

20  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government - IAnti-Discrimination Resolution

House Passes Resolution Condemning Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslim Discrimination

By Clare Foran, Ashley Killough, Sunlen Serfaty and Phil Mattingly

T

he House of Representatives has passed a resolution broadly condemning hate and intolerance, including anti-Semitism and antiMuslim discrimination, in the wake of controversy over Democratic freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar.

The vote was 407-23. Twentythree Republicans voted against the measure, and all Democrats -including Omar -- who voted voted in support of the resolution.

Passage of the resolution comes after an intense internal debate among House Democrats over how to respond to recent comments Omar made related to Israel that sparked criticism, including from fellow Democrats.

Draft text of the resolution was originally written to focus specifically on condemning anti-Semitism following outrage over Omar's remarks, but the text was later revised to include a denunciation of other forms of bigotry, including anti-Muslim bias.

Following the vote, Omar released a joint statement with Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Andre Carson of Indiana praising the passage of the resolution. The three lawmakers represent all the Muslim members of the US Congress.

"Today is historic on many fronts," they wrote. "It's the first time we have voted on a resolution condemning Anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation's history."

The statement continued, "We are tremendously proud to be part of a body that has put forth a condemnation of all forms of bigotry including anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy. At a time when extremism is on the rise, we must explicitly denounce religious intolerance of all kinds and acknowledge the pain felt by all communities. Our nation is having a difficult conversation and we believe this is great progress."

Omar, who has not shied away from criticizing the actions of the Israeli government, became embroiled in a backlash after saying at an event last week, "I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country." The remark drew condemnation from several influential House Democrats.

Congresswoman Omar has defended herself on Twitter against some of the criticism she has faced over her recent remarks. "I should not be expected to have allegiance/ pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee," Omar tweeted earlier in the week.

She added, "I am told everyday that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks."

The extent to which the controversy divided the party was on display

even as House Democrats came together in support of the resolution on Thursday.

Some House Democrats came to Omar's defense, arguing that she had been held to a different standard as a woman of color.

"Of course there is," said Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, along with Omar, when

asked on Wednesday if there is a double standard. "I think all of us women of color can see that."

Tlaib defended Omar, saying, "I know that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar really tries to push back against oppression, and as a Palestinian, I can tell you, when she speaks about those issues, what I hear is her trying to uplift my grandmother in Palestine in the West Bank."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote on Thursday that she does not believe Omar's comments were "intended in any anti-Semitic way" and that Omar may not understand "the full weight" of how the remarks were interpreted.

Pelosi added, "But the fact is that's how it was interpreted and we have to remove all doubt as we have done over and over again."  https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/07/politics/ house-democrats-resolution-vote-ilhanomar/index.html Edited by: BBA News Group

21  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

BBN Show Biz Buzz

By Linda Ware

Historic Academy Awards

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he 2019 Academy Awards proved to be historic in several categories and in the noticiable demographic inclusion among the presenters.

The first African American to win in the Costume Design category for her work on "Black Panther" - Ruth E. Carter; the First African American to win the Best Production Design category for her work on "Black Panther" - Hannah Beachler (see article on page 28). The award for Best Original Score went to Ludwig Goransson for "Black Panther." Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Mahershala Ali was

awarded with the Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in "Green Book" while Regina King received the Best Supporting Actress Award for her work in "If Beale Street Could Talk." The Best Animated Feature Film award was given to "Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse".

Cicely Tyson received one of the Honoray Awards from the Academy. The 94 year old Tyson is the first woman of color ever to win an honorary Academy Award. "Green Book" was acknowledged in the Best Adapted Screenplay category and received the Best Film Award.

Most notable presenter for the 2019 event was the Honorable Congressman John Lewis.  www.bbala.org

Spike Lee Won an Oscar. Read His Passionate Speech

S

pike Lee finally won his first competitive Oscar, and his acceptance speech was a doozy.

At the 2019 Oscar ceremony, Lee won best adapted screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman” (sharing the award with Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott) and walked on stage bursting

Ruth E. Carter Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Spider

Regina King

Spike Lee & Samuel L. Jackson

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Gree Hannah Beachler Jay Hart Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Mahershala Ali Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Amanda Stenberg John Lewis Kevin Winter/Getty Images

with energy and emotion. Lee, who had received two previous nominations, for the 1997 documentary “4 Little Girls” and for 1989’s “Do The Right Thing,” started his acceptance speech by ordering the Oscar producers not to turn the clock on. (He used some more choice language and was bleeped.)

The speech that followed touched deeply on black history and exhorted the crowd to get involved in the 2020 presidential election.

"The word today is “irony.” The date, the 24th.

The month, February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year, which also happens to be Black History Month. The year, 2019. The year, 1619.

History. Her story. 1619. 2019. 400 years.

Four hundred years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night. My grandmother, [inaudible], who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave. My grandmother who saved 50 years of social security checks to put her first grandchild — she Spike Lee accepting the award for best adapted screenplay for his film ‘BlacKkKlansman.’

Noel West New York Times

r-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Cicely Tyson

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Getty Images

called me Spikiepoo — she put me through Morehouse College and N.Y.U. grad film.

N.Y.U.!

Before the world tonight, I give praise to our n Book

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

23  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

see page 24

BBN Show Biz Buzz from BBN Show Biz Buzz on page 23

ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people. We all connect with our ancestors. We will have love and wisdom regained, we will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment. The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there."  www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/movies/spike-leeoscars-speech.html

I

Netflix New Season Begins in March

t's March and Netflix is releasing an overwhelming amount of new content in the form of TV series, movies, documentaries and specials.

It's a lot. We've picked out some highlights, see the full list at the link below.

Turn Up Charlie, the Idris Elba "Turn Up Charlie" © show that asks Nick Wall/Netflix "what if Idris Elba was a babysitter and also a DJ (which he is in real life)? (March 15)" Queer Eye, Season 3 (March 15) How To Get Away With Murder, Season 5 (March 30) The Burial of Kojo (March 31)  www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/whats-coming-to-netflix-inmarch/ar-BBTRQ4F?ocid=spartandhp

Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars 2019

I

t looks like one of our favorite women warriors of Wakanda, Lupita Nyong'o, will be getting her own

Lupita Nyong'oNick Wall/Netflix star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced its class of 2019.

In the category of Motion Pictures: Alan Arkin, Kristen Bell, Daniel Craig, Robert De Niro, Guillermo del Toro, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Tyler Perry, and Gena Rowlands.

In the category of Television: Alvin And The Chipmunks, Candice Bergen, Guy Fieri, Terrence Howard, Stacy Keach, Sid and Marty Krofft, Lucy Liu, Mandy Moore, Dianne Wiest, and Julia Child (Posthumous).

In the category of Recording: Michael Bublé, Cypress Hill, The Lettermen, Faith Hill, Tommy Mottola, Pink, Teddy Riley, Trio: Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, and Jackie Wilson (Posthumous).

In the category of Live Theatre/Live Performance: Idina Menzel, Cedric “The Entertainer”, Judith Light, and Paul Sorvino.

Congratulations to the Hollywood Walk of Fame class of 2019!  www.becauseofthemwecan.com/blogs/news/lupitanyongo-to-receive-star-on-hollywood-walk-of-fa me?fbclid=IwAR0GNMaEyuAChPOlJWC3kDMy 0P-HNOGcDAaAOec1oOtjQo1o8Un37XUhspw#.

XHmkRueisP8.facebook

Ejiofor's Directoral Debut

C

hiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave,” “Doctor Strange”) is more than up to the challenge of directing and starring in “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” released in select cinemas and on Netflix on March 1. “Wind” tells the true story of William Kamkwamba (Maxwell Simba), a schoolboy who lives in Wimbe, Malawi in the early 2000s. Ejiofor

24  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

The Awards were presented immediately prior to the performance of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is celebrating 60 years since its founding in 1958.  www.ruthpage.org

Avengers: End Game Due April 26th

C

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mawell Simba Photo courtesy of Netflix

plays William’s father, Trywell, a farmer, whose crops are drying up due to a drought. Through books he reads in the school’s library, William learns how to build a windmill that can provide energy needed to power a water pump. Rooted in tradition and pride, Trywell is reluctant to put the future of his family and village in the hands of new technologies and ideas.

What really makes the film flourish are the performances of Ejiofor and Simba. At the film’s climax, there are a smattering of incredibly tense, passionatelyacted scenes by the two actors. For being the work of a first-time director, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” is marvelous.  www.dailynebraskan.com/culture/actor-chiwetelejiofor-succeeds-in-directing-the-boy-who-harnessed/ article_907a87f2-3e1f-11e9-9bc1-6b0e705cab72.html

T

2019 Ruth Page Award

he selection for the 2019 Ruth Page Awards are – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its Artistic Director, Robert Battle, and Chicago Dance History Project and its Executive and Artistic Director, Jenai Cutcher.

ontinuing the Marvel storylines, Avengers: Endgame picks up after the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins.

With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' a c t i o n s and restore order to the universe.

Endgame features many of the characters from the B l a c k Panther epoch.  www.imdb.com/title/tt4154796/

Robert Battle nytimes.com

25  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Supplier Diversity

Black-Owned Winery in Napa Valley Lands Partnership with Delta Air Lines

by Samara Lynn

A

black-owned winery in the heart of wine country— Napa Valley, California—just landed a major partnership with Delta Air Lines.

Brown Estate wines (www.brownestate.com) will be featured on Delta’s 2019–2020 winter wine menu aboard its domestic Delta One flights, as per a statement released by the airline.

To kick off the partnership, Delta will host a complimentary in-flight wine tasting of Brown Estate wines for passengers on Flight 1473, which leaves Tuesday from San Francisco at 2:30 p.m. and arrives in New York’s JFK airport at 11:30 p.m.

The idea to partner with Brown Estate came from a member of Delta’s black community business resource group, Carlyne Scott. She originally suggested the winery as part of a way to celebrate Black History Month, but the idea grew into a more long-term partnership.

Andrea Robinson, who serves as Delta’s Master Sommelier, is tasked with selecting the wines for Delta’s ever-rotating wine list. Robinson selected two labels from Brown Estate—its 2017 Betelgeuse Sauvignon Blanc and its 2017 Chaos Theory.

The 2017 Betelgeuse Sauvignon Blanc’s flavor profile is described by the winemaker on Wine.com as “Tropical fruit notes delight the nose, commingled with subtle citrus, fever grass, and lemon verbena. Night blooming jasmine and honeysuckle are shadowed by stone fruit, lychee, and frankincense. Palate delights with a cascade of vibrant pineapple and luxurious guava, finishing with delicate rosewater and effervescent bergamot.”

The 2017 Chaos Theory was summed up by Wine Spectator (wine-spectator.com-sub.biz) as “A potent blend, with expressive blackberry, tar and grilled anise aromas and concentrated yet polished raspberry and smoky cracked pepper flavors. Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah.”

The Brown Estate label was founded in 1996, according to the company’s website. It is headed by president Doreen Brown and winemaker David Brown.

“We are delighted to partner with Delta Air Lines,” said Deneen Brown in a statement “Delta’s all-in

Brown Family Photo

commitments to the spirit of inclusion and to their wine program are perfectly aligned with our core values at Brown Estate.”

The partnership reflects what Delta says is its over20 years commitment to supplier diversity.

“Partnering with innovative, diverse suppliers from small-, minority- and women-owned businesses like Brown Estate is fundamental to Delta’s strategy to keep climbing year-round,” said Heather Ostis, vice president — Supply Chain Management. “Seeking employee perspectives and leveraging unique ideas brings us closer to meeting that goal while creating the highest quality experience for our customers.

There had been a surge of black-owned spirits and wine companies as of late. Vanessa Braxton launched Black Momma Vodka (http://blackmommavodka. com). Longevity Wines (www.longevitywines.com) is another black-owned wine label located in California’s Livermore Valley wine region.

And most recently, famed NYC fashion boutique, Harlem Haberdashery, launched HH Bespoke Spirits (https://hhbespokespirits.com), small-batch gin, vodka, and rum. www.blackenterprise.com/black-owned-napa-valley-winerylands-partnership-with-delta-airlines/?fbclid=IwAR1vAn3V5 hpXM4rcPjG3mkGt1aX5N2oHgFWknUeDnXjRuZJdj8ktiN TCERI

27  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Ypung Entrepreneur Profile

She Designed Wakanda — And Might Win An Oscar For It

By Mandalit del Barco

M

arvel's Black

Panther is up for seven A c a d e m y Hannah Beachler imdb.com Awards.

It could be the first superhero movie to win for best picture. Its costume designer Ruth Carter is an Oscar nominee. The film is nominated for best original score and best original song.

One Oscar nomination has already made history: Hannah Beachler is the first African-American ever nominated for the award in production design. She helped create the cinematic world of Wakanda.

The Black Panther is T'Challa, king of Wakanda, a fictional African country that was never colonized and is rich with tradition and advanced technology. Director Ryan Coogler says he wanted Wakanda to look and feel authentic.

So he called on Beachler, his longtime production designer. They traveled around Africa researching cultures, scouting locations and collecting ideas.

"The rocks, the moss on the rocks, how the rocks were formed, how they were layered, the color of them — everything around me that was nature I took pictures of," Beachler says.

Beachler also took note of the architecture, clothing, food, transportation and ways of life. She incorporated many of those aesthetics with concepts from the original Marvel comics, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Beachler came up with a visual history and guidebook for Wakanda — what she calls a bible for the movie.

"To get to the design, I had to come up with stories about why this would particularly be there," she says.

"Was it always there, and where did it come [from] — did it move? So that's where we started."

The Black Panther bible — 515 pages long — included not just the designs, but the histories for Wakanda's buildings, its epic waterfalls, its technology.

She designed a throne room with suspended birch logs, and a pristine, high-tech design laboratory. She

S"She

Did Win the Oscar"

imagined the backstory for mining vibranium, the potent and virtually indestructible element powering Wakanda.

In the movie's DVD commentary, Coogler talks with Beachler about creating this vision: "We wanted Wakanda to feel old — we wanted to feel the history," he says.

Beachler made other production design bibles for Coogler when she designed his 2013 movie Fruitvale Station, set in his hometown of Oakland, Calif., and for the boxing world of his 2015 movie Creed. This time, the director says, his friend's work included T'Challa's aircraft, called a Royal Talon Flyer.

"Hannah kind of designed it to look like a mask from the top down," Coogler says. "One thing that I really like is on the bottom, we got these sonic things, and they kind of remind me of subwoofers."

Beachler's 20-year-old son Dominic marvels at his mother's working partnership with Coogler.

"They are phenomenal together," Dominic Beachler says. "They're like brother and sister, honestly."

As a huge Marvel fan, Dominic says he was excited when she was hired for the movie.

"I just started teaching my mom everything I knew about Black Panther and how important a character he is to African-Americans and to the diversity that Stan Lee helped bring into comics," Dominic Beachler says.

"I did say, 'You better get it right.' I'm a huge nerd, and I wanted her to get it right, and I think she did. I think she did a great job with it."

Dominic says that building worlds for movies comes naturally to his mother. In fact, Beachler grew up in Ohio with an interior designer mother and an architect father.

"My mom would change the house every year depending on what the mood was," Beachler says.

"The color palette constantly changing, the furniture changing, the paintings — like, you were constantly watching the rooms morph.

"You know what I mean, like, I picked up very much my mom and dad's ability to go into an empty space or a raw space or a space that's not even there — and then see all of it. Because I would go with my dad to

28  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Production designer Hannah Beachler was responsible for devising the look of Black Panther, from the waterfall amphitheaters of Wakanda to its high-tech laboratories and aircraft. Marvel Studios

construction sites, and it would be nothing but a foundation, and he would talk me, like, 'Over here, can you see the line where the wall would go?' And he'd mime where it is. So I was raised to really visualize that, because I was going to construction sites with him since I was 6."

Beachler says she loved fashion design, and after moving to Cincinnati for college, she began working on a few local music videos and Super 8 films.

One was Grrrrrrlll Possy, a campy indie grindhouse movie about a girl gang.

Beachler directed the film, which she wrote Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and acted in with her friend Dana Hamblen. and Okoye (Danai Gurira) emerge from a Wakandan "It was kind of like an homage to John aircraft in Black Panther. Marvel Studios Waters or Ed Wood kind of movie," Hamblen says. "We never finished it. We were both in — of course, except for the birth of my son," Beachler it. It was so bad — but hilarious." says. "But then you do kind of think about what it This was long before Beachler was a production really means in regards to your community and your designer for Ryan Coogler, or Barry Jenkins' Oscar- ancestors. You also are reminded, in a way, how far winning film Moonlight, or Beyonce's Lemonade sometimes we have not come. I'm the first? Where are album videos. we really in 2019?"

As Beachler prepares for the red carpet, she muses After nine decades of the Oscars, Hannah Beachler about her historic nomination as the first African- could be the one.  American production designer up for an Oscar. www.npr.org/2019/02/22/696687965/she-designed-wakanda-and"Of course you're like, 'This is the best day ever on might-win-an-oscar-for-it the face of the Earth that has ever happened to me!'

29  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Success Story

Harold & Belles' 50th Anniversary

By Wendy Gladney

H

arold & Belle’s has drawn fans of Creole cuisine to West Jefferson Boulevard for 50 years, thanks to the beloved Legaux family recipes for filé gumbo, étouffée, and other Creole classics.

In September of 1969, Harold Legaux, Sr., along with his wife, Mary Belle, opened Harold & Belle’s. Harold dreamed of having a place where friends and family could gather, talk about old times, shoot pool, and socialize. His kitchen was small, and the menu consisted of po’ boy sandwiches, red beans and rice, and filé gumbo served only on Fridays. His dream came true.

After the passing of Harold, Sr. in 1979, Harold, Jr. and his wife, Denise, took over ownership and operation of the restaurant. Unlike his father, who enjoyed pool playing and a bar atmosphere, the younger Harold preferred a finer dining experience with linen tablecloths and candlelight. Having a passion for cooking, Harold, Jr. introduced several new items to the menu, including his version of shrimp scampi, shrimp creole, crawfish étouffée, and clam chowder. He even offered filé gumbo every day of the week. In 1984 he expanded the restaurant from 12 dining tables to 35 dining tables and tripled the size of the kitchen. In 2011, Harold, Jr. passed away.

The third-generation husband-and-wife team of Ryan and Jessica Legaux have since taken over the restaurant. Together they have expanded the

brand of Harold & Belle’s through various avenues, including their food trailer, "Harold & Belle’s To Geaux"; Harold & Belle’s Creole Seasoning; and by adding a state-of-the-art banquet room called the Peacock Lounge and an additional private dining room to the restaurant. This was all part of Harold & Belle’s largest expansion and remodeling, which was completed just in time for Mardi Gras in 2016. The restaurant has been a hit since reopening, and the Legaux family has been successful in taking the restaurant into the future with a redesigned and updated menu that maintains the essence of what has made Harold & Belle’s a local favorite for 50 years. 

#Haroldandbelles50th

30  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

400th Commemoration Year of Enslavement 1619-2019 ALL ANCESTRY TEST KITS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL Don't be fooled by other ancestry test kits pushing highly discounted prices this holiday season. Over the years, countless people have called us disappointed with the lack of specificity from other ancestry test kits.

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www.africanancestry.com

Business - Young Entrepreneur Profile

Evita Robinson is Disrupting the Travel Industry.

By Diana Hubbell

Pete Monsanto

A

sk Evita Robinson why she travels and she’ll tell you: freedom. The three-time expat and veteran solo backpacker has been racking up passport stamps ever since a life-changing trip to Paris following university. In 2011, she founded the Nomadness Travel Tribe (www.nomadnesstv. com), an online community for adventurous travelers of color.

What started out as a small, scrappy group has evolved into a network of more than 22,000 members whose journeys bring in an estimated $50 million for the travel industry annually. Numbers like that are enough to get people’s attention and in recent years, tourism boards and tour companies have been reaching out to Robinson to find out how to connect with travelers of color in more meaningful ways.

Yet despite significant progress, Robinson still sees a lot of work to

color featuring discussions and speeches from the likes of Kellee Edwards, the first black woman to have her own show on the Travel Channel, and Janaye Ingram, an organizer of the Women’s March. Plans are already well underway for this year’s edition, which will run from September 27-29 in Memphis, Tennessee.

We caught up with Robinson as she was gearing up for a Nomadness trip to Turks and Caicos for a conversation about running with the bulls, breaking down stereotypes, and building a global movement.

What was the idea behind the Nomadness Travel Tribe?

For me, it was about galvanizing community. It was about breaking not

be done in order for the industry to truly diversify, and she has continued to spread her message through other initiatives, including the web series The Nomadness Project ( w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=BTEC-yzNo_M&l ist=PLVo7nGot4fPiLKAQM 8nKMR2WoP1WygrWD) ,

which she co-created with Issa Rae of HBO’s Insecure. Using footage from Nomadness trips, the show documents real travelers getting up close with lions in South Africa and watching Muay Thai fights in Thailand. And last year in Oakland, California, Robinson launched Audacity Fest, a travel festival catering to millennial travelers of

nomadnesstv.c only racial, but also socioeconomic bounds—letting people know that

32  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

com

they didn’t need to be rich, white, and affluent to see the world. It was about creating space amongst ourselves for us to celebrate one another and travel. It was about doing the things other folks say we don’t: running with the bulls in Pamplona and being the only black people at Holi festival in India, but still representing. We want to go on these kinds of trips, too, but not everyone sees that because there’s still a gross lack of representation in the travel industry and mass media.

How did this whole thing get started?

When I was teaching English in Japan, I started video blogging. It was just me with my pirated Final Cut Pro from college, a shitty camera, and shoddy audio, but the content resonated with people. At that time, you weren’t seeing a lot of twenty-something women saying, “Hey, I’m just going to uproot my life, move to Japan, and backpack around India. Oh, and by the way I’m broke while I'm doing all of this.

What drove you to reach out to people?

When I first created a community of a hundred people, I didn’t realize that I was answering a call for myself. I don’t come from a family of travelers. I’m definitely the black sheep and the outlier in my family. Half the time they’re like, “This is dope, but this is crazy.” In that regard, I personally needed community and didn’t see it at that point in time.

Why was that?

When we started almost eight years ago, a lot of Twitter feeds were about things like “Top 10 Places to Eat Pizza in Italy.”

Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how to identify with my family when nobody else was a traveler and why my long-distance relationship was shit when I got home, but it was fine while I was abroad. I needed to have more intimate, real-life types

of conversations.

What kinds of travelers make up the Tribe?

Nomadness is not the organization you should sign up for if you want to stay at your resort the whole time.

There are a million other groups out there for that, and we don’t knock it at all. We are the community that you want to sign up for if you want to get into the guts of a place, if you want to hang out on the corner in Stone Town in Zanzibar, share a beer with a local, and breathe in the night air.

Other than a sense of adventure, are there any prerequisites for joining?

We want to make sure that when people get into the Tribe, they know that they are amongst their peers and that there is a certain ilk of traveler. To this day, the one prerequisite is you have to have at least one passport stamp. We want to know that you’ve taken the dive on your own, because we’re not here to coerce you to do it.

I'm guessing that running with bulls or wandering around Zanzibar forges some serious bonds between members.

We’ve had people get into relationships or get pregnant after meeting through Nomadness.

People have started businesses with one another. You get all of the contacts that you get within any community, but it just so happens that our connective tissue is travel.

That’s what makes us so strong.

I want to talk a little bit about Audacity Fest, since I know you’re already prepping for the next one. What was your goal in creating it?

It’s the first festival in the country to target millennial travelers of color. We’re having those unedited, unabashed, open conversations about what it’s like to be a person of color in this industry, what it feels like to be ignored. Communities like

Nomadness were created because I don’t wait for y’all. We answer our own call. We create our own businesses. We’ve created our own niche within this larger industry to pop off and flourish.

What does that look like in terms of the festival itself?

For our keynote panel last year, we had an African-American, a Syrian-American, and a MuslimAmerican all talking honestly about what it’s like traveling as a person of color in their respective demographics under Trump. We had a panel for people of color who also happen to intersect with the LGBTQ community. Where do they feel safe? What do they look for in a destination that they would put their dollars towards? Then we also had the industry stuff about location independent entrepreneurship for people who are now influencers in black travel.

Have you seen substantial changes in attitudes since you started Nomadness?

There is definitely progress. Have we hit some sort of nirvana? Hell, no.

All you have to do is go to some of the top travel-oriented conferences and just look around. Until you see more inclusive representation, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

What do you predict for the future of the travel industry?

You’re dealing with another industry that needs to be disrupted, because it’s only going to get more diverse and continue to grow in size.

If the majority of millennials started traveling in our early twenties, now we’re having children who are going to start traveling out of the womb.

This isn’t a fad. It’s the beginning of a generational shift.  www.cntraveler.com/story/howevita-robinson-is-disrupting-thetravel-industry

33  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Buiness - Young Entretreneur Profile

This Michigan Girl is on Fire!

M

eet Hunter Phelps, sophomore student at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, majoring in business administration and minoring in entrepreneurship.

Hunter is also the founder of Terry Lu Naturals LLC, a natural hair and skin care company, named after her two grandmothers, Terry and Lucille(www.terrylunaturals.com).

Bothered by various products that used harmful chemicals that damaged her hair, young and ambitious then-18-year-old business student, Hunter Phelps, created Terry Lu Naturals LLC in 2017. The line is focused on making sure customers have the best hair and skin experiences through allnatural ingredients and Terry Lu Love.

As Hunter navigated her way through her natural hair journey, she was excited to learn about all the wonders of organic ingredients on the hair and skin. This inspired her to pass along her knowledge and create products with healthy ingredients to help others. Hunter is committed to Terry Lu Naturals and her pleasing her customers.

Terry Lu Naturals’ first product on the market is “Blessed Butter,” and the customer response to it has been outstanding!

Hunter spends her days studying business at Ross and her free time is consumed with successfully

managing her company, Terry Lu Naturals.

Currently, she is developing new products and will be adding them to her product line soon. Hunter is a perennial scholar who is driven to succeed. She has a passion towards being an entrepreneur and strives daily to perfect Terry Lu Naturals. Hunter already has hundreds of faithful Terry Lu customers and excellent website reviews.

Outside of academics, Hunter is active in various organizations including the Black Business Undergraduate Society (BBUS).

BBUS helps members increase their business knowledge, learn new skills, and network with others.

Hunter is also a member of the Michigan Community Scholars Program (MCSP), where she mentors university students.

Through MCSP, she engages with like-minded students who love education, community service, and civic engagement. Furthermore, Hunter is a member of the Startum Entrepreneurship Club, where she is gaining entrepreneurial knowledge to further develop Terry Lu Naturals. Last year, Hunter pitched Terry Lu Naturals through the

University of Michigan’s optiMize organization and won a lucrative fellowship to further develop her business (www.optimizemi.org).

Hunter has always had a desire to succeed. During her years at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, she was an AP/IB student, garnering a full academic scholarship to the University of Michigan, along with numerous other organizational scholarships, as Hunter was the top scholarship recipient for Cass Tech’s Class of 2017.

Hunter also worked for the Ilitch Companies as a paid corporate intern in Accounting and Corporate Communications. While there, she proactively wrote/narrated the first Ilitch Companies/Cass Tech Intern video, which is now being widelyused to recruit interns (https:// youtu.be/FsuzxmGcbJ4).

At the University of Michigan, Hunter was recently chosen to participate in the second annual PI Career Education Trek Preparation Initiative in NYC, which will be held in May of 2019.

The PI Career Education Trek includes an all-expense paid educational trek to explore careers in business across industries,

36  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Black News Channel Truth Illuminated

Get ready for our big launch!

November 15th, 2019 @ 12:00PM http://blacknewschannel.com/

B

lack News Channel (BNC) will be a unique multi-platform news and information channel created for African Americans, subscription television’s most dynamic, high growth, and loyal consumers.

Despite the proliferation of basic and premium cable television channels during the past two decades, the number of cable news networks dedicated to serving the nation’s African American communities remains at ZERO! Black News Channel will be the nation’s first channel to fill this significant void and provide African America viewers news, information, and educational content focused on their interests and needs, while tapping into subscription television’s most profitable market.

Americans begin this new year with no Black-owned full-power TV stations. In 2008, there were 18 Blackowned and operated full-power TV stations, representing just 1.3 percent of all TV licenses. Today, all 18 stations are gone.

BLACK NEWS CHANNEL Black News Channel's purpose is to be a news organization that gives voice to the varied experiences, issues, points-of-view and priorities that matter to African Americans. BNC will not just tell a story, but the network will tell the entire story. The network will empower the black community and address the issues of the day in a way that is fresh, bright, and complete. BNC will offer real, responsive, reliable and relevant news coverage by and for African Americans.

OUR MISSION: As an innovative and life-changing network, BNC's mission is to provide intelligent programming that is informative, educational, inspiring and empowering to its African American audience.

OUR BACKGROUND: BNC will operate as a 24/7 news channel and will launch this year to an estimated 33 million households—23 million satellite TV households and l 0 million cable TV households—in the top African American TV markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. To prepare, BNC’s management team began planning for the network in 2004 and conducted LIVE 18-month long on-air programming trials that were produced and distributed to eight million homes.

OUR AUDIENCE: African Americans are the nation’s most loyal users of subscription television services, and one of the fastest growing groups of broadband online service subscribers. African Americans are the numerical majority in many of the top 50 markets for bundled cable TV and broadband services; own more digital (HDTV) sets; order more VOD services; and subscribe to more premium cable services than any other group. Yet, African Americans continue to be the most underserved and least represented viewing audience.

Considerable research has been conducted over the past decade concerning the lack of African American cable programming and the legitimate cry for parity from within the African American community. BNC is stepping forward to answer this community outcry. 

receive professional advice, develop relationships, and explore the world of business in New York City!

Hunter is also going through round two interviews of another entrepreneurial opportunity in Baltimore, Maryland this summer, so wish her luck! Hunter’s goal

is to continue to learn as much as she can about being a successful entrepreneur. She plans to continue to develop products and seek investment opportunities to grow Terry Lu Naturals. Support Terry Lu Naturals by visiting www.terrylunaturals.com. 

37  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Marketing

This Google App Helps Customers Find Your Business Online, Even If They're Not Searching for It

By David Amerland

T

he dream promise of Google search (www.inc. com/david-amerland/5-ways-to-leverage-recent-aichanges-to-google-search.html) has always been

simple: seamlessly link search queries with results even when the search being carried out totally lacks knowledge and expertise. This is now a step closer to reality thanks to Google Lens (www.blog.google/

perspectives/aparna-chennapragada/google-lens-oneyear) -- an app that cleverly links real-world objects to

Google's massive index of the world's information.

The app works in a remarkably simple way: point your camera at the object you are seeking to find online, tap on it to separate it from the background and then let Google's servers do all the heavy lifting for you and deliver relevant search results.

Because the app works through image recognition and machine learning it can be used to pick out objects not just from the real world but also from photographs stored in the phone's memory. Google, of course, despite its size and indexing power doesn't know everything. In order for a result to appear the technology behind the app needs to correctly identify it in the first instance and then match it to the entities database that Google is busy building as part of semantic search.

When it works it feels like magic. You can suddenly find a dealership that sells a car like the one you found in the picture of a poster advertising a movie, you can discover breeds of dogs you didn't know, find brands of clothing you had no way of describing and even discover recipes of dishes that you don't even know what they are called.

The greatest value of this, of course, is to businesses that can suddenly find themselves attracting customers through unexpected sources of product placement or for items they have not necessarily optimized their website for.

How to Take Advantage of Google's Indexing of Entities Search savvy businesses know that big wins in search come from performing due diligence as part of a process. The expansion of search to include

image recognition that goes beyond the exact match of an image provides an opportunity to businesses that use pictures as part of their product range.

The trick lies in helping Google better understand an object in a picture as an entity. Entities are associated with specific real-world attributes (like cars and tires for example) and activities. They also help raise the perceived trustworthiness of websites in search.

Here's what to do to take advantage of this: Make the pictures tell the story. It is no longer enough to sell a particular product and have a perfectly lit image of it. A person looking for that is most likely to have different lighting conditions and viewing angle.

Help Google understand the similarities by having a variety of pictures of each product on your website taken from different angles and contexts.

Label everything correctly. Far too often product images on a website get uploaded with numerical values or the name "image" and a number that shows size or resolution as the file name. None of this helps search understand the image better. Make sure every image you upload is as clearly labeled for what it is as possible.

Tie the pictures to the text. Google still reads text. If the surrounding text has nothing to do with your product image it only makes it harder for Google to understand the connection. Uncertainty lowers confidence in search results and makes it less likely for your website to appear in response to a Google Lens query even if the picture you have used is very similar to the object being search for.

Think context and perspective. Just as web copy, these days, takes into account the searcher's intent and tries to provide an answer to a problem so must the images you place on your business website illustrate the likely context and perspective of a potential searcher.

Taking top-down shots of a product, for example, when it is highly unlikely it will ever be encountered naturally,

40  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Foods: LaBelle Pies

Toys: Queens of Africa

Fashion: Sole Rebels like that, makes it that much harder for Google's machine learning algorithms to recognize it.

Add alt text. Alt text is a basic search engine optimization requirement that is frequently overlooked. It is there to tell a search engine what an image is if, for some reason, the image cannot be displayed. Alt text however has additional roles when it comes to optimizing a website for search. It provides an additional layer of verification of an image and its relevance to the text that surrounds it. Correctly used alt text descriptions help Google increase its level of confidence in an image.

This is particularly important in cases where the perspective may be a little different or the context of the shot may not come anywhere close to what is actually being searched for.  www.inc.com/david-amerland/this-google-app-helps-customers-findyour-business-online-even-if-theyre-not-searching-for-it.html?utm_ medium=40digest.7days3.20190222.carousel&utm_source=email&utm_ content=&utm_campaign=campaign https://lens.google.com Image credit: appletoolbox.com

Fashion: Ahneva Ahneva

41  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

California State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) Individual Company Export Promotion Program (ICEP) The following are edited guidelines for STEP/ICEP. Complete guidelines are located at: https://californiaexport.org/icep.

For a copy of the complete guidelines, send a request to: bobby.hines@trade.gov Request: California STEP

T

he ICEP program will be used to reimburse eligible California small businesses up to $3,000 USD for specific export promotion related expenses performed on trade promotion related activities.

ICEP will open: • •

November 1, 2018 – January 31, 2019.

April 1, 2019 – July 31, 2019.

Qualifying California companies must: • Be organized, operating and or incorporated in the U.S.A. • The applicable industry-based small business size standard established under section 3 of the Small Business Act; or • The alternate size standard applicable to the program, under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.)

• The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards for your business based on your NAICS code: www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/ Size_Standards_Table_2017.pdf • Registered to do business in the State of California and in good standing with the California Secretary of State: http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/ • If a company is registered as a sole proprietorship with a fictitious name, the applicant must be registered and in good standing with the county in which the business is located.

• Must be in business for at least one year at the time of the approved ICEP activity takes place • Have sufficient resources to bear the costs associate with trade, including the costs of packing,

shipping, freight forwarding, and customs brokers.

• Agree to provide information on export sales data resulting from the ICEP reimbursement funding, and respond to all subsequent STEP surveys on a timely basis.

Qualifying Expenses: The ICEP program provides the opportunity for eligible companies to apply for direct financial assistance to implement an export promotion activity(s). Events/ activity(s) eligible for reimbursement may include : • Participation fees for international trade missions that support U.S./California exports.

• Participation fees for international export trade show exhibitions • Export research tool subscriptions used to assist STEP clients with market research (up to $1,000 maximum) • Website translations, search engine optimization, localization services (up to $1,000 maximum) • Cost of compliance testing of an existing product for entry into a foreign market (maximum of $2,000) • Fees for shipment of sample products internationally (up to $2,000 maximum) • Other export initiatives determined to be appropriate.

How to apply?

Please go to https://californiaexport.org/register/ to register for STEP indicating interest in the “Individual Company Export Promotion” program 30 days in advance of the event for which reimbursement is being sought.

42  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

A

re you a Small Business interested in selling your product or services to Metro or to Prime Contractors that do business with Metro? Would you like to learn how to win contracts as a Prime Contractor through SB Prime, Metro's exciting set-aside initiative? If so, we invite you to come grow with us and learn about Metro Connect.

Start now and register for a How to Do Business with Metro Workshop. Metro staff will show you how to take advantage of the vast array of products, services and transportation related opportunities projected over the coming weeks, months and year. As an added bonus, Metro's procurement staff will host informal interviews with firms before the workshop, starting at 9:00 a.m.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 8:30 a.m.: Registration 9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

One-on-One with Contract Administrators and Continental Breakfast 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.: Program

Metro Headquarters 3rd Floor, Board Room, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Topics: Highway Project Update, Procurement Update, Certification Update, Small Business Prime Update, LA SAFE/511 Next Generation Update To learn more about how Metro Connect's Small and Disadvantaged Business Certifications can help open the door to contracting opportunities with Metro visit Metro Vendor Portal.

For further questions, please contact Marisela Villar at VillarM@metro.net or via phone at 213.922.2235.

Business - Marketing are loads of heat mapping tools out there, but my personal favorites are Hot Jar and Crazy Egg.

Here are 5 Tools to Better Determine What Customers Want

By Dakota Shane

A

s a company, knowing what your customers are saying about you and how they feel about your products, services and overall brand is integral to the long-term success or failure of your business.

Traditionally, to get a feel for this information, business owners have relied heavily on processes like customer surveys and focus groups.

While there are certainly times when customer surveys and focus groups are necessary, these both have a variety of pain points. Mainly, they're extremely time consuming, they don't always result in a large number of results (due to low response rates), and much of the information isn't always accurate -- given surveys rely on feelings and nuance as opposed to hard data.

Luckily, thanks to technology, there are tools available on the market today to help entrepreneurs better understand what their customers truly think about their products with data instead of subjective responses.

Here are 5 of them.

1. Heat Maps Viewing the heat maps of your company website will provide you with valuable data on what your web visitors are engaging the most with. Defined, a heat map is simply a layout of activity on a web page, such as where a visitor hovers their mouse on most, where they're clicking, and how far down the page they're scrolling.

This will lift the veil on what parts of your site customers find interesting, convincing and compelling, and which parts are causing them to drop off. While there

2. Google Analytics There could be a thousand articles written on all the information and data Google Analytics provides to business owners as it relates to their customers. For the sake of this article though, I believe the most relevant details Google Analytics can provide to entrepreneurs is demographic data, such as where most of a company's customers are from what their interests are, as well the bounce rate on your web pages.

Defined, bounce rate is a measurement of the percentage of visitors to a website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. Bounce rate is a great way to measure how effective and engaging your website is overall, allowing you to zero in and make site changes accordingly without needing to host an endless amount of focus groups to get to the same conclusion.

3. Hootsuite Insights The type of social media content that's resonating with your audience most is a tell-tale sign of their interests, what they like about your company, the questions they're dying to have answered and much more.

Hootsuite Insights is a fantastic tool when it comes to identifying and deeply understanding what style of content your customers are interacting with. On top of that, users can also use the app to scan through thousands of brand mentions across social media and filter them by keywords used, allowing you to paint an accurate picture of the content your audience likes most.

4. Brandwatch In order to truly understand what your customers think about your company, you need to know what they're saying when you aren't in the room. Lucky for entrepreneurs and marketers today, the best eavesdropping tool in history now exists: social media.

This is exactly why sentiment analysis apps like Brandwatch can help give you an inside look at what people are really saying about your brand online, whether it's negative, positive or something in between.

By scanning through the words and phrases in the social posts that use your brand name, Brandwatch is

44  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

able to determine the tone of the posts, and label them accordingly.

5. Twitter Advanced Search If you don't feel like jumping through the hoops of more complex tools, using Twitter's free feature, Advanced Search, will allow you to eavesdrop on people Tweeting about your company. One of the

coolest parts about Advanced Search is you can filter the Tweets by location, language, exact phrasing and

much more, giving you the flexibility to get as granular or basic in your research as you want.

Twitter is by its very nature a fleeting, fast-paced platform where people let their thoughts and musings run wild. This makes it a particularly good venue to see how your customers truly feel about your brand without your team needing to reach out to them for a survey.

When it comes to getting a clear understanding of what your customers really want, surveys and focus groups can be useful in some cases, but they're also very time consuming and not always accurate. By giving the tools laid out in this article a try, you'll set your business up for long-term success in this datadriven age we live in today. Best of luck.  www.inc.com/dakota-shane/surveys-are-timeconsuming-subjective-here-are-5-other-toolsto-better-determine-what-customers-want. html?utm_medium=40digest.7days3.20190228. carousel&utm_source=email&utm_content=&utm_ campaign=campaign

BREAUX Capital (www.breauxcapital.com), is a financial savings and financial education company meant to improve the financial welfare of Generation Y’s and young Black entrepreneurs.

The founders, three Morehouse graduates, believe the first step to financial wellness is through saving. BREAUX Capital offers an online automated savings platform, where users can decide how much money they would like to be set aside and allows members to build their savings over time.

There are three tiers in the BREAUX community: BREAUX 20, BREAUX 50 and BREAUX 100 all of which gives members access to automated savings as well as access to the “wealth building forum.” The company creates a community for Black, male millennials with similar financial aspirations and provides them with a platform to connect with one another. Attend BreauxComing and TechGrove events and watch out for Little BREAUX.

www.breauxcapital.com p 45  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Technology

In The Future Of Work, Humans Will Still Be Wanted (Needed)

By Adi Gaskell

M

uch of the debate on the fourth industrial revolution has revolved around the threat posed by new technologies such as AI and robotics to jobs and the human way of life. It's a debate that has often contained more hyperbole than fact, and perhaps Manpower are not the first group you would think of to try and add some sense to the debate, but that's what they've tried to do with a recent paper published to coincide with the World Economic Forum shindig in Davos.

Lest we forget, Manpower were arguably the forerunners of the gig economy that is so hot today, with the company driving the temporary labor market since their foundation back in 1948. Whilst some will no doubt argue that they are therefore the devil incarnate and have spent decades eroding the hard fought for rights and privileges that the 'future of work' seems to be largely without, they do nonetheless have a reasonably good position to oversee how the labor market is responding to the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution.

They reveal that yes, employers are investing heavily in automated technology, but that they also appear to be investing heavily in human talent too. The report says that whilst 87% of the companies Manpower asked were planning to invest in new technologies, they were also planning to increase or maintain their headcount. In the U.K., this figure was a whopping 95%.

Working with machines The data was compiled from a survey of some 59,000 employers across 44 countries, with each quizzed on the impact automation would have on job growth, the areas where they foresee the strongest job growth, and the various strategies they're deploying to ensure they have the skills required to thrive in the future.

Far from the rhetoric of machines taking jobs, just 9% of employers believed that is likely to happen, with the number falling from previous years. Indeed, the companies that are investing the most in autonomous technologies were also those who were creating the most jobs. The rationale is clear - investing in new

technology helps companies to grow, which in turn results in more jobs being created.

In another pleasing development, companies seem to be growing their investment in training and development of staff. The report reveals that with talent shortages at a 12-year high, more companies are looking to develop their workforce rather than recruit from outside. Indeed, the report projects that 84% of employers will be upskilling their workforce by 2020.

“We have to re-examine how we approach learning. At ManpowerGroup (www.manpower.com), we're reskilling people to transition for jobs in high-growth industries including cyber security, advanced manufacturing and autonomous driving. By focusing on upskilling people with practical steps at scale, people and organisations alike can embrace rather than fight against the machines,” Manpower say.

Skills in demand So if companies are investing heavily in training, what skills are they looking to develop? Perhaps unsurprisingly, IT skills remain high on the list, with the manufacturing and production sectors most likely to see growth in jobs. The report also suggests that

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job growth will appear in frontline and customer-facing, engineering and management roles. All of these will require distinctly human skills, such as communication, negotiation and leadership.

Indeed, even in technical disciplines such as IT, the demand for soft skills is significant, with most employers rating this as a vital capability for their IT teams to possess.

These in-demand soft skills are proving difficult to develop however, with around 40% of employers reporting difficulties in training these skills, especially in areas such as analytical thinking and communication.

"Candidates who can demonstrate higher cognitive skills, creativity and the ability to process complex information, together with adaptability and likeability, can expect greater success throughout their careers," the authors say. "By 2030, demand for human skills – social and emotional soft skills – will grow across all industries by 26% in the U.S. and by 22% in Europe."

Building learning organizations The report suggests that by 2022, over half of all employees will require significant reskilling in order to survive the changes in the workplace. Indeed, some 35% of this retraining is likely to be significant and require over six months of training, with a further 19% requiring a year or more. In other words, every employee has to integrate learning as part of their normal life, and every employer has to provide the support required to enable that.

It's important to stress however that whilst more organizations are looking to develop their own talent, there remains strong demand for talent from the marketplace. This is likely to see a significant wage premium offered to those with the most sought-after skills.

In addition, a growing number of organizations are exploring the gig economy and similar platforms to bring in talent on a per-project basis. At the moment however, there remains a distinct gap between employer and worker in terms of willingness to engage

in such an approach, with just 32% of organizations currently using contingent labor, versus 87% of workers who would be up for working this way.

The report reveals however that there is a distinct lack of understanding among employers today about the skills they have within their workforce. Just 48% of employees said that they had undergone any kind of skills assessment, which makes it difficult to accurately plan to fill whatever gaps might exist.

Skills benchmarking MOOC platform Coursera (www.coursera.org) are attempting to overcome this challenge with the release of a Skills Benchmarking tool (www.coursera.org/ business) that they believe will help managers measure not only the skills they have in their workforce, but how those skills compare with peers in their industry. It will provide managers with access to a full dataset on the competencies within their business, and by comparing them with others, help to identify where gaps are.

The new benchmarking tool is built on top of the Skills Graph provided by Coursera to map the skills honed by the courses available on the platform. The graph also maps these skills to career, companies and industries that require them.

The benchmarking tool then utilizes machine learning algorithms that have been trained using learning and assessment performance data from the Coursera ‘student body’ to construct an aggregate view of the core capabilities of any employer, together with how they compare to their peers.

“As advancing technologies continue to change the way businesses operate, organizations need to assess and benchmark their talent continuously in order to compete,” Coursera say. “We’re thrilled to equip businesses across industries with top quality learning content to drive deep reskilling, and organizations can now leverage actionable data to improve their strategic workforce transformation agenda.”

In the rapidly changing world we live in, the need to change is undeniable, and this kind of benchmarking is a good first step in doing so. Time will tell how many organizations grab the nettle and take advantage of the tools increasingly available to them to drive the change they so desperately need.  www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2019/03/04/ in-the-future-of-work-humans-will-still-bewanted/#2c56ea813b1e https://go.manpowergroup.com/talent-shortage2018#aboutthesurvey www.manpowergroup.com//workforce-insights/ data-driven-workforce-insights/manpowergroupemployment-outlook-survey-results

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Business - Entrepreneur History

Madam C. J. Walker: A Way Out of No Way

By Lonnie G. Bunch III, Founding Director, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

M

arch is Women’s History Month. And the National Museum of African American History and Culture is shining a spotlight on African American heroines who have shaped our history, such as Madam C.J. Walker, a beauty entrepreneur who ascended from poverty and hardship to become a self-made millionaire. Walker’s efforts provided fellow African American women with steady employment and a career they and their communities could take pride in, and made a lasting effect on our nation’s history.

For many entrepreneurs, career-defining ideas begin with a personal problem. And for Madam C.J. Walker, that problem was hair loss and scalp damage. Unwilling to accept the condition for herself and other women, she launched a line of hair and beauty products that, one sale at a time, propelled her to success as one of America’s first black millionaires. Walker smartly identified a need and creatively sold a solution—and in the process helped launch what is now a multibilliondollar beauty industry in the United States.

But before women across the country were grooming with her products, Walker was a young mother struggling in poverty. Born in 1867 as Sarah Breedlove, the first free child of enslaved parents, she spent her earliest years on a Delta, Louisiana, plantation on the Mississippi River. Widowed before she was 21, she washed clothes to support herself and her daughter. In search of greater security, Walker moved to St. Louis, where she soon explored her interest in hair care products.

As sales of her products grew, she hired women called agents to market and sell her products. In 1910, she built the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company in Indianapolis and soon expanded sales across the nation and abroad. In addition to hosting various facilities for the local community, the company included a school where agents were taught business management and encouraged to develop financial independence and civic responsibility.

Perhaps the most enduring physical monument to Walker’s legacy is Villa Lewaro, a stunning mansion she constructed 30 miles north of New York City in a community that included tycoons Jay Gould and John D. Rockefeller. Sadly, Walker only lived there for a year before she died in 1919. Villa Lewaro, however,

remained a hub for pioneers of the Harlem Renaissance, including James Weldon Johnson, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Langston Hughes, and survives to this day as a monument to her financial success.

Badge from the National Convention of Madam C. J. Walker's Agents But wealth was never Walker’s sole measure of success. She was a tireless advocate for racial and gender equality at a time when all could not share in America’s social and economic boom.

In 1917, she served on the organizing committee for the NAACP’s Silent Protest Parade, which rallied thousands of African Americans to march down Fifth Avenue in New York City. She also was elected vice president at large of the National Equal Rights League, one of the nation’s oldest organizations promoting freedom for African Americans.

Walker’s commitment to social activism and philanthropy demonstrated her never-ending awareness of her own climb from poverty, as well as her faith in others’ ability to also find power through perseverance. At the Museum, we strive to reflect Walker’s ethos through the exhibits and events we present to guests each year. These include a number of Walker’s images and artifacts, including original product containers and a textbook from one of her beauty schools.

Walker’s spirit of ingenuity permeates the African American experience in our country, and I am proud that our Museum reflects this rich history.

Badge from National Convention of Madam C.J. Walker's Agents: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of A'Lelia Bundles / Madam Walker Family Archives

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Jane e Reese-Wilkins s & Associates s e Black k Business s Association n Memberr off the Will assist you with your FREE Covered California Enrollment for No Cost! We assist with the quote, plan selection and enrollment. Depending on your situation, you may receive Premium Assistance. Dental and vision coverage is available at the time of enrollment. We represent the following plans:

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51  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Travel 3. Get your airline's info on your phone, too. This is a great way to get up-to-the-minute updates on your specific flight. And if you book through a third-party

By Dr. David Eifrig site, download its app, too.

Another good time-saver: Look up the 1. If you travel frequently, upgrade your TSA airport layout (on your airline app) so you know Pre-Check status. A five-year membership is just if you have to take a tram to another terminal or $85. With that, you get to bypass the usual security make other arrangements to allow for enough time lines for shorter, faster ones. As a bonus, you don't to get to your flight. need to remove your shoes, belt, or laptop. Find As a reminder, if you have a tight connection, out more about Pre-check here. let a flight attendant know. They keep a list of But there's an even better service out there. After passengers with connections and will try to make using Pre-check for a while, I upgraded again to sure you get off the plane with enough time.

CLEAR. CLEAR is like cutting not just the regular 4. Keep a copy of all your documents. This tip is more of a sanity-saver. It's worth taking the time to scan your ID and write down your credit-card info (including the customer service number). If you're robbed, you'll still have all of your information. Likewise, list out your emergency contacts.

In those papers, also be sure to include a medication list. Listing your medications – including what they look like and when to take them – will keep you safe. It'll help you stay on schedule and make sure you're taking what you need. And be sure to adjust for any time changes before you go. security line, but the Pre-check line as well. Once If you have any allergies, particularly to you enroll, you simply walk up to a kiosk, get your medications, make sure to indicate that on your iris or fingerprint scanned, and you're completely list and keep it on your person at all times. A wallet done. It allows you to blow through security in just card or even an ID bracelet can be a lifesaver. a minute or two.

5. Always pack an empty water bottle. I hate CLEAR also recently partnered with Hertz, paying $4 for a bottle of water, but here's what I do: allowing you to pick up your rental car with a simple I put a large EMPTY bottle through the screener in fingerprint scan. It's available at the Atlanta airport my bag. Once through the checkpoint and inside now, but it will expand to new locations this year. the terminal, I fill it at a water fountain. Voila, I save CLEAR usually runs about $179 a year, but $4 each way. you can try out two months for free with the code And one more thing... If you fill up after clearing TPG2M. security, you can take the bottles onboard with 2. Get TSA info on your phone anytime. The you, which saves having to wait for the attendant app MyTSA, allows you to search airports. It then to make it up and down the aisle with everyone displays typical wait times for security lines. But else's drinks. it also provides you with the locations of the TSA Regardless of what happens to TSA and any Pre-check lanes, allowing you to find them much future shutdowns, it's always good to use these faster. It's available on iPhone and Android. You tips to make traveling easier.  can also use the app to get help from TSA if you www.stansberryresearch.com. need it.

My Five Tips for Air Travel

53  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Status of Black Business

African American Businesses Grew 400%

by Gene Marks for TBTNEWS BUSINESS

2

018 was a great year for African American small businesses. African American small businesses are not only growing their market share but opening up more health, beauty, and fitness businesses than ever before. But minority-owned businesses received lower loan amounts and were forced to leverage their own cash, a survey found. Without capital, it’s tough to invest in the future.

According to a recent survey of more than 2,700 small businesses conducted near the end of last year by small business financing company Guidant Financial (www. guidantfinancial.com) and online credit marketplace LendingClub Corporation (www.lendingclub. com), African American businesses grew by more than 400% in 2018 as compared to 2017. “It’s exciting to see African American business owners increasingly confident about the state of business in today’s current climate,” said David Nilssen, CEO of Guidant Financial.

Of course, those same African American small business owners face the typical challenges that any other small businesses face: finding employees, growing sales, managing overhead. But one challenge is particularly hard for

this demographic: financing.

That challenge was underscored by the study which found that minority-owned businesses received lower loan amounts than non-minorities and as a result were forced to leverage more of their own cash to run their business.

The impact of this? Slower growth and less hiring. The study found that African American businesses had fewer employees than the average small business owner.

Without capital, it’s tough to invest in the future. The good news is that some governments and entrepreneurs are trying to leverage the growing momentum of blackowned businesses. For example, Oakland, California’s City Council has designated a special business district to “highlight, celebrate, preserve and support” their local black artists and business owners.

The first ever Texas Black Business Week (www.texasblackpages.com/ TexasBlackBusinessWeek) launched in February and marketplaces such

as BBurb (https://bburb.com), Black Wall Street (www.blackwallstreet.org) and Philadelphia’s iBuyBlack.org (www.ibuyblack.org) have sprung up during the past few years to help consumers find and buy from blackowned businesses.

Yes, there are also grants and non-profits that provide capital to minorities and a few organizations that are dedicated to providing capital for black and minority-owned businesses, like the UP Community Fund (www.upcommunityfund. com) and the $100m New Voices Fund (www.newvoicesfund.com) for female entrepreneurs. But the question still remains: why isn’t there more investment in African American owned businesses?  Image Credits: southcentralav.com, huffingtonpost.com

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Business - Technology / Take A Look!

Technology:

Take A Look!

5 Live Video Tools for Executives When Jane Jetson answered a video call from her husband, George, in Hanna-Barbera's 1960s cartoon series "The Jetsons," videoconferencing seemed as far-fetched as it did futuristic. Back then, the only way to chat face-to-face with a family member, friend, colleague or client was to occupy the same physical space with them. Fast-forward 50 years and live video broadcasting isn't just possible; thanks to platforms like Skype, Facebook Live and Apple's FaceTime, it's pervasive.

Now, live video is poised to become even more ubiquitous, thanks to social-networking giant LinkedIn, which is launching a new live video service called LinkedIn Live.

Although LinkedIn has nearly 600 million users around the world, the new video service initially will be available only to a select group of power users who will be invited to use it. Those who don't initially receive an invitation can request one, and it's expected that all LinkedIn users eventually will be able to use LinkedIn Live -- although no plans have been announced for a widespread rollout.

Using LinkedIn Live, individuals and organizations will be able to broadcast real-time video privately to groups of select LinkedIn users, or publicly to the entire LinkedIn community. Either way, the company said the platform is designed for broadcasting "interactive" and/or "timely" events such as conferences, product launches, expert Q&As, earnings calls and award ceremonies.

To assist users with content creation and streaming, LinkedIn has established partnerships with third-party developers such as Wirecast, Switcher Studio, Wowza Media Systems, Socialive and Brandlive,

all of which will lend their expertise to LinkedIn Live in order to ensure professional -instead of amateurquality live streams.

"Video is the fastest growing format on our platform right now, and the one most likely to get people talking," Pete Davies, LinkedIn's director of product management, said. "Live has been the most requested feature."

Four More Live Video Services for Business Users By most accounts, LinkedIn is late to the live-video game. Skype, for instance, debuted in 2003 and has been offering professional-grade video conferencing since 2014 via Skype for Business. Skype isn't the only option, though. Here are four other platforms that preceded LinkedIn Live, each of which remains a solid option for executives who wish to utilize live video for marketing, thought leadership, video conferencing, workforce engagement or other business objectives: • YouTube Live: YouTube has been the leader in online video since its debut in 2005. What began as a platform for viral videos and video blogging, however, has blossomed into a viable business tool for video marketers. Although it's not designed for group video conferencing, YouTube's YouTube Live (www.youtube. com/live) service is ideal for broadcasting live video, including corporate meetings, product launches and s p e c i a l e v e n t s .

Videos can be streamed to users in real time, and can also be saved as public videos for on-demand playback. Because YouTube is a public-facing platform, it's ideal for executives and companies that want to use live video for marketing and branding; potential customers and employees can watch events live or after the fact in order to learn more about an executive or company. The positive impressions viewers form can help organizations and their leaders improve their reputations, enhance stakeholder engagement, and increase brand recognition and loyalty.

• Zoom: Companies and executives that want to leverage video for productivity instead of promotion should consider a platform like Zoom (https://zoom. us). Users like it because it's an all-in-one solution: Its video-conferencing service includes HD audio and video, with support for up to 1,000 video users;

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built-in collaboration tools, including screen sharing, co-annotation, file sharing and team chat; and archiving capabilities, with the ability to record meetings and create searchable transcriptions. Meanwhile, users who want broadcasting capabilities, too, can use Zoom's webcast solution to host online events with up to 100 interactive video participants and more than 10,000 attendees. Yet another offering is "Zoom Rooms," whereby Zoom outfits conference rooms with the equipment -- monitors, cameras, digital signage, digital whiteboards -- to jumpstart real-time collaboration among remote teams. Plus, a basic Zoom account is free and allows unlimited meetings (although group meetings with three or more participants are limited to 40 minutes unless you upgrade to a paid plan).

• BlueJeans: Zoom's chief competitor is BlueJeans (www.bluejeans.com), which offers many of the same features and benefits, including video conferencing with screen-sharing and recording capabilities; hardware services for creating interactive conference rooms; and webcasting services that support up to 15,000 attendees and up to 100 video presenters. The latter offering is especially notable because it includes interactive audience engagement tools such as Q&A, event chat, polling and hand raising. Plus, users can broadcast to the public by streaming their BlueJeans videos to social media via Facebook Live. Although there's no free option, subscriptions start at just $12.49 per month for individuals and small businesses that want to support meetings of up to 50 participants.

• Crowdcast: For those who want to use video as the basis for creating an online community, however, a solution like (www.

Crowdcast crowdcast.io) is hard to beat. For one, events hosted on the platform can be monetized with the ability to create registration pages and accept payments or donations. Likewise, organizers can limit seats to create an air of exclusivity or a sense of urgency. Engagement is easy, too, thanks to tools for Q&A, polling, voting and chat; presenters can even invite participants on screen (instead of on stage) to

interact with them in front of their virtual audience.

Organizers can capture key moments and share them on social media, create a customized landing page, embed their event on an existing web page and collect analytics that help identify which participants were most engaged, or which parts of the event were most effective.www.ubergizmo.com/2019/02/googlereleases-new-apps-to-help-hard-of-hearing-people/

by Matt Alderton www.northstarmeetingsgroup.com/How-To/ Event-Planning/Event-Technology/Live-VideoTools?cid=eltrMTI&utm_source=TechInsider&utm_ medium=email&utm_content=1902&utm_ campaign=eNLMTI&ajs_uid=4802E7468278C4X&oly_ enc_id=4802E7468278C4X&ajs_trait_ oebid=6012C3585790B5P

First AI-Powered App for the Bleisure Traveler

J

ack and Ferdi (www.jackandferdi.com), the first mobile app for bleisure travelers (a trip that combines business and leisure) is now available for download on iOS devices. The app provides business travelers with vetted suggestions on what to see, where to eat, and what to bring back home from more than 60 different global destinations.

All suggestions are tailored to the user and curated by a team of City Ambassadors who possess in-depth knowledge of their area.

Business travelers can also use Jack and Ferdi to learn local business customs, discover inspiring, unique work and meeting spaces, listen to locally inspired playlists, access a curated list of local charities to support and find the best running routes.

“Jack and Ferdi provides business travelers the

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see page 58

Business - Technology / Take A Look! from page 57

opportunity to seize the full potential of their trips by offering geolocalized, AI-generated and curator-vetted suggestions that are unbiased, suited to travelers’ profiles and time constraints, and most importantly, offer truly authentic and quintessential experiences,” said Anne-Fleur Andrle, co-founder and CEO of Jack and Ferdi.  https://aithority.com/mobile/jack-and-ferdi-launches-thefirst-ai-powered-app-for-the-bleisure-traveler/

How to Hear/Delete Conversations Your Amazon Alexa Has Recorded

D

igital assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are designed to learn more about you as they listen, and part of doing so is to record conversations you’ve had with them to learn your tone of voice, prompts, and requests. While this is supposed to help the assistants like Alexa learn to give you better answers, this featurenot-a-bug has landed Amazon in a string of bizarre headlines. In 2018, users have reported that their Echo speakers began spontaneously laughing, while a family in Portland said their device recorded and sent conversations to a colleague without their knowledge. For these instances, Amazon claims that the devices were likely triggered by false positive commands.

Still, it’s not uncommon for smart speakers to pick up a random part of your everyday conversations and misunderstand it as a wake word (especially if you may have changed the Alexa trigger to a more common word, like “Computer”).

If you’re curious what Alexa has been hearing and recording in your household, here’s a quick way to check.

On the app First, open the Alexa app on your smart device. Tap the hamburger icon on the top left side of the screen to open the menu options. Click on the Settings menu, then find Alexa Account. Tap on Alexa Privacy, and here you’ll be able to browse all the commands you’ve ever asked of Alexa, from timers to music requests to general internet queries.

You can also sort the results by date. Sometimes you may even see just a line item that says “Alexa,” for those times you may have mentioned the assistant’s name but didn’t mean to actually use it. Tapping on individual requests also lets you hear yourself in the

instance you said these prompts to Alexa, and choose to delete them if you wish.

You may notice a few instances where the Alexa app notes a “text not available.” Click on this, and you can listen to a recording of what you or someone in your household said that prompted the Echo to listen to your current conversation.

On the web If you prefer to do this on a desktop, you can also manage your Alexa history by going to Amazon’s dedicated Alexa Privacy page. Here, you can follow the same steps as above to view, listen, and clear your Alexa voice prompts as needed.

To wipe out your entire Alexa history, you can also access Amazon’s Manage Your Content and Devices and select your Android device. Here, you can click Manage voice recordings to erase everything with one click.

The company, of course, cautions that doing so “may

SNL Echo for the Elderly bgr.com

degrade your Alexa experience.” As noted above, Amazon keeps these recordings to personalize the Alexa experience to your household and uses them to create an acoustic model of your voice. While it does automatically create a voice profile for each new user it recognizes (or ones you’ve manually added), the company says it deletes acoustic models if it has not recognized any particular user for three years.

For heavy Alexa users, going through all of these commands to find egregious conversations to delete might be too much work. But if you’re nervous about what the Echo has been listening to you say, it may be worth browsing to make sure nothing it has recorded is something you want transmitted elsewhere.  www.theverge.com/2018/5/28/17402154/amazon-echoalexa-conversation-recording-history-listen-how-to Curatted by LaSandra Stratton, Chief Content Administrator of the Black Business News.

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Publisher's Message from page 3

structure, protection and connectivity as possible.

Our history includes Queen Nzinga, Biddy Mason, Sarah P. Goode, Ida B. Wells, Barbara Walden, Mary McCloud Bethune, Zora Neal Hurston, Loretta Lynch, Michelle Obama, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisolm, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Karen Bass, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Hare and Joy Reid. We must continue the legacy of these women and play out our roles in our homes and Queen Nzinga communities at the highest level of competency.

Highlighting African American women in government service is important because the results of their efforts effect the lives of millions of people while their visibility inspires young women to aspire to these positions and others in the many fields that are now open to them. These women embody the motivations we repeat many times over - "Yes We Can" and "I Am Somebody."

United States Senator Kamala Harris is campaigning to be elected President of the United States in 2020. Stacy Abrams may run for a Senate seat representing the State of Georgia.

Honorable Letitia James was elected as Attorney General of the State of New York. The City of Chicago, third largest city in the USA, will have an African American woman mayor when the local run-off election is held in April because two African American women (Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot) are vying for the office.

The Black Business Association (BBA), is pleased to honor the many contributions by women to our families, communities and the business world at the upcoming “Salute to Black Women Business Conference, Expo and Awards Luncheon.”

This year’s honorees exemplify the many areas that women are accomplishing goals, creating opportunities for others by their commitment and vision for all.

The honorees for the Awards Luncheon are:

C y n t h i a Marshall, CEO of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and formerly a top executive at AT&T; Charisse B r e m o n d W e a v e r , President and CEO of the Brotherhood Atty. General Loretta Lynch C r u s a d e ; Shirley Weber, California State Assemblywoman and Chairperson of the Black Caucus; Barbara Morrison, world renowned international jazz singer and Kheris Rogers, young entrepreneur in the fashion industry.

Workshops at the conference includes: Value Proposition (a Southern California EDGE workshop), Role Models to Success (presented by Northrop Grumman Corporation for young ladies 13-18 years of age), Goal Attainment and Wealth Building Rep. Karen Bass (presented by Natalie Cole, entrepreneur, author, speaker and coach).

African Americans in this nation need to honor African American women every day of the year. 

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www.bbala.org

LDF files lawsuit alleging discrimination against Haitian immigrants

R

ecently, we challenged discrimination against immigrants of color and a federal judge in Maryland allowed our lawsuit.

LDF filed a lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP and its Haitian members in response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) decision to rescind the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) designation for Haitian immigrants.

Our lawsuit claims that the DHS, former Acting DHS Secretary Elaine C. Duke, and current DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen took irrational and discriminatory government action, denying Haitian immigrants their right to due process and equal protection under the Fifth Amendment.

LDF believes the decision to rescind Haitian immigrants' protective status is discriminatory — so we're fighting back.

As evidence of the intent to discriminate, the lawsuit cites public reporting that DHS sought crime data on Haitians with TPS, as well as information on how many Haitian nationals were receiving public benefits. The complaint further alleges that President Trump's public hostility toward immigrants of color was a contributing factor in the decision to rescind Haitian TPS.

Haitian immigrants first received Temporary Protective Status in 2010 as part of the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to assist the country after it was struck by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Haiti's TPS designations have been extended multiple times due to many factors, including multiple hurricanes and a cholera outbreak.

This is a simple case. Our democracy rests on the bedrock principle that every person is equal before the law. Governmental decisions that target people based on racial discrimination violate our Constitution.

Help us prepare for the battle ahead with a donation now. I look forward to keeping you updated as this case develops.

With you in struggle, Sherrilyn A. Ifill, President and Director-Counsel Donate here: https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6857/p/ salsa/donation/common/public

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TRADE MISSION: USA Trade Fair Conference and Exhibition 2019 May 21-23, 2019  Venue - Eko Convention Center Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria We are excited to announce the Commercial Service Nigeria’s first ever USA Trade Fair Conference and Exhibition, May 21-23, 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria. Get access to Africa’s largest and most dynamic market over an intense 3-day period.

The USA Fair, which will include exhibitions, company promotions, diplomatic events and targeted one-on-one business meetings, provides U.S. companies with unique opportunities to engage Nigeria’s most qualified buyers and partners.

Did you know that by 2050 Nigeria is predicted to be the third most populous country in the world (behind only India and China) and has the largest economy on the African continent, 17th largest in the world? Demand is growing across the agriculture, infrastructure, IT/digital economy sectors, in addition to the traditional sectors such as energy (oil and gas, power), transportation, construction and environmental technologies.

For detailed information about the USA Fair, including activities, fees and logistics.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to benedicta.nkwoh@trade.gov and ambrose. thomas@trade.gov. Also contact Africa Business Portal at: 1-800-573-6105 or info@africabsp.com. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to grow your business in Africa’s largest and most dynamic market.

We will be pleased to arrange a conference call with you to discuss your product or in case you have any further concerns or questions about USA Fair 2019.

For details on the Republic of Nigeria visit: https://2016.export.gov/nigeria

64  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Cast Your Vote!

50th NAACP IMAGE AWARDS LIVE ON 'TV ONE' MARCH 30, 2019 Dolby Theatre in Hollywood

Beyoncé

T Chawick Boseman

he 50th NAACP Image Awards will air LIVE on TV One, a division of Urban One, Inc., on March 30, 2019. For the first time ever, the telecast will take place from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.

The NAACP Image Awards celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature, and film and also honor individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.

We are excited to get your input on one of the biggest awards of the night—Entertainer of the Year.

Cast your vote for this year’s NAACP Entertainer of the Year at: https://naacpimageawards.net/entertainer-of-the-year-voting.

The nominees are: Beyoncé, Chadwick Boseman, LeBron James, Regina King, and Ryan Coogler.

LeBron James

You are allowed to vote once, every 24 hours.

After you vote today, you can come back and vote again same time tomorrow.

After you cast your vote, make sure you mark your calendar to tune in on Saturday, March 30th. 

Regina King

In solidarity, Robin Harrison Acting Director, Hollywood Bureau @naacpimageaward NAACP

Ryan Coogler

65  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Staying Ahead of the Curve

What Entrepreneurs Can Potential Breakup

by John

S

ome think the recent GM layoffs may signal the beginning of the end for America's love of the automobile.

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise.

According to research from Ohio State University, Americans, especially millennials, are buying fewer cars now. Selfdriving cars are on the horizon and ride sharing is popular. The signs have appeared for years, but many automakers were slow to react to shifting market trends.

Americans have also been breaking up with retailers like Sears, Kmart, and Toys R Us. Payless ShoeSource just announced it's closing all of its stores after having filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

Such "breakups" between individuals and once strong brands offer valuable lessons for entrepreneurs. Here are some things you should do if you want to stay successful and maintain customer loyalty for the long haul.

Listen actively and closely.

Most brands claim they're listening to their audiences. But many haven't mastered the art of really paying attention. It's easy to jump to simplistic conclusions based on what you think you know or heard. In many cases, what felt

like an "overnight breakup" with customers was actually more of a gradual falling-apart. The brand just may not have been listening actively and closely.

is paying attention solely to trends related to their industries. Instead, look at the bigger picture, including any environmental, social, political and economic factors that might

Tesla is a prime example of effective corporate listening. Last year, Elon Musk tweeted right back to a customer who suggested a change to vehicle features. It shows immediate acknowledgment from a brand and a willingness to consider what customers want.

If you're not listening this actively you may be falling behind. Make sure you're monitoring customer opinion and sentiment diligently, whether it's through in-person interaction or social media listening tools.

impact your customers or even competing brands.

Automakers are dealing with several emerging trends that dramatically impact their businesses. According to a Gallup survey, people are increasingly working from home, part- or fulltime, instead of commuting. The number rose from 39% in 2012 to 43% in 2016. Research shows that more people are shopping online for the holidays instead of hitting the local mall. They're also starting to live more in urban centers where they can use bikes and scooters or just walk. These trends, as well as environmental concerns, are on the minds of

Don't ignore global trends that affect everyone.

Another mistake brands make

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n Learn From America's p With Car Buying Boitnott

every auto executive as they make business decisions.

Adidas (www.adidas.com/Parley/ Shoes) is an example of a company that leveraged a global enviromental trend to its advantage.

The shoe m a k e r partnered w i t h Parley to manufacture athletic gear and shoes from plastic found in the ocean.

Executives wanted to be seen doing social good by tackling pollution, which they knew is a priority for customers. Adidas says it sold one million of the shoes. The point is, understanding what's going on in the world influences whether you deliver relevant products to people.

Think like a disruptor.

Disruptors shake things up and create change through turbulence.

This occurred with some of today's most widely used services, like Google and Amazon, as well as more maligned brands like Facebook. However, automakers long appeared to be anything but innovative, continuing to roll out the same internal combustion engine vehicles.

Rather than blaming the economy, politics or technology, stagnating brands should embrace new approaches.

•

First, examine your current beliefs and question whether they still add the same value they once did.

•

Next, determine what beliefs are in direct opposition to your current, stagnating ideas.

•

Then examine these opposing beliefs. How might they add new value to your target audience?

•

Incorporate them into a product you can test on that audience, and seek their feedback. Do your users think the new product adds value?

•

Keep revising the product this way until you reach a level of sustained value that works for customers.

This way you can create a new business model to accompany the rollout of that product.

Before you know it, your mindset has changed and you are disrupting the market. It's how Apple, Uber, Amazon and others have done it. It works across multiple fields and industries, and it can help you avoid going the way of corporate dinosaurs who never learned the lesson of "adapt or die."  www.inc.com/john-boitnott/ what-entrepreneurs-can-learnfrom-americas-potential-breakupwith-car-buying.html?utm_ medium=40digest.7days3.20190222. carousel&utm_source=email&utm_ content=&utm_campaign=campaign

pinterest.com

67  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government - Trade

Business - Success Story

How One Veteran Went From Homelessness to Sweet Success After Making a Delicious Mistake

By Erica Chayes Wida and Megan Wheeler

S

tefan DeArmon was struggling to support his parents while living in a homeless shelter until his ambitious nature, a fateful meeting, a simple mistake and some really, really good cornbread changed his life forever.

DeArmon, a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, took a leap of faith when he returned home to Charleston, South Carolina, to help his parents after retiring from the service. His father had been in and out of the hospital while his mother, who been diagnosed as being legally blind, was still cooking and running the household.

DeArmon didn't have the funds to relocate or scrape up enough money to put towards getting a home, but he wanted to help his family at any cost.

"If you could put your pride aside, I can get you in the shelter," a veteran social worker told DeArmon. He then learned about One80 Place (https://one80place. org), a shelter that provides unique job opportunities for residents. "I said, 'Whatever it takes for me to get home to my parents,'" DeArmon told TODAY Food (www.today.com/ food).

DeArmon told TODAY that although the shelter saved his life, being homeless was a struggle — one that inhibited productivity and the rest one needs to feel healthy and thrive. But One80 softened the harsh blow of homelessness with programs to foster success, one of which provided culinary training.

DeArmon, who grew up watching his mother and grandmother cook,

also loved to prepare food. He enjoyed the program and heeded the advice of his instructor, Angie DuPree, when she recommended that he find a local chef to assist at the Charleston Wine + Food festival, which had recently started a partnership with One80 Place to give residents on-the-ground experience.

It was there that a chance meeting changed his life. DeArmon started volunteering for the station of a local barbecue restaurant called Smoke (www.smokebbq.kitchen) — a place where he had eaten before.

"He had his black chef coat and his white undershirt. And I said, 'Sir, you've got the spirit. I'm calling you 'the Reverend' and you're coming to work at Smoke,'" Smoke BBQ owner Roland Feldman recalled to TODAY. DeArmon began working as a dishwasher and quickly worked his way up to preparing food. One day while he was preparing a batch of the restaurant's signature cornbread, DeArmon accidentally poured heavy cream into the batter instead of buttermilk. Feldman decided to have DeArmon bake it up and what ensued proved how wonderful a simple mistake can be.

"It came out a little bit higher, it was moist, golden brown. They passed it out and everyone loved it," DeArmon told TODAY. The cornbread was so good, that it inspired Feldman to bring

DeArmon on as a business partner.

And so the Reverend Cornbread Co. was born.

This year, DeArmon will return to the Charleston Wine + Food festival to lead a baking class with Carrie Moray of Callie's Biscuits. To give back, he also teaches new students at One80's culinary program.

Reverend Cornbread Co. now has its own food truck, which DeArmon and his friends from the shelter use to distribute fresh meals to the homeless several time a month.

"Without hope you don't have anything. One80 place gave me hope and an avenue because dealing what I had to with my parents, to do something that I really love, which is cooking, it was a relief, ya know," DeArmon told TODAY. "To see people get satisfaction from something that I've created is one of the best feelings ever ... I swell with pride just to see the smile on my mother's face. And it was a great feeling, a great feeling."  www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/ how-1-veteran-went-from-homelessnessto-sweet-success-after-making-a-deliciousmistake/ar-BBUn0Vr?ocid=spartandhp

72  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business - Marketing

How to Use GIFs in Your Marketing to Boost Engagement

By Syed Balkhi

T

o some, the acronym GIF (short for Graphics Interchange Format) might seem like a mysterious online language describing looping clips of funny TV shows and movies or an amusing facial reaction to a comment or post on social media.

But GIFs have come a long way since their invention in 1987.

GIFs allow us to express complex messages in a matter of seconds.

In fact, according to a survey published in Time, nearly twothirds of millennials polled said GIFs communicated their thoughts and feelings better than words.

And that makes them a powerful strategy for companies that want to connect and engage with their target audience online. So, how can your business get in on the GIF trend to get your message across and boost engagement?

Stand out on social media.

When users are scrolling through their social media feeds, a simple photo and text post may not grab their attention, but you can make your marketing stand out by using GIFs. One company that’s using GIFs on social media in an amazing way is Vue Cinemas. It takes short movie clips and turns them into GIFs that literally leap out of a mocked-up social media post.

Your company can get more engagement on social media by using GIFs already available in the GIF library on Facebook and Twitter. Create a post with a funny GIF that’s relatable to your audience

and relevant to your business or have fun in your comment section reacting to comments from users with a fun “Thank you” GIF, for instance.

Using GIFs on social media will help your audience members relate to your company on a more personable level. They’ll feel that they’re sharing fun GIFs back and forth with a friend.

Impress your email subscribers.

Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to speak to your target audience, but consumers today are inundated with a ton of email marketing messages. That means you need to do something different to get their attention and make them want to click. And that’s where GIFs come in. Adding GIFs to your marketing will make your emails more interactive, which in turn will boost engagement from your subscribers.

Blue Apron, the food delivery service, uses a GIF to showcase a delicious meal that catches the eye and tempts consumers into making a purchase "before it’s all gone."

You can use a GIF to showcase products that are available on your website or just add a fun text GIF that catches the eye. GIFs in your email messages will delight readers bored with reading static emails.

Liven up your blog posts.

Blogging is great for driving traffic to your website. But not everyone likes to read blog posts. So, add a little something for everyone in your blog posts by including GIFs. Using GIFs for your “how to” blog posts

and tutorials is a great way to go.

For example, the Huffington Post article, “5 Ways to Wear a Silk Scarf,” added instructional GIFS to visually demonstrate the lessons to readers.

Videos and GIFs actually help people learn better than they do reading text. Words are abstract and rather difficult for the brain to retain, whereas visuals are concrete and more easily remembered. So, if you’ve got something to teach your audience, add in some helpful and engaging GIFs. Show off your product.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a GIF is worth a million words. Instead of showing off your products in a static, one-dimensional way, give your audience a more exciting peek at your products by using GIFs. You can use GIFs to create a full 360-degree view of your product (more cost-effective than an HD marketing video). You can create your own GIFs easily and for free with a tool like Giphy (https://giphy. com). Just upload high-quality photos of your product and in seconds you’ll have an awesome GIF of your product to wow your audience with.

Over to you Your business can use GIFs to engage with your target audience online and make your brand more relatable. With these tips for how to use GIFs in your marketing, you can do more than just boost engagement; you can turn strangers online into your biggest fans.  www.entrepreneur.com/article/327112 www.entrepreneur.com/article/279534 www.entrepreneur.com/article/300336 www.entrepreneur.com/article/300336 www.entrepreneur.com/article/272193

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FOR

Women's History OR ANY SPECIAL OCCASION

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Community/Public Interest

400th Commemoration Year of Enslavement 1619-2019

The Documentary Highlighting the Real Green Book

By Hannah Giorgis

I

n 1936, a black postal worker named Victor Hugo Green published the first edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book. At the time, the segregationera guide was meant to direct black New York City residents to businesses they could frequent without facing the overt discrimination and threats of violence they encountered even up north. Demand soon grew for a more geographically expansive document, and the following year Green compiled and distributed the first national issue (https://digitalcollections.nypl.

org/items/88223f10-8936-0132-0483-58d385a7b928/ book#page/1/mode/2up). “FOR EXTRA SERVICE …

MENTION ‘THE GREEN BOOK,’ ” the cover’s header read, a direct address to the community it served.

The Green Book, as it is most often called, became an invaluable resource to black people living in, and traveling through, America. It cataloged black-owned businesses around the country, directing motorists to establishments that served a wide range of functions.

Amid its pages—digitized now at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York—were listings for restaurants, hotels, vacation destinations, barber shops, gas stations, and more. By the early 1960s, it had reached about 2 million people; toward the end of its run, it even included international listings. And now, more than 50 years after the final, 1966–67 edition of The Green Book was published, a new Smithsonian Channel documentary from the filmmaker Yoruba Richen traces the guide’s history and its ongoing significance.

The Green Book: Guide to Freedom, which airs February 25 (www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/rfwatch-online/tv-shows/the-green-book-guide-to-freedom), positions Green’s ambitious project as a necessary response to white-supremacist violence—and as a community-building tool. Throughout the documentary, Richen takes great care to showcase the ubiquity of black entrepreneurship, a phenomenon that the guide both documented and bolstered. “I feel like it gives us such a window to talk about a lot of things that we don’t get to normally talk about when we are looking at the

black experience,” Richen, who also narrates the documentary, said when we spoke on the phone recently. “So much of the time, our experience in history is seen through a narrow lens and understanding.”

Richen’s 51-minute documentary ry is a generous, generous complex exploration of the artifact’s practical function and its cultural legacy. But it is not, of course, the first film to bring the historic guide into public consciousness. The Oscar front-runner Green Book, directed by Peter Farrelly, launched a critical reckoning late last year amid reports that it mischaracterized its central story. Green Book focuses largely on Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), a white man who learns about the existence of racism after he’s hired to drive the preeminent black pianist “Dr.” Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) on a concert tour through the Jim Crow–era South. The film has been criticized, including by Shirley’s family, for reported inaccuracies about the musician’s life (and for its prioritization of Tony’s character). But it fails other black subjects, too—among them, Victor Green and the people whose businesses filled the pages of his book.

Green Book is a narrative drama, and the Smithsonian Channel project is a documentary; there are, understandably, many reasons why their approaches to the subject might diverge. But even so, the differences between the films’ respective representations of The Green Book, and of black American experiences, underscore the importance of Richen’s approach.

Where Farrelly’s framing of racism as an exclusively southern problem is as familiar as it is misguided, Richen substantively engages the complexity of black life. Her documentary is notable not simply because it explains the origin of Green’s book. The Green Book: Guide to Freedom also challenges the paradigm its corollary adopts: an exhaustingly insular outlook in which black interiority is an abstraction. By depicting the threats black people faced when both migrating

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Lake County Historical Society and traveling—while also emphasizing the innovation birthed amid these struggles—Guide to Freedom serves as a corrective.

For viewers who are genuinely invested in learning about the historical text and how black people have navigated everyday travel since the early 20th century, the documentary neatly offers a wealth of knowledge in a compressed window. It also bolsters the information with archival footage. “We went to the National Museum of African American History [and Culture] in D.C., and we got to see some of their home-movie archives,” Richen said of the production process. “And when we saw these archives, I was just like, Oh, this is how I want to tell this story. If we can tell this story as much [as possible] through home-movie archives of traveling, of being on the road, I think that would be a really beautiful way to tell the story, because [most Americans] haven’t seen that footage, but also we can create a road trip for the viewer.”

The Green Book: Guide to Freedom also includes commentary from figures such as the author and historian Candacy Taylor, who has been researching The Negro Motorist Green Book since she was commissioned by a travel-guide company to write about Route 66 several years ago. While reading through existing books about the iconic highway, which stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles, Taylor encountered a glut of nostalgic musings that didn’t account for how dangerous travel was—and often still

is—for black people.

In the documentary’s introductory scene, Taylor offers a concise explanation of the directory she’s devoted years to studying. “The Green Book was a great way to understand how you could get from A to B safely,” she says. “And even though it wasn’t all about struggle and fear, there was a seriousness to traveling while black, and there were severe consequences.”

Taylor’s upcoming book, Overground Railroad, is just one part of her Green Book Project, for which she’s interviewed descendants of business owners with listings in Green’s directories. According to Taylor’s research, only 3% of the businesses are still in operation, but she’s gleaned a wealth of insights from their legacies: “I found incredibly inspiring stories …

I interviewed Martin Luther King’s barber, who used to cut his hair at the bottom of the Ben Moore Hotel, which is a Green Book site,” Taylor said when we spoke over the phone. “And [King’s barber] was there during the Montgomery bus boycott, when it was being strategized at the Ben Moore Hotel in Montgomery. So that was a pinch-me moment, where I’m like, Oh my god, he and King were very close. And he told me a lot of great stories.”

“Their interviews will be archived forever at the Library [of Congress],” Taylor added. “So that feels good—to capture this piece of history before we lose it, because we’ve lost already so much of it.”  www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/rf-watch-online/tv-shows/the-greenbook-guide-to-freedom

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Community/Public Interest

British Royals Launch Social Media Protocols After Trolling of Meghan Markle and Kate

By ABC/Reuters

Duke and Duchess of Sussex

B

ritain's Royal family is targeting trolls following a rise in abusive comments often aimed at Prince Harry's pregnant wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

They have unveiled a new protocol for their social media channels, asking for kindness and warning of possible police action for those who cross the line.

Abusive and threatening remarks have become commonplace in the comment sections and Twitter feeds of the royal family, with Meghan and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge — the wives of Queen Elizabeth's grandsons Prince Harry and Prince William — particular targets.

Unveiling their Social Media Community Guidelines, Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace — the offices for the Queen, her son and heir Prince Charles, and William and Harry — outlined what behaviour they expected from users of their channels.

"We ask that anyone engaging with our social media channels shows courtesy, kindness and respect for all other members of our social media communities," the guidelines said.

Comments must not be defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive, discriminatory, off-topic, irrelevant, unintelligible or contain

advertising.

Some 3.87 million accounts follow the Royal family's Twitter feed and 1.69 million follow Kensington Palace, the official account for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

More than 7 million follow the Kensington Royal Instagram account, which is spruiking the new guidelines.

Despite the overwhelming number of messages coming through social media being supportive, officials were reportedly spending hours each week addressing sexist and racist comments aimed at the duchesses.

These included a number of violent threats and there have also been vicious online rows between rival supporters of the two royals, and even those who report on their activities.

A senior Royal reporter had been threatened with having acid thrown in her face over her work, the ABC was told last year.

"It is not just the Royal princesses who are being trolled, every Royal journalist, every Royal correspondent is being trolled as well," Royal biographer Claudia Joseph said.

"People see their opinions as valid and I don't think they totally understand journalists do research, that the royals have a job to do."  www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-05/ royals-appeal-for-kindness-aftertrolling-of-meghan-markle/10870792

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Community/Public Interest

How to Stay Cool Under Pressure, According to Barack Obama

By Sarah Harvard, The Independent

Barack Obama marriedbiography.com

F

ormer President Barack Obama shared his secrets on how he was able to remain calm and level-headed under immense pressure throughout his presidency while speaking at a tech conference this week.

The 44th President of the United States told attendees in Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday that there some truth to his nickname “no drama Obama,” despite admitting he would still be ridden with fear over making a mistake.

“I have an even temperament and I don’t get too high and I don’t get too low, but that doesn’t mean that throughout the presidency and throughout my professional career that there weren’t times when I was constrained by, ‘Man I don’t want to screw this up. I don’t want to let people down,” Mr Obama said at a conference hosted by software company Qualtrics. “I don’t want to be seen as having made made a

mistake or having failed’.”

It wasn’t until his second term did Mr Obama experienced a “shedding of fear” that he said helped him perform better.

“There’s no doubt by the time I was in my second term I was a better president than I was in my first term and it did not have to do with analysis or policy,” he added.

“It had to do with what comes with any career — whether it’s sports or teaching or you name it — you get enough reps, enough repetition and familiarity with the nature of the problems that you start being focused on the task and not howare-you-doing-on-the-task and the self-consciousness that comes with that.”

The former president said his change of attitude with focusing on the tasks at hand, rather than being fixated at the performance of it, helped him make strides when it came to the Iran nuclear deal and

the Paris Climate accords.

He was able to overcome his anxiety that made him fixated over making possible mistakes by learning how to become more comfortable with tackling the large complex problems.

Rather than being obsessed with poll numbers or commentary from pundits, he would focus on “advancing this vision that I have and I hope the country will share, that we create a better country.”

He did this by not letting the press distract him. Mr Obama said he does not look at social media comments or watch pundits on cable news including the commentary insulting and praising him.

“If people were complementary, people assume you know more than you did,” the former president said before noting that an inflated ego can be just as detrimental as low self-esteem.

Mr Obama viewed the public commentary about him “unhelpful” and “not useful to me in doing my job or solving a problem, but designed to feed possible anxiety.”

But what happens if the former president does make a mistake?

“And if I make a mistake we’ll figure out how to make up for it,” he said, “we’ll learn from it.”  https://news.yahoo.com/stay-cool-underpressure-according-165948975.html?. tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_02

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Community/Public Interest

Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial

Remembering and Raising Dr. Julia Hare: Her Honored Life and Unforgettable Love

By DR. MAULANA KARENG

A

s an African people, a caring and committed people, we can never get used to the passing of those we love, respect and honor. We imagine them always with us, laughing and lifting us up, bringing the dawn and opening the way for us to see and assert ourselves in dignityaffirming, lifeenhancing and flourishingdirected ways and we are duly disoriented if not undone when they leave us. So, it is with the passing and rising in radiance of Dr. Julia Ann Reed Hare (November 7, 1939 to February 25, 2019), author, educator, motivational lecturer, social commentator, radio talk host, educational psychologist, righteous and relentless servant of her people, and beloved wife, co-worker and coauthor with the renowned educator, sociologist and clinical psychologist, Dr. Nathan Hare, whose sense of loss we share as best we can.

And of all her credits, she would

tell you herself, none is more important than or desirably p o s s i b l e without her b e l o v e d husband, Nathan. Thus, we think of her as Dr. Julia (loves Nathan) Hare, for the way we know, love, respect, honor and remember her is inseparable from the loving, beautiful and symbiotic relationship they built and shared, modeled and mirrored. Early in their relationship before their marriage, he bought her Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable, not only as a signature song of their love, but also as a signifier of equal commitment in their life.

It is, above all, then, the legacy of togetherness that she leaves us; the model, mirror and message of togetherness in life, love and struggle, as both foundational principle and fundamental practice.

It is, as I read her work, the way we will recover, build and develop our lives, strengthen and sustain our love and wage the victorious struggle that will enable us, as Black men and women, to be ourselves and free ourselves as persons and a people.

For Julia, love of Nathan is at the heart and soul of her life. It is in meeting, loving, marrying him that she begins the beautiful journey on which she cooperatively broadened, deepened and developed her knowledge, nurtured and cultivated her love, enriched and expanded her life, and became the highly achieved, loved and respected woman we admire, respect and raise up in remembrance, reflection and reaffirmation. She defined and honored Nathan as “one of my master teachers who got me very involved in fighting for the oppressed” and knew she would, as he said, stand by her as she stood by him in all the ups and downs of life and struggle.

We of the African American Cultural Center (Us) family, where Julia and Nathan lectured many times, always appreciated their lively and loving exchange on a wide and ever-widening range of subjects about love, life and struggle. Nor could you miss how they sometimes interrupted each other with no sense of surprise from the other, periodically talked at the same time and made the same point from two interrelated and eventually merging perspectives. It

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was not that they did not sometimes differ, but it was a differing that did not divide them, did not matter more than they did to each other and did not change or challenge the foundational understandings they held in common.

Again, it is the legacy of togetherness that she, with Nathan, leaves us. She tells us that “We must communicate gently and lovingly” especially “when challenges arise.” For “this builds intimacy and will help two people get through anything together.”

She teaches us a togetherness that allows each to “remain an individual and have your own life,” but come together and be together in conceiving and building a shared life.

Moreover, she counsels us to learn and practice the art of compromise.

“It’s important to compromise,” she says, “learn to disagree constructively and resist with all your might being confrontational or trying to get back at your mate.”

We must, she tells us, validate each other, for one of our greatest mistakes in our relationships is “not validating each other.” Thus, we must affirm the dignity, beauty, goodness, potentiality and agency of each other and self-consciously contribute to the well-being and flourishing of each other. Dr. Hare also lists as harmful to our shared love and life “being competitive,” saying, “Often we are combative because we haven’t examined the societal forces that have pushed us toward mistrust” with its class, color and consumerist emphases.

Julia also asked us to realize that the racist and sexist system we live in does not want us to be together in love and struggle. “We have a system that would not like to see Black males and females coming together,” she tells us. For oppressors understand the power of our coming together, the power of both Black men and women and

our capacity to break their hold on our lives. In a word, she says, “They understand that if our relationships are together, they lose,” we win and the world benefits. But if we aren’t together, we can’t build and sustain good lives, resist our oppression and will succumb to promises of social integration which she defines as “the illusion of inclusion,” far different than shared wealth, power and status.

Because our children are our future or our fate, Dr. Julia Hare, educational psychologist and community mother, tells us we must “reclaim the minds of our children.”

They must be rescued from the special educational placements whose classroom she criticizes as “holding cells” before they are sent to prison. She is concerned about both the education of girls and boys, but she stresses the urgency of rescuing the endangered, targeted and hunted Black male, and the Black male killed under the camouflage and color of law with the racist social sanction of society. We must, she counsels, teach our children time-tested and value-grounded ways to be African boys and girls in the world, to be disciplined, loving, mutually respectful and productive.

Here she again calls for the togetherness in life, love and struggle of Black women and Black men in building family, raising children, strengthening community and waging struggle. She will not simply be for women isolated and unrelated but calls for a shared liberation as both a principle and practice, for our lives and futures and those of our children, male and female, are inseparably linked.

Thus, she states, “I am an advocate for brothers and sisters because I believe that whatever sisters are, brothers got to be that with us, and whatever brothers are, sisters got to be that with them.” Indeed, she

states, “In that way we raise strong warrior males and females to take our places and to continue the legacy we have,” the legacy of not only of her and our efforts, but also that inscribed in the ancient and honored sacred narrative we know as African history.

And she stresses that in this reclaiming of the minds of our children and maintaining and advancing this legacy, it is important that we are clear about our own identity, for in that is the key to our purpose and direction.

“What matters is where we are in our minds,” she counsels. And “As long as we know we are Africans, as long as we know we are Black people living here in America, we know exactly who we are.”

As Julia's health continued to decline and Nathan brought her home to loving care, he reflected much on their love for each other, their life, work and struggle together and all the good they did and shared. And he said he thought about “little things I should have said and done but didn’t take the time. So, I just try to fill her life with whatever joy I can and always love her all the time.” He knew that Alzheimer’s would eventually take Julia’s memory, but he is committed to continue to remember for them both. And thus, he shares again, the model, mirror and message of Julia’s and his legacy of an enduring togetherness saying, “So even when it comes to the point that she no longer remembers me, I will remember her, and I will recall that she was unforgettable and thought I was unforgettable too.” And they are inseparably so. Hotep. Ase. Heri.  Los Angeles Sentinel, 03-07-19, p.

A6 Image credit: jesussavesministries. blogspot.com

85  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial

Ethiopia Minister: Clear Similarity Between Two Crashes

By Elias Meseret, Associated Press writer Angela Charlton contributed.

Officials say 157 people from 35 different countries were killed when the Nairobi-bound plane crashed shortly after takeoff

P

reliminary information from the flight data recorder of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on March 10, 2019 and killed 157 people shows "clear similarities" with an earlier disaster involving the same kind of Boeing aircraft in Indonesia, Ethiopia's transport minister said Sunday.

The disclosure came as thousands marched in the capital of Addis Ababa, accompanying 17 empty caskets at a funeral for the Ethiopian victims of Flight 302. The caskets were empty because authorities have said that recovering and identifying the remains will take months.

The crash of Ethiopian Flight 302 on March 10 and that of a Lion Air plane in Indonesia in October — both of them Boeing 737 Max 8 jetliners — have prompted the United States and other countries to ground the aircraft.

The flight recorders from Flight 302 that went down shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa for Nairobi were recovered "in a good condition that enabled us to extract almost all the data inside," Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges told reporters.

Information collected so far from the flight data recorder has indicated "clear similarities" between both crashes, she said.

Both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder were sent to Paris for analysis by the French air accident investigation agency BEA. Moges did not elaborate on what the similarities were.

Boeing's CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in response to the report from Ethiopia's transport minister that the company "continues to support the investigation, and is working with the authorities to evaluate new information as it becomes available."

Muilenburg expressed sympathies for the families affected by the crash and noted that the company was finalizing its development of a "previouslyannounced software update and pilot training revision" for the 737 Max 8 jetliners.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration already has said satellite-based tracking data showed that the movements of Flight 302 were similar to those of Lion Air Flight 610, which crashed off Indonesia, killing 189 people.

Both planes flew with erratic altitude changes that could indicate the pilots struggled to control the aircraft. Shortly after their takeoffs, both crews tried

to return to the airports but crashed.

Suspicions emerged that faulty sensors and software may have contributed to the crashes.

Moges said the Ethiopian government intends to release detailed findings within a month.

At the memorial service earlier in the day, some of the relatives who marched behind the flagdraped coffins were overcome with grief and fainted.

The service came one day after officials began delivering bags of scorched earth from the crash site to family members of the victims because of the problems with identifying the remains.

Family members said they were given a 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) sack of dirt from the crash site.

Many relatives already have gone to the dusty field outside Addis Ababa where the plane went down to pay their respects.

Mourner Elias Bilew said he had worked with one of the victims, Sintayehu Shafi, for the past eight years.

"He was such a good person," Bilew said. "He doesn't deserve this. He was the pillar for his whole family."  www.nbcbayarea.com/news/ national-international/EthiopiansMass-Funeral-Ethiopian-AirlinesCrash-Victims-507266661. html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_ BAYBrand&fbclid=IwAR2l6_AJdayidt1mU Saao_7Fs7WSk2ivLq_7PIkNVnucITlzRSc TTFp_gqo

86  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

A priest cries at a mass funeral at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. Thousands of Ethiopians have turned out to a mass funeral ceremony in the capital one week after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash.

A priest criRecovery workers on site of Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on March 10, 2019 cnbc.com

International

African Stock Exchanges • Bolsa de Valores of Cape Verde - www.bvc.cv (in Portuguese) • Bolsa Valores de Mocambique - www. bolsadevalores.co.mz • Bond Exchange of South Africa - www. bondexchange.co.za • Botswana Stock Exchange - www.bse.co.bw • Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres UEMOA (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) - www.brvm.org • Casablanca Stock Exchange (Morocco) - www. casablanca-bourse.com/bourseweb/index.aspx • Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (Tanzania) - www. dse.co.tz • Douala Stock Exchange (Cameroon) - www. douala-stock-exchange.com/index_us.php • The Egyptian Exchange - www.egx.com.eg/ English/homepage.aspx • Ethiopia Commodity Exchange - www.ecx.com.et • Ghana Stock Exchange - www.gse.com.gh • Johannesburg Stock Exchange (South Africa) www.jse.co.za/Home.aspx • Khartoum Stock Exchange (Sudan, in Arabic) -

• • • • • • • • • • •

www.kse.com.sd Libyan Stock Market - www.lsm.ly/_layouts/ membership/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fEnglish%2fP ages%2fdefault.aspx Lusaka Stock Exchange (Zambia) - www.luse. co.zm Nairobi Stock Exchange (Kenya) - www.luse. co.zm Malawi Stock Exchange - www.mse.co.mw Namibian Stock Exchange - www.nsx.com.na Nigerian Stock Exchange - www.nse.com.ng/ Pages/default.aspx Rwanda Stock Exchange - www.rse.rw/ Stock Exchange of Mauritius - www. stockexchangeofmauritius.com Swaziland Stock Exchange - www.ssx.org.sz Tunisia Stock Exchange - www.bvmt.com.tn Uganda Securities Exchange - www.use.or.ug

Read the lastest issue of The Exchange Magazine www.nse.co.ke/media-center/e-communique/exchangemagazine/category/50-free-version.html

88  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International - Technology

Closing the Mobile Phone Gender Gap in Low Income Countries is a $700 Billion Opportunity

By Yomi Kazeem

T

he rapid growth of mobile phone ownership in low and middle income countries has been one of the defining trends of the past decade.

But the growth has been far from even with women across these countries significantly less likely to own mobile phones or have access to mobile internet services, resulting in “a persistent gender gap.”

About to get However, closing that gap in low connected. and middle income countries could Reuters/Philimon result in all-round multi-billion dollar Bulawayo benefits, a new study by industry trade body GSMA estimates (www.gsma.com/ women. Given enduring cultural realities in some mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GSMA- of these countries, women are less likely to earn The-Mobile-Gender-Gap-Report-2019.pdf). money and receive high level education compared An uptick in mobile phone ownership and mobile to men. In parts of northern Nigeria, for instance, internet use among women in low and middle literacy rates among women are markedly lower income countries could potentially boost and than men. As the report notes, the mobile gender transform businesses, thus improving quality of gap not only reflects existing inequalities but could life for entire families. By extension, it’ll also be a also compound them with millions of women “left boon for the average revenue per user of telecom behind as societies and economies digitize.” operators and could broadly provide an estimated But there’s significant work to be done as, overall, additional $140 billion in revenue to the mobile women in low and middle income countries are industry over the next five years.

10% less likely than men to own a mobile phone A collective commitment from low and middle and are 23% less likely than men to use mobile income countries to make and support moves internet services. South Asia and Sub-Saharan to close the gap also promises serious upside: Africa are most affected regions globally with GSMA estimates more equal mobile internet use women being 28% and 15% less likely to own rates between genders could add $700 billion or mobile phones respectively. That disparity is also 0.7% in GDP growth in these countries over the reflected in the gap in mobile internet use between next five years. both genders with the two regions lagging globally.

The key to any of this however, is removing  current barriers—including affordability and https://qz.com/africa/1558629/more-women-with-mobile-phoneswill-boost-africa-asia-economies/?utm_source=email&utm_ literacy rates—to mobile ownership among medium=daily-brief

89  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International - Technology

At $20 the Orange Sanza Will Get More Africans Online

By Matthew Hughes

F

oldable displays and 5G are the buzzwords that dominated this year’s Mobile World Congress.

That said, the phone that most impressed me was a budget handset aimed at bridging the vast digital chasm between the developed world and the developing world. Meet the $20 Sanza, from French telecommunications giant Orange.

“This isn’t a feature phone, and it isn’t a smartphone. It’s somewhere in-between,” an Orange representative told me.

And he was right. The Sanza defies the existing mobile definitions and exists in an undefined no-mans-land that makes it hard to accurately describe.

Let’s start with the basics. No, it doesn’t run Android.

The Sanza’s operating system is Kai OS, which itself is a fork of Mozilla’s discontinued Firefox OS, albeit one that has enjoyed more success than its predecessor, having recently crossed the 85 million installs mark.

Yes, it has a chunky old-school T9 keyboard that sent me tripping down memory lane to the phones I carried when I was in high school. Yes, it’s a bit of a brick.

But in terms of software, the Sanza impresses.

Don’t get me wrong, feature phones have enjoyed app marketplaces for a while now, but it was pretty spectacular to see Google Assistant running on something more akin with a Nokia 3310 than a contemporary smartphone.

Admittedly, this wasn’t exactly blazing fast. The Senza took torturously long pauses after Sebastian, the Orange representative, asked it a question, but that’s not important. What matters is it worked, allowing him to place calls and instruct the phone to open the apps, like the Orange Money payment app.

Other applications available for the Sanza include

Google Maps, Facebook, and YouTube.

Orange intends to sell the Sanza across the 16 African and Middle-Eastern countries where it operates. As you might expect for a French company, this mostly consists of Africa’s Francophone nations, like Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire. The ultra-affordable handset will also go on sale in Egypt and Jordan.

So, why should we care? Because phones like the Senza are crucial to promoting ICT in Africa, as well as helping bolster literacy. They’re essential for connecting people with accurate real-time news, as well as financial services like M-Pesa and Orange Pay, thus reducing the number of unbanked in the continent. And at $20, it’s one of the most attainable budget handsets on the market.  https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2019/02/26/a-20-phone-forafrica-is-mwcs-unlikeliest-hero/ Image credit: https://www.businessincameroon.com/ telecom/2502-8881-cameroon-orange-to-launch-low-costsmartphone-sanza-in-2019

90  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Wakanda One Village Project

By PRIDE Newsdesk

A

s she entered her office in Northwest Washington, D.C., African Union (AU) Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, struck observers as an image of grace.

Since accepting the AU ambassador position, Her Excellency has earned praise as a leader whose brought renewed energy and new ideas to the AU Mission. “It became increasingly apparent how we feel as Africans doesn’t matter. We are disrespected and we really needed a voice,” she said. “That’s what this mission is all about: being a voice for all Africans on the continent. Once I realized that, I decided I would stay on the job. I needed to be here.”

Her Excellency said Africans must stop accepting crumbs off the table and get a seat at the top of the table itself.

A major part of that change is a new ‘Wakanda’ project launched by Chihombori-Quao that’s expected to raise $5 billion in development funding over the next year or so.

‘The Wakanda One Village Project’ will be funded

by Africans throughout the Diaspora who will be its sole owners.

Her Excellency Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao African Union (AU) Ambassador to the United States It will consist of five African Centers of Excellence in each of the five regions of the continent, which will serve as nerve centers for development delivering state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, hotels, industrial homes, shopping centers and other amenities.

“We are going to build the Africa that we want so those [throughout the Diaspora] who say I cannot go home because home is not what I am used to will make it what they want,” Dr. Chihombori-Quao said.  www.pridepublishinggroup.com/pride/2019/01/10/ wakanda-one-village-project-african-unionambassador-promotes-diaspora-homecomings/

The Transform Africa Summit is the Smart Africa flagship event. Following four successful edi ons, the fi h summit will take place in kigali, Rwanda, from 7-10 May 2019.

Under the theme "Boos ng Africa's Digital Economy", the Summit is expected to a ract 4,000 par cipants, including Heads of State and Governement, First Ladies, UN Broadband Commissioners, Regulators, Public & Private Sector, Interna onal Organiza ons, Industry Leaders, Investors, Entrepeneurs, Young Innovators, Civil Society and Academia.

In addi on to the Leaders Summit, TAS 2019 will feature subject specific streams tackling current digital economy topics. Delegates will be able to a end insigh ul & engaging sessions in the Hubs, Plenaries, Networking Lounges as well as several customized sessions by our partners.

Kigali Conven on Center, Kimihurura Roundabout P.O. Box 6629, Kigali, Rwanda h ps://smartafrica.org/tas 91  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International - Travel

Americans Will Need an ETIAS Visa to Travel to Europe Beginning in 2021 By fox5dc.com staff

T

he European Union announced Americans will need to obtain a visa known as a European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, to travel to 26 nations starting in 2021. Among the nations include France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. One ETIAS grants access to all 26 nations for up to 90 days of travel, according to officials.

Currently, U.S. citizens do not need a visa when visiting Europe for less than 90 days. But beginning in 2021, Americans will not be able to board a plane or cruise ship heading to one of the 26 nations without an approved ETIAS. The European Union said the ETIAS requirement is to protect and strengthen its borders by identifying possible threats from visitors traveling to its countries.

To obtain an ETIAS, Americans will need to have a valid passport, a credit or debit card and an email

account.

Americans will need to provide their full name, date and place of birth, current address, their parents’ information, passport and other nationality details. They will also be required to answer questions related to drug use, terrorism, human trafficking, travel to conflict areas, criminal history, employment history, past European travel information and security information.

Officials said the online application takes approximately 10 minutes and automatic approval is granted in more than 95% of cases.

Travelers between the ages of 18 and 70 years old will have to pay a one-time fee of €7 and the visa will be valid for three years.

An ETIAS is only necessary when traveling to the Schengen area and Americans will not need one when traveling to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Cyprus.

Americans will need an ETIAS

beginning in 2021 to enter the following countries: • Austria • Belgium • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Italy • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands • Norway • Poland • Portugal • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland To learn more information visit www. etiasvisa.com.  www.fox5dc.com/news/americans-need-visa-foreuropean-travel-starting-in-2021

92  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International - Fashion

93  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International - Fashion

94  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

AFR 2019 OPENS FOR DESIGNERS PARTICIPATION

T

he Executive Board of Africa Fashion Reception is pleased to announce the official opening of designers’ participation for 2019 events.

African designers are invited for participation from around the African continent and the diaspora. The AFR is organized by Legendary Gold Limited (http://legendarygold.tv/legend/home.htm) in collaboration with the African Union (https://au.int) and UNESCO (https:// en.unesco.org).

To represent your country, go to www. africafashionreception.com. 

95  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International

Dangote Becomes World 64th Richest Person After Gaining $5.8bn In One Day

by Channels Television

A

liko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group has been ranked as the world’s 64th richest person after he gained $5.8bn within 24 hours, causing his total net worth to rise to $16.6bn

It further revealed that Dangote’s net worth increased by 23% from $13.5bn on February 26, 2018, to $16.6bn, emerging 64th richest person in the world.

The list shows that Dangote’s wealth rose by

This is according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people.

The Index showed that Dangote’s wealth fell from $10.5bn at the end of last year to a low of $9.63bn on January 1, 2019. But it grew to $10.8bn on Monday, February 25.

58% so far this year, making him the second biggest mover after Andrew Forrest, founder and largest shareholder of Fortescue Metals Group, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore producer, whose wealth grew by 59%.

Dangote was the only Nigerian on Bloomberg’s

96  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

list of 500 billionaires and retained his position as Africa’s richest person.

Bloomberg’s net worth figures are updated every business day at the close of every trading day in New York, with assets categorised as publicly traded companies, private assets (including closely held businesses, art and real estate), cash and other liquid investments and liabilities.

Other Africans on the Bloomberg list were Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, who was ranked 216th with a net worth of $7.05bn; Johann Rupert of South Africa (ranked 225th with $6.92bn wealth); Nassef Sawiris of Egypt occupied the 228th position with $6.83bn; Natie Kirsh of South Africa (ranked 263rd with a net worth of $6.10bn) and Naguib Sawiris of Egypt emerged 331st with a fortune of $5.12bn. 

Share Your Personal Travel Story! from www.travelnoire.com

www.channelstv.com/2019/02/28/dangote-becomes-world-64thrichest-person-after-gaining-5-8bn-in-one-day/

D

id you recently take a trip that you want to tell the world about? Are you eager to share travel tips that you've learned with the Travel Noire audience? We want to hear from you!

Travel Noire is accepting community-submitted personal essays, travel guides, thoughtful reviews, JOHANNESBURG, South Africa and any travel-related writing you're interested in ATA will host the 42nd World Tourism sharing with our audience!

Essays can be funny and thoughtful or deep Conference (WTC) on 29 April through 2 and powerful, but they should always be from an May, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. original point-of-view. Please submit your travel The conference, themed “This is Africa”, essay along with the photos you'd like to include will highlight the emerging business and in your post. Due to the overwhelming number of investment opportunities across Africa’s submissions, only essays that we intend to move tourism sector, show how tourism can forward with will receive responses.

Follow the link shown below to complete the be utilized as an engine for economic submission form and send in your story. 

42nd WORLD TOURISM CONFERENCE 29 April - 2 May, 2019

growth and job creation through disruptive https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeM business models and strategies, leveraging RV6OTx9jBYQXU6oViLVtUOeyTOh6w0NCQOJL creative industries and culture, emerging WJJx4v7qig/viewform technologies, capacity building, and building strategic strategic partnerships.

The conference will also provide a platform to connect, network and explore new tourism markets and products.

Contact Shehnaj Ferdousi at shehnaj@ africatravelassociation.org.

97  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

konya

gi.co.t

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2019 U.S. Institute of Peace April 11, 2019 Washington, D.C. Registration: https://africaďŹ ntechsummit.com/dc2019/packages #AFRICAFINTECHDC cfxmagazine.com

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These unique dolls represent dierent ethnic groups in West Africa like the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa ethnic groups. Unlike other fashion dolls that merely darken the molds of Caucasian dolls, Queens of Africa dolls use specially designed molds with sub-Saharan facial features like high cheek bones, full lips and nose, curly hair and more.

They come with a book series that features historic African queens and women leaders.

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sold and exclusively distributed by C.A.K.E (Culture of Africa for Kids Everywhere) Inc.

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ur Deluxe Boxed-Set Edition is a great gift! We’ve gone the extra mile to provide an embossed UV package with a magnetic hinged lid and a black satin puller ribbon. Inside you will find a Hardback version of “Hey A.J. It’s Bedtime” with a midnight blue glitter cloth and glossy blue foil blocking with debossing. With everything perfectly sealed in a dust jacket that has gloss lamination and aqueous varnishing, this is the perfect gift for any occasion – whether it’s bedtime or party time!  www.theimaginationagency.com/ shop-categories/books/hey-aj-itsbedtime/#

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his is a gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another—from Empire actor and activist Grace Byers and talented newcomer artist Keturah A. Bobo.

This is the perfect gift for mothers and daughters, baby showers, and graduation.

We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it.  www.amazon.com/I-Am-Enough-Grace-Byers/ dp/0062667122  www.amazon.com/I-Am-Enough-Grace-Byers/ dp/0062667122

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eaturing forty trailblazing black women in American history, Little Leaders educates and inspires as it relates true stories of breaking boundaries and achieving beyond expectations. Illuminating text paired with irresistible illustrations bring to life both iconic and lesser-known female figures of Black history such as abolitionist Sojourner Truth, pilot Bessie Coleman, chemist Alice Ball, politician Shirley Chisholm, mathematician Katherine Johnson, poet Maya Angelou, and filmmaker Julie Dash.

Among these biographies, readers will find heroes, role models, and everyday women who did extraordinary things - bold women whose actions and beliefs contributed to making the world better for generations of girls and women to come. Whether they were putting pen to paper, soaring through the air or speaking up for the rights of others, the women profiled in these pages were all taking a stand against a world that didn't always accept them.

The leaders in this book may be little, but they all did something big and amazing, inspiring generations to come. www.amazon.com/dp/B072V4QDCF/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_ encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Turning Love Into Action A Father Creates and Markets Books for Children

R

obert “Bo” Chaney has found that there is a misconception that no one cares about our youth. As a result of his personal experiences as well as the interactions that he has had with today’s young people, he has a passion to reach as many young people as he can.

Throughout his adult life, Bo has successfully mentored many young, underserved, minority males, empowering them with the knowledge and skills to navigate school and the workplace. Bo has spent numerous hours developing curriculum that is customized to meet the needs of underserved youth. Through his dedication, he's found ways to prepare young people for the workforce, through strategic lessons and connections which “uncover the unknown.”

One way Bo has approached d his passion is to prepare young people through his series of books focused on grade school kids - The Adventures of Rob & Rocky.

The books expose children to career options, life choices, and cultural differences. These books are written using “sight words”, words children should know by sight

at the end of their grade level. The series starts when Rob and Rocky walk to school and discuss what they want to be when they grow up.

Through basic conversation, they talk about a variety of career options that have been overlooked for years such as Fireighter, Mailman nd more .

Check out the first book in the

series and share it with teachers and school systems in your area www.robandrocky.com.

Hear and see Bo talk about the book series at: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ot0ibLIXx9E&feature=you tu.be.

The Adventures of Rob and Rocky will make a great Christmas gift for family members and friends. 

Search for more toys, books and music for our young people.

Naomi Osaka, Yara Shahidi and Adwoa Aboah are New Barbie ‘Sheroes’

By Leslie

A

s Women’s Equal Pay Day approaches on April 2, we’ll hear powerful research findings about the wage gap and other persistent disadvantages to women’s equality and earning power. But few are aware of the research that revealed the Dream Gap, which suggests girls can be affected by limiting self-beliefs at as young as five years old.

In recent years, Mattel’s Barbie brand has been working diligently to combat the Dream Gap, launching its own global initiatives to raise awareness of the issue—including research via collaboration with NYU to fund a two-year post-doctoral fellowship, products, content, events and social media campaigns. Last fall, the toy brand also launched the Dream Gap Project, now followed by the Dream Gap Project Fund

(https://barbie.mattel.com/en-us/about/ dream-gap.html), which will donate

one dollar from every doll sold in the United States (up to $250,000) to organizations also devoted to closing the gap.

“Barbie is the original girlempowerment brand,” a Mattel spokesperson told The Glow Up, via email. “For 60 years, Barbie has championed girls, inspired generations to believe through make believe and showed them that they have choices. But the playing field still isn’t equal. Research has shown that starting at age five, girls start doubting their potential… we knew we had to use our global platform to help close it.”

But because Barbie is synonymous with dolls, there’s the brand’s Role Model line (https:// barbie.mattel.com/en-us/about/role-

models.html). Also known as their

at the 2017 British Fashion Awards.

An alternate look promotes Aboah’s Gurls Talk nonprofit, which provides a safe, creative and expressive

“Sheroes,” the collection builds upon the legendary Barbie mystique by immortalizing influential and innovative women to help inspire Yara Shaidi young dreamers to believe anything is possible. Past Barbie Naomi Osaka Role Models have included Adwoa Aboah filmmaker Ava Duvernay, gymnast Gabby Douglas, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson and Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad. For Barbie’s 60th year, champion tennis star Naomi Osaka, actress and activist Yara Shahidi, and British supermodel and activist Adwoa Aboah have all been honored with their own Barbies, as well.

The three icons of #blackgirlmagic join an international, age, size and ability-inclusive lineup, including singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini, cycling champion Kristina Vogel, NASA scientist platform for young women to Eleni Antoniadou, Chef Rosanna network with each other.

Marziale, pioneering journalist Ita “I spent the majority of my Buttrose, artistic gymnast Dipa childhood wishing for blonde hair, Karmakar, ice skater Tessa Virtue, pining over Barbies light skin and Alpinist and author Karla Wheelock, blue eyes,” Aboah continued. “All entrepreneur Mariana Costa, TV those years ago and I didn’t feel personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, like I was represented anywhere. visual artist Chen Man, sports But today with my big toothy grin commentator Melodie Robinson, I feel so very proud to have been truck driver Iwona Blecharczyk, TV awarded this Shero doll for all the host Lyasan Utiasheva, surfer Maya hard work I have put into myself and Gabiera, and director Lisa Azuleos. @gurlstalk. All I hope is that some “My very own Barbie! It’s mad!! little girl out there sees this and Seeing my own doll that has my realises that her wildest dreams are skin colour, shaved head, freckles possible if she puts her mind to it. and my tattoo’s is beyond mad,” I hear you and see you, this doll is Aboah wrote in an Instagram post for you.”  showing off her doll, which comes https://chicagocrusader.com/ dressed in the outfit she wore to naomi-osaka-yara-shahidi-andaccept her Model of the Year honor more-are-new-barbie-sheroes

SUPER SOAKER Toys R Us Amazon Wal-Mart Target and more...

Zumo Learning System with Tablet The Zumo Learning System provides an accessible learning environment for children of all abilities. Zumo helps children fall in love with STEM. • Includes a 7 Tablet, Math Games and a Wireless Smart Toy, named Zumo • Unique technology maps physical movements to touch screen gestures • A suite of apps are included that are specially designed to enable tactile-based learning • Designed for K-3rd graders for learning in the home or classroom • Apps are customizable to the special needs of each child • Zumo offers many different play experiences through apps already available on iTunes www.zyrobotics.com info@zyrobotics.com

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at McGrath Labs, the makeup line created by legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath, is now being valued at $1 billion. As Women's Wear Daily reports, the brand received a $60 million minority investment from Eurazeo Brands.

Pat McGrath Labs was launched three years ago and is growing quickly, with retail sales expected to reach more than $60 million for 2018. The line debuted in 2015 with a $40 product called Gold 001. The multipurpose gold pigment came in a bag full of sequins, and it sold out all 1,000 units in just six minutes.

Other products included Skin Fetish 003, a three-piece highlighting kit, and Lust 004, a sparkly lip kit. A broader, permanent collection debuted in 2017 with lipsticks, lip liners, eyeliners, mascara, and an eyeshadow palette in three color-ways. Most recently, the brand released Lip Fetish Astrals, a sparkly update of the Lip Fetish Lip Balm from earlier in the year.

The products from Pat McGrath Labs, which are available on her website and at Sephora and Sephora.com, are often inspired by

McGrath's work as a makeup artist for runway shows, including Ve r s a c e , Balenciaga, and Gucci.

In an interview with InStyle, M c G r a t h explained how she created her line. "My intention when I created Labs was that the people that used our products would be empowered to explore a fearless, daring attitude towards makeup—that's why we always write 'Use Without Caution' on everything we make," she said. "I've always believed that the most extraordinary results occur only when one feels unbound by any notion of constraint or limitation." ď ƒ www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/makeup/a22499334/patmcgrath-labs-worth-one-billion/

10 Women of Color-Owned Skincare Brands to Add to Your Routine

by founder She’Neil Johnson's own struggles with acne, the line includes a moisturizing facial "jelly" and body cream. www.basebutter.com

From www.shondaland.com/live/beauty/g22793939/ women-of-color-owned-skincare-brands/

6 Beija Flor Naturals This organic California-made skincare line was founded by Stevonne Ratliff, who created it out of a need to address her own hyper pigmentation and skin frustrations.

Her botanical products include scrubs, lotions, and bar soaps all inspired by Brazil. http://beijaflornaturals.com

I

n a beauty industry that too often fails to cater to women of color, many of those women have taken matters into their own hands by starting their own companies.

There are so many great rising makeup brands to pay attention to — and now we're looking at skincare. The recent Project Beauty Expo in New York proved to be the perfect spot to get hip to several black-owned indie brands that create skincare with women of color in mind. Refresh your routine with some new some standouts, ahead.

1 Aba Love New York-based skincare brand Aba Love creates handcrafted, botanical products. It's perfect for the green beauty lover because the aromatic goods are free of synthetic fragrances and parabens — and instead boosted with seed, plant, and floral oils. www.abaloveapothecary.com 2 Kaike Kaike, pronounced "cake," has a whole collection of dessert-inspired skincare solutions. With product names like Lip Frosting lip balm, Chocolate Mask + Scrub, and Marshmallow Mask + Scrub, the plant-based, Chicago-made

multipurpose menus is irresistible. www.shopkaike.com 3 Anne's Apothecary Anne's Apothecary's philosophy is "what you put on your skin should be safe enough to eat" — so you better believe the ingredients are pure. The products, created in North Carolina, are handcrafted in small batches with a focus on herbs and essential oils. You can shop everything from body scrubs, to

cleansers, to deodorant. https://annesapothecary.com 4 Elle Johnson Elle Johnson is all about no-fuss, easy to follow botanical skincare starting with the "Clear 3," a skincare system of 1) cleansing lotion (yes, lotion), 2) toner, and 3) moisturizer. It doesn't hurt that Johnson, who used to work in branding, has gorgeous Instaready packaging. www.ellejohnson.co 5 Base Butter All-natural skincare line Base Butter is on a mission to challenge the depiction of black women in media. Partly inspired

7 Blade + Bloom Blade + Bloom's eco-conscious goods are handmade in Chicago with a focus on creating 100 percent plant-based skincare and candles with delicious scents (for example the "Charming I'm Sure" soap apparently smells like "the secret ingredient in your boyfriend's cologne"). The nononsense packaging is also recyclable. https://bladeandbloom.com 8 Elements of Aliel Elements of Aliel is all about minimalism and non-toxic skincare. The vegan face and body products range from serums to clay masks to balms. www.elementsofaliel.com 9 Jacqs This organic line promises to help you "slay, naturally." Cleansers, mists, masks, toners, and even "beauty boosters" contain tiny, concentrated doses of antioxidants and other good-for-skin ingredients. www.jacqsorganics.com 10 True Moringa True Moringa started as a project to explore alternatives to chemical hair relaxers and cosmetics, and has since expanded to skincare.

The facial oils, scrubs, and balms contain moringa, a green plant rich in fatty acids, antioxidants, and other skin quenching ingredients. https://truemoringa.com 

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Black-Owned Watch Brands You Should Make Your Brands MG Media, TBTNEWS

W

hile timepieces or watches are usually a luxury for most, there are several Blackowned brands that create and market high-quality watches that won't break the bank... and they are definitely worth taking time to look at! Here are seven Black-owned watch brands that you should support:

Youngblood Timepieces: Launched in 2006, this brand of high-end signature watches continues to be one of the most sought-after Black-owned watch brands. Its co-founders Paul Youngblood and Patrick Martin created the brand to offer both accessory and apparel products for savvy shoppers who sought to maximize their value without compromising on quality. https://youngbloodworldwide.com/collections/menswristwatches

Talley & Twine: Started with just a few sketches and no previous knowledge of the watch industry, Robert Williams designed his first watch that eventually became a successful luxury watch brand. Since then, they aimed to create quality, detailed, attention-grabbing timepieces that are reasonably priced and resist the status quo.

Seventeenth Watches: Owned and operated by an army veteran, Chris Johnson, who is also Black, this brand creates watches that are a perfect union between simplicity and class. Their styles are usually unisex and minimalist that makes it a timeless piece that would seem to still be in trend even in the next decades. www.seventeenth-watches.com/ Benson Watch: Established on the principle that "time should be spent doing what you love," its founder, Marcel Benson, wanted to encourage people to take charge of their time and live life on their terms. Additionally, this brand produces exclusive collection watches that are available for limited time only and will not be replicated anymore. https://www.bensonwatch.com/ SPGBK Watches: Founded by two African-American fraternity brothers from Fayetteville, North Carolina, this brand aims to create original culturally-inspired watches that are inspired by diversity and inclusion.

The name is an abbreviation of "Springbreak" as the two founders, who were both HBCU graduates, wanted the company to be collegethemed. www.springbreakwatches.com/

https://store.talleyandtwine.com/

Enbois by Maxim: Named after the French word which means "wooden," this brand's watches are designed with the finest sustainable materials. Also, an acronym for Each New Bead Offers Its Support, its founder Maxim Thuriere sought a way to give back to his country of heritage, Haiti, where a portion of each transaction is donated to help improve educational opportunities as well as reforest Haiti. http://enbois-originals.com/

Vitae London: Based in London, England, this brand features watches that are made of either a high-quality genuine leather band or a stainless steel mesh band with scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass that are stylish, elegant, and built to last.

What's more, for every watch sold, the company supports an underprivileged child in South Africa through education. https://vitaelondon.com/

SUED Watches Nairobi, Kenya @suedwatched h ps://sued.co.ke www.facebook.com/suedwatches

BRAVISSIMO! SHOP IN STORES AND ONLINE...

We are excited to announce that you can now shop select Nubian Skin lingerie in store for the first time ever in the UK, and online at Bravissimo! The Fuller Bust Bras and Briefs can now be found in Oxford Circus, Manchester, Leeds, and Glasgow. So pop into a store and show some love!

Shop Now our USA site at: www.bravissimo.com/us/products/naked-bra-cinnamonnu102cin/?goal=0_a8f0a62688-bc6913bd83-225252453&mc_ cid=bc6913bd83&mc_eid=a8a3b81440

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This magniďŹ cent handcrafted concert grand is a "Best of" in terms of sound, new technology, beauty, and construction.

Massively well-built to withstand the rigors of intense concert performances without compromise, the SHADD Concert Grand is a coveted treasure for pianists and collectors.

With a rich voluminous sound that performs true to all genres of music, this phenomenal instrument has a rare diversiďŹ ed ability to play from the softest whisper with pure clear sound to a major roar with a bass section exuding an abundance of power and resounding singing sensations.

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Baron's Painting & Decorating Service Baron Williams 30 Years of Experience in the Greater Los Angeles Area Specializing in Exterior and Interior Painting, Tiling, Linoleum Flooring,

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Experience our exciting array of products from Cards to Cupcakes, African Masks, Asian Teacups, Healthy Herbal Teas, Gourd Purses, Candles, to Furniture Hope to see you soon!!!

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VIRTUE RESTAURANT 1462 E 53rd St., Chicago, IL 60615 1-773-947-8831

www.virtuerestaurant.com Hospitality is a virtue!

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Black Business. Black Culture. Black Thought. Black Love https://shoppeblack.us

Shaquille O’Neal Has a Big Comfort Food Restaurant in l.A. Live Los Angeles

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haquille’s is an upscale casual restaurant specializing in Southern cuisine and service with personality.

The menu focuses on farm fresh produce and features his signature fried chicken.

Shaquille’s c u r a t e d b e v e r a g e p r o g r a m includes a wine vault, local draft beers, and hand-crafted cocktails with an emphasis on bourbons and whiskeys. Situated in the heart of L.A. LIVE, the space features an enclosed private patio surrounding the main entrance with a modern, upbeat vibe that transforms guests’ experiences from day to night. The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner with extended lounge hours.

Southern hospitality with modern flair Genuine warmth and hospitality, modern décor, great music, as well as amazing food and drink think fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, corn pudding, mac and cheese and banana pudding.

Guests will always be welcomed by

a friendly and courteous staff whose goal is to create unique familystyle dining experiences in a contemporary setting.

Ambience No detail has been overlooked. Shaquille’s is proud to offer exclusive al fresco dining on our patio as well as swanky interior seating. Dynamic music and subdued lighting, paired with an open layout welcome all to be a part of the Shaquille’s experience.

Shaquille’s namesake Like the man himself, Shaquille’s is larger-than-life. Our goal is to offer the best in food, drink, and service to everyone who enters our Shaq-sized doors, while never forgetting to have fun!  www.shaquilles.com/

L.A. Live, 800 W. Olympic Boulevard, Suite A150, Los Angeles, CA www.shaquilles.com  213-746-7427(SHAQ)

CHEF MARCUS SAMUELSSOM'S Black Panther Breakfast Recipe Makes 2-3 servings.

Ingredients Gnocchi ( buy from your local grocery store) Hominy (canned ) Béchamel ¼ cup of unsalted butter ¼ cup of flour 1 qt of milk 1 tsp of salt Cheddar Cheese (shredded) Parmesan Cheese (shredded) Diced pork belly Minced habanero peppers Eggs Directions Cheese Sauce • Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, once butter is melted stir in flour until it is smooth; continuing stirring until flour is light brown then lower the heat and continue to cook for five minutes.

• In a separate pot bring milk to a simmer then add the hot milk to the roux while continuously stirring.

• Allow to cook on low heat for about 15 mins or until you no longer taste flour • Then add your shredded cheese and stir until well blended Making the breakfast • In boiling salted water blanch off your gnocchi, for 30 secs or until they float • In a medium sauté pan, make sure your pan is hot, add a tsp of olive oil then render down your pork belly. Drain excess fat but leave some in the pan for flavor.

• Next add in the diced habanero and the blanched gnocchi. Cook until the gnocchi is golden brown on each side.

• Then add in your cheese sauce; add in veg stock if the consistency is too thick .

• In a separate small frying pan, cook your eggs sunny side up • Assemble https://marcussamuelsson. n. com/recipe/black-panther-breakfast-recipe https://marcussamuelsson. n. com/

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Parker House Sausage

(www.parkerhousesausage.com) was started by Chicago entrepreneur, Judge H. Parker who came to Chicago from Montgomery County, Tennessee with little more than the conviction that there was a potential market for homemade sausage products prepared according to his mother’s recipes. By 1919 Judge Parker began selling his unique blend of herbs and spices mixed with flavorful, savory sausage from a horse drawn cart on a retail basis.

Recognized as one of the oldest family owned businesses in the U.S. In 2014 Parker House expanded its product line to include chicken products including breakfast sausage, hot links, and smoked sausage.

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We invite you to browse through our store and shop with confidence.

Need a dinner idea. Go to the Recipe Page on our website. Thanks for visiting!

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ince people from all walks of life really enjoy Down South cooking, NFL Pro Reggie Kelly thought, why not bring a piece of the South to their homes. Reggie and his wife founded KYVAN® FOODS. KYVAN® Foods is a supplier to great customers like Kroger, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Firehouse Subs, Performance Foodservice, Hot Shots Distributing and more. As stated by Reggie, “It’s my goal to pass down to my kids (Kyla & Kavan) and to everyone the gift passed down to me… An Appreciation Of Good Food.”

Thanks and God Bless!

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Delicious Southern Flavors At Home!

Whether you’re north or south of the Mason-Dixon line, east or west of the Mississippi, Grandma Maud’s gives you a taste of the South in your own kitchen.

Try our Recipes: //grandmamauds. com/recipes

You’ll find our Bean Meals, Southern Seasonings and Pie Fixin’s in supermarkets throughout the U.S.A. (Jewel-Osco, Mariano’s, Safeway and Kroger Stores) – and online at: (h ps://eyelevellink.com/collec ons/ vendors?q=Grandma%20Mauds) or call us at: 1-773-493-5353!

Not Just Cookies NJC is a cookie company providing, natural desserts superior in quality and taste. Our cookies and pies are made with the finest ingredients. We offer select gluten free and vegan desserts that are rich in taste. Not Just Cookies is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) founded by Johnathon Bush.

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e can cater for any event or party. We offer custom packaging for all of our cookies and pies to suit any need. Cookie platters also available. Corporate gifts, company parties, restaurants looking to outsource pastries, we're here for you.

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Visit www.notjustcookies.com for online shopping, store locations, shipping and catering details. Talk to us by calling: 1-800-833-4541 or send NJC an inquiry at: info@ notjustcookies.net.

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Give the Gift of Books and Music Come see our unsurpassed collection of books, music, videos, children’s books, and games!

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Books to Consider

Books to Consider...

On The Come Up

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By Angie Thomas

ixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.

But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons.

Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential l i t e r a r y voices of a generation.

It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked a g a i n s t you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of Angie Thomas theradicalnotion.com

speech isn’t always free.  www.amazon.com/Come-Up-Angie-Thomas/ dp/0062498568

The Hate U Give

S

By Angie Thomas

ixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends.

The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.  www.amazon.com/Hate-U-Give-Angie-Thomas/ dp/0062498533

Dr. Julia Hare

D

r.

Julia Hare transitioned in February 2019. In honor h of her brilliant life and l legacy we provide this list of some s of her work and her work with her husband, Dr. w N Nathan Ware. Visit you local Black B Book Store to find even

157  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

more enlightenment.

Read her story on page 82.

• How to Find and Keep a BMW: Black Man Working • The Sexual and Political Anorexia of the Black Woman: The Pain Guts and Glory of the Black Woman • Change, Grow or Die

Books Authored by Dr. Julia Hare and Dr. Nathan Hare •

• • • •

The Endangered Black Family: Coping With the Unisexualization and Coming Extinction of the Black Race (Black Male / Female Relationships Book Series, No. 1) The Miseducation of the Black Child -- The Hare Plan: Educate Every Black Man, Woman and Child The Black Agenda Crisis in Black Sexual Politics Bringing the Black Boy to Manhood: The Passage www.amazon.com/Julia-Hare-Books/ s?k=Julia+Hare&rh=n%3A283155

The Moor’s Account

I

As he journeys across America with his Spanish companions, the Old World roles of slave and master fall away, and Estebanico remakes himself as an equal, a healer, and a remarkable storyteller. His tale illuminates the ways in which our narratives can Laila Lalami transmigrate into history—and how storytelling can offer a chance at redemption and survival.  www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804170622/ref=as_li_ tl?ie=UTF8&tag=afarmedia-20&camp=1789&creative=9325 &linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0804170622&linkId=ad0078 f55d372909a71fe8e0895539c3

The Kindness of Enemies: A Novel

F

by Leila Aboulela

rom the first ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, Leila Aboulela, The Kindness of Enemies is a powerful historical journey across time and continents and a riveting epic of love, betrayal, and war. It’s 2010 and Natasha, a half-Russian, halfSudanese professor of history, is researching

by Laila Lalami

n these pages, Laila Lalami brings us the imagined memoirs of the first black explorer of America: Mustafa al-Zamori, called Estebanico. The slave of a Spanish conquistador, Estebanico sails for the Americas with his master, Dorantes, as part of a danger-laden expedition to Florida. Within a year, Estebanico is one of only four crew members to survive.

the life of Imam Shamil, the nineteenth century Muslim leader who led the anti-Russian resistance in the Caucasian War. When Natasha discovers her star student, Osama (Oz), is not only descended from the warrior but also possesses Shamil’s legendary sword, the Imam’s story comes vividly to life. But when Oz is suddenly arrested at his home one morning, Natasha realizes

158  March 2019  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

that everything she values stands in jeopardy. Told with Aboulela’s inimitable elegance, The Kindness of Enemies is both an engrossing story of a provocative period in history and an important examination of what it is to be a Muslim in a post-9/11 world.  www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802126243/ref=as_li_ tl?ie=UTF8&tag=afarmedia-20&camp=1789&creative=9325 &linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0802126243&linkId=28797e d58fb909e7ef2b9c800cc1da84

Homegoing

G

by Yaa Gyasi

hana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery.

Homegoing follows the parallel paths of these sisters and their descendants through eight generations: from the Gold Coast to the plantations of Mississippi, from the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem.

Yaa Gyasi’s extraordinary novel illuminates slavery’s troubled legacy both for those se who were taken and those who stayed—and shows how the memory of captivity has been inscribed on the soul of our nation.  www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101971061/ref=as_li_ tl?ie=UTF8&tag=afarmedia-20&camp=1789&creative =9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101971061&lin kId=830ffd183faf6749642539240126060c

Finding My Voice:

My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward

W

by Valerie Jarrett

hen Valerie Jarrett interviewed a promising young lawyer named Michelle Robinson in July 1991 for a job in Chicago city government, neither knew that it was the first step on a path that would end in the White House. Jarrett soon became Michelle and Barack Obama's trusted personal adviser and family confidante; in the White House, she was known as the one who "got" him and helped him engage his public life. Jarrett joined the White House team on January 20, 2009 and departed with the First Family on January 20, 2017, and she was in the room--in the Oval Office, on Air Force One, and everywhere else--when it all happened. No one has h as intimate i ti t a view i off the th Obama O Years, nor one that reaches back as many decades, as Jarrett shares in Finding My Voice.

Born in Iran (where her father, a doctor, sought a better job than he could find in segregated America), Jarrett grew up in Chicago in the 60s as racial and gender barriers were being challenged. A single mother stagnating in corporate law, she found her voice in Harold Washington's historic administration, where she began a remarkable journey, ultimately becoming one of the most visible and influential African-American women of the twenty-first century.

From her work ensuring equality for women and girls, advancing civil rights, reforming our criminal justice system, and improving the lives of working families, to the real stories behind some of the most stirring moments of the Obama presidency, Jarrett shares her forthright, optimistic perspective on the importance of leadership and the responsibilities of citizenship in the twenty-first century, inspiring readers to lift their own voices.  www.amazon.com/Finding-My-Voice-JourneyForward/dp/0525558136

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Resource Vault Media/Information

APO (Africa Wire®/MENA Wire®) -www.apo-opa.com Africa Business Communities -https://africabusinesscommunities.com Africa Interactive Multimedia Press/Content \ Agency in Africa -www.africa-interactive.com Africa is a Country -- www.africasacountry.com Africa News & Stories -- http://africatodaytv.com Africa Newsroom -- www.africa-newsroom.com Africa World Now Project -www.africaworldnowproject.org Africa World Press Books -www.africaworldpressbooks.com African Trade Magazine -www.africantrademagazine.com African Vibes Magazine -- www.africanvibes.com The Africapitalist -www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/africapitalisminstitute/africapitalist-magazine AfricaFocus -- www.africafocus.org Africast TV -- www.africast.tv The African World -- www.theafricanworld.tv Afritorial -- www.afritorial.com www.facebook.com/Afritorial AllAfrica (news) -- http://allafrica.com Because Of Them We Can -- www.becauseofthem wecan.com Black Business Directory & Blog -www.blackbusiness.org Black Business News Group -www.issuu.com/blackbusinessnews BlackNews.com -- www.blacknews.com Black Wall Street Times -- http://bwstimes.com Black Children's Books and Authors -http://blackchildrensbooksandauthors.tumblr. com BlackPast.org -- www.blackpost.org Black Press USA -- www.blackpressusa.com Black Then -- https://blackthen.com Blavity Inc. -- www.blavity.com BridesNoir -- www.bridesnoir.com The Chocolate Voice -www.thechocolatevoice.com CuisineNoir -- www.cuisinenoirmag.com Cybrary -- www.cybrary.it Dogon Village -- www.dogonvillage.com Elders (The) -- https://theelders.org Face2Face Africa -- https://face2faceafrica.com GhanaWeb -- www.ghanaweb.com How Africa, The Rise of Africa -http://howafrica.com iAfrica -- www.iafrica.com

Informaza - www.infomaza.com Macauhub -- www.facebook.com/Macauhub Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) -www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee MahoganyBooks -http://blog.mahoganybooks.com/ New Black Magazine (The) -www.thenewblackmagazine.com NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art -www.nkajournal.org Publish Africa -- http://wow.gm/publishafrica Red Media Africa -www.facebook.com/RedMedi aAfrica Rock Me Africa -- //rockmeafrica.com Second Opinion Publications Ltd (The) -- www. facebook.com/thesecondopinion TONL -- https://tonl.co/ United Nations -- http://webtv.un.org WikiHow -- www.wikihow.com World Library -- www.worldlibrary.org

Media/Podcasts, Streams

2 Dope Queens -- www.wnycstudios.org/shows/ dopequeens Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart -- https://itunes. apple.com/us/podcast/cape-up-with-jonathancapehart/id1143265842?mt=2 Demand Africa -- www.demandafrica.com DiasporaVoice -www.blogtalkradio.com/diasporavoice KweliTV -- www.facebook.com/kwelitv UN Video -- https://videos.un.org/en YouTube Educational Channels -- http://teacherswithapps.com/197-educational-youtube-channels-know

Culture/Arts Asako Afrikan Combat Capoeira --

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

www.abibifahodie.com Africa Center (The) -- www.theafricacenter.org African Networks -http://afn.bibalex.org/MainPart/About_.aspx African Origins -- www.african-origins.org Almasi Arts -- www.almasiarts.org Cultural Events/Content -- www.okayafrica.com Digital Assets Repository -http://dar.bibalex.org/webpages/dar.jsf Freedom Park -- www.freedompark.co.za Hungry Black Man -https://thehungryblackman.com Infocus247 -- https://infocus247.com Information for Africa -http://bibalex.org/baifa/en/home/index Library of Alexandria -www.bibalex.org/en/default Pan African Film Festival -- www.paff.org Paradigm Grey -- www.paradigmgrey.com Shadow & Act -- //shadowandact.com/about-us Travel Noire -- https://travelnoire.com W.E.B. DuBois in Accra -https://webduboiscentreaccra.ghana-net.com

Commerce/Entrepreneurship

#IAMWANDA -- www.facebook.com/IamWANDAorg African Success Stories -- www.risingafrica.org African Technology Foundation -www.thea25n.com BBurb -- https://bburb.com Black Female Founders -www.blackfemalefounders.org Black Wall Street -- www.blackwallstreet.org iBuyBlack.org -- www.ibuyblack.org Jumia -- https://group.jumia.com www.jumia.com.ng Nigeria (Africa) financial news -- //nairametrics.com She Leads Africa -- http://sheleadsafrica.org Shoppe Black -- https://shoppeblack.us

Organizations African Leadership Forum -http://afrialeadership.org African Union -- www.au.int/en Africans in Boston (AiB) -- //africansinboston.org Black Business Association -- www.bbala.org Black Emergency Managers Association International -www.blackemergmanagersassociation.org CauseCast -- www.causecast.com www.causecastfornonprofits.com Color of Change -- www.colorofchange.org Community Healing Network -www.communityhealingnet.org Love Our Girls -- http://logpledge.org/

StayWoke -- www.staywoke.org TimesUp -- www.timesupnow.com United African Organization -http://uniteafricans.org Zambia-USA Chamber of Commerce -www.zambiausachamber.org

Investment/Development Africa Reports -- www.africareports.com African Development Bank -- www.afdb.org African Export-Import Bank -//afreximbank.com/afrexim/en AfrigadgetTV -- www.afrigadget.com Breaux Capital -- www.breauxcapital.com Disrupt Africa -- http://disrupt-africa.com/ Exchange Magazine (The) -- www.nse.co.ke Harlem Capital -- http://harlem.capital Silicon Harlem -- http://event.siliconharlem.net Ventures -- www.ventures-africa.com

U.S. Government Commerce Department -- www.doc.gov International Trade Administration -http://trade.gov Minority Business Development Agency -www.mbda.gov Power Africa -- www.usaid.gov/powerafrica Small Business Administration -- www.sba.gov State Department -- www.dos.gov Trade Africa -- www.usaid.gov/tradeafrica White House -- www.whitehouse.gov

General Explore ideas -- https://ideas.ted.com Focus On Africa -- https://theafricachannel.com/ shows/bbc-focus-on-africa The Undefeated -- https://theundefeated.com

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BBA 2019 Master Planner

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NYSE trader/broker Lauren Simmons © CNBC Make It